Catholic Encyclopedia: Superstition
Superstition
[From <supersisto>, "to stand in terror of the deity" (Cicero, "De Nat. deorum", I, 42,
117); or from <superstes>, "surviving": "Qui totos dies precabantur et immolabant, ut
sibi sui liberi superstites essent, superstitiosi sunt appellati", i.e. "Those who for whole
days prayed and offered sacrifice that their children might survive them, were called
superstitious" (Cicero, ibid., II, 28, 72). Cicero also drew the distinction: "Superstitio est
in qua timor inanis deorum, religio qua deorum cultu pio continetur", i.e. "Superstition
is the baseless fear of the gods, religion the pious worship." According to Isidore of
Seville (Etymolog., l. 8, c. iii, sent.), the word comes from <superstatuo> or
<superinstituo>: "Superstitio est superflua observantia in cultu super statuta seu
instituta superiorum", i.e. "observances added on to prescribed or established
worship"] is defined by St. Thomas (II-II, Q. 92, a. 1) as "a vice opposed to religion by
way of excess; not because in the worship of God it does more than true religion, but
because it offers Divine worship to beings other than God or offers worship to God in
an improper manner". Superstition sins by excess of religion, and this differs from the
vice of irreligion, which sins by defect. The theological virtue of religion stands
midway between the two. (II-II, Q. 92, a. 1.)
DIVISION
There are four species of superstitions:
improper worship of the true God (<indebitus veri Dei cultus>);
idolatry;
divination;
vain observances, which include magic and occult arts.
This division is based upon the various ways in which religion may be vitiated by
excess. Worship becomes <indebitus cultus> when incongruous, meaningless,
improper elements are added to the proper and approved performance; it becomes
idolatrous when it is offered to creatures set up as divinities or endowed with divine
attributes. Divination (q.v.) consists in the attempt to extract from creatures, by means
of religious rites, a knowledge of future events or of things known to God alone.
Under the head of vain observances come all those beliefs and practices which, at least
by implication, attribute supernatural or preternatural powers for good or for evil to
causes evidently incapable of producing the expected effects. The number and variety
of superstitions appear from the following list of those most in vogue at different
periods of history:
astrology, the reading of the future and of man's destiny from the stars;
aeromancy, divinations by means of the air and winds;
amulets, things worn as a remedy or preservative against evils or mischief, such as
diseases or witchcraft; chiromancy, or palmistry, divination by the lines of the hand;
capnomancy, by the ascent or motion of smoke;
catroptomancy, by mirrors;
alomancy, by salt;
cartomancy, by playing cards;
anthropomancy, by inspection of human viscera;
belomancy, by the shuffling of arrows (Ezechiel, xxi, 21);
geomancy, by points, lines or figures traced on the ground;
hydromancy, by water;
idolatry, the worship of idols;
Sabianism, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars;
Zoolatry, Anthropolatry, and Fetishism, the worship of animals, man, and things
without sense;
Devil-worship;
the worship of abstract notions personified, e.g. Victory, Peace, Fame, Concord, which
had temples and a priesthood for the performance of their cult;
necromancy, the evocation of the dead, as old as history and perpetuated in
contemporary Spiritism;
oneiromancy, the interpretation of dreams;
philtres, potions, or charms intended to excite love;
omens or prognostics of future events;
witchcraft and magic in all their ramifications;
lucky and unlucky days, numbers, persons, things, actions;
the evil eye, spells, incantations, ordeals, etc.
ORIGIN
The source of superstition is, in the first place, subjective. Ignorance of natural causes
leads to the belief that certain striking phenomena express the will or the anger of some
invisible overruling power, and the objects in which such phenomena appear are
forthwith deified, as, e.g. in Nature-worship. Conversely, many superstitious practices
are due to an exaggerated notion or a false interpretation of natural events, so that
effects are sought which are beyond the efficiency of physical causes. Curiosity also
with regard to things that are hidden or are still in the future plays a considerable part,
e.g. in the various kinds of divination. But the chief source of superstition is pointed
out in Scripture: "All men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God: and
who by these good things that are seen, could not understand him that is, neither by
attending to the works have acknowledged who was the workman: but have imagined
either the fire, or the wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water,
or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world" (Wisdom, xiii, 1 - 2). It is to
this ignorance of the true God, coupled with an inordinate veneration for human
excellence and the love of artistic representations appealing to the senses, that St.
Thomas ascribes the origin of idolatry. While these are dispositive causes, the
consummative cause, he adds, was the influence of demons who offered themselves as
objects of worship to erring men, giving answers through idols and doing things which
to men seemed marvellous (II-II, Q. 94, a. 4).
These causes explain the origin and spread of superstition in the pagan world. They
were to a large extent eliminated by the preaching of Christianity; but so deep-rooted
was the tendency to which they gave rise that many of the ancient practices survived,
especially among peoples just emerging from barbarism. It was only by degrees,
through the legislation of the Church and the advance of scientific knowledge, that the
earlier forms of superstition were eradicated. But the tendency itself has not wholly
disappeared. Side by side with the Rationalistic philosophy and the rigorous scientific
methods which are characteristic of modern thought, there are still to be found various
sorts of superstition. So far as this includes the worship of things other than God, it is
not only an essential part, but the foundation also of the Positivistic system (Comte),
which sets up humanity as the object of religious worship (see POSITIVISM). Nor can
Pantheism (q.v.), which identifies God and the world, lead consistently to any but
superstitious practices, however it may in theory disclaim such a purpose. The human
mind, by a natural impulse, tends to worship something, and if it is convinced that
Agnosticism is true and that God is unknowable, it will, sooner or later, devise other
objects of worship. It is also significant that just when many scientists supposed that a
belief in a future life had been finally proved an illusion, Spiritism (q.v.), with its
doctrines and practices, should have gained such a strong hold not only on the
ignorant, but also, and in a much more serious sense, on leading representatives of
science itself. This may indeed be interpreted as a reaction against Materialism; but it is
none the less, at bottom, an evidence of man's restless desire to penetrate, by any and
every means, the mystery that lies beyond death. While it is easy to condemn Spiritism
as superstitious and vain, the condemnation does not do away with the fact that
Spiritism has become widespread in this age of enlightenment. Now as in the past the
rejection of Divine truth in the name of reason often opens the way to beliefs and
practices which are at once unworthy of reason and dangerous to morality.
SINFULNESS OF SUPERSTITION IN GENERAL
Superstition of any description is a transgression of the First Commandment: "I am the
Lord thy God, - thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to
thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the
earth beneath ... thou shalt not adore them nor serve them" (Exod., xx, 2 - 5). It is also
against the positive law of the Church, which visits the worst kinds of superstitions
with severe punishments, and against the natural law inasmuch as it runs counter to
the dictates of reason in the matter of man's relations to God. Such objective sinfulness
is inherent in all superstitious practices from idolatry down to the vainest of vain
observances, of course in very different degrees of gravity. With regard to the
subjective guilt attaching to them it must be borne in mind that no sin is mortal unless
committed with full knowledge of its grievous wickedness and with full deliberation
and consent. Of these essential factors the first is often wanting entirely, and the second
is only imperfectly present. The numerous cases in which the event seemed to justify
the superstitious practice, and the universality of such incongruous beliefs and
performances, though they may not always induce inculpable ignorance, may possibly
obscure the knowledge and weaken the will to a point incompatible with mortal sin. As
a matter of fact, many superstitions of our own day have been acts of genuine piety at
other times, and may be so still in the hearts of simple folk.
SPECIAL SUPERSTITIONS
The principal species of superstition -- idolatry, divination, occult arts -- have received
adequate treatment in other articles. Something remains to be said on:
<cultus indebitus>, or the pious vagaries which people intermingle with Catholic
religion;
(2) vain observances in daily life.
1. Improper Worship
The first type of improper worship, <cultus indebitus>, consists in introducing <false>
or superfluous elements into the practice of true religion. Such false elements, be their
origin culpable deceit or inculpable credulity, vitiate the virtue of religion by
substituting error for truth in the service of God. A layman performing priestly
functions, a pardoner selling spurious indulgences, a fanatic devotee inventing false
miracles and answers to prayers in order to introduce or spread his own favourite
devotion, wholesale believers in supernatural apparitions, visions, revelations, which
serve no good purpose - all these are guilty of superstition, at least material. As
regards formal guilt, this is often reduced to the vanishing point by the prevailing
credulity and common practice of the period. The worship of imaginary saints or relics,
devotion based upon false revelations, apparitions, supposed miracles, or false notions
generally, is usually excusable in the worshipper on the ground of ignorance and good
faith; but there is no excuse for those who use similar means to exploit popular
credulity for their own pecuniary profit. The originators of such falsehoods are liars,
deceivers, and not rarely thieves; but a milder judgment should be pronounced on
those who, after discovering the imposture, tolerate the improper cultus. For it is no
easy matter, even for the highest authorities, to eradicate beliefs or to check the growth
of devotions which have taken a strong hold on the popular mind: the long struggle of
the Inquisition with the Spiritual Franciscans, who, on the assumption that the rule of
St. Francis was a direct revelation from heaven, attributed to the practice of poverty an
exaggerated importance, and cheerfully went to the stake rather than relinquish their
ways, is but one example among scores that could be cited. There is always the fear of
uprooting the wheat with the tares, and the hope of seeing the impropoer worship die a
natural death; for devotions also have their changing seasons. The pope and the
bishops are the proper authorities to act in these matters, for to them belongs the
regulation of worship, both public and private, and it is the duty of every Catholic to
abide by their decision.
The same reflections apply to another kind of improper worship, the <cultus
superfluus> which consists in expecting from certain pre-arranged circumstances a
greater efficacy of the religious performance; e.g. to expect a greater benefit from
Masses said before sunrise with a certain number of candles disposed in a certain
order, by a priest bearing a special saint's name or being of the supposed stature of
Christ. Triduums, novenas, First Friday Communions, nine consecutive First Friday
Communions, Saturday fasting, though they seem to attach special importance to
number and dates, are approved by the Church, because these dates and numbers are
convenient for shaping and regulating certain excellent devotions. The Catholic
devotions which are connected with holy places, holy shrines, holy wells, famous relics,
etc. are commonly treated as superstitious by non-Catholics who either reject all
worship of saints and relics or assume pious frauds on the part of the priests who
benefit by the worship. It must be admitted that these hallowed spots and things have
occasioned many legends; that popular credulity was in some cases the principal cause
of their celebrity; that here and there instances of fraud can be adduced; yet, for all
that, the principles which guide the worshipper, and his good intentions, are not
impaired by an undercurrent of errors as to facts. If superstition there be, it is only
material. Moreover, the Church is always careful to remove any fraud or error
inconsistent with true devotion, although she is tolerant of "pious beliefs" which have
helped to further Christian piety. Thus, alleged saints and relics are suppressed as
soon as discovered, but belief in the private revelations to which the feast of Corpus
Christi, the Rosary, the Sacred Heart and many other devotions owe their origin is
neither commanded nor prohibited; here each man is his own judge.
2. Vain Observances in Daily Life
Turning now to vain observances in daily life, properly so called, we first meet with
the superstitions observed in the administration of justice during many centuries of the
Middle Ages, and known as ordeals or "judgments of God". Among the early
Germans a man accused of a crime had to prove his innocence, no proof of his guilt
being incumbent on his accusers. The oath of a free man, strengthened by the oaths of
friends, sufficed to establish his innocence, but when the oath was refused or the
required number of "compurgators" failed, the defendant, if he was a free man, had to
fight his accuser in single combat; bondmen and women had either to find a champion
to fight for them or to undergo some other form of ordeal as fixed by law, arranged by
the judge, or chosen by one of the parties. Besides the judicial combat the early
German laws recognized as legitimate means to discriminate between guilt and
innocence the casting or drawing of lots, trial by fire in several forms - holding one's
hand in fire for a determined length of time; passing between two piles of burning
wood with no covering for the body except a shirt impregnated with wax; carrying
with the naked hand a red-hot iron weighing from one to three pounds a distance of
from nine to twelve paces; walking barefoot over nine red-hot ploughshares disposed
in a line nine steps long. At the root of these and many analogous practices (see
ORDEALS) lay the firm belief that God would work a miracle rather than allow the
innocent to perish or the wicked to prevail. These "judgments of God" gave rise to new
superstitions. Whether guilty or not, persons subjected to the trials would often put
more confidence in charms, magic formulas, and ointments than in the intervention of
Providence. The ordeals gradually gave way before the rationalistic temper of modern
times; trials by torture, which survived the ordeals, seem to have been inspired by the
same idea, that God will protect the innocent and give them superhuman endurance.
The power of the evil eye (fascinatio) has been believed in for a long time, and is still
dreaded in many countries. The number thirteen continues to strike terror into the
breasts of men who profess not to fear God. The apparent success which so often
attends a superstition can mostly be accounted for by natural causes, although it would
be rash to deny all supernatural intervention (e.g. in the phenomena of Spiritism).
When the object is to ascertain, or to effect in a general way, one of two possible events,
the law of probabilities gives an equal chance to success and failure, and success does
more to support than failure would do to destroy superstition, for, on its side, there are
arrayed the religious instinct, sympathy and apathy, confidence and distrust,
encouragement and discouragement, self-suggestion and - perhaps strongest of all - the
healing power of nature.
ST. THOMAS, <Summa>, II-II, QQ. 92 - 96; ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI, <Theol.
Mor.>, IV, i. See also DIVINATION; NECROMANCY; ORDEALS; SPIRITISM.
J. WILHELM
Transcribed by Frank O'Leary
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
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