These days Charms and
Amulets are
worn by all people across all cultural boundaries. There are even found
so called "Christian Charms", some representing the "armour of God". We
need to ask where do these items come from and what do they represent?
"Observe
and hear
all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee,
and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that
which is
good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. When the LORD thy God
shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to
possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after
that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not
after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even
so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for
every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto
their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in
the fire to their gods. What
thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add
thereto, nor diminish from it."
"When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee."
Another well known Witch, also brags about the protective properties of jewelry. She states:
"Jewelry and metals have their own vibrations and corresponding numbers, and again there is a link with the vibrations and colours of the planets. A favourite piece of Jewelry will take on the vibrations of the person wearing it, especially over a long period, which gives the vibrations time to build up and become forceful. Charms, Amulets and talismans have been worn throughout the ages not as a form of decoration but as a focal point that can be charged with the appropriate vibrations. We are not free from the use of such things even today, for there is an increasing business in the sale of charms, even though now they be only part of a dangling bracelet. It seems that the amulet and talisman are gaining a new lease on life whether or not the buyers and wearers are aware of their significance."
"In the early days, mystical, magical properties were assigned to the star polygons, but their influence is still felt today even if the forms are used only in cheap charm-type jewelry. Pythagoreans regarded the star polygon, derived from the pentagon, as the symbol of health."
"Many people find particular designs appealing but they have no idea what is being represented."
"When you pick up some jewelry, you may well be choosing an item that has been channelled through demons"
Prisma catalog reveals: "The amulets of ancient times have become the popular jewelry of today. There is a resurgence of interest in the metaphysical attributes of gems and symbols." As explained earlier, an amulet is "a charm ....often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to protect the wearer against evil or to aid him"
Amulet - A small object usually worn on one's body. In the world view of magic, an amulet is used by humans as a protective charm (against ghosts, the evil eye, bad luck, illness) and as a good luck charm, whereby the rarity or specific form of the object was probably thought to be a symbolic expression of the coercion of particular powers of fate. Prevalent types of amulets include: the horn, reptiles, spiders, clover leaves, obscene gestures, precious and semi-precious stones, names or letters, conspicuous natural formations, images of saints. The wearing of Jewelry probably has to do with the original use of amulets. Amulets were already common in prehistoric times and were especially widespread in the ancient Orient and in China. In Egypt, mummies were protected from "death" by Amulets.
AM'ULET, n. [L. amuletum; amolior, amolitus to remove.]
Something worn as a remedy or preservative against evils or mischief, such as diseases and witchcraft. Amulets, in days of ignorance, were common. They consisted of certain stones, metals or plants; sometimes of words, characters or sentences, arranged in a particular order. They were appended to the neck or body. Among some nations, they are still in use.
CHARM, n.
1. Words, characters or other things imagined to possess some occult or unintelligible power; hence, a magic power or spell, by which with the supposed assistance of the devil, witches and sorcerers have been supposed to do wonderful things.
Modern scholars are of opinion that our English
word amulet comes from the Latin amuletum, used by
Pliny (Naturalis Historia,
xxviii, 28; xxx, 2, etc.), and other Latin writers; but no etymology
for the Latin word has been discovered. The present writer thinks the
root exists in the Arabic himlat,
“something carried” (see Dozy, Supplément
aux Dictionnaires Arabes,
I, 327), though there is no known example of the use of the Arabic word
in a magical sense. Originally “amulet” denoted any
object
supposed to have the power of removing or warding noxious influences
believed to be due to evil spirits, etc., such as the evil eye, etc.
But in the common usage it stands for an object worn on the body,
generally hung from the neck, as a remedy or preservative against evil
influences of a mystic kind. The word “amulet”
occurs once
in the Revised Version (British and American) (Isa_3:20)
but not at all in the King James Version.
1. Classes of Amulets
The substances out of which amulets have been made
and the forms which they have taken have been various.
(1)
The commonest have consisted of Amulets of pieces of stone or metal,
strips of parchment with or without inscriptions from sacred writings
(Bible, Koran, etc.). The earliest Egyptian amulets known are pieces of
green schist of various shapes - animal, etc. These were placed on the
breast of a deceased person in order to secure a safe passage to the
under-world. When a piece of stone is selected as an amulet it is
always portable and generally of some striking figure or shape (the
human face, etc.). The use of such a stone for this purpose is really a
survival of animism.
(2)
Gems, rings, etc. It has been largely held that all ornaments worn on
the person were originally amulets. (3) Certain herbs and animal
preparations; the roots of certain plants have been considered very
potent as remedies and preservatives.
The
practice of wearing amulets existed in the ancient world among all
peoples, but especially among Orientals; and it can be traced among
most modern nations, especially among peoples of backward civilization.
Nor is it wholly absent from peoples of the most advanced civilization
of today, the English, Americans, etc. Though the word charm has a
distinct meaning, it is often inseparably connected with amulets, for
it is in many cases the incantation or charm inscribed on the amulet
that gives the latter its significance. As distinguished from talisman
( an amulet is believed to have negative results, as a means of
protection: a talisman is thought to be the means of securing for the
wearer some positive boon.
2. Amulets in the Bible
Though
there is no word in the Hebrew or Greek Scriptures denoting
“amulet,” the thing itself is manifestly implied in
many
parts of the Bible. But it is remarkable that the general teaching of
the Bible and especially that of the Old Testament prophets and of the
New Testament writers is wholly and strongly opposed to such things.
(1) The Old
Testament
The golden ear-rings, worn by the wives and sons
and daughters of the Israelites, out of which the molten calf was made (Exo_32:2
f), were undoubtedly amulets. What other function could they be made to
serve in the simple life of the desert? That the women's ornaments
condemned in Isa_3:16-26 were
of the same character is made exceedingly likely by an examination of
some of the terms employed. We read of moonlets and sunlets (Isa_3:18),
i.e. moon and sun-shaped amulets. The former in the shape of crescents
are worn by Arab girls of our own time. The
“ear-drops,”
“nose-rings,” “arm chains” and
“foot
chains” were all used as a protection to the part of the body
implied, and the strong words with which their employment is condemned
are only intelligible if their function as counter charms is borne in
mind. In Isa_3:20 we read of leḥāshīm
rendered “ear-rings” (the King James Version) and
“amulets” (Revised Version (British and American)).
The
Hebrew word seems to be cognate with the word for
“serpent”
(neḥāshīm;
“l” and “r” often interchange),
and meant
probably in the first instance an amulet against a serpent bite (see Magic,
Divination, and Demonology among the Hebrews and
Their Neighbours, by the present writer, 50 f, 81; compare Jer_8:7;
Ecc_10:11; Psa_58:5).
Crescent-shaped amulets were worn by animals as well as human beings,
as Jdg_8:21,
Jdg_8:26 shows.
At
Bethel, Jacob burned not only the idols (“strange
gods”)
but also the ear-rings, the latter being as much opposed to Yahwism as
the former, on account of their heathen origin and import.
In Pro_17:8 the Hebrew words
rendered “a precious stone” (Hebrew “a
stone
conferring favor”) mean without question a stone amulet
treasured
on account of its supposed magical efficacy. It is said in Pro_1:9
that wisdom will be such a defense to the one who has it as the head
amulet is to the head and that of the neck to the neck. The words
rendered in the Revised Version (British and American) “a
chaplet
of grace unto thy head” mean literally, “something
bound to
the head conferring favor,” the one word for the latter
clause
being identical with that so rendered above (ḥēn). The Talmudic
word for an amulet (ḳemīa‛) denotes
something tied or bound (to the person).
We have reference to the custom of wearing amulets
in Pro_6:21 where the reader is urged to
“bind them
(i.e. the admonitions of father and mother) ... upon thy
heart”
and to “tie them about thy neck” - words implying a
condemnation of the practice of trusting to the defense of mere
material objects.
Underneath
the garments of warriors slain in the Maccabean wars amulets were found
in the shape apparently of idols worshipped by their neighbors (2 Macc
12:40). It is strange but true that like other nations of antiquity the
Jews attached more importance to amulets obtained from other nations
than to those of native growth. It is probable that the signet ring
referred to in Son_8:6; Jer_22:24;
Hag_2:23 was an amulet. It was worn on the heart or
on the arm.
(2) The
Phylacteries and the Mezuzah
There
is no distract reference to these in the Old Testament. The Hebrew
technical term for the former (tephillīn) does not
occur in Biblical. Hebrew, and although the Hebrew word mezūzāh
does occur over a dozen times its sense is invariably
“door-(or
“gate-”) post” and not the amulet put on
the
door-post which in later Hebrew the word denotes.
It
is quite certain that the practice of wearing phylacteries has no
Biblical support, for a correct exegesis and a proper understanding of
the context put it beyond dispute that the words in Exo_13:9,
Exo_13:16, Deu_6:8 f;
Deu_11:18-20 have reference
to the exhortations in the foregoing verses: “Thou shalt bind
them (the commands previously mentioned) for a sign upon thy hand, and
they shall be for frontiers between thy eyes. And thou shalt write them
upon, the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates” (Deu_6:8
f). The only possible sense of these words is that they were to hold
the precepts referred to before their minds constantly as if they were
inscribed on their arms, held in front of their eyes, and written on
the door-posts or gate-posts which they daily passed. That the language
in
Exo_13:9,
Exo_13:16 does not command the use of phylacteries is
obvious, and that the same is true of
Pro_3:3; Pro_6:21; Pro_7:3
where similar words are used is still more certain. Yet, though none of
the passages enjoin the use of phylacteries or of the mezūzāh,
they may all contain allusions to both practices as if the sense were,
“Thou shalt keep constantly before thee my words and look to
them
for safety and not to the phylacteries worn on head and arm by the
heathen.” If, however, phylacteries were in use among the
Jews
thus early, it is strange that there is not in the Old Testament a
single instance in which the practice of wearing phylacteries is
mentioned. Josephus, however, seems to refer to this practice (Ant., IV, viii,
13), and it is frequently spoken of in the Mishna (Berākhōth,
i, etc.). It is a striking and significant fact that the Apocrypha is
wholly silent as to the three signs of Judaism, phylacteries, the mezūzāh and the cīcith (or tassel
attached to the corner of the prayer garment called ה, ṭallith;
compare Mat_9:20; Mat_14:36 the
King James Version where “hem of the garment” is
inaccurate and misleading).
It is
quite evident that phylacteries have a magical origin. This is
suggested by the Greek name
phulaktērion (whence the
English name) which in the 1st century of our era denoted a counter
charm or defense (phulassō,
“to protect”) against evil influences. No scholar
now
explains the Greek word as denoting a means of leading people to keep (phulassō) the law. The
Hebrew name tephillīn
(= “prayers”) meets us first in post-Bib. Hebrew,
and
carries with it the later view that phylacteries are used during prayer
in harmony with the prayers or other formulas over the amulet to make
it effective (see Budge,
Egyptian Magic, 27).
Literature
In
addition to the literature given in the course of the foregoing
article, the following may be mentioned. On the general subject see the
great works of Tyler (Early History of Mankind, Primitive
Culture) and Frazer, Golden Bough; also the series of
articles under “Charms and Amulets” in Hastings' Encyclopedia
of Religion and Ethics and the excellent
article “Amulet” in the corresponding German work,
Die
Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. See further the article
“Amulet” in Jewish Encyclopedia,
and on Egyptian amulets, Budge, Egyptian Magic,
25ff.
Charm
charm:
Definition. - The word charm is derived from the Latin carmen,
“a
song,” and denotes strictly what is sung; then it comes to
mean a
magical formula chanted or recited with a view to certain desired
results. Charm is distinguished from amulet in this, that the latter is
a material object having as such a magical potency, though it is
frequently an inscribed formula on it that gives this object its power.
The word charm stands primarily for the incantation, though it is often
applied to an inscribed amulet.
A
charm may
be regarded as having a positive or a negative effect. In the first
case it is supposed to secure some desired object or result. In the
second, it is conceived as having the power of warding off evils, as
the evil eye, the inflictions of evil spirits and the like. In the
last, its negative meaning, the word “countercharm”
(German, Gegenzauber) is commonly used.
Charms
are divisible into two general classes according as they are written
(or printed) or merely spoken:
(1)
Written charms - Of these we have examples in the phylacteries and the
mezūzāh noticed in the article AMULET. In Act_19:13-20
we read of written charms used by the Ephesians, such as are elsewhere
called
(ἐφέσια
γράμματα,
ephésia grámmata).
Such magical formulas were written generally on leather, though
sometimes on papyrus, on lead, and even on gold. Those mentioned in the
above passage must have been inscribed on some very valuable material,
gold perhaps, or they could not have cost 2,000 British pounds (=
50,000 drachmas). Charms of the kind have been dug up from the ruins of
Ephesus. In modern Egypt drinking-bowls are used, inscribed with
passages from the Koran, and it is considered very lucky to drink from
such a “lucky bowl,” as it is called. Parts of the
Koran
and often complete miniature copies are worn by Egyptians and
especially by Egyptian soldiers during war. These are buried with the
dead bodies, just as the ancient Egyptians interred with their dead
portions of the Book of the Dead or even the whole book, and as the
early Abyssinians buried with dead bodies certain magical texts.
Josephus (Ant., VIII, ii, 5) says that Solomon composed incantations by
which demons were exorcised and diseases healed.
(2)
Spoken
charms are at least as widespread as those inscribed. Much importance
was attached by the ancients (Egyptians, Babylonians, etc.) to the
manner in which the incantations were recited, as well as to the
substance of the formulas. If beautifully uttered, and with sufficient
frequency, such incantations possessed unlimited power. The stress laid
on the mode of reciting magical charms necessitated the existence of a
priestly class and did much to increase the power of such a class. The
binding force of the uttered word is implied in many parts of the Old
Testament (see Jos_9:20).
Though the princes of Israel had promised under false pretenses to make
a covenant on behalf of Israel with the Gibeonites, they refused to
break their promise because the word had been given. The words of
blessing and curse were believed to have in themselves the power of
self-realization. A curse was a means of destruction, not a mere
realization (see Nu 22
through 24, Balaam's curses; Jdg_5:23; Job 31).
In a similar way the word of blessing was believed to insure its own
realization. In Gen_48:8-22 the greatness of Ephraim and Manasseh is ascribed
to the blessing of Jacob upon them (see further Exo_12:32; Jdg_17:2; 2Sa_21:3).
It is no doubt to be understood that the witch of Endor raised Samuel
from the dead by the recitation of some magical formula (1Sa_28:7).
Charmer
One who practises serpent-charming (Psa_58:5; Jer_8:17; Ecc_10:11). It was an early and universal opinion that the most venomous reptiles could be made harmless by certain charms or by sweet sounds. It is well known that there are jugglers in India and in other Eastern lands who practice this art at the present day.
In Isa_19:3 the word “charmers” is the rendering of the Hebrew 'ittim, meaning, properly, necromancers (R.V. marg., “whisperers”). In Deu_18:11 the word “charmer” means a dealer in spells, especially one who, by binding certain knots, was supposed thereby to bind a curse or a blessing on its object. In Isa_3:3 the words “eloquent orator” should be, as in the Revised Version, “skilful enchanter.”
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