I feel bad about “Always throw salt over your left shoulder…” since somebody made a poster out of it (attributed to Shakespeare) and is selling it on Etsy. There are probably more than one; I just happened to have spotted one.
I can see where everybody went wrong. Google it.
The first hit (which for me is “The Herb Gardener”) lists it like this:
There’s a few things I’ve learned in life: always throw salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for good luck, and fall in love whenever you can.
Lavender and Shakespeare
(Winter’s Tale, iv. 4)
Aha, you think when you look quickly – that’s by Shakespeare! The Winter’s Tale! No, poor googler. Look closer at the rest of the page:
Lavender and Alice Hoffman
(Practical Magic )
There’s a few things I’ve learned in life: always throw salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for good luck, and fall in love whenever you can.
Lavender and Shakespeare
(Winter’s Tale, iv. 4)
Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;
The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ th’ sun,
And with him rises weeping; these are flow’rs
Of middle summer, and I think they are given
To men of middle age.
This particular site provides the source line before the quote. So, yes, Shakespeare did speak of lavender in The Winter’s Tale – that whole bit about “Hot lavender, mints, savory, etc etc etc…” The quote above? That’s apparently from Alice Hoffman.
Unfortunately, all the other hits that attribute this quote to Shakespeare seem to associate it with The Winter’s Tale, so I wonder if they all came from the one I cite above.
Why Do We Always Throw Salt Over A Shoulder?
Ancient Rome: The Romans highly valued salt, using it for preserving food and as a currency. Spilling salt was seen as wasteful and unlucky. To counteract the bad luck, they would throw a pinch of the spilled salt over their left shoulder.
Christian Tradition: In Christian tradition, spilling salt was considered bad luck because Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, is depicted in Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” knocking over a salt cellar. Throwing salt over the left shoulder was believed to blind the devil lurking there.
Medieval Europe: During the Middle Ages, salt was expensive and precious. Spilling it was considered an ill omen, potentially inviting evil spirits. Always throw salt over your left shoulder to protect yourself from these malevolent forces.
Superstition and Folklore: In various cultures, the idea persisted that spilling salt could bring bad luck or evil spirits. To negate this, people would always throw salt over their left shoulder as a protective measure.
So, always throw salt over your shoulder. Just don’t say Shakespeare told you to.
Explore more posts in the Not by Shakespeare category.