Amulets & Talismans for Beginners: How to Choose, Make & Use Magical Objects (For Beginners (Llewellyn's)) [Paperback]

Richard Webster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2004 | Series: For Beginners (Llewellyn's)

Richard Webster shows you step-by-step how to make and use the most effective talismans. He provides a dictionary of lucky charms from acorns to wishbones. He discusses protective amulets from around the world, particularly those that ward off the evil eye. Then he shows you how to create, charge, purify and empower your own personal talismans for a variety of purposes from attracting love to winning a court case.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Webster was born and raised in New Zealand. He has been interested in the psychic world since he was nine years old. As a teenager, he became involved in hypnotism and later became a professional stage hypnotist. After school, he worked in the publishing business and purchased a bookstore. The concept of reincarnation played a significant role in his decision to become a past-life specialist. Richard has also taught psychic development classes, which are based on many of his books.

Richard's first book was published in 1972, fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an author. Richard is now the author of over a hundred books, and is still writing today. His best-selling books include Spirit Guides & Angel Guardians and Creative Visualization for Beginners. 

Richard has appeared on several radio and TV programs in the United States and abroad including guest spots on Hard Copy, WMAQ-TV (Chicago), KTLA-TV (Los Angeles), KSTW-TV (Seattle) and the Mike and Matty Show (ABC). He currently resides in New Zealand with his wife and three children. He regularly travels the world to give lectures, workshops and to continue his research.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

People frequently use the words talisman,amulet, and lucky charm interchangeably. This is not correct, but it is easy to see how the confusion arises, as the dividing line between them is frequently hard to define. This chapter will help you understand the subtle distinctions between the three. what are they? Talismans Talismans are objects designed to give specific power, protection, encouragement, and energy to those who wear or own them. The important thing to note is that talismans always provide specific benefits to their owners and are usually made for specific purposes. Talismans can be made from almost any material, though they are frequently made of metal, stone, or parchment and are inscribed with words or pictures. They are often made at spiritually and cosmically significant times to help provide power and energy that can be used by whoever owns them. The most powerful ones are actually made by their owners. Although they can be created for both positive and negative purposes, it would take an extremely braveand foolishperson to make a negative talisman deliberately. History is full of examples of talismans at work. Catherine de Medici, for instance, wore a specially made talisman that gave her power and the gift of clairvoyance. It was formed from several metals mixed together at auspicious astrological times. One side of this talisman depicted the god Jupiter, the eagle of Ganymede, and a demon with the head of Anubis, an Egyptian god. The other side contained a picture of Venus, flanked by demons. It is believed that the Venus is actually a portrait of Catherine de Medici, because many talismans are in the form of a disc, one side of which depicts the owner, while the other illustrates whatever it is that he or she de- sires. Catherine de Medicis talisman was destroyed when she died, but a copy can be found in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. Talismans are common even todayeven if their users dont acknowledge them as such. People engaged in competitive activities frequently use items of clothing as a talismans to improve their performances. Vida Blue is an excellent example. Blue was a famous baseball pitcher in the 1970s and 80s. He believed that his cap brought him luck and made him pitch better. Consequently, for several seasons, he never went to the mound without that exact cap. After a number of years, the hat finally became so filthy and faded that league officials told Blue that he would be suspended if he did not change hats. Blue agreed and held a pregame ceremony to burn his old hat before putting on the new one. (Blue probably didnt know it, but he was using an ancient rite to say goodbye to his talisman.) In Hong Kong, I have seen people who keep photographs and drawings of books and computers in their wallets and purses to help them become more academic. I also know someone who keeps a photograph of Jesus in his wallet. He has frequent eye problems, and carries the picture, even though he is not a Christian, because Jesus was known to heal the blind. Talismans have also come in various natural forms. The earliest talismans were natural. Primitive people frequently used objects made from parts of animals. An eagles feather, a sharks tooth, or a leopards claw provided power and prestige to the wearer. A necklace made from the teeth of a predatory animal is another good example. This was intended to provide not only protection, but also to give the wearer some of the qualities of the animal the teeth originally belonged to. Someone wearing a necklace made from a beavers teeth would become industrious, while someone wearing a sharks tooth would become strong, fierce, and energetic, for example. Amulets Unlike talismans, amulets are intended for more general purposes and usually provide protection from danger. They can also ward off illness and ill fortune.While talismans are active, amulets are passive, reacting to events in the wearers life rather than specifically creating something. (We expect amulets to provide protection, but occasionally the opposite occurs, and the amulet actually makes life more dangerous. The most famous example of this is the Hope Diamond, which caused misery and grief to everyone who owned it.) Originally, amulets consisted of natural objects. Lucky rabbits feet and four-leaf clovers are examples of such amulets. It wasnt long, though, before manmade objects became amulets, especially in the forms of various body adornments. Jewelry is still frequently used as an amulet. An amulet can also be a specially made object you carry with you for protection. For example, St. Jude is considered the patron saint of policemen, and in the early twentieth century, many police officers in New York carried St. Jude medals with them to provide protection. Lucky Charms Lucky charms combine the qualities of both amulets and talismans. They are active like talismans and generalized like amulets. Charms are intended to attract good luck and good fortune to whoever owns them. Originally, charms consisted of words that were either spoken or sung. The word charm itself is derived from the French word charme, meaning song.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (January 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738705047
• ISBN-13: 978-0738705040
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Webster was born and raised in New Zealand. He has been interested in the psychic world since he was nine years old. As a teenager, he became involved in hypnotism and later became a professional stage hypnotist. After school, he worked in the publishing business and purchased a bookstore. The concept of reincarnation played a significant role in his decision to become a past-life specialist. Richard has also taught psychic development classes, which are based on many of his books.
Richard's first book was published in 1972, fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming an author. Richard is now the author of over seventy-five titles on New Age subjects. His best-selling books include Spirit Guides & Angel Guardians and Creative Visualization for Beginners.
Richard has appeared on several radio and TV programs in the United States and abroad including guest spots on Hard Copy, WMAQ-TV (Chicago), KTLA-TV (Los Angeles), KSTW-TV (Seattle) and the Mike and Matty Show (ABC). He currently resides in New Zealand with his wife and three children. He regularly travels the world to give lectures, workshops and to continue his research.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good start for a beginner interested in the basics, April 6, 2004

By 

Psyche (spiralnature.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amulets & Talismans for Beginners: How to Choose, Make & Use Magical Objects (For Beginners (Llewellyn's)) (Paperback)

Webster opens with a charming story from his boyhood, when he first encountered a lucky horseshoe nail worn as a protective charm by a farmer. Many of us have heard of or experienced a similar tale: a first awakening to the idea that inanimate objects can bestow fortune upon their owners.

He goes on to define talismans as 'objects designed to give specific power, protection, encouragement, and energy to those who wear or own them. The important thing to note is that talismans always provide <I>specific benefits</I> to their owners and are usually made for specific purposes' (pg. 8). Whereas amulets are said to be distinctly different from talismans in that they are 'intended for more general purposes and usually provide protection from danger'. Webster states that 'while talismans are active, amulets are passive, reacting to events in the wearer's life rather than specifically creating something' (pg. 10). Lucky charms apparently 'combine the qualities of both amulets and talismans. They are active like talismans and generalized like amulets. Charms are intended to attract good luck and good fortune to whoever owns them' (pg. 11). Rather confusing, as it sounds more or less the same to me. Fortunately, he allows that it can be 'sometimes difficult to say if a certain magical object is an amulet, lucky charm, or talisman.' Further noting that 'in fact, it is not at all unusual to find one object performing all three functions depending on the beliefs of its owner' (pg. 12).

Brief overviews of several traditional talismans and amulets are given, as well as examples for making and charging magical objects, including numerous associations, with numerology, colour, stones, horoscope and birthday month gems, both 'traditional' and modern, quabbalah, seals, Pythagorean magick squares and numerology - all within a fixed framework, though he notes that one can also choose what resonates well. Webster even includes a spin-off of the Spare method for sigil making, though he seems to miss the entire point of the exercise point in saying that 'it makes no difference what you do with the letters, <I>just as long as the message is instantly recognizable to you</I>, whenever you see it' (pg. 184, italics mine). In fact, in the Spare method it is fundamental that one <I>forgets</I> the meaning of the sigil for it to take seed in the subconscious mind, even to the point of leaving the finished sigil aside for days, weeks or even months. Further, it contains methods for charging and purifying amulets as well as destroying them once they're no longer of use.

It is an easy to use guide and brief history of popular magickal objects, if a bit vague at times and somewhat repetitive. There's not a lot going on creatively with it; it relies heavily on 'tried and true' methods with an allowance for minor intuitive tweaking. Despite these criticisms, it is a decent introduction to talisman and amulet creation, and would make good start for a beginner interested in the basics.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amulets & Talismans for Beginners: How to choose, make & use magical objects, September 3, 2005

By 

Kimberly Rogers "Cara" (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amulets & Talismans for Beginners: How to Choose, Make & Use Magical Objects (For Beginners (Llewellyn's)) (Paperback)

This is a great book. I checked it out at the library and had to get it. This is a great book for the beginner and advanced. it has numerology and how to make magic squares also. This is the best book I have bought so far.