Monday, March 16, 2009

Happy St. Paddy's Day!


Today's Helpful Tips

Tip #1: Colgate Toothpaste makes a great salve for burns
Tip #2: Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer...if menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home, try a spray of Formula 409, Insects drop to the ground instantly!
Tip #3: Rainy day cure for dog odor...simply wipe down with dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh!


Facts about four leaf clovers
The four leaf clover is a universally accepted symbol of good luck. The origin of the story is centuries old

The four-leaf clover is one of the most common North American lucky emblems and is an especially frequent image on good luck coins, and good luck postcards. It takes a lot of effort to search for four-leaf clovers - you can find them among the other leaves, only if you have sharp eyesight

Shamrocks (with three or four leaves) have been considered good-luck symbols by the Irish since early times, and shamrocks or various representations of the plant are frequently worn on Saint Patrick's Day. The hop clover is widely accepted as the original shamrock picked by Saint Patrick. The name shamrock comes from the Irish Seamrog, which means "little clover."

Throughout history four-leaf clovers have been thought to bring luck, mostly because they are so rare. There are no clover plants that naturally produce four leaves.

The mystique of the four leaf clover continues today, since finding a real four leaf clover is still a rare occurrence and omen of good luck.
Why is the four leaf clover considered a lucky charm?

Since the operative number here is four, the history behind four leaf clovers as lucky charms is clearly distinct from the Trinitarian tradition behind the three leave shamrock.

The significance invested in four leaf clovers pre-dates Christianity, going back to the pagan period, when four leaf clovers were Celtic charms. Celtic dominance once extended across Ireland and much of Western Europe. It was the Druids (Celtic priests) who elevated four leaf clovers to the status of Celtic charms, allegedly potent against malevolent spirits. Their status as Celtic charms is the origin of the modern belief in their power to bestow good luck.

The first literary reference to draw on the tradition of four leaf clovers as Celtic charms seems to have been made in 1620. In that year Sir John Melton wrote, "If a man walking in the fields finds any four-leafed grass, he shall in a small while after find some good thing." Since there are on average, 10,000 three leaf clovers for every instance of a true four leaf clover, Sir Melton's hunter would have had to have excellent vision as well as good luck!
The leaves of four leaf clovers are sometimes said to stand for faith, hope, love, and luck.

Now that you know the facts about four leaf clovers, we wish you luck in finding one!
articles courtesy of: David Pettebone

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