Lucky charms, talismans and pentacles

Take a few moments to consider your relationship with the everyday objects around you. If you are honest with yourself, you will find that you have – at one time or another and probably on more than one occasion – invested some of them with an importance and power that far exceeded their intrinsic nature! This is why you carry a four-leaf clover or a photo in your wallet or purse, or wear a Saint Christopher medallion or a lucky charm. It doesn’t matter what the object is, the important thing is that it reassures, comforts and even protects you! You needn’t be ashamed of doing this and, above all, don’t think of it as being childish or superstitious. You are not the first, and will certainly not be the last person to do it! Prehistoric cave paintings provide the earliest evidence of signs and symbols that reflect Man’s desire to appropriate certain powers or invoke protection by means of “magic” drawings.
This means that, thousands of years ago, prehistoric Man was already instinctively trying to attract the favours of destiny through the power of imagery. These images (hands, wild horses, bison and bears), found on the walls of certain caves (for example, Lascaux in France), are certainly the most ancient form of the pentacle. It is tempting to think that the more primitive the age, the greater the attempt to attract the favours of destiny through the use of images, objects and prayer. In this particular instance, the aim would be to ensure the success of hunting expeditions or the fertility of the womenfolk.
Today, in spite of the high level of technology achieved by the human race, the principle remains the same. It would even appear that by trying to rationalise everything, we have only added to our own dilemma. This is reflected in the constant quest for a spirituality that scientific knowledge, however advanced, has been unable to suppress. Life, death, suffering, good, evil, luck and the future will always be a source of mystery and anguish for humankind, an anguish that we seek to appease in a number of different ways. Science has undoubtedly brought a great many advantages but, far from satisfying human intelligence, it has, on the contrary, raised an increasing number of questions. And, strangely enough, rather than turning to science to provide the answers to our problems, we tend to seek moral comfort in ancient methods whose very durability (they have existed for thousands of years) gives them a kind of added value.
This is why people have always associated, and will continue to associate, lucky charms, amulets, talismans and pentacles with magic powers that even the more sceptical among us are reluctant to challenge. Thus, whether or not we are superstitious, we still hesitate to walk under a ladder, we avoid the number 13 (hotels often have no room 13), feel more comfortable with a four-leaf clover in our pocket and will happily hang up a horse shoe in or around the home. The list is endless, to the point that people no longer know which objects, symbolic animals and plants are likely to bring luck into their lives.