Plutarch informs
us that the soldiers wore rings, on which the representation of an
insect resembling our beetle, was inscribed; and we learn from Aelian,
that the judges had always suspended round their necks a small figure of
Truth formed of emeralds. The superstitious belief in the virtues of
talismans is yet far from being extinct, the Copths, the Arabians, the
Syrians, and, indeed, almost all the inhabitants of Asia, west of the
Ganges, whether Christians or mahometans, still use them against
possible evils.
There is little distinction between talismans, amulets and the
gree-grees of the Africans as regards their pretended efficacy; though
there is some in their external configuration. Magical figures, engraven
or cut under superstitious observances of the characterisms and
configurations of the heavens, are called talismans; to which
astrologers, hermetical philosophers, and other adepts, attribute
wonderful virtues, particularly that of calling down celestial
influences.[114]
The talismans of the Samothracians, so famous of old, were pieces of
iron formed into certain images, and set in rings.
Pages:
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277