Current Superstitions Part 40

_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.

1104. See the new moon through a gla.s.s, See sorrow while it lasts.

_Deer Isle, Me., and Salem, Ma.s.s._

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, Ma.s.s._

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 s.h.i.+nes 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 s.h.i.+ning on the face. If the moon s.h.i.+nes 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.

_Mitch.e.l.l 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. Gra.s.s 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, Ma.s.s._

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. s.h.i.+ngle the roof in the decrease of the moon, so the s.h.i.+ngles 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 Ma.s.sachusetts._

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.

_Ma.s.sachusetts._

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 Ma.s.sachusetts._

1131. To make hair grow, cut it in the new of the moon.

_N.F., N.B., N.S., Me., Ma.s.s., 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, Ma.s.s._