Why is it believed that dishes are beaten "for luck"

Sometimes, when someone accidentally breaks a cup or plate, you can hear the phrase that it is "for luck". Sometimes at weddings, glasses are specially beaten on the floor, saying the same thing. How did we get this custom and is it practiced anywhere else in the world?

In Russia, breaking dishes at weddings began hundreds of years ago, before the advent of Christianity. Glass was then a rarity and clay was used instead. The Slavs believed that the noise from the beating charms and pots drives away evil spirits and protects the newlyweds from the evil eye. Some scientists think that this custom came to us from the East.

In some Asian countries, it was believed that an evil spirit, a genie, could be imprisoned in a jug or lamp. To deal with evil spirits, you just need to break these dishes. Often jugs were specially bought for the holidays in order to symbolically destroy them. Perhaps this belief came to our region together with Byzantine or Tatar merchants.

Also in Russia, brides were guessing on broken pots to find out the sex of the unborn child. The girl had to take the dishes from her mother-in-law's house and break it. Large potsherds said that the firstborn would be a boy, and small ones — that a girl would be born.

But these are all versions of historians, folklorists and local historians. Psychologists have their own opinion on this. They claim that the tradition of saying "for luck" when the dishes are breaking appeared as a kind of consolation. In the old days, tableware, especially glass, was very expensive. The owners took great care of it and got it only on special occasions.

If an awkward guest broke a plate or a bowl, he said that "the dishes beat for luck." Later, the origins of this custom were forgotten and specially began to beat dishes, plates and glasses. Now we say this phrase almost always when we break something, accidentally or intentionally.

The tradition of breaking dishes exists in many countries. At weddings, glasses are thrown on the floor in the UK, Germany and France. In some areas of Foggy Albion, there is an ancient rite when the groom throws a dish over the bride's head. Then the guests look at the fragments and if they are small, it means that family life will be long and happy.

In restaurants and clubs in Greece, where musicians play, guests beat dishes as a sign that they liked the performance. Of course, the owners of the establishment put everything destroyed on the bill, but this does not upset anyone. At especially fun parties, the score of broken plates and glasses goes to dozens!

But cracked or chipped dishes are treated negatively almost everywhere. In Russia, it was believed that utensils with such damage could attract evil forces. In houses where particularly thrifty housewives kept such items, trouble could easily come. Therefore, they tried to get rid of plates and cups with cracks right away. Many people still believe it now.