Amulets and Talismans: A History from Egypt to the Renaissance

Amulets and talismans are objects believed to carry protective or beneficial power, worn on the body, placed in houses or buried with the dead. In modern usage an amulet is usually something that wards off harm, such as an eye bead or a written verse, while a talisman is an object deliberately made, often under particular astrological conditions, to draw down a specific power; historically the two words overlapped and many objects served both purposes.

Amulet and Talisman: Words and Definitions§

Pliny the Elder, writing his Natural History in the 70s CE, used amuletum for objects that protect against harm, such as plants hung around the neck. The word's origin is uncertain. "Talisman" has a different history: the Greek telesma referred to a consecrated or ritually completed object, and it entered Arabic as ṭilasm (plural ṭalāsim), the term for astrologically made images that captured celestial power. Through Arabic, the word passed into Spanish, French and English in the early modern period.

The neat modern distinction between a passive protective amulet and an active talisman owes much to nineteenth- and twentieth-century occultists. In practice, an Egyptian heart scarab, a Byzantine Solomon medallion or an Ottoman talismanic shirt could protect, heal and bring favour all at once. Historians therefore usually speak of "amulets" broadly and reserve "talisman" for objects tied to astrological or consecration rites.

Egyptian and Near Eastern Amulets§

Ancient Egypt produced amulets in enormous numbers from the predynastic period onwards, in faience, stone, gold and other materials. The wedjat or eye of Horus symbolised wholeness and healing; the scarab beetle evoked Khepri, the self-renewing sun; the djed pillar meant stability; the tyet or "knot of Isis" offered the goddess's protection; and the ankh signified life. Mummies were wrapped with dozens of amulets placed at prescribed positions, and the heart scarab, inscribed with a spell from the Book of the Dead, was meant to stop the heart from testifying against its owner at the judgement. Many household amulets depicted Bes and Taweret, protectors of women in childbirth.

In Mesopotamia, stone plaques showing the demoness Lamaštu, and small bronze heads of the demon Pazuzu, were hung in houses to protect mothers and infants, an example of fighting one demon with another. These traditions are described in Mesopotamian Magic.

Greek and Roman Amulets and Magical Gems§

Greek and Roman children, soldiers and travellers wore protective objects. Freeborn Roman boys wore the bulla, a locket containing protective material, until they came of age. The fascinum, a phallic charm, was thought to deflect the evil eye, as did the gorgon's head. Lamellae, thin sheets of gold or silver inscribed with divine names and rolled into tubes, carried written prayers on the body.

A distinctive group of objects, the so-called magical gems of the Roman imperial period (roughly the first to fourth centuries CE), were engraved with figures such as the cock-headed, snake-legged god often called Abrasax, the lion-headed serpent Chnoubis (associated with digestion), Egyptian deities and strings of voces magicae. Campbell Bonner's Studies in Magical Amulets (1950) remains a foundation of their study. The instructions in the Greek Magical Papyri for making such objects are discussed in Greco-Roman Magic.

Jewish, Christian and Islamic Written Amulets§

The three Abrahamic faiths share a culture of the written word, and this shaped their amulets. Two tiny silver scrolls from Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem, usually dated to the late seventh or sixth century BCE, bear the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26 and are among the oldest surviving biblical texts. Later Jewish practice developed the kamea, a written amulet with divine names, angelic names and verses, which became especially common for the protection of mothers and newborns. Rabbinic law debated which amulets were "proven" and therefore permitted.

Early Christian amulets quoted the opening of the Gospels, the Lord's Prayer, Psalm 91 or the legendary letter of Christ to King Abgar. Church fathers such as John Chrysostom criticised such practices, yet they persisted throughout the Middle Ages, often blended with the cult of relics and blessed objects. In the Islamic world, amulets (taʿwīdh, ḥirz) used Qurʾanic verses, the names of God, magic squares (wafq) and the seal of Solomon, which is discussed in Solomon's Ring and Seal. Ottoman and Safavid talismanic shirts, covered with verses and numerical squares, were worn by rulers and soldiers.

Astrological Talismans and the Picatrix§

The most systematic theory of talismans came from the Arabic-speaking world. The Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm ("The Goal of the Wise"), probably compiled in al-Andalus in the tenth or eleventh century and translated into Spanish and then Latin under Alfonso X of Castile in the mid-thirteenth century as Picatrix, explained how images engraved at astrologically chosen moments could capture the spirit of a planet. Drawing on al-Kindī's theory of rays, it treated the talisman as a vessel for celestial influence. The work is described in the catalogue entry for the Picatrix, and related planetary ring texts appear under Messalah's seven rings.

Latin scholars were divided. The Speculum astronomiae, traditionally attributed to Albertus Magnus, distinguished acceptable "astrological images" that worked only by the stars from abominable images that involved invocations and characters. Thomas Aquinas argued that images inscribed with letters and signs could only work if addressed to demons. The debate shaped the whole later history of image magic.

Renaissance Seals and Planetary Squares§

In the Renaissance, Marsilio Ficino's Three Books on Life (1489) cautiously discussed talismans as a means of attracting beneficial planetary spirit, while Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1533) gave tables of planetary magic squares, seals and characters of planetary intelligences and spirits, inviting readers to engrave them on metals sympathetic to each planet. These designs, explained in Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, passed into grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, whose pentacles are a form of talisman, and later into the teaching of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where members designed and consecrated their own talismans.

Paracelsus and his followers also wrote on astrological seals for healing, and early modern medicine continued to use amulets against plague and epilepsy well into the seventeenth century, when physicians increasingly questioned them.

Amulets Today§

Amulets remain part of everyday religious life across the world: the blue eye bead (nazar) in Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean, the hamsa hand in North Africa and the Middle East, Catholic scapulars and medals, Buddhist and Hindu protective threads and printed charms. Museums hold vast collections, and scholars study them as evidence of the hopes and fears of people whose voices rarely appear in written history. For the wider practice of warding off harm, see Protective Magic.

Frequently asked questions§

What is the difference between an amulet and a talisman?§

In modern usage an amulet protects by warding off harm, while a talisman is made to attract a particular power or benefit, often by being created under specific astrological conditions. Historically the terms overlapped and many objects did both.

What were the most common Egyptian amulets?§

The eye of Horus, the scarab, the djed pillar, the tyet knot and the ankh were among the most widespread. Figures of household deities such as Bes and Taweret were also popular, especially for the protection of women and children.

Did Christianity forbid amulets?§

Church authorities repeatedly condemned amulets that used unknown names or characters, but tolerated or encouraged blessed objects, relics and Gospel texts. In practice the line between devotional object and amulet was often blurred.

What are planetary squares?§

They are magic squares of numbers associated with the seven classical planets, from a three-by-three square for Saturn to a nine-by-nine square for the Moon. Medieval Arabic and Latin sources used them on talismans, and Agrippa popularised them in 1533 together with seals derived from them.

Sources and further reading§

• Studies in Magical Amulets, Chiefly Graeco-Egyptian — Campbell Bonner, 1950
• Amulets of Ancient Egypt — Carol Andrews, 1994
• Amulets — W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1914
• Picatrix: A Medieval Treatise on Astral Magic — Dan Attrell and David Porreca (trans.), 2019
• Three Books on Life — Marsilio Ficino, 1489
• Three Books of Occult Philosophy — Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, 1533
• Ancient Jewish Magic: A History — Gideon Bohak, 2008
• Magic in the Middle Ages — Richard Kieckhefer, 1989
• Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella — D. P. Walker, 1958