What is the meaning of 8 Magpies?

Hi

I live in a small town with many houses. Although we have a small young wood nearby that was build in celebration of the millenium, its not over populated with trees by any means. We have a few ever green conifers at the back of our garden and the odd bush.

Ive often seen garden birds such as black birds, robins and starlings but nothing out of the ordinary.

However today as I was looking out of the window I was amazed to see 8 magpies in one of our trees. They were in four groups of pairs with each pair on a different branch. Ive only ever seen one magpie at a time around here, and even when Im out walking in the country Im lucky if I see two together, so eight together I found unusual.

I googled it as I found it SO unusual and found some interesting information on this, but some contradics itself.

Counting Rhyme (from The Folklore of Birds, by Laura C. Martin, 1993)

One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told.
Eight for heaven, nine for hell,
And ten for the devil's own sel'.

Counting Crows (Emailed to me by a 'Net acquantance)

One for sorrow,
two for joy,
three for a girl,
for for a boy,
five for silver,
six for gold,
seven for a secret,
never to be told,
eight for a wish,
nine for a kiss,
ten for a time
of joyous bliss.




Magpie Rhyme (from Bird Brains, by Candace Savage, 1997. The Rhyme she quotes is from The Dictionary of Superstitions published by Oxford University Press in 1992)

One for sorrow,
two for mirth,
three for a wedding,
four for birth,
five for rich,
six for poor,
Seven for a witch,
I can tell you no more.




Counting Rhyme (another from an email acquaintance)

One crow sorrow,
Two crows mirth,
three, a wedding,
four, a birth,
five brings silver,
six takes wealth,
seven crows a secret,
More I can nae tell.

I also found magpies represent a waiting period, where you should not continue with your plans.

Another interesting thing I found on them was this

The black and white coloring of the magpie associates them to the world of magic, prophecy and witchcraft. They know how to live within the light and the dark simultaneously and understand the pros and cons of both. Magic is symbolic of creation. Occult knowledge must be understood fully before it can be used in a beneficial way. Those with this totem have the opportunity of creating a new and better life for themselves once they develop their psychic gifts completely and use those gifts with pure intention and self less service. Past life ties regarding the misuse of magic are common amongst magpie medicine people. The gift of a new creation will be offered to you only when you are ready. When the magpie flies into your life, get ready, your about to embark into the world of opportunity.

I find this fascinating I had no idea the magpie represented so much.

Has anyone else had any multi sightings of magpies and did it turn out to mean anything? Did your life seem to alter direction after the magpie came calling?

I cant decide if this is a good thing or a bad.

It's what's called mating season, this is why you saw pairs and also why they're more prominent.

Magpies are territorial and stay in their territory all year, even in north of the species range. The pairs are monogamous, and remain together for the duration of their lives. Should one of the two die, the widow or widower will find a new partner from the stock of yearlings.

The mating takes place in spring. In the courtship display, the males rapidly raise and depress their head feathers, uplift, open and close their tails like fans, and call in soft tones quite distinct from their usual chatter. In the display the loose feathers of the flanks are brought over and the primaries, and the patch on the shoulders is spread so as to make the white conspicuous, presumably to attract the female eye. Short buoyant flights and chases are part of the courtship.

Instead of investigating the rhymes, which there seems to be many variations (See link) try to investigate the bird itself.

en.wikipedia.org...

1 for sorrow,2 for joy,
3 for a girl and 4 for a boy'
5 for silver, 6 for gold,
7 is a secret never to be told.
8 is a wish and 9 a kiss.
10 is a bird you must not miss.

For those people with Magpie power, know that you need to pay attention to those shiny opportunities that come along from time to time. Know that you need to take advantage of them. It is the resourcefulness of Magpie that will help one to be successful. Pay particular attention, too, to the sounds that Magpie makes. One, alone, makes some noise. However, congregations of three or more make a joyful (or not) racket that gets attention. In keeping with the "squeaky wheel theory", Magpie says that one must speak up and ask for what they want in order to be noticed. If Magpie shows up in your life, and you have trouble expressing yourself, then Magpie says it is time to learn self expression and voice modulation.

Magpie's black head is symbolic of the black cap of the grad - one that has learned all they can from school and is now ready to move on to something else. In this case, Magpie says to move into using all your special gifts - psychic abilities and intuition - to feel more fulfilled and see the hidden world around you. Black is also about the connection with the Earth. All of Magpie's needs are supplied by Mother Earth. And, to balance the amount of time in the air, Magpie walks on Mother Earth quite frequently. There may be a message in Magpie's behaviour that you need to be out on Mother Earth and ground.

White is symbolic of spirituality and of higher consciousness than selfishness and greed. It is time to start looking beyond the level of self gratification. Magpie says to look inward and see what needs to be healed and then look to Spirit for guidance. Magpie may be asking you to soar beyond your current limits. Perhaps you are too grounded and need to balance the grounded-ness with delving in to new mysteries and expanding the current level of thinking.

What ever else may be going on in your life, pay attention to Magpie so you seize the opportunities presented to you.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
It's what's called mating season, this is why you saw pairs and also why they're more prominent.

Yes I had thought of that seen as they were in pairs, but ive lived here for 17 years and Ive NEVER seen as many magpies as that. Infact in my whole life Ive never seen 8 magpies together so this does seem unusual for me. I used to be a member of the National Trust and went on many walks and even then I cant remember seeing anymore than two.

I did google the bird itself and it just gave information one one bird not 8. It doesnt seem to be liked all that much as its listed as eating the young of other birds and generally stealing things from peoples gardens .

Folsom is teeming with magpies flocking and playing. It is really quite a treat if you find yourself in the Sacramento, CA, area and love the colors and spins of the Magpie crowd.

Sounds like you had a lucky visit! Maybe they just caught your essence as special and thought to brighten your day.

We had a pigeon give us a display yesterday. I didn't even think it were mating season.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
It's what's called mating season, this is why you saw pairs and also why they're more prominent.

Well the Rhymes are for a reason. They help the mind remember the lesson. It also helps bridge the higher self to the conscience mind. Ignore Chadwickus in his answer it is very uninspiring and not of spirit. You understand your path and no one else.

In numerology the 8 lifepath is of having a good business mind and of material wealth. Turned sideways it is infinity.

Now think about the totem of the Magpie.

"Intelligence. Adaptability. Resourcefulness. Able to live in the light and the dark."

Now meditate on this and what this sign means for you.

Edit to add: Look at the date you posted this on. It is an 8.

[edit on 24-3-2009 by LoneGunMan]

Originally posted by LoneGunMan


Now think about the totem of the Magpie.

"Intelligence. Adaptability. Resourcefulness. Able to live in the light and the dark."

Now meditate on this and what this sign means for you.


[edit on 24-3-2009 by LoneGunMan]

Thank you, this means something to me, I havent meditated for a while but now I think I will based on the meaning of the Magpie totem. It may well have been magpie mating season that day but for me seeing those 8 magpies all at once was a sign, they had a message, some may say its hocus pocus but your post has shown me there is more to it. Ive never seen 8 magpies before and they also have not returned to that tree , the garden or the street.

Surely all must seek to live in the light and dark? To only live in the light is surely not achievable on Earth for the majority and to live totally in the dark would be a terrible place.

Even in the next life/after life I think its important to recognize and live within the light and dark.

Originally posted by Mr Green
Surely all must seek to live in the light and dark? To only live in the light is surely not achievable on Earth for the majority and to live totally in the dark would be a terrible place.

Even in the next life/after life I think its important to recognize and live within the light and dark.

That is a truly profound statement! Someone as awake as you are is so rare.

This has always been my philosophy...it is balance and most new age people seem to ignore the dark only to have it sneak up on them. You and I are kindred.

Originally posted by LoneGunMan
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That is a truly profound statement! Someone as awake as you are is so rare.

This has always been my philosophy...it is balance and most new age people seem to ignore the dark only to have it sneak up on them. You and I are kindred.

Its strange though, I still fight it, I fight it mainly due to what others say about the dark. they say not to look it in the eyes, not to even go into its realm yet still deep down I know if i dont it will creep up and take me. By seeing it and knowing what it is I feel better prepared.

The day I saw the 8 magpies was a day of great change for me, I didnt realize it at the time but their visit was very significant. Im still feeling the effects of their visit up to this day. seems animal/bird visits have a far greater meaning than we thought.