Sunday Scribblings: Superstitions

Happy Holi! – the feast of colors!

The timing of this prompt is perfect, as yesterday, the Feast of Colors, Holi, was celebrated in Nepal. Like most festivals around the world, its origins are religious, but now only the fun is really celebrated, and it is a colorful celebration to welcome Spring. Holi has its roots in ancient Hinduism, named after a mythical demoness Holika. The ceremony lasts a week, and the last day is the big festival day, where people throw colors and water balloons on each other. One guy decorated his face, patriotically, while others just got really into it, throwing colors on everyone and everything, even a cow (holi cow!). Though the play of colors takes place on the last day, a ceremonial pole called, 'chir' is installed on the first day. Chir is a bamboo pole fringed with strips of cloth representing good luck charms. As the pole is put up, the festivities and worship begins for the week. At the end of the festivities, chir is taken to a bonfire.

There is a popular legend behind the installation of chir. The story is about the mischievous nature of the Hindu god Krishna who just loved to pray pranks with the milkmaids. Playful as he was, it is said that once he seduced all the local girls with his dashing good looks. He then danced with them all and when they fully engrossed in him, he thought they were ripe for a tease. He doused them in colored water and stole all their clothes while they were bathing in the river. Naughty Krishna then hung their clothes on a tree to bug them. Chir symbolizes that very tree.

Nepal is a country full of colorful festivals, and many superstitions. While Holi is a ‘fun’ day (if you like getting doused with colors that don’t come out of your clothes), there are many other superstitions that are a bit more serious. Recently two women were brutally stabbed to death, because someone thought that they were witches. A man who had been ill, sought the help of a traditional healer, a “tantric” healer, who was the husband of one of the women who were killed. This ‘healer’ told the man he was possessed by an evil spirit. To drive out the spirit, the ‘healer’ performed a ritual, with the help of two relatives who were shamans, a goat, a rooster, and a pair of pigeons. During this ritual, the shamans ‘discovered’ that the two women were evil witches. So the patient, attacked and brutally killed the two women.

Several years ago, a British volunteer came into town wearing her raincoat (it was nice and sunny that day). She said she was tired of living in the village, because she had to wear her raincoat all the time. When asked ‘why?’ she said, “Every time I go into a shop, they throw water on me. Because I am white, and they have never seen a white person before, they think I have evil spirits so they throw water on me to purify me.”

Another old superstition in Nepal affects hundreds of thousands of women, especially people who live in the west of the country. Each month, they are driven into seclusion during their menstrual cycle. They are forced to live on the front porch, or in dirty, isolated sheds, which are sometimes up to a mile away from the village. This practice of isolation, called “chhaupadi”, is centuries old, and according to superstition, if a menstruation woman touches a man he will fall ill. If they are given milk, the cow will stop producing milk. If anyone touches her, he or she needs to be purified by taking a bath and drinking cow's urine or they will become sick. Similarly, if she touches a tree it will not bear fruit and will soon dry, and if she touches a pregnant woman, the child will be miscarried or be born with malformations.
Women living in these dirty, isolation sheds are only given dry foods and rice to eat, have gotten ill from malnutrition and disease, have been bitten by poisonous snakes and attacked by wild animals, and some have even been raped.

Women are considered impure during the days when they menstruate and are barred from participating in normal family activities. They are not allowed to touch men, and cannot even enter the courtyard of their homes. But this doesn't mean they are excused from work. In fact, they are compelled to do hard labor, such as working in the fields, gathering firewood, washing clothes, and so on.

Having been raised in the west, it is hard to imagine the abuse that takes place due to the lack of education. In this country with a literacy rate of only 49%, it is easy to see how superstitions take over, run, and even ruin people’s lives. An organization called HUMAN has began in Nepal to help educate the people and to fight religious superstition and fundamentalism. HUMAN wants to raise public awareness about issues regarding superstitions, and the practices that drive them.

(and no, I didn't participate in Holi. My excuse is that I took two young girls from the hospital to the lake for the afternoon. Besides, I didn't have any old clothes with me).

For more superstitions, go here.

Comments

[Tammy]

I have heard of religious cultural superstitions surrounding a womans cycle and I pray HUMAN can make a difference. I loved the raincoat story :) HUGS

[Kamsin]

It is so sad how many of these superstitions adversly effect women. Let's hope the times of women being killed as witches or considered impure when they're menstruating are over soon.

[tinker]

Though I've read of it before, I suppose my westernized mind wanted to believe that particular superstitious tradition had pretty much died out...I hope and pray for those women, that it soon will become a thing of the past Bless HUMAN and others who are working to make a decent life for them. Thank you for bringing their plight to our attention.

As for the holi day, I think I would wear white, so it would end up looking tie-dyed :) Sounds like a smart move, though, visiting the lake for the day!

[deirdre]

It's easy to forget about the darker aspects of superstition when you don't live with it each day. We always think of the world as being modern and informed - it's a bit of a shock to realize that large portions of the world are still locked into old fears.

[gautami]

I being from India understand all of it. Most of those happens here too.