The Westler Valley Voice
On the Shelf
— Note From the Writer —
Superstition, Folklore, and Misconceptions
Dear Second Sider,
I had to look up what superstition actually is. It turns out it’s a belief that one thing causes another when there’s no real reason it should. It isn’t new, either. The word comes from Latin, and even the Romans used it for too much fear of the unknown. We come by it naturally, too. Our brains are built to find patterns. Long ago, a rustle in the grass might have meant danger, and the person who ran lived to tell about it. So, when two things happen together, our brains decide one caused the other. Superstition shows up most when we can’t control the outcome. It gives us a little feeling of control over something that is completely out of our hands.
People are superstitious creatures. We toss salt over our shoulders, knock on wood, and walk around ladders. Truth is, most couldn’t say why. Some of these habits have been handed down for hundreds of years. We still say old sayings without knowing where they came from. They were born out of something that happened ages ago, to people whose lives looked nothing like our own. Whatever started them is long gone, but the words stayed with us. And I’m sure they will continue to get passed along.
I’m no exception. For example, I’ve played sports my entire life, and these days I watch every sport under the sun, football and hockey are my favorite. When my team wins, that jersey remains unwashed. Got to keep the good luck in it, right? But when my team loses… right into the laundry basket it goes. Do I really think a shirt decides the game? Maybe? Maybe not? But I’m not willing to take that chance either. After all, my team is depending on me!
That kind of superstition is harmless. The one that worries me more is the kind we point at people.
People can get pigeon-holed for the way they look, something they said, or even odd behaviors that make them outliers. Most of the time I think someone made up nonsense about the person so others stay away from them.
I try not to operate under these misconceptions. I tread carefully, but if I’m curious about a person, I will talk to them and make up my own mind. Sure, I usually see where the talk comes from, but that doesn’t mean I agree with peoples’ thoughts. Nine and a half times out of ten, what everyone “knows” about someone traces back to one misstep they made along the way. Then the story gets retold and grows until it’s bigger than the person themselves.
I didn’t always know better, though. When I was in grade school, we had a substitute teacher whose right hand was different from the norm. Her three middle fingers were small stubs. When she wrote on the board, she pushed the chalk between her long pinky and her thumb and pinched it tight. We were all scared of her, and I was no exception.
For a couple of years, I kept my distance. Then one day in fifth grade, I finally just started talking to her. And what do you know, I really liked her. I remember being sad, because I was about to head off to middle school the next year. I had spent all that time scared of someone I would have loved to know better. Now that I wasn’t scared anymore, I was out of time.
That’s Miss Marscals Maypum for you in Season 4. A little smoke, a few spiders in a thatched roof, and a quiet woman who keeps to herself, and suddenly the whole town has lore.
A giant misunderstanding, I say. But it’s up to the town folk to change their own minds and maybe just maybe, give this lovely woman a chance.
Ever sincere,
Cay Templeton ∼The Fairy Taler∼