From: https://tinyurl.com/2kuh98j5 (interestingfacts.com)

   The Stories Behind 7 Beloved Good Luck Symbols

   Are you feeling lucky? It's possible you just came across a patch of
   four-leaf clovers, or walked underneath a horseshoe. Maybe you were just
   given some lucky bamboo. But why are these things considered lucky? And
   what's the story of the "lucky cat" next to your favorite Asian
   restaurant's cash register? The number seven is supposedly lucky, too - so
   we've rounded up seven good luck charms and the stories behind them.

Four-Leaf Clovers

   Part of the reason four-leaf clovers are lucky is pretty simple: They're
   exceedingly rare. Clovers have four copies of each chromosome in every
   cell, and all four copies need to carry the gene for the fourth leaf in
   order for the plant to produce one. Environmental factors can affect the
   expression of the trait, too. One survey in 2017 found that around 1 in
   5,000 clovers have four leaves, although they tend to be found in patches.

   How clovers and shamrocks became a symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day
   is a little less clear. Legend has it that St. Patrick used a three-leaf
   clover to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity to
   nonbelievers. On his feast day on March 17, wearing a clover was an easy,
   inexpensive way to look nice at church.

   Meanwhile, when the English were expanding their rule into Ireland, some
   tried to paint Irish people as primitive and described them as eating
   clover. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries - around the same time a
   rose started to symbolize England and a thistle Scotland - a three-leafed
   clover started to appear as a symbol for Ireland. This was possibly a
   reclamation of the "eating clover" idea, and possibly because of the
   plant's association with St. Patrick.

Horseshoes

   There are a few reasons horseshoes could be considered lucky. One is
   pretty straightforward: In Western Europe, iron was believed to drive away
   evil spirits, and horseshoes were made of iron.

   Another reason has to do with an Irish folktale about a blacksmith who was
   forging horseshoes when he was visited by the devil, who asked for shoes
   of his own. The blacksmith put a red-hot shoe on the devil's foot, and the
   devil, in extreme pain, vowed never to go near a horseshoe again.

   Another superstition was that witches were afraid of horses - it's why
   they supposedly traveled on brooms instead. Therefore, a horseshoe could
   ward away witches.

Rabbits' Feet

   The origin of rabbits' feet as a good luck charm may go back as far as
   ancient Rome, when the feet of hares and rabbits were thought to have
   medicinal powers. For centuries in Europe, people carried paws from
   rabbits or hares for their supposed effects against cramps and other
   ailments. The idea of rabbits' feet as good luck then transformed in
   America, where it may have been appropriated from an African culture, or
   based on a joke among African Americans that European Americans didn't
   fully understand. In the early 20th century, merchants started selling
   rabbits' feet with marketing claiming that they'd been harvested under
   spooky circumstances, like under the dark of the moon on a Friday the
   13th; Black people were often said to have been the ones doing the
   harvesting.

   The use of the symbol could also be connected to the Hand of Glory, a hand
   cut from a hanged man, usually the left one, and often pickled, after
   which it was said to have mystical powers. In a sense, the use of the
   rabbit's foot was thought to stand in for the human appendage.

Lucky Bamboo

   Lucky bamboo is a popular houseplant because it's easy to care for and
   associated with feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice for creating
   balance in a home. According to tradition, it brings prosperity to the
   corner of the home in which it's placed. The number of stalks is
   significant; for extra luck, try six or nine. Notably, it's not actually
   bamboo, but a tropical plant closer to a succulent.

Lucky Cat

   Maneki neko, the Japanese-style statue of a white cat with one paw raised,
   dates back to the Edo period (1603 to 1868 CE) in what's now Tokyo, and
   first appeared in Buddhist temples. One legend is that a cat beckoned a
   samurai into a temple and helped him avoid a heavy thunderstorm, and in
   return the samurai showered the temple with donations - maneki neko
   translates to "beckoning cat."

Ladybugs

   Ladybugs are incredibly beneficial insects to any gardener, killing nasty
   common pests like aphids and mealybugs. It's possible that this is the
   origin of their purported good luck, too - farmers saw ladybugs' arrival
   as a sign that their crops would thrive. Today, a ladybug landing on you
   is still considered good luck.

   Some ladybug beliefs get even more specific: If you make a wish while
   holding a ladybug, the direction it flies will supposedly be where your
   good luck will come from. A ladybug landing on you while you're sick will
   supposedly heal you. Counting spots will tell you how many months of good
   luck you'll have, or how much money you'll gain, or any other numerical
   luck-related inquiry. On the flip side, if you kill a ladybug, it's
   supposed to bring heavy misfortune your way, and this belief is found in
   many cultures.

The Number 7

   Seven is widely considered a lucky number - but if there's a specific
   origin for the belief, it happened a long, long time ago, possibly in
   ancient Sumer. Humanity seems to have a general fascination with the
   number: There are seven days in the week and seven wonders of the world.
   Medieval scholars studied seven subjects, together known as the "liberal
   arts" (grammar, rhetoric, logic, music, arithmetic, geometry, and
   astronomy). Shakespeare's All the World's a Stage monologue describes the
   seven ages of man. Most major religions give significance to the number,
   too. Part of the reason may be mathematical: It's the only number we can
   count on our hands that can't be multiplied or divided by any other number
   countable on our digits.

-- Sean

... Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi
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