Amulets

"Amulets have been used by people of many cultures as a means of warding off evil. The custom of wearing pieces of paper, parchment or metal inscribed with charms or formulas to protect the wearer is a very ancient one.  The Museum owns a number of amulets, magical charms from Jewish communities of a century or so ago, mostly from the Near East. Although Jewish communities have not generally been associated with these magical charms, they were a custom in the recent past. The rabbis rather reluctantly allowed the making of these amulets as long as the words on them and the characters named were only those named in the Bible or of authentic religious texts or actual Biblical quotes — then they felt it was permissible. The amulet pictured is from Morocco."  Source is The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art.  Link here. 

Ghau

Image source from nepal crafts blog -  link here.

A Gau (also spelled Ghau or Gao) is a Tibetan Buddhist amulet container or prayer box, usually made of metal and worn as jewelry. As a small container used to hold and carry powerful amuletic objects, the Gau is culturally equivalent to Latin American package amulets, African-Americanconjure bags or mojo hands, South American charm vials, and American wish boxes.  Source link here. 

Amulets

The Amulets of Seramon

By Grant Ellis

Seramon, ancient priest of Thebes, has lain in state in a French museum since 1851. He died 3000 years ago, a royal scribe and a middle-class Egyptian of importance who wore an impressive necklace of amulets as protection against real and imagined dangers. His embalmers, according to their custom, wrapped additional protective amulets in linen and placed them on and in his abdominal and thoracic cavities after they removed his organs. None of these artifacts has ever seen the light of day. Seramon’s mummy remains intact and undisturbed.

In January 2007, an ambulance carried Seramon from the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology through the streets of Besançon to the University Hospital, where Dr. Samuel Mérigeaud was waiting in the Radiology Department. Seramon’s amulets had become the subject of Mérigeaud’s doctoral thesis in radiology. He needed detailed, realistic 3D images derived from CT scan data. This is a specialty of I.M.A SOLUTIONS, a French team of physicians and imaging experts who combine medical imaging expertise with a passion for Egyptology. Benjamin Moreno, a I.M.A SOLUTIONS co-founder, tells us about this collaboration and how the remarkable images of Seramon’s amulets were created.

Continue reading at apple.com/science.  Link here.

Rubin Museum of Art

This summer I visited the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City.  This is a wonderful place - if I lived in NYC I would take advantage of all the Rubin offers - exhibits, lectures, music, art making, film and a restaurant. You can link here to see the programs offered.   

Tibetan Amulet Box

One of my interests is objects made for reasons that support a belief system.  The amulet box has always interested me - a portable shrine.  Not only is it an object but it creates a space, a place to worship. I pulled some of my notes on other objects and spaces and posted information and my thoughts below. 

Ark of Covenant

From what I have read, the Ark has not been revealed but is housed in a church in Ethiopia. Someone is with the Ark at all times and the public is not allowed inside the building.

Stupa in Gotemba, Shizuoka City, Japan

Stupa crowning, Java, Indonesia

After the death of the Buddha, the relics of His body were collected from the funeral pyre and divided into eight parts. Stupas were erected on the relics. The practice of pilgrimage in Buddhism probably started with visits to these places, the purpose of which was to achieve personal advantage such as rebirth in a good location, as well as to honour the great master. 


The below text is from an exhibition at the Rubin entitled Pilgrimage and Faith.  Link here.

"For millennia people of all faiths have embarked on the practice of pilgrimage, journeying to a sacred place or shrine of special religious significance, while proceeding at the same time on an inner, spiritual journey. Objects associated with pilgrimage—whether works of high artistic skill or those intended for everyday use—often reveal deep human needs that transcend particular faiths.

Pilgrimage and Faith explores these important spiritual journeys in three of the world's largest religious traditions: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. While reflecting on the shared goals of personal development and communal solidarity evident in each tradition, the exhibition also highlights their particular ritual practices and artistic expressions.

The exhibition features diverse examples of objects from each faith, including a Chinese Buddhist pilgrimage map, a Tibetan Buddhist hand prayer wheel, a twelfth-century Christian reliquary casket, Muslim clay prayer tablets."