Superstitions have born out of the human attempt to relate effects with causes. Humans have always tried to explain the incidents around them or find out the reasons for an occurrence. Science has explained many things but there is a lot more that has been left unexplained. Every day we go through many different sorts of experience. Some of the experiences like a sudden accident or a surprising windfall make us wonder why it happened. Superstitions are the easy route people take for coming to terms with a surprising event they can’t explain in any other way.
Most of the superstitions are groundless yet they are so deep rooted that it is difficult to find out how they came into being. The first and foremost reason for believing in superstitions is that they help people feel that they are in control of the events that are happening or going to happen in their lives. Most of the superstitions are actually some cause and preventing that cause helps in controlling a certain outcome. The superstitions vary from one culture to another. In some culture breaking glass is supposed to bring good luck whereas in some other culture breaking mirror brings bad luck.
We all believe in some kind of superstition or other. The fear of uncertainty makes people trust superstitions. They also use superstitious believes for excusing themselves out of a tight spot. Life is full of ambiguity. Death and illness are two factors that instigate superstitions. There is an innate fear in humans regarding death. Superstitions give them a way of handling the fear of death.
Humans are always trying to find out actions which will improve their lives. When they cannot do something rational they turn towards irrational superstitions to grapple with the reality of life and death.