Title: The Lucky Horseshoe
General Information about Item:
- Genre: Magic Superstition, Homeopathic
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: United States
- Informant: R.B.
- Date Collected: 11-4-21
Informant Data:
- R.B. is a 21-year-old student athlete at Dartmouth College in the class of 2023. He is from London, England and is on the Rugby team. Being from England, rugby is a very popular sport in his background. He had family members that played and helped him adapt the sport into his pride.
Contextual Data:
- Cultural Context: Sports teams often have some tradition that the team practices throughout their season that is meant to bring good luck to the whole team. In the rugby culture, they also have many players that contribute to the team effort, so it’s important to have something the entire team participates in. It creates better team chemistry and comradery.
- Social Context: This superstition is performed right when the whole team is about to enter the field. Rugby is a physical sport so they do this for luck of the win but also for luck of good health and strength.
Item:
- The item here is a superstition for their whole team. They all tap the top of the locker room door where they have a horseshoe hanging. This is meant to bring good luck, strength to their bodies and good health.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
- “Before every game we tap the horseshoe at the top of our door. This is a common superstition in the Rugby world and something our team takes very seriously. I think it truly helps us to muster up strength and mental stability while trying to focus in on the competition at hand. Each game is a learning experience, and we try to take a lot of pride in our culture and tradition. The rugby team here has been doing this for many years and all the older guys reiterate that we must keep it going as long as we can and continue to pass it down to the younger guys.”
Informant’s Comments:
- He believes this truly brings the team luck and that it will be something that will stick with Dartmouth Rugby for many years to come.
Collector’s Comments:
- I think this is a strong superstition and one that every team should try to encapsulate in some way. It’s a good way to create team bonding over a common superstition and get everyone believing in the same things.
Collector’s Name:
Tanner Palocsik
Dartmouth College
Russia 013 Fall 2021
Professors Apresyan and Gronas