Magical Good Luck Charms and Amulets
An Amulet/Good Luck Charm meaning “an object that protects a person from trouble”, is a close cousin of the Talisman, from the Greek, which means “To initiate into the mysteries”, consists of any object intended to bring Good Luck and/or protection to its owner. Potential Amulets include: gems or simple stones, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants, animals, etc., even words said on certain occasions, – for example – Namo Tassa Bhagahato Arahato Samma Sambuddhasa, are used to repel evil or bad luck.
Amulets and Talismans vary considerably according to their time and place of origin. A religious amulet might be the figure of a certain god or holy monk. In Thailand one can commonly see people with more than one Buddha image hanging from their necks. Every zodiacal sign corresponds to a gem that acts as an Amulet, but these stones vary according to different traditions.
An ancient tradition in Chinainvolves capturing a cricket live and keeping it in an osier box to attract Good Luck (this tradition extended to the Philippines).
Figures of elephants are said to attract Good Luck and Money if one offers bank notes to them.
In India small bells make demons flee by their sound in the wind or when a door or window opens. Amulets are also worn on the upper right arm to protect the person wearing it. In fact this method was more popular in ancient India than wearing it as a pendant or around the neck.
Buddhism has a deep and ancient Talismanic tradition. In the earliest days of Buddhism, just after the Buddha's death in circa 485 B.C., amulets bearing the symbols of Buddhism were common. Symbols such as conch shells, the footprints of the Buddha, and others were commonly worn.
After the second century B.C. Greeks began carving the actual image of the Buddha. These were hungrily acquired by the native Buddhists in India, and the tradition spread.
In addition to protection against supernatural powers, amulets are also used for protection against other people. For example, soldiers and those involved in other dangerous activities may use Good Luck Charms to increase their luck.
Amulets can be found among people of every nation and social status. They can be seen in Jewelry-artisan fairs, museums, shops and homes.
To gain “maximum” power, the amulet and its ingredients have to be prayed over by monks for days. A top-of-the-range gold-leaf edition Amulet from a well-respected temple, costs 10,000 baht or more, (300-325 dollars), more than a month's wages for many Thai's.
The nation of 65 million people, most of whom remain very superstitious despite the rapid modernization of places such as Bangkok, has spent more than 20 million baht (625,000 to 650,000 dollars) on the Amulets/Good Luck Charms this year, newspapers say.
The scale of the phenomenon is now so large the Thai Revenue Department is looking into ways of taxing Amulet sales despite a convention that donations or money going to Buddhist temples are exempt from tax.
An Amulet/Good Luck Charm is instilled with magical qualities that keep away bad spirits. Usually worn around the neck or seen in ring form, amulets are also seen on dashboards and rear view mirrors of cars. Amulets/Good Luck Charms are particularly big in Southeast Asia.
Buddhist amulets/good luck charms have been worn for centuries in Thailand. Nowadays it seems almost every Thai has at least one. The Amulets are said to ward off evil spirits and bring Good Luck and Prosperity. In Buddhist countries Amulets are blessed by monks, usually one held in high regard by Thai society.
The prestige of an Amulet/Good Luck Charm is based on:
Who made it?
Where it was made?
The material it was made from
The beauty of the Amulet
It's reputation for bringing Good Luck
Thai amulets are not just made on a factory assembly line. Instead most amulets from Thailand are made by long time monks, who use their experience to cast spells, make sacred scripts (included in the amulet) and create magical pictures for them.
One of the lesser know facts about Thai Buddhist amulets/good luck charms, is the monks use ashes of old and sacred handwritten books as part of their magical ingredients. Each Thai amulet/good luck charm is really unique and each serves the purpose of protecting the one who wears it.
Those who wear protective amulets/good luck charms generally believe that an impersonal power is inherent in them. Although many rational and scientific minded people may scoff at those who wear them, millions of people world wide still wear them and believe in their powers.
Researched and written by Dr. Williaml Callaway, PhD. Visit his blog:
http://luckycharms-thailand.blogspot.com
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How To Make Your Own Good Luck Charm Or Talisman
So you would like to know how to make your own lucky talisman/charm? The process can take awhile but it can bring wonderful results. I'll explain to you, step by step, how to make your very own.
1. Decide what to use as the “physical base”. It can be a piece of jewelry that you plan on wearing for good luck, a rabbit's foot, a four leaf clover that you will carry around, a gemstone, etc.. Pieces of meteorites work wonders considering that you would be carrying something that really is “from another world”. It would be considered from “another world” both physically and magickally (after you charge it). Whatever you choose for your “physical base”, make sure that it's something that you have a connection with and that would be easy for you to carry around.
2. After you choose the physical base for your charm, spend a few minutes meditating and/or praying over it. Keep it in your hands as you concentrate and ask your higher self/God/or Spirit Guides to help you bless it.
3. Begin “raising your vibrations” while holding it in your hand or wearing it (if it's jewelry). Make sure you do something positive and fun for at least 20 minutes straight every day for a week. Make sure sure the “physical base” is physically touching you as you do it. You can dance, laugh, chant, meditate, etc.. just as long as you're doing something that makes you feel happy. Also make sure you're wearing your favorite clothes while you do this. Visualize the happy/positive energy you're creating is going inside of the physical base.
4. If you are feeling negative, upset, sad, angry, or any BAD FEELING AT ALL, MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT GET AROUND THE PHYSICAL BASE! ONLY get near it when you are in positive moods! It is possible that you may taint it if you touch it while feeling/being negative. That is the last thing you want.
5. Make sure that it passes through the elements at least once during the creation process. Run it through the smoke of incense, around the flame of a candle, a little bit of water, and earth. Also do not forget to meditate/pray to your God or Spirit Guides to ask their blessings. They will help with the spiritual element of creating your talisman/charm.
6. If you were successful with all of the above 5 steps, and consistent with adding positive energy to it for at least 20 minutes a day, then after a week it should be ready. Wear it or carry it around with you wherever you go. Whenever you feel that you need a burst of positive energy or good luck, clutch it to your heart and visualize the positive energy from it soothing you. By then it should be strong enough and filled with enough positive energy that will help you when you are feeling down, and you'll be less likely to “taint it”. It would be a good idea, however, to “recharge” it occasionally with more positive energy, and doing steps 2 – 5 all over again. It doesn't have to be recharged often though, only when you feel that it is becoming “weaker' in helping you.
Some magicians/witches/occultists even go as far as naming their talismans. It gives them more of a connection with the energies. “Lend me your strength, _____” It's up to you whether you wish to name yours or not. Just be very careful during the creation process though to ONLY store energy into it while you're in a positive mood. If you succeed in making it strong enough, then it will help balance your bad moods out later when you're feeling negative, as well as bring you better luck.
I am a spiritual female who loves writing. I especially love writing and teaching others about self help. I have a love for anything considered “metaphysical”. I offer Reiki courses, FREE spiritual healing, teaching, psychic advice, magickal information, etc… http://www.AvonleeStarkeeper.com
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Lucky Four Leaf Clover
Lucky Four Leaf Clover
Link Source:http://www.origami-instructions.com
Green paper is the obvious choice for this origami.
1) Start with dark green color side down.
2)Fold paper in half
3) Unfold and it should like the following:
4) Fold paper in half the other way
5) Unfold and it should look like the following with 2 perpendicular lines/creases going through the center of paper.
6) Now fold the top edge over to the center crease like so.
7) FLIP paper over and you should have the following:
Fold top right edge down to the center line:
9) Now fold the top left edge to the center line:
10) FLIP paper over and you should have the following:
11) Fold the point down to meet the edge of paper:
12) FLIP paper over and it should like the picture below:
13) Lift the left rectangular
12) and then squash it so that it looks like a trangle:
13) Do the same for the right hand side…
14) to look like the following picture:
15) Now fold over the right hand edge to meet the center line:
16) Do the same for the left edge. Fold edge to meet center line:
17) Now fold the top left hand corner so that you have a triangular point as in the picture below:
18) Do the same for the top right hand corner:
19) Now fold the triangular point down to meet the base of the triangle, as indicated by the red arrows.
20) Repeat for the other side and it should look like this:
21) FLIP it over and voila, we have a heart shape! Yes, we are still on target to make a Lucky 4 Leaf Clover St Patrick’s Day Origami.
22) REPEAT steps 1-21 to make and additional 3 of these.
23) Then tuck one clover into the other like so…
24) Repeat for the other 2 and we are done! Lucky 4 Leaf Clover !
25) A green push pin to the middle and it’s ready to hang in your cubicle, or your co-workers’ cubicles, kid’s room, etc.
Create A Four-Leaf Clover
Create A Four-Leaf Clover
Tutorials | March 13th, 2008
In celebration of St. Patricks Day, I wanted to do a four-leaf clover tutorial. Some of you might not celebrate St. Patricks Day or have no use for a four-leaf clover, but still take a look at this tutorial. This tutorial combines some good techniques. You will Divide, Transform, and add Warping Effects. These techniques will help you quickly and easily create with Illustrator!
Step 1: Creating the Leaf Shape
First, draw a circle with the Ellipse Tool (l). Select the circle with the Selection Tool (v) and hold down the Alt Key (copies the selected object) and the Shift Key (snapping object into place). With these keys pressed, drag out another copy of the circle. Select both circles and Add and Expand them from the Pathfinder Panel.
With the Direct Selection Tool (a), select the bottom anchor point where the circles intersect. With the anchor point selected, drag it downward, roughly double the length of the combined circles. With the anchor still selected, Convert it to a Smooth anchor point from the Control Panel. Next, use the Delete Anchor Point Tool (-) and delete the anchor points on the left and right side of the anchor point you just dragged out.
Now it is staring to look like a leaf, but it needs some color. Before adding color, we will divide the shape into two objects. With the Line Segment Tool () draw a line roughly in the middle of the leaf shape. Select both shapes and press the Horizontal Align Center in the Align Panel. With both objects still selected, press the Divide button in the Pathfinder Panel and Ungroup (shift ⌘ g) both of these shapes by going Object > Ungroup.
Select one of the shape and create a Radial Gradient from the Gradient Panel. Use a light green and a darker green for the swatches in the gradient. Use the Gradient Tool (g) and click and drag from the top right of the shape to the bottom left. Use the same Radial Gradient and gradient adjustments for the other leaf.
Step 2: Transforming
One leaf is done, but we need three more. We can just repeat the first step three times, but that would take to long. This is where the Transform Effect comes in handy. Select both sides of the leaf and Group (⌘ g) them. Next, go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform to bring up the Transform dialog. In the Transform dialog change the Copies to 3, Rotate 90 degrees, and click the bottom center point in the 9-Point Proxy (the box with nine points above the Random check box). Now the clover has four leaves. It is a good idea to go Object > Expand Appearance. If you don’t expand the clover, the next time you try to rotate it, you will get some undesired results. Next, comes the stem!
Step 3: Stem
Draw a rounded rectangle the size you want your stem with the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Next, go Effect > Warp > Arch. In the Warp Options dialog, make the Bend 20% and the Horizontal Distortion 40%, while keeping the other options the same. After, go Object > Expand Appearance. Give the stem a Linear Gradient from the Gradient Panel with the swatches being darker greens than the clover leaves. Rotate the leaves and stem into the desired position and your done!
Experiment
Like, I said before, you don’t need to create a Four-Leaf Clover to utilize these functions. The Transform function is a great place to experiment. Try different angles, dimensions, copies, or points on the 9-Point Proxy. The Warp Effects are great for creating consistent shapes, and can be used almost anywhere. And don’t forget the Divide! It is a great way to create multiple object from a single object. St. Patricks day is coming in a couple of days, so those of you that don’t have time to create a Four-Leaf Clover, hop on over to iStock and buy a Shiny Four-Leaf Clover.
Article Source www.Vectips.com
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Not a four leaf clover but a 56-Leaf Clover
Not a four leaf clover but a 56-Leaf Clover
Morioka, Japan, May 12, 2009–Best. Luck. Ever?
With 56 leaves–and presumably 14 times the luck of your run-of-the-mill four-leaf clover–this plant bred by farmer Shigeo Obara may be the most-leaved clover ever discovered. The plant may dethrone an 18-leaf clover, also found by Shigeo, in the Guinness World Records.
”I never dreamed of seeing this many leaves on a clover,” Shigeo told the Associated Press. To avoid double-counting, Shigeo had placed decals on the leaves as he tallied them.
—Photograph from AP/Kyodo
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Luck of the Fryish
The Luck of the Fryrish
The episode opens in the mid-1970s, where a young Yancy Fry is jealous of his newborn brother Philip, and copies him in anything he can. In the year 3000, Fry is getting fed up with his bad luck in a horse rally. In a flashback, Fry discovers a seven-leaf clover, which grants him extraordinary luck and allows him to beat his brother in any contest, from basketball to breakdancing. Fry sets off, with Turanga Leela and Bender, to find his clover in the ruins of Old New York and makes his way to his old house.
Back in the 1980s, a teenage Fry hides the seven-leaf clover inside his Ronco record vault in his copy of The Breakfast Club soundtrack. In the year 3000, Fry remembers the combination, but when the safe is stuck, Bender opens it up for him. Unfortunately, Fry discovers that the clover is missing, concluding that Yancy must have stolen it. They happen across a statue of whom they believe to be Yancy, with the seven-leaf clover in his lapel. The inscription: “Philip J. Fry – First person on Mars” angers Fry because he believes Yancy stole his name and his dream.
luck of the fryish
Professor Farnsworth pulls up a biographical movie about “Philip J. Fry,” where the crew learns that he was a millionaire rock star astronaut, and is now buried in Orbiting Meadows National Cemetery, a graveyard orbiting Earth with the seven-leaf clover. A furious Fry sets off to rob Philip J. Fry’s grave and recover the clover. The story jumps back to the early 21st century, where an adult Yancy is rummaging through his missing brother’s music to find something to play at his wedding. Yancy discovers the seven-leaf clover and takes it.
Fry, Leela and Bender reach the grave site, and start digging, but Fry knocks loose some moss that is covering part of an inscription on another statue of Yancy, and begins to read. The story jumps back to Yancy, who is discussing naming his newborn son with his wife. Yancy didn’t keep Fry’s clover; instead, he gave it to his newborn son and named him Philip J. Fry II. The inscription on the tomb reads “Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit.” Bender finds the clover, and he offers to mess up the corpse, but Fry returns the clover to his nephew’s grave as “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds rolls over the end credits.
Futurama -The Luck of the Fryrish
Plot
In Old New York, 1974, a young Yancy is jealous of his newborn brother Philip, and copies him in almost any way he can.
Back in the year 3000, Fry is getting fed up with his bad luck. In the final blow, he loses nearly all of his money at the racecourse, nearly violently electrocuted trying to hold on to his final dollar and landing in a steel garbage can with leftover Hors d’oeuvre being tipped on him.
In a flashback, Fry discovers a seven leaf clover, which grants him extraordinary luck and allows him to beat his brother in any contest, from basketball to breakdancing. Fry sets off, with Leela and Bender, to find his clover in the ruins of Old New York and makes his way to his old house, which looks the same outside back then and now.
Back in the 1980s, a teenage Fry hides the seven-leaf clover inside his Ronco record vault. In the year 3000, Bender opens the record vault, but Fry discovers that the clover is missing, concluding that Yancy must have stolen it. They happen across a statue of Yancy, with the seven-leaf clover in his lapel. The inscription: “Philip J. Fry – First person on Mars” angers Fry because he believes Yancy stole his name and his dream.
Professor Farnsworth pulls up a biographical movie about “Philip J. Fry,” where the crew learns that he was a millionaire rock star astronaut, and is now buried in Orbiting Meadows National Cemetery with the seven-leaf clover. A furious Fry sets off to rob his “brother’s” grave and recover the clover.
The story jumps back to the early 21st century, where an adult Yancy is rummaging through his missing brother’s music to find something to play at his upcoming wedding. Yancy discovers the seven-leaf clover in Fry’s copy of The Breakfast Club soundtrack, and takes it.
Fry, Leela and Bender reach the grave site, and start digging. But Fry knocks loose some moss that is covering part of the inscription, and begins to read. The story jumps back to Yancy, who is discussing naming his newborn son with his wife. Yancy didn’t steal Fry’s clover; instead, he had given it to his newborn son, and named him Philip J. Fry II in memory of his brother. The inscription on the tomb reads “Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit”. Fry returns the clover to his nephew’s grave.
Do You Feel Lucky? Four Leaf Clover Lottery Commercial
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Do You Feel Lucky? Four Leaf Clover Lottery Commercial
good luck charms
Four-Leaf Clover
I’d like a four-leaf clover,
Clover, clover,
I’d like a four-leaf clover,
No other kind will do.
I’ll search the whole world over,
Over, over,
I’ll search the whole world over,
And won’t stop ’til I’m through!
I found a four-leaf clover,
Clover, clover,
I found a four-leaf clover
Where I’d not looked before.
Not up the world and over,
Over, over,
Not up the world and over,
But here beside my door!
Words and Music By: Louise Ayres Garnett
Adapted By: Terry Kluytmans
Copyright © 2000 KIDiddles.com
Four Leaf Clover
Luck is everything… My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I’m fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn’t make a good suspense film.
Alfred Hitchcock
