Good Luck Charms
I find the idea of good luck charms interesting. Particularly, the history of how a particular object came to be considered something that brings good luck, or at least prevents bad luck. Today, many people wear amulets without even knowing that the word means an object that protects from evil.
|
|
The four-leaf clover is a popular good luck charm, and it is understandable why. The most common types of clover only have three leafs, so finding one with four is unusual, and therefore lucky. The lucky part really seems to be that, if you were lucky enough to find one, then you are a lucky person. |
Why a rabbits foot is considered lucky is not so obvious. It is believed to have started with the ancient Celts. When a boy was first being taught to hunt, his earliest efforts were to hunt rabbits. When he killed his first rabbit, a foot was often cut off and given to him as a reminder of his success and to welcome him into manhood.
|
An interesting one I found out about when I was in Greece in 2009. According to the legend of Medusa, her ability to turn one into stone didn't work on people with blue eyes (The makers of the Percy Jackson movie were apparently unaware of that). Some ancient Greeks got the idea of carrying a blue glass eye around with them to protect them from Medusa. Today, amulets and other objects with a somewhat abstract blue eye design are sold as good luck charms, mostly to tourists. |
|
Another very popular charm is the horseshoe. The most common belief (there are others) is that hanging a horseshoe over a door with the open end up holds in good luck. I can't find much on how this idea started, but an ancient book tells how they were used as protection from witchcraft and some sailors hunk a horseshoe on a ship's mast to avoid storms at sea.
|
|
Even insects can be lucky charms. In various cultures, scarab beetles, ladybugs, crickets, and dragonflies have been considered good luck. Many Asians will not kill a cricket if it gets in their house believing that doing so would bring them bad luck. |
Even religion and spirituality is not free from this, at least in a sense. Catholics, for example, wear a scapular for protection, such as the popular Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel which is said to deliver one from purgatory. And, in a sense, you might say that the crystals and gems carried by New Age spiritual persons, such as the eight gems we in Cosolargy carry on out thread, is a sort of good luck charm in that they are aids to enlightenment as well as protection from evil spirits.
Categories: Spirituality, philosophy
Tags: luck charm amulet clover Medusa ladybug Gems
Comments