The Old Saying "Irish Luck" Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

It's one of those expressions like "familiarity breeds contempt" and "lion's share" that no one uses correctly anymore.

From time to time somebody even observes: "Why would you want luck o' the Irish? Historically the Irish have pretty terrible luck."

That, friends, is actually key to the saying.

Correctly, when someone talks of Irish luck or luck o' the Irish, it doesn't mean luck.

As one 1838 book put it, "Irish luck -- which means anything but chance."

In other words, if you say someone got something through Irish luck, it means he got it through something other than being lucky. It might mean hard work, it might mean bribery, it might mean trickery, but not luck. Anything but luck is Irish luck.

Irish author Blindboy Boatclub relates on his podcast the local explanation for the phenomenon:

In Limerick we just believe that bad luck happens to us all the time. Nothing can go right for Limerick, and anytime anything goes bad, we just say ‘That’s The Curse of St. Munchin.’ And it comes from an old folklore story from the 7th century: St. Munchin — St. Mainchín — the patron saint of Limerick. And the story goes, the myth goes, that St. Munchin was trying to build his church in Limerick, himself, and a couple of angels that were helping him out. And they were lifting rocks and stones and digging foundations to try and build this church. But the people of Limerick, in the 7th century, just walked by. And when St. Munchin asked for help, ‘Please, Limerick! Help me build my church!’ — the people of Limerick were too lazy. Didn’t give a shit. They said, ‘Fuck you, Munchin. Build your own church! With your silly looking angels!’ So then he put a curse on Limerick. And St. Munchin’s curse basically said, you know, that Limerick would never have good luck.

This tale underscores the notion that "Irish luck" is a euphemism for relentless adversity rather than fortuitous events. It's a reflection of a cultural narrative where perseverance in the face of hardship is more common than strokes of good luck.

Paper-in-Shoe Spells

A popular and very traditional hoodoo spell, often used for any situation where you need to control someone with magic , is the namepaper-in-shoe spell. It's very easy: you write the target's name 3, 7, or 9 times on a paper (depending on intent and who's giving instruction) then fold it up, sometimes after dressing it with oils or powders, then put it in your shoe. This "keeps the person underfoot" or "stomps out the trouble" or any other number of metaphors. I had this work several times over the years. In one instance, I was working for a very unpleasant boss, on a short-term job. It was the last day, and I only had about 3 hours of work left on the project; and I wanted him to up my pay for the day since it almost wasn't worth the trip across town for the amount he was paying me, for only 3 hours. He was very reluctant. So I wrote his name 3 times on a 5-dollar bill he'd given me, and dusted it with Bend Over powder. He paid me what I ...

The Intranquil Spirit

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13 Herb Bath for Curse Removal

13 Herb Bath for curse removal can be made from from any 13 uncrossing and purification herbs. For example, if I needed to fix a batch of 13 herb bath right now based on what I've got in the house, I could mix bay leaves, rue, mint, rosemary, wood betony, sage, verbena, angelica root, white rose petals, lemongrass, lemon peel, agrimony and arnica, and it would suffice well. Other herbs like hyssop, pine needles, juniper leaves, boldo, eucalyptus leaves, mullein, basil, lavender, or marshmallow leaves would be good to use too. By no means complete, here is a list of just a few herbs said to remove a curse or jinx that you can use to make your own 13 Herbs bath: Agrimony Alkanet Angelica Arnica Basil Bay leaves Black Pepper Blessed Thistle Boldo Cayenne Pepper Chives Eucalyptus Garlic Hyssop John the Conqueror Juniper Lavender Lemon Lemongrass Lime Marshmallow leaves Mint Mullein Onion Pine Rosemary Rue Sage Sandalwood Verbena White Rose Petals ...

Spiritual Use of Turpentine in Hoodoo and Witchcraft

I have posted in the past about the use of giving one's bedding a spiritual cleansing from time to time. I recently was laundering my pillows in the same load of laundry as some turpentine-soaked rags, with the result that the pillows emerged from the wash reeking of turpentine. From a magical perspective, this may not be a bad thing. Turpentine is used in old-time hoodoo rituals for purposes such as uncrossing, protection and sometimes as a feed for mojo bags. Its solvent powers and strong odor do indeed suggest a powerful spiritual cleansing agent, and it is still used in some modern day cleaning products on a purely practical level for these same reasons. Old time medicines sometimes included turpentine as a thing to drink, in small doses. A book from the 1850s, The Domestic Medicine Chest , recommends giving it to children in a dose of one teaspoon for killing tapeworm. Relatedly, in old time hoodoo cures for "live things" turpentine might be made into a tea...

Blockbuster, Van Van, Uncrossing, Road Opener -- What's the Difference? What to Use Against Jinxes?

Many hoodoo formulas are related to one another, sometimes very closely. Some formulas, Lovers formula versus Love formula, are just manufacturer specific names for what is essentially the same product (or at least a product meant to get the same result.) Sometimes people wonder, what's the difference between Uncrossing and Van Van ? What's the difference between Road Opener and Blockbuster ? First things first: Road Opener, aka Abre Camino, is not a traditional hoodoo formula, it's a Latin American loaner that has come in relatively recently along with a lot of Santeria and Brujeria practices. This is why it seems to cover the same ground that several other old hoodoo mixtures do. Blockbuster might also be in this same boat, though my evidence on this is less sure -- nonetheless it does seem to be a newer formula, in relative terms ( the word "blockbuster" is only datable to around 1940 ) and often sold with an alternate Spanish name "Arrasa con T...

The Spellcaster's Source Hoodoo and Voodoo Witchcraft Blog of Talia Felix

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