Crows have always been closely associated with witchcraft and the Otherworld, said to to sit on the Devil’s shoulder as adversaries of God and bringers of death and misfortune. The magpie was a common bird for witches to shapeshift into, it was even rumoured that the soul of a black sorcerer would come back as a magpie in order to guide those new to the Craft.
Here are three versions of the famous rhyme:
I. “One for sorrow. Two for mirth. Three for a wedding. Four for a birth. Five for silver. Six for gold. Seven for a secret never to be told.”
II. “One for anger. Two for Mirth. Three for a wedding. Four for a birth. Five for rich. Six for poor. Seven for a witch, I can tell you no more!”
III. “One for sorrow. Two for joy. Three for a girl. Four for a boy. Five for silver. Six for gold. Seven for a secret not to be told. Eight for heaven. Nine for hell. And ten is for the Devil’s own sel.”
If someone saw a bad omen there was a couple of things they could do to avert the bad luck that’d otherwise befall them. They could draw a cross on the ground, bow and wish the magpie a good day. Or they could turn around three times and spit over their left shoulder. Another simple method was to cross one’s fingers and say:
I. “I cross the magpie, the magpie crosses me; bad luck to the magpie and good luck to me.”
II. “Magpie, magpie, chatter and flee. Turn up thy tail and good luck fall me.”
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