Superstition is the belief in supernatural causality—that one event causes another without any natural process linking the two events—such as astrology, religion, omens, witchcraft, prophecies, etc., that contradicts natural science. Opposition to superstition was central to 17th century rationalist Benedict de Spinoza and the intellectuals of the 18th century Age of Enlightenment. Some of the philosophers at that time rejected any belief in miracles, revelation, magic, or the supernatural, as “superstition,” as well as unreasoned Christian doctrine. The word superstition is sometimes used to refer to religious practices (e.g., Voodoo) other than the one prevailing in a given society (e.g., Christianity in western culture), although the prevailing religion may contain just as many superstitious beliefs. It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific (apparently) unrelated prior events.
