Symbol of happiness

The world around us has an impact on the perception of happiness. This is changing for the better, but financial and health problems still concern us than the cited nations. Happiness should be helped, and not rely on it fully. Although people on Titanic had health and money, they were not lucky anymore. Although in my opinion it was rather bad luck, which is not tantamount to a lack of luck.

We have been looking for happiness for thousands of years, regardless of culture. Symbols of happiness have a long history in every scrap of the world. The ancient Egyptians created their amulets and talismans to ward off evil spirits and death. The Celts also carried horseshoes to their homes to chase away the forest sprites. For these cultures they were not symbols of happiness in our understanding. Let’s check what brings happiness, love and prosperity in Poland, China and around the world!

1. A penny for luck

We will start with a symbol quite rooted in Polish culture, but its origins date back to ancient times. At that time, the protective power of metal was strongly believed. Both the metal itself and the objects made of it protected against evil. In addition, each of the school should remember that in ancient Greece, the deceased had to pay a fee to Charon in the form of one Obola to cross Hades.

The coin was to guarantee entry into the afterlife, a similar belief was found in the Romans. Currently, the penny is fortunately attached to the wallet gift. By default, this is one penny, but there should be several of them, so as not to tempt bankruptcy. The coin is to guarantee prosperity and continuous filling of the wallet with money.

2. Four-leaf clover

Probably the most global symbol of happiness. Known in every culture, but more deeply rooted in the Western world, mainly by movies and pop culture. The Celts were very superstitious people, they had beliefs and symbols that played a more or less important role in their lives.

One of them was a four-leaf clover, which druids eagerly used. She was assigned different meanings, but always positive. The range of happiness she brought ranged from successful crops by winning the next battle to the favor of the gods.

As we know today, the fourth leaf is the result of genetic and environmental factors, and its occurrence is not so rare, because out of 10,000, one will have four leaves. There are also clovers with more leaves, however, only four-leaf is considered a symbol of luck.

It may also result from the symbolism of the number 4, four sides of the world, four elements or four sides of the square perceived as stability. Selected cultures attribute different attributes to individual leaves, such as hope, faith, love and happiness, and in the case of five-leaf art money is added.

3. Magic Number seven (7) – Lucky seven

The number seven is special for virtually any culture. One can see in this case as well as destiny. This number deserves special treatment and a slightly longer development , which will appear in a separate entry . The number seven is amazing because it affects virtually every religion.

For Christians, this is a perfect number associated with the Bible, for Judaists it has associations with 7 archangels. Not only religions but cultures have assigned the number seven special meanings, from the Egyptians to the Sumerians. It is hard to say clearly what is the reason for this phenomenon, but we try to examine it in this article about the number seven .

4. Rainbow

Every child knows that there is a cauldron of gold at the end of each rainbow. The fact that the rainbow is seen as a symbol of happiness is not so common. The rainbow is an optical phenomenon resulting from meteorology. Its symbolism comes from the Christian faith and Noah’s conversation with God, the course of which was:

I make a covenant with you and with your offspring that will be after you; with all living beings who are with you: with birds, with domestic and field animals that are with you, with all who came out of the ark, with every animal on earth.

I am making a covenant with you, so that no living creature will ever be destroyed again and there will never be a flood destroying the earth. Then God added: And this is the sign of the covenant that I make with you and every living being that is with you for eternal times: I put my bow on the clouds, that it may be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

It is one of the most Christian symbols of happiness. The rainbow is quite a rare phenomenon, but each of us can usually observe colorful arches in the sky.

5. Horseshoe

At the beginning we mentioned that the horseshoe symbolism originated from the Celts, but many other beliefs also used it. The horseshoe should be treated as a talisman that is supposed to attract, prosperity, success and money.

Horseshoes, like coins, were made of iron and similarly had a protective effect against evil forces. In addition, in Celtic beliefs, evil was to fear not only iron, but also the shape of the crescent. The place where horseshoes were most often hung was the wall above the entrance wonders. It might seem like a forgotten practice, but in some apartments it draws attention.

It is worth mentioning a different assumption about the why horseshoes are happy. It is about the process of shoeing horses and the fact that this is an obviously painful process and horses should feel pain, but they did not. Not so long ago, anatomical knowledge about the human body was not at the highest level, so, as you might expect, our ancestors did not know how hooves were built.

6. Elephant with raised trunk

I often meet with elephant-shaped ornaments, always with a raised trunk. The symbolism of this animal is often used in our culture, but it comes from the religion of India. This religion is quite peculiar and presents the gods in various forms.

Ganesha also called Ganapati and Vinayaka is the leader of minor deities. Thanks to him, all obstacles and failures disappear. He is credited with many positive qualities, including helping to preserve prosperity and abundance. He is depicted in the form of a four-handed man with an elephant head.

The process of the birth of this deity is very … interesting, but it does not matter here. Elephants are considered wise, strong and dominant creatures. People who exercise power over them must be powerful, and thus happy. Of course, power and happiness do not always go hand in hand, but once there were no such considerations.

7. Chimney sweep button

When seeing a chimney sweep, you should grab the button, thereby increasing your resource of happiness. The history of this superstition is very simple and captivating. Centuries ago, various craftsmen followed work to various settlements, including former chimney sweeps.

They usually arrived in clean clothes, and when they saw the chimney sweep, women tried to make their home visit first. They did this by pulling him by one of the buttons. The hostess who was the first to host such a chimney sweep was considered lucky.

8. White stork

A Polish symbol of happiness. White Stork is probably the second bird most positively associated in this country, after Eagle Bald Eagle. In addition to happiness, it symbolizes fertility and wisdom. Storks are most often seen in Polish villages and have been nesting there for many years.

The host has the most luck, on whose roof the stork made a nest. However, this host often had to earn such an honor, because the storks were to choose only the homes of decent people.

In addition, the stork’s nest was synonymous with a lightning rod, as lightning would never hit such nests. It is also worth familiarizing yourself with the myth of the creation of storks. At the end of summer, with each passing day, we are awaiting the arrival of these animals from holidays more and more, which is a sign that spring is beginning and the end of winter.

9. Rabbit’s paw

This is an amulet associated all over the world. He has many meanings depending on culture. In the customs of the Celts, there was initiation of a boy to a man after hunting for wild animals which was a rabbit. After a successful hunt, the boy got a rabbit paw necklace.

The second assumption on Teamate ” happiness ” are hunting the rabbit’s feet. The rabbit is a very agile, fast and elusive animal. Hunting a rabbit for hunters involves a bit of luck. This explanation suits our cultural region the most , but the truth is slightly different.

Hoodoo is a name very associated with Voodoo and not without reason. It is a collection of beliefs of the African population brought to the United States during the time of slavery. Slavery was practiced mainly in the southern states.

To make it more interesting it is a cluster of African beliefs with Christian, Jewish and Native American. According to this version, the rabbit is a reproductive animal very quickly (which is true), which can be used as a talisman for fertility problems. Why just a paw instead of an ear? It’s hard to say something had to be chosen.

10. Scarab

Scarab is a type of beetle. They occur mainly in North Africa, Southern Europe and Asia. The country with which this insect is quite naturally associated is Egypt, with an emphasis on antiquity. He was considered a holy animal by people who lived centuries ago and was a symbol of rebirth and wandering of the sun in the sky. One of the deities, namely Chepri, was worshiped in the form of scarab. Scarabs have a peculiar habit of rolling dung balls and they are born in them.

For the Egyptians, they appeared out of nothingness, of themselves. The scarab was a symbol of birth and can be found in numerous amulets or on tombs. From somewhat newer information in 2013, data appeared indicating that the beetles use the Milky Way in spatial orientation.

As you can see the symbols of happiness are divided into different cultures, but virtually each has its own talisman. They are often associated with animals or relate to religion. The world does not always give evenly, and if such a talisman is to help someone, why not use it?