Overhead view of positive text and spilled salt. Telling yourself that this is going to be a good day is a wonderful way to start each day even when things go wrong and you spill the salt. According to superstition, spilling salt is bad luck and throwing a pinch over your shoulder reverses that bad luck. Typically, it’s thrown over the left shoulder. We don’t know exactly when this tradition began, but there are a few explanations about why spilled salt is bad luck.