My cover story

Ever wondered?
By: Ayesha Moosa
Do you believe in superstitions or do you find it as a mere topic to laugh at due to some of the ridiculous beliefs? Well whether you fall into category A or B, superstitions are very prevalent in today’s times as well as in the time of Julius Caesar.
One of the most common superstitious practices in the times of Caesar was that of the feast of Lupercal. Caesar’s wife Calphurnia was infertile, but he on the other hand was becoming more and more powerful. At the feast, Antony was commanded by Caesar to touch Calphurnia so that she may fall pregnant. My opinion on this scene was that Caesar knew his power was growing rapidly, yet he had no children and was thus hungry to continue his legacy. So after all was he really fit to be the leader on the long run? As he hardly had any immediate family support.





The feast of Lupercal is celebrated on the 15th of February each year and there are many soothsayers, magicians etc. around too, thus again creating a very strong image of superstition. Valentines is celebrated in honour of the Roman God of Fertility, which therefore links up with Lupercal. Love is all around in this month, even in the air that you breathe!

After reading the above you may think that the Romans were insane, because how can a lady fall pregnant if a man just strokes her with his hand? However, superstitions are still very prevalent in today’s modern times. For eg. People still fear Friday the 13th, if this was such a chaotic or day to be afraid of then why is it in the calendar anyways? Also it is said that if you break a mirror you will have 7years of bad luck; I wonder how many mirrors I’ve broken and how many years of bad luck I have ahead of me.
From my personal view and opinion as a Muslim, I feel that these thoughts and practices are mere stupidity and foolishness rather then something you can actually relate to. Also I know that my taqdeer (faith) has been written out for me by my creator and can changed by non other than him, the lords of the worlds.