Superstitions in the Middle Ages

Enemies of Reason, Slaves of Superstition

Science has proven that the sun does not orbit around the earth, that we are not the only galaxy in the universe. We have been able to send orbiters to Neptune, eradicated small pox, created super computers that can perform 60 million calculations per second among many other wonderful discoveries. Science frees us from superstition and dogma, and allows us to base our knowledge on evidence. But how did people do on times where science was stagnated, there were no scientific discoveries on a daily basis and people were blinded by the veil that tradition imposed on them. People in the middle ages were slaves of superstition because they did not have the same frame of reference we have nowadays. They were not able to explain daily events with science and their frame of reference back then. As we all do, we tend to regard as religious or supernatural everything we cannot fully understand and explain with science; they were no exception. Back in the middle ages, there were myths regarding hygiene and health, precisely because there were no medicine and science to prove them wrong. Among the most common superstitions occurring during the Middle Ages were sacrifices, witches, possessions, and other more common we still believe in today.

Sacrifices were really common during the middle ages. If a town was stricken by a disease, plague, by drought and other events affecting the community, they would offer someone as a sacrifice as a way to appease the gods or spirits. Especially if someone had done someone outstandingly wrong, the community would see these events as a punishment for that person’s evildoings and thus sacrifice him/her as punishment for his/her sins. In some other cases, they would start a pyre and sacrifice animals, humans and sometimes even their own possessions such as tools or jewelry. This practice originated with the Celts who used to believe the world they lived was inhabited by gods and the only way to...