I have known this story for quite some time, but my brother put it the way it is in the title in an email, and I thought I should post it here.
This is one of the ways by which a practise becomes a belief and eventually a superstition.
Many moons ago, a pious, God-fearing family lived in India. They used to perform a pooja (Hindi for prayer) every morning so as to appease the Gods. Lamps were lit, songs sung and delicacies offered The offerings consisted of fruits, sweets and a glass of milk (for some strange reason, every God eats and drinks sumptuously!). Only after the pooja was over would the family eat its first morsel for the day.
The house also had a pet cat. Being apparently less devotional, the cat would sneak up to the pooja and lick a few drops of milk from the container. Once this was discovered, the family used to keep the cat covered with a basket, so that it did not interfere in the prayers.
Years passed, the cat ran away, the kids became young men and women, the parents grew old and died, but the prayers continued. Now, the kids had always known that 'a cat was kept covered under a basket' during the pooja. So, every time a pooja was scheduled they would go to the pet shop, rent out a cat for a day, bring it home, cover it with a basket and then start their pooja. The cat in the basket became an inseparable component of the pooja. No cat in the basket? Whaaaat! The Gods are gonna get angry... so went the notion.
And thus, a reasonable practise became a superstition.
This is one of the ways by which a practise becomes a belief and eventually a superstition.
Many moons ago, a pious, God-fearing family lived in India. They used to perform a pooja (Hindi for prayer) every morning so as to appease the Gods. Lamps were lit, songs sung and delicacies offered The offerings consisted of fruits, sweets and a glass of milk (for some strange reason, every God eats and drinks sumptuously!). Only after the pooja was over would the family eat its first morsel for the day.
The house also had a pet cat. Being apparently less devotional, the cat would sneak up to the pooja and lick a few drops of milk from the container. Once this was discovered, the family used to keep the cat covered with a basket, so that it did not interfere in the prayers.
Years passed, the cat ran away, the kids became young men and women, the parents grew old and died, but the prayers continued. Now, the kids had always known that 'a cat was kept covered under a basket' during the pooja. So, every time a pooja was scheduled they would go to the pet shop, rent out a cat for a day, bring it home, cover it with a basket and then start their pooja. The cat in the basket became an inseparable component of the pooja. No cat in the basket? Whaaaat! The Gods are gonna get angry... so went the notion.
And thus, a reasonable practise became a superstition.
