Most Popular Superstition In America : Touchwood ( Touching Wood )
It is very interesting that the same people who believe everything happens by chance are very superstitious. Superstition is simply admission to supernatural phenomenon. By dictionary definition, superstition means the disposition to believe in the supernatural, the occult, or the mysterious, without sufficient evidence. Many practices in almost every culture in the World are based on superstition, which people don't really understand how, but they know it happens. Superstition is therefore one evidence for the existence of the supernatural.
You have probably heard someone, talking about a good event that may soon happen, stop and say, "knock wood." More than likely, he will even look around for something wooden to knock on. This superstition dates all the way back to the time when men believed the air was filled with evil spirits. If they discussed a good thing, they rapped loudly on wood. Otherwise, the spirits might hear them and snatch the good thing away.
I found a very interesting superstitious practice in England, where the term "touch Wood" is used. Strangely, if you ask the person who "touched wood" about the origin of the expression, the chances are that he doesn't really know. It is a cultural practice to express superstition, suggesting that in the absence of any evil forces, nothing untoward would happen.
A lot of people subscribe to the superstition that if you don't knock on wood, whatever fate-tempting statement you just made may well come true, or not. A lot of people don't know, however, that you have to be precise in the administration of this superstition. What if, for instance, you accidentally knock on wood more than the usual two times? In my view, if you accidentally knock three times, you have to knock one more time to make it an even four.
Underlying this superstition is the anxiety that the lucky break may not last, while the irrational element, the contact with a wooden object, is clearly irrelevant in prolonging the strain of good luck. The fact that the ritual of touching wood is so widely practiced derives on the one hand from its being transmitted from person to person. On the other hand it affects, as do so many beliefs, an emotional aspect that is common to a great number of people.
What about the Superstition Surrounding the number 13? Where did that come from? The answer is from the Last Supper. You see, Jesus and his 12 disciples sat down at the Last Supper and within a day Christ had been crucified and Judas hanged himself. And so it came to pass that people believed that whenever 13 persons sat down to dine together, at least One Would die within a year. From that the superstition Spread. I'll knock on wood.
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality that one event leads to the cause of another without any physical process linking the two events, such as astrology, omens, witchcraft, etc., that contradicts natural science. They can't be overcome by logic as they are a throwback to early primitive religions in which man worshiped the wild elements.
In USA, knocking on wood protects against evil rather than for attracting good luck. Usually the practice is a reaction to real or imagined bad news. In most cases the nearest wooden object is used, although, in some areas, tables are exempt. For example; knock on wood charm, knock on wood key chain, knock on wood charms, knock on wood cabinets, knock on wood furniture, etc. If there's no wood available, the practice is to knock on one's head, followed by pulling one's earlobe with the same hand accompanied by saying 'God guard us or 'May the Devil not hear.' Wood knocking is also practiced in UK.
Underlying this superstition is the anxiety that the lucky break may not last, while the irrational element, the contact with a wooden object, is clearly irrelevant in prolonging the strain of good luck. The fact that the ritual of touching wood is so widely practiced derives on the one hand from its being transmitted from person to person. On the other hand it affects, as do so many beliefs, an emotional aspect that is common to a great number of people.
Another expression is "fingers Crossed." These expressions clearly suggest to me that there exists a belief in the existence of forces in operation that determine how events go. I would like you to carefully consider the rampant use of these expressions "touch wood" and "fingers crossed" in the daily lives of people in the USA, UK. Clearly the use of such terminology only reveals that "we don't know it all" and that certain events are beyond our control.
Source: Predestination Paradox of Life: Understanding the Concept of God and the Purpose of Life
