I’m investigating why our ancestors once lived in terror of witches. Tony Robinson’s Superstitions II: Witches
Witches were believed to combine forces at diabolic meetings ... known as Witches’ Sabbaths. ibid.
Rewind a couple of thousand years ... and pagan altars were places of human sacrifice and murder. Tony Robinson’s Superstitions III: Gods
These Celtic gods were Nature itself. ibid.
‘There’s no sense of the loving god ... you can never trust a god.’ ibid. expert
Self-sacrifice was the price for any meaningful connection with their chosen god. ibid.
Paganism has shaped our history. ibid.
Our ancestors were so convinced disease had supernatural causes. And what magic treatments they thought would cure them. Tony Robinson’s Superstitions IV: Diabolical Diseases
The superstition that diseases spread by smells is known as Miasma. ibid.
Disease was seen as a punishment because you had sinned. ibid.
Round up all suspicious characters and search them for stolen documents. Casablanca 1942 ***** starring Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman & Paul Henreid & Claude Rains & Conrad Veidt & Sydney Greenstreet & Peter Lorre & Curt Bois et al, director Michael Curtiz, rozzer
For he is superstitious of late,
Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies. William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar II i 195
Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Acts 17:22
Superstition is the religion of feeble minds. Edmund Burke
Superstition is the poetry of life. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832
Foul Superstition! howsoe’er disguised,
Idol, saint, virgin, prophet, crescent, cross,
For whatsoever symbol thou art prized,
Thou sacerdotal gain, but general loss!
Who from true worship’s gold can separate thy dross? Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage II:44
The origin of certain superstitions is often connected to the intention of attributing adverse events to specific causes. Fausto Cercignani
Primitive superstition lies just below the surface of even the most tough-minded individuals, and it is precisely those who most fight against it who are the first to succumb to its suggestive effects. Carl Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, 1960
The greatest burden in the world is superstition, not only of ceremonies in the church, but of imaginary and scarecrow sins at home. John Milton, cited Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert ‘Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers’ 1895
Very superstitious, writings on the wall,
Very superstitious, ladders ’bout to fall,
Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin’ glass,
Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past.
When you believe in things that you don’t understand,
Then we suffer,
Superstition ain’t the way. Stevie Wonder, Superstition
The Vampire: Prince of Darkness, an immortal monster that preys on the living and survives by drinking the life-blood of innocents. An image both threatening and strangely alluring, vampires have become one of our most enduring romantic fictions. But perhaps more chilling, the fictional vampire is rooted in a grim reality. (Ancient Mysteries s1e2: Origin of the Vampire, A&E 1994
Superstition was still a way of life. It was in this period while smoke from the Inquisition and its witch-hunts still hung heavily in the air that the vampire we recognise was first encountered. ibid.
In the early 1700s vampire killings were commonplace throughout Europe. They were founded in cultural beliefs with ancient roots. ibid.
Vampire superstitions had crossed to America. ibid.