Superstition is a customary practice,belief or opinion with no apparently rational basis carried on from generation to generation without being tested.Superstitions are believed universally but in India its belief is wide spread .Superstitions are often mixed with customs in which case it becomes difficult to break it .

The origin of several superstitions can be traced to a fear of the unknown in birth,death or disease,Some are rooted to mythology while many are related to safety of the individual,protection of the house hold and things associated with it..Because of the country's predominantly agricultural traditions,many superstitions centred around rainfall,harvest and cattle health..Man's life was considered inseparable from nature..This led to superstitions concerning the lunar cycle,the eclipse ,the force of gravity and so on.It was believed that the power of thought could create or destroy ,bless or blight..Thus came about superstitions which were entreaties for protection from evil thought commonly called "The Evil eye".

The ancients made rich symbolic comparisons of natural events to a superstition..They thought that God often expressed His approval or disapproval of man 's actions and gave fore warning through the medium of animals...Animals,being more ancient than man,were supposed to be mediums for receiving divine messages...They also showed great reverence for the human foetus,new born infants and young children.

Therefore superstitions could be usud as an effective means of making people follow desirable practices.People are conveniently superstitious...Some of the popular superstitions are :
1).If a pregnant woman reads and listens to Mythological stories ,it would create a positive energy in the foetus and the child will grow healthy and strong..
2).A person with pigmentation of the tongue has the power of prophecy..
3).A death on a Saturday will be followed by another death soon .To avoid this a small piece of wood is sent for cremation along with the dead body.
4).One should not ask the destination and the purpose of the journey from someone leaving the house as it may derail the purpose....
5).If a mirror falls from the hand and breaks it brings ill-luck as it signifies the destruction of trhe image of the person..
6).A person who can touch the nose tip with the tongue will be a successful person.
7).Crossing your fingers helps to avoid bad luck and helps a wish come true...

--Superstitions at times, becomes a custom...
A common superstition in point is a period in a year usually coinciding with the monsoons which is considered inauspicious for marriages..
The rational being , these are the monsoon months when the farmer will be busy preparing the land and sowing the crop which is his main livelihood..Marriages during this time will seriously disrupt this activity,hence a practice....

--Coincidence , superstition or astrology at work???
A Seer forewarned the Mysore royalty that a white crow might appear in the Mysore region and it would cause heavy damage to the royal property..
It proved to be partially true when the Scion of Mysore royal family,SriKantaDatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar,had to skip the Dasara's finale after he was injured --- a nail tore into his left leg just before the pageantry was to begin...

--Could this be a strange co-incidence or is this real???
Any Chief Minister visiting Chamaraj nagar in Karnataka loses his post in due course ...
This has created a scare among Chief Ministers and has prevented them from visiting the place..
Politicians are very conscious of the time at which they swear in or take up important activities..

--In the past man was mystified with life and death which he attributed to nature and observed minute events with child like curiosity..The naive lessons he learnt,he practiced..
Modern man on the other hand though curious about superstitions has very little time to delve into its causes and therefore follows it blindly,albeit irrationaly at times .......