Left-Handed Myths From Around The World

• Myths from around the world associate negativity with the left hand. A Kenyan belief of the Meru people is that the left hand of their holy man must be hidden from view because it is the source of potent evil powers. The Greeks and later the Romans has the custom of wearing the wedding ring on the left hand to ward off evil, which was believed to come from the left hand.
  
  

The Left Side Is Female

• Some of the deities in the Hindu religion are depicted as half-female and half-male. The female half of the deity is always the left half, which is a possible source for the myth that the left side of the body is the female side. It is still considered a faux pas to eat with the left hand in Indonesia and India.
  
  

Christianity and the Left Hand

• Members of the Christian religion have many superstitions that surround the less favorable nature of the left hand. One myth says that the Devil -- the evillest of all beings -- looks over a person's left shoulder. Another myth alleges that the Devil baptizes people with his left hand. Spilling salt is considered to be bad luck, so a pinch of salt should be thrown over the left shoulder to "placate the devil."
  
  

Left-Handed People Are More Artistic

• Left-handed people are not more artistic than right-handed people, although the myth that they are continues to persist. This is because peoples' hands connect to the opposite hemisphere of their brains. This means that the right hand of a person connects to the left side of the brain, which is the location of the brain structures that process language. The right hemisphere of the brain is considered the creative side of the brain, so since the left hand expresses the right side of the brain, hence the origin of this myth.