FMTSO (26 Feb):
“Share with us your rusty finds. From rusty pipes to heavy machinery. Where do you see it, and where can you find it?”
I’ve been feeling rather “rusty” myself this week, struck down with a massive head cold… So any fresh strolling around town with the camera was not in the picture for this week!
I knew I must have some rusty pictures from the past though… As usual the question was how/where to find them in my archives; since I rarely get down to very detailed, thematic tagging of each photo!
But if it had been summer, and I had wanted to find some rusty things, one good place to go would be our Museum Park with historical old buildings. So I went looking for pictures from there – and I was lucky! because I found this old horse shoe...
Now I’m wondering – does a horse shoe over the door symbolise luck where you live, too? And if so – does it matter which way it is turned? Looking at this one, an old saying popped up in my memory that the opening should be turned upwards (not downwards like in this case), or else the luck falls out…
A quick search on the internet informed me that we seem to have both traditions. With the opening downwards, it is seen as protecting what’s under it; and might also be interpreted as a fertility symbol.
There are various reasons why the horse shoe is considered a lucky symbol. For one thing the horse as such has been important in mythology (in old Norse mythology for example, there is an eight-legged horese named Sleipnir); and iron was also regarded as having magic powers (used as protection from evil spirits).
It was common to use seven nails in the horse shoe, because seven was considered a lucky number. And the horse shoe put up over the entrance of a house should preferably be an old and used one that you just happened to find - and finding it was of course also in itself considered lucky. (Perhaps not for the horse though!)
Now I just hope that the luck applies even to just happening to find a photo of it in one’s own archives…
and i am hoping that my viewing a beautiful photo of one brings me luck to.... yes we do this in USA
ReplyDeleteWonderful picture. We also hang horse shoes above doors for luck in the UK. I hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI did not know any of these superstitions. This looks like a big hose show. It does kind of look like it was once in use because it looks a bit mashed down.
ReplyDeleteHas to be turned up or the luck will run out. We always have at least one horse shoe hanging about the place.
ReplyDeleteThe horseshoe is a lucky symbol here, too, but I wouldn't know which way round (and personally, am not a superstitious character at all).
ReplyDeleteHmm... I wonder where I would go if I were to take "rusty" pictures. There aren't many places in my area where I'd easily come across something rusty. Oh, yes, I know - the rusty rail tracks that used to be so important in the days when there was more heavy industry and less service industry around here. They are rusty and overgrown with brambles - a place that tickles my imagination no end!
Yes. Horseshoes are considered lucky here in the UK too and they should be hung with the opening up so as not to allow the luck to fall out. Of course I don't believe that because, touch wood, I'm not superstitious.
ReplyDeleteI guess we can conclude it to be at least a Western European tradition then, and carried over to the US by immigrants :) No, I'm not a superstitious person either - just interested in old folklore and symbols and traditions and curious to know their origin. And some sayings seem to be so deeply rooted in our culture that we still keep repeating them even though at the same time we deny believing in them - as GB (no doubt intentionally!) gives an example of in his comment ;)
ReplyDeleteI was born on the 7th, so that has always been my number in a way. :) Thanks so much for linking up with Friday My Town Shoot Out.
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