Bury St. Joseph

originally posted: early July 2001

Brought to you by indie label Real Estate Superstition.

As legend has it, St. Joseph was the patron saint of carpenters, and therefore of homebuilders. Someone who is selling a house is supposed to bury a likeness of St. Joseph in the yard for good luck with the sale. The likeness can be a medal, a statue or a picture. Depending on whom you ask, he should be facing either toward the house or toward the street, or both. After the sale, you're supposed to exhume St. Joe and take him with you to your new home for continued prosperity. I don't know whether he goes inside the new house or back into the turf, though.

I first learned of this little rite during my recent sojourn in Missouri, where my grandmother's house was slated for auction 6/30. Has anyone else heard of it around here? Anyway, the family, with all due ceremony and colorful party horns, buried color printouts of St. Joe downloaded from the 'Net, which we left to biodegrade in the back yard because Granny isn't buying a new house. No word yet on how the auction went, but I did take a few moments on Saturday to chant the ritual prayer: Go, Joe! Go, Joe! Go, Joe!