The Ancestral Power of Amulets, Talismans, and Mascots

Independent scholar Pennick (Witchcraft and Secret Societies of Rural England) delivers an informative reference on the history of Western charms, amulets, symbols, and the belief that people are “protected, assisted or healed by a benevolent influence that is inherent within the objects.” Pennick keeps a European (and largely English) focus while tracing cultural attitudes toward superstition that at different periods—such as the rise of Catholicism and Protestantism—shifted perceptions of fortune and magic. Christian religious concepts from throughout Europe, he notes, became absorbed into local spiritualities of “astrologers, fortune-tellers, alchemists, magicians, and amulet makers” between the sixth and 10th centuries (and vice versa), such as British belief in the magical powers of “Irish stones,” the keeping of bones as powerful relics, and the relationship between sun worship and depictions of God and Jesus as the sun. Pennick explains the origins of good-luck charms like horseshoes and rabbits’ feet, as well as lucky or unlucky correspondences with certain numbers, and charts how materials such as metals, woods, and graveyard dirt were imbued with distinctive properties for protection and healing. A lengthy bibliography provides plenty of fodder for those who wish to delve deeper. Academics and magic practitioners will be enlightened by Pennick’s comprehensive guide. [em](May) [/em]