Try finding you own Luck

Fields are filling now with greenery, perhaps you might take on a four-leaf clover hunt.
The mystical ‘weed’ has long been revered in the Irish culture in particular, but four, five or more leaves are even more common that you may think.

A four leaf clover refers to an aberration of a three leaf clover plant, the Trifolium repens or "white clover." The white clover is a deep green flowering vine with white blossoms. It is the original shamrock plant of Ireland and the unofficial state symbol. The shamrock already has powerful associations, and its occasional production of an extra leaf makes the rare four leaf clover especially lucky.

The three leaves of the white clover have become associated with the Christian Trinity, or God the Father, His Son, and The Holy Spirit. The extra leaf of the four leaf clover is said by some to stand for God's grace. A less dogmatic interpretation is that one leaf stands for faith, another for hope, the third for love and the last for luck.

One breeder claims only about 1 in 10,000 plants will naturally mutate to produce a four leaf clover. They believe environmental stresses cause the mutation, and that a plant which mutates regularly is even rarer.

Many myths are associated with four leaf clovers. Finding one not only brings good luck, but in the Middle Ages, it was also thought to allow the bearer to see fairies and plant sprites. So it was that children often searched fields for a four leaf clover in order to see into the magical realm of the spirit world.

If you find a four leaf clover you can consider yourself very lucky indeed. When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, legend has it that Eve was holding a four leaf clover. Curiously, the lore of the white clover plant is also associated with repelling snakes, though it didn't seem to work in the Garden of Eden!

Making a simple flower press and drying the clover that you find might make a fine gift for a friend who needs a little pick-me-up.

Whatever the reason, the next time you see a patch of clover on your lawn or in the park take a look and maybe you will find the luck of the Irish.