02-12-2007, 07:00 PM
Disclaimer: This essay does not necessarily reflect my beliefs, I found it when I was doing some clean up on my computer, I wrote it for a socioclogy class back in Grade 12, and I thought I might share it as another view of religion at large.
Superstition and religion have been around for centuries and have endured many trials. However, mankind created religion and the very concept of the supernatural as a coping mechanism. Man fears what it does not understand, and since there is so much that we do not understand, it would seem that we have a lot to fear. We did not always have science to help us understand things, and so many explanations went to superstition and were believed for millennia. Disasters were always great tragedies, and to try to elucidate the reason that things could change so quickly with such great force our ancestors created the old gods, and it was to them they turned when disease threatened a life. Things were always blamed on luck, and the rituals to gain that luck have survived the ages, and though we sometimes use them to ward of disease and bad karma, we cannot hold back the wave known as death; the greatest unknown of them all.
The unknown has always been a mystery that mankind has feared, but we also feel drawn towards it. We were born with an innate sense of curiosity, and it was that sense of curiosity, which led to the birth of the supernatural. In nature many things seem to defy the laws of nature, but with the help of modern technology we can easily discover the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of many of these strange occurrences. Our ancestors did not have this luxury and relied only on what they saw.
What the eyes see is not always what may be. To those who do not know about electrical and chemical energies on a molecular and atomic level, St. Elmo’s Fire, a mysterious glowing mist that often appears in swamps and areas of decay before lightning strikes, could seem to house avenging spirits of the underworld, or Gods appearing before they smite the Earth. Those who do not understand the properties of flint could easily say that clashing flint together calls spirits of flame and lightning, and one might even believe that the gods use flint, for the thunder makes great crashing noises as fire and lightning fill the sky during storms. The mysteries of the skies and the gods have often overlapped, and the clouds, massive and seemingly solid objects that float across the sky have often times been called the mansions of deities. The Bible says that God created the oceans and split it. He then put one half upon the Earth and the other above in the sky (Gen 1-2). This helps to explain the falling precipitation and the very color of the sky. This just helps to prove that the eye can be deceived. Professional magicians and movie directors prove this to us everyday.
If no explanation can readily be found what is seen is deduced to be the truth. Without proper knowledge, primitive people had very little to work with besides imagination, and imagination can be a very powerful thing.
We use our imaginations everyday to suspend reality while we watch movies or television shows. Even though we know that the characters are all fictional we find ourselves caring about them. Even children have succumbed to this fantasy world we present them with on a day-to-day basis. We give their imagination something to gravitate around and when that is coupled with reality they can come up with some interesting explanations. A young child was once overheard explaining the wondrous magnet that his mother had bought to amuse him. “It sticks to the fridge because it’s magic, like Harry Potter.†As cute as this may seem to some, one must wonder why the child came to that conclusion when we know that the magnet uses an invisible magnetic force to cling to metal objects, among them the fridge.
The child could not see the magnetic waves and so deduced that the magnet was using a supernatural and magical force to stay in place. After all, if Gandalf and Harry Potter could use magic, then why not the magnet?
Things such as supernatural forces working invisibly have long been believed, at least in part. It was said that spirits could be called by means of a dance. The dance was created to please them, and sometimes more than simple motion was needed. Sometimes it was believed that sacrifice was needed to sate the spirits of the earth, but few places today still practice slaughter and oft times smaller rituals have replaced the bloodshed. But the dances have survived, and many aboriginal tribes still have a ritual to call forth what is called a spirit guide.
The coming-of-age ritual includes a dance from dawn to dusk after a time of fasting and complete isolation. Such physical and mental exhaustion can easily cause hallucinations, but the child becomes convinced that they have found their guide and returns to the tribe having crossed the bridge into adulthood. Shamans did similar dances for different reasons. They did the dances to repel the spirits. So, if the spirits can be called or coerced, what stops them from becoming bored or displeased? It was strongly believed that this was a very real possibility, and when it happened, it was believed that nothing but disaster would follow.
Great disasters are powerful, but are by no means unexplainable. With proper equipment we can track and predict tornadoes, floods and any number of catastrophes, but going by primitive theory we are surrounded by personal spirits (spirits possessing emotions) (Max Weber, ‘The Sociological Religion’). It is assumed that these spirits can be angered and, because they hold so much more power than us, can cause great damage in their fury. The damage done becomes immeasurable and impossible to explain, in their eyes, and so was believed to be supernatural.
So, it has been shown that our ancestors feared what cannot be explained, and that can include a wide range of things from disasters to smaller and equally unexpected things that happen in singular events to individual people. What happens then? Is it mere chance, or something more?
The common cold, influenza and other illnesses have plagued mankind since the beginning of recorded history. The mystery of why a person could be fine one day and then lethargic and nauseous the next puzzled doctors and hedge witches who sought out cures to drive out what they believed could be noxious entities. It was often assumed that diseases were caused by oppression, sin and simply making the wrong enemies of witches and demons. Millions were killed in plagues and simple diseases, and there seemed to be no end or explanation. Then came a serious study in medicine, and an invention called the microscope.
“What did I do to deserve this?†Have you ever heard someone say that? It is amazing how, even though we know now what causes diseases, we try to blame otherworldly forces we have displeased. Before the discovery of viruses and bacteria we believed that all illness was a penance, and even now we seem to believe in a force called karma (note: meaning that what goes around, comes around). This, however, cannot always be true, for not everyone who becomes ill has been wicked. This was explained by the ever popular scapegoat; the curse. This excuse brought about the deaths of many people practicing the old religions, which Christianity was trying hard to eradicate. Entire towns would sometimes go on the warpath to simply root out the curse layer(s).
The fact of the matter is that humans do not wish to take the blame for anything, be it illness or simple misfortune. But, if spirits can be appeased, then surely bad luck can be turned to good with the proper catalyst.
The belief of good luck charms is a medieval practice that has been carried into modern times. Athletes have been known to do some fairly strange things before games. Social scientists say that these odd rituals are a player’s way to gain confidence, and so it is all in their heads (The Psychology of Sports). Regardless of this, the players believe in their rituals full heartedly. A good example of this is the ‘lucky loonie’ that supposedly helped Team Canada win the gold medal in Salt Lake City. It now resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame where tourists can view it and touch it for good luck.
Good luck is sometimes hard to come by, and sometimes all the odds are stacked against you. Students will often carry around good luck talismans before exams and tests, or even Friday the 13th to avoid otherwise unavoidable bad luck (This day is often associated with misfortune). It all comes down to confidence, and we’ll do strange things to gain it. Athletes are best known for creating personal superstitions as coping mechanisms for their failures and successes. We all know that their [the athletes’] wins and losses have nothing to do with what they did before the game, yet scientists believe that it actually has everything to do with it because without confidence there is very little they can achieve. The athletes will begin to believe that their rituals are what cause their wins. One might wonder why, but the answer is simple; human beings are fallible, rituals are not.
Superstitions, like many other things people do, are coping mechanisms to deal with the great unknowns, but the greatest unknown of them all is death.
What happens after we die? Stephan King says that “We each owe a death…†(The Green Mile), but why?
Where do we go after we die? It is an eternal question that has become the basis of many studies and spiritual quests. Science says that when we die our brain function simply stops and we cease to be. That is a truly terrifying idea to most, but many believe in an afterlife into which the soul (the source of our being) moves on. This is another coping mechanism to deal with the ultimate fear. After all, all things strive to survive.
All things need an explanation, which is what drives the human curiosity on. It fuels our stories and our fears and sometimes we go from being the puppet masters to being the puppet itself.
Man fears many things; disasters, nature, diseases, misfortune and death, and the belief that what the eyes see is the truth has lead to many misconceptions and underlying beliefs in the impossible and intangible. The implications of this on our society is that we become the mirrors of our athletic idols. We begin to rely on our rituals and sects to get us through. We created religion to cope, but we let it control our lives and dictate our society. We are the puppets to the strings we tied ourselves.
Superstition and religion have been around for centuries and have endured many trials. However, mankind created religion and the very concept of the supernatural as a coping mechanism. Man fears what it does not understand, and since there is so much that we do not understand, it would seem that we have a lot to fear. We did not always have science to help us understand things, and so many explanations went to superstition and were believed for millennia. Disasters were always great tragedies, and to try to elucidate the reason that things could change so quickly with such great force our ancestors created the old gods, and it was to them they turned when disease threatened a life. Things were always blamed on luck, and the rituals to gain that luck have survived the ages, and though we sometimes use them to ward of disease and bad karma, we cannot hold back the wave known as death; the greatest unknown of them all.
The unknown has always been a mystery that mankind has feared, but we also feel drawn towards it. We were born with an innate sense of curiosity, and it was that sense of curiosity, which led to the birth of the supernatural. In nature many things seem to defy the laws of nature, but with the help of modern technology we can easily discover the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of many of these strange occurrences. Our ancestors did not have this luxury and relied only on what they saw.
What the eyes see is not always what may be. To those who do not know about electrical and chemical energies on a molecular and atomic level, St. Elmo’s Fire, a mysterious glowing mist that often appears in swamps and areas of decay before lightning strikes, could seem to house avenging spirits of the underworld, or Gods appearing before they smite the Earth. Those who do not understand the properties of flint could easily say that clashing flint together calls spirits of flame and lightning, and one might even believe that the gods use flint, for the thunder makes great crashing noises as fire and lightning fill the sky during storms. The mysteries of the skies and the gods have often overlapped, and the clouds, massive and seemingly solid objects that float across the sky have often times been called the mansions of deities. The Bible says that God created the oceans and split it. He then put one half upon the Earth and the other above in the sky (Gen 1-2). This helps to explain the falling precipitation and the very color of the sky. This just helps to prove that the eye can be deceived. Professional magicians and movie directors prove this to us everyday.
If no explanation can readily be found what is seen is deduced to be the truth. Without proper knowledge, primitive people had very little to work with besides imagination, and imagination can be a very powerful thing.
We use our imaginations everyday to suspend reality while we watch movies or television shows. Even though we know that the characters are all fictional we find ourselves caring about them. Even children have succumbed to this fantasy world we present them with on a day-to-day basis. We give their imagination something to gravitate around and when that is coupled with reality they can come up with some interesting explanations. A young child was once overheard explaining the wondrous magnet that his mother had bought to amuse him. “It sticks to the fridge because it’s magic, like Harry Potter.†As cute as this may seem to some, one must wonder why the child came to that conclusion when we know that the magnet uses an invisible magnetic force to cling to metal objects, among them the fridge.
The child could not see the magnetic waves and so deduced that the magnet was using a supernatural and magical force to stay in place. After all, if Gandalf and Harry Potter could use magic, then why not the magnet?
Things such as supernatural forces working invisibly have long been believed, at least in part. It was said that spirits could be called by means of a dance. The dance was created to please them, and sometimes more than simple motion was needed. Sometimes it was believed that sacrifice was needed to sate the spirits of the earth, but few places today still practice slaughter and oft times smaller rituals have replaced the bloodshed. But the dances have survived, and many aboriginal tribes still have a ritual to call forth what is called a spirit guide.
The coming-of-age ritual includes a dance from dawn to dusk after a time of fasting and complete isolation. Such physical and mental exhaustion can easily cause hallucinations, but the child becomes convinced that they have found their guide and returns to the tribe having crossed the bridge into adulthood. Shamans did similar dances for different reasons. They did the dances to repel the spirits. So, if the spirits can be called or coerced, what stops them from becoming bored or displeased? It was strongly believed that this was a very real possibility, and when it happened, it was believed that nothing but disaster would follow.
Great disasters are powerful, but are by no means unexplainable. With proper equipment we can track and predict tornadoes, floods and any number of catastrophes, but going by primitive theory we are surrounded by personal spirits (spirits possessing emotions) (Max Weber, ‘The Sociological Religion’). It is assumed that these spirits can be angered and, because they hold so much more power than us, can cause great damage in their fury. The damage done becomes immeasurable and impossible to explain, in their eyes, and so was believed to be supernatural.
So, it has been shown that our ancestors feared what cannot be explained, and that can include a wide range of things from disasters to smaller and equally unexpected things that happen in singular events to individual people. What happens then? Is it mere chance, or something more?
The common cold, influenza and other illnesses have plagued mankind since the beginning of recorded history. The mystery of why a person could be fine one day and then lethargic and nauseous the next puzzled doctors and hedge witches who sought out cures to drive out what they believed could be noxious entities. It was often assumed that diseases were caused by oppression, sin and simply making the wrong enemies of witches and demons. Millions were killed in plagues and simple diseases, and there seemed to be no end or explanation. Then came a serious study in medicine, and an invention called the microscope.
“What did I do to deserve this?†Have you ever heard someone say that? It is amazing how, even though we know now what causes diseases, we try to blame otherworldly forces we have displeased. Before the discovery of viruses and bacteria we believed that all illness was a penance, and even now we seem to believe in a force called karma (note: meaning that what goes around, comes around). This, however, cannot always be true, for not everyone who becomes ill has been wicked. This was explained by the ever popular scapegoat; the curse. This excuse brought about the deaths of many people practicing the old religions, which Christianity was trying hard to eradicate. Entire towns would sometimes go on the warpath to simply root out the curse layer(s).
The fact of the matter is that humans do not wish to take the blame for anything, be it illness or simple misfortune. But, if spirits can be appeased, then surely bad luck can be turned to good with the proper catalyst.
The belief of good luck charms is a medieval practice that has been carried into modern times. Athletes have been known to do some fairly strange things before games. Social scientists say that these odd rituals are a player’s way to gain confidence, and so it is all in their heads (The Psychology of Sports). Regardless of this, the players believe in their rituals full heartedly. A good example of this is the ‘lucky loonie’ that supposedly helped Team Canada win the gold medal in Salt Lake City. It now resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame where tourists can view it and touch it for good luck.
Good luck is sometimes hard to come by, and sometimes all the odds are stacked against you. Students will often carry around good luck talismans before exams and tests, or even Friday the 13th to avoid otherwise unavoidable bad luck (This day is often associated with misfortune). It all comes down to confidence, and we’ll do strange things to gain it. Athletes are best known for creating personal superstitions as coping mechanisms for their failures and successes. We all know that their [the athletes’] wins and losses have nothing to do with what they did before the game, yet scientists believe that it actually has everything to do with it because without confidence there is very little they can achieve. The athletes will begin to believe that their rituals are what cause their wins. One might wonder why, but the answer is simple; human beings are fallible, rituals are not.
Superstitions, like many other things people do, are coping mechanisms to deal with the great unknowns, but the greatest unknown of them all is death.
What happens after we die? Stephan King says that “We each owe a death…†(The Green Mile), but why?
Where do we go after we die? It is an eternal question that has become the basis of many studies and spiritual quests. Science says that when we die our brain function simply stops and we cease to be. That is a truly terrifying idea to most, but many believe in an afterlife into which the soul (the source of our being) moves on. This is another coping mechanism to deal with the ultimate fear. After all, all things strive to survive.
All things need an explanation, which is what drives the human curiosity on. It fuels our stories and our fears and sometimes we go from being the puppet masters to being the puppet itself.
Man fears many things; disasters, nature, diseases, misfortune and death, and the belief that what the eyes see is the truth has lead to many misconceptions and underlying beliefs in the impossible and intangible. The implications of this on our society is that we become the mirrors of our athletic idols. We begin to rely on our rituals and sects to get us through. We created religion to cope, but we let it control our lives and dictate our society. We are the puppets to the strings we tied ourselves.