It’s no surprise that a country as rich in cultural heritage as Italy–think pagan beginnings, Roman Empire, home to the Vatican State, and so on–is rife with ritualistic beliefs, from local folklore to universal superstitions. First recorded in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC by the likes of Plautus, Ennius, and later Pliny, the Latin word “superstitio” emerged as a pious term, used to describe “divinatory practice.”
Somewhere in the shuffle of the Christian arrival and the subsequent religious wars between them and the Roman Polytheists, the word developed into something that explained excessive religious awe or fear, before evolving to encompass beliefs or practices considered irrational or based on unfounded fears and notions.
