Myth Busting 101

 

Hello Reader! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. This week’s article is completely about the common myths and superstitions we come across daily and the underlying wisdom behind them. The sole purpose of this article is to spread the knowledge and awareness. I don’t mean to comment or offend anyone’s beliefs. Now that the Disclaimer has been given let’s get to the topic.

Menstruating Women – A Taboo

Myth – A woman on her period shouldn’t cook, visit temples or mosques, should stay away from puja rooms in houses. In few households, they go as far and treat them as “untouchables”.

Reality – Menstruating women lose a lot of blood and it’s very painful and stressful for them. Because they had to endure such pain, they were refrained from performing any strenuous household activities. To offer them some rest, they were asked not to do any tedious activities and it somehow ended up as an “impurity” nonsensical superstition.

Peepal Tree – Ghost’s Murder Playground

Myth – It is believed that ghost’s hover around on the Peepal Tree at night and if you stand/sleep under one, you will be killed by them. (Don’t blame the ghosts, they didn’t mean any harm. Maybe they needed a new unbiased umpire for their cricket match.)

Reality – It’s just pure and basic science. In the process of Photosynthesis, plants exhale CO₂ during the night and if we breathe in too much CO₂, we are sure to die.

Trimming Nails at Night – The Inauspicious Event

Myth – It is believed that cutting your nails after sunset brings misfortune to your household.

Reality – In the olden days, nail clippers were extremely sharp and due to the lack of proper lighting or electricity it was advisable to trim your nails during the day. Also, if you try to trim your nails, it would be harder to clean them in the night.

Crush the Serpent’s Head – You are safe in your next life

Myth – If you don’t crush a snake’s head after killing it, its kin will find an image of  you in the dead eyes snake and seek revenge. The snake will attempt to kill you in all your next 7 lives.

Reality – A snake can bite or kill a person with its detached head too. So to completely neutralize it, we must crush it’s head. Also, since snakes are cold blooded organisms, they tend to stay alive for several hours even if some of its vital organs stop working and die a slow and painful death. Hence it is  recommended to crush its head quickly to give it a quick and painless death. (Although not killing would be much better but sometimes its not possible).

 

Throw Coins into a Fountain – Your Wish comes True

Myth – Throwing coins into fountains, ponds and other water bodies brings good luck and whatever you wish for, will come true.

Reality – In the olden days, coins were made of Copper and these water bodies were the main of drinking water. Copper helps to kill bacteria in the water and also if the copper stayed in water for long it is very healthy for consumption.

 

When I started reading about these myths, I came across many astounding superstitions that people follow blindly, without knowing the actual reason or purpose behind doing them. I’m sure many of you might’ve come across these in your daily lives or at least encountered one of these superstitions in your life. I hope that you understand the actual reason behind certain things we are asked (sometimes forced) to do.

In this article, I have listed few of the recent superstitions I observed personally. I will be writing about other superstitions too, during the course of this week. Please share your views and your experiences about any such superstitions. I would love to hear your take on them. Thank You Reader!