LUCKY GIFTS

Did you know that over a third of people believe in luck (according to a YouGov survey) and a similar number consider that “touching wood” or “knocking on wood” will avoid bad luck?

Amongst sportsmen and women, this figure is much higher – especially on the big day of an event, competition, match or test / exam.

See Lucky Gifts for a special event or occasion in our ♥ Good Luck Gift Shop store online

If YOU are looking for a lucky gift . . you are not alone! At any one time, up to 30% of shoppers are looking to buy a gift (£1bn+ in sales, in the UK alone) and of those, 10% are shopping to buy a “good luck gift” – that’s a lot of good luck sentiment looking to buy something to pass on wishes of good fortune to a friend or loved-one in their latest venture, event or occasion.

Many politicians, actors and sports people in particular like to carry a lucky charm, talisman or amulet, or keep one in their car, house or office. But they are not the only people who believe in good luck symbols and charms: Millions of us like to put our trust in little good luck talismans to attract good fortune (or amulets to ward off bad luck). It’s probably all down to superstition: For example, so many people avoid the number 13 in the Western hemisphere, that it is often absent from the floor of a hotel or the seat number on a plane.

The truth is, that behind many of our beliefs, there is a long history of superstition to which many people feel compelled to adhere. For example, the tradition of touching wood for good luck, dates back thousands of years when trees and Mother Nature were perceived as having a special connection. Even these days, there are few people who will openly tempt fate. This is because they sub-consciously believe that Fate is lurking out there somewhere, and they don’t want to attract her wrath.

Carmina_Burana_wheel_of_fortune — The wheel of fortune – an ancient belief

In Greek and Roman Mythology, Fate was in fact THREE goddesses who presided over the birth, and life of humans. Each person’s destiny was depicted as a thread – spun, measured, and finally cut by the three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. On the other hand, Lady Luck is said to be the personification of GOOD luck, a version of Fortuna (or the Greek goddess Tyche) who was the goddess of fortune and the embodiment of luck in Roman culture. Fortuna is often depicted holding a ship’s rudder, a Rota Fortunae (wheel of fortune, first mentioned by Cicero) and a Cornucopia (horn of plenty). However, even Fortuna represented life’s capriciousness and could bring good luck and bad in equal measure because she was also a goddess of fate.

Lucky gift Pig ceramic — Even the Pig is considered lucky in some cultures

So, over the centuries, the concept of luck has been important and even today millions of people genuinely believe that some sort of good luck charm will bring them good fortune and prosperity, and that it will keep misfortune at bay. In fact, it has been proved in scientific experiments that it is this BELIEF that makes them have good luck or bad.

The British Museum has a complete collection of lucky charms and talismans dating back centuries. Some of the most powerful people in the world have believed in good luck charms: President Roosevelt carried one in his jacket; Napoleon carried a lucky coin; and during his election campaign, Barack Obama carried an array of good luck charms in his pocket. Michael Jordan, the famous Chicago Bulls basketball star, spent his entire NBA career wearing his old University of North Carolina shorts under his team shorts – for good luck.

Lucky Indalo travel charm bracelet — Indalo mojo bracelet

Lucky gifts

So, yes, people like to have so-called ‘Lucky Charms’, and giving one to a friend or loved-one can be a smart idea because, overall, most people are mindful of Lady Luck and are often looking for ways to appease her. To make sure that your Lucky Gift goes down well, it would be wise to listen to the words of Tennessee Williams: “There’s real power in a thought made positive or concrete by a lucky charm”. Yes, lucky charm gifts really can help people’s dreams come true, and a gift for good luck that has real meaning will almost always be a success.

We have a great many good luck charms / symbols and LUCKY GIFTS in ♥ The Good Luck Gift Shop store . .

Our good luck gifts are based on ancient faiths, talismans, and symbols . . the sort that have helped people for many years. People have put their faith in these beliefs for centuries: And our gifts help people to have this belief. They have real provenance and derivation.

The simple lucky clover:

It is believed that the meaning of clovers pre-dates Christianity, going back to a time when clovers were used as Celtic charms. The Celts once extended across Ireland and into much of Western Europe and the Celtic priests, the Druids, considered them a sign of good luck, allegedly protecting against evil spirits and warding off evil / bad luck.

According to legend, the four leaves of a Lucky Clover represent hope, faith, love, and luck because, in Irish Christian tradition, the Shamrock (or 3-leaf clover) represented the Holy Trinity: one leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. When a Shamrock has a fourth leaf, it represents God’s Grace, and so encapsulates everything that a person could want.

The ubiquitous lucky horseshoe:

The Horseshoe is probably the most commonly recognised good luck symbol in the Western World. The combination of luck, protection, religion, and magic that is captivated by the Horseshoe symbol means that many people believe it will bring them good fortune – and help to ward off evil.

Man has long believed that the crescent-shape was a powerful protective talisman: For the Greeks, it symbolised the moon with links to Artemis and Diana. In olde England, St Dunstan nailed a horseshoe to a horse when working as a blacksmith. But the horse was actually the Devil in disguise and it caused the Devil great pain. St Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe after the Devil promised never to enter a house with a horseshoe. And so, the symbol of protection arose.

Lucky gemstones:

For years, people have thought that certain gemstones have magical powers. e.g. Jade is supposed to promote longevity; Rose Quartz to attract love, and Carnelian is believed to bring courage.

Back to Cleopatra and beyond, gemstone jewellery has been worn for their supposed magical powers . . to help protect people, bring them prosperity and good luck, as well as good health, longevity . . even love, and to help them to succeed. It has been scientifically proved that this belief brings people better fortune in their lives.

Religious symbols for good fortune

Many people believe that religious symbols can bring them good fortune. For example, on the famous Camino de Santiago across northern Spain it is common to see people carrying the Scallop Shell symbol – la concha de vieira . . an expression and reflection of their faith perhaps, but also for some, it has been give them as a lucky gift to wish “buen viaje” or “buen camino” or “good journey”.

Travellers cross promoting faith and good fortune

Many also carry with them the cross of St James, the Travellers Cross – believed to promote faith and good fortune.

Not all lucky gifts are the same. But one thing is certain: The gifts for good luck in our shop are designed to be just that: Gifts to pass on good fortune – items for the home or office that are genuinely believed to be lucky – possessing provenance and real, genuine character that really DOES mean something, and usually featuring symbols that people have put their faith in for many years.

Make sure that your lucky gift has real provenance / derivation. If it doesn’t, it’ll just be another meaningless gift to fill up the mantlepiece shelf.

Now that you know it’s best if a lucky gift has real meaning, you’re ready to find that ideal and magical gift for good luck that features in our shop

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GIFTS for someone WALKING the CAMINO

What is it about gifting? Why do we gift? Why is gifting important? And why is Camino de Santiago jewellery often given as a present for someone walking El Camino?

See some Camino gifts of JOYAS DE CAMINO de SANTIAGO JEWELLERY in our shop online

You could say that we give gifts to each other because we’re supposed to, and this is often true – particularly on special well-known occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, and so on. And we also give people presents when someone has achieved something – as a form of recognition (eg, acknowledgement of an achievement, or goal attainment). So, for example, we could give a friend or loved-one a gift for having walked the Camino de Santiago because we are recognising something they have done or achieved – an accomplishment; or, because they are a fan of El Camino.

And we have a lot of gifts like that in our Good Luck Gift Shop store.

But, giving someone a gift because they are ABOUT to do something? Is this normal? (For example, giving a present to someone who WILL be walking the Camino in the future?) What does such a gift represent?

Camino de Santiago jewelry — Camino de Santiago jewellery

It is quite normal to wish someone well with their challenges and adventures – verbally, or perhaps with a quick WhatsAp message. But how often does this translate into a gift?

In our Good Luck Gift Shop we actually see this quite a lot, particularly with Camino gifts. We can tell, because people often include a short message with a gift when they buy it, and we ship the present direct to the recipient with the message as requested. These messages often refer to the meaning of the gift – whether as a piece of Camino de Santiago memorabilia or souvenir, or because the recipient is a fan of the Camino, or more often than not, as an inspirational piece of Santiago de Compostela jewelry because they are about to walk the Camino.

And we have a lot of Camino de Santiago jewellery too, in our online shop!

gift card for fan of camino — Gift card for fan of El Camino

So, Camino de Santiago jewelry is being gifted to someone walking the Camino in Spain, France or Portugal, as a way of offering encouragement, and willing them to succeed and have a successful journey, and a safe trip.

But, returning to the original question: Did you know that one of the main reasons for giving and receiving presents at Christmas time, is to remind us of the presents baby Jesus received from the three Wise Men: Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh? Yes, we all know that gifts are important at Christmas – but probably not for that reason nowadays!

There are of course many reasons for giving a gift. For example, we sometimes give people gifts to show them that we are grateful, and that we value the role they play in our lives. In this case, we give a present willingly without wanting anything in return: So, making someone feel special is as important a reason as any to bestow a gift.

And then there are Birthdays: As regards Birthdays (another of the traditional gifting occasions), history tells us that originally it had something to do with offering protection to the recipient.

People have always believed in good and evil spirits, and folklore has it that spirits gather around a person who is celebrating his or her birthday – dating back to the time when they were born. Years ago (and even nowadays in some parts of the world) everyone was afraid of these spirits, thinking that they would cause harm to the birthday boy or girl. And so, friends and relatives would gather around and wish them “Happy Birthday” so that their good wishes would protect them. In fact, in the UK, many years ago, when Britain was ruled by Rome, there was a God known as Apis (originally from Egypt and also pronounced as Hap-Hapi-Hapy), and it is believed that the word ‘happy’ in the birthday greeting Happy Birthday, dates back to this word ‘Hapi’ in Old English. For this reason, when you wish someone ‘happy’ birthday, you are actually wishing the God Apis to bring them protection and good fortune.

It appears therefore that, as in many things, it is tradition and folklore that lie behind a lot of today’s celebrations and commemorations and, in the case of Birthdays, it is probably because of yesteryear in ancient Britain when giving a birthday present was believed to bring protection, that the concept of the birthday party (and of giving birthday presents in general) has developed.

In very early days, only kings or prominent men were thought important enough to celebrate their birthdays in this way. But as time has gone on, us ordinary folks now celebrate birthdays too.

But perhaps we just want to give somone a present to say something special . .

. . like “I love you”!

Overall, hardly a day goes by without us wanting to pass on our best wishes for one event or another to a friend or loved one, and a symbolic gift is a good way of doing this. And seeing that walking El Camino is viewed as such a big event, people often give a little present such as a Camino de Santiago bracelet, necklace or earrings to send their friends or relatives on their way.

We have all grown up with various traditions, superstitions and beliefs. Whether you choose to believe them or not, it is undeniable that faith influences a lot of people, and much of our modern day gifting has roots in faith and belief.

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Wishing friends and loved-ones Good Luck

Good Luck wishes

Hi. You probably don’t need us to tell you that there are many occasions for which we want to wish someone “Good Luck”. For example, when someone we know is:

♥ Going travelling on a trip or an arduous journey or

♥ Moving house into a new home (and perhaps we would like to give them a small housewarming present too).

Or it could be for a grand celebration, or for an event that could be a bit stressful, like a wedding or marriage ceremony, for example, or an inaugural event like a first day, a special day or some other notable occasion like starting university or a new school, or for retirement, or a leaving do, where you would perhaps like to give a going away present.

As a society we also often wish Good Luck to friends or loved-ones who are:

* Applying for a new job or a promotion

* Taking a driving test or exam

* Going for a new job or other interview

* Entering into a competition, or taking part in an important game or match

. . and so on.

We all do this all the time. It could be simply when someone we know is:

* Starting a new business or a new venture, or something else new, and we want to wish them well in their future endeavours, their new start or their new beginnings.

But it could be for something more serious, like a friend or loved-one who is about to enter hospital for surgery or an operation and we want to wish them Good Luck with that.

Yes, whatever the event (and there are many) we like to wish our friends and/or relatives Good Luck, wellBeing, safekeeping and success achieving their goals. We do it all the time.

So a little Good Luck gift is very appropriate . . a present that really does mean something.

And that is what we do, in our Good Luck Gift Shop !

Lucky charm angel necklace — Jewellery to wish luck and safety on a trip

Over the years (more than 10 now) during which we have run our Good Luck Gift shop in its various forms, symbolic jewellery has been very popular in this respect. We established our gift shop in Spain (we now have a base in the UK too) and so a lot of our gifts are Spanish or have a Spanish / Mediterranean influence and symbolism. For example: Camino de Santiago jewellery, which is hugely popular, or gifts featuring the lucky Indalo Man of Andalucía, and other jewellery featuring Christian symbols like crosses, for example (St James, Cruz de Caravaca, and the St Francis or Tau Cross).

So, if you enjoy what they call in England “continental Europe” and its lifestyle (and especially that of Spain . . from the Mediterranean coasts of Andalucía to deep inside the rural heartlands of Castilla La Mancha, Aragon, la Rioja and of course Asturias and Galicia (the home of El Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James), then we have a gift for you! The blazing vibrancy of Andalucía is typified by it’s colourful ceramics. And of course we have the little Indalo Man good luck symbol: Even today, in the small village pueblos that lie hidden behind the giant sierras that roll down to the Mediterranean Sea, the Indalo is known for its good luck qualities.

Our online shop is full of spiritual jewellery too . . gifts of faith, and other meaningful presents that make ideal gifts to wish someone Good Luck or bid them well if they are attempting something difficult or new, or if they are going-away travelling on a trip (and to wish them safekeeping on their journey), and success in their future ventures.

So if you are looking for gifts with real meaning – and gifts with soul . . that can pass on your sentiments for Good Luck, we have just the gift for you! We are, after all, The Good Luck Gift Shop! and we would be very happy to welcome you in our store ¡Bienvenido!