Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195171303
- eISBN:
- 9780199785193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171303.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter explores the devotion to San La Muerte (St. Death) in northeastern Argentina. It explains the evolution of San La Muerte from a Guaraní-Christian amulet to a folk saint, and examines ...
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This chapter explores the devotion to San La Muerte (St. Death) in northeastern Argentina. It explains the evolution of San La Muerte from a Guaraní-Christian amulet to a folk saint, and examines contemporary devotion in Corrientes and Chaco provinces.Less
This chapter explores the devotion to San La Muerte (St. Death) in northeastern Argentina. It explains the evolution of San La Muerte from a Guaraní-Christian amulet to a folk saint, and examines contemporary devotion in Corrientes and Chaco provinces.
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Yehudah Cohn, and Fergus Millar
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265222
- eISBN:
- 9780191771873
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265222.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter describes contemporary documentary texts, written on stone, mosaic or papyrus, or on amulets or magic bowls. It does not aim to provide a full bibliography of these documents, but simply ...
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This chapter describes contemporary documentary texts, written on stone, mosaic or papyrus, or on amulets or magic bowls. It does not aim to provide a full bibliography of these documents, but simply to offer a guide to those publications that gives the reader the easiest access to the original text, a photograph of it and, where available, a translation.Less
This chapter describes contemporary documentary texts, written on stone, mosaic or papyrus, or on amulets or magic bowls. It does not aim to provide a full bibliography of these documents, but simply to offer a guide to those publications that gives the reader the easiest access to the original text, a photograph of it and, where available, a translation.
Marjorie Topley
Jean DeBernardi (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028146
- eISBN:
- 9789882206663
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028146.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
There are few Chinese rites for which some kind of paper charm or prayer sheet is not necessary. Some of these papers are specific to a particular rite but many may be used in a general way to cover ...
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There are few Chinese rites for which some kind of paper charm or prayer sheet is not necessary. Some of these papers are specific to a particular rite but many may be used in a general way to cover most of the misfortunes which man may encounter wherever he lives. Some charms can be used for several or all of these purposes, but an individual may prefer, or by trial and error come to regard as more potent, a particular one of the many varieties available. Charms generally carry religious texts, sometimes in Sanskrit or Pali translated phonetically into Chinese characters, and some have a drawing of the god or saint appealed to. Mystic symbols are used to donate constellations, and archaic writing adds power to a charm. Paper charms are of various kinds, usually with the functions they claim to perform printed on them in bold letters. One of the commonest kinds is the fu2 amulet.Less
There are few Chinese rites for which some kind of paper charm or prayer sheet is not necessary. Some of these papers are specific to a particular rite but many may be used in a general way to cover most of the misfortunes which man may encounter wherever he lives. Some charms can be used for several or all of these purposes, but an individual may prefer, or by trial and error come to regard as more potent, a particular one of the many varieties available. Charms generally carry religious texts, sometimes in Sanskrit or Pali translated phonetically into Chinese characters, and some have a drawing of the god or saint appealed to. Mystic symbols are used to donate constellations, and archaic writing adds power to a charm. Paper charms are of various kinds, usually with the functions they claim to perform printed on them in bold letters. One of the commonest kinds is the fu2 amulet.
Jill Rappoport
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199772605
- eISBN:
- 9780199919000
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199772605.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, Women's Literature
Literary annuals from the 1820s and ’30s not only shaped the way women imagined giving by modeling scenes and styles of exchange but, by cultivating a larger ethos of generosity for this publishing ...
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Literary annuals from the 1820s and ’30s not only shaped the way women imagined giving by modeling scenes and styles of exchange but, by cultivating a larger ethos of generosity for this publishing enterprise, also positioned readers as gift recipients, placing them under the burdens and benefits of gift exchange. As gifts, annuals created a reading community and urged that community to engage in reciprocal efforts—either by passing along the gift of the annual itself or by engaging in the other kinds of exchange (charitable, abolitionist) it promoted. However, their focus on reciprocity limits the communities they endorse; the narratives direct readers’ sympathies away from less-fortunate recipients and back toward peer relationships with donors. Annuals are thus a key site for exploring how women’s literature helped to construct, not just represent, the giving subjects and networks that this book explores.Less
Literary annuals from the 1820s and ’30s not only shaped the way women imagined giving by modeling scenes and styles of exchange but, by cultivating a larger ethos of generosity for this publishing enterprise, also positioned readers as gift recipients, placing them under the burdens and benefits of gift exchange. As gifts, annuals created a reading community and urged that community to engage in reciprocal efforts—either by passing along the gift of the annual itself or by engaging in the other kinds of exchange (charitable, abolitionist) it promoted. However, their focus on reciprocity limits the communities they endorse; the narratives direct readers’ sympathies away from less-fortunate recipients and back toward peer relationships with donors. Annuals are thus a key site for exploring how women’s literature helped to construct, not just represent, the giving subjects and networks that this book explores.
Keith Bradley
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199268412
- eISBN:
- 9780191708589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268412.003.03
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter investigates the harder side of family life in ancient Rome in a survey of diseases and treatments of illnesses by focusing on the extent to which disease was regarded as a special ...
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This chapter investigates the harder side of family life in ancient Rome in a survey of diseases and treatments of illnesses by focusing on the extent to which disease was regarded as a special characteristic of childhood in the Roman world, and, if it was, how parents responded to it. It also looks at the illnesses that were associated with childhood. By modern western standards, Roman children suffered from appalling levels of sickness that were generally incurable, even conditions that seemed trivial. When survival was all that mattered, every expedient had its place. When children survived, an element of the miraculous was involved, and perhaps an answer to prayer. In the process of recovering Roman family experience, a prime place might indeed be properly allowed for parents regularly praying to their household gods for their children's safe entry into the adult world. Two types of charm especially employed as medical remedies for children were the phallic amulet and the bulla.Less
This chapter investigates the harder side of family life in ancient Rome in a survey of diseases and treatments of illnesses by focusing on the extent to which disease was regarded as a special characteristic of childhood in the Roman world, and, if it was, how parents responded to it. It also looks at the illnesses that were associated with childhood. By modern western standards, Roman children suffered from appalling levels of sickness that were generally incurable, even conditions that seemed trivial. When survival was all that mattered, every expedient had its place. When children survived, an element of the miraculous was involved, and perhaps an answer to prayer. In the process of recovering Roman family experience, a prime place might indeed be properly allowed for parents regularly praying to their household gods for their children's safe entry into the adult world. Two types of charm especially employed as medical remedies for children were the phallic amulet and the bulla.
Theodore de Bruyn
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199687886
- eISBN:
- 9780191767340
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199687886.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This book examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice—the writing of incantations on amulets—changed in an ...
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This book examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice—the writing of incantations on amulets—changed in an increasingly Christian context. It addresses three questions. First, how did the formulation of incantations and amulets change as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman Empire? Second, what can we learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them? Finally, how were incantations and amulets indebted to the rituals or ritualizing behaviour of Christians? The book analyses amulets according to types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. The book argues for ‘conditioned individuality’ in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon—by what is called ‘tradition’ in the field of religious studies.Less
This book examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice—the writing of incantations on amulets—changed in an increasingly Christian context. It addresses three questions. First, how did the formulation of incantations and amulets change as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman Empire? Second, what can we learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them? Finally, how were incantations and amulets indebted to the rituals or ritualizing behaviour of Christians? The book analyses amulets according to types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. The book argues for ‘conditioned individuality’ in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon—by what is called ‘tradition’ in the field of religious studies.
Jeremy D. Smoak
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199399970
- eISBN:
- 9780199399994
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199399970.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, History of Christianity
This book presents a synthesis of recent discoveries bearing upon the early history and function of the biblical priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26. The book gives special focus to the importance ...
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This book presents a synthesis of recent discoveries bearing upon the early history and function of the biblical priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26. The book gives special focus to the importance of the discovery of the blessing on two silver amulets from Jerusalem dating to the late Iron Age and several other Iron Age inscriptions containing parallels to the blessing. The analysis of the inscriptions provides a new way to approach the meaning and significance of the instructions for the blessing in the biblical book of Numbers. The study argues that the writing of the blessing within the book of Numbers represented an appropriation of the practice of writing blessing formulas within certain ritual spaces in the ancient southern Levant. In this way, the book highlights that a central aspect of the blessing’s function in ancient Judah was not only the recitation of the blessing but also the writing of the blessing upon various materials in the Iron Age. By highlighting this aspect of the blessing’s function in ancient Judah, the book paves the way for a more nuanced understanding of the background and significance of the blessing’s eventual scripturalization in early Jewish and Christian literature.Less
This book presents a synthesis of recent discoveries bearing upon the early history and function of the biblical priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26. The book gives special focus to the importance of the discovery of the blessing on two silver amulets from Jerusalem dating to the late Iron Age and several other Iron Age inscriptions containing parallels to the blessing. The analysis of the inscriptions provides a new way to approach the meaning and significance of the instructions for the blessing in the biblical book of Numbers. The study argues that the writing of the blessing within the book of Numbers represented an appropriation of the practice of writing blessing formulas within certain ritual spaces in the ancient southern Levant. In this way, the book highlights that a central aspect of the blessing’s function in ancient Judah was not only the recitation of the blessing but also the writing of the blessing upon various materials in the Iron Age. By highlighting this aspect of the blessing’s function in ancient Judah, the book paves the way for a more nuanced understanding of the background and significance of the blessing’s eventual scripturalization in early Jewish and Christian literature.
David C. Parker
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657810
- eISBN:
- 9780191744860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657810.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, History of Christianity
This chapter asks the question ‘What is a New Testament manuscript”. It discusses papyrus copies, including amulets, ones with sentences for fortune-telling. Parchment majuscule manuscripts are ...
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This chapter asks the question ‘What is a New Testament manuscript”. It discusses papyrus copies, including amulets, ones with sentences for fortune-telling. Parchment majuscule manuscripts are discussed, and three other classifications, amulets, ostraca, and lapidary inscriptions. Next discussed are minuscules, in particular commentary (catena) manuscripts, their format, contents, the inconsistency with which they have been listed as copies of New Testament works, and their textual significance. Discussion then moves on to liturgical and lectionary manuscripts, paratext, and non-textual elements. It is concluded that, while traditional catalogues required that a manuscript be simply either included or excluded from a list of New Testament manuscripts, the use of databases with multiple fields abolishes the need to make the distinction. It is argued that there is no such thing as a New Testament manuscript, and that the concept of a canon functions only at the level of the collection of works.Less
This chapter asks the question ‘What is a New Testament manuscript”. It discusses papyrus copies, including amulets, ones with sentences for fortune-telling. Parchment majuscule manuscripts are discussed, and three other classifications, amulets, ostraca, and lapidary inscriptions. Next discussed are minuscules, in particular commentary (catena) manuscripts, their format, contents, the inconsistency with which they have been listed as copies of New Testament works, and their textual significance. Discussion then moves on to liturgical and lectionary manuscripts, paratext, and non-textual elements. It is concluded that, while traditional catalogues required that a manuscript be simply either included or excluded from a list of New Testament manuscripts, the use of databases with multiple fields abolishes the need to make the distinction. It is argued that there is no such thing as a New Testament manuscript, and that the concept of a canon functions only at the level of the collection of works.
Ellen Swift, Jo Stoner, and April Pudsey
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- November 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198867340
- eISBN:
- 9780191904103
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198867340.003.0004
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Egyptian Archaeology
The chapter illuminates how bracelets and torcs were used to construct social identities, and their importance as protective artefacts, using new evidence, particularly relating to diameter sizes, to ...
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The chapter illuminates how bracelets and torcs were used to construct social identities, and their importance as protective artefacts, using new evidence, particularly relating to diameter sizes, to question some previous interpretations of these artefacts. It starts with a preliminary discussion regarding identification and how these objects were worn. The data set of bracelets is then presented and evidence for dating of particular bracelet types is considered. Evidence for the use and social function of bracelets is then set out, particularly diameter sizes, which are shown to be important in identifying use by people at particular life course stages, for instance infants and children. Bracelets are shown to be especially common as a children’s item in Egypt, in contrast to other provinces. One particular type of bracelet, the amuletic disc bracelet, is shown to be associated with protection during pregnancy. The chapter then examines torcs, and following a literature review and discussion of dating evidence for particular types, it is established that most are of sixth- to seventh-century CE date. It is also shown that, contrary to established opinion, torcs do not have military associations in the late antique period, at least in Egypt. The diameter sizes of types of non-openable torcs instead show a strong bias to wear by infants and young children. The social functions of torcs are then discussed, which could include protection, status assertion, and signifier of dedication to a particular role. Other topics discussed include inheritance of these objects within families.Less
The chapter illuminates how bracelets and torcs were used to construct social identities, and their importance as protective artefacts, using new evidence, particularly relating to diameter sizes, to question some previous interpretations of these artefacts. It starts with a preliminary discussion regarding identification and how these objects were worn. The data set of bracelets is then presented and evidence for dating of particular bracelet types is considered. Evidence for the use and social function of bracelets is then set out, particularly diameter sizes, which are shown to be important in identifying use by people at particular life course stages, for instance infants and children. Bracelets are shown to be especially common as a children’s item in Egypt, in contrast to other provinces. One particular type of bracelet, the amuletic disc bracelet, is shown to be associated with protection during pregnancy. The chapter then examines torcs, and following a literature review and discussion of dating evidence for particular types, it is established that most are of sixth- to seventh-century CE date. It is also shown that, contrary to established opinion, torcs do not have military associations in the late antique period, at least in Egypt. The diameter sizes of types of non-openable torcs instead show a strong bias to wear by infants and young children. The social functions of torcs are then discussed, which could include protection, status assertion, and signifier of dedication to a particular role. Other topics discussed include inheritance of these objects within families.
Frances Garrett
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199860265
- eISBN:
- 9780199979929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860265.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter explores the care of children in Tibetan culture as seen in several works on the medical and ritual treatment and defence of children. These texts describe a remarkably broad range of ...
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This chapter explores the care of children in Tibetan culture as seen in several works on the medical and ritual treatment and defence of children. These texts describe a remarkably broad range of technologies for healing and protecting children, recommending the feeding of pills, soups, butters, beers, or texts to children, parents, or deities; physically manipulative techniques, such as surgery, washing, anointing, fumigating, or massaging; the wearing of all manner of amulets, talismans, strings, papers, ointments, or letters; and the theatrical staging of elaborate hospitality or ransom dramas. Through an examination of the making and use of these therapeutic and protective objects, the chapter proposes that studying the material culture of childhood may be a fruitful method for understanding the child as a category in Tibet.Less
This chapter explores the care of children in Tibetan culture as seen in several works on the medical and ritual treatment and defence of children. These texts describe a remarkably broad range of technologies for healing and protecting children, recommending the feeding of pills, soups, butters, beers, or texts to children, parents, or deities; physically manipulative techniques, such as surgery, washing, anointing, fumigating, or massaging; the wearing of all manner of amulets, talismans, strings, papers, ointments, or letters; and the theatrical staging of elaborate hospitality or ransom dramas. Through an examination of the making and use of these therapeutic and protective objects, the chapter proposes that studying the material culture of childhood may be a fruitful method for understanding the child as a category in Tibet.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226388700
- eISBN:
- 9780226388724
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226388724.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter begins its exploration of the number seventy two from the Slavonic erotapocritical text “How many are the names of God”? It discusses that the idea that the Lord has seventy two names ...
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This chapter begins its exploration of the number seventy two from the Slavonic erotapocritical text “How many are the names of God”? It discusses that the idea that the Lord has seventy two names appears in the Slavic material in two seemingly independent contexts. The first is the erotapocritical entry itself, a highly informative conceptual summary that is extant. The second is the amulet “These are the names of the Lord, seventy two in number”, whose extant traces are older, going back as far as the late thirteenth century, and much more numerous. Both texts place a strong emphasis on the concept of the seventy two names. The amulet advertises the names themselves as a potent protection against every evil. The point where the two contexts come together and suggest a possible direct relationship is the extremely peculiar codex MS Slav Jerusalem 22 from 1498.Less
This chapter begins its exploration of the number seventy two from the Slavonic erotapocritical text “How many are the names of God”? It discusses that the idea that the Lord has seventy two names appears in the Slavic material in two seemingly independent contexts. The first is the erotapocritical entry itself, a highly informative conceptual summary that is extant. The second is the amulet “These are the names of the Lord, seventy two in number”, whose extant traces are older, going back as far as the late thirteenth century, and much more numerous. Both texts place a strong emphasis on the concept of the seventy two names. The amulet advertises the names themselves as a potent protection against every evil. The point where the two contexts come together and suggest a possible direct relationship is the extremely peculiar codex MS Slav Jerusalem 22 from 1498.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226388700
- eISBN:
- 9780226388724
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226388724.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The remarkably successful career of the Slavic amulet of seventy two divine names hinges on one central event in its history: its initial printed publication. The text first appeared in 1520 as part ...
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The remarkably successful career of the Slavic amulet of seventy two divine names hinges on one central event in its history: its initial printed publication. The text first appeared in 1520 as part of a pioneering work of Cyrillic typography. The book, known as the Miscellany for Travelers, came out of the Venetian printing house of the Montenegrin entrepreneur Božidar Vuković —a central figure in the earliest chapter of modern Cyrillic bookmaking. Cyrillic typography appeared on the cultural map of Europe relatively late, however, early in the next century, the production of Cyrillic books moved almost entirely to Venice, which had established itself as perhaps the most important typographic center in Europe at the time. The publishing house of Vuković had much to do with the success of Cyrillic printing in Venice.Less
The remarkably successful career of the Slavic amulet of seventy two divine names hinges on one central event in its history: its initial printed publication. The text first appeared in 1520 as part of a pioneering work of Cyrillic typography. The book, known as the Miscellany for Travelers, came out of the Venetian printing house of the Montenegrin entrepreneur Božidar Vuković —a central figure in the earliest chapter of modern Cyrillic bookmaking. Cyrillic typography appeared on the cultural map of Europe relatively late, however, early in the next century, the production of Cyrillic books moved almost entirely to Venice, which had established itself as perhaps the most important typographic center in Europe at the time. The publishing house of Vuković had much to do with the success of Cyrillic printing in Venice.
Valentina Gasperini
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198818786
- eISBN:
- 9780191917271
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198818786.003.0008
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Egyptian Archaeology
Egyptian Pottery
Nile Silt
Bowl
Inventory number: Manchester Museum 864
Dimensions: H 5.2 cm; D 12 cm; T 0.7 cm
Fabric: Nile B2
Technology: Wheel-thrown
Description: Intact bowl: inturned rim, ...
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Egyptian Pottery
Nile Silt
Bowl
Inventory number: Manchester Museum 864
Dimensions: H 5.2 cm; D 12 cm; T 0.7 cm
Fabric: Nile B2
Technology: Wheel-thrown
Description: Intact bowl: inturned rim, convex wall with carination 1.3 cm below...Less
Egyptian Pottery
Nile Silt
Bowl
Inventory number: Manchester Museum 864
Dimensions: H 5.2 cm; D 12 cm; T 0.7 cm
Fabric: Nile B2
Technology: Wheel-thrown
Description: Intact bowl: inturned rim, convex wall with carination 1.3 cm below...
Ward Keeler
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824865948
- eISBN:
- 9780824876944
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824865948.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Because social relations imply an individual’s vulnerability, ways must be found to protect oneself. Two possibilities present themselves: amassing power in oneself in order to make oneself resistant ...
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Because social relations imply an individual’s vulnerability, ways must be found to protect oneself. Two possibilities present themselves: amassing power in oneself in order to make oneself resistant to outside attack; or subordinating oneself to concentrations of power (whether human or otherwise) from whom one will gain protection. This chapter enumerates some of the measures taken to foster invulnerability, including the use of amulets, daily Pali recitation, tattoos, and organized readings of particularly powerful Pali texts. It also describes the relations some people enter into with spirits (nat) and Buddhist saints (wei’za), entities whose power is believed to be available to supplicants who demonstrate their fealty to them, but who arouse considerable ambivalence among other, orthodox and reformist Burmese Buddhists.Less
Because social relations imply an individual’s vulnerability, ways must be found to protect oneself. Two possibilities present themselves: amassing power in oneself in order to make oneself resistant to outside attack; or subordinating oneself to concentrations of power (whether human or otherwise) from whom one will gain protection. This chapter enumerates some of the measures taken to foster invulnerability, including the use of amulets, daily Pali recitation, tattoos, and organized readings of particularly powerful Pali texts. It also describes the relations some people enter into with spirits (nat) and Buddhist saints (wei’za), entities whose power is believed to be available to supplicants who demonstrate their fealty to them, but who arouse considerable ambivalence among other, orthodox and reformist Burmese Buddhists.
Aisha K. Finch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469622347
- eISBN:
- 9781469622361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622347.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter explores the ways a range of African spiritual practices became the lynchpins in a sacred insurgent geography of 1844. This cultural architecture, particularly through amulets and ...
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This chapter explores the ways a range of African spiritual practices became the lynchpins in a sacred insurgent geography of 1844. This cultural architecture, particularly through amulets and rituals, proved useful to slave organizers as they encouraged awareness and support for the bourgeoning movement. This chapter considers how the cultural infrastructure of West and Central Africa—primarily its religious cosmologies and expressive cultures—provided a vehicle and a language for rural black people to access rebellious ideas and articulate a revolutionary agenda. In doing so, these practices became instrumental in connecting people to the idea of insurgency in the rural areas.Less
This chapter explores the ways a range of African spiritual practices became the lynchpins in a sacred insurgent geography of 1844. This cultural architecture, particularly through amulets and rituals, proved useful to slave organizers as they encouraged awareness and support for the bourgeoning movement. This chapter considers how the cultural infrastructure of West and Central Africa—primarily its religious cosmologies and expressive cultures—provided a vehicle and a language for rural black people to access rebellious ideas and articulate a revolutionary agenda. In doing so, these practices became instrumental in connecting people to the idea of insurgency in the rural areas.
Katrina Hazzard-Donald
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037290
- eISBN:
- 9780252094460
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037290.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines Hoodoo as health care and the role of the African American midwife in the old tradition black belt Hoodoo complex. Scholarship has totally overlooked a discussion of traditional ...
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This chapter examines Hoodoo as health care and the role of the African American midwife in the old tradition black belt Hoodoo complex. Scholarship has totally overlooked a discussion of traditional Hoodoo healers: treaters, midwives, and root doctors. Even African Americans who know anything of contemporary Hoodoo will usually not immediately associate it with medicinal herbalism. Hoodoo marketeers were neither interested in nor had access to this aspect of Hoodoo. This chapter considers how Hoodoo midwives, treaters, and root doctors mastered treatments and developed their regional pharmacopoeia. It discusses one technique used by all three types of Hoodoo health care providers: the method of using string to tie sacred healing knots. It also describes nine types of healing amulets used in Hoodoo: single-knot string amulet; multiknot amulet; root necklace; prayer bead necklace; prayer cloth; biblical scroll; walking cane; religious lithography; and silver coin.Less
This chapter examines Hoodoo as health care and the role of the African American midwife in the old tradition black belt Hoodoo complex. Scholarship has totally overlooked a discussion of traditional Hoodoo healers: treaters, midwives, and root doctors. Even African Americans who know anything of contemporary Hoodoo will usually not immediately associate it with medicinal herbalism. Hoodoo marketeers were neither interested in nor had access to this aspect of Hoodoo. This chapter considers how Hoodoo midwives, treaters, and root doctors mastered treatments and developed their regional pharmacopoeia. It discusses one technique used by all three types of Hoodoo health care providers: the method of using string to tie sacred healing knots. It also describes nine types of healing amulets used in Hoodoo: single-knot string amulet; multiknot amulet; root necklace; prayer bead necklace; prayer cloth; biblical scroll; walking cane; religious lithography; and silver coin.
David Gordon White
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780226692401
- eISBN:
- 9780226715063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226715063.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Two nearly identical rituals, performed at Bhairava temples in rural Rajasthan and urban Kathmandu, involve the use of the “excrements” or “filth” (called mail) exuded by worship images in the ...
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Two nearly identical rituals, performed at Bhairava temples in rural Rajasthan and urban Kathmandu, involve the use of the “excrements” or “filth” (called mail) exuded by worship images in the crafting of phylacteries worn by children to ward off the demonic agents of childhood diseases. These rituals belong to a body of practice that was likely carried from western India to the Kathmandu Valley by itinerant members of Śaiva religious orders (Gosains, Nāth Yogis) between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries. The use of protective amulets may be traced back to medieval Tantric sources, the pediatric and demonological branches of the Ayurvedic canon (including the Caraka and Suśrūta Saṃhitās), and ultimately to rites described in the Atharva Veda and its ancillary literature. The antiquity, persistence, and internal logic of these protective rituals blur the neat divisions, assumed by many scholars and South Asian elites, between official (“enlightened”) religion, “pure” science, and the vernacular religion (“superstition”) of the masses.Less
Two nearly identical rituals, performed at Bhairava temples in rural Rajasthan and urban Kathmandu, involve the use of the “excrements” or “filth” (called mail) exuded by worship images in the crafting of phylacteries worn by children to ward off the demonic agents of childhood diseases. These rituals belong to a body of practice that was likely carried from western India to the Kathmandu Valley by itinerant members of Śaiva religious orders (Gosains, Nāth Yogis) between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries. The use of protective amulets may be traced back to medieval Tantric sources, the pediatric and demonological branches of the Ayurvedic canon (including the Caraka and Suśrūta Saṃhitās), and ultimately to rites described in the Atharva Veda and its ancillary literature. The antiquity, persistence, and internal logic of these protective rituals blur the neat divisions, assumed by many scholars and South Asian elites, between official (“enlightened”) religion, “pure” science, and the vernacular religion (“superstition”) of the masses.
Susan Niditch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300166361
- eISBN:
- 9780300166538
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300166361.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Chapter 5 explores the relationship between literary texts, objects, spaces, and pictorial representations as they relate to the study of personal religion. This chapter focuses on material religion ...
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Chapter 5 explores the relationship between literary texts, objects, spaces, and pictorial representations as they relate to the study of personal religion. This chapter focuses on material religion as manifested in a burial site, in prophetic visionary experiences, and in a form of performance art exemplified by the sign act.Less
Chapter 5 explores the relationship between literary texts, objects, spaces, and pictorial representations as they relate to the study of personal religion. This chapter focuses on material religion as manifested in a burial site, in prophetic visionary experiences, and in a form of performance art exemplified by the sign act.
Jeremy D. Smoak
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199399970
- eISBN:
- 9780199399994
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199399970.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, History of Christianity
This chapter compares the Ketef Hinnom amulets to inscriptions found on Phoenician and Punic amulets from the late Iron Age. The chapter argues that the priestly blessing formula derived from a stock ...
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This chapter compares the Ketef Hinnom amulets to inscriptions found on Phoenician and Punic amulets from the late Iron Age. The chapter argues that the priestly blessing formula derived from a stock dedicatory formula, and that the formula was also closely associated with a stock formula inscribed upon amulets and bands for protective purposes. The similarities between the blessing’s formula and the formulas found on the Phoenician and Punic amulets indicate that one of the motivations behind the writing of the blessing on the Ketef Hinnom amulets was that its language conveyed an apotropaic register. After comparing the formulas found on the amulets, the chapter discusses the significance of the fact that the Ketef Hinnom amulets were found in a mortuary context, and argues that the discovery of the priestly blessing in this context points to its early association with concerns over protection in the tomb and in the afterlife.Less
This chapter compares the Ketef Hinnom amulets to inscriptions found on Phoenician and Punic amulets from the late Iron Age. The chapter argues that the priestly blessing formula derived from a stock dedicatory formula, and that the formula was also closely associated with a stock formula inscribed upon amulets and bands for protective purposes. The similarities between the blessing’s formula and the formulas found on the Phoenician and Punic amulets indicate that one of the motivations behind the writing of the blessing on the Ketef Hinnom amulets was that its language conveyed an apotropaic register. After comparing the formulas found on the amulets, the chapter discusses the significance of the fact that the Ketef Hinnom amulets were found in a mortuary context, and argues that the discovery of the priestly blessing in this context points to its early association with concerns over protection in the tomb and in the afterlife.
Barbara Maria Stafford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226630489
- eISBN:
- 9780226630656
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226630656.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Historically, ornamental gems have not only decoratively diverted humans from the more serious tasks at hand, they served as riveting artifacts calculated to aid mental concentration. Extravagantly ...
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Historically, ornamental gems have not only decoratively diverted humans from the more serious tasks at hand, they served as riveting artifacts calculated to aid mental concentration. Extravagantly shaped and variegated minerals thus also provided a training ground for the development of high-level human selective attention. Using Rudyard Kipling's memory-challenging "Jewel Game"--a key episode in the British author's Great Trunk Road novel, Kim [1902]--as a springboard, this essay reflects on contemporary neuroscience’s potential to illuminate the distracting, as well as the coherencing, power of shiny colored objects. Talismans, amulets, crystals, charms “fascinate” that is, they possess illusionizing optical properties to focus the eye and hypnotize the mind without words.Less
Historically, ornamental gems have not only decoratively diverted humans from the more serious tasks at hand, they served as riveting artifacts calculated to aid mental concentration. Extravagantly shaped and variegated minerals thus also provided a training ground for the development of high-level human selective attention. Using Rudyard Kipling's memory-challenging "Jewel Game"--a key episode in the British author's Great Trunk Road novel, Kim [1902]--as a springboard, this essay reflects on contemporary neuroscience’s potential to illuminate the distracting, as well as the coherencing, power of shiny colored objects. Talismans, amulets, crystals, charms “fascinate” that is, they possess illusionizing optical properties to focus the eye and hypnotize the mind without words.
