Itchy elbow
An itchy elbow was linked to news of change: Shakespeare mocks men who rub the elbow at word of upheaval. That old gesture can make you notice whether you lean into change or brace against it.
This page only describes folk beliefs. If the sensation keeps coming back or worries you, please see a doctor.
What it may mean
In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, the king sneers at malcontents who "gape and rub the elbow at the news of hurly-burly innovation": people who grin and rub their elbows at the first rumor of upheaval. Later collectors took the line as a sign of an old belief that an itching elbow foretold a change in your circumstances. Either way, the elbow ended up tied to the appetite for change. Some people perk up at news of a reorganization, a move or a new plan; others brace. Neither is wrong, but knowing which you are helps. An itchy elbow, rubbed absent-mindedly during a long day, lets you notice how you react when something big shifts around you, and whether that reaction still serves you.
Depending on how you saw it
Right elbow itching
If you lean on your right side at a desk, that elbow takes the weight of your working day and rubs against the surface for hours. An itch there can simply be a desk answering back. What do you lean on most in an ordinary day?
Left elbow itching
The left elbow is the one many drivers rest on the door or window, and many people prop on the table during a long chat. Settling in leaves its trace. Which conversations or drives do you settle into for longer than you planned?
Rubbing it without noticing
The gesture Shakespeare described, rubbing the elbow at news of upheaval, is the kind people make without knowing it. Hands find the joint while the mind is elsewhere. Which recent piece of news made you a little more excited than you let on?
Why it happens in nature
The skin over the elbow is thick and often dry, and it rubs against desks, sleeves and armrests all day. Dry indoor air, wool and leaning on hard surfaces can easily leave it itchy.
What folk beliefs say
England (Shakespeare)
Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 speaks of malcontents who "gape and rub the elbow at the news of hurly-burly innovation"; a 1903 collection cites the line for the belief that an itching elbow means some change in your circumstances.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 299. View the page
To reflect on
When news of a big change arrives, do you lean in or brace yourself?