نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
This study examines the role and function of talismans in the popular culture of Qajar-period Iran. The central problem addressed is the persistence and perceived efficacy of these ritual objects within the cognitive and existential framework of that era. The core question asks how talismans acquired meaning in their own epistemic context, and how they can be interpreted—beyond the conventional notion of superstition—as expressions of a symbolic mode of knowing. Adopting an interpretive-analytical approach, the research draws on Ernst Cassirer’s theory of “mythical consciousness” and analyzes historical sources, travelogues, occult manuscripts, and surviving material evidence to reconstruct the symbolic logic that animated the use of talismans. Findings indicate that in the mythic worldview of Qajar society, the relationship between sign and reality was not divided but operated through the principles of resemblance, contiguity, and sacred participation. Hence, a talisman was not merely a representation of protection but the very embodiment of protective power realized through word, material, and ritual. Understanding such objects requires recognition of a distinctive symbolic rationality in which meaning emerges through lived experience and the sacred interrelation between human beings and the world.
کلیدواژهها English
