St. Patrick’s Day is coming up this weekend. I’ve written before about the importance of St. Patrick’s Day in my family, because of my mother’s Irish heritage.
This post isn’t specifically about St. Patrick’s Day, but it is about one Irish emblem—the shamrock (“shamrock” means “little clover”). Most people know that Ireland is called the Shamrock Isle because shamrocks grow all over Ireland.
Legend has it that St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to illustrate the concept of the Trinity to the Irish people he wanted to convert to Christianity. But how did the three-leafed shamrock turn into an association between four-leafed clovers and good luck? Shamrocks with three leaves are ubiquitous. One study showed that there are 5000 three-leafed clovers for every one four-leafed clover. Is it simply the rarity of the four-leafed clover that makes it a symbol of good luck?
“One leaf is for HOPE; the second is for FAITH; the third is for LOVE; and the fourth for LUCK!”
While this interpretation puts a Christian spin on the first three leaves, this same source also provides a Celtic symbolism:
“those who created the 4-leaf clover are Gods of the four elements of nature. For earth, Goddess Dana is also the goddess of rivers, magic, plenty and wisdom. For water, Llyr is the god of sea who rules the underworld. The god of wind, Njord, gives good fortune to those in the sea. Sun God Lugh, who is the father of the great warrior, Cuchulain, is the god of fire.”
I’ve only found one four-leaf clover in my life. That was over the Fourth of July weekend in 1977.
My husband-to-be was visiting me in my hometown for the first time. One afternoon, we sat in the grass in my parents’ backyard. There was lots of clover in the grass that year. As we talked, my fingers roamed through the grass, and I asked my fiancé whether he had ever found a four-leaf clover.
He said he had, though I don’t know if he really had or not.
“I never have,” I said. “When I was a kid, I used to put parts of two clovers together to make them look like a four-leaf clover, but I’ve never found a real one.” I demonstrated my old technique, but he wasn’t fooled. “Well, maybe I’ll find a real one now.”
And then I did. Four leaves. Perfectly symmetrical, with all four leaves the same size and bright green. Very healthy-looking. I plucked it from the ground and gave it to my fiancé. I told him it was a sign we were meant to be together.
Later that summer, he had it laminated, and he kept it in his wallet for years. It might still be around the house somewhere, though I haven’t seen it in a long time.
But since we have been married now for forty years (as of last November), I guess I was right—we were meant to be together.
Have you ever found a four-leaf clover?
I’ve heard it said that good friends are like four-leaf clovers: lucky to find and good to keep.