Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1909-03-04
LUCK In HORSESHOE
ODD POINTS ABOUT THIS WIDELY
ACCEPTED BELIEF.
Dates Back to the Mythology of the
Aneien, creeks-onee Generally
Considered a Specific Against
Earthquakes.


or all the embiems for good fortune
the horseshoe stands among the first
Everybody knows II Is uniuckv r.
pass n horseshoe ON the road wgthou,
picking II mp. II Is n luck emblem Of
the greatest power. Again. We are in.
debted for this statement TO old tales.
centuries In age. that have descended
from father TO son. from mother to
daughter. through the years.
II IL necessary TO notice how the
horseshoe lies before picking II M. II
the ends are away from one. the sign
Is that fortune will be within erasp.
but by sxtraveGanas> eareis<sna@s. Or
;he operation of rogues. IL may depart
almost as soon as Il comes. A sign
TO take care Is given. therefore
The right thing TO do Is TO turn the
horseshoe around. so that the ends are
toward the finder. before picking II up.
And In carrying Il home IL is correct
TO hold II with the ends upward or the
earth will attract 10 itself all the prom.
ised fortune.
When the shoe Is nailed up on door
or window in its destined place the
ends must be upward. or the whole
luck emblem will be nullihed. Instead
OF keeping evil spirits away. the shoe.
In the wrong position. viii attract
theml Instead OF bringing good for
tune. the luck Of the house will be
diverted.
A century ago II was very common
TO see upon a cowshed door the horse
shoe that scared or witches who
would milk the cows or dry them up.
Nowadays they are not so common.
yet here and there they are s,ill seen.
The old myths repay research. The
luck OF the horseshoe has a most re-
spectacle beginning. Il Is traced 10
the religion Of the old Greeks and
their sea god Poseidon. who was
Identical with the Roman sea god
Neptune
To Poseidon horses were sacred.
and to him they we're sacrificed.
Poseidon was believed TO have created
the first horse when he struck the
ground with his trident and horse
sprang from the hole. which after
wards became a spring. The sea god
was the lord OF springs To him all
springs were ascribed In the shape
of a horse he sometimes wandered by
the shores Of hts ocean domain and
where he struck his hoofs deeply
there the waters gushed out and per.
manent springs were found.
This Is the reason why horseshoea
are reckoued lucky. Going to the roue
OF the matter. one sees a nature myth
as the root principle. From the -,
all rain comes. and TO the sea all
springs owe primal origin. and 60 the
rain and the fresh waters. sea derived.
We owe all fertility on earth
The old Greeks therefore worshIpcd
Poseidon as the fortune giver through
his springs. They gave him horses.
his precious beasts. and they adorcd
the footprints OF horses when they
found them. for they might be the
very footprints Of the god himself
Pegasus. the winged horse. from
whose hoofs the water springs
gushed copiously when he came to
earth. has been credited with the
origsE Of the horseshoe luck
Some legends called him the son of
Poseidon. and therefore gifted by his
father with power to call the waters
from the earth. Other legends state
that Pegasus sprang from the trunk
Of Gorgon Medusa. after PeFseus had
cut on her head. He had the power Of
producing famous springs which gave
the gift Of poesy. OF art. OF intellectual
pc wers. From these springs the
muses. drank yearly.
The horseshoe was a specific against
earthquakes. IL would keep a house
safe from harm by earth shaking
Again. one perceives the sea myth
Poseidon was the shaker OF the earth.