Strange French Superstitions
Spilling salt? Walking under a ladder? What are French superstitions about good luck and bad luck that you should know? Learn about it here!
France has plenty of colorful superstitions to explore. Superstitions are rooted in the French culture, with many of them dating far back in history or based on religious beliefs. Even with forgotten origins, French superstitions influence how many people live their lives.
Les superstitions, or superstitions, in France share many commonalities with superstitions in other parts of the world. Still, there are a few strange French superstitions and origins that can cause your head to turn – both good and bad.
French Superstitions for Good Luck
We all need a bit of good luck sometimes – most times. Luckily in France, there are plenty of ways to start to sway odds in your favor:
1. Marcher dans le caca de chien – Step in dog poop
Ok, when you first hear about the superstition of stepping in dog poop, it might not sound so appealing, until you begin to understand the reason for it.
The French love their pets, so be sure to watch the ground while walking around the neighborhood to avoid droppings as much as possible. But if by chance you can’t avoid it, there’s a 50-50 chance that you might have just stepped into some good luck in French!
In France, marcher dans le caca de chien, or stepping in dog poop, is good luck in French if it’s with your left foot. As you’ll soon see, the left side is typically associated with bad luck. Stepping in dog poop with your left foot symbolizes shunning the bad side of you. Just be careful not to step in it with your right foot…
2. Toucher du bois – knock on wood
The French superstition of toucher du bois, or to knock on wood, doesn’t seem strange on the surface since many other countries have the same superstition in their respective cultures. But are you familiar with the origin of it?
One traditional explanation links the custom to beliefs that spirits lived in trees. Touching the trees is an acknowledgment of the spirits and puts protection over you from evil spirits. Since most of us don’t live in forests, simply knocking on a wooden desk or wall is imagined to bring us the same fortune.
In case you’re not near anything wood, it’s acceptable in France to say toucher du bois while touching your head!
The superstition also has connections to religion. The famed Jesus cross was made from wood – touching wood is symbolically touching the cross for good luck.
3. Le Sel – Salt
Le sel, or salt, is tricky in France – it can bring good luck or bad luck, depending on what you do. If you’re looking for good luck in French, throw salt over your left shoulder (remember what we said about the left side?).
Throwing salt over your left shoulder is a cure for bad luck, in case you stepped in dog poop with your right foot. The French also believe that the Devil lives over your left shoulder, so throwing salt that direction will rid of any bad energy around you.
4. Fer à cheval – horseshoe
Many countries use the horseshoe, or fer à cheval, to symbolize good luck. In France, the same luck will follow everywhere there is a horseshoe present. Various traditional explanations have been proposed for this superstition. Some connect its protective symbolism with iron; the origins are uncertain.
There are plenty of uses for horseshoes in France. Take note while walking into a building, and you might see a horseshoe hanging above the doorway. Horse shoes are also a great home welcoming present to bring good fortune into the new household.
French Superstitions for Bad Luck
In France, there are also a few strange superstitions to watch out for if you want to avoid the inevitable bad luck that follows them.
1. Mettre le pain à l’envers sur la table – Put bread upside down on the table
The French are some of the best bread-makers in the world – just watch how you set the bread down on the table!
Putting bread upside down on the table, or mettre le pain à l’envers sur la table, is a sure sign of bad luck. Many people believe the superstition to cause future famine in the household or even death. While it may sound far-fetched for just being bread, the origin makes it one of the strangest French superstitions for bad luck.
A popular explanation says that bakers reserved an upside-down loaf for the executioner. This is a traditional account of the superstition, rather than a firmly established history of a last baguette baked before closing.
Following the superstition, you never wanted to signal your house guest that it was the last loaf, or that you’re expecting an execution.
2. Passer sous une échelle – walk under a ladder
To walk under a ladder, or passer sous une échelle, is something avoided by people in many countries around the world. The French, however, have a few thoughts about the origin tied to the old days in France and religion.
As mentioned about the bread, executions often occurred in France. One traditional account says that when crowds would “go to the gallows” for an execution, there were two routes to take. The executioner and the person to be executed would arrive by walking under a ladder. The public onlookers instead walked around the ladder.
A leaning ladder on a wall also has religious symbolism – it creates a sacred triangle between the ladder, wall, and ground. The sacred triangle represents the holy trinity. When you walk underneath a ladder, you are breaking the holy trinity.
3. Le Sel – Salt
Salt, or le sel, can bring good luck and bad luck. While tossing salt over your left shoulder will cure you of bad fortune, spilling salt will surely bring the opposite.
Salt has long been valuable for food and preservation, and wasting it could be costly. It was not available only to wealthy people. This association with waste is one traditional explanation for the bad-luck belief.
But don’t worry – if you accidentally knock over salt, throw some of the spilled salt over your shoulder to cancel out the bad luck.
The French have a lot of things to keep in mind when it comes to superstitions. There are a lot of things that cause good luck, but on the other hand, a lot that can cause bad luck.
We’ve compiled a list of vocabulary for French superstitions so you’ll be ready in either scenario. Check it out below.
- Superstitions
(English)Les Superstitions
(French) - GOOD
- Step into dog poop with left footMarcher dans le caca de chien avec le pied gauche
- Knock on woodToucher du bois
- SaltLe sel
- HorseshoeFer à cheval
- Four-leaf cloverTrèfle à 4 Feuilles
- Shooting starÉtoile filante
- Cross your fingersCroiser les doigts
- BAD
- Put bread upside down on the tableMettre le pain à l’envers sur la table
- Walk under a ladderPasser sous une échelle
- Friday the 13thVendredi 13
- Break a mirrorCasser un miroir
- Black catChat noir
