SUPERSTITIONS Fear is the fuel for ritual behavior

Societies -- and even professions -- have their own ways of warding off bad luck.
By JEANNINE F. HUNTER
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Superstitions can be as harmless as throwing salt over one's shoulder or holding one's breath on bridges.
Whether playful or pathological, these beliefs sometimes guide our actions.
How many people sidestep cracks in the sidewalk or avoid walking underneath a ladder or across the path of a black cat?
Superstitions are rooted in folklore, cultural traditions and unexpected occurrences.
Often, people attribute their bad or good fortune to something unrelated to their actions, said Dr. James "Joc" Collins, Carson-Newman College associate professor of psychology.
"Being a psychologist I would come at this almost as animal learning," he said. "B.F. Skinner talks about how even animals can create and have superstitious behaviors.
"What happens is something gets associated through conditioning with a nice positive outcome, but the creature doesn't realize that the ritual isn't necessary. ... A pigeon will do a half turn and flap its wing to get a pellet when all it has to do is peck. .... Likewise, as humans, we can also pick up rituals that don't actually produce the consequence that we desire."
They're not rational
It's been said fear is mankind's oldest and strongest emotion. And it's also the main fuel behind some human superstitions, said Dr. F. Stanley Lusby, professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Tennessee who retired in 1994.
"When you think about them, superstitions do not stand up rationally, but seldom are they a process of rational reflection but a habitual practice without thinking," he said. "Black cats have suffered unduly."
Differ among societies
Humans around the world have superstitions, yet they differ among societies. In ancient Egypt, black cats symbolized the goddess Bast, daughter of the sun god Ra. One explanation for how black cats became linked to evil is early Christians, seeking to suppress pagan religions, likened the felines to demons.
As for throwing salt over the left shoulder after spilling some, the action was deemed necessary to ward off evil spirits thought to bring illness. It has its roots in the Middle Ages, when salt was used medicinally.
Triskaidekaphobia, the avoidance of or fear of 13, accounts for the number's absence from elevator floor selection panels, and Friday the 13th is a fearful day for many. One explanation for the mystique around that day stems from the fact that there were 13 in the room at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 disciples), and the next day, a Friday, he was crucified.
"I actually like 13," Collins said. "... For some reason, when I go into a building and see 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, I chuckle. I think with superstitions like black cats, it's like an inside joke in society."
Professions
There are distinct superstitions among various professions, such as baseball players who wear the same "lucky" caps every game or nurses who may place pans of water underneath patients' beds to help them feel better.
"Some baseball players will not step on that foul line," Lusby said. "They feel if you do, then in the next inning the opposing team will hit a home run; but is there a connection? ... Baseball players will take their batting gloves off, loosen them three or four times; anything to give them a great hit. I find the ritual of the batter very fascinating."
Making life interesting
What purpose do you think superstition serves for most people?
Superstitions "make life interesting, fill in the gaps and provide pseudo explanations for things that are otherwise coincidence or unexplainable," Lusby said.
Harm comes into play "if you have to greatly change your life to adapt.
"Then it's costly," Collins said. "... You're actually starting to serve the ritual and ... you're moving to obsession or compulsion."
Can you be faithful to your religion and still be superstitious?
"Yes, because often we're unconscious of them when we do them," Lusby said.