The Neapolitan tradition of interpreting dreams to play the lotto

In Naples, Italy, there’s a peculiar tradition surrounding the lottery. For centuries, locals have turned to their dreams to figure out what numbers to play — the belief is that dead family members and friends send encrypted messages with the winning lottery tickets. So, for every image or scenario in a dream — there’s a number associated with it. And as The World’s Lucía Benavides reports, this tradition is reflective of Neapolitans’ quotidian relationship with the spirit world.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.