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Art, Culture & Lifestyle - Dante Alighieri Society in Hong Kong
Italy is a country where superstitions reign: from lucky charms to always wearing the same clothes or shoes for a big event…And let’s face it, you also have your own “just in case” rituals, don’t you?!
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The origins of such folk beliefs are the most varied: from Ancient Rome to our grandparents’ rural tradition: they have been passed down through generations and to this day. We bet in the future there will always be someone counting the years of bad luck coming from breaking a mirror!
For all the superstitious out there, we are here to give you all the useful tips and secrets to driving away any bad luck. We will go through the most popular beliefs, the story behind them and, most importantly, the remedies!
So, let’s start with the dos and don’ts when eating with family and friends!
Italian folk beliefs and remedies
Cheers! (But look at me!)
Why do we look each other in the eyes when having a toast? This practice has become even more popular in the last decade as we strongly believe this to be a good-luck ritual but has indeed ancient origin back to both the Middle Ages and Ancient Rome. As a sign to show loyalty and honesty, this practice was first introduced in the Middle Ages because poisoning someone’s food or wine was a common way to eliminate enemies. So, by cheering and making each others’ glasses touch while maintaining eye contact, participants could show their respect and honesty. The reason why glasses have to touch with each other is that this way some of the poison was likely to spill in other people’s glasses and this way unveiling the poisoner!
Dining in 13 people? …No thanks!
No, it is not because of Covid, this superstition is linked to the Christian tradition. 13 was indeed the number of people during the well-known “The last supper”, including Jesus. This led to the belief that having 13 diners could bring misfortune or even death to the guests and especially to the 13th one.
So, what should we do if we cannot find the 14th guest? There is a very simple remedy: all you need to do is set and prepare the table also for the unknown 14th person and fill his/her dish as well!
Spilling salt can be very dangerous!
Why is spilling salt bad luck?! Well, in ancient times salt was extremely precious: as a matter of fact, soldiers in the Roman army were sometimes paid with salt instead of money. For this reason, their monthly wage was called “salarium” (being sal the Latin word for salt) and guess which word originated from that? Yes, “salary”. So, spilling salt would mean wasting money!
What to do if some salt is spilt on the table, then? Very simple: just pick it up with your right hand and throw it behind your left shoulder three times. Why the left shoulder? Simple: because that is where the devil is believed to be.
Pouring wine “the traitor way”…
Italy and wine are definitely an inseparable binomial, ergo there are plenty of guidelines when it comes to pouring and serving wine to guests. One of the most interesting rules comes straight from medieval times when wine was served basically during every meal. Wine was such a common drink that it was used to celebrate, to grieve but also a common way to kill someone. You too must have seen plenty of film scenes in which assassins pour carefully poison in a wine glass directly from a ring they are wearing. How do they manage to do it you may ask? By holding the wine bottle from the bottom with their palm facing up so that they can easily release the poison from their ring directly into the victim’s glass. This is why this way of pouring wine is called “alla traditora” and it is quite frowned upon to this day still, while also being a very inconvenient way to pour wine!
“The executioner” bread!
To understand the importance of bread in Italian culture, simply open “I Promessi Sposi” (in English “The Betrothed”, one of Italian literature finest pieces) and look for the chapter in which one of the protagonists, Renzo, arrives for the first time in Milan. The city is afflicted by famine and the people of Milan are attacking the bakeries trying to collect as much bread as they can. Renzo notices that in the middle of the unrest, tons of loaves and flour have been scattered all over the ground, which is a view that horrified him. For Renzo, and for our grandparents too, bread is a holy food, because it is fundamental to our diet and wasting it is a sin.
In addition, bread has always been so important in Italian society to the point that every social class had its own type of bread: white bread for the aristocracy, bran bread for the lower class and so on.
Even the executioners had their own type of bread! But unfortunately, many bakers were not willing to make bread to someone who would execute (often not-guilty) people. But, after being forced by the king, bakers had to start making bread for executioners but would still give them the worst type of bread and would store it upside down as an insult.
This is why you should never put bread upside down on your table: or else the executioner will come to your house and collect his bread!
Stay tuned for the next episode of Italian folk beliefs and remedies!
For information on how to improve your Italian or learn it from scratch, you may contact: DANTE ALIGHIERI SOCIETY HONG KONG Room 702, 7/F, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong ladante.cc | dantealighieri@ladante.cc
