Superstitions have always surrounded left-handers. Man-made lies and conspiracies have existed for as long as the first left handed man was born onto this Earth.
The Devil has been associated with left-handedness purely because everyone had the opinion that being left was evil.
In the 17th century people thought that the Devil baptised his followers with his left hand, and that the Devil watches us over his left shoulder.
Most of the interesting myths about left-handers originated in ancient Roman times. At the time, salt was seen as an expensive commodity, which should only be spilt in critical circumstances. The spilling of salt signalled bad luck, and was usually spilt over the left shoulder to ward off the devil.
The left side of a human’s senses also comes onto scrutiny. According to folklore, if the right eye twitches you will have the possibility of seeing a friend, but if the left eye twitches then you may see an enemy.
Social situations also amounted to bad lack or curses:
- It is bad luck to pass your drink to another person with your left hand.
- A left handed toast has the main implications of putting a curse on the victim.
Curses and bad superstitions aside, there are also a number of positive things and extraordinary trivia about lefties that you might not be aware of:
- According to MENSA, 20% of their members are left-handed. Could this mean that on average left-handed people could be more intelligent? It could if one includes the fact that left-handed people make up only 10% of the world’s population.
- Lefties also have an advantage in sports, especially combat sports. A left-handed haymaker will be a surprise element in boxing and can be a make or break factor in a tight contest.
- Tennis is one sport where left-handers are excelling in, with world-class players such as, Rafeal Nadal, John McEnroe, Goran Ivanisevic and Martina Navratilova all serving an ace for lefties around the world.
- Cricket is another sport, where left-handers are predominantly singled out. Left- handed batsmen and bowlers have delivered some of the best cricketers of all time. In the South African context, cricketers such as Proteas captain, Graeme Smith, and batsman JP Duminy are fine examples of this.
One of the most devastating bowlers of all time, Wasim Akram, was also left-handed. The Pakistani could swing a cricket ball in any direction and that was what made him such a dangerous prospect.
The first batsman to hit six sixes in an over was also left-handed. Sir Garfield Sobers managed this feat on 31 August 1968 in an English County Cricket match for Glamorgan versus. Nottinghamshire.
- Left-handedness is seen as a sign of creativity and musical abilities. No wonder then that Michaelangelo, Mozart and Beethoven were all lefties.
- Mothers who are over the age of 40 at the time of a child’s birth are 128% more likely to have a left-handed baby.
- According to research, left-handers are more likely to become alcoholics, schizophrenic and dyslexic. Luckily, for us lefties we can survive these sicknesses as, we are traditionally strong in combat!
- In the Bible, there are a lot of references to right handedness, with the left hand being referred to negatively. There are a few positive references to left-handed people in the Bible. One instance of this occurs in the reference to Ehud, a left-handed man in the Old Testament:
Judges 3:15
“Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer, Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite.”
The reason for the bias towards right-handers in the Bible, is because there was more right-handers than lefthanders present during that time. Thus, people associated right handedness with correctness.
