The lucky horseshoe has been around for hundreds of years, but its origins aren’t really clear.
Horseshoes have been considered lucky for years, however historians can’t decide why.
Both Pagans and the church have considered horseshoes a source of protection.
Some folklorists have pointed to the crescent shape of the horseshoe, and believe it may have represented the moon.
It was believed that the horseshoe was a symbol of the moon goddess and hanging the horseshoe over your door brought blessings and protection of the goddess.
Others have suggested that early Western Europeans thought iron scared off evil spirits and even protecting them against witches.
The belief in the magical powers of horseshoes has roots both in the ancient Pagans and Christianity.
The Greeks believed that iron could cast off evil and that a horseshoe resembles a crescent, which they considered a symbol of good luck.
But the church adopted this pagan belief and turned a horseshoe into a talisman to protect them from Paganism, witchcraft and the devil himself.
The Catholic Church began replacing Paganism by establishing itself as the dominant religion in Ireland.
The notion that horseshoes are lucky items can be traced to Irish culture, much like the four-leaf clover.
But unlike other stories of lucky charms, the legend commonly associated with the lucky horseshoe is not only about paganism but also a Christian one that dates back to 959 AD to the story of St. Dunstan and the Devil.
Legend has it that St. Dunstan was a blacksmith and the Devil, disguised as a pretty woman, paid him a visit several times in order to tempt him.
In the tale, the saint was forging horseshoes when the devil approached him.
Recognising him, St Dunstan created an ill-fitting and painful shoe – causing the devil to vow to never cross the threshold of a house with a horseshoe hanging in it.
St Dunstan, whose feast is celebrated today, was a scholar and reformer, but also a craftsman, a skilled metalworker, painter, embroiderer, musician, and even organ-builder.
But it was his reputation as a metalworker that gave rise to his most abiding legend, that of the saint who put metal shoes on the devil’s hooves, and would not take them off until the devil had made the following agreement:
“To all good folk in Christendom to whom this instrument shall come the Devil sendeth greeting: Know ye that for himself and heirs said Devil covenants and declares, that never at morn or evening prayers at chapel church or meeting, never where concords of sweet sound sacred or social flow around or harmony is woo’d, nor where the Horse-Shoe meets his sight on land or sea by day or night on lowly sill or lofty pinnacle on bowsprit helm mast boom or binnacle, said Devil will intrude.”
And the happy effect is that “The horse-shoe now saves keel, and roof/From visits of this rover’s hoof.”
But, how to hang it?
There is a strong Irish belief that the shoes be hung upright like the 'letter U' to collect and store the luck inside. ... Other cultures believe that the shoe should be hung like an upside down 'letter U' so that the luck spills out and over anyone passing under it.
So, no one really knows.
The horseshoe remains one of the best symbols for luck and good fortune, with roots that go back to both Christianity and magic.
Despite several interpretations of its origins, the horseshoe’s symbolism remains the same: warding off misfortune to those who own it.
