Superstizione

What American’s call superstitions are prevalent in Italy and add to the color of Italian daily life. For an Italian, superstitions are not superstitious but real tangible dangers. One of my favorite things to say is I’d rather be lucky than good. Being good at something can only get you so far if you are unlucky. What is bad luck really, if not outside random forces beyond our control keeping us from our full potential. In Italy, the one thing that could explain a person’s bad luck is Malocchio, or the evil eye of jealousy. People who would intentionally wish us harm must be warded off by practicing diligence. Charms and concoctions can be placed throughout one’s car and home and blessings of holy water or salt are thrown in the corners of rooms. When I moved into my first home, I came full force with a pinch of salt in the corners and charms for my kitchen. While driving—tocca ferro—when highway traffic is bad, or the weather is treacherous. Touch iron referring to the iron nails of the cross befitting the large Italian Catholic population.

Bad omens are seen everywhere if you know where to look and pay attention—a bird or feather in the home, a broken mirror or toasting glass, a black cat crossing your path, or a hat on the bed. For every bad omen there is a counter good omen—being pooped on by a bird (my personal favorite), a ladybug on one’s blouse, red panties on New Year’s Eve, or an ear of corn—unknowingly served to Angela’s family by my parents at their first meeting. Imagine the excitement when this good omen came out with the meal, a most fortuitous sign. These are just a few of the omens Italians see in everyday life. A bird in the house or a hat on the bed is a sign of death. However, a bird pooping on you signals money or fortune will soon arrive. A black cat crossing your path is a sign of betrayal or a curse, but a cat sneezing is good luck to those who hear it. Certain days of the week present misfortune, neither venus nor mars or venderdì and martedì are good for marriage and travel. Angela continuously told my mother she couldn’t take a bath or shower on certain days, or have wet hair, or else an illness would befall her without fail. My mother, of course, thought Angela was “full of nonsense.”The idea of nefarious black cats, not walking under ladders, unlucky numbers, and avoiding spilling salt (or the Italian additive - olive oil) are shared ideas among Italians and others from around the world.

While the Italians are known to be devout Catholics, they never held the same dogmatic puritan mentality of the witch hunters and inquisitors of religious pasts. The Italian people, from before Italy was formed, have seen religious customs come and go but the evils and misfortunes were always the same and needed guarding against in whatever capacity.

In Italy, lighting a candle in the church is just as important as throwing the sign of le corna to ward off evil. Superstition in Italy is more than just these small gestures, it’s in the fabric of how they mentally operate. Looking for signs and thinking they can create an outcome through personal willpower.

Less enlightened individuals might consider these actions silly or witchcraft, but many Italians would shrug this off as foolish ignorance. Many Italians would even say every man and woman has a bit of a witch in them. How else did the wife entrap her husband, if not by some dish that the matriarchs of the family perfected through generations specifically for this purpose? Every ingredient chosen for its love inducing properties. I know I have my own secret recipe that was given to me by an Italian woman and it has never failed me.

Angela and I used to read the Scopa cards as girls, taking the time to tell each other’s future, as we believed we could divine what was to come. Intuition is the ultimate form of Italian superstition—having a feeling that something bad or good is going to happen. Of course, good and bad things are always happening, so it makes them pretty good fortune-tellers. I experienced my own life-changing omen on my wedding day when after the reception one of the bride and groom toasting glasses broke. A sure bad omen for an unlucky marriage! My American friends told me there was no such thing and shrugged off my feelings as irrational. A good Italian friend would have quickly seen the misfortune and had a counterattack charm made.