I am sure fear stems from the threat of emotional or physical violence. This fear is heightened, especially if it comes from an unknown or unfathomable source.
If you are aware of the motivations of the threatening force, you won’t be half as scared. For example, you will be chilled to the bone on being confronted by a snake but if you can recognise the species and know how its poison can affect your system, instead of being scared you will think of ways of escaping it or killing it.
Belief in God primarily comes out of fear. We don’t trust our family, friends, the police or the government to protect us. Hence, we desperately believe in a force which will protect us in every which way. In order to feel the power of God, we invent and pitch his power against a counterpoint. Thus, evil forces like demons, the devil and black magic are created.
Black magic is supposedly used to hurt or kill an enemy by either practicing it or hiring its practitioners. Whether it exists or not, nobody can tell, but I am stunned by the sheer number of people who believe in it despite their education and intelligence. When they cannot understand the reasons behind negative events, they start believing in black magic.
I know of a certain actor who was seeing a girl whom his parents disapproved of intensely. Unable to break their relationship and refusing to see the negative traits of their own son, the parents were convinced that the girl practised black magic. They were even terrified of seeing her pictures in the magazines and newspapers.
In the West, there is much talk about making someone you hate suffer by pricking needles and pins into a voodoo doll. In India, the most common cure happens to be a witch doctor or exorcist.
Now this exorcist can be different depending on the person he has to cure. There are godmen, minor and major, who will offer panaceas, paper chits and amulets and soon assume cult status.
In the case of rural areas and the underprivileged sections even in cities, these exorcists come with bodies covered in ash, their long hair braided and coloured. They carry small brooms, little drums and perform high-pitched prayers before the affected person. This practice has been around for centuries but I do wonder about the success ratio of these self-styled exorcists.
Frankly, I am shaken by fear also. On returning home after a long trip, I wonder if there is an invisible, malevolent presence in my house. On a highway when I see a truck being driven towards my car at a crazy speed, I fear that the devil may be in it, and will wipe me out from the face of the earth.
Mercifully, such paranoid thoughts only last for a split second. Because I know the cure. I just tell myself, “Why should you be afraid? You’re quite a devil yourself.”
Try it, it works.