Magpies & Red Skies: The enchanting origins of 100 superstitions

by Willow Winsham

Find a penny, pick it up
All day long you'll have good luck

Whether hopping over cracks, saluting magpies or knocking on wood, we all seek good fortune through performing curious rituals. But is there ancient wisdom behind the folklore of superstition?

In this exquisitely illustrated tour through thousands of years of tradition, Willow Winsham explores the mysterious origins behind 100 of the most intriguing superstitions from across the globe.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2022

About the author

Willow Winsham brings readers regular tales of witches and witchcraft at her blog, The Witch, the Weird and the Wonderful. Combining a passion for research and history with a love of storytelling, she dedicates her time to investigating some of the most intriguing stories from the history of the British Isles.

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superstitions seem to be a funny thing... and I notice some things in here that I did as a child without ever really knowing why. However, after reading all of these together, you kinda wonder how they started (unfortunately not each entry gives a proper account of how it started) and they are so vague and extreme. If you do this, you will either stub your toe or you could die... there are just too many or's. And the solution to most of these is spitting which is just gross.

[Jud · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a casual book for people who want to know more about superstitions around the world, but mostly centered around UK and US. It is not an exhaustive compilation, and the illustrations and overall feeling of the book makes it easy to read.

[Edward Janes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not remotely superstitious but am interesed in this in the same way that interested in mythology and legends. Though being based on input by people on Twitter - not traditionally a font of reliable information...

Unfortunately this got repetitive quite quickly - partly due to the design being pretty much a template (pretty picture on the left page, bold text as introduction, local variations below), and partly due to the effects (typically death, poverty, or singledom)