Today is Friday the 13th!
Considered a day of bad luck and superstition in most Anglo-Saxon cultures, we took the opportunity to learn more about one of the biggest superstitions related to oil. “Spilling oil brings bad luck,” our grandparents used to say, often performing strange forms of ex-conjuration and looking with regret at the stained napkin that, at that time, could not use the degreasing power of modern detergents.
Undoubtedly, many beliefs around olive oil have their origin in the important role it plays in religions and in its close relationship with the sacred. In Hebrew, Christ was called machiah (anointed) and, in the Christian liturgy, the use of olive oil in the sacraments plays a determining role.
Formerly, also the French kings were consecrated through an anointing with miraculous oil, which was said to have been brought by a dove to Saint Remigius, when he baptized Clovis.
And you, are you superstitious?
