Many people are familiar with the fact that finding a four-leaf clover is supposed to be good luck, but it’s not easy to find one.
If you’ve ever looked for a four-leaf clover, then you’re likely aware of how abundant three-leaf clovers are. However, what does it mean if you find a six-leaf clover?
Finding a six-leaf clover is even rarer than finding a four-leaf one, but if you’re lucky enough to find a six-leaf clover, then it’s said that this precious clover will bring you love, faith, extra luck, longevity, good fortune, as well as money.
According to research conducted by Penn State University, the odds of finding a lucky four-leaf clover are 1 in 10,000, so finding a six-leaf clover is even more difficult, and it would be more like 1 in 1 million.
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Aren’t four-leaf clovers supposed to be lucky?
Even though six-leaf clovers are thought to bring love, faith, extra luck, good fortune, longevity, and money, four-leaf clovers are still considered to bring good luck.
A four-leaf clover is also associated with abundance, so many people, even those who aren’t Irish, believe that if they are lucky enough to find a four-leaf clover, they will soon experience abundance in every aspect of their lives.
Each leaf of the four-leaf clover has a different meaning: faith, hope, love, and luck.
Druids in ancient Ireland carried four-leaf clovers
In ancient Ireland, Druids, or Celtic priests, believed that possessing a shamrock or four-leaf clover enabled them to see hidden evil spirits before their arrival, which allowed them time to escape beforehand.
The Druids believed that four-leaf clovers were Celtic charms that could prevent bad luck and offer magical protection from evil spirits and other dangers.
Interesting facts about four-leaf clovers
The reason it’s so rare to find a four-leaf clover plant is that clovers normally come with three leaves, and four or more leaves is actually an abnormality or a mutation in the plant which causes more leaves to grow.
There are some places in the world where four-leaf clovers can be found in abundance, but in Africa and other parts of the world, four-leaf clovers are extremely rare because there aren’t many clover plants there at all.
So, if you do happen to see the very few clover plants that exist in Africa, then you will almost always see conventional three-leaf clovers.
Are clovers ever worth any money?
Four-leaf clovers have sometimes been worth a small amount of money, depending on the situation, but you certainly aren’t going to get rich, even if you have a six or seven-leaf clover.
While most four-leaf clovers and above aren’t worth any money, since they’re associated with good luck, many people consider finding one as being equivalent to hitting the lottery.
Many believe in the “power” of the four-leaf clover and that being in possession of one is a premonition of good luck and abundance to come.
The history of wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day
One reason that explains why people wear green on St. Patrick’s Day is that it was intended to increase a person’s ability to hide from leprechauns, which came out on this ancient holiday.
Leprechauns were thought to jump out and pinch anyone who failed to wear green on this special date.
People also wear green on this special day in March in order to celebrate Emerald Isle, and Emerald Isle is the name that was given to the lush green grass that was seen in the Irish countryside.
How did St. Patrick’s Day come about?
St. Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of St. Patrick, originated in Ireland in the 9th or 10th century in order to celebrate the life of Saint Patrick, who died on March 17th in the year 461.
Saint Patrick was a very respected saint in Ireland, and following his death, this holiday was created in memory of this wonderful saint.
Leprechauns and their significance to St. Patrick’s Day
A leprechaun is a small, mythical creature that is associated with St. Patrick’s Day.
Leprechauns are associated with St. Patrick’s Day because they both originated in Ireland.
Leprechauns were depicted in horror movies as greedy, evil, and murderous creatures who sought revenge on those who attempted to steal their gold.
Leprechauns were thought to be the sons of evil spirits, which certainly explains why they were depicted in such a horrific manner in movies.
Drinking on St. Patrick’s Day
When most people think of St. Patrick’s Day, they associate it with getting drunk by drinking green-dyed beer.
Even people who aren’t of Irish descent look forward to having their green beer in March of every year.
If you’re interested in drinking some green beer the next St. Patrick’s Day, then the chances are high that a bar near you will be serving some.
Ireland wasn’t always associated with the color green
Centuries ago, before Saint Patrick’s death, the color that represented Ireland was blue.
In fact, blue continues to be one of Ireland’s national colors.
Green became the national color of Irish Nationalism in 1789 when Ireland rebelled against the UK, as green was a color that made it easy to differentiate between the different soldiers.
Warm climates increase your chances of finding four-leaf clovers
Some warmer climates can cause the mutation in clover plants to increase, which improves your chances of finding four-leaf clovers or even five or six-leaf ones.
This mutation doesn’t happen in all warm climates, and you can only find these plants with four or more leaves in certain climates.
Your six-leaf clover may not be authentic
You may have lucked out and found a six-leaf clover and you’re feeling ecstatic about it.
However, there are some plants that closely resemble the leaves of white clover plants, but they’re not real six-leaf clovers.
In order to determine whether yours is real, you can have it analyzed by a lab, or you can opt to keep it and believe that it’s the real thing.
What do fairies have to do with clovers?
Fairies were thought to be tiny magical creatures that flew around and were believed to sometimes cause certain ailments in people, like tuberculosis and even birth deformities.
It was believed that four-leaf clovers would keep fairies away so they wouldn’t cause illnesses and other ailments.
It was also believed that four-leaf clovers enabled people to reverse evil magical spells that fairies may have cast on people.
Can you grow a clover plant that will produce four, five, and six-leaf clovers?
You can certainly grow your own white clover plant, which will produce the traditional and very common three-leaf clover.
However, your plant is highly unlikely to yield any mutated leaves if the seeds don’t carry the gene, so you will not have any four, five, or six-leaf clovers.
Despite the fact that your plant will fail to produce four, five, or six-leaf clovers, it can still be pretty fun to grow a white clover plant.
What are the most leaves that a clover plant has ever had?
In May of 2009, an individual’s 56-leaf clover plant won a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, beating the previous year’s record of 21 leaves.
No one has found a 56-leaf clover again, but clover lovers will always continue to search for clovers with multiple leaves.
Do people collect four-leaf clovers?
Some admirers and collectors do, in fact, collect four-leaf clovers as well as clovers with more leaves if they can find them.
An individual living in Alaska has been collecting four-leaf clovers since 1999, and as of 2007, he boasted over 110,000 four-leaf clovers in his collection.
The most four-leaf clovers collected in an hour was 166, by a person in Virginia, in 2018.
Do animals and insects eat clovers?
Livestock enjoy munching on clovers, and they have a high amount of nutrition, including calcium, phosphorus, and protein.
The flowers of clovers attract bees, and clover honey is an extremely popular type of honey.
As you can see, clovers are very interesting plants, and if you’re ever lucky enough to find a six-leaf clover, you can consider yourself very lucky.
Not only should you expect longevity, love, luck, fortune, faith, and money to come to you after finding such a one-in-a-million find, but you will be the envy of many avid clover collectors.
