Today I walked up a parking lot driveway on my way out of a hotel, and had to detour around a small animal's carcass, killed on the road, probably during the night. I was already a few steps past when I realized it had been a rabbit. I retraced my steps and confirmed its left hind foot was still intact. I didn't have to work too hard to resist the urge to recover it (gross!). But its value as an amulet is questionable in so many ways. What's lucky about getting run over in the road? For that matter, what's lucky about getting shot in a cemetery in the dark of the moon (that's the true necessity for a lucky rabbit's foot)? It made me wonder about other amulets—like horseshoes, for example. Is there some sort of foot thing going on in the world of amulets? As it turns out, much of the good luck attributed to the horseshoe comes from the blacksmith--the maker of the horseshoe—and the fact the shoes are always mounted with seven nails.
Blacksmiths work with elemental fire and magical iron, and they work with horses. Hence they have power and prestige. It is said that getting married by a blacksmith will increase the likelihood of a long and happy marriage—that's having the ceremony performed by a blacksmith, not marrying one. In any event, no rationale is provided as to why either a rabbit's foot or a horseshoe is lucky. Using any form of the word "rational" in discussing luck makes no sense anyway. True rationalists would point to the logical fallacy of "post hoc ergo propter hoc," meaning just because events occur sequentially, they are connected causally as well is not rational at all. Another way of expressing it is by referring to perspective is the gambler's fallacy—I haven't rolled a 7 all week, so today's my lucky day. I like his definition the best—luck is the name we give to events after they occur which we find to be fortuitous and perhaps improbable. Like, it was a good thing I wasn't chasing that rabbit when the car ran over him. Maybe I need that foot after all….
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