superstitious belief

Title: A Study on How Superstitious Beliefs Can Affect the Filipinos
Thesis Statement:Many Filipinos are affected in superstious beliefs
I.Introduction
A.Historical backround http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition
The word superstition is first used in English in the 15th century, modelled after an earlier French superstition. The earliest known use as an English noun occurs in Friar Daw's Reply (ca. 1420), where the foure general synnes are enumerated as Cediciouns, supersticions, þe glotouns, & þe proude. The French word, together with its Romance cognates (Italian superstizione, Spanish supersticion, Portuguese superstição, Catalan superstició) continues Latin superstitio. From its first use in the Classical Latin of Livy and Ovid (1st century BC), the term is used in the pejorative sense it still holds today, of an excessive fear of the gods or unreasonable religious belief, as opposed to religio, the proper, reasonable awe of the gods.
While the formation of the Latin word is clear, from the verb super-stare, "to stand over, stand upon; survive", its original intended sense is less than clear.
It can be interpreted as "‘standing over a thing in amazement or awe",[4] but other possibilities have been suggested, e.g. the sense of excess, i.e. overscrupulousness or over-ceremoniousness in the performing of religious rites, or else the survival of old, irrational religious habits.[5][6]
Cicero derived the term from the term superstitiosi, lit. those who are "left over", i.e. "survivors", "descendants", connecting it with excessive anxiety of parents in hoping that their children would survive them to perform their necessary funerary rites.[7]
The Latin verb superstare itself is comparatively young, being "perhaps not ante-Augustan", first found in Livy, and the meaning "to survive" is even younger, found in late or ecclesiastical Latin, for the first time in Ennodius. The use of the noun by Cicero and Horace thus predates the first attestation of the verb.[citation needed]
The term superstitio, or superstitio vana "vain superstition", was applied in the 1st century to those religious cults in the Roman Empire which were officially outlawed. This concerned the religion of the druids in particular, which was described as a superstitio vana by Tacitus, and Early Christianity, outlawed as a superstitio Iudaica in AD 80 by Domitian.t
B.Definition of superstitious belief http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Superstitious+belief http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superstition

Superstitious belief, by definition, have no scientific basis. Science requires that ideas are tested in a way that is repeatable and falsifiable. Falsifiable means that there must be a way that the test shows that a stated belief is not true, while most superstitions rely on metaphysical entities or powers that are so vague they can not be dis-proven.
A belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition
C.Types of Superstitious Beliefs http://www.catalogs.com/info/history/common-superstitions.html http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Philippine_Beliefs_and_Superstitions 1.Pregnancy

All windows and doors should be wide close for the laboring mother’s easy delivery.
Pregnant women should avoid witnessing her husband, so that when born their babies would not have the habit of winking the eyes abnormally.
An expectant mother should not act as sponsor in a baptismal ceremony to avoid difficulty in delivering her baby or to avoid the death of the fetus or of the newly baptized child.
Sitting on the threshold of the house by a pregnant woman will result in a difficult delivery.
Taking pictures of a pregnant woman will cause an abortion or a difficult delivery.
An expectant mother should have her house neither constructed nor remodeled to avoid difficulty in delivering her baby.
Do not partake of the food being eaten by an expecting mother. If you do, you will either become sleepy or will feel drowsy or sick.
The new mother should avoid itchy or scratchy foods like gabi, and round fruits or root crops such as citrus, ube, tugui, and coconut for three weeks so her inner organs can return to normal.
Do not leave the ladle on top or inside of the rice kettle, but set it aside until more rice is needed. This is done so that childbirth will not be difficult.
A visitor must not sit or stand on the ladder or at the door, but come inside so that delivery will not be hard.
The mother should not eat shellfish. These are slippery and if they are taken from the brook, the baby may be expelled from the womb.
An expectant mother should not eat fish from pointed shells lest the baby have too much mucus or drool too much.
A pregnant woman is not allowed to cut her hair, she will give birth to a bald baby.
Pregnant women should not cry because they will suffer a difficult birth, and the baby will become sensitive and a crybaby.
Miscarriages only occur during the odd-numbered months of pregnancy.
Taking a bath before delivery will hasten the birth of the baby, as well as of the placenta.
An expectant mother should not participate in funeral activities. Doing so would endanger the mother and the baby during delivery. If a pregnant woman wears clothes which were hung overnight, the fetus will be affected.
It is believed that when denied the food a pregnant mother likes, her child will salivate profusely and will be prone to vomiting.
A pregnant woman should eat all the food on her plate, so that when she delivers, everything will come out, leaving her womb clean.
A comb is submerged in coconut milk with sugar to make the mother's breast full of milk.
2.General Health

Sleeping after taking a bath during daytime or at night will result in blindness.
A menstruating woman should not eat sweets lest blood flow stop and cause illness or death.
Let a dog lick your wounds, and the wounds will be healed.
Sleeping with wet hair makes one crazy.
When one is wounded during high tide, much blood will ooze out.
After circumcision, a boy should not step on a mortar or pestle; otherwise, his organ will grow as big as these.
When one is sick with smallpox, he must be given all the things he wishes; otherwise he will die.
The successive birth of four children of the same sex is believed to endanger the life of the parent of the same sex.
Children are advised not to bite banana leaves, as this is believed to cause tooth decay.
One should not eat mollusks when he has wounds, otherwise, his wounds will grow big.
A sick person is always believed to grow worse when the moon is full. If the patient does not recover before one lunar month has elapsed and the moon once more assumes this phase, the case is considered hopeless.
Taking a bath at night will cause anemia or low blood pressure.
Taking a bath on New Year’s Day and/or Good Friday will cause one to get sick.
If the family is eating and a member arrives, he is not permitted to join the others in the meal, for if this rule is violated and a member of the household becomes ill, the others may become ill too.
Menstruating girls should not eat papaya to avoid whitish blood, nor liver or blood, as they will cause a strong flow.
Asthma can be cured by putting a cat near the throat and the chest and at the same time reciting a prayer.
Sore eyes can be cured by washing the eyes with the first urine early in the morning.
A child who plays with fallen unripe coconuts will suffer body swelling.
Parents who despise ugly children will bear an ugly child.
Parents who despise or laugh at twins will have twins.
3.Wedding

Brides shouldn’t try on their wedding dress before the wedding day or the wedding will not push through.
Knives and other sharp and pointed objects are said to be a bad choice for wedding gifts for this will lead to a broken marriage.
Giving an arinola (chamberpot) as wedding gift is believed to bring good luck to newlyweds.
Altar-bound couples are accident-prone and therefore must avoid long drives or traveling before their wedding day for safety.
The groom who sits ahead of his bride during the wedding ceremony will be a hen-pecked husband.
Rains during the wedding means prosperity and happiness for the newlyweds.
A flame extinguished on one of the wedding candles means the one whose candle was extinguished will die ahead of the other.
Throwing rice confetti at the newlyweds will bring them prosperity all their life.
The groom must arrive before the bride at the church to avoid bad luck.
Breaking something during the reception brings good luck to the newlyweds.
The bride should step on the groom’s foot while walking towards the altar if she wants him to agree to her every whim.
A bride who wears pearls on her wedding will be an unhappy wife experiencing many heartaches and tears.
Dropping the wedding ring, the veil, or the arrhae during the ceremony spells unhappiness for the couple.
The member of the couple stands first after the ceremony, will die ahead of the other.
A bride who cries during the wedding will bring bad luck to the marriage.
It is bad omen for the newlywed couple if their parents cry during the wedding.
Upon entering their new home, the couple should go up the stairs alongside each other so that neither one will dominate the other.
An unwed girl who follows the footprints of a newlywed couple will marry soon.
If a woman is widowed during the new moon, she will marry again.
A person who habitually sits at the head of the table during meals will never marry.
4.Body Marks and Shapes

A person with a mole on his foot is a born adventurer.
A person with a mole on his face will be successful in business.
A person with a mole on the center of her nose will be rich but unhappy.
A person with a mole close to his eye is attractive to the opposite sex.
A mole on the hand signifies wealth or thievery.
A mole on one’s back is a sign of laziness.
A person with big ears will have a long life.
Women with wide hips will bear many children.
People with naturally curly hair are moody or ill-tempered.
People with eyebrows that almost meet easily get jealous.
Men with hairy chests are playboys.
A person with lines running from the palm of his hand to his fingers is successful in business.
People whose teeth are spaced far apart are liars.
II.Discussion
A.Effects in our culture 1.Advantages-