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Amulet
From the Latin amuletum ('means of
defense'), it is an object, image, drawing or inscription imbued with
magical properties to ward off illness, the evil eye or
evil; also worn to
bring good luck as a kind of mascot or lucky charm. Amulets are often worn
around the neck or as rings, especially in the form of jewelry.
Traditionally, amulets are commonly made
from found natural objects, especially ones whose unusual shape or color
caught one's eye such as holy stones, crystals, meteorites, fossils,
shells, bones, acorns, etc. or are very rare, such as a four-leaf clover.
Teeth, claws, coral and symbolic emblems are also popular as amulets.
Virtually anything can become an amulet,
depending on the different beliefs in different cultures. Some are designs
or symbols on buildings, holy places and tombs. Semiprecious stones were
particularly common as amulets, as were eyes; the best-known eye amulet
being the ancient Egyptian
Eye of Horus.
Religious symbols are also popular
amulets. Organic amulets, such as fruit, vegetables, berries, nuts and
plants are also common in certain parts of the world, as in the use of
garlic to ward off
vampires. Even soil taken
from a fresh grave was considered to have amuletic value against
tuberculosis, as well as water collected from the tops of three waves.
Various metals are
also commonly ascribed amuletic powers against evil, for instance, iron is
universally believed to guard against demons
and
witches. Amulets that were
valued over the centuries for their effectiveness in countering
witchcraft and other evils included miniature
horseshoes, bits of
rowan wood, and as mentioned before, anything made of iron,
as well as teeth. Other believed powerful amulets against witchcraft were lengths of red thread,
crosses and charm bracelets. At one time many people fearful of witches and
their curses carried about them amulets comprising small pieces of paper upon
which were written various holy words, such as the Paternoster or the Ave Maria
or the Gospel of St John, as these were widely believed to deter evil. Other
slipped into their shoe a piece of paper on which was written the Lord's prayer.
Although approved by the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas, such practices
never caught on in Protestant countries.
Some unique amulets became nationally famous for
their protective powers, being handed down in particular families over the
centuries, and even sometimes rented out for substantial fees to others in need.
Such amulet was the chemise of the pious Hungarian-born wife of the Scottish
king
Malcolm Canmore,
Queen Margaret, who died
in 1093. This chemise, carefully preserved through the years, was considered a
powerful safeguard against the threat of enchantment and was used as swaddling
clothes for the infant future King
James III of Scotland in 1452 and again for
James V in 1512.
That charms were worn by prehistoric man
there is no doubt, as objects which in many cases shared the appearance and
general description of amulets were discovered in Neolithic tombs and sites. The
ancient Egyptians possessed a baffling variety of amulets, which were worn both
by the living and the dead. Indeed, among the later, every part of the body had
an amulet sacred to itself. These were, as a rule, evolved from various organs
of their gods; as, for example, the eye of Isis, the backbone of Osiris, and so
forth.
In Northern Buddhist countries almost
everyone constantly wears an amulet round the neck. These normally represent the
leaf of the sacred fig-tree, and are made in the form of a box which contains a
scrap of sacred writing, prayer, or a little picture. Women of status in Tibet
wear a chatelaine containing a charm or charms, and the universal amulet of the
Buddhist priests in that country is the thunderbolt, supposed to have fallen
directly from Indras heaven. This is typically reproduced in bronze or other
metal, and is used for exorcising evil spirits.
See
Talisman,
Good Luck Charms,
Religious Talismans,
Astrological Talismans, and
Love Tokens.
Sources: (1) Spence, Lewis,
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism, Carol Publishing Group;
(2)
Dictionary of the
Occult, Caxton
Publishing; (3) Bonner, Campbell,
Studies in Magical Amulets,
University of Michigan Press; (4) Budge, E. A. Wallis,
Amulets and Talismans, Carol
Publishing Corporation; (5)
Pickering, David,
Cassell Dictionary of Witchcraft,
Cassell Academic.
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