Why Are Horseshoes Lucky…
September 4, 2008 by Michelle Gartner
Recently I listed for auction on eBay a very nice looking vintage horseshoe brooch much like the one pictured. After it was sold to a very nice buyer in England I received a chastising bit of feedback because I had inadvertently pictured the horseshoe the wrong way up. Apparently- in some parts of the world a horseshoe’s prongs or opening must point up to be lucky, while in other parts of the world the horseshoe must be pointing down. Not wanting to offend more buyers the next time I list a lucky horseshoe brooch I did some research on my own and was quite surprised on what I found.
The horseshoe is lucky because it invokes the Goddess Diana or Artemis for protection and not just the Goddess herself- but in particular her special parts. One is actually invoking the protection of her sacred vulva by hanging up the ole’ horseshoe… In some areas of the world the horseshoe must point up or “the luck runs out,” while in other regions the horseshoe must point down so the luck flows down upon one. Let’s just hope it is only luck which flows down… ahem! For further reading about lucky horseshoes I have posted the links to some more detailed articles; The Horsehoe & Answerbag- Why are horseshoes considered lucky?
I have now been taught proper lucky horseshoe etiquette and know now that I will now list all auctions for vintage horseshoe brooches as follows
“Beautiful Vintage Lucky Sacred Vulva Horseshoe Brooch,”
and I will make sure it points up, after all I would not want to offend my buyers.
Why don’t you compromise and point it sideways?
OR you could just whack people with it…
I don’t know if he’ll use the stationery,he might because it’s not girly, but some where on my site is a link to a frog toy that’s kind of cool.
Maybe I’ll just stick to clovers now.
I imagine my two oldest kids are snickering while reading this… It’s actually kind of interesting- I never equated the horseshoe with the whole Earth godesss/mother thing… I am not into luck though, but if do find four leaf clovers I keep them for the novelty!
I don’t even know how many four-leaf clovers I have. I don’t think they’re as rare as people think. Maybe it’s just those city-folks that think they’re rare.
I wondered why you wouldn’t show it sideways like Dan asked. If you point it up you will still be offending some people. It really doesn’t matter to me which way it goes when you hang it so long as the horse isn’t still in it. Seriously, that was some interesting info on horseshoes though. Thanks for sharing.
Teeni don’t you know if you point a horseshoe sideways the Earth will blow up!
I hung up a horse shoe over my barn once pointed down and got chastised for letting my luck run out. Oh..well, you can’t please everyone.
Haha - we learn something new every day! Enjoyed your post!
haha, it seems no matter what you do you’ll be offending someone! people are funny sometimes
Try an eBay auction without a photo. Say that you know some people will be offended if you show it pointing upward and others will be offended if you point it downward, so you’ve opted to not show it at all so the buyer can point it however they want, but trust you, it looks gorgeous and you’ll want to have it. Bid early and bid often!
Uh oh… vintage! I love it! And I didn’t realize horseshoes invoked the Goddess Diana or Artemis… interesting.
Well, NOW I do.
[...] Vintage Vulva Pictures (that search was from today- again my fault for my completely innocent and educational post about the origins of lucky horseshoes). [...]
I have a teenager girl who likes horses. She has a horseshoe hanging on her wall and it is pointing down. I asked her if it is intentionally that way. She said no, and she told me that she had never heard that the position would make any difference. But I got very interested! I am going to do some research too to to find out if there are any Finnish traditions about this.
Hmmm- I would think in Finland you have to point it up. It seems that most people who are in Europe have said the horseshoe must point up or the luck runs out.
However here in the states- I have only ever seen horseshoes displayed pointing down and that is even in print ads or drawings. They are always down- of course Americans feel it is naturally their job to do things different then the rest of the world. HA ha ha.
Yes, I did find out that here it must point up so that the luck won’t flow away. I told my daughter to turn her horseshoe right away!
Hi Minna - I was sorry to her about the shootings in Finland… one tends to think that random gun violence is an American problem and not elsewhere.
Now that I have posted on horseshoes I have been seeing more and more in my jewelry inventory… or else I am noticing it more.