These simple phylacteries cost almost nothing to make and look awesome. I made two sets, one for me and one for my friend who gave me the sweet Egyptian reed shoes. Because I made another protective piece of jewelry today out of some spare medals and broken rosaries I had lying around, I swiped the crucifix from an old set of beads and strung it as a centerpiece to my set of scrolls here.
These specific sets were made in the style and fashion of the Enchiridion of Pope Leo, which is the current basis for my daily maitenance. In the bottle to the right are the “names of Jesus Christ”. In the bottle to the left, the names of Mary. While several of the names are standard to mainstream Christian religion (Virgin, Trinity, Savior, Mother, etc) many of them are simply nouns. In Mary’s list, “stone”, “pomegranate”, “ladder,” “arch,” “moon,” and “trumpet” are only some of the simple but potent names listed for her. Similarly, some of the “names” of Jesus included the nouns “doctor,” “worm,” “speech,” “lion,” “ram,” “doorway,” and “spring”. In total, 74 names are listed for Christ, and 62 are given for Mary. I was delighted especially by the deeply archetypal language of these poignant images as “names”.
Of the names and their use, the Enchiridion states, “Here are the names of Jesus Christ. Whoever wears them while traveling, on the Earth or by Sea, will be preserved from all kinds of dangers and perils, if they are said with faith and devotion.”
Much of the Enchiridion that is not concerned with orisons is in constructing phylacteries, seals, and protective talismans to use while communicating with spirits. This act is always under the pretense that God provides the spirits for “the use of the faithful”, as tools to be compelled for the enrichment of their lives, as in the “Orison Against All Kinds of Charms” in the very beginning of the book, and not simply a talisman to subdue demons or rebuke them.
Although the Enchiridion is a product of the later Medieval period, the use of phylacteries using divine names to protect the exorcist from spirits is a practice that goes at least all the way back to the first century, appearing in the Greek magical papyrus. One example instructs the operant to make phylacteries bearing the mystical names of Selene, so that when the magician called Hekate or Selene forth, she would not be able to grab the conjurer’s body and break their neck by hurling him or her to the earth.
Even though my hands cramped up making these I’m delighted how they turned out.
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