Spilling water
Spilling water is the lightest of household accidents: it rarely stains and often dries by itself. One Serbian family spills it on purpose behind someone setting off for a job interview or a journey, so the day ahead goes well.
What it may mean
Of all kitchen spills, water asks the least of you. It does not stain or stick, and a puddle on tile is often gone by morning. Perhaps that is why one custom turns the accident into a gesture. A student writing for a university folklore archive recorded a custom learned from a Serbian stepmother: water is thrown behind someone heading to a job interview or setting off on a trip, because it gives back to the earth, and the earth will repay them. The spill becomes a send-off, the last thing done at the door before someone faces a hard day. Most households have a version without the water: a packed lunch, a note in a coat pocket, a hug that lasts a second longer on the morning of an exam. The person leaving may forget the words, but they remember that someone stood at the door.
Depending on how you saw it
Knocking over a glass at dinner
A tipped glass of water at the table is about the most forgiving accident there is: no stain, no smell, one napkin. Whoever knocked it over often keeps apologizing long after the table has moved on. Which of your own small mishaps do you keep apologizing for after everyone else has forgotten them?
A ring on a wooden table
Water is forgiving on tile but not on wood: a sweating glass left on a varnished table can leave a pale ring that outlasts the party by years. The surface decides how long a spill is remembered. Which small slip of yours left a mark mainly because of where it landed?
A tub that runs over
Daniels and Stevans list a tub or pail filled until it runs over as a sign you will be overrun with callers. A sink left running while the phone rings is the modern version. Which visitors would you be glad to be overrun by this month?
Why it happens in nature
Water spreads into a thin film on hard floors and evaporates fairly quickly, faster in warm, dry or moving air, which is why a small spill on tile can disappear within hours. On wood, carpet or paper it soaks in instead, and a spill left to sit there can leave a mark.
What folk beliefs say
Serbia
A Serbian stepmother taught that spilling water behind someone who faces an important event, such as a job interview, or who is setting off on a journey brings good fortune and a happy ending.
Source: nfriedli (collector), Serbian spilling of water (USC Digital Folklore Archive) (2016), folklore.usc.edu. View the page
To reflect on
Who in your home faces a hard day soon, and how will you see them off?