Amulets Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

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- Religion, Gender Studies, Jewish Studies, Women's Studies

This article is a biography that charts the history and significance of an important magical artifact that has hitherto gone unnoticed because its existence was unknown to all but a few. The artifact in question is the oldest extant Sigillum Dei in the world so far, produced at the end of the medieval period and antedating John Dee's famous wax sigils of the Sigillum Emeth by about a century. It may seem a mistake to call a study of an object a biography, but there is no denying that the Sigillum Doornenburgensis has an uncanny ability to maneuver itself into positions that guarantee its survival. Firmly connected with the eventful history of Doornenburg Castle, the continued existence of the Sigillum Dei is due to an extraordinary series of coincidences, not least of which is the recent chain of events that enabled us to make its acquaintance. This article describes how the brick and sigil ended up at Doornenburg Castle, sheds light on the history, use, and materiality of the artifact, and analyzes the place of the sigil in the transmission of the Sigillum Dei.

The Seven Seals of medieval Islamic magic, which are believed to constitute the Greatest Name of God, also feature in Jewish Kabbalah from the same period. While many Seal symbols make sporadic appearances in early Islamic amulets bearing Kufic script, the source of the symbols and their eventual ordering remains a matter of legend. As this topic was first – and last – examined systematically by Dr. Hans Winkler in 1930, a wider-ranging and more modern review is long overdue. The present survey focuses on potential sources for the symbols rather than on their exegesis. It first examines the possibility that a precedent for the Seal series exists in an undecipherable “seven signs repeated seven times” inscribed on a Late Babylonian amulet. It then considers the possibility that the Seals’ origins lie in other cuneiform symbols from ancient Mesopotamia; in Egyptian hieroglyphs or scripts; in paleo-Hebrew characters or the letters of ancient South Arabian scripts; in Libyco-Berber or Tifinagh letters from North Africa; or in the symbol repertoire of Late Antique magic, including the highly potent seven Greek vowels. The review also explores the possibility that at least some of the symbols originated in numerological ciphers or religious emblems, canvassing sources as diverse as Indian Hinduism and Byzantine Christendom. The article concludes by considering the recent suggestion that the Seal series may have acquired its privileged status because its symbols reflect “shape archetypes” that are hard-wired into the human nervous system.

- by Lloyd Graham
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- Religion, Parapsychology, Anthropology, Folklore
- by John L Crow
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- Medieval Magic, Amulets, Middle Ages, Byzantine Magical Amulets

The article explores the apotropaic use of the written word through τhe inscriptions found on Byzantine amulets, i.e. portable items of a private use, which were addressed to a Christian audience and have a magical character because of their depictions, symbols and inscriptions, which are not derived from the traditions of the official church. The aim of the paper is to investigate the perceptions behind the creation, possession and use of these artifacts and to demonstrate that the written word appearing on these objects has all the characteristics of a ritual language, as it is defined in anthropological and religious studies

- by Vicky Foskolou
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- Magic, Performativity, Byzantine Studies, Late Antique Magic

Establishing the correct reading of a hitherto misunderstood inscription, (re-)published in A. George, Mesopotamian Incantations and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection (CUSAS 32; Bethesda 2016). The carnelian gemstone bearing the... more

- by Henry Stadhouders
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- Assyriology, Magic, Cuneiform, Amulets
- by Florian Lippke
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- Media Studies, Theology, Levantine Archaeology, Hebrew Bible
- by Genevra Kornbluth
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- Anglo-Saxon Studies, Merovingian period, Amulets, Rock Crystal
- by James C Henriques and +1
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- Digital Humanities, Papyrology, New Testament, Epigraphy (Archaeology)
- by NN Gecis
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- Amulets, Greek Magical Papyri

M. Yu. Menshikov
The origin, chronology and semantic meanings of imagery
on miniature axes unearthed at excavations in central Moscow
This research suggests a new interpretation of the
miniature axes made from non-ferrous metals, which
were unearthed at the 17th – century locations, as a
kind of insignia with its own meaning. The argument
overturns the idea that these items were pagan
amulets.

- by Felicia Katz-Harris
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- Morocco, Amulets, Traditional Heritage in Morocco
- by Mark Beumer
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- Religion, Christianity, History, Greek History
- by Gideon Bohak
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- Amulets, Jewish Magic

The irruption of Western médicine into the closed and traditionalistic moroccan society at the beginning of the Protectorate could not but create profound upheavals in the practice of the care of the sick and the attitudes of the people in this field. The author draws a short overview on the history of a moroccan medical culture, which bases mainly on the greco-arab conceptual traditions and shows old cosmopolitan relationships in its organisational status. He points out the enriched moroccan traditional pharmacopoeia and describes the two streams of transmission of knowledge, academism and oral tradition. Today’s practioners are confronted by the contrast of contemporary médicine and traditional care of the sick and its highly developed systems of traditional pharmaceutic prescriptions. The author guesses that by this confrontation former tendencies to conservatism and resistance have changed into an active coping and fruitful research in view of a future universalism.

- by Bellakhdar Jamal
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- Cultural Heritage, Magic, Galen, Morocco
- by Vuk Dautović
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- Jewish Studies, Balkan Studies, Sephardic Studies, Amulets
- by Yonatan Adler
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- History, Jewish Law, Jewish Studies, Talmud

In this article, Danish amulets from the Viking Age are examined and catalogued. Special focus is on the proliferation of amulets in the 10th century, and amulets as active symbols in the Christianization of Denmark. Amulets constitute very personal expressions of magical practice, offering unparalleled potential for exploring a period of religious change. Christianization in the Viking Age is here primarily understood as a socio-political rather than spiritual or theological process. A further focus is on gender and gendered use of amulets in the Viking Age.

Ritual Practices of the Pomeranians in the Early Middle Ages. An Archaeological Study

- by Kamil Kajkowski
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- Pagan Studies, Ritual Studies, Slavic Studies, Amulets

A difícil relação entre “cultura popular” e “religião” é alvo recorrente de discussões nas Ciências da Religião e na História da Religião do Antigo Israel. Dentre as variadas aproximações ao tema, há dificuldades na categorização dos conceitos, assim como posições divergentes sobre o lugar dessas práticas dentre o quadro sócio-religioso mais amplo. O presente artigo, alimentado e reagindo à discussão, coopera através da conceituação de objetos de poder como mídia, i.e., como objetos que, ao encarnar “poder religioso”, tornam-se, em si, poder religioso, hibridizando alteridade e identidade últimas. Para tanto, é realizado breve panorama sobre a discussão de magia na História da Religião de Israel e uma discussão, a partir da filosofia de mídia e estudos de cultura material, para a conceituação de objetos de poder. Ao fim, é apresentado estudo de caso com análise de um selo de estampar de osso de tell en-Nasḅeh.

- by Silas Klein
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- History of Religion, Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Religious Studies, Amulets
- by TC Nilufer Atakan
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- Ancient magic, Amulets, Talismans and Amulets, Abraxas
- by John Z Wee
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- Amulets, Mesopotamian Medicine

Choyke A. M. 2010. The Bone is the Beast: Animal Amulets and Ornaments in Power and Magic. In: D. Campana, P. Crabtree, S.D. DeFrance, J. Lev-Tov and A.Choyke (eds.) Anthropological Approaches to Zooarchaeology: Colonialism, Complexity,... more

- by Alice Choyke
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- Archaeozoology, Magic, Medieval Archaeology, Amulets
- by Vernon Knight
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- Taíno, Caribbean Archaeology, Amulets, Cuban Archaeology

Lilith understood as the first wife of Adam, the mother of evil spirits and the nocturnal demon particularly fond of men and newborns belongs to the mythical tradition derived from the medieval Alphabet of Ben Sira. The latter is a cryptic yet ribald composition and as such defines the hermeneutic framework for the interpretation of the Lilith-myth contained therein. The present study has therefore two basic purposes. First, to offer the critical translation and commentary of the Lilith-myth present in the Alphabet of Ben Sira. Second, to define the roles this myth might have played in its cultural context.

- by Wojciech Kosior
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- Jewish Studies, Apotropaic Devices, Magic, Angelology

The Book of the Archangels is a Christian magical text, traceable to the early Medieval period, but likely originating in late Antique Byzantium. This text was hitherto only published in its original Greek form, by R. Reitzenstein , and... more

- by João Feliciano
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- Angelology, Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Byzantine Studies, Angels

ABSTRACT: This lecture (Part-2) continues the examination of Old Kingdom elite tombs, looking at (1) other types of middle-upper class tombs that emerge in Old Kingdom Egypt (i.e., rock-cut tombs; rock-cut mastaba tombs); (2) various reasons why such apparently “different” tombs emerge and whether they really are so different (i.e., identical components; non-structural elements); (3) ancient tomb robbing, robbers, and how some tomb builders/owners try to combat robbery (e.g., decoy chambers); (4) a brief discussion of changes in tomb design during the ED-Old Kingdom; (5) the sorts of texts and decoration (genres) found in middle-upper class tombs; (6) the artists and various techniques applied in decorating elite tombs (e.g., training; painting; relief work; stages; etc.); (7) the various ways in which Ancient Egyptian artists portrayed things (e.g., twisted profile; architecture); (8) the various types of decorative themes that emerged in Old Kingdom elite tombs; (9) the significance of the various decoration (genres) found throughout elite tombs (e.g., essential/key funerary elements [e.g., banquet scene] versus less crucial/non-essential things [e.g., daily life and other scenes]); (10) other things we can say about the elite tomb architecture, decoration, and their significance (e.g., nullifying potential dangers in decoration [depicting snakes without heads]; superstitions regarding completing funeral procession scenes); (11) the different types of elite burial chambers and examples of and changes in decorated ones (versus mostly non-decorated ones); (12) some examples of non-royal sarcophagi (i.e., “stone coffins”: rectilinear boxes); (13) selected examples of non-royal, elite coffins (i.e., wooden, rectilinear boxes); (14) some "typical" mortuary furnishings (burial goods) found in elite tombs; and (15) the forms of and furnishings in middle class and lower class tombs and graves (only a brief summary to illustrate the burial practices of the bulk of Egypt's Old Kingdom populace). The lecture ends with a series of text slides summarizing the main points from both parts 1-2 of the lectures on elite Old Kingdom tombs. UPDATED: March 13, 2023. Much editing/formatting, plus some new images, and adding a selected set of sources (end slides)

- by Gregory Mumford
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- Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ancient History, Egyptology, Art History

Awaken your third eye and natural healing abilities using the secret wisdoms of God found in the magical books here on this site. This is a great opportunity for you to learn the wisdom that will never be bestowed on most people around... more

- by Kumander Sator
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- Magic, Charms, Miracles, Esotericism

This paper examines anti-plague amulets discussed in early modern academic writing. Amulets are often associated with magic and spirituality but in this paper I would like to challenge this presupposition by showing that in early modern academic tradition there were actually two distinctly different kinds of amulets. One was built on spiritual and magical principles, while the other one reflected the contemporary naturalistic view of the world. What is more important, writers consciously draw a line between these two groups, thus acknowledging the existence of magical as well as non-magical amulets.
For these ends I shall divide the text into four parts. At the beginning I shall briefly discuss academic medical treatises that I have used as sources for this study and the limitations they impose on my conclusions. Then I shall explain how early modern natural philosophers understood the structure of the world and its division into spheres called in Latin "naturalis", "praeternaturalis" and "supranaturalis". After that I shall briefly discuss the concept of the amulet and its variability under different circumstances. With this in mind, I shall finally proceed to the last section, which explains magical and natural amulets as well as their position in the early modern medical theory on the plague.

- by Karel Černý
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- History of Medicine, History of Plague, Early Modern Intellectual History, Amulets

Summary of dissertation on Psalm 91 en the reality of spirits and demons in ancient near east.

In West Africa, Berber groups such as the Tuareg of Mali and Niger use inscribed silver jewelry – rings, pendants and plaques – as talismans. A ring with a curved or flat frontal area may be inscribed with a linear cipher or, if large, carry a “magic square” design. A survey of 132 Tuareg/Berber items revealed that the symbol repertoire appears to be drawn from overlapping categories that include Eastern Arabic and Perso-Arabic numerals, and possibly Western digits and Indian Devanagari numbers as well; Arabic letters; Tifinagh and Libyco-Berber characters; and the Islamic Seven Seals (the ism al-aʿzam or Greatest Name). Most items combine symbols of different types, and reflections and rotations of stock symbols are common. The magic squares sometimes display complete or partial symmetry, with diagonals containing repeats of a single symbol. No two designs were identical, but it was possible to define sub-groups based on style and content. With numerical considerations seemingly secondary to aesthetics, none of the magic squares were mathematically competent. Tuareg gri gri plaques also carry magic square designs, but seem to contain mainly Tifinagh letters. A distinct set of rings also carry Tifinagh-based magic squares; recently-made items of this type may be “Tifinagh alphabet” souvenirs made for tourists. Cryptic apotropaic rings are also found in East Africa. In Ethiopia, especially among the Oromo in the southwestern highland district of Jimma, smiths inscribe white-metal or silver rings with talismanic symbols. The former are just convex circular bands of hard alloy into which glyphs are stamped using simple punch tools. Being softer, silver rings may instead bear symbols incised by scratching or engraving. For either material, the symbols are typically arranged evenly around the ring band; there are usually two circular series, and sometimes the symbols of the upper circle are a reflection (through the ring’s equator) of those in the lower. The Ethiopian symbol repertoire appears to be drawn from Eastern Arabic and possibly Devanagari numbers; Arabic letters; the Islamic Seven Seals; and unique symbols that resist identification. Most Ethiopian rings combine numerical and non-numerical symbols, and reflections and rotations of characters are common. As one might expect from this makeup, there is a significant overlap with the symbol repertoire of Tuareg rings. The most extreme similarities occur in the small subset of Tuareg and Ethiopian rings that carry complete sets of the Islamic Seven Seals.

- by Lloyd Graham
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- Apotropaic Devices, Magic, Apotropaic Objects, Magical Practices

How many are the names of God? Christian theology answers with a paradox: God is nameless, and so he can be called by every name. The proper name of God is thus a list, an open-ended list of names for the Unnamable. The Church embraces this paradoxical position in its rhetorical practice, but many Christians find it difficult to accept. In a life full of uncertainty, people crave clear, definitive answers. No wonder that many of the anonymous men and women in All the Names of the Lord – chivalrous knights and traveling merchants, bookmakers, converts, pilgrims, and pregnant wives – pin their hopes for better lives on the simpler belief that God has 72 names, and that the list of these names grants protection from every evil.
By examining together these two apparently conflicting Christian traditions of naming God, the author explores how lists of divine names help believers invest their worlds with meaning and order. The book heuristically juxtaposes two texts that could not be more dissimilar. The first is the classic theological treatise The Divine Names by Pseudo-Dionysius. The second is an obscure magical amulet, The 72 Names of the Lord, whose history, binding Kabbalah and Christianity, Jews and Slavs, Palestine, Provence, and the Balkans, is examined here for the first time. Two alternative rhetorical patterns emerge from this unusual pairing of theology and magic, two alternative visions of Christian order. The final claim of the book, however, is not about division but unity. It invites the reader to discover at the heart of the Christian way of life the convergence of two opposite impulses – one based in existential need, the other driven by metaphysical desire – and to reflect on the ways their uneasy alliance sustains Christianity as a viable religious system.

- by Valentina Izmirlieva
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- Religion, Christianity, Theology, Medieval History

This paper proposes a novel source for – or at least influence on – the iconography of the Moon trump in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, which preserves the design from the Tarot de Marseille. In fact, the Moon template appears to date back to the earliest days of the Tarot. The proposed source or prototype is a Greco-Roman talismanic design against the Evil Eye known as the "all-suffering eye", which frequently occupies the reverse face of Byzantine copper/bronze "Holy Rider" amulets. The paper identifies compositional elements that correspond in the Evil Eye and Moon card designs, presents reasons why the moon and the Evil Eye might have been thought of as cognates, and considers other likely inputs into the Moon card's visual program.

- by Lloyd Graham
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- Apotropaic Devices, Apotropaic Objects, Tarot, Amulets
- by Nils P Heeßel
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- Assyriology, Demonology, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Amulets
- by Jonatan Meir
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- Religion, New Religious Movements, Comparative Religion, History

Le musée du Louvre compte parmi ses collections une plaque de conjuration en bronze contre la terrible Lamaštu, démone redoutée dans toute la Mésopotamie et au-delà. Si l’objet est exceptionnel à plus d’un égard, il n’est pas typique des nombreuses autres amulettes de conjuration du Ier millénaire av. J.-C. qui présentent toutes les mêmes caractéristiques dans leur forme, leur matière, mais aussi leur iconographie. Cette plaque fait en effet partie d’un groupe typologique qui ne comporte que six exemplaires tous répartis dans des musées différents. Ils ont pour particularité d’introduire dans leur composition l’apotropaïon le plus populaire en ces temps : Pazuzu, le roi des démons.

- by Robert Masson
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- Mesopotamian Archaeology, Magic, Demonology, Mesopotamian Religions

It is my intention to effectively separate out and explain the reasons for the different uses of the terms amulet, talisman, phylactery, etc. These terms are often confused in modern times, so that even their dictionary definitions tend to simply cross-reference each other without pointing out the differences. It is important to clarify the exact meaning of each term in order to understand their differing functions. The approach is to look at their meaning in the context of their function in the PGM and later grimoires, for example the separation of those items made for clients for everyday wear (amulets) from those items specifically used by the magician in a ritual context for protection (phylacteries), or made to simply effect one specific change (talismans). It is therefore necessary to define more closely the terms Charm, Amulet, Phylactery, Tefillin, Lamen, Talisman, Defixio and Pentacle, as the popular perception (and even sometimes the academic one), is that the above terms are roughly equivalent. They are not.

- by Stephen Skinner
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- Charms, Amulets, Tefillin, Talismans
- by Ivana Pantovic
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- Neolithic, Amulets, Vinca culture, Cult and Ritual