Talismanic Magic in the Islamicate World

welcome back to the spooky season special which we like to call shocktober in the last episode we were given an introduction to the occult sciences as they have existed in the islamic world in particular a topic that is very broad and which of course deserves a couple of dedicated episodes to cover properly and one of the most popular and important forms of what we recall could call occultism or even that very controversial word magic in the islamic world is the science and employment of talismanic magic [Music] [Music] when it comes to magical practices in the islamic good world there is a whole lot to go through of course because we are dealing with a very wide span of time about 1400 years at least and of course a wide geographical area as well the word magic itself comes with a lot of problems but as we have seen in the last episode the closest equivalent to that word in arabic is the word seher which also carries a lot of bad and negative associations sometimes we argue that we shouldn't call some of these sciences and practices actually magic because magic can have these associations directly with demonic forces or to invoking things like the gin rather than invoking god which is what the majority of what in the broad sense what magic is actually doing in the islamic world for most of history but in any case we will be using the term magic here in a general sense to talk about these things including talismans and talismanic magic in any case various magical practices certainly took place and were common in the islamic world during the middle ages from the earliest periods after the life of prophet muhammad and especially during the later middle ages around the 12th century when it became to use matthew melbourne kushki's words de-esotericized and became mainstream on a much larger level the magical or occult practices in the islamic world is hugely diverse of course it includes many different techniques and sciences that is in some way employs superhuman forces to influence the world now the majority of quote unquote magic in the islamic world is protective in nature it's magic that tries to protect oneself from the evil eye it's a very common example to protect oneself from other magic or indeed just from evil forces in general but these things also worked in the reverse in that actively helping someone for example gain good fortune or heal a sickness that they were inflicted with or to attract a lover perhaps a lot of different ways that these kinds of talismans could be employed one sought these protective powers usually or almost exclusively from god or sometimes his angels or other intercessory figures as we saw last time this was one factor that differed magical practices in the islamic world from other cultures before and after the fact that the majority of quote-unquote magic although not exclusively of course invoked the monotheistic god and his power rather than other superhuman forces and the way this worked was usually through various forms of talismans so protective objects or amulets a lot of the time that were imbued with usually god's power that could help the person in various ways indeed even though magic as a concept is often looked down upon as on islamic by many in the islamic world today these kinds of talismans can very commonly be found in a middle eastern market or in the homes of people stemming from this region i'm sure that many of us have seen the protective amulets against the evil eye that can be bought in bazaars in istanbul or seen the very famous and often beautiful hand of fatima adorned the home of a friend or family member these are all examples of talismanic magic and has always been a major part of the culture in the islamic world even in a contemporary european or american context how many times haven't we heard someone or seen someone have a lucky charm that they carry with them or some object that brings them comfort or or good luck in a general sense this is the same phenomenon something that exists across a wide span of different cultures not just the islamic world but what is a talisman really and how is one made this is a fascinating topic and luckily there is a lot of material from which we can draw to learn about it during the middle ages there were many books written which were either exclusively dedicated to or at least included sections about magical practices such as these the ejuana safa or brethren of purity included a whole epistle in their grand work specifically to seher or magic and two of the most famous grimoires or magical books in history the hakim or pikatrix probably written by the andalusian muslim and the shams al-maarif attributed to ahmed al-buni both of these deal with these very topics sometimes we find clear instructions on how talismans are made what techniques to use for what etc a talisman can technically be any object you're probably thinking about some kind of necklace with a locker or something and that can definitely be one form of talisman but a talisman can also be just a piece of paper it can be a bronze bowl as we will see and it can also be clothes which we'll also see examples of the important part was that these objects were imbued with power so god's power usually and the most common way of doing this was by imprinting certain symbols writings or images onto these objects some of the most common ways of turning an object into a talisman would be to write on it the names of god in arabic primary of these is of course the name allah but one also finds other names like the merciful or al-ahed the one etc if not god himself then one might write the names of one or more of his angels such as jabril or mikhail one can also write the names of his prophets perhaps muhammad moses or solomon for many shiites one might also write the names of one of the imams or spiritual successors to prophet muhammad very common is also to write the shahada or muslim proclamation of faith there is no god but god or also direct verses from the quran many verses like the ayat al-arsh or throne verse were thought to be especially powerful in this sense in other words there was a lot of writing on these talismans words and phrases were the primary way that these objects were imbued with protective power many talismans such as these are often very beautifully adorned with arabic writings or in the case of jewish practitioners perhaps hebrew writings but there isn't just writing on these things there is also various mysterious and esoteric symbols that are often imprinted quote in the earliest periods we find an abundance of various figurative images symbols that probably carried over from pre-islamic practice and symbolism the earliest surviving talismanic objects reflect pre-islamic magical symbolism for example a longhorn stag or oryx occurring on very early iranian amuletic objects for about the 9th century and remarkably stable but complex design also occurring on 9th and 10th century amulets composed of a scorpion rampant lion or dog a canopy of stars and a frame of pseudo-riding later other symbols became more popular in particular a group of seven magical symbols came to be widely used in talismanic magic and other magical instruction these symbols were in some traditions thought to be the seals of various prophets and taken together they also represent the seal of the almighty or god the most famous and widely used of these seals is the so-called seal of solomon often depicted as a hexagram or pentagram according to islamic tradition the prophet solomon or suleiman in arabic was especially associated with the esoteric and magic if we define that word broadly it is said that he was given a magical ring by god which had this particular seal on it and which allowed him to control the jinn and other spirits as well as to talk to animals and understand their languages solomon is a central figure in the mythical history of islamic occult sciences for this reason and the symbol of his seal became a very important talismanic symbol and devised during the middle ages it later also carried over into europe and western esotericism as well i think many of us have seen the seal of solomon without necessarily realizing its historical background and significance we see it return again and again in these kinds of magical or protective objects just look at this amazing talismanic scroll from fatimid egypt for example another kind of symbol that was very popular especially in the later middle ages is something known as magic squares these were as the name suggests squares in which various numbers or sometimes letters representing numbers were written into separate columns big deal you may think well the thing about magic squares is that they are always designed so that if you add up the numbers in any of the rows whether horizontally vertically or diagonally you will always end up with the same number these kinds of squares again were thought to be very powerful for magical purposes the earliest and most popular form of magic square was the 3x3 variant as it was obviously the easiest to make the three by three magic square was also called by the name budo and if you didn't have the means or skills of making one of these yourself you could sometimes invoke the power of this symbol simply by writing yabudu or o budu later more complex magic squares were developed four by four and even six by six and beyond which of course made them even more powerful in the writings of thinkers like the persian astronomer abu bosjani we find instructions on how to make these squares up to the most complex 6x6 variant and they feature also in later medieval works like the shamselma artif one example of how these magic squares were used in medieval times is that they were often used to help women in childbirth so the particularly the three by three magic square would be written on a pot chart that had never touched water very important and then this symbol this chart would be placed in front of the woman's face so that she could look upon it and then the shard was also often placed beneath her feet and this is very interesting because this practice is apparently very widespread in the middle ages and very commonly used to the point that even someone like alexoali who is famously very hostile sometimes towards anything occult even he uses this as an example of something that basically everyone agrees works and then from that he argues for the significance and powers of numbers in general i think it's a very very fun and i think significant example to show how how widespread these kinds of practices were at that time but as i've said talismanic magic or objects could take many forms and be used in various ways but all of which with the purpose of either protecting against something or to actively get good fortune in some way there were talismans that could be carried with you in your pocket or around your neck for example there were even talismanic shirts like this fascinating object the image of which was shared by one of my patrons by the name of omar abdul this talismanic shirt is as you can see covered in symbols and arabic writings like quranic verses other talismans were hung over the bed or the door of one's house there were even some that were consumed to help with some internal problem or illness in other words there were talismans that could be swallowed there were talismans that were carried with you you could wear talismans as clothes you could hang talismans above your bed or above your door various different ways and objects that could function as talismans but they all had essentially the same function of helping with some ailments or of protecting against evils i've seen some in the comments and in our discussions elsewhere that many people bring up examples of everyday talismanic objects that some people might even not think about like having objects with quranic verses in your car or in at your workplace just general objects that in some ways have references to the quran or to god and that is thus thought to help or protect oneself in some way this is all as i said this is all examples of talismans and of talismanic magic one of the most fascinating and striking kinds of talismanic objects is the magical healing bowl these were used for specific purposes to help with a particular therapeutic or physical problem and is a practice that goes back to similar bowls used in earlier aramaic speaking contexts the difference with the bowls in the islamic context is that they are most usually made of metal and almost exclusively again invokes god just like most islamic magic and let me tell you some of these objects are just absolutely amazing look at this bowl it has everything it has depictions of these symbolic animals described earlier it has magic squares the seal of solomon is there versus from the quran it's just absolutely magnificent to some people the existence of these kinds of objects or practices in the islamic world may be surprising but as i said in the beginning this stuff is all over the place and these are just a few examples as already mentioned one of the most common symbols or images thought to have protective powers is that of the human hand in arabic this symbol is often given the name khamsa meaning literally the number five but referring specifically to the five fingers on the human hand in a particularly islamic context the khamsa is also often given the name the hand of fatima referring to the daughter of prophet muhammad and the grandmother of all the shiite imams two christians or jews it is sometimes given other names like the hand of mary and other such things but the purpose is always the same the hand is thought to ward off the evil eye a central and recurring theme in protective magic it often has the image of an eye on it but can also be adorned just like other talismanic objects with various symbols or phrases like verses from the quran for example now interestingly the hamsa most likely originates in a pre-islamic environment being used as far back as in ancient mesopotamia and has always basically served the same role only being given different associations and symbolic functions depending on the religion or culture that appropriates it in one of the most significant occult works in the history of the islamic world the shams al-marif or son of knowledge attributed to ahmed al-buni talismanic magic figure prominently ahmed al-buni was a sufi and writer most likely from either the maghrib or egypt where he at least passed away in 1225. his writings are on sufism but he is heavily involved with the ill mulhoroof or science of letters and how it relates to sufi practices like zikr his work the full name which is which may have only been partly written by him actually is like a vast encyclopedia of occult sciences as they stood in the 13th century islamic world and this book contains detailed instructions on how to make talismans using many of the techniques that i have described here it is important to remember that when we talk about these subjects there is a tendency to speak in past tense that is to talk about these practices as if they were things of the past and indeed the middle ages was a significant period for the development of occult sciences but we should not forget that these things continue to exist into the modern world from safavid persia and mughal india to the ottoman empire and all the way into the present day i've had viewers reach out to tell stories about how widespread such practices are in places like indonesia and southeast asia today as well but it's also the case in the middle east or north africa too of course the occult is not something that only exists in the past but today and all around us in any case talismanic magic is and has been a vast science that has been taken for granted as a legitimate way of influencing and affecting our lives and the world around us you may believe in the legitimacy of its powers or not you cannot deny the significant role that it has played and continues to play in the wider world i'll see you next time [Applause] let's do it you

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

Views: 380,158

Keywords: Islamicate Occult Sciences, Islamicate Occultism, Islamic Occultism, Occultism, Esotercisim, Magic, Islamic Magic, Islam and Magic, History of Magic, Alchemy, Islamic Alchemy, Jabir ibn hayyan, religion, Geber, Astrology, Islamic astology, Muslim scientists, Al Kindi, Abu Ma'shar, Nabataean Agriculture, Science of letters, Ilm al-Huruf, Lettrism, Talismans, Talismanic magic, Ahmad al-Buni, Shams al-Ma'arif, Ibn Arabi, Sufism

Id: -ZWt886Lo1Q

Length: 18min 35sec (1115 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 24 2021