Islamic magic

The following translation of the first eleven Divine Names of the eighth chapter of the first book of al-Būnī’s ‘Great Sun of Gnoses’ has been made from both the Beirut printed edition (1420 AH/2000 CE: 67-70) as well as the critical Arabic text provided in Jamie Coullaut Cordero’s digitally published PhD dissertation, El Kitāb Šams al-Ma‘ārif al-Kubra (al-ŷuz’ al-awwal) de Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Būnī: Sufismos y ciencias ocultas, University of Salamanca, 2009: 104-7 (PDF: 142-5). This publication is merely a sample from an ongoing translation. The entire book and its chapter have already been translated by us.  Here a sample is being offered to the numerical value of Hūwa (=11).

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.

In Islamic magic, the Greatest Name of God is traditionally represented in graphic form by a series of seven glyphs known as the Seven Seals; the series is also known to Jewish Kabbalah. Ciphers of a very different appearance, characterised by strings of single-letter (ha’ and ‘ayn) repeats, are another recurring feature of Islamic amulets, as for example in the popular “Pleiades Square.” These ciphers are often found close to occurrences of the Seven Seals and, while much less well known, they too are alleged to represent the Greatest Name. In the present communication, an unexpected avian association for the repeat-letter ciphers is explained in terms of the mythology of the Pleiades star cluster. Moreover, the ciphers are shown for the first time to relate directly to the Seven Seals via a ca. twelfth-century CE prototype of the latter preserved in a manuscript copy of the Diwan of Ali (Brit. Mus. 577 Add. 7534). While this prototype was soon supplanted by the now canonical version of the Seven Seals, degraded forms of the Diwan series seem to have survived incognito as the repeat-letter ciphers, which persist in Shi‘a talismanic plaques sold today. Two other unexpected survivals/revivals of the Diwan Seal series in talismans of recent manufacture are also presented: one inscribed on an Ethiopian silver ring, the other concluding a Jewish Kabbalah scroll. The newly proposed Seal–cipher–Pleiades relationship links two auspicious heptads by associating the Seven Seals with the Seven Stars, a conjunction reminiscent of the seven stars/seals nexus in Revelation 1-6.

In Islamic mysticism and theurgy, the Seven Seals represent in graphic form the Greatest Name of God; in Jewish Kabbalah, the Seals bear individual Divine Names which collectively form a “Great Name.” We review and compare the primary interpretations and secondary associations for each Seal in Islam and Judaism, from which it is clear that the two traditions have developed largely independent understandings of the individual symbols. Nevertheless, points of convergence – such as the interpretation of the fourth Seal as a ladder and an ascent to/of goodness – do exist. Conversely, the attributes of the third Islamic and seventh Jewish Seals have a surprising amount in common. Collectively, the Seals have been linked via word- and letter-counting to key affirmations of each religion: the Islamic ones to the Shahāda, the Jewish ones to Psalm 46:7,11. In contrast to the Islamic Seals, individual correspondences are rarely given for the Jewish Seals and are inconsistent across sources. Kabbalistic amulets are more likely to employ the Names of the Seals than their symbols, and when present the latter are often much degraded; in contrast, Islamic talismans make frequent use of the symbol series. In Islamic magic, the Seven Seals are associated with the seven Ṭahaṭīl Names, which exhibit possible similarities to the Names of the Seals in Kabbalah. Intriguing overlaps of the Jewish Seal Names with Egyptian mythology and Vedic Sanskrit are explored, but ultimately it is thought more likely that the  seven Names derive from the Names of God’s fingers and eyes (five plus two, respectively) in the Shīʿūr Qōmah of the Hekhalot literature. Fittingly, exegesis of the Seals in both Judaism and Islam contains general themes of hands/fingers and sight/blindness.

An Exorcism Charm Attributed to ʿAlī

An exorcism charm attributed to ʿAlī in Ibn Ṭāwwūs’s muhaj al-daʿwāt wa minhaj al-ʿibāda (The Spirit-Heart of Invocations and the Path of Worship): Introduction, Critical Translation, Plates and Critical Notes.

This article (re-)considers a unique Qurʾān manuscript in ciphered characters (Ar. al-taʿmiya), reminiscent of the ring letters of the Graeco- Egyptian tradition (Brillenbuchstaben). The case of this Qurʾān manuscript offers an opportunity to decode (Ar. istikhrāj al-muʿammà) a cryptographed text, to date and localize a very special Quranic codex, and to investigate the history of the collections it passed through, as well as the religious and cultural context of its production. Lastly, it examines the relations between Islam and magic—with which cryptography is often associated.

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Nella Toscana del Seicento, l'incontro con uomini di fede islamica era un'esperienza molto più comune di quanto non si possa oggi supporre. A Livorno, in particolare, i numerosi schiavi «turchi» costretti a vogare sulle galere del granduca erano alloggiati in una struttura apposita: il Bagno. Gli abitanti di questo microcosmo carcerario non erano tuttavia isolati dal mondo, ma intrattenevano relazioni lecite ed illecite con l'esterno. Il «turco», pur rimanendo il nemico dall'aura terrificante che dominava di là dal mare, si rivelava anche come il facchino che portava l'acqua al mattino, il gestore di una bottega di barbiere, o lo stregone a cui ricorrere per risolvere i consueti mali d'amore.

This is the final version of my study of a locally crafted violin and a bundle of manuscript booklets in Arabic, Malay, and Maranao from the southern Philippines. It deals especially with a Maranao diviner's handbbook and the question if how it and the violin might have ended up in unidentified private hands in Boston in the 1960s.

. En este estudio presentamos un nuevo tipo de talismán figurado de época medieval islámica hallado en Nina Alta (Teba, Málaga). Este nuevo hallazgo permite avanzar en el conocimiento de la interpretación simbólica de los talismanes antropomórficos islámicos. La iconografía de la pieza que aquí damos a conocer permite vincularla con la ciencia de la correspondencia, conocida en el ámbito de la gnosis islámica con el nombre “ciencia de la Balanza” (ʻilm al-Mīzān) y practicada por los alquimistas.

The paper discusses choreutic dance imagery (termed: Dastaband / Da'kasa) depicted in Seljuq objects and manuscripts of the 11th through the 14th centuries.  I argue for cosmic and magical interpretations of this dancing mode in a variety of folk and courtly contexts.

The article discusses the principles of choices for the inclusion of the Koranic text fragments in Islamic ritual practice, mainly in the rites of passage. The unity of the main set of ayahs and suras, recited at the turning points of an individual’s life, is a consequence of their initially functional purpose and transmission through the common Islamic tradition dating back to the rise of Islam. The meaning, as well as the value of the text itself, also play an important role in its inclusion in the ritual actions. The existing differences maintained within the framework of local Muslim cultures are explained by both the pluralism of local traditions and the difference in ways to sacralization of the Quranic text and the Arabic language.

"The cultural and historical setting of the Near East provides a unique opportunity to study a longer usage of sealing practices in administration and magic, which extends beyond the constraints of a specific time period or region. Comparing ancient practices with more recent ones can offer important insights into the development of sealing practices and provide answers to specific questions related to the handling of seals and the social status of the seal bearer.
This collection of papers is the result of the workshop "Seals and Sealing Practices from Ancient Times until the Present Day. Developments in Administration and Magic through Cultures". The meeting was organized by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo on December 2-3, 2009, on the occasion of the annual Cleveringa lecture, delivered by Prof. Dr. Petra Sijpesteijn from the University of Leiden. It had the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cairo.
Since the initiative towards the workshop was taken by staff members of the NVIC, the focus was on Egypt but other cultures in the Near East and Central Asia were also considered. Following up on the workshop, the present volume retains the geographical and chronological scope, but added a few contributions dealing with the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods. Glancing at the content, the reader will be struck by the diachronic and spatial persistence of the use of seals for administrative and other purposes, and by their multi-functionality. Indeed, sealing practices appear to be at least as consistent as writing systems, from their first appearance to modern times. One of the reasons for their success is their ability to adapt to the diverse political, social and cultural pecularities of the multicultural societies at the time."

Contents:
I. Regulski: Introduction
K. Duistermaat: Which came first, the bureaucrat or the seal? https://www.academia.edu/2233602/2012._Which_Came_First_the_Bureaucrat_or_the_Seal_Some_thoughts_on_the_non-administrative_origins_of_seals_in_Neolithic_Syria
V. Muller: Do seal impressions prove a change in the administration during the reign of King Den? https://www.academia.edu/8100885/DO_SEAL_IMPRESSIONS_PROVE_A_CHANGE_IN_THE_ADMINISTRATION_DURING_THE_REIGN_OF_KING_DEN
H. Tomas: The transition from the Linear A to the Linear B sealing system.
U. Dubiel: Protection, control and prestige - seals among the rural population of Qau-Matmar.
K. Vandorp and B. van Beek: 'Non signat Aegyptus'? Seals and stamps in the multicultural society of Greco-Roman Egypt.
N. Ritter: On the development of Sasanian seals and sealing practice: a Mesopotamian approach. https://www.academia.edu/3318468/On_the_development_of_Sasanian_seals_and_sealing_practice_A_Mesopotamian_Approach
B. Caseau: Magical protection and stamps in Byzantium. https://www.academia.edu/2225337/Magical_Protection_and_Stamps_in_Byzantium
J.-Cl. Cheynet and B. Caseau: Sealing practices in the Byzantine administration. https://www.academia.edu/2225348/Sealing_Practices_in_the_Byzantine_Administration_with_J.-Cl._Cheynet_
C. Kotsifou: Sealing practices in the monasteries of Late Antique and Early Medieval Egypt. https://www.academia.edu/3717482/Sealing_practices_in_the_monasteries_of_Late_Antique_and_early_Medieval_Egypt
Petra Sijpesteijn: Seals and papyri from Early Islamic Egypt
E. Fernandez-Medina: The seal of Solomon: from magic to messianic device. https://www.academia.edu/1544509/_The_Seal_of_Solomon_from_magic_to_messianic_device_
Sabine Dorpmueller: Seals in Islamic Magical Literature
Karl R. Schaefer: Block printing as an extension of the practice of stamping.

This paper answers five questions concerning Arabic magical texts in documentary sources (primarily papyri, but also other materials). The given answers can serve as a guide for researchers in magical texts. Special emphasis is put on influences from and to neighboring magical traditions (Greco-Roman, Coptic, Jewish/Geniza).

Within approximately two centuries of the birth of Islam, Sunni mystics were developing a doctrine of nūr Muḥammadī (the Light of Muḥammad), which proposes that the soul of the Prophet Muḥammad existed prior to the creation of humankind. Bestowed in the form of resplendent light to Adam, the nūr Muḥammadī was passed from prophet to prophet until the coming of Muḥammad himself. This study proposes a relationship between this doctrine and the practice of writing upon bodies. Forms of Islamic magic, including the fabrication of amulets and talismans (alherçes), employed individual letters, words, phrases, and symbols—constructed of specific materials often under precise circumstances—that, in combination with their placement on a physical body, harnessed and focused magical powers. The term “bodies,” in this case, is employed broadly to refer to both the human form and materials such as paper or cloth, metals, tablets, and even buildings. This analysis will consider a range of Aljamiado documents produced by the Moriscos of Spain between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

L’approche codicologique des manuscrits arabes a amené les chercheurs à trouver des informations, parfois très précieuses, dans des sources parfois délaissées: textes brefs, feuillets isolés, certificats de lecture, attestations d’achat des manuscrits, notamment. Ces éléments nous informent sur la circulation des livres, et nous donnent certains indices permettant de dater les manuscrits. D’autres informations sont d’une grande utilité, en particulier pour ceux qui s’intéressent à l’histoire ..

My contribution to this conversation proposes an alternative approach to formulas thought to exemplify Morisco magical practices that focuses on the ecology of their manuscript context. That is, to consider the ways in which written organisms—talismans, potions, formulas, prescriptions, diagrams and other imagery, ingredients, vocabulary, grammatical and syntactical structures, handwriting styles, and other topographical features—coexist within their pages. How do words and ideas move through a text? Where does connective tissue give way to moments of separation and vice versa? How do segments of text speak to or question one another? Such an approach is messy and uncomfortable. It challenges the reader to suspend preconceptions of the magical and the medicinal; to resist the temptation to compartmentalize according to Arabized Galenic, Neoplatonic, or Scholastic Christian interpretations. Rather, each formula in a text must be scrutinized objectively, allowing it to speak from and through its environment. As I hope to demonstrate, this type of close reading may help to parse out a more nuanced understanding of how Morisco practitioners may have classified magic and medicine, not as static points along a spectrum of religion, magic, and science, but as moving and evolving constructs.

From the point of view of cultural history, one may describe reality as a continuum, ranging from tangible objects to natural phenomena, from things of everyday experience to things felt but unseen, up to things (commonly) unfelt and unseen but, nevertheless, considered to exist. All these categories are divided by most human cultures into different spheres, some explicable, some ordinary, but with causes unattainable for the human intellect, and some completely inexplicable as pertaining solely to the will and actions of a supreme being. We name these spheres, whose borders and extent shift in history (e.g. through a "disenchantment" process) or even within a given culture at a given moment, as nature, the preternatural and the supernatural; and Islamicate cultures have seen the world through similar categories (aja'ib, ghara'ib, al-ghayb, kharik al-'ada and so forth). Furthermore, cultures throughout history have developed technologies aiming to exercise some control over things considered beyond the grasp of the ordinary mind (magic, divination and other occult sciences). Whereas not only European but also non-Ottoman (and especially pre-Ottoman) Islamicate perceptions and techniques dealing with the supernatural have been the object of intense study for more than a century now, very little work has been done with respect to Ottoman culture. No more than a handful of scholars have touched questions related to perceptions on what is supernatural and what is not, what can be explained and controlled and what is dependable only on God's will, to what extent everyday reality is intermingled with supernatural elements. Nor do we have more than very few studies of Ottoman occult sciences; while it is true that historians of Islamic magic often reach as far as Taşköprüzade and Kâtib Çelebi, they only do so through their works in Arabic and without examining their historical context. The international workshop "Nature and the supernatural in Ottoman culture" seeks to explore this research potential, gathering together scholars interested in the topic with the aim of future collaboration. The workshop is organized by the research project "GHOST: Geographies and Histories of the Ottoman Supernatural Tradition:

This article covers how the West African khatimulu (Islamic numerical tables) are presently applied and taught in Western Europe. First, an introduction to the khatim is followed by a presentation of the context of the West African Mandinka marabout. Then, all the crucial components used in the design of the khatim – from the choice of initial sacrifice, the size of the khatim, the principles of numerology, the personalization of the khatim, the use of possible metaphysical agents, to Koranic quotes and physical substances to enhance the effect – is described. Further, the methods of two interviewed marabouts based in Sweden are compared with the classic Islamic esoteric literature and earlier ethnographic research. Finally, the clients for the services of the marabouts based in Western Europe are identified as primarily non-Muslim native Europeans, not West Africans. [Islamic magic, magic squares, marabout, Sufism, talismans, West Africa]