Propitiatory gestures
First of all you need to know the arsenal of Italian propriety gestures which in theory should protect you from bad luck when something potentially inauspicious happens. What are they? The most common is doing the sign for horns, pointing your index and pinkie towards the ground, preferably behind your back (see cover image). The other is the sign of the cross, which is of course a religious symbol, but in this case it takes on a more profane use and finally, and much less elegant, for men a quick cupping of their privates and for women a quick grab of the left breast should ward off the evil eye.