A cricket is most often read as a sign of good luck, a happy home, and listening to your inner voice. Crickets sing at night from hidden places, so a cricket in your house is read in many traditions as a guardian of the hearth and a sign that luck or money is on its way. And thanks to Pinocchio's Talking Cricket, the cricket is also the classic voice of conscience.
What Does a Cricket Symbolize?
A cricket symbolizes luck, home, song, intuition, and conscience. The main readings practitioners give a cricket are:
- Good luck and money. In Brazil and Barbados, a singing cricket in the house is read as money on the way.
- Home and protection. In Charles Dickens's 1845 story The Cricket on the Hearth, a cricket chirping by the fire acts as a guardian angel to the family.
- Listening. Crickets hear through tiny eardrums on their front legs, so they're read as a reminder to listen closely, to others and to yourself.
- Your inner voice. A cricket singing in the dark is read as a nudge to trust your intuition and speak up.
- Conscience. The Talking Cricket in Pinocchio made the cricket a symbol of knowing right from wrong.
A Cricket in Your House: What It Means
A cricket in your house is most often read as good luck: a sign of money coming, a happy home, or a guardian keeping watch. In China, crickets have long been kept as pets in small cages and carved gourds and are considered good luck, and in Barbados a loud cricket chirping inside is a sign that money is coming in, so it must not be killed or chased out.
Folklore isn't all sunny. In Caraguatatuba, Brazil, the color of the cricket matters: a gray cricket in a room was a sign of money, a green one a sign of hope, and a black one was said to bring illness. And in a few places, a quieter kind of cricket in the house was taken as a bad omen. Most modern practitioners read a house cricket kindly, as a small guest bringing luck.
If you'd rather your cricket live outside, trap it gently under a cup, slide a piece of paper underneath, and carry it out to the garden.
Black Cricket Meaning
A black cricket is read as a sign of protection, mystery, and a message from your intuition. Brazilian folklore from Caraguatatuba once read a black cricket in a room as an omen of illness, but most modern readings see a black cricket in the house as a quiet guardian. Field crickets, the most common crickets in North America, are usually black or dark brown, so a black cricket is the one you're most likely to meet.
Cricket Chirping: What It Means
A cricket chirping is read as a sign of good luck, joy, and a message to listen. In nature, the chirping is a male cricket's song to attract a mate. The sound comes from rubbing his wings together, and the cricket that hears it listens through the ears on its front legs. Crickets are mostly nocturnal, which is why their song fills summer and autumn nights.
- A cricket chirping at night is read as a sign of peace, protection, and luck in the home.
- A cricket chirping loudly near you is read as a message to speak your truth.
- A cricket suddenly going silent is read as a call to stop and listen, to the room, to your gut, or to someone who needs you.
When Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's crew was nearly out of water at sea, the sudden chirping of a cricket on board told them land was near.
The Cricket Thermometer
Crickets chirp faster when it's warm and slower when it's cool. In 1897, physicist Amos Dolbear published "The Cricket as a Thermometer," now known as Dolbear's law. To estimate the temperature in Fahrenheit, count a cricket's chirps in 15 seconds and add 40. The formula was worked out for the snowy tree cricket and is less exact for common field crickets, but it's a lovely way to sit outside on a summer night and listen with purpose.
Cricket Meaning in Stories
Jiminy Cricket
Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the Talking Cricket from Carlo Collodi's 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio. In the 1940 Disney film, the Blue Fairy appoints Jiminy as Pinocchio's official conscience. That's why people call the small voice that tells you right from wrong "your Jiminy Cricket," and why a cricket can be read as a nudge to listen to your conscience.
The Cricket on the Hearth
In Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth, divided into chapters called "Chirps," a cricket singing by the fireplace watches over a family like a guardian angel. George Selden's 1960 children's book The Cricket in Times Square came to him after he heard a real cricket chirping in Times Square.
The Cricket as a Spirit Animal
As a spirit animal or animal guide, the cricket is read as a teacher of listening, patience, and trusting your own voice. People who feel close to crickets are often homebodies, night owls, and good listeners. The term "spirit animal" comes partly from Indigenous traditions, so many people today say "animal guide" or "animal ally" instead. If you're not sure which animal is yours, try our free spirit animal quiz.
If you'd like to work with cricket energy:
- On a warm night, sit outside and count a cricket's chirps to find the temperature. Let the counting become a few quiet minutes of listening.
- Keep a small cricket figure or image by the hearth or the front door for luck in the home.
- When you're facing a choice, ask yourself what your own "Jiminy Cricket" would say.
For more household luck folklore, see our money superstitions, and for more animal guides, see the spiritual meaning of the dragonfly, the black cat, the squirrel, and the owl. You can also read about the moth.
Cricket Spiritual Meaning FAQ
What does it mean when a cricket is in your house?
A cricket in your house is most often read as good luck, a sign of money coming, or a guardian of the home. In Barbados, a loud cricket chirping inside is a sign that money is coming, so it shouldn't be killed or chased out.
Is a cricket in the house good luck?
Yes, in most traditions. Crickets are kept as lucky pets in China, and Barbadian and Brazilian folklore tie a singing house cricket to money.
What does a black cricket mean spiritually?
A black cricket is read as a sign of protection and intuition. Older Brazilian folklore read a black cricket in a room as an omen of illness, but most modern readings are kind.
What does it mean when a cricket chirps at night?
In nature, a chirping cricket is a male calling for a mate. Spiritually, a cricket chirping at night is read as a sign of peace, protection, and luck in the home.
Is it bad luck to kill a cricket?
In many traditions, yes. Barbadian folklore says a chirping house cricket must not be killed or chased away, so many people gently carry crickets outside instead.
What does Jiminy Cricket represent?
Jiminy Cricket represents conscience. In Disney's Pinocchio, the Blue Fairy appoints him as Pinocchio's official conscience, based on the Talking Cricket in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book.
Can a cricket tell you the temperature?
Yes, roughly. Count a cricket's chirps in 15 seconds and add 40 to estimate the temperature in Fahrenheit. This is Dolbear's law, published in 1897, and it works best with the snowy tree cricket.
