object
Charm
A small made thing worn or spoken to fend or court luck. Folk speech and later occult shops use the word; they are not one rite.
Also known as amulet
European folklore
Charm is associated with Luck.
A worn or spoken charm is often a bid to court or fend luck. Folk speech stores the two together; a temple oracle is another institution.
associated with · interpretive · culturally specific
Charm is associated with Eye.
Mediterranean and later European charms against a blighting glance are one local use of a small made thing. They are not the wedjat.
associated with · interpretive · culturally specific
Charm appears in European folklore.
Charm as a household protection is at home in European folk speech. It is not a Hermetic key and not an Ifá verse.
appears in · interpretive · culturally specific
Luck is associated with Charm.
Luck is often courted with a small made thing. The courtship is folk technique, not a natal inclination.
associated with · interpretive · culturally specific
Fetishism is historically related to Charm.
Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable seats Fetiche or Fetish as the African idol (Portuguese fetisso) whose worship is Fetichism or Fetishism — almost anything may serve as a fetiche, from fly and serpent to stone and shell — power-object speech beside charm. A named Fetishism in that idol-charm speech, not totemism.
from Ebenezer Cobham Brewer · Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and later PD editions)
historically related to · sourced · documented
Fairy ointment is used in Charm.
Keightley seats fairy ointment as the salve that opens mortal eyes to fairy sight — charm use in fairy tales, not a medical ointment dump.
from Thomas Keightley · The Fairy Mythology, 1828 (enlarged PD eds. mid-19th c.)
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Northwest Coast tradition
Charm appears in Northwest Coast tradition.
Swanton’s Tlingit Myths and Texts seat small made power-objects among shamanic and luck speech of that coast. A named charm in that ethnography, not a modern occult-shop dump and not amulet as a missing id.
from John R. Swanton · Tlingit Myths and Texts, 1909
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Charm is used in Medicine.
Swanton’s Tlingit collection treats small power-objects as gear used in shamanic healing and protection speech of that coast. Charm used in that medicine practice, not a shop-amulet dump and not appears_in attestation alone.
from John R. Swanton · Tlingit Myths and Texts, 1909
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Yoruba Ifá
Charm is used in Yoruba Ifá.
Bascom’s apparatus and medicines chapters seat awure luck charms and protective or retaliatory medicines among the small made things Ifá practice prepares and deploys beside the cast. A named charm use in that ethnography’s Ifá, not cowrie-luck modern charm-talk already kept apart and not a shop-amulet dump.
from William Bascom · Ifa Divination, 1969
used in · sourced · culturally specific
Charm is used in Offerings.
Charm used in Offerings. A small made thing worn or spoken to fend or court luck. Gifts given to gods, dead, or powers: fire, food, blood, incense, words. The Atlas keeps their meeting local, without dissolving either into a single meaning.
from SHOE.BLUE · SHOE.BLUE, 2026
used in · interpretive · modern interpretation
Chi-Rho represents Charm.
Twining seats the Chi-Rho / sacred monogram among the earliest Christian emblems on lamps, tombs, and gems — christogram speech, not a generic letter mark alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Staurogram represents Charm.
Twining seats the tau-rho / staurogram among early cross-monogram forms — staurogram speech, not a plain Latin cross alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Labarum is historically related to Charm.
Twining seats the labarum among imperial Christian standards bearing the sacred monogram — labarum speech, not a secular vexillum alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Triquetra represents Charm.
Twining seats the triquetra among interlaced threefold Christian emblems of the Trinity — triquetra speech, not a Celtic triskelion dump alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Trefoil represents Charm.
Twining seats the trefoil among threefold Christian leaf and architectural emblems of the Trinity — trefoil speech, not a botanical clover alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
represents · sourced · documented
Quatrefoil represents Charm.
Twining seats the quatrefoil among fourfold Christian ornamental emblems — quatrefoil speech, not a trefoil alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Cinquefoil represents Charm.
Twining seats the cinquefoil among fivefold Christian ornamental emblems — cinquefoil speech, not a trefoil alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
represents · sourced · documented
Hexafoil represents Charm.
Twining seats hexafoil / six-lobed roses among mediaeval Christian ornamental emblems — hexafoil speech, not a sun-wheel alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
represents · sourced · documented
Anchor mark represents Charm.
Twining seats the anchor among early Christian emblems of hope — anchor emblem speech, not a naval tool alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Mandylion represents Charm.
Twining’s Symbols and Emblems seats Mandylion among signs that stand for charm and emblem marks. Mandylion represents that figure in emblem use, not a literal identity claim and not a modern logo dump.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
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Cross represents Charm.
Twining’s whole handbook seats the cross as the central Christian emblem in early and mediaeval art — cross emblem speech, not a single Latin-form dump alone.
from Louisa Twining · Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art, 1852 (new ed. 1885)
represents · sourced · documented
Gyron is historically related to Charm.
Mollett’s Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology seats Gyron in the material and craft neighborhood of charm and emblem marks. Gyron historically related to charm by that shared workshop path, not a forced identity merge and not a modern brand SKU dump.
from J. W. Mollett · Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology, 1883
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Thistle represents Charm.
Mollett’s Thistle seats the Scottish national badge in art and heraldry — thistle emblem speech, not a weed alone.
from J. W. Mollett · Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology, 1883
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Shamrock represents Charm.
Mollett’s Shamrock seats the Irish trefoil badge in art and heraldry — shamrock emblem speech, not a clover weed alone.
from J. W. Mollett · Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology, 1883
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Arabesque is historically related to Charm.
Mollett’s Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology seats Arabesque in the material and craft neighborhood of charm and emblem marks. Arabesque historically related to charm by that shared workshop path, not a forced identity merge and not a modern brand SKU dump.
from J. W. Mollett · Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology, 1883
historically related to · sourced · documented
Pentacle represents Charm.
Mollett’s Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology seats Pentacle among signs that stand for charm and emblem marks. Pentacle represents that figure in emblem use, not a literal identity claim and not a modern logo dump.
from J. W. Mollett · Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology, 1883
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European folklore · Eighteenth-century Europe
Mandrake is associated with Charm.
Later European witchcraft books make the forked root a little body and a charm. That literature is not Dioscorides.
associated with · interpretive · modern interpretation
Shinto
Ofuda is historically related to Charm.
Chamberlain’s Charms / Paper charms seat ofuda as paper talismans issued from shrines — paper-charm speech, not an omamori pouch amulet alone.
from Basil Hall Chamberlain · Things Japanese, 1890 (5th ed. 1905)
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Omamori is historically related to Charm.
Chamberlain’s Charms notes seat omamori as portable shrine amulets for personal protection — pouch-amulet speech, not a flat ofuda slip alone.
from Basil Hall Chamberlain · Things Japanese, 1890 (5th ed. 1905)
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Celtic tradition
Fairy Flag is historically related to Charm.
Keightley seats fairy flags among gifted fairy banners of Highland clans — fairy-gift charm speech, not a military gonfalon alone.
from Thomas Keightley · The Fairy Mythology, 1828 (enlarged PD eds. mid-19th c.)
historically related to · sourced · documented
sources
- Tlingit Myths and Texts · John R. Swanton
John R. Swanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts, BAE Bulletin 39 (1909).
- Ifa Divination · William Bascom
William Bascom, Ifa Divination: Communication between Gods and Men in West Africa.
- SHOE.BLUE · SHOE.BLUE
SHOE.BLUE, Atlas instrument voice.
- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable · Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
- Things Japanese · Basil Hall Chamberlain
Basil Hall Chamberlain, Things Japanese (5th ed. 1905).
- The Fairy Mythology · Thomas Keightley
Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology.
- Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art · Louisa Twining
Louisa Twining, Symbols and Emblems of Early and Mediaeval Christian Art.
- Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology · J. W. Mollett
J. W. Mollett, An Illustrated Dictionary of Words Used in Art and Archaeology (1883).