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A good luck charm is an amulet or other item that is believed to bring good luck. Almost any object can be used as a charm. Coins, horseshoes and buttons are examples, as are small objects given as gifts, due to 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 often worn on the body, but not necessarily.

History

The mojo is a charm originating in 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.

List

Luck is symbolized by a wide array of objects, numbers, symbols, plant and animal life which vary significantly in different cultures globally. The significance of each symbol is rooted in either folklore, mythology, esotericism, religion, tradition, necessity, or a combination thereof.

Symbol		Culture	Notes
7		Western, Japanese
8		Chinese, Japanese	Sounds like the Chinese word for "fortune". See Numbers in Chinese culture#Eight Used to mean the sacred and infinite in Japanese. A prime example is using the number 8 to refer to Countless/Infinite Gods (八百万の神, Yaoyorozu no Kami) (lit. Eight Million Gods). See 8#As a lucky number.
Aitvaras		Lithuania
Acorns		Norse
Albatross			Considered a sign of good luck if seen by sailors.
Amanita muscaria		German	Seen as a good luck symbol to find one, similar to a 4-leaf clover in Irish tradition
Ashtamangala		Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism	Buddhism: Endless knot, Lotus flower, Dhvaja, Dharmachakra, Bumpa, Golden Fish, Parasol, Conch; additional symbols for Hinduism and Jainism
Bamboo		Chinese
Barnstar		United States
Beemans gum		United States	Popular among early aviators, including Chuck Yeager, to provide good luck during flights
Chimney sweep		Many parts of the world	Said to bring good luck when being touched, especially on New Year and on weddings.
Corno portafortuna		Central and Southern Italy
Ladybird beetles		German, Italian, Poles, Russian, Turkish, Brazilian, Serbia	There is an old children's song in Serbia "Let, let, bubamaro, donesi mi sreću" meaning "Fly, fly, ladybug, bring me the happiness". In Serbian, "sreća" means "good chances" as in a lottery or "happiness", but this is about emotions.
Dreamcatcher		Native American (Ojibwe)	In Native American Ojibwa culture the human mind was believed to be susceptible to dark spirits, when the mind is weakest (I.e. asleep) and would give bad dreams. In defense the men and women would weave dream catchers. These talismans would let the good dream spirits through, whilst trapping the bad spirits in the pattern.
Fish		Chinese, Hebrew, Ancient Egyptian, Tunisian, Indian, Japanese
Bird or flock going from right to left		Paganism	Auspicia
A monk passing through		Buddhist
Four-leaf clover		Irish and Celtic, German, Poles
Shamrock or Clover		Irish	While in most of the world, only the four-leafed clover is considered lucky, in Ireland all Irish Shamrocks are.
Horseshoe		English, Poles and several other European ethnicities, Indian and Nepali people.	Horseshoes are considered to ward off saturn’s ill-effects in Vedic culture. Horseshoes are considered lucky when turned upwards but unlucky when turned downwards, although some people believe the opposite.
Jade		Chinese
Jew with a coin		Poland	Thought to bring money.
The lù or 子 zi		Chinese	A symbol thought to bring prosperity.
Maneki-neko		Japanese, Chinese	Often mistaken as a Chinese symbol due to its usage in Chinese communities, the Maneki-neko is Japanese.
Pig		Chinese, German
Pythons' eyes		Meitei culture	Believed that pythons' eyes bring positive attention, good fortune, guard against awa ana (Meitei for 'bad happenings') and the unhindered travelling to desired places.
Rabbit's foot		North America, England and Wales (originating from a hare's foot)	A rabbit's foot can be worn or carried as a lucky charm.
White rat		Roman Empire	The Romans sometimes saw rats as omens. A white rat was considered to be auspicious, while a black rat has unfortunate significance.
Wishbone		Europe, North America
Sarimanok		Maranao
Swallow		Korea	Rooted in Folktale 'Heungbu and Nolbu'
Swastika		Multiple cultures	The swastika or crux gammata (in heraldry fylfot), historically used as a symbol in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, and widely popular in the early 20th century as a symbol of good luck or prosperity before adopted as a symbol of Nazism in the 1920s and 30s.
Tortoiseshell cat		Many cultures	Rooted in Folklore
White Elephant		Thai
White heather		Irish Travellers, Scotland

See also

• Horseshoe
• List of bad luck signs
• Luck
• Saint Cajetan, Patron saint of gamblers

Notes

1. "The Difference Between A Talisman Amulet and A Charm". Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
2. "History and Legends of Lucky Charms and Talismans". Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
3. Dolnick and Davidson, p. 85
4. Greer, p. 21
5. Algirdas Julius Greimas, "Of Gods and Men: Studies in Lithuanian Mythology", Indiana Univ. Pr. (November 1992)
6. Waxon, Dawn (18 September 2008). "Pieces of the Past: Acorny tale". The Repository. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
7. Webster, p. 6
8. Dodge, p. 748
9. Parker, p. 150
10. Urbina, Eric (22 July 2006). "For the Pennsylvania Dutch, a Long Tradition Fades". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
11. Votruba, Cindy (8 September 2008). "It's in the Stars". Marshall Independent. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
12. "Beemans on the Silver Screen". Vintage Gums. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
13. "Chuck Yeager and a Stick of Beemans". www.aircargonews.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
14. Young, Eric (2 February 1998). "New Age Solution for Coping with Material-world Tension". The Sacramento Bee. ProQuest 246401007.
15. Thrall, Christopher (17 September 2005). "Objects in the mirror may be more complex than they appear". Postmedia News. ProQuest 460167802.
16. Helfman, p. 400
17. Marks, p. 199
18. Toussaint-Samat, p. 311
19. Hackett, Smith, & al-Athar, p. 218
20. Sen, p. 158
21. Volker, p. 72
22. Dolnick and Davidson, p. 38
23. Binney, p. 115
24. Cooper, p. 86
25. DeMello, p. 35
26. "Tartakowsky, Ewa. "Le Juif à la pièce d'argent." La vie des idées (2017)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
27. The Jew with a Coin: Analysis of a contemporary folkloric emblem (AAPJ) Archived 2017-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, 2019.
28. Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father Archived 2019-07-03 at the Wayback Machine, Diana Wichtel, 2018, Awa Press, page 144. link to extract from book in Nzherald, published 16 May 2018
29. Webster, p. 202
30. Wouters, Jelle J. P. (16 May 2022). Vernacular Politics in Northeast India: Democracy, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity. Oxford University Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-19-267826-3.
31. Wouters, Jelle J. P. (16 May 2022). Vernacular Politics in Northeast India: Democracy, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity. Oxford University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-19-267826-3.
32. Webster, p. 212
33. Edward A. Armstrong."The Folklore of Birds" (Dover Publications, 1970)
34. "'Lucky' white elephant for Burma". BBC News. 9 November 2001. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
35. McClintock, David (15 January 1970). Why Is White Heather Lucky?. Country Life. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.

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• Luck
• Lists of symbols