Much Of Modern Faith Has Roots In Superstitions

Last month, in a restaurant in Athens, an elderly gypsy woman persistently tried to sell me some tissues. Finally, she asked for a handout, but I refused even that. So she cursed me with inaudible mutterings and a left hand motion over my head. In the best Ozarks tradition, I immediately cursed her back with similar hand motions.

I don't think curses work — at least I was sure mine would not. And I was relatively sure hers would not, since I had been cursed, magnificently so, by a beggar some years earlier in a German restaurant with no ill effects. But since gypsy crones may be more effective than German beggars, I admit to being a bit concerned. Full Story

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