Passing salt directly across the table is believed to bring bad luck.

Why Passing Salt Across a Table Brings Bad Luck

Details

The belief warns against handing salt directly across a table, suggesting that it should instead be placed on the table for the other person to pick up. In this practice, it’s considered important to avoid salt changing hands directly, especially during shared meals. Some variations include spilling a pinch of salt as a secondary misfortune—or remedy—when it is accidentally handed or spilled. The superstition is often linked with tension among diners or presages of conflict or bad fortune. As a result, people who subscribe to this belief may interrupt their action mid-pass or slide the salt container along the table’s surface instead.

Historical Context

This superstition is thought to stem from Medieval Europe, where salt was rare, expensive, and deeply symbolic. In religious and social contexts, salt symbolized purity, value, and trust. Spilling it—or improperly passing it—could be interpreted as wasteful, disrespectful, or a breach of etiquette. According to some interpretations, it might echo the moment in Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ where Judas Iscariot is seen knocking over a salt cellar, which further tied salt-spilling and misused salt to betrayal and misfortune in Christian-influenced cultures. These associations helped embed the idea that certain ways of treating salt could offend spiritual or social harmony.

Modern Relevance

Today, the superstition about passing salt persists in many Western cultures, though often as a lighthearted or half-believed habit rather than a strict rule. In the United States, UK, and parts of Europe, people may still avoid handing salt directly—especially in households with traditional grandparents or cultural awareness of folk beliefs. Social media has helped both preserve and parody this superstition, contributing to its visibility among younger generations. While its spiritual meanings have faded, the salt-passing superstition remains a minor yet enduring ritual in mealtime manners.

Sources

Opie, Iona & Peter. The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. Oxford University Press, 1959.

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