Many superstitions emanate from the fear of spirits of the dead or different spirits. Certain events are attributed to those spirits who seek to point out to the living a danger, a misfortune or a happiness.

There is also a close link between superstitions and medicine. In most developing countries, modern medicine is very expensive and often inaccessible. That's why so many people turn to ancestral customs, spiritualism and superstitions to find remedies, or just as a precaution. What's more, they are more comfortable with a wizard who knows their customs and speaks their dialect than with a modern doctor. This is how superstitions subsist.

According to the traditions of superstition, illness and accidents are not mere fortuitous events, but the work of forces that live in the spirit world. Sorcerers may claim that an ancestor is upset, or mediums claim that a spell was cast on the victim through a rival wizard, which would explain the reason for the illness or accident.

Superstitions vary widely in different parts of the world, and their spread depends on folklore, legends, and local contexts. Nevertheless, all have one common denominator: the belief that one must appease someone or something from the invisible world of spirits.