We often see that some people simply deny or ignore the role of the past in building our identity or understanding the world. If we talk then about ancient civilizations, it seems that things get even worse! After all, what is the point of studying people who lived thousands of years ago and who are not even related to what we think, feel or observe in our daily lives?
This question, often asked rhetorically, ends up shuddering when we better research some of our habits and expressions. With regard to the desire to attract the luck, who was never careful to get up with the right foot on an important day or entering a room the same way? For some, this habit and the very expression itself must be recent, perhaps absorbed by the recurring custom that football players have to step onto the lawn with their right foot first.
Where does this mythical relationship between the right foot and good luck come from?
Whoever thinks like that, doesn't even know that they are the superstitions of roman people
that determined the birth of such a habit. On several occasions, the romans they performed rituals and sympathies that, according to them, attracted luck or positively called the attention of the deities. In this case, when there were big parties, the hosts asked their guests to enter the house on the right foot. That way, they ensured that everything would run smoothly throughout the event.Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Reportedly, the right and left sides symbolized the good it's the bad for the Romans. And for us too! So much so that we have the habit of saying that the people who help us are our “right arm”. Likewise, “left-handed” or “left” are one of several terms that designate the figure of the devil in Christian culture. So, is the past not related to the present? Or will those less sympathetic to history start to review it with the “right foot”? I would take the second option!
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Curiosities - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "Enter on the right foot"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/curiosidades/entrar-com-pe-direito.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
