A quarrel is coming
Spilled salt is said to predict an argument in the household, often with the person who spilled it.
Household superstition
Spilling salt
Spilling salt: bad luck unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder. First recorded: Antiquity; the over-the-shoulder throw from the Renaissance. That makes it more than 1,500 years old — joint 2nd oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- Antiquity see the history below
- Written down in
- 1867 Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire
Record: John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867).
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
Antiquity; the over-the-shoulder throw from the Renaissance
That makes it
more than 1,500 years old
Rank by age
Joint 2nd oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Household
Salt preserved food and was valuable enough to tax and trade; 'salary' comes from Latin salarium, related to sal, salt — though the story that soldiers were paid in salt has no ancient source. Spilling it wasted something valuable. The throw over the left shoulder is later, aimed at the devil said to wait there.
1 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 32 later, while 11 share its date.
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Primary source
As it was written down in 1867
“A winding-sheet in the candle, spilling the salt, crossing knives, and various other trifles, are omens of evil to thousands of lore-folk to this day.”
John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867) — read the original text.
Recorded as a common omen of bad luck in Lancashire in 1867, next to crossed knives.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
The devil at your left shoulder
Bad luck from spilled salt waits behind your left shoulder, where the devil stands.
Judas and the salt cellar
Leonardo's Last Supper shows Judas with an overturned salt cellar, and the image fixed the link between salt and betrayal.
Never pass salt directly
In several traditions salt is placed on the table rather than handed over, because passing it hands on bad luck.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
The standard remedy is to throw a pinch of the spilled salt over the left shoulder with the right hand, "into the devil's eyes".
Where it lives today
Throwing salt over the shoulder is still one of the most familiar kitchen gestures, and in cooking salt keeps its old symbolism of hospitality and permanence.
What people say
Bad luck unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder.What is going on
Salt is now among the cheapest substances in a kitchen, so the practical basis has entirely evaporated while the gesture survived.Where it applies. Europe, the Americas, and wherever the Last Supper painting is known — Leonardo shows spilled salt in front of Judas.
Other household superstitions
Nearest in age
Spilling salt is joint 2nd oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Spilling Salt Superstition: Origin and Meaning.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/spilling-salt/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Spilling Salt Superstition: Origin and Meaning |url=https://astrohot.com/superstitions/spilling-salt/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}