A Pinch of Salt?

Have you ever taken a pinch of spilled salt in your right hand and thrown it backwards over your left shoulder?  Ever wonder why this superstition exists?

I have wondered.  I was told by a friend many years ago to do this to avoid bad luck.  She was very adamant that if salt was spilled, it had to be thrown over the left shoulder to prevent more bad luck.  She couldn’t tell me how the superstition came about.  And I never inquired further.

After a little internet research, this is what I found out.

Superstition has it that, at all times, a devil waits over your left shoulder, just waiting to pull you from the path of good intentions.  An angel sits over your right shoulder.  

Spilling salt is bad luck (perhaps because it used to be rare and precious). Hence, you can diminish your bad luck by throwing salt into the eyes of the devil.  Thus blinding the devil and giving you a chance to correct any mistakes.

It is also thought that your guardian angel (who can be found over your right shoulder) spills salt to warn of evil close by.  Therefore you either throw the salt to hurt the devil or, since salt was at one time very valuable, you throw it to appease the devil.

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I had never heard this explanation before.  You can be sure, the next time I spill salt a pinch of it is getting thrown in the devil’s eyes.  I don’t want any more bad luck!

What’s a superstition you’ve heard but don’t know the story behind it?