بازتاب باورهاي خرافي در مثنوي

The Reflection of Superstitious Beliefs in Mathnavi

Humans are embedded in a series of :non-scientific beliefs. At the dawn of their appearance, these beliefs used to have ritualistic, religious significance but, in the course of time and irregardless of the fact that the evolution of religions submerged these beliefsʹ religious origins, they have not ceased to exist among nations. A study of these beliefs indicates some similarities between the present human culture and those of theʹ ancient culture. Popular culture with all its classified elements is present in Mowlaviʹs Mathnavi. The multiplicity of beliefs in Mathnavi suggests ʹthat all sorts of ancient beliefs were extant in his age which he, naturally, exploited in his book. In this article the writer first analyses and classifies superstitious beliefs and explores the reasons people believed in such things. It then classifies such beliefs in Mathnavi in a few groups. Next, sub-classes in each group are identified and analyzed leading to insights about the nature of beliefs in Mowlaviʹs time, some of which are common among contemporary Iranians. The writer concludes that humans may discard anything, but they have never been able to shed :their; dogmas and superstitious beliefs.