Animal Superstitions 1

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Category Animal Superstitions

Subcategory: Dogs
A dog eating grass - rain

Meeting a dog - good luck (especially Dalmatians)

A greyhound with a white spot on its forehead - good fortune

Being followed by a strange dog - bad luck (especially black dogs)

The spectral black dog (barguest) - a harbinger of death

A dog howling for no reason - unseen spirits

A dog howling three times - A death has occurred

At one time a dog that had bitten someone was immediately destroyed to protect the person from rabies (even if the dog was healthy)

Subcategory: Horses

Horse brasses were used to protect horses from witches

White horses - ill fortune

Inhaling a horses breath - cure for whooping cough

Eating a hair from a horse's forelock - cure for worms

Horses standing with their backs to a hedge - rain

Changing a horse's name - very bad luck

Subcategory: Albatross

An albatross flying around a ship in mid ocean - bad weather

Thought to be the spirit of dead mariners and so bringing bad luck to those who killed them

Subcategory: Adder

To see an adder - general bad luck

To kill an adder - general good luck

A live adder on the doorstep - a death in the household

Subcategory: Ant

Believed to be the final earthly incarnation of fairies

Believed to be the souls of children who had died unbaptised

Believed to be the transmuted souls of the Druids who refused to accept Christianity

Subcategory: Badger

Carrying a badgers tooth - Good luck (especially for gamblers)

Subcategory: Bats

In a church during a wedding ceremony - bad omen

In the house - either a death or a sign that the humans will soon be leaving

Flying close to a person - that person will be betrayed

Flying vertically upwards then dropping back to earth - 'The Witches Hour Has Come'

Flying early in the evening - good weather

Chinese belief - Bats are a symbol of long life and happiness

Subcategory: Bear

Believed to gain sustenance from sucking on their own paws.

Ghost bears are believed to reside at Worcester Cathedral and The Tower of London in England

Naming a bear - provokes attack

Subcategory: Bees

If a bee enters your home, it's a sign that you will soon have a visitor. If you kill the bee, you will have bad luck, or the visitor will be unpleasant.

A bee landing on someone's hand is believed to foretell money to come, while if the bee settles on someone's head it means that person will rise to greatness.

Bees were once considered to deliberately sting those who swore in front of them, and also to attack an adulterer or unchaste person.

It was once held to be a sure sign that a girl was a virgin if she could walk through a swarm of bees without being stung.

An old country tradition states that bees should not be purchased for money, as bought bees will never prosper.

Bee-stings were once thought to prevent rheumatism, and in some places a bee-sting was also thought to cure it.

Subcategory: Beetle

Ancient Egyptian belief - Scarab revered as a symbol of the Sun God Ra

Walking over a person's shoe - an omen of death

Crawling out of a discarded shoe - ill omen

Devil's coach horse beetle raising it's tail - a curse

African belief - throwing beetles into a lake produces rain

A dead beetle tied around the neck - cure for whooping cough

Subcategory: Birds

A bird that flies into a house, foretells an important message.

The white bird foretells death.

A bird call from the north means tragedy; from the south is good for crops; from the west is good luck; from the east, good love.

If a bird poops on your car, it is good luck.

If bird droppings land on your head it is good luck.

Subcategory: Blackbird

Ancient British Belief - A messenger of the dead

Two blackbirds sitting together - good omen

Subcategory: Boar

A manifestation of the Devil

Norse belief - A traditional food of the Gods

Subcategory: Bull

Bull's testes - aphrodisiac

To hide in a bull's pen - immunity from lightning

Subcategory: Butterfly

If the first butterfly you see in the year is white, you will have good luck all year

Represents the souls of unbaptised children

Inside the house - good luck

First butterfly of the season seen (white) - good omen

First butterfly of the season seen (brown) - misfortune

To see three butterflies together - bad omen

To see a butterfly at night - approaching death

Scottish belief - red butterflies are manifestations of witches

Subcategory: Calf

If the first calf born during the winter is white, the winter will be a bad one.

To stroke a calf on the back - bad luck to both the person and the animal

Twin calves - bad luck

Giving mistletoe as a gift to the first calf of the year - good luck to the herd

Subcategory: Cat

A kitten born in May - a witches cat

A black cat crossing your path - good luck (A white cat in USA, Spain and Belgium)

A black cat seen from behind - a bad omen

Stray tortoise shell cat - bad omen

Cats bought with money will never be good mousers

Cat sneezing once - rain

Cat sneezing three times - the family will catch a cold

USA belief - A cat washing on the doorstep - the clergy will visit

Killing a cat - sacrificing your soul to the Devil

Kicking a cat - Rheumatism

A cat sneezing is a good omen for everyone who hears it. - Italian superstition

It is bad luck to see a white cat at night

Dreaming of white cat means good luck

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.

If a cat washes behind its ears, it will rain. - English superstition

A cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means cold weather ahead. - English superstition

English schoolchildren believe seeing a white cat on the way to school is sure to bring trouble. To avert bad luck, they must either spit, or turn around completely and make the sign of the cross.

A black cat crossing one's path by moonlight means death in an epidemic. - Irish superstition

A strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity. - Scottish superstition

It is bad luck to cross a stream carrying a cat. - French superstition

A cat on top of a tombstone meant certainly that the soul of the departed buried was possessed by the devil. Two cats seen fighting near a dying person, or on the grave shortly after a funeral, are really the Devil and an Angel fighting for possession of

To see a white cat on the road is lucky.

To kill a cat brings seventeen years of bad luck. - Irish superstition

If cats desert a house, illness will always reign there. - English superstition

In Normandy, seeing a tortoiseshell foretells death by accident.

In the Netherlands, cats were not allowed in rooms where private family discussions were going on. The Dutch believed that cats would definitely spread gossips around the town.

When moving to a new home, always put the cat through the window instead of the door, so that it will not leave.

In the early 16th century, a visitor to an English home would always kiss the family cat.

When the pupil of a cat's eye broadens, there will be rain. - Welsh superstition

In 16th century Italy, it was believed that if a black cat lay on the bed of a sick man, he would die. But there's also a belief that a cat will not remain in the house where someone is about to die. Therefore, if the family cat refuses to stay indoors,

Subcategory: Cattle

Cattle were highly regarded by the Celts, and nn some areas it is thought that cattle should be informed of any deaths in their owners' household, or the cows, sensing that something was wrong, would sicken and probably die.

In mediaeval times it was thought that cattle would kneel at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve; and some people thought they were even able to speak that night, although it was considered dangerous for any human to hear their speech as misfortune w

Subcategory: Cockerel

White cockerel - good luck

Black cockerel - evil spirits

A cockerel standing in a doorway - a visitor

It is believed that the cockerels will all crow on final day to awaken the dead

Subcategory: Cows

If a plow kills a daddy long legs the cows will go dry

If you see nine cows in a shed with a gray bull next to the door, and all of them lie on the same side, you are in luck, because you will be granted one wish.

A cow lowing after midnight - approaching death

To milk a cow being sent to market - bad luck

Sprinkling the cowshed floor with primroses - a guard against witches

Cows lying down in a field - rain