Amulet

AMULET is also an ARM asynchronous microprocessor.

An amulet from the Black Pullet grimoire

An amulet (from Latin amuletum; earliest extant use in Natural History [Pliny], meaning "an object that protects a person from trouble") or a talisman (from Arabic tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or from the Greek word "talein" which means "to initiate into the mysteries.") consists of any object intended to bring good luck and/or protection to its owner. Potential amulets include: gems or simple stones, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants, animals, etc.; even words said in certain occasions – for example: vade retro satana – (Latin, "go back, Satan"), to repel evil or bad luck.

History of Amulets

Great importance was placed on the use of amulets in ancient cultures by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Arabs, and Hebrews .

The Egyptians used a frog to protect fertility; ankhs symbolized everlasting life and generation; the udjat, or eye, was for good health, comfort, and protection against evil; the scarab beetle was for resurrection after death and protection against evil magic. These were frequently found in the bandages of a mummy to ensure the deceased a safe, healthy, and productive afterlife. One of the best known amulets of ancient Egypt is the Eye of Horus. Amulets were carried, used in necklaces, bracelets, or rings.

In many societies religious objects serve as amulets. A religious amulet might be the figure of a god or simply some symbol representing the deity (such as the cross for Christians or the "eye of Horus" for the ancient Egyptians). In Thailand more than one Buddha hanging from peoples necks is a common sight; in Bolivia and some places in Argentina the god Ekeko furnishes a standard amulet, to whom one should offer at least one banknote to obtain fortune and welfare.

Drawing of clay amulet unearthed near Săliştea, Alba, Tǎrtǎria, Romania.

An ancient tradition in China involves capturing a cricket alive and keeping it in an osier box to attract good luck (this tradition extended to the Philippines). Chinese may also spread coins on the floor to attract money; rice also has a reputation as a carrier of good fortune.

Since the Middle Ages in Western culture pentagrams have had a reputation as amulets to attract money, love, etc; and to protect against misfortune. Other symbols, such as magic squares, angelic signatures and qabalistic signs have been employed to a variety of ends, both benign and malicious.

The Jewish tradition Solomon era amulets exist in many museums. Due to proscription of idols, Jewish amulets emphasize text and names - the shape, material or color of an amulet makes no difference. See also Khamsa.

The Jewish tallis (Yiddish-Hebrew form; plural is talleisim), the prayer shawl with fringed corners and knotted tassels at each corner, is perhaps one of the world's oldest and most used talismanic objects. Originally intended to distinguish the Jews from pagans, the prayer shawl is considered fascinating because of its name: it is very close to the term "talisman."

In antiquity and the Middle Ages, most Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Orient believed in the protective and healing power of amulets and talismans. Talismans used by these peoples can be broken down into three main categories. The first are the types carried or worn on the body. The second version of a talisman is one which is hung upon the bed of an infirm person. The last classification of talisman is one with medicinal qualities. This latter category of magical item can be further divided into external and internal. In the former, one could, for example, place a magical amulet in a bath. The power of the amulet would be understood to be transmitted to the water, and thus to the bather. In the latter, magical inscriptions would be written or inscribed onto food, which was then boiled. The resulting broth, when consumed, would transfer the healing and magical qualities engraved on the food into the consumer.

There is also evidence that Jews, Christians, and Muslims used their holy books in a talisman-like manner in grave situations. For example, a bed-ridden and seriously ill person would have a holy book placed under part of the bed or cushion.

Christian authorities have always been wary of amulets and other talismans.

A little-known but well-worn amulet in the Jewish tradition is the kimiyah or "angel text". This consists of names of angels or Torah passages written on parchment squares by rabbinical scribes. The parchment is then placed in an ornate silver case and worn someplace on the body.

The similarities between Jewish and Buddhist amulet traditions is striking. (see Buddhism below.)

In Afro-Caribbean syncretic religions like Voodoo, Umbanda, Quimbanda and Santería, drawings are also used as amulets, such as with the veves of Voodoo; these religions also take into account the colour of the candles they light, because each colour features a different effect of attraction or repulsion.

In ancient African culture, the carrying of an animal's foot, or other parts of a swift creature were supposed to help a person be able to escape or flee with the speed of the animal. This 'lucky rabbits foot' charm was handed down and assimilated into our culture by the enslaved Africans who were brought to the New World. Also borrowed from centuries of African Voodoo ceremonies is a Mojo or luck bag could carry many lucky objects or a spell meant to cause a particular effect. The idea is that certain items (spices, teeth, feathers etc,) placed in a bag and blessed or ³charged² will produce a magical effect for the person who carries it. Mojo bags are still popular today as many advertisements in magazines and on web sites promote their use and distribution.

The belief originates in the system of African-American folk magic known as hoodoo. A number of strictures attached to the charm that are now observed mostly in the breach:

First, not any old foot from a rabbit will do: it is the left hind foot of a rabbit that is useful as a charm. Second, not any left hind foot of a rabbit will do; the rabbit must have been shot or otherwise captured in a cemetery. Third, at least according to some sources, not any left hind foot of a rabbit shot in a cemetery will do: the phase of the moon is also important. Some authorities say that the rabbit must be taken in the full moon, while others hold instead that the rabbit must be taken in the new moon. Some sources say instead that the rabbit must be taken on a Friday, or a rainy Friday, or Friday the 13th. Some sources say that the rabbit should be shot with a silver bullet, while others say that the foot must be cut off while the rabbit is still alive. Fourth, according to still more sources, not just any left hind foot cut off a live rabbit shot with a silver bullet in a cemetery during a full moon on a rainy Friday the 13th will do; the marksman must also be cross-eyed.[1]

Perfumes and essences (like incense, myrrh, etc.) also serve the purposes of attraction or repulsion. Popular legends often attributed magical powers to certain unusual objects, such as a baby's caul or a rabbit's foot; possession of these items allegedly endowed their magical abilities upon their owners.

In Central Europe, people believed garlic kept vampires away, and so did a crucifix.

For the ancient Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons and Germans and currently for some Neopagan believers the rune Eoh (yew) protects against evil and witchcraft; a non-alphabetical rune representing Thor's hammer still offers protection against thieves in some places.

Deriving from the ancient Celts, the clover, if it has four leaves, symbolises good luck (not the Irish shamrock, which symbolises the Christian Trinity). In the celtic tradition a bag made from a crane skin (called a crane bag) symbolised treasure, a wheel symboled the sun, a boat also was a sun symbol, but also a death symbol (to the land of the dead), the raven was a symbol of death, the head was a symbol of wisdom as was the acorn and a well.

An Omamori, a Japanese amulet

Corals, horseshoes and lucky bamboo also allegedly make good amulets.

Figures of elephants are said to attract good luck and money if one offers banknotes to them. In Arab countries a hand with an eye amid the palm and two thumbs (similar to a Hand of Fatima) serves as protection against evil.

In India and Tyrol, small bells make demons escape when they sound in the wind or when a door or window opens. Amulets are also warn on upper part of the right arm to protect the person wearing it. In fact this method was more popular in ancient India then wearing it as a pendant or around the neck.

Buddhism has a deep and ancient talismanic tradition. In the earliest days of Buddhism, just after the Buddha's death circa 485 B.C.E., amulets bearing the symbols of Buddhism were common. Symbols such as conch shells, the footprints of the Buddha, and others were commonly worn. After about the 2nd century B.C.E., Greeks began carving actual images of the Buddha. These were hungrily acquired by native Buddhists in India, and the tradition spread.

Another aspect of amulets connects with demonology and demonolatry; these systems consider an inverted cross (not an upward cross, which drives demons away) or pentagram in downward position as favourable to communicate with demons and to show friendship towards them.

The Christian Copts used tattoos as protective amulets, and the Tuareg still use them, as do the Haida Canadian aborigines, who wear the totem of their clan tattooed. Most Thai Buddhist laypeople are tattoed with sacred Buddhist images, and even monks are known to practice this form of spiritual protection. The only rule, as with Jewish talismans and amulets, is that such symbols may only be applied to the upper part of the body, between the bottom of the neck and the waistline.

During the tumultuous Plains Indians troubles in mid-19th century America, the Lakota Tribe adopted the Ghost Dance ritual, created by a Paiute Indian living in northwestern Oregon. Black Elk, the great Lakota Holy Man, received instructions on how to create a talismanic shirt that would protect the Lakota from the Greedy White Man's bullets. Tragically, the shirts failed to offer the Lakota any protection.

In addition to protection against supernatural powers, amulets are also used for protection against other people. For example, soldiers and those involved in other dangerous activities may use talismans to increase their luck. Carlist soldiers wore a medal of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the inscription ¡Detente bala! ("Stop, bullet!").

Amulets can be found among people of every nation and social status. They can be seen in jewellery, artisan fairs, museums, shops, and homes.

Every zodiacal sign corresponds to a gem that acts as an amulet, but these stones vary according to different traditions.

Hermetic talismans

The word talisman also describes a number of consecrated magical objects used in Hermeticism.

Instructions for how to create a talisman can be commonly found in Grimoires. These talismans, sometimes called pentacles, were usually either made to protect the wearer from various influences of disease and other forms of danger or to protect the wearer from demons and to seal a certain demon under the users control.

A common version of the later talisman is known as the Seal of Solomon. This became an extremely important talisman due to the legend that Solomon used demons to create Solomon's temple and was protected by a seal sent by God (although the earliest accounts describe this seal as a ring: see Testament of Solomon; later innovations were made by various ceremonial magicians and authors of other grimoires where they have described the seal as a ring.)

Evil Eye

A belief in the Evil Eye is practically universal: it exists on nearly every (if not every) continent of the world. First recorded by the Mesopotamians about 5,000 years ago in cuneiform on clay tablets, the Evil Eye may actually have originated as early as the Upper Paleolithic age. Amulets designed to protect against it have been found on every continent of the world. In some cultures,

It was widely believed by the Ancients that certain envious or evil people could induce sickness and death merely by casting their Eye on another person. Its piercing force avowed to be so powerful could infect surrounding objects. These beliefs gave way to birth of many amulets and charms as well as blue-colored evil eye beads. “Evil eye” was the name for eye pictures, eye shaped beans or any other charms supposed to provide protection against evil eye strike. It was in the sixth century B.C.E. that ancient Greeks manufactured black-figure wine drinking vessels (literally known as “eye vessels”) with exaggerated eye figures on them, which were believed to prevent evil spirits enter the drinker’s body by mouth while drinking wine. some Asian and African peoples the evil eye is particularly dreaded while eating and drinking, because the soul is thought to be more vulnerable when the mouth is open; thus; the ingestion of substances is either a solitary activity or takes place only with the immediate family and behind locked doors.

Modern occurrences

Darfur war raises profit for makers of amulets 2004 would Darfur be an exception? The war that has inflamed Africa's largest country for more than 18 months and has come to represent the ugly divide between Sudan's Arab-led government and the communities of Darfur has also revved up business for the makers of hijabs, leather-pouch amulets believed to ward off harm that are worn widely across the parched Muslim region of the Sahel. The hijab makers here cater to all sides of the conflict. The rebels fighting the Sudanese government hang hijabs in ...

Demand for protective amulets on the rise as Thailand's drug war escalates 2003 Thailand Thailand's crackdown on drugs, which has seen the deaths of hundreds of suspected dealers, has had an unforeseen side effect _ boosting the market for amulets believed to offer magical protection against bullets and other violence.

Metal or clay talismans, often picturing Buddhist symbols or monks and worn on a neck chain, are a staple of Thai culture.

"Amulet collection has become fashionable lately

The Nation (Thailand) Trade in antique amulets soaring 12-08-2003 Collectors of antique Buddhist amulets pushed profits at related businesses to almost Bt10 billion this year, a 40-per-cent rise since the gloomy post-1997 economic crisis. The Kasikorn Research Centre estimates that the trade will grow 10 to 20 per cent a year on average. The "boom-or-bust" antique-amulet trade has always been closely aligned with the state of the country's overall economy and was dealt a severe blow in 1997. Prices nosedived 40 to 50 per cent, although those of the most sought- after Phra Krueang pieces, such as the "Benjapakee" or "Grand Five," ...

MICHAEL MARMUR Jerusalem Post 12-25-1998 It's election time, and the amulet industry is moving into full swing. Many political parties will be issuing them wholesale in the coming months to encourage citizens to vote the way God intended. All over the country, extra staff is being employed to meet the expected upsurge in imprecations and incantations.

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Paine, Sheila. 2004. Amulets: Sacred Charms of Power and Protection. Inner Traditions. ISBN 1594770255
• González-Wippler, Migene. 1991. The Complete Book of Amulets & Talismans. Llewellyn's sourcebook series. Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 087542287X
• Koltuv, Barbara Black. 2005. Amulets, Talismans, And Magical Jewelry: A Way To The Unseen, Everpresent, Almighty God. Nicolas-Hays. ISBN 0892541172
• Andrews, Carol. 1994. Amulets of Ancient Egypt. University of Texas Press. ISBN 029270464X

External Links

• Hassett, Maurice M. Catholic Encyclopedia. 2007. New Advent. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
• Yronwode, Catherine. 1995-2003. The Lucky W Amulet Archive. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
• Bohak, Gideon. University of Michigan Library Exhibit. 1995. Traditions of Magic in Ancient Antiquity. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
• Nazar Boncugu/ The Evil Eye Bead. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
• JJKent, Inc. 2004. History About Talisman Stones in Spain and Russia. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
• Festivals and Talismans Japan National Tourist Organization. Retrieved March 22, 2007.

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