Why We've Been Tossing Spilled Salt Over Our Shoulder For Centuries

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Strange habits are nothing new to the human race. Whether it's knocking on wood to avoid bad luck or never walking underneath a ladder, we have passed down small superstitions from generation to generation, sometimes without ever knowing why or even thinking to question the motive. Italians believe it's bad luck to spill salt or even olive oil, but there are deeper meanings rooted in history to explain why many cultures around the world share the same reverence for salt. In the book "A History of Food," author Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat says that we can trace the origins of our superstitious habits around salt back to salt's original purposes. Salt "purifies and protects food from corruption and putrefaction ... since it comes from the sea, the primordial source of all life," writes Toussaint-Samat. 

Toussaint-Samat notes that for the ancient Greeks and in Japanese and Eastern Mediterranean cultures, salt and the art of hospitality were closely intertwined. The grave error of spilling salt "means the breaking of that bond [of hospitality] and the lapsing of protection on high." To counteract this holy mishap, the spiller must toss a pinch of the salt "three times over [their] left shoulder, towards the evil spirits lurking in wait behind [them]." This perception of spilled salt as a bad omen was so prevalent that Leonardo da Vinci even included it in his famed painting of the "Last Supper," in which Judas' elbow has knocked over a small container of salt, foreshadowing his betrayal.

It's hard to overstate the importance of salt and its influence on history. Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat explains that humans have been using salt in religious ceremonies for centuries, including in exorcisms. She expands on the superstition's religious roots, noting that baptisms in the Roman Catholic Church use salt to purify holy water and destroy "the soiling of corruption left by the traces of the original sin." Long before the rise of Christianity, Toussaint-Samat notes that the ancient Romans bestowed salt upon newborn babies, hoping to gift them wisdom.

Dating back at least as far as Roman society, the Celts held superstitions around salt as well. In Wirt Sikes' book "Quaint Old Customs of Wales," Sikes explains that "salt falling toward a person was of old considered a most unlucky omen, the evil of which could only be averted by throwing a little of the fallen salt over the shoulder." Again, we see the theme of evil always lurking, usually behind the left shoulder. "Salt was the ancient symbol of friendship, being deemed incorruptible," says Sikes, and therefore a perfect antidote to evil forces.

The superstition is not solely based on religious beliefs, and author Nicky Huys explains in the book "History of Superstitions" that throwing salt over your shoulder to evade bad luck is prevalent in Western culture due to our tendency to value individualism, reflecting a sort of pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mentality. Huys says that "these beliefs often focus on individual agency, suggesting that specific actions can influence personal outcomes."