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in: Supernatural

Superstition

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Gibbs Tiashack

Ragetti, Joshamee Gibbs, and Pintel occasionally performed acts of superstition.

"Enough! Enough! You're a pair of superstitious goats, and it's got the best of you."
―Bellamy to Bursar and Quartermaster[src]

Superstition was a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any physical process linking the two events that contradicts natural science. Opposition to superstition was a central concern of the intellectuals during the 18th century, where the philosophies at that time ridiculed any belief in miracles, revelation, magic, or the supernatural, as "superstition," and typically included as well much of Christian doctrine.

It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.

History[]

"Sharkheart Sam's ship. He's roamin' the seas, just waitin' for the day when he can locate all of his treasure."
"Foolish superstition. Besides, the ghost of Sharkheart can forget it. That treasure is nothing compared to what will be ours before long!"
―Snake and Smilin' Jack[src]

One of the sailors' superstitions was that a ship built with a silver coin under the mast and a gold coin in the keel had greater luck than the one without the coins. Riches attracted riches, and the small sacrifice of those coins helped ensure smooth sailing, calm waters, and felicitous winds.[1][2]

As the pirate ship of Captain Smilin' Jack sailed for Zaragona, the winds picked up, announcing a storm. One of the pirate's lieutenants, Snake, reported that two of guards who stood watch the night before believed they saw a ghost ship, the Buzzard of the long-dead pirate Sharkheart Sam. Smilin' Jack dismissed the warning of the ghost of Sharkheart as foolish superstition.[3]

When the infamous rogue pirate Christophe-Julien de Rapièr ordered his superstitious crew to attack the mystical island of Kerma, they refused. When he, in a fit of rage, shot his first mate, they deposed him as captain and left him in the middle of the ocean in a small boat.[4]

When Captain Jack Sparrow told the crew of the Black Pearl and his first mate Hector Barbossa the tale about the Aztec gold of Hernán Cortés and the ghost story of its curse,[5][6] the men laughed at the stories, with Barbossa having said, "Ridiculous superstition!"[7]

As the British Royal Navy warship the HMS Dauntless sailed for Port Royal, the young passenger Elizabeth Swann thought Lieutenant James Norrington was superstitious, but nowhere near as superstitious as the rest of the ship's crew, and certainly not as superstitious as his subordinate Mr. Joshamee Gibbs.[8] A Royal Navy deckhand who later became Captain Jack Sparrow's more loyal first mate, Gibbs had a highly superstitious personality.[9] Gibbs believed it was bad luck to bring a woman onboard a ship, as he told Lieutenant Norrington about the young "min'ature" Elizabeth aboard the Dauntless before finding the merchant vessel Princess, and later told Sparrow about Anamaria aboard the Interceptor prior to the ship's destruction after battle with the cursed crew of the Black Pearl.[5] About a year later, during the search for the Dead Man's Chest, while the voodoo mystic Tia Dalma nodded respectfully at the sight of the Black Spot that made Sparrow a marked man for Davy Jones, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman, Gibbs brushed his chest, turned three times widdershins (to port), then spat on the ground. Pintel and Ragetti watched the old pirate and, not knowing why, then did the same, just in case.[10][11][1]

When a sailor aboard the merchant ship Edinburgh Trader discovered a wedding dress that the quartermaster showed a significant interest in it, so much that he refused to let the bursar throw it overboard, even though the superstitious crew thought the dress meant the ship was haunted by a spirit, specifically the ghost of a lady widowed before her marriage, searching for her husband lost at sea. When Captain Bellamy arrived at the scene and saw the quartermaster and the bursar fighting over the dress, he told them they were a "pair of superstitious goats" and upon examining the dress suspected they had a stowaway aboard.[12] Unbeknownst to Captain Bellamy and his crew, Elizabeth stowed away aboard, disguised as a man, in order to escape pursuit by Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company and used the "spirit" superstition to trick Bellamy into taking the ship to Tortuga. Although the dress was thought to be a spirit bringing "some omen of ill fate", the bursar in particular believed it brought good fortune as they made a nice bit of off-the-books profit in Tortuga. However, shortly afterwards, Davy Jones summoned the Kraken to attack the Edinburgh Trader.[11]

According to Charles Swift, the more superstitious inhabitants of Saint Martin and the nearby islands believed a moon tinged red was the harbinger of death and destruction. Others believed it was all—revealing, akin to the mythical third eye.[13] When the young astronomer Carina Smyth arrived to Saint Martin, the first thing she did was to ask a soldier for directions to Swift and Sons Chart House, and calmly explained that she was a woman of science and had spent her life studying the stars. Unfortunately for Carina, the island's inhabitants were superstitious enough to quickly sentence her to hanging for witchcraft.[14]

Notable beliefs[]

As written in The Pirates' Guidelines by Joshamee Gibbs or the handbook of Captain Jack Sparrow:[1][2]

LUCK AND SUPERSTITION
Proper respect must be shown at all times for your vessel and the powers that be on the high seas. Mind your comings and goings, or else you'll be welcoming a host of trouble.
  1. Whenever you step aboard a ship, be sure it's on the starboard side, no matter the inconvenience. Once onboard, spin around to leeward, as to make certain you're not bringing any trace of bad wind aboard.
  2. Never whistle onboard. It's a surefire way of attracting unwanted wind and spirits.
  3. If a ship's bell should ring without human aid, 'tis an omen of death.
  4. An overturned bowl anticipates an overturned boat.
  5. A school of porpoises swimming around a ship brings good luck.
  6. Golden earrings bring better eyesight.
  7. A piece of silver under the masthead and a piece of gold under the keel will ensure a safe voyage.
  8. Finding and tossing a coin into the winds before sailing brings favorable weather. Gibbs added, "Finding" someone else's coin may bring unfavorable fisticuffs.
  9. It is unlucky to change the name of a ship after its first berthing.
  10. Most every pirate knows a woman onboard a ship brings nothing but bad luck. Gibbs added, Even a min'ature one[1]
THE BLACK SPOT
If the Black Spot should appear on your hand or elsewhere upon the body, it is a sign that you have been marked for death.
IF YOU SHOULD FIND YOURSELF AFFLICTED WITH THE BLACK SPOT:
Remain calm.
Wrap the afflicted area to avoid it being seen. (In some cases you may receive the Black Spot written on a piece of paper. Destroy it.)
Try not to bring unwarranted attention to yourself.
In the event that you observe the Black Spot on a fellow mate, brush the evil from your chest, turn three times widdershins (to port), then spit on the ground.
Gibbs added, If something vexes Jack Sparrow, it bodes ill for us all.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

"The crew won’t stand for a woman, Jack."
"She will lead me to the Trident."
"But a woman on board brings nothing but bad luck. And rabies."
"Frivolous superstition, Mr. Scrum. As you can see, luck is steadfast on my side."
―Scrum and Jack Sparrow[src] (2013 screenplay)

Superstitions first appeared and were identified by name in the 1996 book Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean.[3]

In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early screenplay draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, when Jack Sparrow's crew sailed the Dying Gull in search for the Trident of Poseidon, Scrum warned Jack that the crew didn't want Carina Smyth onbard, believing that a woman on board a ship brings bad luck, with Jack dismissing that as frivolous superstition.[15]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

External links[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Pirates' Code Guidelines, pp. 80-81
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook, p. 161
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean, p. 50
  4. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Seventeen: A Matter of Honor
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  6. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Audio Commentary with Screenwriters Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Jay Wolpert
  7. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, p. 36
  8. ↑ Fluch der Karibik, p. 11
  9. ↑ DisneyPirates.com - Archived
  10. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), p. 70
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  12. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), pp. 38-39
  13. ↑ The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth, p. 125
  14. ↑ The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth, pp. 140-141
  15. ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
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