Luck and prosperity
Charms for fortune, success, a good harvest and a safe journey.
Luck magic aims at fortune, success, wealth and a safe passage. People keep lucky charms, perform money rites, pour offerings to a god of wealth, and avoid unlucky days. Examples include the Chinese lucky cat and the red packet, the Japanese daruma doll, the Indian worship of Lakshmi at Diwali, the European four-leaf clover and horseshoe, and the Hoodoo mojo bag. This page looks at what luck means and who profits from it.
Ideas of luck
Cultures differ on what luck is. In China, fortune is tied to fate, timing and the placement of objects, giving rise to feng shui and the choice of lucky numbers. In West Africa, success is linked to a person's destiny and the help of the orisha or ancestors. In Europe, luck came to be seen as chance, with charms to tilt it. Many societies see wealth as shared and fear that good fortune attracts envy. Merchants, farmers, gamblers and students are the usual customers, and the amounts asked of them range from a coin to a lifetime of savings.
Customs
Customs are domestic and mostly small. Merchants in Taiwan and China burn paper offerings and put out fruit at the start of the month. Fishers and sailors keep charms and avoid certain words. Gamblers, students and athletes have habits they will not break. Many rites involve giving something away, since reciprocity is thought to keep fortune moving. Lucky days are often chosen by calendar or astrologer, so that a shop opens, a wedding is held or a journey begins on a favourable date.
Schemes and scams
Luck is easy to sell. Lottery charms, gemstone bracelets and sellers who promise riches for a fee make money from hope. Fraud involving fake spiritualists who say a client's money is cursed and must be handed over is documented in many countries. Playing games of chance with charms may feel harmless, but anyone struggling with gambling should seek real help. Some wealth rites are public and religious, as with Diwali lamps for Lakshmi and the Lunar New Year offerings to the god of wealth, and some are private and quiet.
Scholars and sceptics
Psychologists have found that carrying a lucky charm can raise confidence and performance in some tasks, without changing the odds of chance. Economists study the role of luck in success. Religious authorities differ: some see lucky objects as idolatry, others as harmless custom, and prosperity churches around the world teach a faith-based version of the same hope. Those who struggle with debt or gambling harm should look for practical advice, since a charm does not change the odds or pay the bills.
Luck and prosperity on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 5 moreTrick-or-treating
A Halloween custom where costumed visitors ask for treats from homesTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhr铆de
A woven straw charm hung for protection, named after Ireland's patron saintCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚙馃嚞 Bulgaria and 5 moreKukeri泻褍泻械褉懈
A costumed ritual in Bulgaria to chase away evil spirits and welcome springRite 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚠馃嚫 Iceland and 2 moreYulej贸l
A Germanic midwinter festival merged with Christmas and revived by modern pagansTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomWassail
A hot spiced drink and the twelfth-night customs of singing to trees or visiting homes for giftsTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Living
馃嚠馃嚜 Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic festival marking the start of summer with protective bonfires and livestock ritualsTradition 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Revived
馃嚜馃嚫 Spain and 5 moreDuende
A humanoid spirit of Iberian and Latin American folklore, ranging from household pranksters to forest guardians.Being 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreBulla
A round Roman amulet given to freeborn boys as a mark of status and protectionCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreLecanomancy
Divination using a dish or bowl of water to read the futureOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandStatue rubbing
A tourist custom of touching statues to attract luck, love, or a return visit.Belief 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Love and attraction Living
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalySmorfia
A Neapolitan dream book that turns visions into lottery numbersOracle 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 4 moreAnimal TarotTiertarock
A family of playing card decks featuring animal imagery instead of traditional tarot scenesTradition 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomFumsup
A small figurine charm believed to bring good luck, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Charm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreEaster Bunny
A German folkloric hare that judges children and delivers colored eggs for EasterBeing 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Living
馃嚫馃嚠 Slovenia and 5 moreVesna袙械褋薪邪
A Slavic personification of spring and youth, known in myth and languageFigure 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 4 moreFiery serpents芯谐薪械薪薪褘泄 蟹屑械泄
A pan-Slavic spirit of fire and wind, seen as a demon or a household helperBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 1 moreS芒nzian膬
Romanian fairies and a summer solstice festival of flowers and magicBeing 路 Protection 路 Love and attraction Living
馃嚝馃嚪 FranceMargot the fairy
Earthly fairies of Brittany known for dancing, building monuments, and testing human guests.Being 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 GermanyFeldgeist
German folk creatures tied to crops, weather and harvest ritualsBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomBuccabocka
A Cornish sea-spirit and mine-dweller who receives fish offerings from coastal communities.Being 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚨馃嚤 PolandLucky Jew呕yd z pieni膮偶kiem
A Polish figurine of a Jewish man with a coin, used as a talisman for financial fortune.Charm 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚜馃嚫 SpainIndalo
A Bronze Age pictograph used as a protective house charm and lucky symbol in Almer铆a, SpainCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyTredesin de Mars
A Milanese spring celebration marked by a flower fair and a legendary stoneTradition 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 1 moreDried cat
A dried feline body hidden in walls to protect a home from harmCharm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚝馃嚠 Finland and 1 moreFrog coffin
A Finnish folk magic burial of a frog in a tiny coffin to steal luck or reflect harmRite 路 Protection 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚪馃嚧 Romania and 2 moreCaloian
A Romanian clay effigy ritual for rain and fertility, featuring a mock funeralRite 路 Luck and prosperity Fading
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyIn bocca al lupo
An Italian idiom wishing good luck by invoking danger, with a response asking for the wolf's death.Belief 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomShoes on a table
A superstition that placing footwear on a table invites bad luck or disrespectBelief 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreSailors' superstitions
A global collection of omens, charms and taboos used by mariners to manage the risks of life at seaBelief 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚦馃嚧 NorwayTycho Brahe daysTycho Brahes-dage
Scandinavian folklore dates believed to be unlucky for magic and businessBelief 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚝馃嚪 FrancePetit AlbertSecrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du petit Albert
An 18th-century French grimoire of natural and cabalistic magic sold to rural householdsText 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 5 moreWedding superstitions
Folk beliefs and omens tied to marriage customs across many culturesBelief 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreCromniomancy
Divination by onions to reveal health, love, weather and distant newsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Love and attraction Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomFairy FlagA' Bhratach Sh矛th
A tattered silk heirloom of Clan MacLeod, said to hold fairy magic and ancient power.Charm 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚘馃嚥 Armenia and 5 moreSpilling water for luck
A folk custom of pouring water to wish a traveler or worker a smooth journeyBelief 路 Luck and prosperity 路 Protection Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomHobgoblin
A household spirit from English folklore known for chores and mischiefBeing 路 Cursing and harm 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bulla: Anonymous ( Category:Etruscans ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Changeling: Henry Fuseli, Public domain, source
- Animal Tarot: Cards: anonymous; Photo: Andreas Praefcke, Public domain, source
- Lecanomancy: Author Robert Burns Translator Alexander Smith Illustrator C. A. Vande, Public domain, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Statue rubbing: Matthias Rosenkranz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source
- Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Wassail: Joss Smithson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Beltane: Stefan Sch盲fer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Duende: Ren茅 Mayorga, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Easter Bunny: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vesna: Viktor Vasnetsov, Public domain, source
- Hobgoblin: Herbert Railton, Public domain, source
- Feldgeist: Zwoelefant, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bucca: Frederick Whymper, Public domain, source
- Caloian: Costic膬 Acsinte Archive, No restrictions, source
- Sailors' superstitions: Siren Painter (eponymous vase), Public domain, source
- Petit Albert: Albertus Parvus Lucius, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dried cat: The Voice of Hassocks, CC0, source
- Fairy Flag: Otter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Indalo: Ismael Olea, Public domain, source
- Wedding superstitions: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- S芒nzian膬: Saturnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lucky Jew: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tredesin de Mars: A ntv, Public domain, source