Superstition In The Estonian Folklore

Superstition is deriving from religious discourse, which cannot be used to denote a neutral analytical category of folkloristics because it is full of connotations from the past.

Lutheran Church established the right pattern of behavior and thinking of a devout Christian believer, who is opposed to strange gods, false doctrines, and worldly entertainments.

Superstition gained some value in the context of the evolutionary theory of the history of civilization and became known as survivals of ancient practices and beliefs.

Works such as Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions by John Brand (1813) and Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay indicate the attitudes of attraction that have shaped the concept among the intellectual elite of urbanized western society.

“Superstition” is an analytical folkloristic tool by defining it structurally as “traditional expressions of one or more conditions and one or more results with some of the conditions signs and others causes”.

Folklorists see the term superstition unfit to be used as a scholarly term, 'There is no scholarly reason to label beliefs of some groups as superstition and those of others as religion'

The Estonian equivalent of superstition is back—which means literally “non-belief,” but which could also be translated as “false faith”

Superstitions are referees to beliefs, customs, and magical practices, so calling something superstition means to make a statement about right and wrong, in effect to take a discursive stand about worldviews.

What was then regarded as pagan and superstitious habits continued, as such practices were constantly referred to by local clergymen. As not worshipping God, they tended to worship His creation—trees, stones, rivers, and springs.

The term Aberglaube (“superstition”) was close to Abgötterey (“idolatry”), there was always the danger of being accused of the latter.

Some superstitions habit was being practiced by the peasants as there are many records of them visiting the ruins of old chapels and other places such as single or heaped stones, springs, rivers, trees, hills, and crosses, to practice idolatry and superstition. Additionally, there are also references to the sacrifices of children.

Two types of beliefs - the true faith (like Vick) in God, as against superstition (Ebbausck), the whole passage is entitled in German Aberglaub in Babsthumb (“Superstition in Papacy”) evidence of the turning of superstition into a theological weapon for attacking Catholic doctrines, which, according to Müller, had been imposed on the “poor, stupid folk” by the “sinful Pope.”

The Devil could give different guises to his devout slaves, turn them into wolves, bears, and whirlwinds (tuhlispasck), and send them wherever they wanted to go, or where he wanted to send them (Stahl 1641, 293–4). Thus, belief in werewolves did not constitute superstition per se—this only arose when the belief was expressed in legends about other people's activities.

Superstition was thus a flexible, easily applicable category. However, superstition was not synonymous with paganism but referred to all those beliefs, customs, and religious practices that were not approved by the Lutheran Church, including elements of Catholicism.

The changing landscape of religious denominations caused tensions and conflicts in society.

Orthodoxy was identified with “idol worship and paganism,” the worship of icons was called “superstition that originates in the fraud of priests”—who were denounced as “false prophets,” “anti-Christs” and “men of sin.”

“Superstition” was thus being transformed from an official judgmental term into verbal aggression and insult.

19th century regarded superstitions as survivals of ancient pagan religion and thus it was worth recording and studying.

Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798–1850) believed that pagan Estonians were Monotheists who worshipped their great god Taara, whose cult in holy groves was eradicated by the Catholic monks.

Estonians became more educated, because of the zealous Protestant pastors”.

Faehlmann wrote about reaching a higher level of culture by eradicating superstition and prejudice, using education, and through the development of the Estonian language (1999, 109).

Superstition transformed from a religious category into a sign of backwardness and a lack of modern civilization.

Koppel stressed that superstitions had their social roots in the unstable conditions of capitalism with its crises, unemployment, wars, hunger, and misery of masses of people.

In 1966, the literary historian and folklorist August Annist published an article about the state of research in Estonian folk belief.

He avoided simplistic Marxist declarations and, emphasizing the pathos of the Enlightenment as he wrote

Knowledge about the history of folk belief helps us to fight against obsolete forms of truth and to break any convictions, doctrines, and explanations that have been petrified as dogmas and which obstruct us from getting closer to truth (Annist 1966, 463).

“Superstition” has been used as an argument in public debates to distinguish true knowledge from false opinions.

“Superstition” thus connoted eternally dying folk beliefs and popular prejudices that should be eradicated by civilizing powers, such as those of the Church, the system of education, and the Communist Party. “Superstition” was thus an official term that marked the discourse of power and a critical view from above.

During the 1980s interest in religion started to grow again in Estonia, and in the 1990s Christian denominations enjoyed great popularity.

Also, other religions and religious movements spread, including Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age forms, and neo-paganism with their roots in indigenous traditions (Ringvee 2000).

The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia guarantees freedom of conscience, religion, and thought to everyone and confirms everyone's right to “freely disseminate ideas, opinions, beliefs and other information by word, print, picture, and other means.

The word superstition nowadays is hard to define as the word itself has tended to generate new meanings and to evoke a variety of attitudes, due to its historical semantic burden.

Some people who hold high-profile social positions, and even university education, sometimes proudly declare that they are superstitious.

On Friday 13 April 2007, a special issue on superstitions was published by the weekly women's magazine Naised (“Women”). In the article entitled “Everybody has One's Own Superstitions,” some “well-known Estonian women”—according to the editor—unveiled the world of their beliefs. According to the editor, “being superstitious is regarded as a particularly feminine attribute”

We can observe the blending of folkloric and scholarly rhetoric in the following statement that was published in a women's popular Internet forum:

To ward off bad luck, one has to spit over the left shoulder, because the devil sneers invisibly behind one's left shoulder. Your guardian angel stands on the right side. This superstition has been confirmed by science that has proven that the left side of the brain controls logical thinking and therefore moves the right hand. Hence come the “rules” – never offer anything with your left hand as it may cause health problems; if your left palm itches, this predicts income (Delfi Naisteleht 2005). [11]