Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

I was reminded yesterday that today would be Saint Patrick’s Day, but this morning I forgot, so I didn’t put on any green like we’re all supposed to. Maybe I will later, but green is just not “my” color. At least, not to wear. I love the greening of the outdoors that will start occurring soon unless the Global Warming creates more snow, though.

At the risk of sounding irrational, I must confess to having developed a negative associational problem with “green.” These less-than-pleasant associations include an obnoxious political party bearing that name, the blasted environmental movement, and a huge religious entity which cannot be mentioned in anything resembling a critical manner without the mentioner being subjected to accusations of bigotry.

So, while I freely admit that my feelings based on associations are irrational, I still have them, and it will require a special effort on my part to find some green and wear it. Plus, I’m not Irish. Well, I have an Irish great-great-grandfather named Donnelly (an Irish name, by any standard), but is that enough to really claim Irishness? Depending on whether Donnelly’s wife was Irish (something I cannot determine without spending money on a genealogist), that would make me either 1/16 or 1/32 Irish. Is that enough to give me any claim to Irish identity politics? I realize that if I could prove I had a black great-great-grandfather I could claim to be black, but I’m not sure the one-drop rule applies to Irishness.

Can anyone help me there?

Anyway, I probably should have realized Saint Patrick’s Day was coming, because on the Ides of March (traditionally considered ominous by my superstitious side), I had a truly magical bit of luck. In a thrift store, I was unable to resist buying an old book — the 1915 first edition of The Bobbsey Twins At Meadow Brook. It’s not especially valuable but for 50 cents I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Just looking at the cute illustrations was worth the money, but as I flipped through the book, I found something even more valuable. 

Pressed between pages 86 and 87 was a four leaf clover.

I kid you not:

You can see the stains it left on each page.

Four-leaf clovers are said to be a 1 in 10,000 occurrence, which is why they’re considered good luck. 

The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally.^[1] According to legend, each leaf represents something: the first is for hope, the second is for faith, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck.^[2]

Well, I certainly found it accidentally, and I don’t know whether it will bring me luck or not, nor do I know whether I should succumb to what many would consider magical thinking.

Still, there is undeniable tradition, and the association of the shamrock with Saint Patrick’s Day is because it symbolizes the Trinity:

The number 3, of course, is significant in the Christian religion, because of the doctrine of the Trinity. Irish legend has it that the missionary, Saint Patrick demonstrated the principle behind the Trinity using a shamrock, pointing to its three leaflets united by a common stalk. But there is no way of determining with certainty the exact plant referred to in the legend. This much we can say about Irish shamrocks, however. By definition, for a clover to represent the Trinity, it would have to bear 3 (and only 3) leaves. So for all the good luck they allegedly bring, 4-leaf clovers technically can’t be considered shamrocks (not in the sense that St. Patrick made the latter famous, at least).

So you might conclude that the good luck aspect of the fourth leaf is pagan.

Then again, you might not. More here:

Each leaf of the clover represents something very special: 1) hope, 2) faith, 3) love, and 4) luck! In Irish tradition the Shamrock or Three-leaf Clover represents the Holy Trinity. One leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. When a Shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it represents God’s Grace.

There is no way for me to determine whether the above is true. But if it is, and were it in my power to do so, I would want to send whatever luck I received to Japan. They’re facing their worst disaster since the end of World War II, so they need it more than I do. 

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!