SUPERSTITIONS

There are hundreds of superstitions which survive in various parts of country ,

and the study of them is rather amusing, We are told, for example, that it is uiniucky to point
to the new moon or look at it through glass, but if we bow nine times to it we shall have a
lucky month;

Nearly all superstitions are concerned with “luck”. Good luck is associated with black
cats, horseshoes, the finding of a pin, the three-penny bit in the Christmas pudding, the old
shoe flung at a wedding party, and the dark man who is the first to step over the doorstep on
New Year’s Day. 111 luck is associated with the howling of dogs, the spilling of salt, the
crossing of knives, sitting down thirteen to eatable meeting a cross eyed woman, waking
under a ladder, the falling of a picture from the wall, the breaking of a mirror, and scores of
other things.

When the fire is reluctant to burn, servant girls will often pale a poker upright
before the bars. She does not know why she does it; she has seen her mother and
grandmother do it. But centuries ago a sulky fire was attributed across the bars (which made
the sign off the cross) was thought to have the power to destroy the evil spell.

Now suppose you tell a scientist that you believe a certain superstition—let us say,
the howling of a dog is a sign of death. The scientist will immediately require evidence before
he can accept your figures to prove it. It will be useless to quote two or three cases; he will
want hundreds. He will want also to know (a) if it were happened that the howling of dogs is
not followed by death, (b) if every person’s death is predicted by the howling of dogs.The
answer to the former question is in the affirmative, and to the latter in the negative. Your
superstition will not bear investigation. It may impress and ignorant person but it cannot face
the light of facts. Your case will not carry conviction in a court of la

REVOLUTION
 No sensible persons desires social chaos; but many
persons not altogether devoid of sense desire change in the
constitution of society so radical that it may justly be called
revolution. It may be taken for granted, therefore that no long
argument is needed to show that revolution does not mean,
and need not involve, social chaos. Indeed, the whole tenor of
history would go to prove that social chaos is worse than
useless as a preparation for social betterment. It should be
understood that chaos and confusion and reckless violence are
as much opposed to anything accepted as they are to the
feelings of business men. Revolution is an entirely different
thing.
It should be possible to imagine a fundamental social
change which did not show. Itself to any externals. No noise, no
violence, no terror. No terror. Social power is transferred and
reorganized ;b new men direct and new men obey. The
revolution will have occurred, and yet the ten o’clock train will
still leave at ten o’clock, the bread will still be delivered, and it
will still be possible to walk the streets with a head unbroken
Revolution is a sudden and radical transformation
of society, affecting individual character, destroy social evil, and
promoting mastership in the art of life, without being preceded
by confusion or diminishing the need for social imagination and
intelligence.