Flower Omens of Spring

The day you find the first flower of the season can be used as an omen:

• Monday means good fortune,
• Tuesday means greatest attempts will be successful,
• Wednesday means marriage,
• Thursday means warning of small profits,
• Friday means wealth,
• Saturday means misfortune,
• Sunday means excellent luck for weeks.

More Flower divination information can be found at my new website, Divination.

Seeing Bats

Bats are misunderstood because of the folklore dealing with vampires. However, bats are highly social creatures; they love to congregate with their family in huge numbers inside caves. They often hang upside down inside their cave (also called a roost), and only emerge at dusk to feed on insects (a common time for insects to stir). For this reason, the bat has come to symbolize rebirth because they go “inside” their cave which represents going within, and then they emerge at dusk, and this is seen as being reborn from the womb of mother Earth.

If this animal totem has appeared to you in your dreams or in waking life perhaps it is a sign that it is time for you to go within. It might be time to take some time off and go on a vacation and bring a journal with you, or even just try meditation as a way of becoming quiet and allowing your true self to speak....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been expanded and moved to my new website, Sigils Symbols and Signs, and can be found in its entirety here: Bat Symbols, Mythology and Lore

Lucky Leaf

The oak tree is lucky for money and health. Try to catch a falling oak leaf in autumn, before it touches the ground. Keep the leaf safely in your purse or wallet to ensure it will never be empty. If an oak leaf accidentally...

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Book of Shadows, and can be found in its entirety here: Lucky Leaf

Not A Lucky New Year!

There is a lot of lore and superstition surrounding the New Year. What follows is an extensive listing of what NOT to do, and what to avoid at all costs on this most powerful day of the year:


New Year's day was one of ill omen to the ancient Egyptians.

It is unlucky to have clothes hanging on the line when the New Year is born.

If a person in deep mourning pays you a call on New Year's day, a member of your family will die before the year is out....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: New Year's Day - The Do Nots

Thanksgiving Lore

There isn't much to be found when it comes to omens, signs, and superstitions surrounding Thanksgiving. Here are a few tidbits from various sources,,,

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website Divination (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: Thanksgiving Divinations

Twelve Days of January Weather

Whatever the weather is like the first twelve days of January indicates what the weather will be like for the next twelve months. Each day equals one month in succession.

From Moon Magick

Christmas Moon Lore

In certain areas of England there was an expression that if a dark moon came on Christmas, a fine harvest year would follow. Other areas declared that a waxing or new moon on Christmas portended a good year, but a waning moon a hard year.

 From: Moon Magick

... for more Moon lore and Christmas fun, visit my new website, The Pagan Calendar.

Michaelmas Lore

• If you eat goose on Michaelmas Day, you will not be short of money all year round.
• A Michaelmas rot comes ne’er in the pot.
• If St Michael brings many acorns, Christmas will cover the fields with snow....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been combined with another and moved to The Pagan Calendar, it can be found here: Michaelmas - The Christianized Mabon

Cricket Superstitions and Lore

For thousands of years, it has been considered lucky to have a cricket on the hearth, especially in Asian countries where crickets were once used as “watchdogs.” When danger approached, the cricket’s chirping would stop.

The cricket is known as “the poor man’s thermometer,” and is believed by some to be a good indication of the temperature. To know the temperature, count the number of chirps a cricket makes within’ fifteen seconds and add the number thirty-seven. This will give you the temperature in degrees.

In East India the superstition of the cricket lies in the story of the peril of the soul which, it is held, can leave the body during sleep. The soul, says this Indian fable, leaves the sleeping person in the form of a cricket emerging from the nose....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been combined with another and moved to my new website, The Powers That Be. It can be found here: Cricket Magick and Lore

Thirteen - What does it mean?

Thirteen has long been regarded by many as an unlucky or inauspicious number. The Kaballa, for example, says that there are 13 spirits of evil. It's still considered unlucky to have 13 people sitting down to dine because it is a reminder of the Last Supper, where Christ was betrayed by one of the 12 disciples who were eating with him, Judas Iscariot.

Similarly, in Norse mythology, when an honorary banquet was held in Valhalla for Baldur (god of nobility, redemption and admirable strength) among other twelve Norse gods. Loki (the trickster) came to the banquet as the uninvited thirteenth guest. Afterwards, we learn Baldur was slain by Hoor who, to execute the god, was given a magic spear by Loki....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Sigils Symbols and Signs, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com and can be found in its entirety here: Thirteen

Tuesday the 13th

In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck.

The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day. Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in it's entirety here: Unlucky Tuesday

The Folklore of Falling Stars

Some scholars speculate, based on common legends between various cultures around the globe, that the old practice of "wishing upon a shooting star" originates from a time when people believed that the gods would occasionally open the dome of heaven to peek in on what the mortals were doing on Earth. This opening of the dome released a star, and if one made a wish while there was still light, and before the dome slammed shut, the gods might hear and grant the wish.

In Switzerland, it was though that shooting stars possessed the power of God and could ward off pestilence....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Widdershins, and can be viewed in its entirety here: The Folklore of Falling Stars

New Moon Lore

Almost every culture believed that if the New Moon came on Monday (Moon-day) it was a sign of good weather and good luck.

Two new moons in one month were said to predict a month's bad weather.

Any new moon on a Saturday or Sunday was said to predict rain and general bad luck....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, and can be found in its entirety here: New Moon Magick and Lore

Weather Divinations for Imbolc

Imbolc was traditionally a time of weather divination, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens may be a forerunner to the North American Groundhog Day. A Scottish Gaelic proverb about the day is:

Thig an nathair as an toll

Là donn Brìde,

Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd

Air leac an làir.

"The serpent will come from the hole

On the brown Day of Bríde,

Though there should be three feet of snow

On the flat surface of the ground." 

Imbolc was believed to be the day the Cailleach ... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Divination, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: Weather Divinations for Imbolc. You can read more about the Cailleach here: Là Fhèill Brìghde.

Epiphany Lore and Superstitions

"Twelfth-day" is the twelfth day after Christmas, or Epiphany, occurring on the 6th of January. It is a festival of the Christian church in commemoration of the manifestation of Christ by the star which guided the magi to Bethlehem. "Twelfth-night" is the eve of Epiphany, when many social festivities and superstitious rites were observed. "Twelfth-tide" is the time or festival of twelfth-day. "The Twelfths" are the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany. Epiphany is also called "Little Christmas," being the social festival which brings the merry-makings of the Christmas cycle to an end.

A special cake, called "Twelfthcake," is prepared for the festivities on twelfth-night. A bean or a coin is baked into it, and, the cake being divided by lot, whoever draws the slice containing it is entitled to preside as king or queen over the festivities. This custom is a relic of the old Roman festival of the Saturnalia, at the close of which the Roman children drew lots with beans to see who would be king....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: Epiphany

New Years Divinations

Some Albanian tribes celebrate their New Year on the first of September, and everything that happens during the day, presages the happenings of the months of the year, as to whether they will be lucky or not.

On New Year's day dip your thumb seven times in salt and put in your mouth all that rests on the nail. You will dream that your future husband or wife will bring you water. (Persia.)

On New Year's night, it was an old Welsh custom with the wise and courageous old men of the parish to sit up all night in the church porch. On that night, it was said, a voice, emanating from beneath the altar table, pronounced the names of those who should die within the coming year....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website Divination (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: New Years Divinations

For A Lucky New Year

A branch of the plum-tree placed over the door at New Year's is very luck bringing, as the tree is so beautiful and fruitful.

The orange is placed over the door in Japan on New Year's day so that the family shall continue perpetually, and generation after generation shall follow each other like the buds, flowers, and fruit.

Cook cabbage on New Year's day and you will have good luck all the year....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: For A Lucky New Year

32 Superstitions About Cats

1. When you see a one-eyed cat, spit on your thumb, stamp it in the palm of your hand, and make a wish. The wish will come true.
2. A kitten born in May is a witches cat.
3. A black cat seen from behind - a bad omen
4. A black cat crossing your path - good luck....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, Sigils Symbols and Signs, and can be found in its entirety here: 32 Superstitions About Cats

Bad Omens in Nebraska

The signs, omens, and portents in the following collection have been reported by inhabitants of Nebraska and most of them are beliefs or sayings commonly known in the central western region. Although the list must be far from complete, it is probably representative of the bulk of current (1933) superstitions of Nebraskans.

1. If a dog howls at night, it is a sign of the death of a friend.
2. If a dog sits and howls at the moon, it is a sign of death.
3. One death will be followed almost immediately by two more in the family or the neighborhood....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Sigils Symbols and Signs, and can be found in its entirety here: Bad Omens in Nebraska

Day of Bad Omens

According to the old Roman calendar - today is a day of bad omens. So, I thought it would be appropriate to post this excerpt from a little book called Signs Omens and Portents in Nebraska Folklore, published in 1933:

Signs of evil portent are among the most common of surviving folk beliefs in Nebraska. In number and currency they rival the popular omens concerned with weather and marriage and they are regarded with perhaps a greater degree of seriousness than signs of the latter type....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, and can be found in its entirety here: Day of Bad Omens