Superstitions play a big part in people's lives

By Myra Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): You say you don't believe in superstition? Well, think again.

Last year, Aranxta Sanchez said she won the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Stadium, because her dog Roland was watching. But he was there again this year and she did not win. And this year, Richard Krajicek's girlfriend claimed he won Wimbledon because she was wearing a lucky hat.

There have been other examples, and it is amazing to realize that even the greatest champions believe that their achievements depend on little things that normally would not attract any attention; like a little dog, a hat or a lucky charm. Some champions are said to wear the same socks every match, believing that luck is at their feet.

It was Socrates who said that men would not be superstitious if they could govern all their circumstances by set rules. But since people are usually in hope or fear of the uncertainty of fortune's favors, they are prone to credulity.

It is difficult to find a good definition for superstition. Writers refer to it as something that is quite understandable, but without a satisfactory explanation.

Reading the travel stories of bygone adventurers, one may think the whole world is superstitious depending on how one looks at it.

It is true that most people are superstitious when they are trying to get something they desire but are unsure of obtaining. Hence it is more common among competing athletes, examination candidates and gamblers. Does it result from a lack of self-confidence, or is superstition rooted in our psyche which we are unable to outgrow?

Psychologist Jean Piaget said that two-year-old children go through a phase of 'magic thinking'. For instance, they push a button and light bulbs begin glowing or a fan starts turning. Anthropologists have elaborated on this, saying that some cultures are fixed in this phase of life and have made magic thinking their mode of thinking, whereas other cultures have progressed and developed rational thinking.

Indonesians seem to rely more on magic than do Westerners. Louis Couperus, a well-known Dutch novelist, wrote an interesting novel titled The Stille Kracht (The Silent Power) which contrasted the two ways of thinking through Javanese and Dutch characters in the book.

We don't think of superstition when somebody tells us not to cut our nails after sunset or when young girls are told not to eat the "corner" bananas off a bunch. We even believe a man may have become rich by keeping a tuyul, a small male, bald-headed creature who runs around in the nude stealing money for its owner. We pity the owner because, according to the same belief, he may lose someone he loves, like his daughter or his wife, once he has become rich. That is the sacrifice he must make for becoming rich. Another creature among us is the babi ngepet, a swine-like creature who helps you inflict evil to your enemies. But a nice and beautiful girl may be protected by a Brahala, a giant creature who would always be by her side to aid her.

We are not surprised that people go to dukun (magic healers) when they or their relatives are ill. Besides seeking a cure, they also want to find out whether they had been cursed by an enemy. We are most satisfied when the dukun has helped us to remove the curse, and has given us a talisman to protect us from the curse or other curses.

And have you noticed that Indonesian women never put their handbags on the floor? "That is pamali," they say and pamali means taboo. The reason for the taboo is that the floor is considered dirty, whereas a handbag used to contain money should be not be put on something dirty.

It is worthwhile believing in garden plants. Some plants bring luck, while others bring enemies. The bougainvillea should not be planted in the front of houses because the thorns scare away people. Another plant, which has beautiful light-green leaves, is not supposed to be planted in front of houses, because it causes the occupants' money to be sucked away by others. When I remarked on this to my friend Mas Ning, who has this plant in his front yard, he replied calmly: "Well, never mind, that means I have money, because how else could it be sucked away?"

Sri Gading is a beautiful creeper that remains small when planted in a pot but grows big leaves when planted in soil. My friend Mia once had a visitor from Malaysia, who said that one of her plants, called a money plant in Malaysia, had similar big leaves. "Big leaves means big notes", she said, "you must be very rich now."

Mia laughed and chided the superstitious woman. However, a few years later she laughed no longer because her business was booming: She had changed her strategy after her management, and other elements that were supposed to be good for business, had failed. One morning in her garden, she realized that something was missing. It was the money plant. The gardener had chopped down the tree on which the plant had been growing. Luckily she found some of the money plant's stubs, which she planted against another tree. Mia now believes in superstition and tends to the plant with loving care. The plant started growing again and after a while produced some big leaves. Her business also started flourishing. She can again has big bank notes to count.