Food ceremonies & amulets

Food ceremonies & amulets

by | Magic & Amulets

magic of food

Food ceremonies, rituals and amulets

Updated Jan 1, 2024

Not turning this jewellery blog into a foodie feed…but did you know there is a strong relation between food, ritual and personal adornment in North Africa and Southwest Asia? I have rounded up several examples of jewellery and adornment to show you how food and personal adornment are interrelated.

Three silver amulets in the shape of pea pods, from Tetuan, Morocco
Silver and coral necklace from Libya, showing two fish in the central pendant. These were believed to bring good luck and abundance.
Silver and goldwashed bracelet called habbiyat, 'peas'
Two Palestinian necklaces of clove, red glass beads and mother of pearl spacers.

Food and magic: a connection on many levels

Food is something we depend on. We can’t live without it, and so it is hardly surprising to find the importance of growing, raising and preparing of food resonating in the realm of magic and amulets. This is often related to growth, wealth, health and having children.

The opposite is also true: poisonous foods or animals feature in magic, too, with the aim of fighting evil influences.

Another link between food and magic is medicine: many ingredients used for food preparations are also found in medicine, a field originally closely linked to magic.

There are countless rituals involving beans, sprouts and such aimed at becoming pregnant or keeping spirits away from the house.

And everyday acts from the culinary domain take on new meaning in ritual, such as the pounding of coffee beans [1] referring to sexual relations. Yes, you read that right….do check the reference with this, the story is amazing!

Back to jewellery: that close relation between food and magic can take material form in personal adornment in several ways. First, there are actual edible things that may be worn on the body, but you could also think of imitations of those, both lifelike and in abstract shapes, the names given to jewellery elements and even more indirect connections such as through colours. So how does that work?

Food & amulets: actual ingredients

Starting with actual ingredients, to protect children in Egypt, a small pouch filled with bread and salt would be worn as an amulet to keep spirits away, a practice recorded up until the last century. [2]

A naming ceremony for a baby among the Bisharin, living in Sudan, had visiting guests write down a name suggestion and put that in a dish containing milk, bread and sugar. [3]

The fragrance of cloves was believed to be an aphrodisiac throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia, and so adornment made of cloves was regarded as a powerful means to attract the love of a husband.

Throughout Southwest and Central Asia, red chili peppers are dried and strung on cord to protect houses from evil spirits; tiny peppers in plastic are strung in between evil eye beads (see more about those here) as a powerful amulet. Here, the general idea is that just like peppers irritate your eyes (ever rubbed your eyes after chopping a pepper? You’ll know what I mean…!), they will irritate the evil eye as well.

Food & amulets: imitations of food

Those plastic mini peppers are an example of imitations of food. Another example are silver amulets from the area of Tetuan, Morocco, in the shape of peas in a pod. It’s the first image in the photo gallery with this article: click on the image to enlarge it, they are something special!

This amulet is called arhaz, and it was believed to be bring good luck and fertility to the wearer. [4] The amulets are very recognizable as pea pods, with a slight curve and bulging peas inside. What makes them stand out as an amulet is visible on the example on the right: the zigzag-border is characteristic of amulets and talismans.

Each pod is shown with 5 peas. Renderings of the number 5 in jewellery are known to bring good luck in general, as 5 is the most powerful number. (click here to read more on numerology in jewellery) That number is repeated again on each pea of the pendant on the left, where each pea is further decorated by 4 intersecting lines and a square in the centre. That is also a rendering of the number 5. This repetition of the number 5 and the imagery of the pea pod bursting with fat peas is what would bring good luck and abundance to the wearer.

The peas in the pod also serve as fertility amulet. That is a rather obvious metaphor of course, and one that is used in many cultures.

Food & amulets: names and shapes

In other cases, the relation is more subtle. Oak leaf lettuce (ifrawen ukerush) is rendered in the shape of Kabyle pendants from Algeria, and other pendants from the same region are named after melon seeds (iyes afeqqus). [5]

These are regular pendants on necklaces. They have not separately created as amulet, but still work their magic: melon seeds, as there are so many of them, are often associated with fertility beliefs as well.

Sometimes it is the visual similarity between food and jewellery that is reflected in the name: the habbiyat (chickpea) bracelets derive their name from the many granules on them. One example is shown above: click on the image to enlarge it.

Click here to read more on a special amulet that is actually named after food, which no one seems to remember…!

Food & amulets: embroidery, motifs and colours

Food finds its way into personal adornment in other forms as well.

In Siwa Oasis, Egypt, the colours chosen for embroidery on dresses, pants, shawls and scarves all reflect the colour palette of the dates that Siwa is famous for. The life cycle of date productions directs the rhythm of everyday life in the oasis, and so the embroidery on personal adornment brings that cycle of growth and abundance to the wearer. Palm branches themselves form part of the pattern repertoire.

The Palestinian tatreez elements of wheat stalks, coffee beans, pomegranates and more all form part of the connection with the land [6].

In some cases, it’s impossible to tell whether a magic connotation of an element is related to food, or that that is entirely by coincidence. Doves and fish for example are featured often in jewellery, and are related to blessings, happiness and abundance, but they appear equally often in delicious regional dishes.

The power of everyday life

That close connection does show one thing, though: forms and shapes chosen in personal adornment are rooted in everyday life to a level where distinguishing ‘magic’ as something different from regular existence is impossible.

Incorporating food themes in jewellery shows how its wearers aligned themselves with the rhythm of nature, with the endless cycles of sowing and harvesting, the same cycle that is at the basis of many amulets.

It is in motifs like these that we not only catch a glimpse of the most fervent wishes of women, but also of how they thought of themselves: connected with their world.

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References

[1] See a fascinating article about female Bedouin poetry here, including the reference to pounding coffee beans.

[2] Hansen, N. 2006, Motherhood in the Mother of the World, pp. 222.

[3] Hansen 2006, p. 241.

[4] These three silver amulets are in the collection of the Museu Etnològic I de Cultures del Món in Barcelona, where I photographed them on their Montjuïc location.

[5] Camps Fabrer, H. 1990. Bijoux berbères d’Algérie, Edisud, pp. 44-45.

[6] Ghnaim, W. 2018. Tatreez and Tea.

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

A shackled jinn from Oman

A shackled jinn from Oman

by | Magic & Amulets

jewellery as protection

A shackled jinn from Oman

Updated June 25, 2025

Jewellery regularly doubles as protection, as it is worn so close to the body. Often this form of protection is of general nature, but every now and then it makes uses of specific elements to ward off a particular evil. This pendant from Oman hides such an element on its reverse side: a tiny figure of a shackled human form. What does this mean, and what does it tell us about the women who wore this necklace?

The image of a jinn on the Omani kirsh kitab

The disc-shaped pendant is known by several names. The most often used name is somt, which is also used for other round pendants of the same size. [1] In one publication it is called kirsh kitab. [2] A similarly shaped pendant with a comparable reverse side is called kokh, again in one publication: this pendant is decorated with gold leaf on its front side rather than an inscription. [3]

The pendant carries an inscription on its front side. This is the Throne Verse, one of the most powerful verses of the Quran and often used for protection. You will find it often on amulets throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

On the reverse side, in many cases you will find a stylized depiction of a human-shaped figure. This is an image only known to the woman wearing it. You would not be able to see it from the outside. Mostly, this figure is explained as a jinn, held captive by the power of the Throne Verse.

As such, these pendants offer protection from evil spirits in general. The figure however is in some cases said to carry a name. This jinn is not any jinn, but a very particular one. So which jinn is this, and why is it engraved on the back side of an Omani pendant?

The jinn on an Omani pendant: the Bahla Witch?

Forster explains the figure as a representation of the Bahla Witch.[4] Bahla, a fortress town in Oman, has a reputation for the presence of both jinn and witches. [5] The pendant would protect the wearer from witchcraft and jinn alike. As this pendant was worn in a much larger area than just Bahla however, this interpretation may well be true for the inhabitants of the town itself, but there is another possibility that would make sense to many women.

The jinn on an Omani pendant: Umm as-Subyān

This other explanation is that of the human figure as Umm as-Subyān, ‘Mother of Children’. [6] This female jinn is well known beyond Oman and appears also further on the Arab Peninsula. But who is Umm as-Subyān?

In the most benign version, she is said to cause nightmares in children and uncomfortable wet dreams for boys in particular. But, there is more to her than just a night filled with bad dreams. She may be really dangerous.

Anne Regourd has researched how this jinn features in Yemeni oral traditions. [7] These tales share a more gruesome side to Umm as-Subyāns character: she lures young children away from their mothers and eats them, and she also takes newborns. Another tale records how she is capable of possessing young men and women, who then can’t seem to marry, no matter how much they try.

Regourd concludes that Umm as-Subyān is intent on preventing the arrival of children. She tries to prevent marriage altogether, and if a union does succeed, she takes and kills the offspring.

In short, Umm as-Subyān embodies what every woman feared: the inability to have children. [8]

Having children: fertility amulets in the Middle East

Why is not having children something to be afraid of? Fertility was one of the most fundamental aspects of a woman’s life. Having children was important: they assisted from a young age in the daily running of household and work, and would take care of their parents when these grew old. Remember, this is a past in which no retirement funds or care-homes existed!

Not having children could even be reason for divorce. Add to that a high infant mortality rate, and the pressure women were undeer becomes apparent. All over the Arab world, jealous jinn were thought to obstruct attempts at getting pregnant and bearing healthy children.

In this respect, Umm as-Subyān is comparable to for example the Qarina in Egypt [9] and La Taba in Morocco [10]. All three target newborns and young children, and cause infertility or miscarriages in young women.

Many women took precautions to make sure these jinn were rendered harmless, and these precautions often took the form of personal adornment. Jewellery is worn close to the body, and so forms a barrier between you, and the outer world full of dangers.

An Omani pendant with a hidden message

In the case of Umm as-Subyān, two ways of averting her are in both the name humans use when talking about her, and the way she is depicted on the pendant. The name ‘Mother of Children’ uses reverse magic. She is called by the exact opposite of her actions, a form often seen in informal magical practices around the world.

In the image on the pendant, the stylized figure is shackled around her ankles and wrists. Immobilized, she is not able to come for the wearers’ children or prevent her from getting married.

Jewellery reveals a woman’s world of worry

As with anything jinn-related, there is not one definitive identification or final explanation. With the presence of the Throne Verse, the pendant protects against evil influences in general.

The tiny shackled figure, in the story of Umm as-Subyān, reveals a world of worry for women, and so the pendant protects them from what well may have been one of their worst fears.

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Where can I find more on women and amulets in the Middle East?

Find out more about the historic value of amulets in the e-course on Amulets and Magic in Jewellery!

Or start by downloading the free e-book on amulets and jewellery here.

More posts on jewellery and amulets? Browse them all here!

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References

See the book chapter on these amulets by James Redman, which discusses the texts and context of precisely this pendant type in much more depth. This chapter was published in Nov 2020, after the writing of this blog post. Highly recommended reading!

 [1] A. Forster 2000. Disappearing Treasures of Oman. Archway Books, Somerset, p. 38-39

[2] P. Shelton, R. Richmond & M. Morris, Oman Adorned.

[3] J.S. Rajab 1998, Silver Jewellery of Oman. Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait, p. 63

[4] Forster 2000, p. 40

[5] See L.J. Borger 2011, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Something Wicked This Way Comes: Omani Perceptions of the Supernatural. Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1039., for a discussion of the supernatural in Omani society.

[6] P. Shelton, R. Richmond & M. Morris, Oman Adorned, p. 102; L. Mols, Kunst uit Zilver. Traditionele sieraden van Oman, in: L. Mols & B. Boelens (red) Oman, p. 137

[7] A. Regourd 2012, Représentations d’Umm Sibyan dans les contes yéménites : de la dévoreuse d’enfant à la djinniyya possédant les humains, in: A. Caiozzo & N. Ernoult (eds), Femmes médiatrices et ambivalentes. Mythes et imaginaires, Paris, Colin, pp. 63 – 72

[8] Regourd 2012, p. 72

[9] See my article in RAWI Magazine for the qarina

[10] J. Bois, La Sorcellerie au Maroc, nouvelle édition 2014, Dar al-Amane, Rabat p. 198.

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The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.