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Home Protection in Folk Magic: Charms, Wards, & Work to Magically Protect One's Home

by Keziah

As times get harder, many more are turning to magical customs to find security and protection. In my piece Protection Work in Folk Magic: Herbs, Spells, & Charms for Protecting Yourself & Others, I focused on taking magical protection with you wherever you needed it, but there was nothing at all written about the protection of one's home and property. This piece focuses on just that, including accessible and affordable (even free) means of magical protection that any practitioner (from beginner to a true veteran) can utilize.

Evil spirits, malicious magic, unwanted company, and even the presence of law and immigration enforcement — magical protection of the home is incredibly versatile and accessible. Now more than ever, we're in need of as much help as we can get, so I hope that there's something in this piece that can bring you and yours even the slightest peace of mind.

Note: This piece focuses largely on the folk magic with which I am most familiar with. I'm from the Southern US and have studied folk traditions within the South, Appalachia, Britain, and Europe. You'll see some overlap amongst these customs, as many Southern traditions were birthed from British practices. There is also a sprinkling of Jewish custom mentioned within this piece, as I happen to be a Jewish person. I write that which I'm familiar with, and, as a Southern of mixed race (Black and white) who happens to be Jewish, this is the world of folk magic I felt comfortable writing about. While this piece is meant as an exploration and resource, please be respectful of the sources of these magical works. If that particular work is not relevant to you based on your practice or if it belongs to a closed tradition (such as a Jewish custom or a practice found within certain schools of hoodoo), please respect that and see the alternative recommendations.

Against Spirits & Evil

Southern Folk Prayers:

In Southern folk customs, prayers and Bible verses are abundant in magical workings, especially when it comes to protection work. One custom calls for the recitation of prayers/verses to rid one's home of an unwanted spirit.

What you'll do:

Open all the doors and windows in your home, ensuring the spirit has plenty of options of places to leave through.

Starting at the back of the house (and from the uppermost level if you live in a multi-story home), work your way from the back of the house toward the front (do this on each level if applicable).

Whilst walking, recite a prayer or Bible verse used to ward off spirits. Where I'm from, the Our Father/the Lord's Prayer is most commonly used, and, as I recently learned after spotting it in 'Doctoring the Devil', Psalm 31:15-17 can also be used. As a Jewish practitioner of magic in the South, I've opted for Psalm 91, which has been known to be used against spirits.

Our Father/the Lord's Prayer —

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven; Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, Forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 31:15-17 —

My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

*Alternatively, one can simply chant or recite that last line — and let them be silent in the grave — whilst performing this work.

Psalm 91 —

1 He who dwells in the covert of the Most High will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I shall say that Adonai is my shelter and my fortress, my g-d in whom I trust. 3 For Adonai will save you from the snare that traps from the devastating pestilence. 4 With (his/her/their) wing (he/she/they) will cover you, and under (his/their/her) wings you will take refuge; (his/her/their) truth is a comforting shield. 5 You shall not fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day; 6 Pestilence that prowls in darkness nor destruction that ravages at noon. 7 A thousand will be stationed at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not approach you. 8 You will but gaze with your eyes and see the annihilation of the wicked. 9 For when you said, 'the Lord is my refuge,' you made the Most High your dwelling. 10 No harm shall befall you, nor shall plague draw near your tent. 11 For Adonai will command angels on your behalf to guard you always. 12 On your hands they will bear you, lest your foot stumble on a stone. 13 On a lion and a cobra you will tread, trampling the lion and the serpent. 14 For he yearns for Me and I shall answer him; I shall fortify him, for he knows My name. 15 He will call Me and I shall answer him; I am with him in distress; I shall rescue him and I shall honor him. 16 With length of days I shall satiate him, and I shall show him My salvation.

Crib & Nursery Protection:

As children are, in many traditions, seen as being more susceptible to the influence of spirits, many magical traditions have special protective customs aimed specifically at the young ones. One such protective custom comes from Southern Appalachia.

What you'll need:

Iron nails

What to do:

Drive an iron nail into the bottom of the foot of a crib or into a crib post. Alternatively, iron nails can be driven into the corners of the door and window frames. This is believed to protect the child(ren) from spirits of all ilk, not only ghosts.

For those who favor plants over nails, there's an alternative method of nursery protection —

What you'll need: (any combination of the following herbs)

Chamomile

Yarrow

Basil

St. John's Wart

What you'll do:

Hang a bunch of chamomile, yarrow, and lavender from the doorpost or at the window in the nursery. Plants can be dried or fresh. All three are believed to have protective powers and to also bring peace to an area.

Basil can be used in any room (hanging from windows and doors) to keep spirits away.

Salt the Doors, Sweep the Floors:

From Southern conjure to Jewish folk magic, salt being used as a means of protection across countless traditions and magical paths.

What you'll need:

Salt

Water (optional)

What you'll do:

Where to place the salt and how to use it varies from traditions to traditions.

In Jewish custom, salt is lined at the doors of the home, a protective barrier against evil. The salt can also be kept in clothes, closets, under beds, etc. as a means of a magical protection. This practice is also found in Southern folk magic in the US, in British folk magic, and in European folk magic.

In the Southern US, salt is a common ingredient in sweeps — a method of magical cleansing that can be used to bring protection, luck, financial stability, and such. Salt, used with other ingredients (these vary depending on the purpose of one's sweep), is scattered across the floors of the home (working from the back of the house toward the front, from the top of the house toward the bottom) and then swept from the home (again, in that same pattern of back to front, top to bottom). For protection work, you'll find that salt is commonly used alongside rosemary, basil, cinnamon, cloves, and high john the conqueror.

Another custom that can also be found in some forms of European folk magic and Jewish folk practice is the use of saltwater instead of just salt. The saltwater is sprinkled at the threshold of the home, or sprayed upon the doors and windows.

Haint Blue:

'A small white house with a blue door' (via Oleksii Piekhov)

In the Southern United States, one custom of home protection comes in the form of a hue of a paint. Haint blue doors, porch floors, or porch ceilings are used to ward off spirits. The blue color is believed to confuse the spirits, who mistake it for water, as it's a common belief in the South that spirits can't cross moving water. My own door is painted a lovely haint blue and I can't praise its effectiveness enough.

Bells:

In many folk traditions, it's believed that bells warn of the presence of evil and that their ringing or chiming wards off evil spirits and entities of all kinds.

What you'll need:

Bells (these can be of any size, can be small bells tied to a cord or kept in a bag, can be bells on a wind chime, can be a single bell)

Cord, string, or twine (optional)

A small bag (optional)

What to do:

Hang bells on or near your front door. They'll ring when evil is near your home, warning you of its presence. Their singing will also work to ward off evil.

The bells can be little jingle bells on a string or in a small bag. You can tie your bells to yarn and hang the strand beside the door. I keep mine on my doorknob. You can also mount just one bell beside your door. This is a very versatile method of magical protection, so change it however you like to fit your needs and style.

Garlic Charms:

Garlic is a go-to tool for protection in many magical practices, and in Cornish cunning ways garlic can be used to protect one 'against the influence of people and spirits with vampiric and envious tendencies.' -Gemma Gary, folk-magical practitioner and author, in her work 'Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways'

What you'll need:

Whole garlic bulbs

Red ribbons

(optional) Bells

What to do:

Whole garlic bulbs should be tied with red ribbons and hung on, above, or beside doorframes and/or window frames.

Bells can also be added to this charm for extra oomph.

Hagstone Charms:

Hagstones, also called adder stones, serpent’s eggs, fairy stones, and witch stones, are stones which bear a naturally occurring hole caused by erosion or some other natural event. Hagstones have been used as protective amulets for long while in traditional folk magic of Britain. Hagstones can be used to protect from a number of things - general protection overall, as well as protection from spirits of various ilk, protection from harm on the sea, protection of livestock and farmlands, protection from nightmares, and more. Here, we'll look at how to use them to protect one's home.

What you’ll need:

Hagstone (one or more)

Thread, cord, or twine.

What to do:

Pass your thread, cord, or twine through the hole of the hagstone. You can knot the thread beforehand for added protection as a form of knot magic. Knots are believed to strengthen protective work, as they can confuse or distract spirits.

You can add as many hagstones as you like. One is plenty, but I’ve seen charms with as many as nine stones.

Hang your hagstone charm within your home or on your porch to protect the space from spirits and evil. One of mine hangs from a nail in my doorframe at the front of my home.

Against Law Enforcement

Dirt Dust:

This is a regional variation of a work used in the Southern US known throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virgina.

What you'll need:

Dirt from near a police station Use any combination of the following ingredients along with the police station dirt —

Black pepper

Black mustard seeds

Brick dust

Coal dust

Dirt from an anthill

Dirt from a church yard (can be used in any work to ward off or get rid of unwanted persons)

Dirt from a graveyard

Red pepper flakes

Salt

Seeds of caraway

Seeds of lemon

Seeds of pawpaw

What you'll do:

To help keep police away from your home, mix the dirt, black pepper, and mustard seeds together. Dust the threshold of your home with it and sprinkle it at the outer corners of your home.

Some customs call for the recitation of Bible verses (welcome to the South, y'all; there are Bible verses in basically every kind of magic down here) whilst sprinkling this mixture. If that's up your alley, here are some verses that can be used for various purposes —

-Psalm 35:1 (for protection against any law enforcement)

Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

-Psalm 35:4-6 (for protection against any law and immigration enforcement)

Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.

-Psalm 44:7 (for protection against police, immigration enforcement, and those who would bring such trouble down on your home):

But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

Sator Squares:

As featured in my piece Protection Work in Folk Magic: Herbs, Spells, & Charms for Protecting Yourself & Others, the Sator Square/Rotas Square is a versatile protective tool that can be used to many ends, including to keep unwanted people away from your home (and, yes, we're going to use it here to keep away immigration or law officers).

The Sator Square / Rotas-Sator Square is a palindromic word square used as a magical charm or amulet. It’s been around for quite some time (with the oldest known square possibly being from as early as AD 50) and has been found to have been used historically throughout Europe, Africa, Asia Minor, and the Americas. As to its origins and intended purpose, no one knows for sure, but the Sator Square has come to have a number of magical uses, including as a tool for curing ailments, aiding in childbirth, putting out fires, and, in fitting with the theme of this piece, in protection magic.

Medieval Sator Square etched into a wall; Oppède-le-Vieux, France.

There are many variations of Sator Squares / Rotas-Sator Squares, but the most common forms consist of five rows of five words, each with five letters, arranged in a 5x5 grid. The Rotas-Sator Square (in which rotas is the word listed first, pictured below on the left) was the more common in pre-medieval use, but the Sator Square (in which sator is listed first, pictured below on the right) became far more prevalently used than the Rotas-Sator variation at some point in medieval Europe.

Rotas-Sator Square (left) and Sator Square (right).

In Appalachian and some Southern folk practices within the United States, one can use a Sator Square for protection. To do so for one's home simply write the square onto a paper or cloth or carve the square into wood/etch it into clay and mount the square somewhere within the home — above the mantle, near the front door, above a window. It's said to repel unwanted company of all sorts, as well as offer various protections.

Corncob Charm:

In Kentucky and Tennessee (and perhaps other regions of the US), it's said that one can use dried corn cobs to deter police from coming onto one's property.

What you'll need:

A dried corncob

Nail (if hanging)

Yarn/string (if hanging, preferably red or black)

What to do:

One can either hand a dried corncob (usually from a string, which is sometimes braided) on their doorpost or one can bury a dried corncob at each of the four corners of their home.

Penny Charm:

Penny charms to discourage the attention or presence of law enforcement aren't at all uncommon in the South.

What you'll need:

4 or 9 pennies (some customs specify 'Indian Head Pennies') / (different customs call for different amounts; see below for more information)

What you'll do:

Some variations of this charm call for placing the pennies in a row underneath your doormat. Some call for nailing or gluing the pennies above your front door. Some call for burying the pennies at the property of your boundary or at the front gate.

As to whether one should use 4 or 9 pennies, it depends. Where I'm from, I'd always been told that 9 were used, but in some other Southern regions, the custom is 4 pennies, and in Jake Richards' 'Doctoring the Devil' it's specified that 4 pennies are used unless the house in question is home to illegal undertakings or business, in which case, 9 pennies are preferred.

There has also been a shift as to whether it's necessary to acquire Indian Head Cents or not. Traditionally, the Indian Head Cent was used (at least in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia), but I've seen this work done with regular pennies as well. Nowadays, the Indian Head Cent is harder to come by and buying them just for this work can cost quite a lot. If it's more accessible for one to use regular pennies, then know that you're not the first and won't be the last to do so.

Against Intruders

Garlic:

Yes, garlic has made a second appearance! What can I say? She's a powerful little ally.

Garlic is used for protection across countless countries and customs. This particular method of protection against intruders and unwanted company can be found in English folk traditions, various forms of folk magic in the Southern United States, Jewish folk magic, and several branches of European folk practices.

What you'll need:

Garlic strands, bulbs, or braids (dried or fresh)

What you'll do:

Hang garlic at your door. This can be outside of your home or inside and is usually done from the woodwork around the door but can also be done near the door or on a porch rail. In some English variations, the garlic is hung from the mantle or above the fireplace or near a kitchen window.

'A bunch of garlic hanging from a ceiling.' (via Orestis Christodoulou); 'A pile of dried grass.' (via Maxim Tolchinskiy)

Dust & Dirt:

In Louisiana's branch of conjure and hoodoo, it's said that one can keep intruders away from their property with simple methods and few ingredients.

What you'll need:

Goofer dust (also called gopher dust/gopher's dust/goofer's dust) *there are various ways of making goofer dust and it depends on where you source yours as to what exactly it will consist of

Alternatively, if you cannot acquire goofer dust, one can use graveyard dirt on its own or combined with any of the following ingredients —

Ash

Salt

Coal dust

Iron shavings/iron dust

Brick dust

Eggshell powder

What you'll do:

Simply spread the dust either around the boundaries of your property or (if you haven't the ingredients to spare or would like to limit how much you're putting out due to the presence of animals or wildlife you don't wish to expose to any of the ingredients) at the boundary of your gate, your doors, or your porch.

Against Witchcraft

Horseshoe Charm:

What you'll need:

A horseshoe (used)

Tinfoil (optional)

Nails

What you'll do:

Hanging a horseshoe over the front door or the main entrance to one's home is believed to both secure luck within the household and protect against malicious magic sent to the home or to any member of the household. Iron horseshoes are believed to work best, and some practices within Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia also call for wrapping or dressing the horseshoe in tinfoil before hanging it about the door.

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

'Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folk Magic from Appalachia' - Richards, Jake

’Conjure/Doctors: An Exploration of a Black Discourse in America, Antebellum to 1940’ by Brown, David H.

’Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs’ -Cunningham, Scott

'Divination, Magic, & Healing: the Book of Jewish Folklor' - Isaacs, Ronald H.

'Doctoring the Devil: Notebooks of an Appalachian Conjure Man' - Richards, Jake

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion’ - Trachtenberg, Joshua

'Lowcountry Voodoo A-to-Z' - Marsh, Carole

'the Master Book of Herbalism’- Beyerl, Paul

’On the Origin of the Rotas Sator Square’ - Fishwick, Duncan

'Silent as the Trees: Devonshire Witchcraft, Folklore, & Magic' - Gary, Gemma

'Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South' - Oberon, Aaron

'Sticks, Stones, Roots, & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo, & Conjuring with Herbs' - Bird, Stephanie Rose

’the Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook’ -Alvarado, Denise

'Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways' - Gary, Gemma

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nesahsjewishdump · 2 months ago

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I'm a bit late, but anyways.

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nesahsjewishdump · 2 months ago

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As it is Passover again, it is time for the annual debate as to whether the frog plague, which thanks to a quirk in the Hebrew, is written as a plague of frog, singular, rather than the plural, plague of frogs, was in fact, as generally imagined, a plague of many frogs, or instead a singular giant Kaiju frog. This is an ancient and venerable argument that actually goes back to the Talmud because this is what the Jewish people are. If we can't argue for fun about this sort of thing, what are we even doing.

In that spirit, I would like to submit a third possibility, which is that in fact it was one perfectly normal sized frog, who was absolutely acing Untitled Frog Game: Ancient Egypt Edition. One particularly obnoxious frog, who through sheer hard work, managed to plague all of Egypt.

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nesahsjewishdump · 4 months ago

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nesahsjewishdump · 4 months ago

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I should get a passport because fuck the world is scary rn

#jumblr #jewblr #antisemitism #never again #I’m Canadian but I’m still super scared #too close for comfort

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nesahsjewishdump · 5 months ago

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Birds? In my Judaism?

It’s more likely than you think!

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

Quick disclaimer to say this is another post migrated from another platform and slightly updated.

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

As with many cultures, Jewish culture views and experiences many aspects of our world in ways that are unique and yet alike in ways to other cultures. the folklore surrounding birds is no exception.

🕊️ The Symbolism of Birds

In general, birds in Jewish culture symbolize freedom and grace because of the perceived ease and beauty of their flight, the soul and the innocence of the soul, motherhood, music, and Divine protection and presence.

Two types of bird, however, have their own prominent symbolism beyond what was listed above in Jewish culture: the dove and the eagle.

Doves symbolize purity, innocence, beauty, hope, rebirth (often being harbingers of spring), and love. Those familiar with the story of Noah and the ark may be familiar too with the presence of the dove in this tale:

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

”Then he sent out the dove to see whether the waters had decreased from the surface of the ground…⁦The dove came back to him toward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the waters had decreased on the earth.”

- Gen 8:8-8:11-

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

Some speculate that the dove in this portion is the symbolic representation of G-d making peace with Noah and thus humanity after the Great Flood.

Moreover, during the period in which the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, the rabbis considered doves to be suitable for sacrifice because they were a cheaper form of sacrifice when compared to herd animals, thus demonstrating modesty and simplicity, and because there is “none more persecuted than doves” — as such over time the dove came to symbolize the Jewish people as we were continuously persecuted by many throughout time.

Eagles, on the other hand, are symbols of power, victory, and royalty. Because of the speed of their flight, eagles are often associated with daily prayers as they swiftly deliver them to G-d.

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

”I bore you on eagles’ wings

and brought you to Me.”

-Ex. 19:4-

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

The above quotation from the book of Exodus demonstrates just one example of how eagles in Jewish culture signify freedom and salvation. However contrarily, eagles have also historically represented oppression as it was often a symbol used by those who tried to oppress us.

The eagle is also seen in the Mishnah as one of the embodiments that we must fulfil to perform the will of G-d:

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”be as strong as a leopard,

as light as an eagle…”

-Pirkei Avot 5:23-

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

🕊 Significant Bird-Like Creatures and Concepts

Ziz Shaddai

One of the primordial monsters alongside Leviatan and Behemot in Jewish extra-biblical mythology, Ziz Shaddai is the King of the birds. according to tradition, Ziz Shaddai will be consumed at the Feast of the Righteous upon the arrival of haMeshiakh.

Created on the 5th day of creation with the rest of the birds, the Midrash Rabba describes Ziz Shaddai as a “kosher fowl, and while it spreads its wings, it hides the sun”. the Talmud has other various depictions of him though, ranging from a bird so tall that his head reaches the sky while his feet reach the floor of an ocean so deep it takes an axe over 7 years to reach its bottom. Ziz Shaddai is sometimes considered to be griffin-like.

Perhaps less menacingly, it is often believed that Ziz Shaddai protects his subjects, the other birds that are seen as weaker than him.

Milham

Described as a bird with the feet of a lion, the head of a crocodile, and as having 12 purple wings, not much information is known about this phoenix-like figure.

It is suggested that Milham refused to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil from the Garden of Eden, and as such was granted immortality in the city of Luz.

Shekhinah

The Shekhinah is not traditionally seen as a being on Her own, but is the primarily feminine depiction representative of the presence and dwelling of G-d within each of the Jewish people, connecting us most directly to the Divine.

Often imagined with wings, known as kanfei haShekhinah, G-d’s presence and dwelling within the Jewish people “shelters the people of Israel beneath these wings as a sign of loving-kindness and compassion.”

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

“As birds hovering, so will the Lord of Hosts protect Jerusalem”

-Isaiah 31:5-

𓅯 ∴｡ 𓅨𓅪 ﾟ * 𓅫 *

Worth noting here that Tzipporah, Moses’ wife as mentioned in the Torah, is also linked to birds and protection. Firstly and most notably, her name means “bird” (from the Hebrew word tzippor). However, in Exodus, Tzipporah steps in to protect Moses from an attack by G-d (Exodus 4:24). While not directly related to the Shekhinah, we again see birds and protection being interlinked.

🕊Bird-Related Traditions and Customs

Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur

During the high holidays during which we celebrate the coming of the Jewish new year and a time of atonement and repentance, some families shape challah into the shape of birds to symbolize prayers of well-wishes or atonement to be carried to G-d.

Shabbat Shirah

The « Shabbat of Song » is the sabbath that coincides with the Torah portion called B’shalakh in Exodus 15. During this portion, we read what is known as Shirat HaYam, or the Song of the Sea, which is physically written out differently to make it stand out from the rest of the portion in the Torah.

On Shabbat Shirah, many Ashkenazi Jewish families have the custom to go out and feed birds in appreciation of their songs through which they are seen to be continuously praising G-d.

Kan Tzippor

Kan tzippor is one of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) listed in the Torah. The term kan tzippor itself translates to “bird nest”. This particular mitzvah explains that should one come across a nest on their journey, and should eggs or the young of a bird be in that nest with the mother, we must send off the mother before taking from the nest.

Though written rather literally, this mitzvah is providing common decency to the mother bird in the scenario that one must eat meat or eggs. in other words, if you must take an egg from a nest to feed yourself, make sure you are not suffering the mother to see it’s egg (or chick, fledgling, etc); we would not do such a thing to a human parent and child, so why would we suffer such a thing to an animal when it is providing us with nourishment*? in summary, we can relate this mitzvah to being kind and decent to animals, especially those that provide us with food. so important is this mitzvah that the Torah promises longevity should this mitzvah be fulfilled.

*this mitzvah is not stating that we just go around doing this willy-nilly, either. and, as with many of the 613 mitzvot, not all are ones that are obligatory in all circumstances. please remember as well the historical context in which the Torah was written and received and that this does not translate as literally into modern times.

Resources

Books

•Encyclopaedia of Jewish Symbols byEllen Frankel and Betsy Platkin Teutsch

Web Sources

• https://reformjudaism.org/shabbat-shirah

• https://beyondthegolem.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/its-a-bird/

• https://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/42839

• https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/zipporah-bible

#jewblr #jewish #jumblr #birds

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nesahsjewishdump · 5 months ago

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nesahsjewishdump · 5 months ago

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there’s a man on tiktok who isn’t jewish but who is minoring in jewish studies and who has started making informational videos directly combatting antisemitism. on one hand, it sucks that goyim often only listen to other goyim, but seeing someone who isn’t jewish stand up for us and educate people without pulling punches is making me a bit emotional. he’s @lordkamar for anyone else on tik tok and i highly recommend following him if you’re on that app

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nesahsjewishdump · 5 months ago

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Jewish Magic?

*disclaimer: this is an old post of mine from another platform that I have revised. I hope all of the resource links still work.

Magic is traditionally defined as the art or practice of affecting change or predicting events using hidden natural and/or supernatural forces.

for all intents and purposes, jewish magic isn’t inherently different by definition from other forms of magic by definition; you can see the similarities here, where yuval harari describes jewish magic as “based on a belief in human power to affect reality and change it by means of words and rites”. in reality, jewish magic is simply magic, but is differentiated by employing vast array of world views, beliefs, and traditions of the jewish people.

jewish magic traditionally tends to place an emphasis on the jewish view of use and manipulation of words and their creative ability; for example, from the very beginning of Bereshit in the Torah we can see words being used to speak the world into existence by G-d.

historically, jewish magic has placed a high reliance on non-human entities, including the archangels, other heavenly hosts, and even the constellations, the planets, and other celestial objects which at one point were all considered living entities, though this may now be interpreted as astrology. more “earthly” entities, too, were relied upon for magic, including shedim. these latter entities were primarily used in adjurations (petitions) against other people or in attempt to remove or trap the entity in question, or otherwise hinder their power.

notably, G-d Themselves was generally excluded from being involved in human magic directly out of respect, as one wouldn’t want to command something of G-d. Rather, G-d was indirectly involved in magic as the Source of magical knowledge, and as an addressee and/or a source of higher power over a lower being in an adjuration (eg. used in the clause “I adjure you, [entity being adjured], in the name of G-d [or another “higher” being than the entity being adjured]”)

archaeological evidence points to rituals having been performed to both help and harm others for various reasons, including for healing (including rituals for aborting a dead fetus, recipe of which is pictured above), protection (from demons and rival nations), curses, attracting G-d‘s favour, success in financial and military matters, improving one’s memory for study, and petitions to receive divine messages by means of dreams (dream interpretation is among the most popular and most well accounted for means of divination amongst the Jewish people since the beginning).

the archaeological evidence of magic rituals performed in ancient judea consists of both incantation bowls (pictured below), and metal or clay tablets. Upon these objets one can identify recipes passages from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Talmud, and adjurations of various entities. In particular, these tablets and incantations bowls found were primarily used to protect against demons and to heal somebody after experiencing demonic interference.

aside from incantation bowls and tablets, entire recipes for Jewish magic rituals were found written on parchment in a genizah in Cairo. These recipes indicate that performing a ritual was no laughing matter to ancient judeans, as per yuval harari:

”the instructions touch upon preliminary ritual preparations (such as purification, abstention from women, meat and hot food, and wearing clean white cloths), the time and place of the rite, the materials and objects to be used throughout out the ceremony and the way to utilize them, the gestures required on part of the practitioner and the way to leave the magical space and to return to normal life”

Jewish magic has historically used the concept of words, letters, and numbers as means of creation. its believed that speaking a word or phrase out loud, or even writing it down can not only manifest it, but also have other powers over the word/phrase. the same can apply to using [the names of people or entities|http://aminoapps.com/p/1zutjo] to call on their power (through meaning of their name(s), too, especially in the case of G-d and other people), or exert power over them. even the work of certain demons can be nullified or reversed by speaking their name multiple times, each time removing one letter from their name to gradually reduce its power.

upon the destruction of the second temple by rome and the creation of the second major and ongoing jewish diaspora in 70 CE, jewish magic and ritual were transported into surrounding regions, and, from there, following a series of expulsions and perfections, into the diasporic regions of the jews and was in turn influenced in part by the cultures that surrounded us, developing folk magics and practices unique to each diasporic region/sub-culture which are so rich in and of themselves i do not have the rational space to include them here.

most notably for the ritualistic magic of ancient judea, however, was the resurgence of jewish magic and mysticism by means of the emergence of kabbalah in 12th/13th century iberia (what is now spain and southern france). it is in part due to the emergence of kabbalah that the jewish people have maintained jewish magical practices through till today and that they weren’t completely lost to time in the diaspora.

Jewish magic has a very long and complicated history, particularly in the hands of goyim. this is especially true particularly when looking at jewish magic post-diaspora. at various periods of time, the standard religious and cultural practices of jews were perceived as malevolent acts of sorcery that were intended to curse and/or cause harm to non-jews. from accusations of blood libel, to being poisoners, to the witch crazes of europe, and being identified as literal devils ourselves, jews were banished, mistreated, and slaughtered because of the ignorant and harmful perceptions of non-jews, particularly christian europeans.

Yet, despite the shaming, attacking, and murdering of jews because of our practices, many of these very same people committing such heinous acts simultaneously sought jews out for the other-worldly power and knowledge they believed we had and that they so desperately wanted. this strange obsession and fetishization with our “exotic” magical works and mystical beliefs in combination with dwindling populations of jewish communities as the result of massacres and expulsions created an issue: the non-Jews of christian europe wanted Jewish magic, but didn’t have nor want the jews near by to ask to do it for them. so, their solution was to take what little, watered-down and out-of-context knowledge and practices they could from jews and publish them in grimoires attributed to jewish figures, most notably Moses and Solomon (yes, this is where we get solomonic magic. It is not jewish magic, it is “jewish” magic). According to Ezra Rose, “their attribution to Solomon and the style (if not the substance) of their contents were part of the medieval and renaissance image of Jews as master sorcerers”, but are not at all jewish, rather using the “exotic” and extremely fetishized image of jews and jewish magic to present specifically christian perspectives and thoughts on both king solomon and demons.

Eventually, when the Christian clergy learned about the kabbalah, they co-opted that too and christianized it into “christian cabala”, in both an attempt to convert jews to christianity , and to continue to “take what they wanted from jews and then turn around and use them [jews] as scapegoats”. both christian cabala and the “jewish” grimoires attributed to solomon would go onto inform hermetic qabala (and hermeticism and thelema and other occult religions including eventually wicca) and with it a lot of aspects found within occultism and the new age movement, many of which can still be observed today in neo-pagan and modern occult practices.

Jewish Mysticism and Magic?

mysticism is described by religious studies professor arthur versluis as “a spiritual discipline aimed at the union with the divine” and/or “any belief in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual apprehension but [that is] central to being and directly accessible by intuition”.

unlike jewish mysticism, jewish magic need not include or involve concepts of the divine or incomprehensible realms, though the concepts may overlap for some. kabbalah does often involve rituals and practices that can be considered jewish magic, however, as we will see below.

kabbalah can be divided into three “forms” of practice:

1. Theoretical/Speculative Kabbalah

the form of kabbalah that is concerned with divine order and the structure of the universe

2. Ecstatic/Prophetic/Meditative Kabbalah

the usage of various techniques to be able to “transcend the physical world, experience the divine and receive prophetic messages” to understand the universe. this kind of Kabbalah is most often noted to be present in the books of the prophets.

3. Practical Kabbalah

seeking to influence the universe using a variety of practices using jewish magic.

so in general, it is safe to say that jewish mysticism is not the same as magic, but may include magic (particularly in the context of practical kabbalah), and that a jewish individual may involve jewish mysticism in their magical practice.

References

https://w3g3a5v6.ssl.hwcdn.net/upload2/game/1648192/6280601?GoogleAccessId=uploader@moonscript2.iam.gserviceaccount.com&Expires=1660167723&Signature=cQmAzHpjWynGV85QVX96WJWkyS3klOUkoMfnSGT67pE%2FMO%2FGf0vLJkpf2GGpqZeVElMRzn2%2BL5n2WqWKxa39foO8q42Uqr%2BCHEUikOuj1L6t77zwUDeAMVDY%2F6p3Cga%2FcgmB9YlOGzYNkgu7uVtB8G%2FJyMSNnBcpDpZa7jKaz5P0iS4c19xbTON1HrPKIjKcXosURh%2B3hPnE7Pk5Jn13AHO55WLv46YV%2FwhB5Y2tfVRqsPJOpRL%2FOHrrW5DJoGRUewojhEzyrzuhAy7ahi8odV3oI1ABrhw4lBPYvLKcDMecv4RJNz1i2MJYC2YzZy98jK5NDCnK09UcxCJmgkQDRg==&hwexp=1660167983&hwsig=9edf6fe995926d461fa9d2ea92aef1e9

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https://www.jewitches.com/post/witch-history-jews-and-the-witchcraze