‘One’s for sorrow,

Two’s for joy,

Three’s for a girl,

And four’s for a boy,

Five’s for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven’s for a secret never told’ 

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Oh, the Magpie brings us tidings
Of news both fair and foul,
She’s more cunning than the raven,
More wise than any owl.

For she brings us news of the harvest,
of the barley wheat and corn,
And she knows when we’ll go to our graves,
And how we shall be born.

Devil, devil, I defy thee 

She brings us joy when from the right,
Grief when from the left,
Of all the news that’s in the air,
We know to trust her best.
For she sees us at our labor,
And she mocks us at our work,
And she steals the eggs from out of the nest,
And she can mock the hawk.

Devil, devil, I defy thee 

The priest, he says we’re wicked,
For to worship the devil’s bird,
Ah but we respect the Old Ways,
And we disregard his word.
For we know they rest uneasy,
As we slumber in the night,
And we’ll always leave out a little bit of meat
For the bird that’s black and white. 

‘One’s for sorrow,
Two’s for joy,
Three’s for a girl,
And four’s for a boy,
Five’s for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven’s for a secret never told’ 

~Spiral Dance