Salt

salt

It’s said that salt represents friendship, so when you spill salt, you might lose a friend, but you can avoid it by throwing a pinch with your left hand over your left shoulder.

Salt was, during the middle ages, a very expensive commodity used mainly for medicinal purposes. For this reason, spillage was to be avoided at all costs. The idea that it is unlucky to do so probably stems from the belief that Judas spilled salt during the last supper.

Throwing spilt salt over the left shoulder is linked to its medicinal use. If it could not be administered, the next best thing was to throw it into the eye of the evil spirits that brought sickness upon us. These spirits were thought to lurk behind your shoulder, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

“Take it with a grain of salt.”

It’s a phrase that means to view something with a certain level of skepticism. This phrase can trace its roots all the way back to Ancient Rome where salt was thought to be an antidote to poison.

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