If there’s one thing everyone believes in, even if it’s just a little, it’s luck. That events will all work independent of you to bring you either fortune or misfortune, and there’s very little you can do to change that. Or rather, there’s very little you can do unless you invest in a lucky charm!
Lucky charms as a concept have been around for thousands of years but a few particular ones have stuck in the collective consciousness, even if we don’t remember where they came from. If you’ve ever wondered just why a horseshoe is considered lucky, then read on! If you see one you’d be interested in, then why not pick one up and head over to https://games.paddypower.com/ to test your luck!
Four-Leaf Clover
Usually associated with the Republic of Ireland specifically rather than the whole of the British Isles, the four-leaf clover as a lucky icon is known across the globe and it all comes back to the druids. Because clovers are traditionally a three leafed plant, the scarcity of the rare four leafed version meant that druids believed the unique plant contained magical power that could be useful for safeguarding and protecting people.
While the enduring symbol of the four-leaf clover as a piece of luck persists, in the 1950’s botanists managed to grow a variant of the clover that always has four lobes which has somewhat removed the uniqueness of the plant and, as far as some are concerned, most of the luck.
Lucky Horseshoes
Horseshoes are a particularly interesting charm as they were regarded as lucky almost globally and always with a different superstition attached. While they were first invented in Ancient Greece, it’s the legend of St. Dunstan that really solidified them as an item of great luck. St. Dunstan’s association with horseshoes pertains to his regular frustration of the devil and most particularly to an event where he nailed a horseshoe to the devil’s cloven hoof, only removing it once the devil promised to never enter a place where a horseshoe is over a door.
Rabbit’s Foot
Having a lucky rabbit’s foot is a particularly weird choice of charm. Why would a rabbit be lucky? It all comes down to Europe, in a time before 600 BCE, where the rabbit (or possibly the hare) was taken as a totem of good luck owing to a few distinctive elements. Particularly, the fact that rabbits are notorious for being very good at multiplying and such a trait is something a lot of people would wish to emulate.
Walking under a Ladder
It’s bad luck to walk under a ladder, everyone knows that. But to most people, it’s obvious why this should be – the last thing you want is for the ladder to slip and whoever’s at the top to fall on top of you. But the root of this superstition is a little different from what you might expect, instead of being about the danger of falling workmen, it’s likely from Ancient Egypt. The angle that the ladder rests against a wall formed a triangle which was revered as a sacred symbol (hence the pyramids). So, for the Egyptians, the ladder itself was seen as good luck while walking underneath was considered an affront to the gods.
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