Collection: Amulets & Talismans

What Is the Difference Between an Amulet and a Talisman?

An amulet guards and a talisman attracts. An amulet is a protective object that keeps bad luck, envy, or ill will away from whoever carries it. A talisman is usually made or charged for a purpose and draws that purpose toward you: money, love, courage, or answers. In practice the line blurs, and plenty of charms do both jobs at once.

People have carried both kinds for as long as there has been jewelry. Ancient Egyptians wore scarabs, Roman children wore a bulla, and your grandmother may have tucked a saint medal into your coat. The collection here reaches across many of those traditions, so it is worth knowing where each piece comes from.

What You Will Find in This Collection

Solomonic and grimoire seals. Many of the pewter amulets carry seals in the tradition of the Key of Solomon: Solomon's Pentacle, Solomon's Seal, Solomon's Hexagram, and seals for purposes such as discovering secrets, giving knowledge, divine protection, and confusing an enemy. Each one pairs a traditional design with the purpose named on the piece.

Wiccan, goddess, and celestial amulets. A pewter Wicca series includes pieces for protection, power, balance, direction, attraction, wisdom, new beginnings, and spiritual rebirth. Alongside them are goddess amulets, triple moon pentacles, and celestial designs with moons, dragons, and wolves howling at the moon.

Celtic and Norse symbols. Look for the triquetra, the triskele, the Celtic tree of life, the Green Man, Celtic knotwork, and pewter rune pendants for Algiz and Uruz.

Folk luck charms and curios. This group holds a horseshoe, a four-leaf clover, a lucky 8, a money tree, a key, a 7 metals charm, Chinese-style good chi and Tibetan bone charms, a wolf's eye, arrowheads, and a good luck tree of shell and rudraksha beads. Mojo wishing beans and Job's tears come from hoodoo, the African American folk magic tradition, where they are carried for wishes and luck.

Evil eye, hand, and saint charms. You will find evil eye bracelets and keychains, a Fatima hand amulet, an azabache hand amulet, and a Saint Benedict medal amulet.

Tools for making your own. Heavy parchment paper in packs of 5, 25, and 250 is here for writing seals and petitions by hand, along with a small set of ritual kits for purposes like hope, glamour, banishing, and finding a job.

A Note on the Algiz Rune

The Algiz rune pendant in this collection carries a symbol that has been misused by hate groups. In the Elder Futhark, Algiz is a rune of protection, but Nazi Germany adopted it as the "life rune," and white supremacist groups still use it today, sometimes paired with its upside-down form, the so-called death rune. The ADL hate symbol database lists it for that reason. The rune belongs to everyone who honors it, and many non-racist heathens and pagans work with it. If you wear it, keep it in its runic context, wear it right way up, and be ready to explain what it means to you. Our guide to protection runes goes further into its history, and the Algiz rune collection gathers related pieces.

A Note on Living Traditions

A few amulets here, such as the Shango double ax and the Ochosi arrow, honor orishas of Lucumí (Santería) and related Yoruba-rooted religions. Their meaning and proper use are best learned from practitioners within the tradition, and if an orisha is calling you, the respectful path is to go to its keepers and ask. The same goes for hoodoo, and our Santería books and hoodoo and rootwork books are a good place to start listening.

How Do You Choose an Amulet or Talisman?

Start with the purpose, then find the tradition that speaks to you. If you want to keep something away, look for a protective amulet like the evil eye, the pentacle, or a Celtic shield knot. If you want to draw something in, look for a talisman with that aim named on it, such as the money tree or the lucky clover. Our guide to six protection symbols is a good primer on the classics. For a wider tour, our guide to witch symbols and their meanings covers forty of them, including the few that hate groups have borrowed.

Related Collections

For more protective charms, explore the evil eye collection, the hamsa hand collection, and pentacles and pentagrams. If you want to make a talisman from scratch, spell paper and bags and pouches for carrying it are good companions, and pendants and luck supplies round out the search.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an amulet and a talisman?
An amulet protects by keeping harm away, while a talisman attracts or empowers, drawing a specific thing such as luck or success toward the person who carries it. Many charms do a little of both, which is why the two words are often used together.

How do you charge or activate an amulet?
A common way to charge an amulet is to hold it, state what you want it to do, and pass it through incense smoke or leave it in moonlight. What I do is say the intention out loud three times and then wear or carry the piece right away.

Do amulets have to be worn?
No, an amulet does not have to be worn. Many are carried in a pocket or pouch, hung over a door, kept in a car, or placed on an altar, and some of the pieces in this collection are made to be carried rather than worn.

What are Solomonic seals?
Solomonic seals are designs drawn from grimoires attributed to King Solomon, such as the Key of Solomon. Each seal is linked to a purpose like protection, wisdom, or finding treasure, and they have been engraved on amulets and written on parchment for centuries.

Can I make my own talisman?
Yes, you can make your own talisman. A traditional method is to write or draw a sigil, seal, or word of intention on parchment paper, fold it toward you, and carry it or keep it on your altar.

Which amulet is best for protection?
Choose the protection amulet whose tradition speaks to you. Popular choices include the evil eye, the hamsa, the pentacle, the Algiz rune, and the Saint Benedict medal, and each carries its own history.