From:
https://tinyurl.com/2kuh98j5 (interestingfacts.com)
The Stories Behind 7 Beloved Good Luck Symbols
Are you feeling lucky? It's possible you just came across a patch of
four-leaf clovers, or walked underneath a horseshoe. Maybe you were just
given some lucky bamboo. But why are these things considered lucky? And
what's the story of the "lucky cat" next to your favorite Asian
restaurant's cash register? The number seven is supposedly lucky, too - so
we've rounded up seven good luck charms and the stories behind them.
Four-Leaf Clovers
Part of the reason four-leaf clovers are lucky is pretty simple: They're
exceedingly rare. Clovers have four copies of each chromosome in every
cell, and all four copies need to carry the gene for the fourth leaf in
order for the plant to produce one. Environmental factors can affect the
expression of the trait, too. One survey in 2017 found that around 1 in
5,000 clovers have four leaves, although they tend to be found in patches.
How clovers and shamrocks became a symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day
is a little less clear. Legend has it that St. Patrick used a three-leaf
clover to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity to
nonbelievers. On his feast day on March 17, wearing a clover was an easy,
inexpensive way to look nice at church.
Meanwhile, when the English were expanding their rule into Ireland, some
tried to paint Irish people as primitive and described them as eating
clover. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries - around the same time a
rose started to symbolize England and a thistle Scotland - a three-leafed
clover started to appear as a symbol for Ireland. This was possibly a
reclamation of the "eating clover" idea, and possibly because of the
plant's association with St. Patrick.
Horseshoes
There are a few reasons horseshoes could be considered lucky. One is
pretty straightforward: In Western Europe, iron was believed to drive away
evil spirits, and horseshoes were made of iron.
Another reason has to do with an Irish folktale about a blacksmith who was
forging horseshoes when he was visited by the devil, who asked for shoes
of his own. The blacksmith put a red-hot shoe on the devil's foot, and the
devil, in extreme pain, vowed never to go near a horseshoe again.
Another superstition was that witches were afraid of horses - it's why
they supposedly traveled on brooms instead. Therefore, a horseshoe could
ward away witches.
Rabbits' Feet
The origin of rabbits' feet as a good luck charm may go back as far as
ancient Rome, when the feet of hares and rabbits were thought to have
medicinal powers. For centuries in Europe, people carried paws from
rabbits or hares for their supposed effects against cramps and other
ailments. The idea of rabbits' feet as good luck then transformed in
America, where it may have been appropriated from an African culture, or
based on a joke among African Americans that European Americans didn't
fully understand. In the early 20th century, merchants started selling
rabbits' feet with marketing claiming that they'd been harvested under
spooky circumstances, like under the dark of the moon on a Friday the
13th; Black people were often said to have been the ones doing the
harvesting.
The use of the symbol could also be connected to the Hand of Glory, a hand
cut from a hanged man, usually the left one, and often pickled, after
which it was said to have mystical powers. In a sense, the use of the
rabbit's foot was thought to stand in for the human appendage.
Lucky Bamboo
Lucky bamboo is a popular houseplant because it's easy to care for and
associated with feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice for creating
balance in a home. According to tradition, it brings prosperity to the
corner of the home in which it's placed. The number of stalks is
significant; for extra luck, try six or nine. Notably, it's not actually
bamboo, but a tropical plant closer to a succulent.
Lucky Cat
Maneki neko, the Japanese-style statue of a white cat with one paw raised,
dates back to the Edo period (1603 to 1868 CE) in what's now Tokyo, and
first appeared in Buddhist temples. One legend is that a cat beckoned a
samurai into a temple and helped him avoid a heavy thunderstorm, and in
return the samurai showered the temple with donations - maneki neko
translates to "beckoning cat."
Ladybugs
Ladybugs are incredibly beneficial insects to any gardener, killing nasty
common pests like aphids and mealybugs. It's possible that this is the
origin of their purported good luck, too - farmers saw ladybugs' arrival
as a sign that their crops would thrive. Today, a ladybug landing on you
is still considered good luck.
Some ladybug beliefs get even more specific: If you make a wish while
holding a ladybug, the direction it flies will supposedly be where your
good luck will come from. A ladybug landing on you while you're sick will
supposedly heal you. Counting spots will tell you how many months of good
luck you'll have, or how much money you'll gain, or any other numerical
luck-related inquiry. On the flip side, if you kill a ladybug, it's
supposed to bring heavy misfortune your way, and this belief is found in
many cultures.
The Number 7
Seven is widely considered a lucky number - but if there's a specific
origin for the belief, it happened a long, long time ago, possibly in
ancient Sumer. Humanity seems to have a general fascination with the
number: There are seven days in the week and seven wonders of the world.
Medieval scholars studied seven subjects, together known as the "liberal
arts" (grammar, rhetoric, logic, music, arithmetic, geometry, and
astronomy). Shakespeare's All the World's a Stage monologue describes the
seven ages of man. Most major religions give significance to the number,
too. Part of the reason may be mathematical: It's the only number we can
count on our hands that can't be multiplied or divided by any other number
countable on our digits.
-- Sean
... Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
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