Strong, simple, sturdy and serviceable – the perfect design for a workshoe. We’re most familiar with this design in horseshoes, developed to protect the hooves of animals that worked and lived in conditions very different from their undomesticated ancestors. The simple style of the horse shoe has been around since Roman times. By AD 1000, horseshoes were commonly used throughout Europe.
So how did a simple utilitarian innovation become a good luck symbol? Legends tell of Dunstan, who was a talented craftsman and master metalworker and blacksmith. He devoted his life to the church and went about his daily work singing and playing his harp. The music and harmony he created as he worked was too beautiful to describe. In later years, he became the Archbishop of Canterbury and was canonized as a saint. He was the most popular saint in England for over two centuries, and many stories and legends celebrate his life.
One day, the devil arrived in the countryside, busy with his usual trickery, evil and wicked deeds. When he heard Dunstan’s music, his jealousy got the best of him, and he began to make horrific noises to distract Dunstan and ruin his music.
The devil arrived again the next day to continue heckling Dunstan. But, Dunstan caught him off guard and grabbed the devil’s foot and nailed a burning hot horseshoe to it. While the devil screamed in pain, Dunstan smiled and asked him for a dance. From that day forth, the devil will not enter a building with a horseshoe over the entry, and Dunstan is credited for defeating the devil.
How to hang a good-luck horseshoe has long been a debate based on family heritage. European, Middle Eastern and Latin American cultures hang the horseshoe open-side down so the good luck will pour onto the household and all within it. In Ireland and Great Britain, horseshoes are turned upward to capture good luck and to hold it so sit won’t run out. Noncommittal groups believe that good luck will come to you no matter which way you hang the horseshoe. Not only do horseshoes bring good luck, they are said to keep evil spirits and witches out.
According to legends, it’s also important that the horseshoe is worn and not purchased or new to ensure its good luck. A worn horseshoe carries the energy of protection from the horse that used it. It is also recommended that a person be able to touch the horseshoe as he enters the house to bring on the good luck.
We determined to solve the question of how to hang our horseshoes by honoring both sides of the family. We’ve hung two horseshoes at the entrance of our home; one opens upward to honor our German ancestry, and the other opens downward to honor our Scotch-Irish heritage. We can both capture the good luck and let it pour out on all who enter our house, while protecting us from witchcraft and the devil’s mischief.
May all your horseshoes bring you good luck in 2013. Happy New Year!
