Īncient Greeks also had an old custom of dressing boys as girls in order to avert the evil eye. Īnother way for protection from enchantment used by the ancient Greeks was by spitting into the folds of the clothes. Peisistratus hung the figure of a kind of grasshopper before the Acropolis of Athens for protection. Greeks placed talismans in their houses and wore amulets to protected them from the evil eye. The Greeks made offerings to the " averting gods" ( ἀποτρόπαιοι θεοί, apotropaioi theoi), chthonic deities and heroes who grant safety and deflect evil and for the protection of the infants they wore on them amulets with apotropaic powers and committed the child to the care of kourotrophic (child-nurturing) deities. The ancient Greeks had various protective symbols and objects, with various names, such as apotropaia, probaskania, periammata, periapta and profylaktika. In much later periods (when Egypt came under the Greek Ptolemies), stele featuring the god Horus were used in similar rituals water would be poured over the stele and-after ritually acquiring healing powers-was collected in a basin for an afflicted person to drink. Water came to be used frequently in ritual as well, wherein libation vessels in the shape of Taweret were used to pour healing water over an individual. Likewise, protective amulets bearing the likenesses of gods and goddesses such as Taweret were commonly worn. These wands were used to protect expectant mothers and children from malevolent forces, and were adorned with processions of apotropaic solar deities. One of the most commonly found magical objects, the ivory apotropaic wand ( birth tusk), gained widespread popularity in the Middle Kingdom (ca. Objects were often used in these rituals in order to facilitate communication with the gods. The two gods most frequently invoked in these rituals were the hippopotamus-formed fertility goddess, Taweret, and the lion-deity, Bes (who developed from the early apotropaic dwarf god, Aha, literally "fighter"). In ancient Egypt, these household rituals (performed in the home, not in state-run temples) were embodied by the deity who personified magic itself, Heka. Fearsome deities were invoked via ritual in order to protect individuals by warding away evil spirits. Symbols and objects Ancient Egypt Īpotropaic magical rituals were practiced throughout the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt. Many different objects and charms were used for protection throughout history. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tradition, as in good luck charms (perhaps some token on a charm bracelet), amulets, or gestures such as crossed fingers or knocking on wood. Apotropaic magic (from Greek αποτρέπειν "to ward off") or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye.
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