Spitting and superstition

Spit, like blood, is considered to hold something of your spirit, or soul, so has been used since the dawn of time in various rituals, protection spells and superstitions. We’re likely to be more disgusted by people spitting than our ancestors were, but it’s still worth knowing when to spit and why.

Until very recently it was normal practice to spit when seeing a piebald horse, a magpie (must admit I still do the magpie one if no one’s looking), a chimney sweep or someone with a squint. Also when making a wish, or seeing the new moon for the first time in any month.

Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) says if we want to stay safe from spells, we should spit into our right shoe before putting it on, or into the stream of our own urine. We should also spit before entering a dangerous place (he doesn’t specify what makes a place dangerous, so guess that’s for you to decide.)

It was usual to spit after any quarrel to dispel the argument, and apparently if two people were washing in the same water, they would need to spit into it or make the sign of the cross to avoid any bad outcome. This goes back to the idea that our bodies hold something of our essence, and a little of that goes into the water when we wash.

Traditionally, spitting on someone before they set out on a journey or start a new job was done to give them protection and good luck. Also on letters and contracts before signing, for the same reason (though possibly not a widespread habit, as ink and spit don’t make the best combination). According to E and MA Radford’s Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, a dressmaker would spit on the wrappings of a garment they’d made to ensure customer satisfaction.

Spitting on your hands before a fight or before agricultural work is supposed to give you more strength and a good outcome. If you’re a market trader dealing in cash, putting the money from your first sale in your mouth, or spitting on it, and keeping it in a separate pocket, helps to protect it from being overlooked and you to have a good day’s trade. Henri Mission de Valburg’s Memoirs and observations in his travels over England (1743) tells us that market women in London spat on their first sale money “to make it tenacious, that it might remain with them and not vanish away like a fairy gift, or else to render it propitious and lucky, that it may draw more money to it.”

At one time it was also common practice to spit on the first money given to a new servant as a token of wages to come. The coin was known as the fastenpenny.

People would spit when making a promise they meant to keep, or to prove they were telling the truth. (I seem to remember this from the playground when I was a child). Apparently this is known as ‘Spitting your faith’ and dates back into prehistory - again connected to the idea that your spit is something of your soul, or essence.

The spit of someone fasting was considered to have extra curative properties, and was used to cure warts, boils and getting rid of birth marks. In fact at one time, so-called cunning men and women (ie healers and witches) used their spit to cure all kinds of ailments, both human and livestock, including scrofula , tumours, skin diseases and snake and insect bites.

The rise of modern medicine, and especially the understanding that many diseases (including tuberculosis and covid) are carried in spit, has made spitting for luck or healing much less common. But maybe if you’re not out in a public place and have warts or insect bites, there’s no harm giving them a quick rub of spit…