Talismans for Protection

Protection is probably the oldest wish a talisman has ever been asked to carry. From Egyptian tombs to Neapolitan pockets and Ojibwe cradle boards, people have shaped eyes, hands, knots and stones to stand guard over the things and people they love.

An old and shared wish

Long before anyone wrote about talismans, people were burying them with their dead and tying them onto their children. The worries behind them were deeply human: envy, accidents, a dangerous journey, trouble that might arrive in the night. A protective object turned that worry into something you could hold, hang up or give away.

Scholars call such objects apotropaic, and many share a few clever ideas. An eye stares back at an envious glance, and a raised hand says stop. A knot, a web or a hole lets good things through and holds the rest. Iron and mirrors are believed to send harm back where it came from.

Every protective charm is, at heart, a wish for someone’s safety made visible.

From the Nile to the Mediterranean

The Eye of Horus is one of the earliest. Egyptians called it the wedjat, the sound or whole eye, after the myth in which the god’s injured eye was restored. Amulets of faience, carnelian and gold were worn by the living and placed among the wrappings of the dead.

Beside it sat the Scarab, the sacred beetle of the rising sun. Heart scarabs were laid on the chest of the dead, and smaller ones were worn as rings or used as seals.

Across the Mediterranean and the Near East, the blue glass evil eye bead works on a related principle. It is not the harmful gaze itself but an eye that meets it, believed to catch envy before it lands. You will find it on babies’ clothing, car mirrors and front doors from Greece to Turkey.

The Hamsa, an open hand often with an eye in the palm, is cherished by Muslims, Jews and Christians in North Africa and the Near East. Its name comes from the Arabic word for five, and it is worn as a pendant or hung by the door as a sign of blessing and defence.

In Naples the red Cornicello, a small twisted horn, is said to ward off the evil eye. Many Neapolitans believe it carries most weight when it is received as a gift rather than bought for yourself.

Roman girls wore the Lunula, a crescent moon pendant, just as their brothers wore a bulla. It was usually laid aside around the time of marriage.

The Sator square protected with words instead of pictures. Its five Latin words read the same in four directions, and the puzzle was scratched on walls at Pompeii before 79 CE. Much later it was written on walls and wooden discs, in Germany especially as a charm against fire.

The Pentacle, a five-pointed star drawn in a single line and often set in a circle, was a Pythagorean emblem of health and wholeness and later a protective seal in Renaissance grimoires. Today it is also a sacred symbol for many modern Pagans.

Perhaps the simplest guard of all is a red string tied around the wrist. Versions of it appear in Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian folk custom and well beyond, usually knotted on by someone who cares about the wearer.

Guardians of the north

In Ireland a Brigid’s cross of woven rushes is made around 1 February, the feast of Saint Brigid, and hung inside the house. The new cross is believed to keep the household safe from fire and harm through the year ahead.

A hag stone is a pebble with a natural hole worn through it, often by the sea. Across Britain and Northern Europe such stones were hung by doors, beds and boats, in the belief that nothing ill could pass through the hole.

Viking Age Scandinavians wore small pendants of Mjölnir, the hammer of the god Thor, who defended gods and people against the giants. Such pendants have been found across the Norse world.

The Icelandic vegvísir is younger than its reputation. It is recorded in a manuscript of around 1860, which says that whoever carries the sign will not lose their way in storms or bad weather.

Asia and the Americas

In southern China and Hong Kong, a bagua mirror framed by the eight trigrams is hung above an outside door. It is believed to turn harmful influences back on themselves, which is why it always faces outwards.

Japanese Omamori are small brocade pouches from Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, each holding a slip with a prayer or sacred name. There are omamori for travel, study and family, traditionally returned after about a year.

The Dreamcatcher began with the Ojibwe, who hung small hoops with a web of sinew or plant fibre on a baby’s cradle board. Just as a spider’s web catches whatever touches it, the charm was said to catch harm before it reached the child. If you would like one, look for pieces made by Ojibwe and other Native makers.

Choosing a protective talisman

Most protective traditions ask for care rather than perfection. Keep the piece where it is seen, by a door or close to the skin, and treat a sacred object as its own community does. Many people feel a talisman means most when it comes from someone who wishes them well.

taliaris describes beliefs and customs; it makes no claim that a talisman has an effect.