When humans first began to think in abstract terms (which must have been hundreds of thouands of years ago) they would see the world around them as a mysterious and frequently alarming place. What kept the heavens above them moving in such a stately progression, with the same constellations appearing year after year with the changing seasons, and the regular phases of the moon? But why was this regulaity occasionally interrupted? Why were there a few stars which behaved differently: sometimes present but moving backwards, often nowhere to be seen? (There were fve of these strange stars: they were called "wanderers": we call them planets). And why at, very irregular intervals, were there eclypses of the sun and moon, and comets streaking across the sky? On earth there were equally alarming events: lightning strikes, devastating floods or droughts, epidemic?
Then there were fundamental metaphysical or existential problems: the mysteries of life and death. Where did we come from? what happens to us after we die? what is the purpose of our lives? what is the significance of our dreams? and why are some people much luckier than others? These continue to puzzle us today!
In attempting to answer these questions, religion, superstition and magic are intertwined, and for much of human history it is meaningless to attempt to separate them. Natural phenomena are now seen as being caused by physical forces, operating according to discoverable scientific laws (gravity, thermodynamics etc), but this has only been the case for the past few centuries. In earler times humans thought that the world was full of mysterious superhuman personalities: spirits, gods, or a single universal God; who were observing us, sending us messages and sitting in judgement over us.
It was, and still is in some quarters, a widespread belief that events "above" (that is, in the heavens) were in some way linked with events "below" (on earth). But how? Perhaps the heavenly bodies, especially unexpected events such as comets or eclypses, directly influenced what happened on earth? Or perhaps the gods, through this medium, were sending us messages; forewarning us of what was to happen? and if so, how could we interpret these warnings?
Did events on earth, especially natural disasters, mean that the gods were angry with us, and if so, how could we propitiate this anger; gain their favour? Perhaps by offering sacrifices or observing certain rituals, we could appease the gods, avert disasters, change bad luck into good? Perhaps serving God, or the gods, is our highest calling in life?
As regards dreams, are they perhaps sent by the gods to warn or advise us? And when we dream of people who have died, as we often do, does that mean they are in some sense, and somewhere, still alive? Person annihilation, of ourselves and our loved ones, is an unpleasant thought: perhaps they are still alive somewhere, and so will we eventually be: perhaps reincarnated, perhaps in some afterlife where the rights and wrongs we have encountered and caused to others will be appropriately rewarded or punished.
It was ony quite recently that what we call "science" became separated from what would nowadays be dismissed as superstition or magic. The great minds of the Renaissance were fascinated by astrology and alchemy: it was only in later centuries that Newton's followers could envisage a purely mechanical universe, and that Sir James Fraser could dismiss magic as "science that diesn't work". Although it cannot be denied that some people are much luckier than others, the belief that you can change your luck by prayer or by performing certain peculiar rituals is regarded as mere superstition.
