We ’el tel you the reason
Why spilling of Salt
Is esteemed such a Fault,
Because it doth ev’rything season.
Th’ antiques did opine
’Twas of Friendship a sign,
So served it to guests in decorum,
And thought Love decayed,
When the negligent Maid
Let the salt-cellar tumble before them.
In New England the gravity of salt-spilling as an omen, its deplorable
severance of friendship’s ties, and the necessity for prompt remedial
measures, are all fully recognized.
And here the deft toss of the spilled particles over the left shoulder
is not always adequate; for in order thoroughly to break the spell, these
particles must be thrown on the stove.[284]
Gypsies have a saying, “The salt of strife has fallen.”
From the idea of the desecration of a sacred substance, to which allusion
has been made, doubtless arose the remarkable superstition that, as a
penalty for spilling salt, one must wait outside the gate of Paradise for
as many years as there are grains of salt spilled.[285]