For all the next week, you'll be ruled by the devil.
Of course, bad luck has not a monopoly on your superstitions, for good luck has something to say also. To see a piebald horse is fortunate; to find white heather, four-leaved clover or four-leaved shamrock is even more fortunate. To open a pea-pod and find ten peas in it is particularly lucky. For a black cat to come into your house is worth much. To come across a nickel with a hole in it is not without its merits, but the best thing of all is to put on some article of clothing inside out, and to wear it all day long, without being aware of it until bed-time.
HAVE YOU A TALISMAN?
"A person who finds a four-leaved clover, and believes it is a harbinger of something good, has adopted the right attitude, for he keeps a keen look-out for that particular good and holds out both hands for it. Seldom is he disappointed, for he has unconsciously set going the mental machinery which brings his wishes within reach. Had he not found the clover and had gone along life's highway unexpectant of anything good, he would never have discovered this pleasant happening. And therein lies the true psychology of luck, which seems too simple to be true, but then its simplicity is really the sign-manual of its verity."
This quotation from the writings of a well-known author goes direct to the point about talismans. If you adopt a talisman and put your faith in it, you immediately prepare your mind for receiving an abundance of good fortune. Reject all talismans and argue that there is no such thing as luck, and you straightway set going the mental machinery which looks on the dark side of things and which misses every slice of luck that comes along. Therefore, we say, with emphasis, take to yourself a talisman, a mascot, a charm—call it what you will—and you will never regret it.
Of talismans, there are countless varieties; some are known the world over, others are the particular choice of individuals. They range from the amulets and scarabs of the ancients to the golliwogs and crudities of the ultra-moderns. Your choice may roam between these two extremes, but whatever your choice, it must be set with the seal of your faith.
In order to assist you in picking out a talisman for yourself, we append the following accounts of those examples which are favored most:—
THE HORSE-SHOE.—No symbol is a greater favorite than the horse-shoe. There are many legends regarding its origin, but the most commonly accepted concerns the well-known visit of his Satanic Majesty to the shoe-smith. As a consequence, the Devil evinced a wholesome dread of horseshoes, and would not go near a house or person possessing one. It is more likely, however, that the horse-shoe was accepted as a symbol of luck because it was a commonplace object very nearly the same shape as the metal crescents worn by the Romans when they wanted to be fortunate. These crescents were always carried with the horns turned up, and, if a horse-shoe is to bring good luck, it, too, must be placed with the prongs uppermost. The reason for the prongs being so turned depends on a belief that misfortune always travels in circles, but when it reaches the tips of a horse-shoe, it is baffled, unless all the luck has already run out of the tips through them being turned downwards.