Instead of knowing the signs of the times, people had to believe in the experiences and interpretations of others.
The death of omens is the birth of belief. Once we rely on other people's interpretation of reality, we must believe in it. When we no longer trust ourselves to see the world, we have to trust in other people's experience. Belief and superstition are twins. Both are taught and conditioned. Neither comes from direct experience.
Belief and knowing are opposite. The Navajos recognize this in their word for divination, bil 'ihosini.h, which translates as "that which he knows." The Navajo diviner does not believe. He knows.
"Navaho Diagnosticians"
Leland Clifton Wyman