Carrying Around Rabbit Feet Concidered Lucky?!

When I was around 8 years old, I went to one of my friends' birthday parties at an arcade. I had traded in all my tickets and was looking around the prize counter to see what I could get with the amount of tickets I had given in. On this counter, I saw a pretty furry pink oval key chain that caught my eye and I just had to have it! When I brought it home, I showed my mother and to much surprise to me, she had a lot to say about my new key chain! "Kate, do you know what that is?! That's a rabbit's foot!!" I couldn't believe her! Who would put a dead rabbit's foot on a key chain? Worst of all, I could feel the ridges of where the toes and nails would have been! This was gross and upsetting to me because as a little kid and even now, I am a big animal lover. I kept the key chain, but never really thought of it much after that.

As we learn about myths in class and why we believe in the things we do, I look back on my childhood experience and wonder- Why do people keep rabbit feet on a key chain? Does anyone see this as gross? When researching this topic, I found out that the origin of a lucky rabbit's foot came from both African Americans and also European Celts. African Americans used it as a powerful "hoodoo" magic talisman and the European's had certain quotas a lucky rabbit's foot had to meet. In order for it's magic and luck to really work, they said it had to" be the rear left foot of the rabbit to be lucky. The rabbit must be shot or captured in a cemetery. The rabbit had to be shot on during a full moon or new moon, sources on that vary,and the shooter had to be cross-eyed." ( www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.com) Some myths also say that you have to either carry it around your neck or in your left pocket. Also, other myths say that people used to rub the lucky rabbit's foot on a new born baby to give it good luck in its new life and it can even give a woman fertility if carried by a woman (rabbit's are strong producers).

In my opinion, I would not believe in the magic of the lucky rabbit's foot because 1) the requirements of making one lucky is a very rare act, 2) it is not scientifically proven to work, and 3) I believe that luck is spontaneous- it is neither given to someone or controlled. However, "to each its own", I say! If you believe in the lucky rabbit's foot powers or just like learning about it, feel free to check out the included websites!

Amazon.com- Rabbit Foot Keychain
Luckymojo.com
Wikipedia- Rabbit's Foot
Youtube.com- Supernatural: Lucky Rabbit's Foot
Youtube.com- Travelers Insurance Rabbit Foot Commercial