Itchy eye
An itchy eye was an omen of misfortune in the folklore of northeast Scotland, though old sayings never agreed on which eye foretold what. The itch often follows a long look, so the real question may be what you have been staring at.
This page only describes folk beliefs. If the sensation keeps coming back or worries you, please see a doctor.
What it may mean
An itchy eye tends to show up after a long look: hours at a screen, a day of driving, a novel read late into the night, a spreadsheet that would not balance. The itch says: look up. In the folklore of northeast Scotland, itching eyes were an omen of misfortune, and other old sayings disagree on which eye foretells tears and which laughter, so tradition offers no single reading. The everyday reading is easier to use. Rubbing your eye is a chance to ask yourself what you have been staring at too long, in the literal sense and the other one: a worry, a screen, a problem you keep inspecting from the same angle. Sometimes the clearest view of a thing comes after looking at something else for a while.
Depending on how you saw it
After hours at a screen
Long stretches of close work, from screens to sewing, often end with eyes that feel dry, tired or itchy. Many people end such a stretch by gazing out of a window. Which distant sight do you turn to when your eyes have had enough?
On a windy or dusty day
Wind, dust and pollen make eyes itch on the walk to work or in the garden, and most of us blink and squint through it. The weather gets in. Which season makes you most aware of your body, and how do you adjust to it?
Both eyes at once
When both eyes itch together, the urge to rub them is strong, and the world goes blurry for a moment. The pause can feel almost welcome. What sight would rest your eyes most right now?
Just before tears
Eyes can prickle and itch in the moment before crying, during a sad film or a hard conversation. The feeling arrives before the tears do. Is there a feeling close to the surface today?
Why it happens in nature
Most people get an itchy eye from time to time. Dry indoor air, dust, pollen, wind and long stretches of looking at one thing can all leave the eyes feeling itchy or tired.
What folk beliefs say
Scotland (northeast)
In the folklore of northeast Scotland, as recorded in a 1903 collection, itching eyes foretold misfortune.
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. 298. View the page
To reflect on
What have you been staring at so long that you have stopped really seeing it?