Good Luck Charms

Good luck charm is a charm that is believed to bring good luck. An example of this is a blessing that a minister or a priest gives at the end of a ceremony. Later on, people assumed that spoken words were temporary whereas a solid object is more permanent. Objects that have extraordinary significance such as the splinter believed to be from the cross of Jesus Christ were substituted for the original spoken or sung charms.

Almost any object can be used as a charm. Coins and buttons are good examples. Little things that are given to you make very good lucky charms. It is because of the favorable associations they make. Many souvenir shops have a range of tiny items that may be used as good luck charms. Good luck charms are usually worn on the body although there are exceptions

History

The “lucky rabbit charm” was passed on and incorporated into American culture by African slaves that were brought to the Americas. The lucky bag or the “Mojo” is another borrowed idea from African culture. It is used in voodoo ceremonies to carry several lucky objects or spells and intended to cause a specific effect. The concept is that particular objects placed in the bag and charged will create a supernatural effect for the bearer. Even today, mojo bags are still used. Europe also contributed to the concept of lucky charms. Adherents of St. Patrick (the patron saint of Ireland), adopted the Four leaf clover as a symbol of Irish luck because clovers are abundant in the hills of Ireland.

A four-leaf clover was consistently believed to be a lucky charm. This very old Irish verse describes why:

One leaf is for fame,
And one leaf is for wealth,
And one is for a faithful lover,
And one to bring you glorious health,
Are all in the four-leaved clover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_luck_charm

Afterword by the Blog Author

There are many other charms which are used for confidence games.  One televangelist sold “lucky coins” that were guaranteed to bring good luck to those in the television audience smart enough to acquire them.

Charm bracelets are magnets for spending money on small tourist items at gift shops.  Much of this market is centered around pompous sentimentality.

There is a popular sugary American breakfast cereal called Lucky Charms for which the kibbles of cereal are shaped like charm bracelet objects.

Think of charms as baby amulets or miniature talismans.

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An amulet is an object that is typically worn on one's person, and is alleged to have the magical power to protect its holder– either to protect them in general or to protect them from some specific thing. Amulets are different from talismans because are sometimes confused a talisman may have alleged magical powers other than protection. Amulets with pendants– small aesthetic objects that hang from necklaces. Any given pendant may indeed be an amulet, but so may any other object which purports to protect its holder from danger.

Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plant parts, animal parts, and even written words in the form of a magical spell or incantation to repel evil or bad luck. Magic scrolls are found to be used in various cultures, and artifacts of scrolls with magical inscriptions have been found in the middle east, Europe, and the far east.

The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amulētum. The earliest extant use of that term is in Pliny's Natural History, in which it means "an object that protects a person from trouble".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amulet