Good Luck, Bad Karma House

Original 7.5” x 6.25”x 6.25  Assemblage, Mixed Media, Chicken Wishbone, Paper and plaster.  2005 (Original not for sale)

Inspiration comes from the strangest things:

After cooking and eating chicken, we always save the wishbone and our collection would be displayed on the windowsill along side a collection marbles. One wishbone on top of another the collection was beginning to look like a bizarre type of bird nest and from the marble collection, I popped a white marble on top to further the effect. I began to wonder, would a bird see this as a lucky nest? I thought how awful it was that we associated good luck with a dead chicken's skeletal remains, and I began researching other good luck charms associated with dead animal parts.

Two most common lucky animal parts are turkey or chicken wishbone and the rabbit’s foot, but I bet you did not know about the Lucky Kangaroo Pouches from Australia. If you were thinking Australians make the kangaroo’s pouches into bags, you would be wrong! They are made from the Kangaroo’s scrotum and are sometimes called Lucky Kangaroo Scrotum Pouches. Ouch, that has to hurt!

The Legend

“Once upon a time there lived in the center of Australia an aboriginal boy. One day he came upon a small kangaroo in the bush, caught it by the tail, and made a purse out of its dear little symbol of masculinity. He gave it to his girl, and she kept seeds and berries in it.

Next, he saw a large kangaroo. He caught it with a spear and made another purse from its thick symbol of masculinity. He gave it to his farther who kept stones and things of value in it.

Ever since then, male kangaroo scrotum purses have been popular amongst the aborigines. For women, the soft pliable one, for men the strong, wrinkled one.

They became as important as one's own symbol of masculinity and recognized as the bringing luck items. That is why kangaroo scrotum purse is often called as "Lucky Bag" or "Lucky Pouch".

The Kangaroo is subject to Australian Government protection, yet needs to be constantly harvested to control its numbers owing to its prolific breeding habits. Through this harvesting program we are able to make available to you the famous kangaroo lucky pouches”

This quote is from the web page www.australiagift.com , were you can read another story pertaining to The Lucky Kangaroo Pouches.