Magpie Magic – “The Devil’s Bird”
Yesterday I spied two Magpies on a boulder in my yard and it reminded me of the famous nursery Rhyme about foretelling fortunes by counting Magpies. You have probably heard it.
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
There is another, older, version that goes back to 1846 and in included in Proverbs and Popular Saying of the Seasons by Michael Aislabie Denham. I like it better.
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a funeral,
And four for birth.
Five for heaven,
Six for hell,
Seven for the devil, his own self.
I learned another version when I was staying in Hampstead Heath that goes:
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a wedding,
Four for a birth.
Five for England,
Six for France,
Seven for a fiddler,
eight for a dance.
The Church was not happy about village folks counting Magpies and spun all sorts of stories to scare people. One says that the Magpie is the only bird not to weep at the crucifixion. Another tale is that the Magpie was the only bird that refused to enter Noah’s ark, preferring to sit outside in the rain. Yet another story tells that the Black and White Magpie is the result of a Raven mating with a Dove – the bird of Witches mating with the symbol of Christ is about as Cyprianic as it gets so I take my sighting to be a good omen.
In the Magpie song by David Dodds, constructed around the rhyme, he sings about the proper attitude a Sorcerer should have towards such warnings:
The priest, he says we’re wicked
To worship the devil’s bird
But we respect the old ways
And disregard his word….
There is also a Scottish spell I learned that if you scratch the tongue of a Magpie with with the sharp edge of a silver coin, and place a drop of human blood in the wound, that the magpie will gain human speech and answer your questions. Magpies, not being the friendliest of birds, and me not wanting to get torn to pieces, I have never attempted it. It may be the reason that here in Vermont people are told to salute a Magpie when you see one by wishing it good morning, and asking how Mrs. Magpie and all the little Magpies are doing. If a Witch has gotten hold of it, it may just talk back!
With that tought I wish you a Happy Halloween and leave you with this wonderful version of the song….