Superstitions in Italy: what’s considered good and bad luck

Cactus is one of the world's leading language training companies, providing courses in over 25 languages, in 45 countries and 150 destinations worldwide. It specialises in all forms of trainer-based language training for enterprises and individuals, from evening courses and language learning holidays, to tailor-made packages and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Cactus also uses blended learning approaches, included self-study and online & distance learning under the banner "learn a language your way". Read more about Cactus

30th
SEP

Posted by simonager under Learning a language, Spanish

There is quite a lot of regional variation in the superstitions held in Italian, however there are a number of widely-held ones such as the concept of luck, whether good or bad, and fear of evil spirits. Such beliefs are most common among Italian peasants.

The most widely-held superstition in Italy is fear of the evil eye (maloccio), which can be invoked by looking or thinking about someone enviously, and which can be averted by a gesture involving making a ‘horn’ sign with your index and little fingers. Some also wear a small horn-shaped charm (corno) around the neck to avoid the evil eye and evil curses. If someone compliments your baby, for example, this can bring bad luck, so you make the ‘horn’ sign to ward it off. To check if your counter charms worked, you can sprinkle a few drops of oil on a bowl of holy water. If they oil spreads out, your due some bad luck, though some people believe that if the oil doesn’t spread out you will be unlucky as the blob of oil looks like the evil eye.

Other things believed to bring bad luck include having birds in your house, or even just feathers, especially peacock feathers which have something looking like an evil eye on them. A loaf of bread put down upside-down is thought unlucky, especially on fishing boats. Wearing purple, one of the colours of mourning, can be unlucky, though black, the other colour of mourning is fashionable and not unlucky.

Seeing a hat on a bed is a sign of bad luck. This believe stems from the the practice of the more traditional priests, who only took their hats off indoors when ministering to the dying. They usually put them on the nearest convenient place – the bed.

Seeing a nun (suora) is thought to bring bad luck and people will touch iron to avoid this. They may also say “Suora tua!” (Your nun!) to the next person they come across, which passes on the bad luck to that person.

The number 17 is considered very unlucky. This is because it the Western numerals look like a man hanging from gallows, and because when it’s written with Roman numerals, XVII, it is an anagram of VIXI (I have lived) – a common Latin inscription on old tombstones.

Good luck will come to you if you hear a cat sneeze, or as they say in Italian, Sentire un gatto che starnutisce è di buon auspicio. The number 13 is thought to be lucky, especially when gambling, though can be unlucky as well.

About the author
Simon Ager runs a company that provides information and advice about languages mainly via the website www.omniglot.com.