AMULET. – Term of uncertain etymology (from Latin *amoliri* “to ward off”; from Arabic *himālah* “pendant, charm”) referring to objects erroneously believed capable of warding off all kinds of evil influences from those who carry them. In current usage “a.” is taken as a synonym for talisman because both procure an advantage for the user; the difference lies in this: the amulet serves to protect from possible dangers, whereas the talisman guarantees its possessor the attainment of specific goods. Amulets and talismans constitute a very extensive section of the theory and technique of magic (q.v.).
I. THE AMULET IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
The use of amulets is documented from prehistory. The materials from which amulets are made may be drawn from all three kingdoms of nature, and their form is highly varied; form and material are generally related to what they are meant to procure or ward off by virtue of the impersonal force (mana) believed to emanate from them in things. Gold (incorruptible); coral branches and, in general, pointed objects or branches capable of piercing and thus immobilising the evil influence; amber, on account of its capacity to become electrified; reproductions of genitalia, crescent moons (“lunulae”), etc.; certain herbs: rue against envy, cyclamen favourable to women in childbirth, verbena used in Rome by the *feciales* when entering enemy territory, iron objects (nails, horse-shoes, etc.) are among the most common examples of amulets.II. THE AMULET IN CHRISTIANITY
Early Christians naturally inherited from pagans the practice of this superstition and also the use of many particular amulets. But care must be taken not to define as amulets practices that were in no way superstitious. For example, to carry on one’s person crosses, monograms or other forms of the name of Christ, relics of martyrs, and even the Eucharistic species and medals bearing the image of this or that saint, passages from the Gospels (all usages widely documented) involved no superstition, because such objects possessed an intrinsic or acknowledged power to preserve from evils of a natural kind or from diabolical molestations, through the protection of God and the Saints which was conciliated by that reverence and honour. Hence they are wrongly defined by Protestant and rationalist writers as Christian amulets.Unfortunately, however, early Christians continued to use many and various amulets of pagan origin such as charms, gorgoneia, horse-shoes, bells, precious stones, nails, which are even found in sepulchres, and others often deplored by the holy Fathers who inveighed against the use of diabolical ligatures, *phylacteria* consecrated not to the names of angels but of demons (Decretum Gelasianum, 10), signs of the planets and similar superstitions. Often, moreover, they combined pagan usages with Christian religion, as is seen in the frequent incantations (inscribed on sheets of lead, marble, etc.) crowded with strange names of angels, with combinations of alphabetic letters and scriptural phrases, in the numerous *abraxas* (q.v.), in the mixture of pagan figures with Christian signs (figure of Alexander the Great with the monogram). Perhaps the *crismon*, the wheel, the swastika, the fish and similar signs, which recur so often engraved on tombstones, on houses and on every kind of domestic object, were sometimes attributed by ignorant Christians merely the character of a simple amulet.
The use of amulets grew extraordinarily during the Middle Ages, favoured by increasing ignorance. An attempt was even made to give it a rational basis that would eliminate the magical and superstitious character and not conflict with the postulates of the Christian religion, by appealing to the mysterious virtues proper to the planets and transmitted by them to certain bodies, such as precious stones, certain rare minerals, plants and singular animals. Thus was created an entire theory on the planets, bestiaries and lapidaries. At the same time there persisted among the common people the belief in the evil eye and the many means of guarding against it, and the practice of numerous amulets against diseases, spells and witchcraft, and even against natural accidents. Indeed, even today many people, even the educated, seriously practise the use of mascots, believe in the virtues of horse-shoes and in the touch of iron, etc., and in general the more religious ignorance increases, the more superstition grows as its substitute.
III. DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH
Although, as has already been noted (n. 2), care must be taken not to confuse the use of amulets among pagans with the use of objects of devotion among Catholics, it remains true that deviations from the doctrine of the Church have been and are noted among the latter. In order to formulate a moral judgment on this conduct, it is necessary to distinguish: whoever carries an amulet intending thereby to have recourse to the demon for assistance or protection, sins by “magic,” which is always a mortal sin, inasmuch as it is an explicit invocation of the demon; whoever, on the other hand, does not intend to bind himself to the demon, indeed does not even think of it, but uses the amulet to obtain effects manifestly disproportionate to the means employed, sins by “vain observance,” which is by its nature a mortal sin, inasmuch as recourse to the demon is implicit in it; for since the object is not capable of producing that effect by itself, a preternatural intervention is required. In practice, however, account must be taken of the subjective conscience of individuals; for very often the faithful are not aware of this implicit invocation of the demon, but act out of ignorance and do not think they are performing an irreligious act, as easily happens with mascots, lucky objects, and then there may be only venial sin, and sometimes no fault at all (cf. St Alphonsus, *Theologia moralis*, I. III, n. 15). It remains, however, of the first evidence that it is necessary to instruct the faithful clearly and well so that they may entirely emerge from this state of deplorable ignorance.
IV. THE AMULET IN MEDICINE
The use of amulets is to be considered among the most ancient remedies adopted by man to free himself from diseases. Among the specimens from earliest times, note should be taken of bone discs cut from skulls belonging to persons who had suffered from the diseases (particularly epilepsy) from which the wearer of the amulet wished to remain immune. Even today there persists, in some folk traditions, the habit of carrying a fragment of the skull of an epileptic person to cure that disease. The designation of the amulet is regulated by the same general principles that have guided men in the search and choice of medicines. Thus, according to the principle *similia similibus*, those objects, plants and animals that, by colour, form or other characteristics of resemblance, can be linked to a principle of signature, become amulets; thus, according to the principle *contraria contrariis*, admiration is attributed to the rope of the hanged man, to the skull, to the blood of the guillotined, to the number 13, etc. Particular alexipharmic and alexiteric virtues are attributed to gems, on which there exists an enormous literature ranging from the most ancient Indian, Chinese and Greek texts to modern popular literature. Parts or reproductions of parts of the human body also have the value of amulets (eyes against the “evil eye,” phalli as emblems of generation and hence of fertility and abundance).Adalberto Pazzini
36. – ENCYCLOPEDIA CATTOLICA. – I.