FAITH IN MASCOTS

Southland Times, Issue 23512, 19 May 1938, Page 14

FAITH IN MASCOTS

• * HUMAN SUPERSTITION Why do people buy mascots and display them in odd places? Tire “luck bringers” hang in the back windows of cars, sit on drawing-room cushions, go about in aeroplanes, and are used as articles of jewellery. Do they really give confidence to their owners?' It is difficult to imagine that the modern generation actually believes in the personal power of mascots, so why are there so many about? Is it merely fashion, or is life sc uncertain that some sort of prop is needed and the mascot supplies th > want? Perhaps the mascot is the means of bolstering up failing courage and helping certain natures to have confidence in themselves, which they could not have unless there were something outside on which they could concentrate. The mascot has a great deal to do with the elusive thing we call luck. In the past it was a person, animal or thing calculated to bring good fortune to people or projects. No coubt regimental mascots originated from this idea, which has something in common witl. the totem. People believed that certain animals had a kind of kinship witl themselves, and tribes were distinguished from each other by a living or carved bird or beast supposed to inhabit the totem, and it was taken into battle to ensure success. Ships and. Mascots. War and the terrors of the sea are two of the greatest dangers of all times, and in the past few ships were without mascots. Little silver images of saints were set up in ships to prevent them from being enticed into whirlpools, or from being lost in the unknown, and sailors believed in the actual power of the images, which were blessed by the

church. When a ship returned safely to port after experiencing, great danger, votive offerings in the shape of model ships were given to certain shrines, and the mascot on board gained great fame. Personal mascots were numerous, but were not always manufactured articles. A piece of flint with a natural hole in it was considered of great value. It was called a hag stone, and hung round the neck to ward off evil and entice good luck. The toad stone was another treasured mascot. Said to be a hard substance found in the heads of old toads, it was usually set in a ring, and, besides bringing good luck, it preserved its ower from venomous bites. All the birth stones, which are again in fashion, were once quite serious mascots, in which people put their trust because they knew so little of the world, life or science. The turquoise was the special mascot of horsemen, because it was supposed to attract success and prevent the horse from stumbling. The swastika, the oldest of all mascots, was merely the' symbol of perfect goodness. It would be interesting io know the origin of the virtues supposed to be contained in some of th® modern mascots—a rag doll with long legs, for instance, a little lady in a bathing suit, a clown on a string.