Origins of Throwing Salt Over Your Shoulder
In ancient times, salt was valuable, so spilling it was seen as bad luck.
For thousands of years, salt has been prized for its ability to season and preserve food. Because it was originally hard to produce, salt was rare and extremely valuable. Spilling salt was seen as almost sacrilegious or due to the presence of evil, so people started tossing salt over their shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
– Salt was such a hot commodity that battles were fought over controlling salt mines.
– Many cities developed near salt mines to capitalize on the salt trade, such as Salzburg, Austria. Interestingly, Salzburg means “Salt castle” in German!
– Salt may have been used as currency in ancient Rome and other cities. “Salary” comes from the Latin word Salarium which derives from Sal, or “Salt.” While there are no official records, historians believe Roman soldiers used their money to buy salt or were given salt as their compensation.
– Salt’s importance and value also shows up in phrases like, “Salt of the earth” and “They’re not worth their salt.”
In Christian beliefs, spilling salt is associated with evil and betrayal.
In the Bible, salt symbolizes purity, integrity, grace, and God’s covenant. Spilling salt was thus seen as something evil that’s caused by the devil. This is reflected in Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper, where the traitor Judas is depicted spilling salt on the table.
This belief also stems from the story of Lot’s wife, who disobeyed the angels’ warning not to look back at Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt. She betrayed the angels and gave in to the devil, causing her downfall.
So, Christians started tossing salt over their left shoulder after they spilled salt to disable the devil and prevent him from causing evil
