Superstition Horizon

 

Superstition Horizon:

When it comes to superstition, it is quite hard to see what is evolving but I guess we can still take into account the name superstition and see what pops up. I have come up with something that does kind of relate to superstition which is to come out in 2012.

Voodoo is also part of superstition and as I was saying earlier in 2012 a baseball bat that the company “Demarini” has produced has been named “Voodoo”.

The company has gone with a very supernatural approach to market their baseball bat, here is how they describe the bat:

“Unleash Some Evil. BBCOR Approved.

Spellbinding, ain't it? The mere sight of a DeMarini Voodoo puts opposing teams into a trance. And for good reason. Voodoo supernaturally combines an advanced SC4 Alloy barrel with our exclusive Tri Strut TR3 Composite Handle. Its BBCOR certified to comply with the new rules and regs for 2012 high school play, but it has a unique weight advantage over other aluminium bats. That's because DeMarini's patent-pending Taper Ring Technology adds weight closer to the taper off the bat, resulting in a gargantuan sweet spot and wicked swing speeds. In other words, it's evil through and through.”

(bbcorbats. (07/11/11).

As you can see the way they have approached the audience and trying to sell their upcoming product is by using supernatural words to give an eerie feel to the baseball bat, as if to say with this bat anything is possible.

Here is a picture of the bat:

(bbcorbats. 2011).

There is a movie coming out in the year 2012 called “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters”, and here is a small summary to explain what the movie is about.

 (Posts (Atom).  2011)

“15 years after their traumatic gingerbread-house incident, siblings Hansel and Gretel have become a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.”

(Posts (Atom).  2011)

(Posts (Atom).  2011)

Witches are part of superstition so in a sense this movie is carrying on the spirit of superstition so to say, as they both have a link to each other.

Because if people go and watch this movie and then go home and research witches they are bound to come across something that ties back to superstitions or something related to supernatural things and that will most likely link back to superstitions.

So saying that, I do believe that superstition yet still has a glimmer of hope in the future.

  

(Posts (Atom).  2011)

Halloween is full of superstitions so Disney has gone with a different approach and hosted a “Halloween at Disneyland”

 (daveeeed.tumblr.com. 2011 ).

This is what they say on the front page.

“Throughout October 2012, you're all invited to the wonderfully scary Halloween celebrations at Disneyland Paris!

The Halloween festival promises to be even more spooky and scary! Come celebrate with your favourite Disney Characters and meet a whole host of new ones!”

(admin. 2011)

(admin. 2011)

Even though this is meant for kids, if they say it offers spooks and scares I believe them and I am sure they will go all out on the Halloween theme. This makes me believe that if Disney is hosting these kinds of events then the superstition tradition will surely carry on as kids will surely not forget something that Disney has provided them.

Every year there is a festival in china called:” Ullambana”, which means “The Hungry Ghost Festival”. 

(Somewhere in the world today .  2011 ).

Here is a quote from the site to make a bit more sense about what this festival is about.

“It is believed that ancestors can influence a person’s luck in this life and so during the festival the Chinese have extravagant family meals always setting a place for any deceased family members. Small offerings are left to the spirits and paper effigies of daily items such as money, cars, TVs etc are burned for the spirits to use in the afterlife”.

(Somewhere in the world today .  2011 ).

 (admin .  2009 ).

So every year in china they hold this festival for the spirits that are in unrest and to please them they offer them gifts which can include anything from money to food for them to supposedly have in the afterlife. I guess they do this just so that they do not restlessly wander around, or start to haunt their close ones.

  (http://www.formosatravel.net. 2010). 

This is quote is especially interesting.

“Floating lanterns filled with Lotus flowers and candles are sent off into water (presumably carefully so as not to get dragged in!) and also into the air, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits.”

(Somewhere in the world today .  2011 ).

(drpyro . 2009).

This to me suggests that superstition is taken very seriously in china, the reason I say this is due to the fact that every year to go through so much trouble and offer sometimes expensive gifts all to please the people that have passed on to help guide them into the afterlife.

But the thing that also gets me is the part where they let the floating lanterns into the water to direct the ghosts to the right place, and they believe that if they are not careful when going about this then they can be dragged into the water! That is quite a suggestion, I mean the share thought of that is quite frightening.

(Anna.  2011

It is not like they are saying they going to drag you under and keep you there under water but still the idea of being dragged into the water by something that is not living are quite scary indeed.

Conclusion:

I conclude from what I have done for the superstition horizon that tradition has a cultural relevance in china especially when it comes to the superstition and supernatural side of life.

Also that companies name their baseball bats after things that relate to superstitions, normally this would not be a cultural relevance but in America, baseball is a big part of American culture and generates a lot of money for the sport, so in that respect it does have a cultural relevance.