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 |  Unique, funny & whimsical PIG figurines German-natives have a saying "Schwein gehabt (had Pig)" which literally means "Good Luck was at hand". Good Luck tokens in the shape of Pigs are believed to bring Good Luck, as they are a Symbol of Wealth, Good Fortune & Prosperity. Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England, once quoted: "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals". Scroll down for more Legends & Myths about the Pig. |
Some interesting History and Symbolic Meanings of Pigs:
Pigs are intelligent, it breeds quickly and brings wealth. It is associated with good luck and fertility. We're all familiar with piggy banks as a source of wealth. We all need to have "Viel Schwein, viel Glück!" - Plenty of pig, plenty of luck!
 Among the Chinese and the Europeans, charms in the shape of pigs are believed to have the power to bring Good Luck as they are a symbol of riches and wealth. Somebody claiming a lot of pigs as their own was considered wealthy and privileged.
 A Pig symbolizes Good Luck, prosperity, thrift, savings and thus, is a sign of riches and wealth. Pigs root only forward never backwards and thus are recognized as Symbols of Good Luck, they move swiftly and with determination towards whatever they are rooting for. Dreaming of Pigs usually denotes Good Fortune coming one’s way. The Pig in Chinese mythology is a symbol of honesty, tolerance, initiative and diligence.
Germans and other Germanic peoples today have many positive expressions that tie luck to the pig. Someone who comes into something good is told "schwein haben" (to have pig). One is a "lucky pig" if one picks the correct lottery numbers or wins something. A proverb says "One who wants to make an impression buys a horse, one who wants to become wealthy breeds pigs."
There are several legends discussing where the pig's reputation came from. Germany's ancient people, the Teutons, sacrificed the pig, their most valuable animal to the gods to ensure good luck. The pig was a symbol of fertility and wealth to the Teutons as well, helping to ensure pregancy. Perhaps they shared or transferred this belief to or from the ancient Greeks, who revered the pig because pigs were said to suckle Zeus.
In another story, the city of Luneburg became wealthy because a pig showed a hunter a source of invaluable salt and the pig is still thanked today. Our favorite story dates to the Middle Ages and says that the person who came in last in a shooting competition was awarded a pig. This person had undeserved luck to "have pig."
As a common domesticated animal it is not surprising that other cultures have legends about the lucky pig. The Greek fertility god Demeter was associated with pigs. The pig was associated with several Egyptian gods. Celts believed their god Manannan owned magic pigs that could be eaten and reappear the next day. Native Americans believed the pig had the power to bring rain.
The Egyptians regarded the pig as an unclean animal. Herodotus relates that if they touched it casually, they at once plunged into water to purify themselves. Pork was never included among the meat offerings to the dead. In Syria the pig was also "taboo". In the Highlands, even in our own day, there survives a strong prejudice against pork, and the black pig is identified with the devil.
On the other hand, the Gauls, who regarded the pig as sacred, did not abstain from pork. Like their kinsmen, the Achæans, too, they regarded swineherds as important personages; these could even become kings. The Scandinavian heroes in Valhal feast upon swine's flesh, and the boar was identified with Frey, the corn god. In the Celtic (Irish) Elysium presided over by Dagda, the corn god, there was always "one pig alive and another ready roasted". For Dagda's son, Angus, the love god, the Celtic Khonsu, had a herd of swine, and their chief was the inevitable black pig.
In The Golden Bough, Professor Frazer shows that the pig was tabooed because it was at one time a sacred animal identified with Osiris. Once a year, according to Herodotus, pigs were sacrificed in Egypt to the moon and to Osiris. The moon pig was eaten, but the pigs offered to Osiris were slain in front of house doors and given back to the swineherds from whom they were purchased. Like the serpent and the crocodile, the pig might be either the friend or the enemy of the corn god.
A Pig is completely omnivorous - it will eat virtually anything it finds. But this lack of discrimination is balanced by the Pigs ability to find hidden treasure, and Pigs have been used to discover truffles and other fungal delicacies for centuries in Britain and Europe. The ability of Pigs to discover the earth's secrets is one of the reasons why the Pig is so important in the Druid tradition. Both male and female Pigs are sacred to the Goddess - the sow representing her life-giving aspect, the boar symbolizing
his life-taking aspect.
During the 19th century, Cincinnati was nicknamed "Porkopolis" due to the opening of the first slaughterhouse in Ohio and the amount of salt pork, a U.S. food staple at that time, produced in Cincinnati and shipped to areas all over the country. The city continues to celebrate its porky heritage with the "Flying Pig" marathon each May. The city also hosted the "Big Pig Gig" in 2000, with hundreds of fiberglass pigs, decorated by artists, featured throughout the city.
Aforementioned History, Legends and Symbolic Meanings of Pigs are collected from various sources. Part of above is from the NWS Council in Australia. No claims are made!
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