A Guide To Magpie Folklore

In folklore, magpies are associated with good luck or terrible misfortune. These black-and-white, blue-hued birds have an array of associations, from witches’ familiars to shape-shifting creatures that refused to weep during Christ's Crucifixion.

Friend or foe, magpies have a reputation for intelligence, whether that’s their problem-solving skills or a false accusation as winged thieves. The Romans admired the bird for their cleverness, believing the magpie would bring them good fortune. Korea and China share this sentiment towards the bird, viewing magpies as bringers of luck and happiness.

Also in East Asian mythology, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, their wings form a celestial bridge across the Milky Way. Bringing the separated lovers, Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, into union.

The magpie was so highly regarded in Ancient China that the Manchu dynasty adopted the bird as its imperial emblem, and believed harming one brought severe misfortune.

In Native American shamanic circles, magpies are fearless messengers and guardians from the creator. In Blackfoot People folklore, magpie feathers symbolise bravery and are a sacred item used in the Buffalo Dance.

Yet in Western folklore, the magpie has a different story. In France and Scandinavian countries, the magpie is a shapeshifting witch who practices the occult. In some cases, magpies are evil nuns reincarnated.

Similarly, in English witch trial records, magpies were associated with witches, with the belief that witches could transform into these birds, sour the milk and lay curses upon households.

However, in druid and pagan practices, the magpie represents the balance between light and dark, good and bad because nature is both, especially during the period between spring and autumn.

Although Christianity tells a different story, labelling the magpie as a defiant bird who refused to weep at Christ’s Crucifixion and denied passage on Noah’s Ark. As such, the bible proclaims the bird carries the blood of the devil, believing that if you split the tongue of a magpie, it would speak.

But of course, not forgetting the infamous superstitious counting rhyme, prophetic in nature, that has shifted through the centuries in Britain. The exact origins of the poem are not exactly known. There have been a few tweaks here and there over the course of history.

One version goes:

“One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret that must never be told

Eight for a wish

Nine for a kiss

Ten for a bird you must not miss.”

Saluting or bowing to a single magpie becomes a form of protection from said sorrow. This is common practice in the UK, and I have laughed when someone looks at me funny for saluting a bird just going about its business.

Victorians would take off their hats and say: “Good morning, Mr Magpie, how is your wife?” Magpies mate for life, so to see one alone is often considered a sad affair. People would also make the sign of the cross, again as a form of protection.

The UK has a variety of different superstitions, but I think the magpie salute is perhaps one of the most common practices in our culture.

As a neo-pagan, it saddens me that the bird gets such a negative reputation as a harbinger of bad news and theft. Studies show that although magpies are intrigued by shiny objects, they do not go out of their way to steal them. These birds are intelligent, resourceful and cunning, but they aren’t interested in stealing your jewellery.

I think it’s very telling that most cultures admired the bird until the Christianisation of Europe and parts of Asia. This indicates to me that these birds are indeed special, one-of-a-kind creatures who have been demonised over the years. I will continue to salute the magpie as a symbol of respect; anyway, I don’t want to take my chances.