icarus_chained: lurid original bookcover for fantomas, cropped (good omens)
( Apr. 14th, 2011 05:53 pm)
Anyone know any other versions of the old magpie rhymes? The two I have are:

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

And:

One for sorrow, two for mirth
Three for a funeral, four for a birth
Five for Heaven, six for Hell
Seven's the Devil, his own sel'

*smiles* I'm rather fond of the latter version, if only because since reading Good Omens, I started wondering if a 13 magpies (7 plus 6, Devil plus Hell) equals Apocalypse, 12 magpies (Heaven plus Devil) equals Judgements Day, and so on. 11 magpies naturally means either Adam (Devil plus Birth) or Aziraphale & Crowley (Heaven plus Hell) are in range. *grins* Plus, it'd be a neat code for the angel and demon, too. Ten magpies over St James park means Heaven plus Heaven, I've company, dear boy, come back later. Ditto 12 on the other side. 13 or higher means Danger, Will Robinson!  Unless it's 16, 11 plus 5, which just means Adam's dropped round for tea ...

*snickers, shakes head at self* Yes, I am mildly insane, why do you ask?
.

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