I added to my good luck collection today. I went to a Portland Museum and found this good luck Scarab Beetle:
The Egyptian Scarab Beetle was used as an amulet or a good luck charm by both the rich and the poor in Egypt. A depiction of a scarab beetle were worn as pendants, bracelets, rings and necklaces and was believed to hold strong magical and religious properties. The name of the owner was inscribed on their flat bases to ensure that protective powers would be given to the wearer. Scarab pendants, bracelets, rings and necklaces were often made of precious or semi-precious jewels such as carnelian, lapis lazuli and turquoise. The colored glass favored by the Ancient Egyptians called Faience was also used to create amulets. Faience was a strong greenish blue glass-like material, consisting of crushed quartz, lime and alkali, which first made in Predynastic Egypt.
Real mummified beetles were buried with the dead.
The Scarab is modeled after a variety of dung-beetle (Scarabaeus sacer). The industrious dung-beetle placed its egg in dung and rolled the dung into a ball to be heated by the sun. This created an association with the life-giving powers of the sun and the sun god Ra. Life also was centered in the heart so the dung-beetle amulet had powers to protect the heart. In death, the scarab protected the deceased person's soul from being eaten by Ammit the Devourer--a part-lion, part-hippo, part-crocodile who guarded scales of justice in the Egyptian afterworld. Being protected from this fate would certainly be good luck.
Today, people continue to look to this ancient symbol for good luck. It can be worn near the heart or displayed in many other ways to continue it's 4,000-plus year history of bringing good luck.
