Chapter War of Wartburg to Warning-Givers of W by Brewer's Readers Handbook

The great battle fought between Beneventum and Apicium was portended by a skirmish between ravens and kites on the same spot.—Jovianus Pontanus.

An irruption of the Scythians into Thrace was presaged by a skirmish between crows and ravens.—Nicetas.

Cicero was warned of his approaching death by some ravens fluttering about him just before he mas murdered by Popilius Cænas.—Macaulay: History of St. Kilda, 176.

Alexander Ross says, “Mr. Draper, a young gentleman, and my intimate friend, about four or five years ago had one or two ravens, which had been quarrelling on the chimney, fly into his chamber, and he died shortly after.”—Arcana Microcosmi.

(55) Rhinoceros’s Horns. Cups made of this material will give warning of poison in a liquid by causing it to effervesce.

(56) Salt spilt towards a person indicates contention, but the evil may be averted by throwing a part of the spilt salt over the left shoulder.

Prodige, subverso casu leviore salino,
Si mal venturum conjicis omen; adest.
   —R. Keuchen: Crepundia, 215 (1662).

(57) Shears And Sieve (The), ordeals by fire, water, etc., single combats, the cosned or cursed morsel, the Urim and Thummim, the casting of lots,—were all employed as tests of innocence or guilt in olden times, under the notion that God would direct the lot aright, according to Dan. vi. 22.

(58) Shoes. It was thought by the Romans a bad omen to put a shoe on the wrong foot.

Augustus, having b’oversight,
Put on his left shoe for his right,
Had like to have been slain that day
By soldiers mutin’ing for pay.
   —S. Butler: Hudibras.

Auguste:..retoit immobile et consterné lorsqu’il lui arrivoit par mégarde de mettre le soulier droit au pied gauche.—St. Foix: Essais sur Paris, v. 145.

(59) Shooting Pains. All sudden pains are warnings of evil at hand.

Timeo quod rerum gesserim hie, ita dorsus totus prurit.—Plautus: Miles Gloriosus.

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something evil this way comes.
   —Shakespeare: Macbeth (1606).

(60) Sneezing. Once a wish, twice a kiss, thrice a letter, and oftener than thrice something better.

Sneezing before breakfast is a forecast that a stranger or a present is coming.

Sneezing at night-time. To sneeze twice for three successive nights denotes a death, a loss, or a great gain.

Si duæ sternutationes fiant omni nocte ab aliquo, et illud continuitur per tres noctes, signo est quod aliquis vel aliqua de domo morietur vel aliud damnum domui continget, vel maximum lucrum.—Hornmannus: De Miraculis Mortuorum, 163.

Eustathius says that sneezing to the left is unlucky, but to the right lucky. Hence, when Themistoclês was offering sacrifice before his engagement with Xerxes, and one of the soldiers on his right hand sneezed, Euphrantidês the soothsayer declared the Greeks would surely gain the victory.—Plutarch: Lives (“Themistoclês”).