My mother used to say that it was bad luck to spill salt and the way to prevent bad luck was to throw salt over your shoulder. Here's my question for anyone who's familiar with this superstition.
Which shoulder do you throw the salt over?
My daughter and I were talking about superstitions recently and neither of us knew the answer, but I'm pretty sure I heard that it was one shoulder or the other, not whichever you prefer.
2007-11-24 08:47:32 · 8 answers · asked by Little Red Hen 2.0 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
That should have read that to prevent bad luck after spilling salt, you had to throw it over your shoulder.
2007-11-24 08:48:09 · update #1
left into the eyes of the devil. though if the devil is looking that close over your shoulder you might have bigger worries than a little spilled salt. :)
2007-11-24 08:51:08 · answer #1 · answered by singthunder 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Lots of superstitious people, when they spill salt, will take a pinch of it in their right hand and throw it backwards over their left shoulder.
Superstition has it that, at all times, a devil waits over your left shoulder, and also that spilling salt is bad luck (perhaps because it used to be rare and precious). Hence, you can mitigate your bad luck by throwing salt into the eyes of the devil. There's also a belief that your guardian angel (who can be found over your right shoulder) spills salt to warn you of evil nearby. Either you throw the salt to hurt the devil or, as salt was valuable, as an offering to placate him.
Like lots of other superstitions in a Christianized culture, it has a Christianized explanation: spilling salt is bad luck, because Judas spilled salt at the Last Supper. This is somewhat equivalent to the Christianized explanation for not sitting down thirteen at the table, and almost certainly a red herring.
2007-11-24 19:19:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
left, its the side the devil supposedly sits on/stands over. Also as salt is a natural earth element its great against the supernatural and evil beings
2007-11-24 19:28:43 · answer #3 · answered by John P 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was told that it was the left to throw it in the devils eye. The left hand side is associated with evil, possibly because the Roman word for left was 'sinister' .
2007-11-24 17:15:20 · answer #4 · answered by catgirl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I read about salt stuff on the bad luck website.
2007-11-25 07:34:24 · answer #5 · answered by audio1 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Left altho I cant remember right now the reason why
2007-11-24 16:51:16 · answer #6 · answered by silkin_storm 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is the left.
2007-11-24 17:22:10 · answer #7 · answered by CrossTwnTraffic 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
left to blind the devil
2007-11-24 17:21:59 · answer #8 · answered by irish_matt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋