Customer Reviews

Amulets, Talismans, And Magical Jewelry: A Way To The Unseen, Everpresent, Almighty God

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First off, this book was the first thing I saw when I opened my package from Amazon, and I thought the shrink wrap that was used was really blurry. Nope. The picture on the front cover is blurry- like it's not a high resolution image, but they blew it up anyway. Also, it's copal/African Amber- from nomadic African and Middle Eastern tribes, but most of this book is about Judiasm. Most pictures within the text are blurry, pixelated or look like they were taken on vacation and not enhanced. The author seriously underestimated the impact of clear pictures of the jewelry she is describing! She's trying to demonstrate the greatness of these objects, but we can't see them clearly enough to appreciate them properly. The text is ok, not great. I wouldn't recommend this book. This is a bad example of an author taking her own photographs. They are so distracting I couldn't get past them. Instead I would recommend anything by Angela Fisher about African adornment and jewelry, or The Jewelry of Nepal by Hannelore Gabriel or Tribal Asia by Schmid and Trupp or the "A World of ____" series: (Necklaces, Earrings, Bracelets, or Belts.)

Beautifully illustrated with color photography, Amulets, Talismans & Magical Jewelry: A Way To The Unseen, Ever- Present, Almighty God by clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst Barbara Black Koltuv focuses upon the creation, use, and meaning of objects invested with magical or spiritual powers as reflected in the Hebrew scriptures, rituals and beliefs. These items range from glass beads for protection against the evil eye, to the mezuzah found on door frames, to the hamsa (five fingered hand), engraved pendants, tiny boxes containing special prayers, Aaron's breastplate, the knots on the prayer shawl, the teffilin, henna hand and foot painting, amulets from the Sefer Raziel that protect newborn infants from evil forces, and so much more. Amulets, Talismans & Magical Jewelry is a welcome and informative contribution to personal and academic library New Age, Metaphysical, and Judaic Studies reference collections.

Whether you wear a charm, own a rabbits foot or a mystical scholar you will find much in Barbara Koltuv's book on Amulets Talismans and Magical Jewelry that you never did before as I did.

At six when I was left in school I ran home first chance I got. My father took me for a blessing to a Hasidic Rabbi in Brighten Beach in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the 1930's. Besides the blessing Rabbi Yechiel Ashkanazi gave me a kamaiah: It was a Heh, fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet representing God's name. My mother sewed it into a little cloth pouch and hung it around my neck with a string.

Reading this book brought me to new level of relationship with that Heh seeing how many people in so many lands who were soothed, protected,and made tranquil by amulets.

I will use the book mostly as an encyclopedia yet it is seldom that I open the book anywhere and not get captured by the contents of the page.

Charles Roth, Leader of Hasidic Workshops

I was disappointed when I got this book and found it to be nearly exclusively based on the Jewish religion. It is not for wiccans or pagans. Heavy Biblical quotings and Hebrew inscriptions make this a potentially good book for people looking for that angle. Like the subtitle says, "A way to the unseen ever-present, almighty God." Should not be listed under wiccan, magik, pagan books.

Amulets, Talismans & Magical Jewelry by Barbara Black Koltuv is a look into the magical use of magical items that people have been using since ancient times. Some of the jewelry you wear right now may even have links to these magical items.

This is a fully colored book that blends history and mystery together. Not all of the magical jewelry worn by ancient peoples is fully known as of why they wore what they wore. However, they did believe that special amulets, talismans and jewelry could be used to help protect them or attract certain things to them.

This book does a beautiful job of both showcasing these items, and also explaining the known history behind their uses. My favorite part was about the usage of gemstones in ancient times. I knew quite a bit about it before reading this book, but I also learned new things from this one as well.

Overall, if you love history and mystery, this would be a really interesting read for you to immerse yourself in for an afternoon. I recommend it to all those who want to take that journey.


* Thank you to the publisher of Amulets, Talismans & Magical Jewelry, Weiser Books, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Fascinating ! This book takes a unique perspective on the topic of amulets and talismans , that I have not seen before.
Wonderful pictures, well-researched, thought-provoking.