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 "puts pressure on them" or any other number of metaphors. I have 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...

Ammonia - A Spiritual Cleansing Agent for Magick

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Spiritual Use of Turpentine in Hoodoo and Witchcraft

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Magical Water Recipes - Old Style Hoodoo, Real and Genuine Magic Spells from History

Hoodoo Style Magical Waters for Magic In hoodoo tradition, some of the oldest and most traditional ingredients are natural gathered waters. While cologne and perfume is sometimes classed as a water for conjure purposes, special waters are based on water, sometimes taken from a specific location. They can have additional ingredients added, but the magic is generally held to be in the water itself. They've become a little less common since the rise of commercial hoodoo, perhaps due to manufacturer's tendency to sell any old tap water as "alleged glory water" or whatever it's labeled; and also there is difficulty in shipping liquids like water that aren't inherent in somewhat thicker mixtures like soaps or oils. (For example, a bottle of oil won't evaporate if left out too long.) Here's a list of some traditional hoodoo magical waters and how to make them: Glory Water Glory Water is a recipe I did not include in my Conjure Cookbook , as it's not ...

The Intranquil Spirit

(EDIT: Up to date information about the Intranquil Sprit can be found in my book The Intranquil Spirit , available on Amazon. This post has some incomplete information which is clarified in the book.) The Intranquility spell is, unfortunately, the first resort of many a rejected lover. In some ways it makes sense -- the more unhappy and forlorn one is about a breakup, the better this idea of making the other partner feel just as much so starts to sound. Unfortunately, this spell is often not well suited to a case. The purpose of the standard Intranquility spell is to have the person be tormented by the spirit until they make contact with you, or whomever the spell is being cast for. This means that if a person is already in good contact with their ex OR if they're one of those people who cannot restrain themselves from initiating contact, then this already is probably not the right spell for that case. If you've had an Intranquility spell cast and you make contac...

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