Lucky Irish Figure

Calling on all Irish experts to help answer the following email received at Highlander Radio. If you could post your response here, if you know the answer, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Here you go Paul. Its St. Joseph. Hope this helps,

Eamon

"There is a superstition or lore or myth that if you bury the statue of _____ ? in your front yard - upside down facing a certain way it will help you sell your house. Got anything on this one?? Thanks - anxiously awaiting your reply.


The statue, to fill in the blank, is to be of Saint Joseph. He is the patron saint of workers, and other thoughts related to labor and home. Yes, the same Joseph whom also was Mary's husband and Jesus' 'foster father'.

And you are correct: most commonly it is stated that he is to be buried upside down in the yard of the home up for sale. Yet some state on his back and others saying heads up. And so begins the thought some steps involved apparently also having people divided on what 'comes next'.

Where should one bury the statue? Some say in the front yard near the home's foundation. Then some say in the front yard but near the for sale sign. While others say it should be buried in the back yard. Others say in or near a flower bed. Then some feel it should be buried close to the street in front of the house. Main consensus seems to share front yard [by the sign or street] slightly ahead of backyard placement.

Direction the statue should be facing while buried? Some say toward the street - away from the house. Others say he should be facing the house. If buried on his back - his head pointing to the home.

All parties agree that praying over to the statue, hence Saint Joseph, after burying it felt to be the key aspect. Blake Pontchartrain, from BestOfNewOrleans.com's site, claims the prayer goes as follows:

"Oh, St. Joseph, guardian of household needs, we know you don't like to be upside down in the ground, but the sooner escrow closes the sooner we will dig you up and put you in a place of honor in our new home. Please bring us an acceptable offer (or any offer!) and help sustain our faith in the real estate market."

Once the house sells - then you have to deal with another debated thought. Some say you leave the statue buried in the yard; as Saint Joseph is also a family themed saint also so could remain to 'look over' the new family. Others say you should dig up the statue then display it in a place of honor out of thanks for his assistance.

Does this honestly work? Some say it does with a few sharing stories of how quickly their house sold after burying the statue and praying over it. It is also claimed that realtors also recommend the Saint Joseph statue ritual to home sellers.

One particularly humorous story I recall, involving using this real estate technique, being shared a couple years back on a Yahoo! Clubs message board. Seems that a man's parents were selling their home and his mother insisted that he and his father bury a statue of Saint Joseph in the front yard.

However, the ground was hard - due to the weather and some rocks being involved as side elements - so he and his father couldn't dig a deep hole. So they placed the foot tall statue, that the mother had purchased for this purpose, into the not-so-deep hole then filled it back in. They took some flowers from closer to the house to plant around the statue in hopes of it "not being as obvious" about it being there.

So there Saint Joseph was - buried in the front yard of this man's parent's home - ready to assist in helping it sell: with his feet sticking out of the ground by a good 5 inches! The house did sell. But the guy thought the 'yard decor' may have aroused more interest about the house, if not just the occupants of it, than if the statue had been fully buried with its feet unexposed to curious eyes.

Not enough validation about Saint Joseph helping? Stephen Binz wrote the book St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent: Patron Saint of Home Life and Home Selling that shares not only the ritual and other facts about Saint Joseph but also other people's success stories. Like, for instance, his own!

In a hurry and don't want to read a book about it? Aren't you in luck! One can purchase a Saint Joseph "Home Sales" Kit! I kid you not; it comes complete with small statue, prayer card, and instructions on burying the statue. Ranges in price from $5.95 [US] on up to around the $9.00 to $10.00 [US] range.

I can not thank everyone enough for all the wonderful information!!! I will let everyone know how it goes. On my way to the Bible store!!!

Vickie
twoofeight
( I was the second born of eight children, if anyone was wondering)

Good Luck Vicki!

Eamon

I would stand St. Joseph up so he could be admired by all! I think he deserves it! Very interesting...Thanks Eamon, you have enlightened me once again!

maggiemahone1

I grew up in a house where St. Christopher rode in the car, St. Anthony was invoked if anything was lost, and St. Patrick ruled the roost! If someone brought a house, you had better give them a broom, some bread, and some money! (Hopefully Vicki will need these things!). I love (and miss) the little things my Grandparents did that were tradition back in Ireland. Lets keep them alive!

I agree with you Maggie! Let St. Joseph stand tall!

Eamon

NIce. I'm third of twelve!! Go big families!! WOO HOO!!!!!
I love this thread because I don't know to many people who look to the saints for stuff (ex. St. Anthony) I though I was like the only one (and my family of course) this is cool! Thanks!