Greeks are historically superstitious, and many beliefs live on, especially in rural areas. Below are a few that you won’t find in the majority of travel guides!

• With Orthodox Easter fast approaching, there are many traditions and superstitions relating to this celebration. One is regarding salt, eggs and bread, which should not leave a home after sundown, or you will bring bad luck to the house! If, after dark, a guest is to take a ‘doggie bag’ that has bread, or eggs of any kind in it, then it must be left outside of the front door before the sun goes down.
• Tasseography is a fortune-telling method that interprets the residues at the bottom of a cup of coffee or tea and is a very popular tradition in Greece and the Middle East, dating back to the 16th century.
• “Mati”, or the evil eye, is the belief that someone can cast the evil eye onto another person out of envy or jealousy. Once you have the evil eye, you must find someone to perform a ceremony to destroy the evil energy!
• You may occasionally see a Greek take a plant or flowers from someone else’s garden. This is completely accepted and comes from the ancient belief that plants and flowers will only root if they are stolen!
• Greeks believe that bread is a gift from God, which has its roots in the biblical story of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. This leads to many villagers never throwing away any bread, because it is considered bad luck, using leftovers to feed to the animals. Also, many Greeks are superstitious about who eats the heel of the loaf. It is believed that young single women should eat it and then their future mother-in-laws will like them. This tradition begins when girls are as young as 5 years of age!
• When two people speak the same words at the same time, Greeks believe this to be a sign that the two will get into a fight. To avoid the argument, they have to touch something that is red (piase kokkino) immediately.
• Just like anywhere in the world, Greeks cheer when drinking with friends, the Greek word is “Yamas”. This is with most drinks, but not with coffee, which is said to bring bad luck.
• According to an old superstition, sneezing is thought to mean that someone is talking or thinking about you. To know who that person is, simply ask someone to give you a three-digit number; add each digit together and find the corresponding letter in the alphabet, and that’s the first initial of the person thinking about you.
• You should never pass a Greek a knife! The correct and courteous way to give someone a knife is to set it down on the table and let the other person pick it up. It is believed that if you hand the person the knife, you want to fight with them!
• Black cats are seen as supernatural and in some cases evil in cultures around the world, but many of the myths have their roots in Greek mythology. One myth relates to the birth of Hercules, who was conceived by Alcmene, one of Zeus’ mistresses. Hera, Zeus’ wife, was infuriated by the pregnancy and made a vow to prevent baby Hercules from being born. However, before her plan could be carried out, one of Alcmene’s servants tricked Hera and thwarted her plan. In retaliation, Hera changed this servant into a black cat and sent her to serve Hecate, the goddess of death and witchcraft.
• In Greek folklore, salt is a powerful substance, it can even be used to get rid of an unwanted guest! The process is so simple, you should try it out next time you want someone to leave your house. Just sprinkle a little bit of salt behind them, it is thought that the salt has powers that will encourage them to leave your house.
• House roofs painted blue are not just for aesthetic reasons, according to Greek folk tradition, rooftops are painted blue in order to ward off evil!
• Greeks are touchy about their coffee. If you ask a Greek for some Turkish coffee, odds are they will give you the evil eye! Truly, do not ever make this request. In Greece, it’s Greek coffee!
• Greeks have a tradition of wearing black after the death of a spouse or loved one. Some people will wear it for the entire year following the death of someone close to them such as a parent, while widows often will wear a black dress every day for the rest of their life!
• Greeks are renowned for the level of revelry on their “name day”, which is actually considered of greater importance than their birthday. Most Greek names have saints associated with them, and their name day is celebrated on the annual feast day of that saint. Every Greek person will have at least one name day to celebrate within the calendar year.
• Finally, just a hint, you should never thrust your hand towards a Greek with the palm facing forward and the fingers splayed, as it is a very rude gesture in Greece, known as the “moutza”. However, you don’t need to worry if, for example, you thank another driver for letting you pass by gesturing with your palm forward.