Michael Arrigo
2-D Design
Bowling Green State University
marrigo@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Talismans and charms are first and foremost means of practical magic
enabling humans to communicate, influence or control the workings of the
invisible forces of nature for their own benefit. These may include what
we in the West would call spirits or demons, but oftentimes it simply refers
to the life force, vital essences or animate processes that all things
possess, which is a far cry from most Western conceptions of the spirit
world.
Talismans are often used to cure sickness, bless marriage, ease
childbirth, protect household from fire, to stave off pestilence and
misfortune, guard against calamities, invite good fortune, provide the
strength, harmonize polarities, influence the weather, control ones
emotions, etc. in short, talismans and charms are impersonal
repositories of power. Talismans gain their power by simple convention
(and general agreement that a given form is simply naturally endowed with
power), through ritual, contact with other powerful people things or forces
(contagion) or through metaphor. Very often talismans establish complex
connections between forces, things and attributes drawing together
concepts that we in the west might not acknowledge is having any
connection whatsoever.
In their original form many talismans are highly impermanent and
perishable. These can consist of diagrams drawn in the dust or dirt with a
stick or finger other times they may be written on paper and burnt as
offerings to the forces. They may consist of sand paintings, tattoos, and
amulets, may be worked into the designs of clothing, architecture or
sculpture, may be carried or eaten or buried. The varieties of
compositions that many cultures use is enormous, ranging from the
spontaneity of trance-drawings to the meticulous draftsmanship of
pseudoscientific diagrams and magic charts. Nearly every culture has
developed some form of talismanic image. It may be argued that
commercial logos serve a similar purpose. They embody the “elan vital” of
the corporation, seek to influence consumers and investors and financial
markets. Ordinary people may find a sense of well being (comfort,
confidence, coolness) provided by corporate talismans as it helps them
stave off the unseen forces of aging, decrepitude, foolishness, while
surrounding them with the aura of such positive spirits as sophistication,
belonging, power and wealth.
Some examples of talismanic associations
Procedures:
1. Identify an unseen aspect or force that you posses or that effects you, that
you would like to influence in some way (attract, repel, alter). Try to be as
specific, honest and self-insightful as possible rather then vague or
arbitrary.
2. Devise a Development Ritual (a system or specific procedure for
developing the imagery). This plan MUST include at least one metaphoric
and one formal manipulation. Example:
1. Start with my three initials.
2. Abstract the letter forms into 3 of the four elements: earth, wind, fire
and water. (This is the metaphoric manipulation.)
3. Lay out the forms on a grid and experiment with different symmetries
on various axes. (This is the formal manipulation.)
You will turn in the Development Ritual with the piece
4. We will be executing these in the medium of woodcut using a 5”X5”
square. Designs that are shape oriented and use positive/negative space
relationships are more likely to be successful then linear designs.
5. Develop or invent the proper presentation for your print(s). You can print
onto a variety of surfaces (paper, cloth, wood, etc.), in a variety of colors,
in any arrangement, any number of times. The repeatability of the print
is important! Use a presentation format that is consistent with your image
and its content. Find a way to get your talisman out in the world
rather then just centered on a piece of paper and tacked to the wall.
Be inventive!
Hints:
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Because talismans are powerful they often use occult (hidden) imagery.
Find ways of meaningfully abstracting or personalizing your source
material so that it is not “transparent”
Do lots of visual as well as standard research to get ideas for your choice
of imagery
Don’t use or radically transform cliché symbols
The first, and perhaps most fun form of research, is to get ideas from
friends and peers. Discuss your ideas!
The Hand of Glory
This was a right hand of a murderer that was severed while the corpse was still
hanging from the gallows. It was then used as a charm or in black magic
practices after being magically preserved. It is also believed robbers often used
the hand when breaking into buildings and homes.
Preferably the hand was cut off during the eclipse of the moon. Afterwards it was
wrapped in a shroud, squeezed of blood and pickled for two weeks in an
earthenware jar with salt, long peppers and saltpeter. Then it was either dried in
an oven with vervain, an herb believed to be able to ward off demons, or laid out
to dry in the sun, desirably in the hot dog days of August.
When the hand was ready, candles were fitted on it between the fingers. These
were called the "dead man's candles" were made from another murderer's fat,
with the wick being made from his hair.
Another method of curing the severed and dried hand was dip it in wax. After this
process the fingers themselves could be lit.
The hand with burning candles or fingers was shocking when coming at people.
It froze them in their tracks and rendered them speechless. Burglars lit the hand
before entering homes. A warning sign was that if the thumb would not light it
meant there was someone in the house who could not be charmed or made
afraid. It was believed once the hand was lit nothing but milk could extinguish it.
Homeowners attempted to fight back. To combat the hand of glory all sorts of
ointments were smeared on the thresholds. The compositions of these various
ointments consisted of everything from the blood of screech owls, the fat of white
hens, or the bowl of black cats. Perhaps these concoctions worked if they were
slimy enough to trip up the burglars.
The hand of glory was linked to witches during the witch-hunt period. There are
two noted incidences. One, in 1588, of two German women, Nichel and Bessers,
that were accused of witchcraft and exhuming corpses. They admitted poisoning
helpless people after lighting the hands of glory to immobilize them. John Fian,
after being severely tortured during his witch trial in Scotland in 1590, confessed
to using a hand of glory to break into a church where he performed a ceremony
to the devil.
The term the "hand of glory" is believed to be derived from the French "main de
glorie" or "mandrogore" and be related to the legends of the mandrake. The
mandrake plant was believed to grow under the gallows of the hanged man.