Superstition

The foundation of superstition is ignorance, the
superstructure is faith and the dome is a vain hope.
Superstition
is the child of ignorance and the mother of misery.
      
     -Robert Ingersoll


A superstitious belief is not based on any empirical evidence, so
it relies on morbid
obsessions.  People believe in the power of the belief, all
the while forgetting that
they have given the belief its power. Superstitions
survive and thrive on the persons
belief in it.  Once the belief ends, it disappears. 
That is the difference between an
actuality and a superstition.  A fact retains its
existence even if a person wants to
disbelieve it, however, a superstition will quickly
die once a person rejects its validity.