Cuckoo call: Grandpa's superstition brings happiness or worries?

Cuckoo call: Grandpa's superstition brings happiness or worries?

On May 9, 2025, the children Pia and Pit listened to the first cuckoo call of the year. In this unique spring scenery, her grandfather, who searched for coins in his jacket pocket with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. Grandpa firmly believed that the jurling of coins at the first reputation of cuckoo brings happiness and blessing of money, a superstition that his wife, the grandma, commented in a humorous way by reminding him that this believes that it does not make him richer. The family agreed that this custom is rooted in nature and occupies a special place in spring.

Pit, the youngest in the round, knew about the nightlife of the cuckoo and explained that he laid his eggs in foreign nests, which earned him the call of a "lazy" bird. Meanwhile, Pia had the cuckoo calls and made a concerned expression. The consideration that one can read on the calls how many years you still have to live proved to be stressful for her. Grandpa tried to calm her down by repeating that it was only superstition.

cultural importance of cuckoo

The cuckoo has a deeply rooted cultural meaning that is through various beliefs and traditions. In ancient Slavic cultures, the cuckoo was considered the embodiment of the goddess Shiwa, which was associated with spring, life and fertility. The calls of the cuckoo were often interpreted as prophecies, especially with regard to the harvest yields. If the cuckoo called on a green tree in the morning, this promised a rich harvest; His shouting on a naked tree, on the other hand, was seen as a harbinger of hunger and need. These superstitions had a deep impact on the life of people and their relationship with nature.

In the course of history, many myths around the cuckoo were told. A legend says that the cuckoo is a transformed woman who murdered her husband. These stories link the animal in an interesting way with topics such as fate and death. In society it was also customary to have coins jinged when you hear the cuckoo for the first time to secure financial highlands for the year. In this context, a branch of the tree on which the cuckoo is sits is also regarded as a lucky charm.

superstition and family rituals

The small rituals that are surrounded by the cuckoo are often passed on from generation to generation. So the Grandt collection was not just a means of manifesting the belief in happiness, but also a link between the family members. When Grandma finally suggested spending the "cuckoo money" in the forest café, spring lived up in colorful pictures and warm laughter. Grandpa's decision to distribute his coins to the family symbolized the participation and the joy of the new cycle of life that spring brings.

For the children present, the cuckoo call was not only an acoustic event, but also a threshold that marked the transition from winter to spring. The children, led by Pia and blessed with grandpas, accelerate their heart with every subsequent cuckoo call, while they had hope for a rich, blessed year.