Itchy foot
In old Bohemian belief, an itchy foot was a sign that you would soon be dancing a good deal. In everyday English the same itch stands for restlessness, and the Bohemian version suggests a happier use for that urge.
This page only describes folk beliefs. If the sensation keeps coming back or worries you, please see a doctor.
What it may mean
When someone complains of itchy feet, they most often want to leave: a new town, a new job, anywhere but here. The Bohemian reading, recorded in 1903, is more cheerful: if your foot itches, you will soon be dancing a good deal. Both versions agree that the feet want to move; they only disagree about where. That difference is worth a moment. Restlessness can push you toward the exit, or it can be spent right where you are: on a dance floor, a long walk, an afternoon with the music turned up. The real question behind an itchy foot is whether you need a different place or only a different pace. Nobody is stopping you from choosing the Bohemian version, the one with music.
Depending on how you saw it
An itch while you are stuck sitting
An itchy foot in a long meeting or on a long drive is hard to ignore, because there is nowhere to go. It feels like the body asking for a break the schedule will not give. Where could you build a few minutes of moving around into days like these?
An itch before a celebration
If your foot itches in the days before a wedding, a party or a concert, the Bohemian reading fits well. Some people only dance when there is an occasion. What would it take to have one without waiting for a wedding?
Both feet at once
When both feet itch, the urge to move can feel almost comic. All that energy has to go somewhere. Would a game, a dance or an hour outdoors serve you best today?
Why it happens in nature
Most people feel an itch on the foot now and then. Feet spend the day enclosed in socks and shoes, and warmth, rubbing or dryness can easily make them tingle or itch.
What folk beliefs say
Bohemia (Czech lands)
Bohemian belief, recorded in 1903, held that if your foot itches, you are going to dance a good deal.
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. 300. View the page
To reflect on
What would you do with your restless energy if leaving were not an option?