Superstitions are sometimes dismissed as irrational beliefs. Those that don’t subscribe to superstitious rituals have little interest in avoiding ladders on sidewalks or knocking on wooden. They don’t carry fortunate charms, they usually don’t throw salt over their shoulders. And this may increasingly describe a lot of the world’s inhabitants right this moment.
However historical past tells a really completely different story. For hundreds of years, cultures formed their whole lives round rituals and traditions that right this moment appear purely superstitious. Complete civilizations postponed ceremonies, feared eclipses, appeased spirits, or rebuilt temples primarily based on omens that dictated every part from politics to private security.
This record explores ten cultures and communities that have been as soon as consumed by superstition—generally for hundreds of years—and the way these beliefs formed their fears, customs, and survival.
Associated: Prime 10 Mysterious Nautical Legends and Superstitions
10 The Aztec Calendars
The Aztecs didn’t see time as linear. As such, that they had two calendars that ran facet by facet: a 365-day photo voltaic 12 months and a 260-day ritual cycle. Each 52 years, the 2 calendars have been realigned, and at that time, the Aztecs have been terrified the world would finish.
To cease this from taking place, all fires throughout the empire needed to be extinguished. Folks sat in full darkness, ready silently to see whether or not the universe would collapse. In the meantime, clergymen carried out the New Hearth Ceremony on the Hill of the Star, the place a sacrificial sufferer was laid on an altar. When the Pleiades constellation reached a selected level within the sky, a sacred flame was drilled into the sufferer’s chest cavity utilizing a hearth drill.
If the flame caught, the Aztecs sighed in aid. It meant the solar would rise but once more, marking the beginning of a brand new 52-year cycle. That single flame was then carried to temples and households throughout the land, relighting each fireside as a logo of cosmic renewal.[1]
9 The Cult of the Fox Spirit
Folks dwelling in late imperial China feared foxes as a lot as they feared emperors. Perception in fox spirits (huxian) was so widespread through the Ming and Qing dynasties that it gave rise to a whole shadow faith. Fox spirits have been mentioned to own people, seduce the unwary, or grant wealth to those that appeased them. Spirit mediums claimed to channel the spirits, and villages constructed shrines to maintain them in good humor.
Ignoring the fox spirits meant risking illness, crop failure, or everlasting poverty. The superstition turned so overwhelming that the state struggled to include it. Native officers usually tolerated fox cults to take care of stability, however others tried to suppress them by confiscating statues and banning spirit-medium rituals.
Regardless of crackdowns, fox shrines nonetheless appeared in houses, retailers, and even authorities workplaces. For a lot of, the presence of fox spirits wasn’t a folktale—it was a day by day risk or blessing that formed their fears, prayers, and habits.[2]
8 The Nice Witch Hunt
Within the late 1600s, Sweden was gripped by a mass hysteria often known as Det stora oväsendet, or The Nice Disturbance. It started in 1668 when youngsters in Dalarna claimed witches have been abducting them and taking them to Blåkulla—a legendary mountain the place witches supposedly feasted with the satan. The tales shortly unfold, changing into extra dramatic with each retelling. Folks heard of secret Sabbaths, demonic feasts, and witches flying by way of the air.
Panic naturally ensued. Courts overflowed with accusations. Neighbors turned on neighbors, and pastors warned their congregations concerning the satan’s powers. Dad and mom lived in worry that their youngsters would disappear at any second. The hysteria peaked at Torsåker in 1675, when a mass witch purge occurred: sixty-five girls and 6 males have been executed in a single day.
In 1676, King Charles XI lastly intervened. He appointed royal commissions that demanded stricter guidelines of proof, and as soon as the kids’s testimonies have been scrutinized, many have been discovered to be coached or false. The panic dissolved nearly in a single day—however for almost a decade, Sweden lived satisfied that witches actually walked amongst them.[3]
7 The Quantity That Meant Dying
Throughout a lot of East Asia—notably in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan—folks have a robust aversion to the quantity 4. The reason being easy: the phrase sounds almost equivalent to the phrase for “demise.” This superstition, often known as tetraphobia, seems in information relationship again not less than to the Han Dynasty. The quantity 4 was prevented in funerals, inscriptions, and spiritual rituals.
Via cultural trade and shared use of Chinese language characters, the superstition unfold and influenced every part from structure to social norms. At present, many buildings skip the fourth flooring fully, a lot as Western skyscrapers keep away from the thirteenth flooring. Some hospitals keep away from room numbers containing the digit 4, and elevator panels all through East Asia often omit it.
Even fashionable airways and cellular phone carriers generally keep away from the quantity, displaying how deeply a linguistic quirk has formed day by day life for tens of millions.[4]
6 The Black Dying
Whereas the Black Dying devastated Europe within the 14th century, killing tens of millions, terrified folks desperately sought a proof. Sadly, this fueled the superstition that Jewish communities had poisoned wells and introduced on the plague.
Worry shortly morphed into violence. Inspired by native leaders and, in some instances, clergy, mobs focused Jewish neighborhoods. Pogroms swept by way of dozens of cities. In Strasbourg alone, round 900 Jews have been burned alive in 1349 throughout a single mass execution. Elsewhere, Jewish communities have been expelled, pressured to transform, or annihilated fully.
Though the plague was attributable to the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the superstition persevered for generations, reshaping Europe. It entrenched antisemitism, destroyed centuries-old communities, and left deep cultural scars that lasted properly past the Center Ages.[5]
5 Omens and Augury
In historic Rome, the federal government was carefully tied to superstition. Augurs—spiritual officers—believed that fowl habits might decide whether or not the state might declare warfare, maintain an meeting, or go new legal guidelines. If birds flew in an unfortunate path or refused to feed throughout a ritual, political selections have been postponed.
Lightning additionally carried that means. A single strike on a temple might halt navy motion or delay Senate votes. Generals and magistrates have been anticipated to comply with these “readings,” and even emperors consulted augurs earlier than making main selections.
These indicators weren’t symbolic—they held authorized weight. Roman faith absolutely intertwined omen-reading with governance, that means that the empire’s destiny usually hinged on what birds occurred to be doing that day.[6]
4 Onbashira Pageant
In Japan, superstitious beliefs in spirits as soon as profoundly formed native life, politics, and ritual follow. Among the many most dramatic surviving examples is the Onbashira Pageant in Nagano, held each six years. Through the occasion, sixteen large fir timber are minimize down, hauled throughout rivers, and ridden down steep slopes earlier than being raised on the 4 corners of the Suwa Grand Shrine.
The idea is that this ritual renews the shrine’s sacred energy and protects the neighborhood from catastrophe. However it is usually extraordinarily harmful. The tree-riding portion, kiotoshi, has triggered quite a few accidents and a number of other deaths through the years. Regardless of the dangers, the competition continues, rooted in centuries-old beliefs that spirits should be honored—or calamity could comply with.
The Onbashira custom displays broader Shinto and Shugendō practices wherein festivals, choices, and daring bodily feats have been carried out to appease spirits, guarantee good harvests, and preserve misfortune at bay.[7]
3 Eclipse Panic
In historic and medieval occasions, folks didn’t contemplate eclipses or comets to be pure occasions. As an alternative, they have been terrifying omens of divine anger. When a photo voltaic eclipse occurred in Byzantium in AD 797, residents feared it was a direct punishment from God. The political chaos that adopted—together with the deposition and blinding of Emperor Constantine VI—appeared to validate their fears.
This mind-set was widespread throughout medieval Europe. A sudden eclipse might ship whole cities into panic. Clergymen referred to as for mass penance, rulers interpreted the occasion as a warning, and chroniclers linked eclipses with coming warfare, famine, or plague.
Superstition gave these celestial occasions monumental political weight. Kings justified campaigns, purges, and coverage modifications by pointing to the sky. At any time when one thing unusual occurred overhead, folks handled it not as astronomy—however as prophecy.[8]
2 Wendigo Possession
The Algonquian peoples of North America confronted many threats, together with starvation throughout harsh winters. However starvation additionally had a supernatural kind within the legendary Wendigo. The Wendigo was mentioned to be a monstrous, emaciated spirit that roamed forests throughout occasions of famine, eternally ravenous and preying upon people.
Over time, the superstition grew past storytelling. Communities believed the Wendigo might possess people, turning them into violent, cannibalistic killers. These suspected of “Wendigo possession” have been generally executed to stop additional tragedy.
Probably the most notorious case was Swift Runner, a Cree man who murdered and ate his household in 1879. He blamed the Wendigo for his actions and was later executed, however for a lot of, the story bolstered the concept supernatural starvation might drive an individual to insanity.[9]
1 Ghost Cash
In Vietnam, ancestor worship stays an essential custom. One in every of its most hanging practices is burning joss paper—symbolizing “ghost cash”—together with paper replicas of earthly belongings, comparable to motorbikes, clothes, electronics, and even whole mansions. The idea is that these choices make their method to the spirit world, the place they supply consolation and standing for deceased family.
What started as a family ritual is now a grand custom. Through the Lunar New Yr and the annual Ghost Pageant, households burn large quantities of paper, and whole industries revolve round producing elaborate paper items. Workshops even educate folks the way to craft customized choices.
There’s a draw back: smoke air pollution and fireplace danger rise sharply throughout competition seasons. However for a lot of households, the price of ignoring the ritual is way higher. Neglecting to burn ghost cash could displease ancestors or invite unhealthy luck—a danger few are prepared to take.[10]
