Every other folklore app is a list you go and read. This one knows the date, the moon and the sky, and offers the superstition that belongs to today, with the reason: because it is a Friday, because the moon is full, because it is Midsummer Eve, or because the Perseids peak tonight.
More than 2,800 superstitions, each read against a named source published between 1620 and 1920, from 74 works of British, Irish and North American folklore, and each given with the place it was recorded and its entry number.
Features
- Today — one superstition for the day, chosen by the strongest thing that is true of it, a feast or an eclipse over a full moon, over the weekday, over the month, with every other belief keyed to the day beneath it
- Step through the calendar a day at a time and read any date of the year the same way
- Occasions — choose what you mean to do, marry, travel, move house, plant, cut your hair, go to sea, and the days tradition favours or forbids across a week to a year, with the rule behind each
- Sky — the moon tonight, and the lore of what you see, a red sky, a halo, a rainbow, a shooting star, mist or thunder
- Optional live weather, read each hour while the app is open, with the figures behind every sign shown
- Dictionary — 138 things in eleven groups, ten topics and 87 themes, and every source work, one link from the full text
- Search across the beliefs, the places and the things they mention
- Saved beliefs and a record of what you have read, and any belief shared with its source
- Small and medium Home Screen widgets that always show the day’s belief whole, and Lock Screen widgets carrying the moon and the day’s reason
- An optional daily notification at the hour you choose
- A painted plate for every season and tab, and a gold emblem for every belief, in the manner of a Victorian almanac
About the Calendar and the Sky
Every feast and holy day is computed, the movable ones from Easter by the Gregorian computus. The moon’s phase is worked out night by night. The peak of each major meteor shower is the day the sun reaches the shower’s position, as the International Meteor Organization gives it, and every solar eclipse to 2050 is taken from NASA’s catalogue. Sunrise, sunset and the height of the sun come from the place you set.
All of it is computed on your device. The only thing the app ever fetches is the weather, and only if you turn it on.
About the Lore
Every belief is printed in a named public-domain source, and the app gives that source, the place and the entry number with it. Nothing is invented and nothing is presented as ancient that is not. Superstition is reported here as cultural history and never as advice, and where traditions disagree, the app shows both rather than choosing.
Privacy
No ads. No tracking. No account. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. The app works offline and asks for nothing on first launch. Live weather is off until you turn it on, and location is only asked for if you choose to use it for the sky, which you can instead set by hand.
Support
Need help with Superstitions? Whether you have a question, want to request a feature, or need to report a problem:
- Ask a question — get help using the app
- Report a bug — let us know if something isn’t working
- Request a feature — suggest an improvement, or a superstition and the source it is printed in
You can also browse existing issues to see if your question has already been answered.