"Six for Gold"
From the sixth line of the mapgie poem (see below), this linocut represents six magpies flurried in the sunlight. The frame is antique, once hung in my parents kitchen when I was a child. It pairs with "Five for Silver", which shows five magpies dancing around the crescent moon. 
 
13"x8", 16"x11" framed
linocut and goldleaf
 
------
 
Having broken down the magpie rhyme "One for Sorrow" into a series of ten pieces, I focus on the attribution of fate and chance to Nature. According to the superstition of the magpie poem, dating back to late-1700s Britain, the number of magpie birds seen tells if one will have bad or good fortune: 
One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told
Eight for a wish
Nine for a kiss
Ten for a bird you must not miss