A Morbid Fear Of Lightning

Do you suffer from Astraphobia? Are you subject to spine-chilling, diaphragm-paralyzing fits of Keraunophobia? It is no fun to be thus afflicted, but you have plenty of company, including the author of this article— who has queried several psychologists just to find the name of the thing that makes her feel so uncomfortable when the lightning flashes and the thunder booms. Astraphobia, the psychologists said, is "anxiety amounting to terror during thunderstorms." Keraunophobia is "morbid fear of lightning." And there you are. Lightning, the author will readily admit, is beautiful stuff—when viewed from a distance. But when the flashes come close enough to make the fuse box on the back porch crackle, when the thunder crashes and then goes rolling off in search of more eardrums to conquer, when people say, "Cheer up, if it hits you you'll never know it," then is the time the writer yearns for a nice bombproof shelter, a quiet cyclone cellar, or a cozy padded cell.

In a World so recently torn by high explosives and over which hangs the threat of the atom bomb, fear of thunder and lightning seems utterly ridiculous. But the age of the atom bomb can be measured in months, and the age of high explosives by a comparatively few score years. Thunder and lightning, on the other hand, are age-old, and man has feared and respected them since the time his mind first grasped their potentialities. Thunder and lightning are two of the most awe-inspiring aspects of Nature, and possibly the most universal. A man may never see a tornado, may never experience a flood, an earthquake or a hurricane. But all people, unless they live in the relatively small areas on earth where thunderstorms are rare, are acquainted with thunder and lightning. For this reason it is not surprising that early man always attributed lightning to his chief god, or at least ascribed its control to a deity ranking high in his own particular pantheon.

Primitive man feared and respected lightning, thus he associated it with a high god and paid homage to that god accordingly. In the course of time he forgot which commanded his first respect—the god or the lightning. Egypt, being a country of beat and sunlight, had little experience with lightning. But when a rare electrical storm did occur in the kingdom of the Nile, the priesthood made it clear to the people that the gods were angry. The Bible tells how lightning and hailstorms did visit Egypt when Moses was trying to secure the release of the Children of Israel. The Hebrews themselves were well acquainted with electrical storms, and thunder and lightning are mentioned frequently in both the Old and New Testaments. Palestine is a land of mountains and gorges, split lengthwise by the cleft of the Jordan, and the effect of thunder there is most spectacular, especially during the winter season.

By: davidbunch

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