Today is the first day of bow hunting season. Dear Hubby packed his gear and headed for the woods. I remembered a day when he insisted on wearing "his lucky sweatpants" under his camouflage. Today, I think he nixed the sweatpants but has placed his faith in his old bow since it has been good to him over the years.
As I watched him leave from a doorway with two horseshoes nailed above, I thought of superstitions or "good luck charms".
Nailing a horseshoe over a door is a combination of two superstitions.
1. In early times,horses were considered magical. Because they could find their way in the dark, people believed they could foresee danger or could guide souls through the underworld. So anything connected with a horse was lucky.
2. Horseshoes are made of iron, which was considered protective. The Norse god of battle wore iron gloves and carried an iron hammer. Romans nailed pieces of iron over the doors, believing it could ward off evil spirits. In the 10th cent. Christians added their own twist to the superstition - the tale of a blacksmith named Dunstan (who later became Archbishop of Canterbury.) Dunstan had an unusual customer one day... he requested special shoes be made for his cloven feet. Dunstan pretended to not recognize him and said he would make the shoes. Instead he shackled the Devil to the wall and treated him so brutally that Satan cried for mercy. Dunstan released him only after making him promise never to enter a dwelling with a horseshoe on the door.
I sometimes "knock on wood" for good luck. Do you?
In the Middle Ages, churchmen insisted that knocking on wood was part of their tradition of prayer, since Christ was crucified on a wooden cross. Both Native American and ancient Greeks developed the belief that oak trees were the domain of an important god. By knocking on an oak, they were communicating with him and asking for his forgiveness.
How about throwing pennies into a wishing well? Come on, admit it.
Ancient people believed spirits living in springs and fountains demanded tribute - usually flesh. Young Mayan girls, for example, were sometimes tossed into the Well o Sacrifice "to marry the spirits". I'm glad today we just toss a couple pennies in a well for good luck.
Do you pull on that wishbone saved from the Thanksgiving turkey? We do, the boys love the tradition!
Over 2,000 years ago, the Etruscans believed that chickens (which squawk before they lay an egg) could tell the future. The powers extended to part of the bird's skeleton, too. So when a sacred hen died, the Etruscans put its collarbone int he sun until it dried out. The people would pick it up, rub it, and make a wish. It became known as the "wishbone". Later it became a symbolic tug-of-war; not everyone would get their wish and it became a contest to see whom the gods favored.
Funny how such traditions are passed through the years. I remember sitting on my grandmother's porch with my cousins watching trains go past. We would each pick a color of what we thought the color of the caboose was - whoever ended up being correct would have good luck all day. We would hold our breath every time we went past a graveyard.
While riding the bus, the boys pick up their feet every time they go over railroad tracks. Dev has his lucky glove for baseball. Trev was born on the Friday the 13th, so in his case... it's a lucky day! I still pick up pennies (only if they're heads up), put them in my pocket for good luck. Oh... I even have a special pen I sign my books with!
What superstitions do you have? Tell me, I'd love to hear. I promise I won't tell... cross my heart.
