Bracelet Charms
The wearing of charms like these at Alltribes may have began as a form of amulet to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. Many women start collecting charms when they're very young. A mother often gives her daughter her first charm bracelet, passing on a family heirloom. Then, the daughter adds her own charms representing her favorite hobbies, dreams, and interests. As the daughter matures, so does her charm bracelet. Eventually, that same bracelet may hold a graduation cap, college insignia, the Eiffel Tower, wedding bells and lockets of her children.
In ancient Egypt charms were used for identification and as symbols of faith and luck. Charms also served to identify an individual to the gods in the afterlife. Medieval knights wore charms for protection in battle, to keep God on their side. Charms also were worn in the dark ages to represent family origin, religious and political convictions.
Charm bracelets have been the subject of several waves of trends. Queen Victoria wore charm bracelets that started a fashion among the European noble classes. Soldiers returning home after World War II brought home trinkets made by craftsmen local to the area where they were fighting to give to loved ones, American teenagers in the 1950s collected charms to record the events in their lives. Charm bracelets were the most popular in the United States in the 1940's and 1950's. Soldiers often picked up charms from every city they visited during World War II, and the fashion trend itself continued into times of peace. Over fifty years later charms remain a popular keepsake. Although interest and production waned through the latter part of the 20th century, collectors eagerly sought out vintage charms. Due to the movie Pirate Of The Caribbean, the fashion in winter 2006 is bracelets with little charms of swords, crosses and skulls.
Not only charms are popular to wear in order to commemorate a special event, but pendants as well. A pendant (from Old French) is a hanging object, generally attached to a necklace or an earring. In modern French this is a word meaning "during" (also the gerund form of "hanging"). Pendants have several purposes:
- ornamentation
- identification (i.e. religious symbols, sexual symbols, symbols of rock bands)
- protection (i.e. amulets, religious symbols)
- self-affirmation (i.e. initials, names)
- ostentation (i.e. jewels).
- award
Pendants, or necklaces, originally began as amulets, larger versions of protective charms. Amulets and talismans vary considerably according to their time and place of origin. In many societies, religious objects serve as amulets. A religious amulet might be the figure of a god or simply some symbol representing the deity (such as the cross for Christians or the "eye of Horus" for the ancient Egyptians). In Thailand one can commonly see people with more than one Buddha hanging from their necks; in Bolivia and some places in Argentina the god Ekeko furnishes a standard amulet, to whom one should offer at least one banknote to obtain fortune and welfare.
In antiquity and the Middle Ages, most people believed in the protective and healing power of amulets and talismans. Talisman pendants used by these peoples can be broken down into three main categories. The first are the types carried or worn on the body. The second version of a pendant is one which is hung upon the bed of an infirm person. The last classification of pendant is one with medicinal qualities. This latter category of magical item can be further divided into external and internal. In the former, one could, for example, place a magical amulet in a bath. The power of the amulet or pendant would be understood to be transmitted to the water, and thus to the bather. In the latter, magical inscriptions would be written or inscribed onto food, which was then boiled. The resulting broth, when consumed, would transfer the healing and magical qualities engraved on the food into the consumer.
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