Making Jewelry with Meaning The things you collect - the ticket stubs, the coins, the pieces of shell from a beach - hold meaning and significance, reminding you not only where you've been, but also where you're capable of going. Making these items into wearable pieces of art - amplifying their power to become amulets and talismans - is a rewarding experience that's easy to do. Working with the most basic of tools, you will learn cold-connection jewelry techniques to expand your creative process. In addition to basics like creating jump rings and using a file, you will also: • Make your own hook and latch clasps • Cut windows from sheets of metal • Inlay designs into polymer clay • Incorporate concrete into your work • Achieve patinas with heat • Journal your thoughts onto faux bone • Turn paper pulp into realistic rocks • Create "time capsule" beads from Plexiglas • And much, much more! Discover the rewards of making your own amulets and talismans by learning new techniques to drive your creativity in an entirely new direction.

A comprehensive study of the use of talismans and amulets in the Western Mystery Tradition • Provides an in-depth look at the medieval and Renaissance use of amulets and talismans, including the work of Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Athanasius Kircher • Provides a full summary of the magical knowledge required to make an amulet or talisman, including the invocations required to activate their powers • Reviews different kinds of amulets and talismans, from ancient jewelry and magical objects to the modern rabbit’s foot or lucky horseshoe The use of talismans and amulets stretches back nearly to the dawn of man, from everyday items magically prepared, such as horns or coins, to intricate and beautiful jewelry imbued with protective powers. Drawing on his private collection of medieval manuscripts as well as his privileged access to the rare book archives of major European universities, Claude Lecouteux provides a comprehensive history of the use of talismans and amulets for protection, healing, and divine influence. He explores their use in the Western Mystery Tradition as well as Eastern and Middle Eastern beliefs about these magical objects and their incorporation--despite Church anathema--into the Christian tradition of Medieval Europe. Reviewing many different kinds of amulets and talismans used throughout the ages, such as a rabbit’s foot, horseshoe, gris-gris bag, or an inscribed parchment charged through ritual, he details the principles and symbology behind each object and shows that their use is still as widespread today as any time in the past. Lecouteux explains the high magic behind the hermetic art of crafting amulets and talismans: the chains of sympathy, astrological geography, and the invocations required to activate their powers. He explores the work of adepts such as Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Athanasius Kircher, including an in-depth look at Kircher’s work on planetary seals in his Oedipus Aegyptiacus. Illustrated throughout with period art depicting magical symbols, seals, and a wide array of talismans and amulets, this comprehensive study provides a practical guide to the historical development and step-by-step creation of magical objects.

The second commandment of the Old Testament forbids the making of idols to represent God. However, since human beings have always needed a direct and personal connection to the divine, a way is provided in Exodus when God says, "Make a sanctuary for me and I will come to dwell among you." God goes on to give instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant–the first tribal amulet, not yet personal but still representing the presence of God. From there, amulets, talismans, and magical jewelry evolved to provide a personal connection to God.Koltuv has collected bits of scripture describing amulets and talismans and features pictures of her extensive collection of these protective and magical treasures. It's all here: glass beads for protection against the evil eye; the mezuzah found on door frames; the hamsa, or upraised hand; engraved pendants and tiny boxes containing special prayers; Aron's breastplate; the prayer shawl and teffilin; henna hand and foot painting; and amulets from the Sepher Rezial. As visually fascinating as these objects are, how they came into use is even more so.Koltuv revives an awareness of how many of the objects we wear and carry with us without a second thought are actually magical bridges between heaven and earth.

Examine the infinite variety of charms and fetishes found in every civilization, from the distant past to the present. Learn the entire history of these tools, their geography, how they are part of each man and woman's search for connection with spiritual forces, and how to make and use them. Loaded with hundreds of illustrations, this is the ultimate reference guide.

Saint Christopher medals, ankhs, birthstones, four-leaf clovers--all are examples of magical objects used for protection or to attract good luck. This introductory guidebook tells you everything you need to know to make or find talismans, amulets, and charms, and use them to improve your life. Author Richard Webster shows you how to create, charge, purify, and empower your own personal magical objects for a variety of purposes, from attracting love to attaining wealth. With protective amulets from around the world and a dictionary of lucky charms, this easy-to-use book is designed so even absolute beginners can achieve success with their own magical objects.

The two-volume Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture bridges the gap between monograph and survey text by providing a new level of access and interpretation to Islamic art. The more than 50 newly commissioned essays revisit canonical topics, and include original approaches and scholarship on neglected aspects of the field. This two-volume Companion showcases more than 50 specially commissioned essays and an introduction that survey Islamic art and architecture in all its traditional grandeur Essays are organized according to a new chronological-geographical paradigm that remaps the unprecedented expansion of the field and reflects the nuances of major artistic and political developments during the 1400-year span The Companion represents recent developments in the field, and encourages future horizons by commissioning innovative essays that provide fresh perspectives on canonical subjects, such as early Islamic art, sacred spaces, palaces, urbanism, ornament, arts of the book, and the portable arts while introducing others that have been previously neglected, including unexplored geographies and periods, transregional connectivities, talismans and magic, consumption and networks of portability, museums and collecting, and contemporary art worlds; the essays entail strong comparative and historiographic dimensions The volumes are accompanied by a map, and each subsection is preceded by a brief outline of the main cultural and historical developments during the period in question The volumes include periods and regions typically excluded from survey books including modern and contemporary art-architecture; China, Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sicily, the New World (Americas)