Magic Amulets Christian Magic

Εικόνα εξωφύλλου Έργο της Μαντώς Παπαϊωάννου φιλοτεχνημένο ειδικά για την έκδοση (λάδι σε καμβά, 0,30x0,23 μ.) Βάσκανος Οφθαλμός Η πολυκίνητη ματιά, διάχυτη σαν μια πνοή φωτός, σαν φωτιά με θαυμαστή δύναμη και ορμή, φέρνει συχνά μαζί της τη μοχθηρία και το φθόνο. Ο άνθρωπος πράττει και πάσχει πολλά εξαιτίας της. Και όχι μόνο ο άνθρωπος, αλλά και κάθε ζωντανός οργανισμός ή άψυχο αντικείμενο, που μπορεί να μας «μαγέψει» με την ομορφιά και τη χάρη του. Η πίστη στην ύπαρξη του «βάσκανου οφθαλμού», βαθιά ριζωμένη στους αρχαίους λαούς, διατηρείται μέχρι τις μέρες μας, κεντρίζοντας το ενδιαφέρον ακόμη και της επιστήμης. Για την εξουδετέρωσή του επιστρατεύονται ποικίλα αντιβασκάνια και τελετουργικά: φτύσιμο στον κόρφο, χειρονομίες αποτροπαϊκές, επικλήσεις μαγικές, φυλακτά φτιαγμένα από μέταλλο, χάντρες, λίθοι και κορδέλες, αγαλμάτια και άλλα αντικείμενα με απωσίκακες δυνάμεις. Αυτά τα θαυμαστά ή φοβερά σύμβολα φυλακίζουν το βάσκανο βλέμμα, διασπούν τη δύναμή του και ελευθερώνουν από τα ασφυκτικά δεσμά της βασκανίας.

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 is here translated for the first time into English.

This report provides scanned images of a non-figurative Ethiopian magic scroll for Yemeru Walda-Ab. Its imagery is of the diagrammatic type and has high talismanic density. Brief curatorial notes are included, including analyses of client name insertions, one of the drawings and some voces magicae, but the main intention is to provide high-resolution (zoomable) images that will allow others virtual access to the artifact.

Precious Apothecary is a translation of Botica Preciosa, a Catholic Grimoire compiled by Ângelo de Sequeira Ribeiro do Prado (1707-1776) who was perhaps the most important Brazilian missionary in history. The Botica Preciosa (1754) was his first book and is a collection of prayers, devotions and exercises to the Lady of the Rock and 120 other Saints. Suffused with the author's missionary purpose the book also contains the consecrations and blessings for oils, flowers, statues and food, as well as exorcisms and prayers for many ailments intended for situations where no priests were available. This is a leading work of pragmatic religious practice in which Sequeira addressed the devotional needs of the ordinary people, and thereby gained a significant following in both Portugal and Brazil.

This work presents an exceptional insight into practices outside the influence of a Protestant narrative, offering a window into the multifaceted world of baroque Catholicism, heresies, deviations and Rigorist movements within this. The Catholic Pantheon of Saints is introduced, together with its hierarchy and the techniques needed to access and work with them. The book also includes extensive instructions on the creation and consecration of the materia sacra/ magica, rarely found outside of liturgical literature.

This grimoire presents a system which will appeal to Catholics (and other Christians) with an interest in magic, and those exploring pre-contemporary forms of spirit work from within a Christian framework. It is likewise essential reading for occult scholars and practising magicians interested in exploring Christian Magic, seeking sources for folk magic and expanding their knowledge of the grimoire tradition.

This online event is part of the project, “Early Jewish and Christian Magical Traditions in Comparison and Contact” (EJCM), which is funded by the European Research Council (grant agreement no. 851466; Host institution: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice).

Date: Monday 23 May, 2022
Time: 5:00pm–6:30pm (CET)

Schedule:
5:00pm–5:30pm (CET): Marco Moriggi, “Comparison and its limits. A perspective for a new approach to Aramaic magic texts of Late Antiquity in a comparative perspective.”

5:30pm–6:00pm (CET): Ortal-Paz Saar and Mya Castro, “Reading and Writing Magic: The Gendered Use of Magic Books”

6:00pm–6:30pm (CET): Discussion

Zoom Registration:
Register in advance for this meeting:
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Editio princeps of bronze leaf-shaped amuletic pendant with a suspension loop (BNF Schlumberger.190) featuring inscriptions in Greek and Samaritan Hebrew, iconographical elements (the 'Holy Rider' motif; a lion trampling on a snake) and charaktêres.

Object study of a pottery amulet, ostensibly from Israel/Palestine, which came to light in a deceased estate. While it seems to date from Late Antiquity, almost every aspect of this pendant is unexpected. Its shape – a three-armed star – lacks amuletic precedents. Its surfaces bear crude figurative images which seem to have been incised after the clay was fired. On one face, three male anthropomorphic figures – reminiscent of figurae magicae from the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) in their crudeness, disposition and ambiguity – surround a central five-pointed star. On the other face appears another male anthropomorph together with two horned deer or antelopes, two canine or feline predators, and a fish; the man and the animals all seem at peace together. The bucolic scene continues onto one edge thickness, where an additional stag-like beast appears with two more of the predators. The scenes do not conform to known templates, such as the repertoire from magical gems, and resist interpretation. The two other edge thicknesses contain pseudo-inscriptions.

PGM P13 consists of a long invocation to Jesus and a request for protection against all possible evils, and can be dated to the early fifth century. Although its reference to Charon and description of the descent of Jesus to the underworld makes it one of the most exciting pieces in Preisendanz’s collection of Christian magical texts, it has not been treated in detail since its publication in 1900 by Adolf Jacoby. This article presents some corrections to the previous editions on the basis of a black-and-white image of the papyrus available online. The text is followed by a detailed line-by-line commentary, which aims at situating the text in the context of the literature read and produced in the period in Egypt, as well as of the Christian ritual texts. The article finishes with a discussion of the salient features of this remarkable text, as the creedal
formulas, the reference to the descent, and the mention of Charon, which
allows us to catch a glimpse of the author, a Christian intellectual in search of ritual efficacy.

The unpublished article demonstrates that the content of Ps 91 comes from a tradition of amulets. It is therefore not surprising that Ps 91 itself was used as an amulet by both Christians and Jews. The psalm even reappears in a strongly secularized context as a text of consolation and defiance, as the grave of the philosopher Max Horkheimer and his parents shows.

The study of amulets brings us into contact with the thoughts and desires of hundreds of
anonymous, inconsequential people at the most strained emotional moments of their lives,
revealing their innermost thoughts, and helping us understand the religious atmosphere of
that epoch. Although the majority of Greco-Roman and Late Antique amulets lack a secure
archaeological context, there are a few among them that have been recovered in situ, in
ancient Macedonia. This paper draws attention to these particular amulets, allowing a better
understanding of the people that wore them, their problems, their motivations, their deepest
needs, in order to shed some new light on the everyday religious life of the ancient Macedonians.

The aim of this article is an exploring and ordering analysis of preserved
monuments of Late Antique healing magic that contain Christian elements. There were studied dozens of artefacts (amulets, magical papyri, lamellae), containing a reference to the Christian content, coming mostly from Egypt, but also from Syria or Asia Minor, and dating mostly from the beginning of the third to the seventh / eighth century. Out of this set there has been selected group of texts that due to the nature of their content can be regarded as the syncretic magic, combining pagan and Christian motifs. Overview of this sources shows wide variation of verbal-textual practices within the framework of this kind of magic. The most interesting seems to be the question, how does this kind of magic refers from the one side to the pagan (or better, syncretic-pagan) healing spells, and on the other to those texts that represent only the world of Christian meanings. At first glance, it seems that it remains at a very close relationship with the fi rst group. Christian motifs and content are here treated first and foremost as kind of tools (considered effective
in relation to the whole system of association carried by them), functional equivalents of other magical means.

Celem niniejszego artykułu jest zwrócenie uwagi na konieczność podjęcia problematyki teoretycznej i metodologicznej w badaniach nad obecnością magii w starożytności chrześcijańskiej (z wychyleniem również na inne epoki) oraz wyrażenie sugestii odnośnie podjęcia w tej dziedzinie dyskusji. Pojęcie magii, a co za tym idzie również ocena fenomenu magii i praktyk magicznych jest uwikłana w systemy wartościowania z punktu widzenia nauki i religii. W przypadku chrześcijaństwa, samo postawienie problemu: świat wczesnochrześcijański a magia ewokuje konieczność postawienia pytania o założenia co do natury religii chrześcijańskiej, z którymi podchodzimy do jego badania. Z poznawczego punktu widzenia, w obliczu danych, przede wszystkim archeologicznych, wskazujących na praktykowanie magii w ramach społeczności wczesnochrześcijańskich, najbardziej funkcjonalne wydaje się potraktowanie magii jako ambiwalentnego, ale jednak integralnego elementu ich mentalnego i rytualnego krajobrazu. Otwiera to możliwości podejścia do całej kwestii z zastosowaniem narzędzi nie tylko historycznych czy historyczno-teologicznych, ale również religioznawczych i antropologicznych, wypracowanych głównie w ramach rozległych badań nad miejscem i rolą magii i czarów w światopoglądach społeczności tradycyjnych, również w warunkach transformacji ich systemów wierzeniowych w związku z procesami chrystianizacyjnymi. Ponadto można w związku z tym wyróżnić kilka przestrzeni badawczych, w których potraktowanie magii jako pewnego strukturalnego komponentu mentalnej mapy świata antycznego każe zapytać o jej znaczenie dla adekwatnej rekonstrukcji różnych aspektów historii wczesnego chrześcijaństwa.

A new edition a Greek amulet to protect Nymphikos, whom Sosike bore, from every demon and every evil, using the opening verse of Deuteronomy 32 “Pay heed, o heaven and I will speak, because I have proclaimed the name of the god of Jacob!” followed by two parallel lists of male and female names, one list beginning “(and) of the god of Abraham, (and) of the god of Isaac,” etc., but ending with “the god of the Sabbath”, while the other names four Jewish women, some of them famous, interspersed with the names of four angels. The amulet or the magical recipe on which it was based was produced by someone, perhaps a Jew or Christian, with a basic knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and perhaps also of the New Testament.

The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...

The manuscript Dresden, Landesbibliothek, M 206 is a paper manuscript in a small quarto format with 136 leaves. The main part of the manuscript was written at about 1515 and contains texts in Thuringian-East Franconian and Latin. The textual composition of this part is without precedent in the history of German literature. Two main scribes and four later hands collected here only text, which the theological discourse of this period would classify as superstition or magic: text on divination, introductions for ritual magic and a huge collection of textual amulets.
What was the function of this collection of amulets, which the text itself calls fundamentum leonis pape super omnes caracteres? Was it used as a handbook for the production of amulets? But why are the introductory phrases often missing and why is the name of Reynhart Trugses inserted in the text wherever possible? Or was this collection meant to give the book itself apotropaic efficacy and the codex used as magical agent?

La conception de la magie résiste aux essais de définition simplistes. En français, comme dans d’autres langues européennes modernes, le mot « magie » peut désigner les actes miraculeux qui défient les lois de la nature – la magie de Harry Potter, mais aussi les actes de sorcellerie, considérés comme une alliance avec le diable – la magie qui a suscité la chasse aux sorcières au Moyen-Âge, ainsi que l’illusionnisme, l’art du spectacle qui consiste en une tromperie – la magie de Georges Méliès et de Harry Houdini. Cette fluidité de signification a mené plusieurs chercheurs des dernières décennies à interroger ce mot et à se demander s’il en reste une conception utile. Nous voudrions examiner ici les conceptions de la magie dans l’Égypte chrétienne pour montrer comment une approche prudente peut nous permettre de comprendre l’imaginaire dont la magie était une partie.

The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...

This essay offers the first sustained interpretation of the poetics of P. Oxy. VIII 1077—a sixth-or seventh-century c.e. healing amulet in which the presumably Christian practitioner constructs efficacy through scriptural citation, visual features, material peculiarities, and performative action. Drawing on literary and material evidence and utilizing insights from diverse disciplines, this paper argues that the practitioner attempted to heal the client by ritually wrapping him or her (through the amulet's drawing) in the power of Jesus's healing ministry, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. The paper also highlights how " magical " objects might contribute to the history of the book.

The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...

The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...