Superstition: Burying St. Joseph Statues

Informant:

D.N.  is my father. He was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri as the fifth of eleven children living under his mother and father. He is one of nine boys and two girls, and played several sports in high school where he eventually matriculated to USC. He studied engineering and now works as a real estate developer living in Palos Verdes Estates, California with my mother. He has three sons, and I am the youngest of the three.

Folklore:

“Like me, my mom was a very religious lady, and very superstitious, too… I learned that from her. When she was fifty years old, and all of us were starting to leave the house, she decided she was bored and wanted a job. She quickly became the top realtor in Saint Louis. Even two years after her death, she was still in the county’s top ten realtors. She attributes her success to burying a small statue of St. Joseph in the yard of every single house that she sold. The day she got the listing, she would drive to the site and bury the figurine. She always asked me to come with her since my middle name is Joseph. She claimed I was her ‘good luck charm.’ I’d like to think she was right!”

Analysis:

I think this is really cool, and particularly special to my father, since his namesake is so important. My grandmother was extremely religious, and this practice was very important to her. I also believe that her superstitious nature was passed down to my father. She claims that nobody taught her this idea. She just came up with it. I think that’s pretty cool. Whatever works, right?