African Charms Various traditions of healing or protective charms are made in Africa and the New World by men or women, priests or priestesses, conjuremen or conjurewomen, spirit-diviners or artists, on commission from clients with political, personal, physical, emotional, or religious problems.
Charms are improvised solutions to individual needs.
Charms are accumulated arts, made with magical ingredients, on the inside or the outside. Beads, buttons, coins, claws, feathers, and shells are enclosed, or attached to artifacts and costumes, to imbue them with protective powers. In West Africa, there is a tradition of enclosing writing in charms, because writing is considered protective due to its inherent knowledge. Small square packets, often of red leather, cloth or metal, enclosing script, are worn around the neck and sewn onto ceremonial, hunting, and war costumes, for protection from numerous and varied dangerous forces. The Tuareg peoples enclose their charms in intricate leather and metal designs.