The written amulet is one type of many amulets in ancient and modern culture. Joshua Trachtenberg (1939) writes that “Jewish amulets were of two sorts: written, and objects such as herbs, foxes’ tails, and stones. They were employed to heal or to protect men, animals, and even inanimate things” and these amulets were both frowned on or suggested by rabbis depending on the situation. Common folk, he writes, “were very much addicted to this particular form of magic” (p. 132).

It was the written amulets, among other amulets including gems and even afikomen, that were the most popular because written amulets contained the names of God and of angels. T. Shcrire’s (1966) seminal scholarship is invaluable to the Jewish mystic and amulet designer. Amulets, he writes, “have for a long time been tainted with superstition and heterodoxy and orthodox Jewish scholars have for long ignored them as products of ignorant or of superstitious minds,” as well, amulets have not been “available to scholars for study in any significant numbers” until recently. Often with the amulets scholars did have in their possession, “the inscriptions on the amulets were obscure. Their meanings had been long forgotten, and the provenance of amulets themselves was often doubtful (p. 1).

The written amulet used to circulate among Jewish communities both in Isreal and across the diaspora. Vadim Putzu (2019) shares the importance of two amulets he was able to analyze at the Klau Library of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion of Cincinnati. What is unique about the amulets he studies, written scrolls, is that they were composed between the nineteenth and early twentieth century in Muslim countries, where Jewish people resided before emigrating to Isreal after 1948. The amulets are for people who are either sick or who want to prevent disease. Putzu argues that these scrolls “represent a testimony to the survival, well into the twentieth century, of a traditional magical folklore, whose central tenets and tools remained essentially unchanged for centuries” (p. 317).

As well, Jeremy Smoak (2016) writes of qame’a that they produce a feeling [on the wearer] that they are part of the body and that the writing on a qame’a interacts with the body on a physical level and Danya Ruttenberg (2024) writes as [qame’a] dangles from, bounces off, and returns to the body, the words inscribed on their surfaces are replayed in the mind.  Dori Midnight (2022), a Jewish ritualist who trained under Rabbi Jill Hammer, writes that the power of the amulet is that it holds a connection to ourselves, each other, the maker, the elements, and divinity and that the making and gifting of amulets can be a way of generating and feeling community resilience (n.p.).

I see my role as a spiritual care provider as urgent and the act of making amulets with care seekers as a unique treasure born of a relationship that can be both tender and honest. As a spiritual care provider, I spend time with my students in moments that are marked with questions of purpose and self-worth, bad days and profound losses, and, of course, good days and triumphs.

Life Transitions & Threshold Moments

Moments when identity, role, or direction is shifting.

• Beginning a new job, school, or vocational path
• Entering adulthood, parenthood, or elderhood
• Moving to a new home, city, or country
• Returning to life after a major disruption or pause
• Marking a rite of passage, initiation, or ordination

An amulet here serves as a portable witness to who you were, who you are becoming, and what you refuse to forget.

 

Times of Uncertainty or Decision

When clarity is incomplete and waiting is unavoidable.

• Living with an unresolved question
• Standing between multiple possible futures
• Waiting for news, outcomes, or permission
• Navigating moral or ethical complexity
• Holding tension between responsibility and desire

The amulet holds intention steady while the situation unfolds.

 

Health, Healing & Well‑Being (Non‑Medical, Symbolic)

Moments when the body or spirit needs care, reassurance, and dignity.

• During illness, recovery, or long-term treatment
• While accompanying a loved one through health challenges
• In periods of exhaustion, burnout, or grief
• As a reminder of worth beyond productivity
• To anchor hope without denying difficulty

Here, the amulet functions as an unceasing prayer—not to control outcomes, but to affirm care and presence.

 

Protection of Inner Life

When external conditions threaten one’s sense of self or integrity.

• Exposure to hostility, erasure, or misunderstanding
• Working in emotionally demanding environments
• Living with chronic stress or overstimulation
• Setting boundaries that are hard to maintain
• Choosing gentleness in hard circumstances

The amulet becomes a quiet boundary, reminding the bearer of their center.

 

Sacred Work & Service

When one carries responsibility for others.

• Teaching, caregiving, counseling, or chaplaincy
• Activism rooted in compassion rather than rage
• Leadership roles with moral weight
• Holding space for conflict, grief, or transformation
• Serving in contexts that demand emotional labor

An amulet here bears the prayer: May I act with wisdom, humility, and care.

 

Memory, Grief & Continuity

When absence must be carried without closure.

• Mourning a loved one or community
• Commemorating anniversaries of loss or trauma
• Carrying ancestral memory or inherited stories
• Navigating life shaped by what can’t be fixed
• Honoring what remains unfinished

The amulet keeps memory alive without pain being the only language.

 

Daily Grounding & Practice

Not only for moments of crisis, but for ordinary faithfulness.

• Establishing or sustaining a spiritual practice
• Beginning or ending the day intentionally
• Carrying a verse, name, or value through daily life
• Reorienting attention amid distraction
• Living out a chosen commitment

Here, the amulet is less emergency tool and more companion.

 

Travel & Liminal Spaces

When one is neither here nor there.

• Long journeys or pilgrimages
• Temporary dislocation (hospitals, shelters, retreat centers)
• Crossing borders—geographical or emotional
• Being far from familiar supports
• Pauses between chapters of life

The amulet says: You are not unmoored.

 

When Words Are Hard to Speak

When prayer cannot be formulated aloud.

• Times of speechlessness or overwhelm
• When faith feels fragile or quiet
• When prayer would feel dishonest or forced
• When silence is the most truthful response

The amulet prays without demanding articulation.

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