Joni Brown, age 11, of Carmen, Okla., for her question:
WHAT IS SUPERSTITION?
Some superstitions make a lot of sense. For example, it is considered bad luck to walk under a ladder. But, when you stop to think about it, your bad luck could be immediate with the contents of a paint bucket spilling down on your head. Or, if the ladder is unmanned, it might decide to topple at just the second you are under it, and pow!
Superstitions are beliefs that certain actions or events can cause or foretell an apparently unrelated event. They have existed throughout man's history and most likely go back to the Stone Age.Almost everyone goes along with superstitions, although there's no proof that any of them have scientific backing. Lots of people, for example, carry what they call lucky coins. Or they carry rabbit's feet.
Many people will knock on wood when a certain statement is made. It's said that the knock will seal the luck. " I've never had a flat tire on my bike," you may say, and then add "Knock on wood'' as you actually knock on a table or door. The knock, superstition says, will keep your flatless tire record in order.
Many events involving the ordinary human activities of eating, sleeping, playing or working are tied into superstitious beliefs.
Here are some of the leading superstitions: you'll have seven years of bad luck if you break a mirror; you'll have bad luck if you spill some salt that is, unless you quickly pick up a pinch of the spilled salt and toss it over your left shoulder; you'll have bad luck if a black cat crosses your path; you'll have good luck if you find a horseshoe or a four leaf clover; the number 13 is unlucky or lucky for some people; Friday the 13th is especially lucky or unlucky, depending on how you favor this superstition.
A Japanese superstition says that a sick person should be given a potted plant and never cut flowers. An old American superstition says that if you give someone a wallet, a coin or paper money should be included. This will assure the person receiving the gift a lifetime of wealth.
Still another superstition says that a newborn baby should be carried upstairs before he is carried downstairs to assure his rising in the world and having success in life.
People throw rice at weddings because there's a superstition stating this practice will ensure the newlyweds lots of children.
Even though believing in superstitions is unscientific and many scoff at them, most feel that the activity of honoring them is part of the fun of life. And, after all, why take a chance? What harm is there in knocking on wood? Or staying away from ladders?