CHAPTER XIII
LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS
Amulets—Horse trappings—Emblems of luck—Lovespoons—Glass curios.
The collector rarely troubles about attempting to solve matters of dispute, and cares little to enter into argumentative discussions in reference to the supposed purposes of the curios he collects, or the different uses with which they have been associated. He does not inquire too deeply into the faiths and beliefs which may have been held and revered by his ancestors when he puts in his cabinet some curiosity which may have been regarded almost with reverential feelings and handled with superstitious regard by its original possessor. The more thoughtful man does, however, pay some tribute to their early associations. Our museums are filled with such relics, with delightfully carved reliquaries, triptychs, and marvellously carved beads which in their religious use as rosaries have been looked upon as something more than mere specimens of the carver's art. There are mysteries in beliefs which have been held dear in the past which are not understood by succeeding generations.
It is difficult to understand in the present day the deep-seated faith in amulets and charms, which were thought to have brought about what would now be regarded as curious coincidences, or to place reliance upon the babbling utterances of some old crone who posed as a witch or a fortune-teller. Yet among such old-world stories there are germs of truth although misapplied. The emblems, amulets, and charms so implicitly believed in a few centuries ago are objects numbered among collectable curios, valued even in this prosaic age not only for their intrinsic worth and antiquarian interest, but for the so-called magic influences they were supposed to possess.
There is something more understandable about love tokens, for we can tell their purpose, and indeed to-day, stripped of the charm which was often supposed to go with them, love tokens are given, received, and valued just as much as they were in the past.
Amulets.
The amulet, which in its realistic form is regarded as an antiquity to be preserved with care, was usually regarded either as a charm against disease, accident, or misfortune, or as something the possession of which would bring good luck. The efficacy of amulets was believed in by the most cultured and scientific peoples in the past, for it was an article of belief in Egypt and Chaldea. The Jews had regard for their phylacteries, and the Greeks and Romans had their amulets. The image of Thor was an amulet peculiar to the old Norsemen; and in Britain we have had many examples.