Nosebleeds are a common occurrence, and most people know that they can be caused by a variety of things, such as picking your nose, blowing your nose too hard, or a cold.
However, there are many superstitions about nosebleeds that are still believed by some people today.
1. Expect a Visitor
A popular nosebleed superstition is that if you have a nosebleed, it is a sign that you will have a visitor.
2. Does He Love Me?
Of all the stupid crap we do for love, here is a doozy.
In Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine: Old World and New World Traditions (Gabrielle Hatfield, 2004):
“Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sometimes called ‘nosebleed,’ had an ambivalent role. It was used to stop bleeding from the nose taken as an infusion, but the leaves stuffed up the nose could provoke a nosebleed, leading to the superstition that if a girl wanted to know whether her boyfriend loved her, she could put the leaves up her nose: if her nose bled, then her love would be reciprocated.” (P. 253)
3. Good Luck
The superstition that a nosebleed is a sign of good luck is a centuries-old belief that is still widely held today.
The belief is that the blood that is lost represents the giving of something precious, sort of like a sacrificial offering of blood.
Some people even believe that the longer and more severe the nosebleed, the more good luck the person will experience.
4. Wear a Key
According to Pennsylvania German folk magic, in order to stop a nosebleed one must either drop a key down the back of their shirt or wear a key around their neck. (Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans, Edwin Miller Fogel, 1915.)
5. Drink Water
Yet another superstition is that if you have a nosebleed, you are losing blood and need to drink lots of water to replenish what you have lost.
6. Skull Moss
Moss from a human skull was also used to cure nosebleeds.
In The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland (Steve Roud, 2006) we learn that:
“The commonest medical use for human skulls was in curing epilepsy and toothache, but the moss which grew on them was thought valuable for a number of other cures. These included staunching blood from a wound or nosebleed, alleviating a headache, and as a protection against the plague.”
7. The Dime Trick
To stop a nose from bleeding, a person is supposed to hold a dime between their lower lip and upper teeth.
8. Red Beads
Wearing a red-beaded necklace is supposed to prevent nosebleeds.
9. Old Woman Chant
According to the Encyclopædia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, Volume I, to stop a nosebleed, have an old woman chant:
“Three virgins came from Jordan’s land,
Each with a bloody knife in her hand;
Stem, blood, stem,
Bloody nose in Heaven’s name, mend!” (P. 391)
10. Nose Bleeds in Love
If a man is in love with you, his nose will bleed.
