Amulets
The charm, amulet, or mascot, is, of course, directly derived from the conception of the fetish (q.v.), which was believed by savage and semi-barbarous people to contain a spirit. Amulets may be said to be of two classes: those which are worn as (1) fetishes, that is the dwelling-place of spiritual entities, who are active on behalf of the wearer; or (2), mascots to ward off bad luck or such influences as the evil eye.
That charms were worn by prehistoric man there is little room for doubt, as objects which in many cases partake of the appearance and general description of amulets are discovered in neolithic tombs. The ancient Egyptians possessed a bewildering variety of amulets, which were worn both by the living and the dead. Indeed, among the latter, every part of the body had an amulet sacred to itself. These were, as a rule, evolved from various organs of the gods: as, for example, the eye of Isis, the backbone of Osiris, and so forth. Among the savage and semi-civilised peoples, the amulet usually takes the form of a necklace, bracelets, or anklets, and where belief in witchcraft and the evil eye is strong, the faith in these, and in charms, is always most intense. Among civilised races it has been observed that it is usually the ignorant classes who adopt the use of amulets: such as sailors, miners, beggars, Gypsies, and criminals. But amulets are also to be found in use among educated persons, although, of course, the superstitious part of the practice has in these cases often disappeared. Universally speaking, stones, teeth, claws, shells, coral and symbolic emblems, are favoured amulets. The reason for the wearing of these is exceedingly difficult to arrive at, but a kind of doctrine of correspondences may be at the root of the belief-the idea that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its Anamelech cause, or that things which have once been in contact but have ceased to be so, continue to act on each other by magical means. For example, the desert goat is a surefooted animal; accordingly, its tongue is carried as a powerful amulet against falling by certain Malay tribes. Beads resembling teeth are often hung round the necks of Kaffir children in Africa to assist them in teething, and the incisor teeth of the beaver are frequently placed round the necks of little American-Indian girls to render them industrious, like that animal. Again, certain plants and minerals indicate by their external character the diseases for which nature intended them as remedies. Thus the euphrasia, or eyebright, was supposed to be good for the eyes because it contains a black pupil-like spot; and the blood-stone was employed for stopping the flow of blood from a wound.
It is strange that wherever prehistoric implements, such as arrowheads and celts, are discovered, they are thought by the peasantry of the locality in which they are found to be of great virtue as amulets. Some light is cast on this custom by the fact that stone arrowheads were certainly in use among mediæval British witches. But in most countries they are thought to descend from the sky, and are therefore kept to preserve people and cattle from lightning. This does not, however, explain away the reason why water poured over a prehistoric arrowhead is given to cure cows in Ireland. Certain roots, which have the shape of snakes, are kept by the Malays to ensure them against snake-bite; and instances of this description of correspondence, known as the doctrine of signatures, could be multiplied ad infinitum. Among the Celts a great many kinds of amulets were used: such as the symbolic wheel of the sun god, found so numerously in France and Great Britain; pebbles, amulets of the teeth of the wild boar, and pieces of amber. The well-known serpent's egg of the Druids was also in all probability an amulet of the priestly class. Indian amulets are numerous, and in Buddhist countries their use is universal, especially where that religion has become degraded, or has in any way degenerated. In Northern Buddhist countries almost everyone constantly wears an amulet round the neck. These generally represent the leaf of the sacred fig-tree, and are made in the form of a box which contains a scrap of sacred writing, prayer, or a little picture. Women of position in Tibet wear a chatelaine containing a charm or charms, and the universal amulet of the Buddhist priests in that country is the thunderbolt, supposed to have fallen direct from Indra's heaven. This is usually imitated in bronze or other metal, and is used for exorcising evil spirits. Amulet types are for the most part very ancient, and present much the same characteristics in all parts of the world.