Current Superstitions
Edited By Fanny D. Bergen
Chapter XV.
Moon
DIVINATION.
1080. Repeat, looking at the new moon the first time you see it,—
New moon, true moon, tell unto, meMansfield, O.
Who my true love is to be;
The color of his hair, the clothes he is to wear,
And when he’ll be married to me.
1081. On first seeing the new moon, hold any small object in the hand while you repeat,—
New moon, true moon, reveal to me
Who my true love shall be;
The color of his hair, the clothes he shall wear,
And the day that we shall wedded be.
Put the object—handkerchief, pebble, or what not—under your pillow at night, and you will dream of your future husband.
Prince Edward Island.
1082. New moon, moon,
Hail unto thee!
In my sleep upon my bed,
May the one I am to wed
In my dreams smile on me.
Middleboro’, Mass.
1083. If you see the new moon over the right shoulder, take three steps backward and repeat,—
New moon, true moon, true and bright,
If I have a lover let me dream of him to-night.
If I’m to marry far, let me hear a bird cry;
If I’m to marry near, let me hear a cow low;
If I’m never to marry, let me hear a hammer knock.
One of these sounds is always heard.
Tennessee.
1084. Say to the new moon over your right shoulder,[118]—
New moon, new moon, come play your part,
And tell me who’s my own sweetheart;
The color of his hair, the clothes he shall wear,
And on what day he shall appear.
Then dream.
Massachusetts.
1085. The first time you see the moon in the New Year, look at it and say,—
Whose table shall I spread?
For whom make the bed?
Whose name shall I carry?
And whom shall I marry?
Then think of one you would like to marry, and go your way. Ask some question of the first person you meet, and if the answer is affirmative, it indicates that you will marry your choice; if negative, it means you will not.
Told by a Norwegian girl in Eastern Massachusetts.
1086. Rest a mirror on the head and look at the new moon in it; as many moons as you see mean the number of months before marriage.
1087. When it is new moon, take out a stocking, and as you knit repeat,—
This knot I knit
To know the thing I know not yet,
This night that I may see
Who my husband is to be,
How he goes and what he wears,
And what he does all days and years.
Nashua, N. H.
1088. Look over the right shoulder at the new moon, and count nine stars, pick up whatever is under your right foot, such as a stick, pebble, or what not; put it under your pillow, and you will dream of whoever is to be your husband.
Deer Isle, Me.
1089. When you see the moon, say,—
I see the moon and the moon sees me,
And the moon sees somebody that I want to see.
Massachusetts.
1090. New moon, true moon, true and trusty,
Tell me who my true love must be.
Pennsylvania.
1091. Wish the first time you see the moon, and your wish will come true.
General in the United States and Canada.
1092. Bow to the new moon seven times the first time you see it, and you’ll get a present, or wish and you will get your wish.
New England.
1093. If you shake your dress at the new moon, you will get a new one.
Alabama.
FORTUNE.
1094. The moon seen over the right shoulder brings good luck; over the left shoulder, ill luck.
General in the United States.
1095. If you should see the moon over your left shoulder, and should without speaking turn round and look at it over your right shoulder, your ill luck will disappear, and you will be as well off as if you had seen it over your right shoulder first.
Maine and Massachusetts.
1096. It is bad luck to look at the moon over your right shoulder. If through mistake you should look at it over your right, face around, take three steps backward with your hands clasped behind, and then look at it over the left shoulder.
Alabama.
1097. If you see the moon square in the face, you’ll have a fall.
Nashua, N. H.
1098. See the moon over the left shoulder,
You will have a fall (tumble).
Bedford, Mass.
1099. If you have money in the pocket when you first see the new moon, turn it over, and you’ll have plenty all the rest of the month.
Stratham, N. H.
1100. If you have money in your pocket the first time you see the new moon, and it is seen over your right shoulder, you will have money all the year.
Nashua, N. H., and Massachusetts.
1101. Take out money and shake it in the hand on first seeing the new moon; it will increase your wealth.
Miramichi, N. B.
1102. Look at the new moon through a ring, wish something while doing so, and your wish will come true.
Alabama.
1103. If you first see the new moon with full hands, that is, with busy hands, you will be busy, full of work, all the month; if idle, the reverse.[120]
1104. See the new moon through a glass,
See sorrow while it lasts.
Deer Isle, Me., and Salem, Mass.
1105. If you see the new moon through trees or brush, you will have trouble that month.
General in the United States.
1106. If you see the new moon full in front, you will meet your lover within the week.
1107. If you see the new moon face on, you will go headlong through the month.
Salem, Mass.
1108. Moon full face,
Open disgrace.
Portland, Me.
1109. One who chances to have a cup in his hand when he first sees the new moon is destined to wait on the sick until another new moon appears.
Alabama.
MOONLIGHT.
1110. Some say you can see the man’s axe and dog in the moon.
New Brunswick.
1111. If the moon shines in your face as you lie in the bed at night, you’ll die inside of a year.
Central Maine.
1112. It is a general belief that it is dangerous to sleep with the moon shining on the face. If the moon shines on fish, they will spoil.
1113. Horses will be cured of any one of several diseases if you will insert a bit of silver—a dime is the favorite coin—in the part affected; but it is imperative that you do this by the “light of the moon.”
Clover Bend, Ark.
WAX AND WANE.
1114. Set out cabbages in the new of the moon to make them head up well, and gather apples in the new of the moon to make them keep well. Plant potatoes in the old of the moon.
Mitchell Co., N. C.
1115. Plant flowers in the increase of the moon.
Pennsylvania.
1116. Be careful as to the phase of the moon when felling timber.
General in the United States.
1117. If brush and thistles are cut down in the full moon in August when the sign is in the heart, they will never grow again.
Copied from an agricultural paper.
1118. Grass cut when the moon is waning will not “spend well.”
New England.
1119. If cut when it is waxing, the hay weighs and spends well.
New England.
1120. Plant peas and potatoes in the increase of the moon.
Miramichi, N. B.
1121. Seeds should be sown when the moon is new. This custom is still more or less observed. Corn should be planted at this time.
Boston, Mass.
1122. Plant seed the first three days after the moon changes.
Alabama.
1123. Plant potatoes “in the dark of the moon,” so the potatoes will root and yield well.
Mansfield, O.
1124. The full moon is the time to cut alders, spruce, or other undergrowth, because the roots then die quickly without sprouting.
Nova Scotia.
1125. Shingle the roof in the decrease of the moon, so the shingles will lie flat (“go down”). Else they may warp and rise up.
Mansfield, O.
1126. If a farmer lays a rail fence by the light of the moon, it will be stronger and last longer than if it was laid in the daytime.
Western New York and parts of Massachusetts.
1127. Kill any animal for meat on the increase of the moon, and it will increase in the pot. Kill it on the wane of the moon, and it will shrink in the pot.
General in the United States.
1128. If hogs are butchered on a rising tide, the pork will not shrink in the pan.
Massachusetts.
1129. You must never kill cattle or pigs, or even wild game, by the “dark of the moon;” it is most unlucky, and the meat will come to no good.
Clover Bend, Ark.
1130. If you wean a calf at the time of the full moon, it will make less fuss. You mustn’t wean it when the sign is in the belly, or it will never grow fat. Pursue the same course with a pig, or it will squeal.
Western Massachusetts.
1131. To make hair grow, cut it in the new of the moon.
N. F., N. B., N. S., Me., Mass., and Talladega, Ala.
1132. Cut hair the first Friday in the new moon, if you wish it to grow.
General in the United States.
1133. It is the custom for girls to cut their bangs on the forehead when the moon is new. It is supposed to make them grow. This custom is observed by many intelligent young people.
Boston, Mass.
1134. Cut hair in the new moon, bury it in earth near a running brook, and it will make the new hair grow long and abundant.
Maine.
1135. Clean the spring or well during the increase of the moon, so the water will run in and fill the spring after it is emptied.
Mansfield, O.
1136. Make soap in the new of the moon.
Talladega, Ala.
1137. Make soap in the full of the moon.
Prince Edward Island.
1138. Do not marry or move during the wane (decrease) of the moon.
Mansfield, O.
1139. To take away warts, steal a dish-rag out of the house, without anybody’s knowledge, and go out of doors in the first of the moon, rub the dish-rag on the wart, and say: “Here, new moon! take away my new wart.” Then throw the dish-rag away where no one can find it, and tell nobody.
Talladega, Ala.
1140. To cure warts, go out of doors when the moon is new, take up a handful of mud, looking at the moon all the time, and rub on the wart.
Holderness, N. H.