Four Leaf Clovers: Are You Feeling Lucky?
Superstition has it that a four-leaf clover will bring good luck. But I was curious as to why this plain little plant would hold such magic. Here are some of the explanations provided in Claudia De Lys’s 8,414 Strange and Fascinating Superstitions.
Eve
The luck derives from the plant’s connection to Eve. Some legends claim she brought a four leaf clover with her when she and Adam were exiled from paradise. If you find one, you have luck because the plant originated in paradise. The luck’s even stronger if the four-leafer is found in your yard, unless you’re one of those people who think of clovers as weeds.
Druids
Druids also revered the four-leaf clover for its magical powers. They believed that a person who found such a rare clover would have the ability to detect evil beings. If you can see these evil beings, such as witches, you can avoid them—thus, the clover was viewed as a good thing to have in your possession.
Irish
The Irish connect the four-leafed clover to the shamrock, a similar green plant. The shamrock is lucky because it is believed to keep snakes away. It also was useful to St. Patrick who used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity and convert the Irish to Christianity.
Which story of how the four-leaf clover came to be associated with good luck do you like best? What other explanations have you heard? Has a four leaf clover ever brought you any luck?
Eve
The luck derives from the plant’s connection to Eve. Some legends claim she brought a four leaf clover with her when she and Adam were exiled from paradise. If you find one, you have luck because the plant originated in paradise. The luck’s even stronger if the four-leafer is found in your yard, unless you’re one of those people who think of clovers as weeds.
Druids
Druids also revered the four-leaf clover for its magical powers. They believed that a person who found such a rare clover would have the ability to detect evil beings. If you can see these evil beings, such as witches, you can avoid them—thus, the clover was viewed as a good thing to have in your possession.
Irish
The Irish connect the four-leafed clover to the shamrock, a similar green plant. The shamrock is lucky because it is believed to keep snakes away. It also was useful to St. Patrick who used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity and convert the Irish to Christianity.
Which story of how the four-leaf clover came to be associated with good luck do you like best? What other explanations have you heard? Has a four leaf clover ever brought you any luck?
Labels: four leaf clovers and luck
posted by Mo H @ 6:34 AM
9 Comments:
I think anything that rare (something like 10,000 3 leaf clovers to one 4 leaf) lends itself to creating a legend. But I'm a huge fan of Celtic mythology and love the idea of looking for something so rare anywhere, even in your back yard. Supposedly there is no naturally grown four-leaf clover and I hope it stays that way. It wouldn't be the same if you could buy a plant full of those.
Fun topic for March.
Dianna,
Those odds may explain why I never found a four leaf clover as a kid. I would spend hours looking in our backyard!
I love all the stories, Mo. Thanks for sharing them.
My grandmother must have been a very lucky person because she found more four-leafed clover than anyone else I know. We'd be out walking and she would casually reach down and pick one.
And I agree with Dianna. Let's hope no one ever decides to cultivate four-leafed clover. Some things need to be left alone, and that's one of them :)
I found a four leaf clover as a child in England and kept it until it finally crumbled into dust years later. I think it brought me a lot of luck as I have really been fortunate in many areas of my life.
I love all of those stories! I had only heard the Irish one.
Wow, Lee, your grandmother must have been lucky indeed!!!
Louisa,
So cool that you kept a four leaf clover for so many years!!!
I can remember finding four leaf clovers! Once you find one, there are usually others in the same patch.
I'm a little late chiming in, but I thought I'd tell you about the time my sister, my kids and I were sitting on my parents' lawn, just doing some lazy summer hanging around. My older daughter reached down and held up a four leaf clover just at the same time as my son. We all started looking and discovered we were sitting in a four leaf clover patch, where about three out of every four sprigs had four leaves. Only a few feet away, it ll went back to the normal three leafed kind. We should have dug it up and propagated the stuff.
I found not one but two today, while walking my dog. I admit a time or two i looked through the patches for fun not really expecting,but just in case. Today i was just walking and happened to glance down. Not sure what happens next but im lucky to have found that one thing we all looked for as a kid never really thinking we would. Whatever happens next i will post. Because im expecting the unexpeced, i know things are attainable but have a hard time believing that i can attain them. This is a sign to me me that i can and mines is on the way!!!!
Everyone else GOOD LUCk!
Post a Comment
<< Home
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]