Hi. The company that makes the candles and accessories I sell has created an elephant pair for tealights. They are Thai inspired, "traditional design" and have curled trunks. Curled trunks! The devil, you say!
Immediately I was curious (and worried) about the superstition of the raised trunk being "lucky" (for an example of a "lucky elephant" see the beautiful gold elephant image I found on the internet).Surely if these trunks weren't raised, someone would ask me if these were "unlucky" elephants. I thought I should find out myself.
So I Googled "Lucky Elephant" and learned that the lucky elephant myth was created by... you'll never guess... the Americans (we Americans like to put our stamp on everything in some way). Here's some of the info I found*:
- The origins of the lucky elephant charm can be found in the Hindu religion of India.
- The American lucky elephant craze started in the early to mid 20th century.
- American fascination with the lucky elephant-god of India and the white elephants of Thailand combined in the form of the ubiquitous lucky elephant knick-knack.
- In "typical American fashion," it was decreed that only those elephant figurines with their trunks upraised were lucky.
- This "trunk up" belief has no apparent origin in Africa, India, or South East Asia where elephants are native.
Armed with this information, I feel confident that I can now sell the cute little Thai inspired elephants to my clients without hesitation. After all, if I can't make fun of American marketing and brainwashing, who can?
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