Obj. ID: 53890 Shmirah la-Yoledet, Safed, 1864 - 1866
sub-set tree:
K | Kabbalistic diagram | Kabbalistic alphabet
O | Ornamentation: | Full page framed
A | Angel | Angel, multi-winged
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The following description was prepared by William Gross:
Middle 19th-century printing in saved is quite rare, and this amulet is among the rarest of those items. The amulet carries imagery which later became the typical imagery of printed amulets in jerusalem, even to present times. That imagery includes the depiction of an angel in the form of a bird and illustration of the hamsa in the tradition of the "wisdom of the hand". This is a kabbalistic idea that the lines and forms in the hand reveal information regarding the person. This kind of illustration often suggests the protective hamsah as well. The amulet is dated to the period around 1863 when Hebrew printing was renewed in safed after a hiatus of more than 20 years. While at the top of the page, the title indicates that this is for protection of a birthing mother, another inscription printed just above the images indicates that this amulet is also a protection against the plague. This health protection is given by a kabbalistic text from ha-ari, one of the great historical figures of the kabbalah in 17th century safed. The formula for the birth amulet is stated to have been handed down from the "ba'al shem tov", the founder of the Hassidic movement in 18th-century Poland.
Printer: Dov Ber Ben Shemuel Kara