Chapter XX: Recapitulation of Theories of the Origin of the Horse-Shoe

SUPERSTITION

In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to furnish plausible reasons for the horse-shoe’s universal popularity both as an amulet and as a token of good luck. It is evident, however, that this superstition cannot be referred to any one particular starting-point. Just as the sources of a river may be manifold, consisting of numerous springs and tributaries, so, too, the belief in the horse-shoe’s magical virtues is of complex origin, and can be traced to diverse beginnings.

It may be profitable, therefore, briefly to enumerate the different theories which have been advanced:—

1. At the _rite of the Passover_, the blood sprinkled upon the lintel and door-posts formed the chief points of an arch. Hence the value of arch-shaped talismans.

2. The magical virtue of the horse-shoe against witches and fiends has been attributed to its _bifurcated form_, and to its resemblance to the _lunar crescent_. Charms of similar shape are known to have been in use among the ancient Chaldeans and Egyptians.

3. _Iron_ and _steel_, metals having traditional power against evil-disposed fairies and goblins.

4. The _serpentine shape_. Serpent-worship was nearly universal among primitive peoples, and amuletic symbols of this form were in use in the days of ancient Rome.

5. The so-called _horse-shoe arch_ as typifying a beneficent, protecting power.

6. The ancient conception of the earth as having the shape of a _round boat turned upside down_ and corresponding to the Egyptian _Put-sign_.

7. _The Horse._ This animal was worshiped among the early Germanic tribes, and an English myth accredits to it luck-bringing qualities.

8. The Scandinavian superstition of the _Demon-Mare_.

9. The old astrological principle that _Mars_, the God of War and the War Horse, was hostile to _Saturn_, the liege-lord of witches.

10. The legend of _Saint Dunstan and the Devil_.

11. _Phallic Symbolism._

12. The _Aureole_ or _Nimbus_.

13. Supernatural faculties ascribed to _blacksmiths_.

14. The Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol 𓎆, signifying the _mystical door of life_.

15. _Horses’ hoof-prints_ in mythology and tradition.

16. The horse-shoe a symbol of the heathen god _Wodan_.