Paper short abstract:

This paper will demonstrate how a consideration of prescribed ways in which amulets are acquired can assist an interpretation of the psychological inclinations of those who acquire them.

Paper long abstract:

With a few notable exceptions, the study of amulets (material charms) in anthropology has tended to focus on the objects themselves. However, an emphasis upon the object tends to minimize, or even exclude, a consideration of the subject or practitioner and the relationship between the subject and the object. That is to say, an interest in the objects can divert attention from the phenomenological relationship between the practitioner and what is practiced. In other words, a primary commitment to the object can impede the recognition of the significance of human subjectivity and its exploration in the context of anthropological practice.

The paper represents an attempt to redress this situation. It will do so tentatively and selectively. Rather than present an encyclopaedic survey of the acquisition and use of amulets, it will demonstrate that even an exploratory psychological incursion - and in this case, a psychologically hermeneutic, incursion - into charm lore can be indicative and provide some understanding of the psychological intentions of those who practice it.