Nicola Staff asked 2 years ago
This is another superstition addressing the perception one is at risk and always under a potential threat. So, at the first sign of trouble and having doubts about one's status from some kind of adverse circumstances, having a ritual to counter that fear of an outside malevolent force provides a kind of self-soothing and reassurance even if it is not logically related to anything in a meaningful way. The attempts to draw an association reaching into the distant past are fitting because this is a superstition with a very long lineage, and shows that such a notion will resonate strongly in the culture, being picked up and adopted by a majority of people and will pass it on to their children. We can tell you that strength does not derive from a self-prescribed ritual of that kind, but ritual does have a place for reinforcement, for providing focus and marshaling inner intentions for an important desired outcome to come about. This is why ritual is adopted universally by religions because it is tapping into that ability to enable people to focus their conscious intentions on something lofty. There is a disconnect in people not understanding why they are so powerless because they come from a plane of existence where their conscious thoughts can create things out of energy and make seeming "magic" happen. So superstition can be a carryover as a way to compensate for feeling vulnerable and lacking a tangible means to obtain greater power, perceived as being needed to maintain stability and safety. So, once again, it is not that the idea is off-target in wanting to not be at risk, but the means to gain assistance are a misguided notion when better tools are needed than a do-it-yourself ritual that might be comforting to the person but have no power beyond that, to assist them.
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