I believe man was born with reason and his actions must have been reasonable as much was possible for him to, let them to be. I also believe that our ancestors were really intelligent beings. Some myths and superstitions do make it a counter argument, but read on to time travel and unravel the mystery behind the superstitions.
Don't cut nails after dusk. This one's the common one practiced by the elder-lies till date in many parts of India. One has to understand that these are traditional practices. Now in earlier times, medicine was not as advanced as it is today. Death due to infections were common. No tetanus injections were available till the very late twentieth century. Also was the lack of proper lighting absent. Now when this superstition would have come to force, the only aim would have been to ensure safety. Explaining people would have become tedious task, so religion was dragged to dirt. People never question the ways of lords. The fear of incurring the wrath of the gods by questioning their rules was unwanted by all.
Also another thing to be considered is the splattering of nails everywhere while cutting. People earlier used to walk barefoot. So their feet used to get cuts, and the nails lying on the floor could easily infect them. So nails were supposed to be thrown somewhere where no human would walk by.
Another superstition that is strictly followed in the Brahmin families is to not cut hair inside home. This one's simple enough. Hair is light, can get carried of far. If it enters the kitchen area, it can get inside the food too. If it gets into the food and goes inside the stomach, then it simply stays there! It does not get digested! Nobody wants a bush of undigested hair, right?
Another ritual that I have observed is bathing outside home when returning from funeral. Obviously today nobody actually bathes but Ganga jal is sprinkled before entering the house. This one's also easy to guess. One, the bodies start degrading and the germs inhabits the body. Two many a times, the death used to occur due to infections. So people used to bathe outside before entering inside their homes.
Superstitions or no superstition. One must give thoughts to reason. Life can get complicated when you start believing things like "black cats crossing the way ahead can bring bad luck!". Life is simple, keep it simple.
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| Some are just repeated coincidences influencing the psyche |
Don't cut nails after dusk. This one's the common one practiced by the elder-lies till date in many parts of India. One has to understand that these are traditional practices. Now in earlier times, medicine was not as advanced as it is today. Death due to infections were common. No tetanus injections were available till the very late twentieth century. Also was the lack of proper lighting absent. Now when this superstition would have come to force, the only aim would have been to ensure safety. Explaining people would have become tedious task, so religion was dragged to dirt. People never question the ways of lords. The fear of incurring the wrath of the gods by questioning their rules was unwanted by all.
Also another thing to be considered is the splattering of nails everywhere while cutting. People earlier used to walk barefoot. So their feet used to get cuts, and the nails lying on the floor could easily infect them. So nails were supposed to be thrown somewhere where no human would walk by.
Another superstition that is strictly followed in the Brahmin families is to not cut hair inside home. This one's simple enough. Hair is light, can get carried of far. If it enters the kitchen area, it can get inside the food too. If it gets into the food and goes inside the stomach, then it simply stays there! It does not get digested! Nobody wants a bush of undigested hair, right?
Another ritual that I have observed is bathing outside home when returning from funeral. Obviously today nobody actually bathes but Ganga jal is sprinkled before entering the house. This one's also easy to guess. One, the bodies start degrading and the germs inhabits the body. Two many a times, the death used to occur due to infections. So people used to bathe outside before entering inside their homes.
Superstitions or no superstition. One must give thoughts to reason. Life can get complicated when you start believing things like "black cats crossing the way ahead can bring bad luck!". Life is simple, keep it simple.
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