Bread Superstitions

Most of us enjoy our daily sandwich and never give a thought to the old superstitions associated with bread. Going back in time, rituals and superstitions involving bread was quite serious matters.

Cutting the bread superstitions

Be careful how you cut your bread. According to superstition it really matters.

It will bring you good luck if you manage to cut the bread evenly. Some even say this will bring you success and wealth.

By cutting the top half of a loaf of bread you may just be securing your place at the top half of society.

If you cut your bread unevenly, it proclaims there is something that you haven’t been completely truthful about. Thank goodness for bread cutting machines.

Dropping bread and butter superstition

If you accidentally drop a slice of bread with butter, you need to pay attention on how it lands.

If the slice of bread lands with the butter side down facing the floor, it foretells you will soon receive a visitor. Hurry up and clean up the mess and make your home presentable.

Yet there are still quite many people who insist that dropping a slice of bread with the butter side facing down will bring nothing but bad luck. This is a gloomy superstition. Personally, I prefer the one about receiving a visitor.

Say “Bread and Butter” Meaning

When going for a walk with a friend, relative or lover it may happen that you need to split up even for a few seconds. For instance, if you have to walk on either sides of a pole or another person walks between you when passing.

If this happens both of you need to immediately say “bread and butter”. According to superstition, by saying “bread and butter” you prevent that your friendship is ever broken.

The reason for saying bread and butter is that it is just about impossible to separate butter from bread. Butter truly does stick to the bread.

Bread and Mother-In-Laws

If you feel uncertain about whether your mother-in-law likes you or not, here is some wacky advice.

Start eating the end piece (heel) of the bread and your mother-in-law will soon love you. At least that is what many Greeks claimed and they should know!

Bread and fire

Never ever throw breadcrumbs into a fire. Many used to believe you were feeding the devil by doing so. Others said that those who threw bread into the fire were sure to go hungry before long. In either case it was a bad omen.  

Many Catholic children in the past may have been warned that throwing bread into the fire would make the Virgin Mary cry. You never wanted to be on the bad side of the Virgin Mary.

Any dough that is set near to a fire to make it rise should be marked with a cross to prevent the devil from sitting on it.

Bread Upside Down Superstitions

This is a long-lived superstition. Whatever you do, never ever place your bread upside down on your table or counter.

Superstition states that if you place your bread upside down on the table, you are inviting the devil into your home.

Families of sailors and fishermen had a different explanation. They said that if you place a bread upside down on a table it foretold a shipwreck.

Never take the last piece of bread

Helping yourself to the last piece of bread on a plate is considered very unlucky. No matter how hungry you still are, this is something you need to reframe from doing. Use your will-power and keep those hands of yours away from the plate.

For any unmarried person taking the last piece of bread without it being offered to you implies that you will never marry.

On the other hand, if someone offers you the last piece of bread and butter on a plate, you need to accept it with a big smile.

For someone to offer you the last piece of bread and butter on a plate is very lucky. Eat the piece of bread being offered and you will have luck with either money or love.

Hot Cross Buns Superstition

In Britain it is quite common to make loaves of bread or buns with a cross. These are called “Hot Cross Buns” and are especially popular around Easter.

Baking bread with a cross in the dough was not uncommon in earlier times. Bread made in this manner protected the household from witches.

Hot Cross Buns were considered almost magical. In order to contain magical qualities, they had to be made on Good Friday of the Easter week.

Believers took one of these cross-marked buns and hung it up to dry and harden. They would let it hang one year until Good Friday the following year; at which time it was replaced by a new bun. The old bun was stored safely in case it was needed as “medicine”.

If someone in the household became ill suffering from a bad cough or diarrhea, Hot Cross Buns came to the rescue. A now hard and dry bun was grated and mixed with a glass of water. This magical “medicine” was offered to the patient.

These buns were told would never spoil. They protected the household from misfortune and fire.

Remember only buns marked with a cross and baked on Good Friday are auspicious. Hot Cross Buns baked on any other day will not have any magical qualities.

Hot Cross Buns baked on other days are meant to be consumed and enjoyed. They taste delicious and just may put a smile on your face.

Dreaming about Bread

Personally, I have never dreamt about bread. Though I am told it is quite common. If you are one of the many who has dreams about bread, consider yourself lucky.

Dreaming about bread is always a good omen. It is a positive dream in every sense of the word. Expect happy times ahead and the receiver of good news!

How to use a bread to find a corpse

This superstition is weird and far-fetched.

It circulated among the American Indians, and also in Europe. The superstition explained just how to find a person who had drowned.

Put quicksilver in a loaf of bread. Throw the bread out on the water. Keep an eye on the floating bread. The bread will at some point stop and lay motionless in the water.

That would be the exact spot where one should find the body of the drowned person at the bottom of the lake or river.

Bread Rising Well Superstition

When baking bread and you see it is rising well, consider yourself a successful baker. Well done! According to superstition a bread that rises well is a sure sign that someone who loves you is thinking about you at that very time.

Maybe you should call up that special person and invite her or him over to taste your delicious bread!