Unlucky for some
Today is Friday the 13th, deemed by many to be an ill-omened date, but even those of us not of an overtly superstious disposition might, if honest, admit to harbouring one or two lingering irrationalities.
According to the eminent Victorian clergyman and author, Charles Kingsley, "superstition is the child of fear, and fear is the child of ignorance". He wrote in an age that prided itself on scientific and technological rigour, where rational investigation and empirical research would banish benightedness from the world and liberate mankind from the shackles of craven terror. And yet he apparently saw no contradiction in being himself a devout Christian and a leading proponent of the cult of 'Muscular Christianity', so central to the success of Britain's imperial project.
Kingsley would no doubt have been deeply shocked and offended by the suggestion that his own religious and political beliefs were themselves examples of irrationality, however sincerely-held and well-intentioned. And that's the point about superstition - we all absolve our own quirks and foibles from any suggestion of crankiness whilst patronsing others for theirs. We may mock them for avoiding walking under a ladder while we ourselves experience a frisson when a black cat crosses our path. One person's superstition is another's caution.
I don't consider myself in the least superstious and will blithely walk under the ladder or stroke the black cat, yet I will admit to touching wood and throwing a pinch of spilt salt over my left shoulder. Of course, in my case it's not a matter of superstition rather of habit - and done ironically. (Well, we're all entitled to a little harmless self-deception I suppose.)
Different cultures have differing superstitions: in Spain, for example, the unlucky date is Tuesday the 13th whereas, in Italy, it's Friday the 17th that provokes dread. And really, when one looks around at the supposedly rational world we now inhabit, a few irrational fears, such as opening umbrellas indoors, crossing on the stairs, stirring with a knife, putting shoes on tables or breaking a mirror, seem positively benign compared, let's say, with Making America Great Again, freeing Ukraine from the yoke of 'European fascism', ethnically cleansing Gaza and the West Bank, reclaiming Taiwan by force as part of China or bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.
For the avoidance of all these present horrors, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.