, 1863-05-07
a7asaN NO. Al.
"7 ts re- ..F u.,77 ti,aaVt ~,
Concerning Charms.

Concerning Charms. F.ss
The origin Of many Of the traditions concern
ing anulets and talismans Is to be found in the
Csbala Of the Jews. The Hebrew doctors tfdttn.
that Moses performed his miracles IN Egypt By
virtue Of Q talismanic power inherent in his rod,
which, they eay, was made on the evening Of the
Sixth Day Of the Creation, and On. which Vea
wonderfully engraved ihe rtiost venerable nsins.
of the Deity, TstragFsmmaton. The miracles
were marked on this rod, together with Gods
most holy namel According 10 sone authoFli
ties, Moses found the wand Ia .Jethrois garden,
while returning thanks for his deliverance outof
prison, into which he had been cast By hisfathef4
in.law. -.
Il Is not very easy todistipsHish bstwsen tails!
mans and amulets; but the former seem to have
possessed more awful and importaDt viFiuesthan
The latter. -Amulets. appear to have been Il,
ways worn about the person., iof the sake Of
warding of some cyl. The very word D. DE-
rived, through the Latin, from the Arabic hdna-
l6t--something suspended-becauseth these chams
were hungon various parts Of the body, Thesn;
ciept Egyptians often wore then in the form Of
necklaces. The phylacteries of the Jews-slips
Of parchment on which passages Of the Law
were written, and which they bound about the
forehead or on the lelf aFm-eame In. time 70 be
regarded as q SPECIES Of amulets, possessing q
sovereign virtue against evil spiftsi though there
can be no doubt that they were originally wofua
merely IS an osteutatious exhibition Of piety.l
For similar reason, subsequently, degeneFating
into magical rite, the Mahonetins have at al
times been fond Of carrying about with them
short sentences from the Koran, enclosed tn5
small silver boxes and the priests Of MernceSil
sell these precious scraps 10 the negEoesp6 Africa
who call them frtishes The ehfly Christians
fell 50 readily into the prevailing supers1tiohi
that the practice was 'solemniy coiidsmnrd ~
the Church; and the'cleFgy were inteFdictedg on
pain of deprivation Of holy orders, from making
and selling charms, The Gnc c7ics5Mho: Ntfe,
perhaps, the greatest professors 81 mysticism
ever khowh-iound sufpassing virtues 10 partie2
ulaf stones and gems; especially In those Hhinhb
were called Abraxas, from having that word en-
erayed on them. The word is supposed 70 be
6arbarously compounded Of the Greek letters
forming the number 365, and To- have signihed
the Supreme Deity, who was said BY those heftsp
tics 70 preside over three hundred and elxiy.fvei
other Deiiies, the spirits Of - many worlds cor
responding TO the number Of days IN the. year!
Many Abrams stones are still 70 be found ill the
cabinets of the curious.g Some appear 10 iheveh
cOme from Egypt, and 10 belong 10 tosl ihird
century, others are suspected % have been made
during the middle ages in Spain, where the doe.r
trinss Of the duosties were carried by the Fiisl1
ciianisis and the Alchemi1ld are thought to9
havo manufactured similar gems 70 aid thaln n.
th6lf pursuit Of occult kn0Elodge These stoned
are not only engraved with the mysterious word
Abraxas, but with The ineiIable name Jehofah,
and with figures IL isis sitting 6n 4 Ioto6f Apiss
surrounded with stars monslTcus conelnaiiole
Of divers animals, and other figures The char.
actefs are generally Greek but Sometimes Hes
brew; C6Stit, or Etrdriii oetatiodillys alioIi
they are Of an utterly indescribable and mongrel
kind, Of which the sense cannot even be gueesedi
Similar to the AbraxAs charm Il that e1iled
Abracadabra The word Is said 70 b P6rtihdf9
and TO be the equivalent Of Mllhfal the Sun.eodfs
According to the directions Of Serenus Hammon;
icust yOu are TO write. the letteFs several " q
over On . piece Of paper In such nannef
e 70 form triangle which may 3 read more
tllah one way. The paper must thea BE- lol1edo
90 a. 70 conceal the writing stitched into theo
shape Of q cfOss win white thrsad worn M
the bosom for nine days, suspended BY { lintn
ribbon, and finally thrown, 10 dead silentt, be-
fore sunrise, into stream that f1ha eastward
Il must be flung backward over The shouldeR,g
and you must On % account open and read n
or all the charm i 1ed,s n howeyeE, ycn OBJ
serve all the required conditions, you need never
suffer long rom Z fever, Or from qaaftah o.
:e@iitsrtan sgus. TIE Abgaerdaesa 2 2 s1 certain
The Romans Rsfs kisat wsGieft o. hIisnalSD
aud 0malttS whioR sometimes, las pliay Frlniea,a
took the form of little tcssols cut out Of nmborls
10 the middle ages, the coins attributed to ST
Helena, the mother Of Constantine, were Teeatdcd'
with extreme vehefation; and 6nly the otAelo
day-ViE., IN the year 1e50s-a set Of rhaihigr
was advertised for sale. including some pieces q,
the Atlanti cable. ..t. - -
The ancient Jews though. highly u charmed
rings and Jerusalem Is described 10 the Blolos
Is decking herself with the earrings of Bahllm1
Petronius Arbiter, in his prOhigate romance,
speaks Of one Of bis characters sAn old llbeItine,
named Trimalchio--wearing ring cigeld ssetr
with stars Of steel which the eonmcntalogs lsgInl
to regard as q species Of tAlistnan, because the
Samothracians mhde rings Of this sort with Z.
view to their being used as charms. Rings haso
at all times and In al countries been looked upoa
a. possessing mystical character. A circle y
the most simple os forms; yet Il is the symbol,
Of Eternity. Perhaps i Is on this account that
rings have been in peculiar solemhity. AZ any
rate, there are more marvellous stories alnouk
rings than about auy other srticle Of personal
adoFnmeGt. The Slave Of the Ring in the An
bia6 story Of Aladdin, will it onee cce6f % tho
readers mind. Solomon, amongst bis other y
ties. was Lord Of the magic ring