Friday the Thirteenth!

Are you the superstitious sort?  Me, not so much.  But, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, this word derives “from supersisto, ‘to stand in terror of the deity’ (Cicero, ‘De Nat. deorum’, I, 42, 117); or from superstes, ‘surviving.'”  And while a little “fear of God” may not be a bad thing, I’m definitely more inclined to favor the “loving and forgiving God” concept. 

Superstitions can be broken down into four categories (reflective of the ways that religion can be corrupted by excess):

• improper worship of the true God;
• idolatry;
• divination;
• vain observances, which include magic and occult arts.

The number and variety of superstitions are varied indeed. 

• 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 (Ezekiel 21:21);
• geomancy, by points, lines or figures traced on the ground;
• hydromancy, by water;
• idolatry, the worship of idols;
• Sabianism, the worshipof 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.

Happy Friday the 13th!