Bird Magic: Wisdom of the Ancient Goddess for Pagans & Wiccans - Sandra Kynes 2016
Magpie: Black-Billed Magpie
The Profiles
Black-Billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)
In thirteenth-century England, this bird was known by its French name, pie, which came from its Latin name, pica.93 From the early fifteenth century, Mag, a diminutive form of the woman’s name Margaret, became associated with idle chatter, and by the seventeenth century the two words were put together as magpie for the bird’s name. As a relative of jays and crows, magpies know how to keep a flow of raucous calls going. Although magpies spend more time on the ground than many other birds, they band together in flight to mob a raptor or other predator that threatens their neighborhood.
Folklore attributed this bird with magical powers, and encountering magpies could indicate good or bad luck depending on how many were seen. This was the source of many magpie rhymes. To counteract any negative influence, it was customary to cross your fingers and say: “I cross the magpie, the magpie crosses me; bad luck to the magpie; and good luck to me.” 94 Raising your hat or bowing to the bird could also counteract any bad influence. Seeing one fly away from the direction of the sun was a bad omen that could be countered by saying: “Bad luck to the bird that goes widdershins.” 95 In England, a magpie seen on the roof was a good omen, and in America it meant that the house would not be destroyed by a storm.
In China and Korea, magpies represent good luck and happiness. The Chinese celebrate Magpie Festival on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar and is Valentine’s Day for young women. It is based on a legend in which the Queen of Heaven forbade a weaver woman from marrying a cowherd and separated them by a river. Once a year, all the magpies in the world would gather to form a bridge over the river so the couple could be together.
Magpies, as well as crows and ravens, have been observed holding what can only be described as funerals. When one of their own is discovered dead, others gather around it. Some birds may leave and return with pieces of grass or pine needles that they place alongside their fallen friend. They usually stand by the corpse for several minutes and then fly off in silence.
Magical Workings
With starkly contrasting black and white feathers, magpie is a bird of balance that treads the realms between danger and death, and love and happiness. As an agent of prophecy it can aid in all forms of divination and the interpretation of messages and omens. Keep an image of magpie with your divination tools to draw its power into them.
Call on magpie to boost good luck spells and bring forth what you want to manifest. Listen carefully and you will learn to develop your skills, know when to seize the right opportunities, and discover how to use your willpower wisely. Magpie is also an aid for contacting spirits and can be called upon for support at Samhain.
Make Connection
To connect with magpie energy, sew or pin together two large pieces of cloth, one white and the other black. Hold an end in each hand and drape the cloth over your shoulders. Open your arms to spread your “wings” as you slowly circle the room reciting the magpie rhyme: “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.” 96 And then add: “Magpie of wisdom, bird of prophecy; Use your skill, to guide me.” After this, sit in front of your altar for a few minutes holding the image of a magpie in your mind, and then let it fade. Use the cloth draped over your shoulders whenever you want to call on magpie’s energy and wisdom.
Visible from June to October, the Cygnus constellation can also be used to connect with magpie. The constellation, which represents a swan in the West, represents the magpie bridge in China. To find it, go outside about an hour after sunset and look straight up. The bright star directly overhead marks the tail of the swan and the top of the constellation’s cross shape of stars. Recite the magpie rhyme when you see it to honor this bird and call on its wisdom.
Associations
Zodiac: Aries
Element(s): Air, earth
Sabbat(s): Samhain
Goddess: Aphrodite
God: Bacchus
Magical beings: Fairies
Bird Identification
Black-Billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)
Size: 18 to 24 inches
Wingspan: 22 to 24 inches
Comparative size: Crow to red-tailed hawk
Description: Long, diamond-shaped tail; black back, bill, head, breast, and flanks; blue-green iridescence on wings and tail; white belly and shoulder patches
Range: From southern Alaska across western Canada and south through the Rocky Mountains and western plains states
Habitat: Open woodlands, meadows, grasslands, and sagebrush plains
Eggs: Greenish tan with dark brown speckles
Collective noun(s): A charm, a mischief, a tiding, or a tribe of magpies
93. Mark Morton, Cupboard Love 2: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities, Second Revised Edition (Toronto, Canada: Insomniac Press, 2004), 225.
94. Armstrong, The Life and Lore of the Bird in Nature, Art, Myth and Literature, 62.
95. Tate, Flights of Fancy, 77.
96. Harry Oliver, Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers: The Origins of Old Wives’ Tales and Superstitions in Our Everyday Lives (New York: Perigee Books, 2010), 47.