Charms & Fetishes

And what is it that such things do? Is an object capable of causing change? Is it purely symbolic? A meeting of effort and inherent power? Does it have a life of its own? The answer is both more complex and more simple than all this.

Some objects have power in-and-of themselves, imbued with the virtue and grace of innate being, through accumulation by contact and contagion, through refinement and intended purpose. Charms and fetishes bind the unseen and the seen together, through purpose and intention. This intention is seeded by its maker, and honed and executed by its owner. Some charms are ambient and radiate passive benefit, some stir well when called forth into action, others are more conscious and whisper and screech for those with ears to hear. In short, charms & festishes are relationships to be formed– some tamed, others courted, and still others commanded.

So what can we say of the bundle, the idol, the amulet, the talisman, the charm and the fetish? It is true, they might be enjoyed solely for their aesthetic value, which might well be visual, or perhaps that of sensation–a resonance and impression of power or beauty or luck or wealth. For those that can harness them as tool and ally, for those who might indeed pact with them, then they might be enjoyed for their part in chasing our desires, for the relationships they form with our dreams and the mechanisms we employ in fulfilling them. +