Happy St.Patrick’s Day! Did you know that four-leafed clovers are not the only good-luck charm to come out of Ireland? Irish horseshoes are considered the luckiest of all lucky horseshoes. There are many different versions on how horseshoes came to be considered lucky.
The superstition originates with a blacksmith named Dunstan, who would eventually become the Archbishop of Canterbury. According to legend, the devil came to Dunstan and wanted his hooves shod. Dunstan recognized that it was the devil and nailed red-hot shoes to his feet. The devil left, but after a while, his new shoes began to hurt and eventually, he ripped them off and threw them away. People began to nail horseshoes above their door, because it was believed that the devil would always run away from horseshoes after his incident with the blacksmith.
Another theory about why horseshoes are lucky is because they are made of iron. Iron is considered to be a very special metal, because it is stronger than other metals and can withstand fire. Since iron was also believed to keep away supernatural beings and horseshoes were very common, people nailed them above their doors as a form of protection.
Most cultures believe that it’s important to nail the horseshoe above a door, but there are several different opinions on which direction it should hang. Some believe that the horseshoe needs to be facing up like a “U” to hold the luck in place. Others think that the horseshoe should be facing down, so all the luck can pour over the person walking underneath it. Others believe that the direction of the horseshoe doesn’t matter, but the horseshoe will only be lucky if it was found and previously worn by a horse.
Today is the luckiest day of the year so put on something green and don’t forget to wear a lucky horseshoe!
