BAD LUCK & BUONA FORTUNA: SUPERSTITIONS FROM THE BOOT
We all know that if you accidentally spill salt, you’re supposed to throw it over your left shoulder. We’re not meant to walk under ladders. And God forbid you cross a black cat in your path.
But for Southern Italians, this is just the surface. We’re deeply superstitious, a trait likely inherited from Ancient Romans who read omens in everything from bird flight to spilled wine.
And that way of thinking never really left us. We're still a people of ritual and instinct: we cover mirrors when someone dies, we flinch when someone opens an umbrella in the house, and we ward off the malocchio with olive oil and a prayer.
These beliefs are stitched into our daily lives, passed down through hushed whispers and side-eyes from observant (and - if i’m being honest - judgemental) nonne. Nobody recalls when they learned of these superstitions; they were just understood and accepted with a solemn nod.
“It’s not true, but I believe it”
Call it folklore, call it fear, call it a beautifully irrational way of staying connected to something older than logic. We half-believe it, fully practice it, and never quite resolve the contradiction.
There's even a saying: Non è vero, ma ci credo. "It's not true, but I believe it." Or as I'd put it: "I'm pretty sure this is all a pile of caca, but what if I'm wrong?"
Blurring the lines between sacred and profane
And yet here's where it gets complicated for me. Catholicism is full of the mystical: holy water, travelling relics, and prayers for specific intercessions, to name a few. When I bless myself before a flight, is that faith or superstition? When I touch a saint’s medal in my pocket without thinking, am I praying or hedging my bets?
Maybe the answer is both.
Superstitions may not be “Vatican-verified,” but the sacred and profane coexist so closely in Italian life that they often become indistinguishable, for both outsiders and those raised within it.
What began as inheritance became necessity
This kind of blurring has deep roots. Long before modern Italy took shape, people used stories, habits, and little rituals to understand the world and feel safe.
Antonio Gramsci wrote about how Southern Italy came to be labelled “superstitious” in the early 20th century, in contrast to a North that had greater access to education, medicine, and state institutions.
This imbalance was evident, and played out in everyday life for the Southern people. When you don't have a doctor, you go to the lady in the village who knows the prayers and the herbs. When no one teaches you science, you learn what your nonna learned from her nonna. You make sense of the world with the tools you have.
From the outside, that way of life was easy to misread.
The rich North looked at the poor South and said: "Look how superstitious they are. How backward. How ignorant."
But Gramsci said: hang on. They're not superstitious because they're stupid. They're "superstitious" because they were denied schools, hospitals and opportunity. And so belief filled the gaps where these institutions failed.
The superstitions that stayed with us
And like most folk magic, there's no rulebook: only local variations, handed down community by community, region by region. What wards off evil in Abruzzo might mean nothing in Puglia.
Here are the superstitions that shaped my childhood (and, if I'm being honest, still hold power over me now). Let me know if you've heard of them too.
The body knows
A menstruating woman should never knead bread dough. It won't rise properly and will have no flavour. She shouldn't touch flower buds (they won't bloom) or preserved foods (they'll spoil). Apparently our cycles have destructive powers no one told us about.
When talking about illness, don't touch your body. You'll invite that illness into yourself. Same goes for touching someone else.
If your eye twitches, someone's thinking of you. Whether it's good or bad news depends on which eye and whether you're male or female. (I've never been able to keep the rules straight.)
Touching a hunchback's hump brings good luck. Southern Italy. Don't ask me to defend it.
Death and the dead
Cover the mirrors when someone dies. If the body is reflected, the soul gets trapped, and the house gets haunted.
Never place a hat on a bed. That's what priests did when visiting the dying.
Don't put new shoes on the table. Especially black ones. It's a death omen.
Dream of your teeth falling out? Someone's going to die. Still gets talked about seriously in Italian households.
Make the sign of the cross when you pass a cemetery. Just do it.
Children and growth
Never step over a child lying on the floor. It stunts their growth. If you do it by accident, stop and step back over them to undo the damage.
Pregnant women shouldn't wear necklaces or eat ring-shaped foods. This one comes from Piemonte and ties back to the masche (local witches known for targeting children). The ring shape is a bad omen for the umbilical cord.
Money and fortune
Never put your purse on the floor. Doing so means you'll never have money. (I still can't do it.)
Never gift pearls. People must buy their own. If someone gives you pearls, hand them a coin: you're "buying" them to dodge the bad luck.
When gifting a wallet, put money in it. An empty wallet wishes poverty on the receiver.
Days to avoid
Never celebrate on a Friday. Unless it's the exact day of a birthday, holiday, or anniversary. There's a saying: "Cu ridi di venniri, chianci di duminica"; laugh on Friday, cry on Sunday.
On Fridays and Tuesdays, don't marry, don't travel, and don't start anything new. The saying goes: "Di venere e di marte non si sposa, non si parte e non si da principio all'arte." Friday is the day Christ was crucified. Tuesday takes its name from Mars, god of war, and Constantinople fell on a Tuesday. Both days are cursed for new beginnings.
Around the house
Before throwing away bread, kiss it. Wasting bread is a disgrazia, but the kiss softens the sin.
Don't pass sharp objects hand to hand. Knives, scissors, anything with a blade. Handing them directly "cuts" the relationship. Put it down and let them pick it up.
Bring your washing in before nightfall. If clothes stay on the line overnight, the gypsies will curse them. And if that happens, wash them again and change your sheets for good measure.
At the table
Avoid seating 13 at the table. This traces back to the Last Supper, where thirteen guests were present before the crucifixion. Bad news ever since.
But 13 is actually lucky in Italy. The opposite of Anglo cultures. Fare tredici (to hit thirteen) means hitting the jackpot, from getting all 13 results right in football betting.
Do you have any obscure superstitions you’d like to add to the list?
