Amulet is an object worn or carried on the person in the belief that it will bring good luck or ward off evil. It represents a kind of personal magic--often sympathetic or imitative magic. Used frequently to protect persons or livestock specifically against magical attack (for example, the evil eye), amulets may be thought of as counter magic. Some anthropologists differentiate between magic and religion. Whereas magic operates automatically and impersonally, religious practices such as …
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…of scarabs spread from Egypt throughout major portions of the Mediterranean world; they have, for example, been found in Etruscan and Roman representations of later periods. BIBLIOGRAPHY Budge, E. Wallis, Amulets and Superstitions (Dover 1978); Lippman, Deborah, and Colin, Paul, Amulets, Charms and Talismans (Evans & Co. 1985); Logan, Jo, The Prediction Book of Amulets and Talismans (Sterling 1986); Rodkinson, Michael L., History of Amulets, Charms and Talismans (Gordon Press 1977); Shire, T., Hebrew Magic Amulets (Behrman House 198