Right palm: money coming
In most European and American versions an itchy right palm means money is about to arrive.
Body superstition
Itchy palm
Itchy palm: right palm means money coming in, left means money going out. First recorded: Roman era; Pliny mentions palm omens. That makes it around 2,000 years old — joint 15th oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- Roman era see the history below
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
Roman era; Pliny mentions palm omens
That makes it
around 2,000 years old
Rank by age
Joint 15th oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Body
Body omens — itching, twitching, sneezing — form the oldest and most widespread category of superstition, because the body produces small unexplained signals constantly and they invite interpretation.
14 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 18 later, while 12 share its date.
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The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
Left palm: money going
An itchy left palm means money is about to be paid out, lost or spent.
Handshake with a stranger
An older reading says an itchy right palm means you will soon shake hands with someone new.
Reversed by gender
Some South Asian traditions read the right palm as lucky for men and the left for women.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
To keep money from leaving, rub the itchy palm on wood, put the hand in a pocket, or close it into a fist and hold it to your heart.
Where it lives today
The itchy palm is one of the most searched body superstitions, and it is usually half a joke — though a persistent itch on one palm is worth a doctor's look.
What people say
Right palm means money coming in, left means money going out.What is going on
Dry skin, eczema or contact irritation. Persistent itching without a visible cause is worth showing to a doctor rather than reading.Where it applies. The sides reverse between regions — in parts of India and the Caribbean the left palm brings money, which means half the world is reading the same signal backwards.
Nearest in age
Itchy palm is joint 15th oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Itchy Palm Superstition: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/itchy-palm/
For Wikipedia
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