But they’re still quite superstitious, and I’m sometimes surprised at how set in their ways they can be. Among those in the entertainment industry, for example, the color purple is taboo. Long ago, purple was revered in Italy as the color of those in power. But it was also worn by priests, and people later associated it with the color of mourning. This then evolved into the belief that it was unlucky. The idea took hold in artistic communities, and people stubbornly refuse to wear it to this day.
The late vocalist Pavarotti must have been superstitious as well, to the point that he even refused to sing on account of the color purple. At the Teatro Regio in Turin, one of the most prominent theaters in Italy, part of the ceiling is purple. The story goes that Pavarotti canceled his performance there, saying he wouldn’t sing in a venue with such an unlucky color.
It’s also taboo to give pearls as gifts in Italy. Apparently they’re considered “tears from the moon,” and are therefore thought to bring bad luck.
You can’t give bladed objects as gifts, either…
Italy probably isn’t the only country that is superstitious about giving bladed tools as gifts, since it may sever a friendship or a relationship. But Italy has a tradition that works as a charm against it. If the person receiving a bladed object presents the giver with a single coin, they’ve in effect “purchased” it, solving the problem by creating a kind of transaction. Pretty clever, right?
Every country is different when it comes to superstitions around lucky and unlucky numbers, so in this age of globalization, it seems like things would get a little complicated.
In Italy, 13 is considered lucky, while 17 is unlucky. But 13 is unlucky in other countries. I was reminded of this on an Alitalia international passenger plane, which as I recall had neither a 13th nor a 17th row. But how many seat numbers would they have to take out of the plane if they accounted for superstitions the world over?
The superstitions surrounding numbers in Italy run so deep that it’s hard to remember them all. This is particularly true in Naples, where they have superstitions tied to every number between 1 and 90. A divination tool called the Smorfia Napoletana is still used to interpret dream omens. Numbers that feature prominently in dreams are said to carry certain meanings. Maybe it’s because I’m not very good with numbers, but I’ve never once had a dream that had anything to do with them…
You’ll come across some strange things if you read the number divinations between 1 and 90. The number 47 is “death.” But the number 48 is “the dead speaking.” The dead speaking… does that mean ghosts? If the number 48 appears in a dream and it’s you, what do you do? Go to the cemetery and start talking to your dead relatives?
Reading the numbers in the Smorfia Napoletana is interesting. Sometimes you come across things that make no sense at all.
