Superstition is a vice opposed to religion. It offers divine worship to whom it should not, or it offers divine worship to God in an unworthy manner. The name superstition comes from the Latin superstes, which means “a survivor.” It suggests that what are called superstitions are survivors or “holdovers” from the false pre-Christian religions known collectively as paganism.
Superstition takes various forms: (a) idolatry gives divine honor to a creature; (b) divination consults demons, thus attributing divine powers to creatures; (c) false observances are outer expressions of the belief that divine powers are found in certain creatures.
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