Ideas across traditions · ritual · Arabic
talisman
Works in 11 traditions beyond Arabic attest this concept, on 143 cited pages.
Also under: طلسم
19works in other traditions, with a cited page
3works in Arabic, its home tradition on the maps
69further works where only a vocabulary list or keyword names it; not shown
0judged analogues in other traditions (a different word for a neighbouring idea)
In other traditions
Ordered by the earliest work in each tradition that attests the concept. Within a tradition, works run from earliest to latest by conventional composition date.
Hermetic & Gnostic
- 150 CEHermetica, Corpus Hermeticum I (Poimandres, the vision in sleep)same word
Chinese
- 150 CEZhouyi Cantong Qi (Token for the Kinship of the Three)same word
- 700 CEZhouyi Cantong qi (related precursor text)same word
Hellenistic & Late Antique
- 270 CEPorphyry, De abstinentiasame word
- 270 CEPorphyry, De abstinentia (animal souls, the pneumatic vehicle, daimones)same word
Indian
- 300 CEPanchatantrasame word
- talisman — a magical or enchanted objectr negligence permissible in preparing the provisions and supplies for the afterlife, for the human body is weak and is aKalila wa-Dimna (BnF Arabe 3465, c. 1220, 98 miniatures), 1220, p. 51 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talisman — a charm for protectionge alphabet. The King was surprised. Some thought it was the name of the original owner. Others thought it was a magicalAnwar-i Suhaili (Lights of Canopus), 1877, p. 52 · flagged as a term by the translator
Persian
- 1200Niẓāmī / ʿAṭṭār / Rūmī: dream narratives in Persian poetrysame word
- talismanans. lived inside, killing guests with invisible, blunt swords. Others claimed it was the result of magic and a talismanThe Mathnawi of Rumi Vol. 3-4, Unknown, p. 163 · original word kept by the translator
- talismansoul. to drink. Truly, it is the water, the giver of the drink, and the one who is drunk: all three become one when yourMasnavi (Mathnawi), Unknown, p. 177 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talismanart. is the explanation for such purity: the purified heart is a treasure chest of Divine light, even if its outer shellThe Mathnawí of Jalálu'ddín Rúmí, Vols. 1-2, 1926, p. 46 · original word kept by the translator
- 1260Rumi, Masnavi-yi Ma'navisame word
- talismanans. lived inside, killing guests with invisible, blunt swords. Others claimed it was the result of magic and a talismanThe Mathnawi of Rumi Vol. 3-4, Unknown, p. 163 · original word kept by the translator
- talismansoul. to drink. Truly, it is the water, the giver of the drink, and the one who is drunk: all three become one when yourMasnavi (Mathnawi), Unknown, p. 177 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talismanart. is the explanation for such purity: the purified heart is a treasure chest of Divine light, even if its outer shellThe Mathnawí of Jalálu'ddín Rúmí, Vols. 1-2, 1926, p. 46 · original word kept by the translator
- 1270Rūmī, Masnavī-yi maʿnavīsame word
- talismanans. lived inside, killing guests with invisible, blunt swords. Others claimed it was the result of magic and a talismanThe Mathnawi of Rumi Vol. 3-4, Unknown, p. 163 · original word kept by the translator
- talismansoul. to drink. Truly, it is the water, the giver of the drink, and the one who is drunk: all three become one when yourMasnavi (Mathnawi), Unknown, p. 177 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talismanart. is the explanation for such purity: the purified heart is a treasure chest of Divine light, even if its outer shellThe Mathnawí of Jalálu'ddín Rúmí, Vols. 1-2, 1926, p. 46 · original word kept by the translator
- 1273Rūmī, Masnavī-yi Maʿnavīsame word
- talismanans. lived inside, killing guests with invisible, blunt swords. Others claimed it was the result of magic and a talismanThe Mathnawi of Rumi Vol. 3-4, Unknown, p. 163 · original word kept by the translator
- talismansoul. to drink. Truly, it is the water, the giver of the drink, and the one who is drunk: all three become one when yourMasnavi (Mathnawi), Unknown, p. 177 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talismanart. is the explanation for such purity: the purified heart is a treasure chest of Divine light, even if its outer shellThe Mathnawí of Jalálu'ddín Rúmí, Vols. 1-2, 1926, p. 46 · original word kept by the translator
Syriac & Armenian
Renaissance & Early Modern Europe
- 1799Gallerie der neuen Propheten, apokalyptischen Träumer, Geisterseher (1799) and the German ghost-debatesame word
Theosophical & Modern Esoteric
- 1856Éliphas Lévi, Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (Transcendental Magic)same word
- talisman — a charged object for a specific purposenetic chain between him and the pentacle. Pentacles can be indifferently traced on virgin parchment, paper, or metals. ATranscendental Magic, Volume 2: Ritual, 1861, p. 125 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talismanpierced heart, the afflicted individual must be made to eat a lamb's heart seasoned with sage and onion, and to carry aTranscendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, 1896, p. 343 · flagged as a term by the translator
- 1856Lévi, Dogme et rituel de la haute magiesame word
- talisman — a charged object for a specific purposenetic chain between him and the pentacle. Pentacles can be indifferently traced on virgin parchment, paper, or metals. ATranscendental Magic, Volume 2: Ritual, 1861, p. 125 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talismanpierced heart, the afflicted individual must be made to eat a lamb's heart seasoned with sage and onion, and to carry aTranscendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, 1896, p. 343 · flagged as a term by the translator
- 1889Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy (with The Voice of the Silence, Theosophical Glossary)same word
- 1929Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice (with Liber E and Liber O)same word
Slavic & Finnic
- 1857Kalevipoeg (Estonian national epic) and Estonian folk-belief studiessame word
Native American & Mesoamerican
- 1868Brinton, Myths of the New World / Religions of Primitive Peoplessame word
Norse & Celtic
At home in Arabic
- 650 CELuqman fables (Arabic)same word
- 750 CEKalila wa-Dimnasame word
- Talisman — magical objecthis person to command, and to reign. Sire, replied one of the chiefs, the ancient Philosophers of this country placed aContes et fables indiennes de Bidpaï et de Lokman, 1724, p. -166 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talisman — a magical or enchanted objectr negligence permissible in preparing the provisions and supplies for the afterlife, for the human body is weak and is aKalila wa-Dimna (BnF Arabe 3465, c. 1220, 98 miniatures), 1220, p. 51 · flagged as a term by the translator
- talisman — a charm for protectionge alphabet. The King was surprised. Some thought it was the name of the original owner. Others thought it was a magicalAnwar-i Suhaili (Lights of Canopus), 1877, p. 52 · flagged as a term by the translator
- 1909Macdonald, The Religious Attitude and Life in Islamsame word
Evidence gate. A work is listed only where a translator marked the word as a term with a gloss, or kept the original word beside the English, on at least one page of a held edition. Vocabulary lists and keywords alone do not count: in a Greek vocabulary list ἡσυχία is the ordinary word for quiet. Up to 3 pages are shown per work, preferring those with a gloss. The vocabulary was built 2026-09-11; the graph on 2026-09-13.