From dandelions to shooting stars to candles on a cake, people have been making wishes upon objects for centuries.
Click start to play today’s Word Search, where you can find some of these items.
In ancient Greece, astronomer Ptolemy wrote that deities are responsible for falling or shooting stars, and that occasionally, out of curiosity or boredom, they even peer down on Earth from between the spheres in the universe. As a result, people started to direct their wishes towards stars, in the hope that a deity was listening to them and would grant them their heart's desire.
The origin of “wishing wells”, another phrase in our Word Search, is also in Europe. Since water is the key to life, finding a source of water was important to ancient humans. According to History Daily, an online database of historical events, many ancient European cultures viewed underground springs as special and sacred, since they were an unexpected source of fresh water. To thank their deities for the gift, people would drop small tokens of appreciation into the spring. As time passed, coins replaced objects.
And if you’ve ever pulled apart the furcula (Latin for ‘little fork’) or the two clavicle bones of a chicken or turkey, that too, is a ritual dating back centuries. Ancient Romans believed that chicken bones held good fortune, and when two people pulled one apart, the person left with the larger bone was granted a wish or blessed with good luck. Americans began calling the bone a “wishbone” in the 1850s, basing it on the practice of making a wish while pulling apart the bone.
In the case of dandelions, wishing upon these delicate plants began in ancient Greece. Dandelions were often thought of as the perfect symbol for the sun, moon and stars. Starting out as yellow flowers, they resemble the sun, and when they turn white, they look like the moon. Once blown into the air, they scatter like a constellation of stars. In ancient Greece, people believed that if you scattered all its seeds with one mighty puff of breath, the deity Zeus would grant your wishes.
Which of these wish-granting items did you know about? Play today’s Word Search and let us know at games@gulfnews.com.
