Money spiders
A small spider landing on you brings money, especially if it is not brushed off.
Animals superstition
Spider superstitions
Spider superstitions: never kill a spider indoors; a money spider on your clothes brings wealth. First recorded: Roman era; money-spider belief documented from the 1700s. 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
- Written down in
- 1865 Frank Cowan
Record: Frank Cowan, Curious Facts in the History of Insects (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1865).
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
Roman era; money-spider belief documented from the 1700s
That makes it
around 2,000 years old
Rank by age
Joint 15th oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Animals
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.
14 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 18 later, while 12 share its date.
18 pages · printable
The 2027 Sky Calendar — free PDF
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
Primary source
As it was written down in 1865
“Small Spiders, termed money-spinners, are held by many to prognosticate good luck, if they are not destroyed or injured, or removed from the person on whom they are first observed.”
Frank Cowan, Curious Facts in the History of Insects (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1865) — read the original text.
Cowan is quoting a note by the antiquary Park in his copy of Brand’s Popular Antiquities — the money spider of today.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
Killing a spider
Killing a spider indoors brings bad luck or rain.
Spider in the morning, evening
A French saying holds that a spider in the morning means sorrow and a spider in the evening means hope.
A spider on a wedding dress
A spider on a wedding dress is lucky for the marriage.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
If a spider must go, it is carried outside rather than killed; a money spider is sometimes whirled three times round the head to activate the luck.
Where it lives today
Many people who fear spiders still refuse to kill them indoors, and "money spider" remains the everyday British name for small spiders.
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, and house spiders do eat flies, moths and other household insects.Where it applies. Positive in Britain and much of Europe; feared in parts of the Americas.
Nearest in age
Spider superstitions are 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 →
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Spider Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/spider-omens/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Spider Superstitions: Origin, Meaning and When It Began |url=https://astrohot.com/superstitions/spider-omens/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}