Spider superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Actually Started

Q: How old is this superstition?

First recorded: Roman era; money-spider belief documented from the 1700s. Spiders in houses were associated with wealth because webs meant an undisturbed, well-stocked home. The small "money spider" was said to spin new clothes for its finder.

When it actually starts

How old is this one

First recorded Roman era; money-spider belief documented from the 1700s

That makes it about 326 years old

Rank by age 25 oldest of 40 dated here

Category Animals

Searched 170 a month

Spiders in houses were associated with wealth because webs meant an undisturbed, well-stocked home. The small "money spider" was said to spin new clothes for its finder.

Why it stuck. A house with spiders is a house with insects, which historically meant stored food — the association tracked something real.

What people say

Never kill a spider indoors; a money spider on your clothes brings wealth.

What is going on

One of the few animal superstitions that protects the animal, which has a measurable effect on household pest levels.

Where it applies. Positive in Britain and much of Europe; feared in parts of the Americas.

Other animals superstitions

Black cat crossing your path 3,670/mo Owls as omens 1,090/mo Bird omens 1,180/mo Crows as omens 790/mo Ladybug superstitions 390/mo Death omens 310/mo Butterfly omens 110/mo Cricket superstitions 90/mo Bat superstitions 90/mo

Recorded around the same time

Spider superstitions is the 25th oldest of the 40 dated superstitions here. Of those, 6 are younger than a century and 5 predate the common era.

Cricket superstitions 1600 Four-leaf clover 1620 Crows as omens 1780 Funeral superstitions 1800

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 →