Among periods of human life, the terror which attaches to death has made it the centre of a vast body of superstitious habits. A great number of actions and experiences are still popularly re garded as signs of approaching departure. The principle on which the phenomena are inter preted is that of association of ideas. Thus ringing in the ears is a sign of dissolution, be cause the Church has usually rung a `death-bell' over the departed; carrying a spade through the house has like significance, because a spade is used to dig graves; a blue flame in the candle is ominous, for the lowering of the light forecasts the decline of the life; a flower blooming out of season foreshows a decease; and so on indefinite ly. In like manner, the unusual also is a fruit ful source of superstition; if every child were born with a eaul (that is, a membrane encom passing the head) it is doubtful if this would have been taken as an especial sign of good luck.
A considerable number of superstitions relate to times of the year, and revert to the practices of old religion. Thus Hallowe'en, or the evening before All Saints' Day, is attended with obser vances which seem to have been dependent on its original character as a feast of the dead, when departed spirits were invited to partake in the fruits of the harvest, and were conceived as pres ent at the sacrifice and merry-making. On this night it is usual to perform divinations, now reduced to mere jests, in which an unmarried person is expected to discover his or her com panion for life. These practices must be re
garded as the remainder of serious necromancy, in which the returning spirits were asked to re veal the future.
While the majority of superstitions are re mains of antiquity, their invention has not alto gether ceased in historical times. Of this we have examples in the prejudice against the number thirteen, and in objection to Friday as unlucky, since in Christian thought the day of the Cruci fixion and the number involving the addition of Judas were of necessity regarded as ill-omened. The superstition of the evil eye, that is, the belief that certain individuals have the power to in jure by a look, is still widespread in Eastern countries, where the belief yet lingers that the demoniac (q.v.) is divinely inspired. Nature worship (q.v.) lingers in such superstitions as those connected with the moon, the belief in its mysterious power to work good or ill, its influ ence on the weather, and the like. The belief in ghosts (q.v.) reflects the earlier ancestor wor ship. The common notion about the good luck brought by a horseshoe has been traced back to phallicism (q.v.).
The following list, prepared by Bolton (The Counting-out Rhymes of London, ISSS), gives the technical names for different forms of divination and the method followed in each: See also FOLKLORE; MAN, SCIENCE OF; MAGIC; MYTHOLOGY; RELIGION, COMPARATIVE.