“If your palm is itching, then you are going to receive money.”

Sierra does not remember exactly who she heard this superstition from.  She suspects that it might have been a friend.  She grew up in Wadesborough, NC.  When Sierra learned the superstition, her friend claimed that either palm itching means that the person will be receiving money.

Other versions of the superstition specify which palm must be itching for one to come into money.  In some cultures an itching right palm denotes that one will be receiving money, while an itching left palm indicates that one will be spending money on something soon.  In other cultures, the left hand must be itching for one to receive money, while the right hand itching indicates that one will be spending or losing money.

Another girl in the dorm who overheard the conversation stated that because the left palm is the passive, or receptive hand, the itching of the left hand indicates that new energy will be passing through it and money is going to be received.  The right hand is the active hand and as a result it would be used to give money.  Some versions of this superstition go as far as to state that scratching the palm will reverse one’s luck; therefore, one should not scratch the hand that indicates that money will be received, but he/she should continue to scratch the palm that indicates that money will be spent.  Other ways that one would use to counteract itching palms is to touch or rub a piece of wood to transfer his/her luck.