jet essay on talismans 2002
jet November 2023; I stumbled upon this old essay I wrote 21 years ago on Talismans. Here also are some more recent notes on Talismans.
Of Temples and Talismans
28 December, 2002
"... I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple." (Isa 6:1)
someone asked,
>>>> what does Haykal mean? Does it mean Temple, or Talisman or both?
The article on that site with the tablets of the Báb written as five pointed stars quotes Peter Smith as saying that,
"the idea that a physical object can provide the wearer with some form of supernatural protection is common in religions around the world. The Báb instructed his followers to make and wear talismans, and there are numerous references to these in his writings."
This is a partial quote from Smith's excellent "Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith," which has a very short article on "talismans." In this article Smith goes on to say that the Bahá'í Faith de-emphasized the mystical use of talismans that was prominent in Bábísm in order to exalt reason and science. He closes the article by mentioning at least two remaining talismanic promises of protection in the writings. One is the last part of the long healing prayer, "protect the bearer of this blessed Tablet ... and whoso passeth around the house wherein it is..."
The other is the Master's promise (Lights of Guidance, 520) that anyone will be protected who hangs His portrait, a copy of the Greatest Name, and wears the ring stone symbol. I would note that the House cites that tablet in a way that seems to interpret the specific evil being fended off in this context as that of covenant breaking. Here is how they cite the same tablet,
"Bahá'ís recognize that evil is negative and has no existence in its own right, but that does not mean that there is no power in evil. Do not Bahá'u'lláh and Abdul-Baha warn us repeatedly of the spiritual infection of Covenant-breaking? In one of His Tablets, Abdul-Baha wrote:"
"...if you seek immunity from the sway of the forces of the contingent world, hang the Most Great Name in your dwelling, wear the ring of the Most Great Name on your finger, place the picture of Abdul-Baha in your home and always recite the prayers that I have written. Then you will behold the marvellous effect they produce. Those so-called forces will prove but illusions and will be wiped out and exterminated." (Letters of The Universal House of Justice, 1998, Dec 16, Traditional practices in Africa)
I think this gives a good insight into the talismanic use intended for the Haykal tablet. It is meant to bolster our understanding and thus defend against false imaginings that degrade the station of mankind. This is entirely in consonance with science and reason. Remember, corporations spend billions of dollars on pollsters and advertising to protect and manipulate their image in the public mind. Few doubt that this is money well spent. The truth has to have a good "image" if it is to win over damaging errors and contagious prejudice.
Dr. Smith may have been rather too concise for his own good when he conflated voodoo and sympathetic magic with the use of talismans in religions of the book. There is a huge gap between the two, in spite of some superficial resemblances. In order to understand that, let us look deeper into the word, "Talisman," and its Judaic equivalent, "phylactery."
In spite of the analogy to the human body, the English "man" is not part of the Greek word "talisman." The plural is "talismans" and saying "talismen" would be false etymology. The word comes from the Greek, Telesma, which means consecration, which is related to Telein, to initiate into mysteries, or to complete. Both are tied to Telos, ultimate end, and Tellein, to accomplish. A talisman is a sign of a body of knowledge that accomplishes something, and is a precursor of "formula" in mathematics and "algorithm" in computer science. My dictionary defines talisman as, "a stone, ring, or other object engraved with figures supposed to have magic power, a "charm ... worn as an amulet to avert evil."
The one ring that rules the rest in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings is a good example of a talisman that turns good ends to evil. This ring makes the bearer invisible. Tolkein was a pious catholic and he had in mind the empty allure that evil can have, what Bahá'ís term the "spiritual disease" of covenant breaking. Tolkien may have been thinking of the ring of Gyges that begins the entire moral and political enquiry of Plato's Republic.
Invisibility is the mark of complete imperviousness to punishment. Every criminal, from Hitler on down, acts unjustly mostly because he believes he can get away with it; he sees himself beyond accountability. This magic ring of Gyges epitomizes that attitude because by making the bearer invisible he knows he can commit any crime he wants without fear of being seen or punished. Clearly, a perfectly good man would wear the ring of Gyges without the slightest alteration in his behavior; if there is only a hint of evil in him the impunity this talisman confers would ruin his innocence and elicit unjust acts. The ring or talisman is a metaphor for power, of course, since those with power can even do evil openly and nobody dares say boo; it is the same as being invisible. Since nobody can expect that every citizen would be so perfect all the time as to resist such temptation, the ideal Republic that Plato envisions uses the only possible compromise, placing at its head a philosopher king. He would be that rare bird, a man so perfect he can hold power without being corrupted by it. In Bahá'í terms this is the Manifestation of God. Bahá'u'lláh makes it clear in the tablet of Hikmat that such Greek insights were born from the Judaic prophets.
While the Greek "talisman" has a general meaning of anything that acts as a magic token or charm, as whatever seems to produce extraordinary results, the Judaic equivalent is more specifically tied to the word of God.
"Phylactery" comes from roots meaning "amulet" or "guard," and is a leather case containing slips of paper with passages of Holy Scripture written on them. These objects Jewish men traditionally wear on the head (literally, on the temple) and left arm during weekday morning prayers, as a reminder to keep the law. Needless to say, keeping the law is our greatest protection, and the symbolism of this sort of talisman is hard to miss. The word phylactery also has taken on overtones of the sort of pharisaical or ostentatious display of piety that gives religion a bad name.
I would note that while Bahá'ís don't literally wear boxes on arm and temple, we are still required by law to pray and chant the Holy Words, preferably in the temple or Mashriq each dawn. In this context we can better understand how the Báb combines talisman with the reciprocal symbols of words, of Man, body and temple in the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá (which also starts off by addressing itself to the "kings and sons of kings"),
"'Unto every people We have sent down the Book in their own language.' [Q14:4] This Book We have, verily, revealed in the language of Our Remembrance and it is in truth a wondrous language. He is, verily, the eternal Truth come from God, and according to the divine judgement given in the Mother Book, He is the most distinguished among the writers of Arabic and most eloquent in His utterance. He is in truth the Supreme Talisman and is endowed with supernatural powers, as set forth in the Mother Book..." (The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Báb, p. 45)
Similarly, Bahá'u'lláh talks about the power of God's word and law as talismans,
"these holy verses are the most potent elixir, the greatest and mightiest talisman. So potent is their influence that the hearer will have no cause for vacillation." (Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 200)
end of jet essay
Some more recent notes
A sigil (/ˈsɪdʒəl/; pl. sigilla or sigils; from Latin sigillum "seal") is a symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a type of pictorial signature of a demon or other entity; in modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, it refers to a symbolic representation of the magician's desired outcome. The term sigil derives from the Latin sigillum, meaning "seal", though it may also be related to the Hebrew סגולה (segula meaning "word, action, or item of spiritual effect, talisman"). The current use of the term is derived from Renaissance magic, which was in turn inspired by the magical traditions of antiquity.
oct 2023 jet:
Baha'u'llah calls the human station a talisman in the Maqsud. A youtuber has made a few videos on how talismans are used in Muslim societies. Here is a short one:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BhuFenIbc70
Here is another,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJCTjtcTNvw
And this longer one:
Talismanic Magic in the Islamicate World
https://youtu.be/-ZWt886Lo1Q?si=Zvnte6c38hEPVj8W&t=565
As one commenter points out, talismans are not necessarily superstition if they are used to focus our thoughts in prayer and mediation. This would seem to be the Baha'i way of looking at it.
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