What Is the History of Good Luck Charms?

Four-leaf clovers are rare and widely considered lucky.

Good luck charms have brought people peace of mind for centuries. Perhaps good luck charms are merely superstitions, or perhaps they actually work. Whatever your good luck charm may be, there are several charms that have historical meaning behind them.

Horseshoe

Several explanations exist for why horseshoes became good luck charms. One explanation involves witches. Witches did not care for horses, so they chose to ride through the sky on brooms as their means of transportation. If a person hung a horseshoe above a door, witches would not want to enter.

Four-Leaf Clover

The four-leaf clover's luck dates back years and years. In Irish tradition, a simple three-leaf clover's leaves stood for the Trinity in Christian theology: One leaf represented the Father, the second leaf represented the Son, and the third represented the Holy Spirit. If a fourth leaf was present, it stood for the grace of God. Its rarity alone makes the four-leaf clover lucky.

Rabbit's Foot

A lucky rabbit's foot may come from the symbolic value of rabbits. Rabbits are thought of as fertile creatures, symbolizing new, abundant life. Another reason is that a rabbit's back feet touch the ground before its front feet, thus leading to the thought that these hind feel have magical significance.

References

• Halloween Web: Lucky Horseshoe
• New World Encyclopedia: Rabbit's Foot
• Clover Specialty Company: About Four Leaf Clovers