Rainbow Stairs

Lucky Charms

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Luck, from rainbows to pennies. Everyone is aware of what luck is. Although, what exactly are the lucky charms? From culture to culture, there's always a different story and charm. For March, the month of luck, we learn about 7 of those lucky charms.

1. (*) Four-leaf clovers are a common Irish sign of luck. The four leaves, one of which should be smaller than the others, are supposed to represent four mystical powers based on faith, hope, love, & luck. There's another tale of different powers. Fame, wealth, health, & faithful love.

2. (*) There are many tales of a horseshoe being made of iron & a sinister being not being able to bear the touch of them. Thus in each ending, the beings would avoid any home that was adorned with it, especially if it had the horseshoe facing up, resembling a bucket filling up with luck.

3. (+) Chimney sweeps! Shaking a chimney sweep's hand or passing them on the street is seen as good luck. They're mostly associated with weddings, shaking the bride and groom's hands. Bringing good luck towards their future. Even today, you can still encounter chimney sweeps at weddings.

4. (~) Its paw goes up and down in a waving motion, the Maneki-Neko is a friendly feline item that is said to bring good luck towards its owners and can come in many designs and sizes. But the most traditional is the calico Japanese bobtail cat. Its name can translate to beckoning cat.

5. (*) Did you know that there's such a thing as "Lucky Bamboo?" Well, lucky bamboo is technically not bamboo at all, but a close relative called Dracaena. It's a strong, long-lived plant, which might relate to its lucky properties. The more stalks a Dracaena has, the more luck it's supposed to bring. A plant with three stalks is said to bring happiness, wealth & longevity to the owners. But some plants have even more stalks, which are said to impart more kinds of luck.

6. (*/~) Dream catchers come from Native American lore. They look like a web or net stretched over a loop & are decorated with bright beads & feathers; they are said to catch bad dreams as they enter a household. By capturing the disturbing dreams, they make the owner happier, more balanced, & luckier.

7. (*) Although this isn't as well known as the four-leafed clover, the number 7 has special mathematical properties. The ancient Greeks called 7 "the perfect number," the sum of 3 (triangle) & 4 (square), which are perfect forms. Seven also revolves around prominent places: 7 days of the week, 7 colors of the rainbow, 7 planets are visible to the naked eye, 7 is a winning roll in many games of chance.

Author's Note:

I'd like to apologize for the three-month delay, this whole pandemic had messed me up and I lost my research while in the process of creating this. From memory, I believe Insider.com and History.com were two sites I used for this article.