The Sunset Superstition

 

If there is one thing you'll find in every amateur photographer's social media profile, is a picture of a sunrise or sunset.

After all, there is something alluring about the colors of the sky that changes when the sun isn't at its peak yet. It is a scene of wonder for sure.

While sunrises are seen in a positive light, (and why not, a new day has begun with endless possibilities according to some wisdom quotes), sunsets are usually regarded negatively.

In fact metaphors based on sunsets are often used to describe the failures of ideas and intentions.

Because after the sunset, comes the dark.

In the modern world, the absence of natural light has little significance to us. We have electricity after all and so when the sun goes down, the world doesn't stop and certainly not our daily chores.

But in the olden days, the world did indeed stop for some. Children and young women were forbidden from going out. And when they wouldn't listen or questioned why they weren't allowed outside, there had to be a story invented to frighten them.

For some, the stories of what happens after sunset is not a story but a belief.

In some cultures, it is believed that when the sun sets, Evil spirits break free from their binds in hell and escape.

Light is the one thing that keeps them at bay; it is their weakness. Without the light they find the strength to break free and cause chaos in the world.

It has then become customary in some cultures to offer prayers when the sun is setting and light a candle or turn on the lights at home, especially near the entrance of a home.

The evil spirits, seeing light near a door or window, will no longer enter. Prayers are thought to be even more powerful. Offering prayers at sunset is seen as a means to gather all the evil spirits who have escaped, bind them, and banish them to hell.

For centuries, people have adhered to these customs regarding sunsets and while many may be skeptical of demons and evil spirits escaping the chains of hell, look at it another way, there hasn't been an apocalypse yet, has there?