How do amulets work

An amalgamation of forces integrated to evidence its supposed healing power. But is it an amulet? Carillon wheels were once common within churches, especially in Brittany. Through exploring the history of the amulet, we have so far identified that these objects have a clear relationship with or proximity to the body, can be materially varied — comprising of mineral, animal or vegetable and inscribed, manmade or natural — and occasionally valued as rarities.

Yet most importantly as described by Pliny since the first century CE amulets were worn and used for therapeutic, apotropaic or exorcistic benefit. They are invested with the power to heal or protect. In a similar vein, the relationship between amulets and religion is often inconsistent within museum collections.

At the Science Museum, many amulets are connected with religion; from objects used by Hindu pilgrims, to Jewish manuscripts, to skull-caps printed with Catholic saints, as well as several items relating to less established religious practices.

This group of objects therefore epitomise the problematic relationship between religion and amulets, highlighting potential mutual exclusivity. Yet votive objects only represent one facet of religious material culture. Religion has undeniably played and continues to play an important part in healing, exemplified materially by amulets from across different centuries, geographies and cultures.

It would be foolish to disassociate religion and amulets, when both provide analogous forms of protective and curative power. This symbiotic potency is demonstrated by our ninth amulet. This is a brass pendant, representing the Virgin and Child on one side, with the depiction of a man threatening a dog with a stick on the other. A suspension loop indicates this amulet, like many others, was efficacious when worn on the body. These objects, shaped like nails, were apparently hung on the walls of houses to offer prophylaxes against rabies, or heated and placed on the wound afflicted by a rabid dog as a means of remedy.

St Hubert — AD was one of several Christian saints said to cure rabies. Examples can be seen in both the Pitt Rivers and Science Museums, and show how — like the pendant depicting the Virgin — religious power was employed to remedy this disease.

Marian protection against rabies is materialised by this amulet. The religious power invested within this pendant is not distinct from the physical devices of imagery, inscription and means of bodily suspension it uses to convey and facilitate its amuletic potency. These different types of healing power were synonymous in the medieval and early modern periods, until those like John Browne — who contended that a gold angel was not a necessary part of the cure for scrofula — argued that they could be divided.

The conflation and symbiosis of disparate sources of potency is common within amulets, and is exemplified definitively by our final object. Our tenth object combines many of the efficacious features of amulets discussed in this article.

This is an item thought to protect against the plague, made in Bavaria, Germany in the eighteenth century. Instead, the amulet was permanently folded often into decorated paper cases and worn on the person Tycz, ; Ettlinger, , p The images on the underside sheet of paper include the Virgin Mary and saints including St Francis, St Ignatius, St Antony of Padua and St Francis of Solanus; the latter, canonised in , situating this amulet chronologically.

Other materials embedded in the paper demonstrate this further; coral, for example, was recognised for its magical, medical and protective effects in the early modern period, and often used to heal Handley, Other objects in the central composite may have been related to a particular pilgrimage site; pieces of bone or hair may indicate personal relic collections, with names of saints in each corner perhaps indicating a connection with the named figures Tycz, This breverl, dated —, brings together many of the important features of amulets that this article has explored.

Its efficacy depended on several components. Like the gold angel, it was to be worn on and kept close to the body it was intended to heal or protect, manifest in its portability. The use of manmade, natural, animal, vegetable and mineral substances demonstrates the multiplicity of materials that amulets could consist of. Like the sigil, its words and images were invested with dynamic potency such that they even worked when never directly read or viewed.

Like many amulets, different types of power were combined in the creation and function of the breverl, conflating religious potency with secular and magical forms of potency; demonstrated by the things affixed within the central composite.

The variety of materials that make up this amulet and the several curative methods it draws upon render it multi-functional; reputedly protective against both demons and plague, and perhaps even more Ettlinger, , p These ten objects have provided a glimpse of how amulets can tell stories about the history of healing.

They have demonstrated their diversity in many ways. Their material composition ranged from natural to manmade, or human to animal; to metals, papers, woods and plastics.

Some were inscribed and stamped, denoting symbols, images, numbers and words. Most were suspended from bodies; others from buildings. Some material properties were featured often, commonly available and sought after; whilst the value of others was determined by their status as rarities.

The primary function of some amulets was to heal or protect a body, animal or home. In other cases, the curative or prophylactic role of an amulet was a secondary function, established and perpetuated by the owner, collector, possessor or wearer.

Some aligned with religious and spiritual potency; others drew upon the faculties of astrology, magic, fate, fortune or luck. Yet despite this great variety, culturally and materially distinct elements work in symbiosis in the manufacture and use of an amulet.

No single material, feature or source of power is incompatible with another. In many cases, these objects gained potency and value precisely by combining several elements together we need only remember our last two amulets. This is not to argue that we cannot identify cultural shifts and historical discontinuities with regard to these things. When viewed together, these ten amulets lived through a period of monumental change as well as continuity.

The Reformation and Counter-Reformation brought religious turbulence and upheaval to Europe from the early sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century, as Protestant reformers attempted to reform the church and a schism was generated within Western Christianity. More recently, the increasing secularisation of society had effects that are reflected in material objects.

Astrology receded from established employment, and luck became more prominent. New materials such as plastics appeared. Yet many elements remained constant — words and inscriptions have been used to render and represent curative and prophylactic power from the earliest amulets in our examination to the most recently manufactured. Rarities continued to be revered as potent items.

Many still drew upon human materials; many used or were intended for animals. Most continued to be potent only when worn close to the body. All relied on faith in the power of material objects. And all formed a part of the history of healing. These are by no means black and white statements. Just as these ten amulets present one history, other narratives could be found from the analysis of another ten. Yet this article has demonstrated the often-overlooked complexities of amulets, and their situation as a real, potent facet of healing and prophylaxis within their own contexts.

The ten objects analysed in this paper evidence important features of illness, health, protection and life that would be lost if we sought answers from texts alone. They show us that from the early modern period to the modern day, healing and protection employed many different sources of power, and took various different material forms.

Amulets do not have to be considered universally according to every institution or individual; part of the appeal of using objects in historical research is precisely that different contexts and narratives can be unfolded using the same thing. However, it is important to question these objects and explore their histories; to remember that the status, function, value and cultural meaning of amulets are not fixed but ever-changing; not to disregard or uncritically accept their complexities, but actively engage with them.

This article has argued for the dismissal of anachronisms and of treating amulets as a monolithic group of bizarre, mysterious objects, belonging to an enigmatic, alien past. Instead, by exploring their differing powers and values, we can discover not only about the things themselves, but their various social and functional contexts, and their legitimate place in the history of early modern healing. Despite his ambivalence, he was still cured of colic. For a recent introduction to early modern English medicine, see Andrew Wear, For an overview of Renaissance medicine more generally, see Nancy Siraisi, For a useful social history of medicine in this period, see Harold Cook, , pp — For an overview of the different types of healers in early modern England, see Mark Jenner and Patrick Wallis ; Margaret Pelling, OED Online.

March Oxford University Press. For a discussion and definitions of each, see Skemer, , esp. For instance, Pitt Rivers Museum object numbers Archival information sent to the author confirms there is no evidence of the item being used for luck, or the original owners referring to is as lucky.

Whilst the remits of this article prevent a detailed discussion of these two collectors, further information can be found. Secondary analysis of Lovett is scant, but his monograph provides an excellent starting point see Edward Lovett, Also rich in information about Lovett is Cadbury, See for example the astrological sigil discussed on pp 10—12 of this article. A highly prevalent date range for amulets in the Science Museum collection is around —, encompassing the lives of Wellcome, Lovett, and other prominent collectors who provided objects for the Museum such as Adrien de Mortillet — For an example of amulets in a particular time period, see Don Skemer, Some pieces are even written to provide instruction as well as historical context, for instance Robert Dancik , See for example, Browne, , document image et passim.

Michael Hunter and Anna Marie Roos have noted that coins and medals were often collected as amulets or for cabinets. See Anna Marie Roos, , pp —, esp. Similar examples of cauls can be seen for instance at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, i.

Edward Muir has speculated that the reason for this potency stems from the fact that since before birth the caul had permitted the foetus to live within fluid, it could prevent drowning in water for adults.

Every month beside luck comes with a caul If safe put by, If lost she may cry: For ill luck on her will fall. Charles Dickens, ; , pp 13— For John Monson, see corresponding entries in Ashmole , f.

For context on such rarities in cabinets of curiosity, see Findlen, , pp —; p et passim. Findlen, , p Roud, , p ; Ettlinger, , p For examples in other museums, see Horniman Museum object number Browne, , Book 5, Ch. Kassell, a, pp 50—1. Kassell cites Simon Forman here, Ashm. For Forman, like other astrologer-physicians, such practices were at the core of his medical practice; see Kassell, b, p Kassell, b, p Table of the 16 signs are found on p ; seal, intelligence and table on p ; full sigil on p On the magic square pattern like the one on this sigil, see Roos, Also Barrett and Trithemisu, , esp.

On coins as magical objects, see Maguire, On stamping, see Park, On sigils as items of curiosity, protective and curative objects, and amulets, see Roos, When the rose is also a wheel, this could symbolise the up and down movement of human life. They may also have a profound religious message; Kingdoms rise and fall, but the Kingdom of God abides forever. Roberts, The former theory about the rector is attributed to Yves de Boisboissel, but no work is referenced.

For instance, catalogue numbers A; A and A respectively. For ties to smaller religious denominations, see for instance A Figures correct at time of writing, 16 April Whilst catalogues are not completely accurate, this nonetheless this provides an interesting pattern.

On 24 May , a survey with the use of metal detectors was undertaken on the northwestern hillfort slope. Among other small finds, a small rounded block made of corroded lead was discovered, see Fig. In accordance with standard archaeological practice, the object was carefully cleaned with water, and it appeared to be made from a folded lead sheet. Some other small fragments were removed during further cleaning. But surprisingly, the engraved late Carolingian minuscule script began to appear see Fig.

Photography of the amulet from both sides. The words callidi diaboli are recognizable on the right, in the second line.

The second line of the text contains the words callidi diaboli Based on later research, it was clarified that similar artefacts have been discovered in graves in the territory of Germany mainly Saxony-Anhalt and identified as medieval Christian amulets. This discovery was followed by research into the origin and age of the object as well as by research into the possibilities of reading the remaining text which was most likely concealed inside.

The revisionary field survey carried out during the ongoing deforestation showed that we can assume the previous existence of a forest path passing across the slope, heading southwest towards the foot of the hillfort. In an analogy with amulets found in the territory of Germany, we assume that the object could have been shifted by erosion from its original location, probably in the context of a grave or settlement in the hillfort, or was lost, thrown away or deposited after usage closer to its finding place.

Any possible decoration of the outer faces of the amulet parallels from Central Germany often show crosses or other apotropaic symbols was lost due to massive corrosion. As these faces were partially lost, some fragments of the Latin text originally hidden inside of the amulet came to the surface on both sides of the amulet.

The optically visible text is schematically depicted in Fig. It was made from a lead sheet with a thickness of 0. The sheet was inscribed on one side and then folded so that eight layers could be identified see Fig.

After its inscription, the lower part of the text side was folded in half horizontally onto the upper part. In the second step, the left and the right side of the sheet were again folded in half towards the middle and again unto each other, so that the now closed amulet looked like a small book in codex format.

See Fig. Schematic illustration of the amulet folding: a unfolded sheet with optically visible text, sheet is divided into 8 parts pages hereafter marked by letters A—H according to folding scheme; b folded up along horizontal centerline; c sides bent towards vertical centerline; d and e final folding along vertical centerline; f and g top part of the sheet virtually removed with text partially visible in accordance with present condition depicted in Fig.

This includes, for example, the name of the protected person, further details about the nature of the addressed condition and its causing entities, the formulae used to banish them and the heavenly forces employed. However, these are surely present in other parts of the text. Because of the rareness of the amulet it is the first leaden sample from medieval Bohemia and the risk of irrevocable damage and the potential loss of the text-bearing surface caused by mechanical opening, a non-invasive method of accessing the hidden inscription was sought.

The only solution seemed to be the exposure and reading of the entire inscription by tomographic measurement. This measurement was the only way to read, without damaging the artefact, the entire text concealed within the folded lead sheet. X-ray computed tomographic CT reconstruction gives us insight about the three-dimensional inner structure of the investigated object from a series of two-dimensional radiographic images projections taken during rotation of the investigated object in relation to the imaging line consisting of an X-ray tube and X-ray imaging detector.

The reconstruction itself is ordinarily performed by utilizing a well-known filtered back projection algorithm. As a result of the CT reconstruction, a 3D matrix of the voxels volumetric pixels is obtained.

Each voxel represents the calculated density of the object at a specific point. Inspection of the volume is usually done by going through and viewing its planar cross sections slices thereafter.

Each selected slice has a coordination system identical with the global one by default, but it can be changed to have a slice crossing the volume at arbitrary angles. A related visualization of the reconstructed data was also done using VG Max software it this work. In general, the parameters of the tube have to be chosen in accordance with the X-ray attenuation of the object. Only a very small portion of the incident X-rays pass through the investigated amulet due to its high X-ray attenuation.

Therefore, the maximal possible tube voltage and current have to be selected to produce a reasonable signal in the X-ray images — the signal-to-noise ratio has to be high enough to allow recognition of the features searched the hidden inscription. High tube voltage leads to the intensive scattering of X-rays — resulting in blurred projections. Moreover, high tube current leads to a large emission spot on the tube target and, thus, a decrease in image resolution.

As a result, CT measurement is quite challenging for such dense materials as lead. Amulet fixed inside a Plexiglas tube installed on a rotation stage between the X-ray tube and detector. The detector right behind the stage is covered by steel sheets to reduce the scattering effect. A tin filter cutting-off low-energy photons is mounted onto the X-ray tube head in front of the sample at left.

The distance between the tube and detector is minimized to have the maximal possible photon flux within a given magnification. The position of the detector and stage can be set in the accordance with actual requirements. Besides the shielding, X-ray intensity decreases with the square of its distance.

Various tube and geometrical parameters of the CT scanner were tested, from which a tube voltage of kV and 0. The scattering effect was reduced by utilizing a 3.

The full tomographic data set covered by projections represented almost 5 h for acquisition, including the time needed for the detector read-out. An example of the frontal and lateral 3D visualization of the reconstructed amulet is depicted in Fig.

The visible halo phenomenon on the right comes from the X-ray photons scattering. Looking into the reconstructed volume, it appears almost as like the amulet was made from one solid block of lead. See the horizontal slice in Fig. This means that the lead sheets are visible as separated only partially due to the intensive scattering of X-rays and due to compression of the amulet after its folding.

Identification of the individual pages of the amulet regarding its folding scheme was therefore not possible. This makes reading the unattached amulet harder, compared to another artefact where the silver sheet is not itself attached Hoffmann et al. Nevertheless, single inscribed letters are manifested as voids in this slice in the longitudinal slice as well. If we look at the frontal slice Fig. However, the identification of whole words is relatively unsure, because the bending of the writing surface is not parallel to any tomographic slice due to the deformation of the amulet.

This problem can be partially resolved thanks to morphological data processing — the reconstructed amulet was virtually straightened. Compare Fig. The text afterward became much more easily recognizable. The next step was the identification of the amulet pages within the reconstructed volume. It was necessary to go through and look for text fragments in individual frontal slices, respecting that text orientation changes in accordance with the folding scheme.

Moreover, it was necessary to slightly change the spatial orientation of the frontal slice to follow the local orientation of the amulet page. After many hours of checking the visible text fragments, the amulet was virtually unfolded see Fig.

An additional high-pass filter was applied on the amulet pages to suppress variations of the reconstructed density caused by the geometry of the folded lead sheet compare Fig. Note that the slice spatial orientation for each page was selected to maximize the visible text, i.

The disadvantage of this tube for our purposes was its relatively large spot size of 0. The EZRT scanner has a fixed tube-detector distance of mm with a variable tube-object distance, allowing it to change projection magnification. In total, projections were acquired at a geometrical magnification of 1. The reconstructed volume was processed in the same manner as the CET measurement above.

The virtually unfolded amulet is depicted in Fig. Contrary to Fig. Once the amulet was unfolded, the identification of the whole text was simplified. We can document the process of text searching on page A see Fig. When some text fragment is found, the missing letters are found by looking at slices above and below.

A slight slice spatial tilting is also applied for this purpose. An example of the text identification: a pax et pat is visible in the first line; b the missed letter r is recognizable — pax et patr in field A is completed; c text fragment um Roszmyc in the second line; d previously missed letters completing the words into [t]uum Roszmycil.

Generally, the text interpretation and the identification of single letters are often possible only if the context is taken into account.

See the next chapter for more details. The text reading and interpretation are complicated due to several factors.

The letters do not have enough contrast in many cases. Also, their position and form can be shifted from the original state through the folding process, and some words are evidently missed, especially in areas around folding bends or where the material is heavily cracked and corroded. Moreover, some unusual word forms, magic formulas, and symbols were found which are difficult to interpret. For these reasons, we can assume that a full-text interpretation would still remain questionable in parts, even if the amulet was physically unfolded in the future.

Passages in bold script are optically recognizable on the outsides of the amulet. All italic letters are derived from the tomographic slices only, sometimes with only parts of the letters recognizable. They are given in their most probable determination as far as possible, even if the resulting word is not yet interpretable.

The amulet features the drawing of a cross in a rectangular field in lines 6—8, with the following syllables written in its four courners: io t heh ioh h eh. The phrase pax et patrocinium l.

Neither phrase had yet been known from surviving amulets nor manuscript formulae, but the invocation of the Holy Cross usually sanct a e crucis is common. Instead of the barely determinable sacr[o]- , we initially thought of an interspersed sup[er? Super famulum tuum Roszmycil dei l. Both name components are well attested for in the old Czech language of the twelfth century.

The following section of single words interspersed with crosses lines 2—4 may have been derived from one or more pre-existing list s of divine names and powerful words. In it, Saint Valentine and probably Mother Mary are addressed to aid the bearer. The most explicit conjuration follows in line 4 with the formula adiuro , which should forbid the evil entity from harming the amulet bearer.

Its object albis refers to a mysterious — but originally not necessarily evil — being of Germanic mythology. Parallels are well attested from contemporary lead amulets and manuscript charms, but the beings are designated mostly by the gendered and pluralized terms eluos aut eluas or in similar forms Simek ; Gastgeber and Harrauer