I'm sure that in our lifetime, one must have come across beliefs that are made up just by perceiving and foretelling the outcomes. Those beliefs that our forefathers and guardians have passed off in every individual life and as they grow, such beliefs thrive with them. Now, tossing a balance if that belief is true or not is basically up to one's assessment and preferences.
Times when credulousness was at its pinnacle and almost everyone was gullible, then individuals reverence elderly ones as they were the direct source of wisdom, knowledge, and power, who could have doubted them?
Weird as it may sound to you, many lives were incredibly living well as a result of trusting those beliefs that they have known all their lives. And to date, they pass this theory from one lineage to the other until it gets to whosoever would stop believing in it and that's when the cycle breaks.
By now, you should apprehend that I am exemplifying the notion of superstitious beliefs.
✰💫So what's SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF?💫✰ ...
In Wikipedia; A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown.
In English Dictionary; Superstition is a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event or a practice based on such a belief.
I grew up to find many beliefs to be true while some weren't true when I get to find out shortly after considerable encounters and also what a common logical explanation would just do. In essence, these beliefs depend on nonobjective reasoning and the aftermath of an experience.
From my standpoint, I have experienced a few superstitions that I would vividly tell worked for me, and to date, I can't fathom how it happened or if there were any scientific facts backed by it. I'm convinced to say that it may sound weird to you but it is what it is.
I'm sure you are one of those that have heard about strange things and then you get too excited perhaps overzealous to check them out as soon as possible just to get the bottom of it. Below are the beliefs I found to be valid when I put them into action but not all!
USING MIRROR DURING WITCH HOUR
Creepy right?? ... I'm feeling that spookiness gnawing inside me right now hehe It's said that anytime someone uses a mirror at midnight that object (mirror) will break or have a crack leaving the mirror in split segments. At that moment, such an entity/spirit would appear to you angrily and cause you a fright. To me, that was different! After several trials, it happened unexpectedly when I use my mirror to dress my hair for bedtime. I screamed out so audibly and hurled away the mirror leaving it shattering all over the floor, that night the level of anxiety made me sick... should I say it was my imagination playing pranks on me? This reminded me of an incident that happened on the island of Lagos where it was said the bank situated there had to relocate because the building was made with mirror glass facing a river and at midnight the mermaids always attack the building because of it. I think I got what I deserved after seeking to know if it was authentic haha... geez!
IF YOU ARE BEING CALLED SOMEWHERE
I don't know about other places but in Africa, we have this superstition that when someone calls your name or maybe they are currently discussing you and your name is mentioned because it's you they have in mind while conversing with such person who's being called would sneeze several times. It also means someone is thinking about you. Weird right? ... hehe
MIRACULOUSLY SEEN
This is almost similar to the one I mentioned earlier but slightly different. Have you ever been in a situation whereby you were discussing someone and you miraculously see the person walking toward you? I'm sure you must have had such a bizarre scenario just like that and you were baffled seeing him/her coincidentally. In this case, it is said that such moments interpret that the person who was seen would live a long life on earth and it's a good omen... seems strange right? but I have encountered this a few times.
THE ARMPIT LYMPH NODES
This is one of the weirdest superstitions and yet it works like a miracle rofl! From my standpoint, I don't like having armpit lymph nodes because after it goes away, it leaves scars there and some bruises. In this case, the armpit area appears untidy and I detest it looking that way. One very day, I told my big aunt that I was having some lump and pain there and she suggested that I should place my index fingertip on the quite a painful lump, apply pressure and use that same hand that was on it to dip into my nose three times and then the last one should be forcefully pulled out of my nose and in few days that armpit lymph nodes would disappear. geez!! ... weird!! Finally, I did it and it worked perfectly leaving my armpit smooth and it continued each time I experience it until the next time I took antibiotics LMFAO🤣 ... sucks!
THE OMEN
In Africa, there are so many superstitious beliefs and this particular one isn't exempted at all. My immediate family and extended ones believe in this to an extent but as for me I don't because I wouldn't want to believe the bad side but the good one. It's said that if you were walking and you mistakenly hit your left leg somewhere it's no problem but if that scenario is replayed again and again then something is not right it's either something really bad is about to happen or something tragic has happened and if the right leg does same then it's just the opposite of this case. Weird yeah?? ... mine was the left leg and it repeated three times then the fourth one happened and my slippers cut and then after a few days my granny had a stroke and today she's no more.
COCONUT WATER RITUAL
The scariest and weirdest superstition is the coconut water ritual, this is done by using coconut water to wash the face. Whenever you are in a large market, obviously there's a crowd of people walking, buying, hawking, selling and creating attention with their voices right?...so is there also the movement of ethereal beings in the market but they can't be seen or heard unless you do something out of the ordinary typically odd.
After washing your face with the said coconut water, don't wipe it off at all. Then stand upright and then bend in a way that your two hands are touching your toes respectively then thrust your head inside between your legs and quietly observe. My granny said that once you do that you can see some strange spirits communicating with each other while some doing some transactions which involve buying and selling. She also said that if that person is lucky enough to come out of it unharmed he/she should be grateful and if not the person will receive a heavy knock on his head by an unseen being and such a person will fall sick.
Haha 😂, this I have never tried so far because it is super scary lol ... please do not do this but if you feel it's okay you can go ahead too... my hands are off! 🤣🤣
Isn't this hilarious and quite mysterious too??
All these sound weird, sometimes untrue, and sometimes look like I am making up things but these things happen randomly. I choose not to believe but then seeing them coming into realization makes me believe it, well to an extent ... I am sure that you reading this have a few to share with me in the comments section. I would love to hear your viewpoint on superstitious beliefs.
Photo by Animesh Srivastava
Photo by PICHA
Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy
Photo by Karolina Grabowska
Photo by Merlin Lightpainting
Photo by Alena Darmel
Photo by The Digital Artist Edited With Canva