Volume 5, Issue 13 (2017)                   CFL 2017, 5(13): 27-50 | Back to browse issues page

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Jahanshahi Afshar A, Madahi Moshizi J. Amulet in Folklore Culture: The Case Study of Kerman’s People Folk Culture. CFL 2017; 5 (13) :27-50
URL: http://cfl.modares.ac.ir/article-11-3255-en.html
Abstract:   (16514 Views)
Background and purpose:
As protective elements are related to human life, the elements of Amulet are important in all cultures. In any society, people determine some elements for self-preservation and also to preserve their family and properties_ elements that are mostly supernal. One of these solutions is the use of Amulets. Mysterious aspects of Amulets puts them in the center of mythological and semantic connotation so that the elements are sometimes considered as a taboo or as a holy object and totem. Signs of this duality are seen among nations which is the reason of sacredness and mysteriousness of this elements. The Amulet has a great importance in the universal system of beliefs where  Iranian people’s culture is not the case of exception . The most important function of Amulets is still related to their protective role. Elements that are used to fight demons away, to enslave or kill evil forces and attract the positive and beneficial forces. Believers use various elements of Amulet depending on the kind of problems and injuries; so sometimes even profane and impure elements are used to ward off evil forces and beings. Several studies about the Amulet are adopted from foreign travelogues. Some of these investigators who have noted sporadically to Amulets and other magical elements include: Wishard in "Twenty years in Iran", Wales in "Iran a century ago", Layard in "Layard’s travelogue", Rice in "Iranian women and their way of life", Olivie in "Olivie’s travelogue", Willem Floor in "Social history of Iran during the Qajar era", Pollock in "Pollock’s travelogue", Henry Patnchr in "Traveling in Sindh and Balochistan." In addition to the above-mentioned researchers in the field of 
Amulets, some studies have been conducted amongst them it can refer to: "Magic, Amulet and Amulet and Women's World in Qajar era" by Dariush Rahmaniyan and Zahra Hatami, “Amulet in Khaghani’s poetry" by Abbas Mahyar, and "Bātel-o-ssehr" encyclopedic entry by Ali Bolukbashi.
 
Materials and methods:
Using documents and observations of the authors, in this study, the authors have tried to explore the beliefs of the people in Kerman and identify elements of Amulet and determine their functions as influential elements in people’s life, and in the end, they have showed their supernatural position.
Findings:
In this study, all kinds of Amulet, their classification and mechanisms of Amulets influence in the belief system of the research community are studied. The studied community accepts Amulets to ward off evil and as one of the most important mediators to benefit attraction, so that they are an integral aspect of their lives. Most of the Amulets used, are sacred and play a role as an absorber or mediator to absorb disasters and attract benefits, so they are victims to ward off disaster from the injured person. In general, we can express the mechanisms of effect of the Amulets in the studied community as follows: The Amulets, because of their sacredness, attract benefits and goodness and transfer them to the person utilizing them and ,on the other hand, because of their special power, they ward off the disasters and evil and  prevent them from passing to and hurt the utilizer. Contempt of a Amulet, reverses the mechanism of its effects: Benefits are prevented and the evil is attracted. Benefiting and harming mechanisms of Amulets act according to distance, i. e., Amulets benefit or harm the closest person.
 
Discussion and conclusion:
This study showed that Amulet elements can have an important role in creating a sense of physical and psychological security for mankind. According to authors, the function of the Amulet, is not only an attempt to survive but also a concept beyond that including the worldly and otherworldly life of the believers.
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Received: 2015/09/4 | Accepted: 2017/04/21 | Published: 2017/05/6

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