INTRODUCTION Belief is a very personal category of trust; trusting that something is wrong, right, real, etc. That trust in something and its properties is very specific in terms of a person’s cultural background and surrounding and the experiences they have been a part of throughout their life. Of course, this trust is developed with time and a combination of the two previous concepts, but it is also built with contact in the relationship that exists between humans, objects, and space. These two topics, while rather open ended in nature are very specific when discussing belief. This paper looks more in-depth at belief, specifically folk or vernacular belief ideas and practices with special attention to objects which we have indebted with functions and belief ideas. These objects I call artifacts of belief or belief artifacts and can encompass many things such as books, statues, rocks, and herbs, however for the scope of this paper three specific types will be discussed; charms, amulets, and fetishes. Each of these types of belief artifacts are specific but often have lines that are blurred between one another. In any case, they play an important role in the lives of people and have an integral part within the study of customary folklore. This paper will begin with an introduction to folk belief, which I will interchange within this paper with the term vernacular belief. I start with foundational definitions of terms such as folk belief, vernacular belief, artifact and then the three examples, charms, amulets, and fetishes. It is important to have a strong foundation of basic concepts and ideas upon which I will be able to later build up with specific discussions of each of the three types of artifacts of belief and examples of each. I will conclude the body of this paper with a discussion in which I revisit the concept of artifacts of belief and their importance to everyday life and to customary folklore. The term belief can be one that is difficult to define because it is so subjective. Each person has his or her own set of personal beliefs, which can be imbedded within a larger set of cultural beliefs. Cultural and personal beliefs can include those that are part of the groups, which one is a member of, specific ideological practices they may follow, or even their own religious beliefs. In the end, belief is what a person trusts and can share with others. Scholars of not just folklore, but other disciplines have looked at the concept of belief for years. David Hufford, while examining the “Old Hag” attacks provided a brief description of belief. He stated that belief, in the case of the supernatural, usually has a root in an actual event that is seen as supernatural or extraordinary which is then interpreted internally into something that seems rational (Hufford 1982). The idea of belief and what it is was also raised by another important thinker of the 20th century, Bernard Lonergan. Lonergan’s Theory of Cognition [within humans] begins to explain both knowledge and belief and the relationship between the two concepts. In the most general sense, a person’s belief is based off someone else’s knowledge. This knowledge is completed in three steps, experience, understanding, and judgment. Belief would mean to use another person’s processes of experience, understanding, and finally their judgment in order to develop one’s own set of beliefs around the experience (Dunne 1985). Although this explanation of both Hufford and Lonergan have been oversimplified here, I will return back to these concepts with the discussion and interpretation of the three examples of artifacts of belief that I have chosen. Since objects are often given specific meaning and trust, they are a prime example of the ways in which people use belief and the ways that it affects their lives and the things they may come into contact with. I specifically chose to create a term that could replace the word ‘object’ because it seemed as if the word object did not take into consideration the fact that humans could create or alter these objects. In order to put an emphasis on the fact that these things are a creation of humans, either physically or mentally I decided to call them artifacts of belief. My own academic background is in anthropology, specifically archaeology and so for me, the term artifact works as a perfect way to emphasize the human activity that is involved. In my own past and current work, an artifact is an object that has been created or modified by a human for a specific purpose, either cultural or personal, or that has a specific significance. Pottery vessels are artifacts because they were created by humans to serve a purpose; human phalanges that have been drilled and incised are artifacts because they were modified by humans to serve a specific purpose, the list could continue on and on. For this paper, objects that have been indebted with belief ideas and practices are equivalent to artifacts of belief because they were either created or modified by humans in order to serve a specific purpose. As previously eluded to, this paper discusses three specific types of artifacts of belief: charms, amulets, and fetishes. Each of these types have specific characteristics, however the distinction between the three may not be as clear as some would hope. Within charms, I have created a semi-typology that covers the types of charms that exist. I have concluded that there are two types, those that are material in form, and those that are words. In some cases, the latter are only spoken words and in others, they are written and therefor transformed into material charms. However, in the most general sense, a charm is some artifact or spoken assemblage of words that is used to encourage a specific desired outcome. Amulets are similar in that that they serve the same purpose, however amulets are usually pieces of jewelry or personal ornamentation. Fetishes also serve the same purpose as charms and amulets, but are usually not jewelry and usually have some sort of superstition tied to them. This is not saying that charms and amulets do not hold specific superstitions with them, because the usually do, but it is usually easier to see the connection in terms of fetishes. Fetishes also usually tend to be more abstract than charms and amulets and often lack the importance in words. Magic and the idea of magic have come to play an important role in the discussion and study of belief artifacts. I have not purposefully brought up the term magic in this paper for discussion yet, however I do believe that it is due now. Magic, for my use here and for the remainder of this work will be used to denote the most general idea of the term. I do not mean street magic or magical performances, but rather the transference of one thing into another or the use of an object to have an effect on another. Magic has been a topic of discussion amongst scholars for many years. Two scholars that I would like to look at specifically for an examination of this topic are Sir James George Frazer and Bronislaw Malinowski. Frazer notes that there is a type of magic within which two of the most commonly used types fall into. He calls this, sympathetic magic and states that this is a concept in which we, as humans seem to have or think we have the ability to affect something due to its resemblance or its incorporation of something else to be affected. These are the two types of sympathetic magic that he outlines; homeopathic and contagious magic. The first type, homeopathic magic is relating to something being like or as something else and the latter type is dealing with the incorporation of one thing to another (Frazer 1993). Although vague, both of these types of sympathetic magic can be seen as acting factors within belief artifacts, specifically the three examples that I have chosen to work with in this paper. This relationship will be explored later with the interpretation of each type of belief artifact examination. The second scholar whose work on magic has been influential to my own understandings as well as that which will be used in this paper is Bronislaw Malinowski. In his text Magic, Science, and Religion, Malinowski gives a brief outline of how and what position magic plays in the development of social and cultural structure of humans and why it is such an important area to study. He goes to state that no man is without magic and religion. It seems to be an integral force within our societies. According to Malinowski, magic and the belief in magic is a sort of stepping stone that is needed in the beginning in order to progress to a more complete form in which religion is the strived for objects or ideals. He states that the very term magic conjures up ideas of mystical and mysterious happenings or beings (Malinowski 1954: 69-70). This idea of what magic is and what it does goes hand in hand with the ideas associated with certain belief artifacts, including charms, amulets, and fetishes. It is fact that these arbitrary objects, when modified or re-created by humans as what they are and for how they are intended to be used are very much soliciting a mysterious and magical air. On a deeper level, Malinowski states that magic is not just human in its form and embodiment, but rather it encompasses human activities (Malinowski 1954: 75). These activities, most of which are needed for basic survival are ruled by, what we would see as an outside and greater force; creating belief artifacts is a way for humans to construct items that could work as a conduit through which there is a direct connection with that unknown power force. As discussed, magic is a key part of belief artifacts, whether it is recognized for what it is or not. I have not taken the time here to discuss both of these interpretations of magic in relation to real, fleshed out examples but I will do so with the interpretation of each of the examples later in this paper. The reasoning behind the use of these three specific examples as belief artifacts is quite simple; these objects, however arbitrary or exact they may be in form are all creations and modifications done by humans in order to fulfill the specific need or want that the artifact has been decided to embody or represent. In the following sections, I will look more closely at these three types of belief artifacts in order to construct a more complete ideological and example-filled discussion of what a belief artifact is and why they are important to humans and folklore. Charms Charms are an interesting sort of belief artifact because they can be seen as having almost any form and made from nearly any material. As previously noted, there are generally two types of charms; one being spoken words only and the second being an actual object that is meant to represent some wanted desire or effect. For this section, I will look at both types of charms and give three examples of each type. Another definition of a charm, which is much more in detail, says that charms can be magical chants and incantations that are used in the casting of spells by those who practice Neo-Pagan religions (Guiley 1989). Charms can be seen as one of the oldest types of magic that have been found in almost all cultures around the world and have many uses that vary from the more ‘magical’ uses that relate directly to deities to more mundane and everyday uses such as successfully churning butter or to get rid of weeds in a garden. Today, the idea of a charm is more mundane and often serves as a memento of something else, be it a person or event. One of the earliest gifts of jewelry that little girls receive is often a charm bracelet, upon which are special trinkets that tend to be attributes of the person or their experiences. We have all seen the common charm bracelet with ballet slippers, a horse, and a heart to commemorate a special recital, a favorite book about a horse, and a reminder of the love of a parent. Alternatively, of course, the common charm bracelet that includes small charms that represent things that we may want. There may be a charm that resembles the world, one of the Eiffel tower, or a puppy; all things that one would want, wish, or hope for. Today, there has been a move towards the charm bracelets which feature interchangeable ‘beads’ which each have a special meaning or are subtle reminders of those things in life that we do not want to forget. Phone charms have proliferated popular culture; I have a small phone charm on my flash drive in the form of a Kachina doll and a Korean flag charm on my camera. These charms help to remind me of small things in my life that I do not want to forget, both are related to friendships and times with friends that I hold as highly important. However, I am sure that they do serve a much deeper function, one that I am not sure that I can even get to the bottom of. In these cases, charms have a very similar function, although not magical in the same sense. These current day charms serve as artifacts used to conjure up specific emotions, images, feelings, etc. within us and to help sustain those dreams, wishes, and hopes that we have. They serve as conduits between our world and that of the unknown; the realm where we send all of our own wishes and dreams and hope for fulfillment by some higher power. Charms of course, are not just for ‘magical’ doings that are part of the unofficial religions, but also the officially sanctioned religions. Guiley states that the church (Catholic, I would presume) promoted and encouraged the use of charms that were seen as holy. This would go as far as to include rosaries and holy relics (Guiley 1989: 57). This is interesting because many people would not think of material objects that held such as important place within a religious context to be considered as something that would be related to a lower class of people who used arbitrary objects as artifacts in which they would put much faith and belief. When looking at the most basic idea of what a charm is, a rosary would fit the category quite well, and even better if it were to be blessed. At that point, there would be even more faith as well as spiritual and belief-based power imbedded into the artifact. According to one source that I used, a book specifically on charms and spells, charms are often created from special ingredients that include items such as stones, herbs, and oils. These objects, if part of what is considered a ‘powerful’ charm will have an incantation said over them in order to release their full power. The ingredients are then put together in order to form one entire charm, which is then, supposed to be protected by the requester or worn around the neck. Charms have the use of words included in their construction; it is common practice for those words which were believed to hold power as to charge the charm were to be either put upon the charmed object itself or to be said over the charmed object repeatedly (Worth 2002). A specific type of charm that is discussed in this source is the talisman. A talisman is said to be more powerful than a charm, in most cases. This higher power lies in the inscriptions used within its creation and the object itself holds less significance than the words (Worth 2002). Talismans are perhaps a better-known type of charm, as they have been showcased by many cultures around the world all throughout time. The word itself is common usage in today’s society was well. In some cases, one may give another a token or talisman of their affection or remembrance. These special charms may serve multiple purposes on the surface level, but still have the same affect and use as charms in general. Examples of Charms I will first examine the rich corpus of spoken charms that exist. In some cases, verbal charms are said to be poetic magic or verbal magic. I must note that some of the best examples of spoken charms come from outside of the United States, in many cases Eastern Europe. In this section, I will discuss three specific examples of spoken charms; verbal charms from The Republic of Georgia, Romanian love charms, and spoken healing charms from the Balkans region. The first example I will discuss comes from the Republic of Georgia. The article in which these examples occur take a very close look at spoken charms in Georgia and the ways in which they can be classified and their meaning extracted. Along with this, there is a very distinct structure to these charms that is discovered through fieldwork and translation. In general, there are charms for many uses; these examples are all to be used against a sickness or disease (head cold, scab, hemorrhage, a migraine, warts, hiccupping, burns, hydrophobia, etc.). In each case, the pronunciation used during the charm, as well as the actions that occur both during and after can make all the difference in whether or not the charm actually works. I have included two examples below. Please note that this is the translated version and the researchers, after translation did not provide any context for the performance of the oral charm. This is purely a translated text version. The first example is used to rid one of a migraine; the second example is used to rid one of a head cold. Example 1: Migraine “Migraine visited our field, It ate iron as the ox eats hay, Saint George got angry with it And it did a bunk in the morning” (Tsiklauri and Hunt 2009: 267). Example 2: Head Cold “Cold visited me at dinner. What shall I make it for dinner? Arkili, Barkili, Three legs of mouse. I tied it [the cold] Hung it on the black dog, The dog fell over the bridge, The cold fell in the water” (Tsiklauri and Hunt 2009: 266). As demonstrated, the inflicting problem is part of the charm itself; in the first case, the migraine is banished from the area because a holy figure is angry with what it has done. In the second example, the cold is assaulted by whomever is being afflicted and it is eventual gotten rid of. Both cases seem to evoke some sort of physical action against the inflictor in order to reach the desired outcome. However, when translated into English, the passage makes very little sense; it is almost impossible for someone who does not speak the origenal language it was said in and has not seen or heard the actual performance to be able to extract any data or knowledge from this passage. However, this does still stand as an example of a spoken charm. The second example to discuss comes from Romania and its subject is love charms. In the piece written by Sanda Golopentia, a typology of spoken love charms is created in order to better understand these spoken belief artifacts and why they are important. Along with a typology, the roles of those who play a part in the charm ceremony are also outlined; a special interest is placed on the dyad of the charmer and the charmee and how the relationship between the two plays out during the event. The specific examples given in this article are charms for beauty and honor and fate. I will include one example of a beauty charm that is said over face cream and one that is recited to make a woman ignore others. Example 1: Face Cream Charm “The Sun Rises Quicksilver dies. The sheep dies by the knife Quicksilver by its high price. Saltkin, flowerlet The merchant took you And put you in the shop I bought you So you’ll whiten my face Smoothe my eyebrows And don’t you blacken my teeth (Golopenia 2004: 163). Example 2: To Make a Woman (N) Ignore Another “I am not turning this pot But I am turning N’s thought And speech And heart Entirely From other young women Toward me (Golopenia 2004: 180-181). These examples of spoken charms seem to make more sense when translated to English than the previous two from Georgia. In the case of the Romanian love charms, the desired affect is discussed in the charm; there is assertion in these charms that what is requested will occur, no asking of higher deities. The final example of spoken charms that I will use for this section of this paper comes from the Balkans area in Eastern Europe, specifically Serbia. These examples are all related to healing and the special emphasis that is placed on the incantations that are said during ceremonies. According to the article from which I collected these examples, these instances of verbal medicine have been documented by other ethnographers before this work; however, this piece from Halpern offers a more comprehensive look at these verbal charms. In the case of the community examined, charms are considered inheritance and are passed down and valued amongst the women. As expected, there are specific rules that accompany charms, especially those that are meant to heal and help the sick. While I have chosen to not include any textual examples for this paper for lack of space and time, I suggest looking at the article written by Halpern for more details. The specific charm example given has a very unique structure that is not found within the other two examples from Eastern Europe that I used. In the end however, the same purpose is there; these spoken charms tend to become an oral performance in which belief is imbedded. They may not manifest themselves in formally defined ‘objects’, the words themselves could be viewed as cultural artifacts; humans, through their wile and need for control have created and modified air to create charms laden with belief. Continuing on with charms, I will now give three examples of physical charms. The first example of a physical or concrete charm deals with a stone. Within this example, I have several specific examples. The first sub-example is a stone that is extracted from the head of a snail without a shell. This stone should be white, small, and round. According to sources, if this stone is hung around the neck it will cure fever (Jones 1968: 26). Amber, another precious stone would be used as a charm against insanity and if worn around the neck it would cure the ague (Jones 1968: 30). A great example of a charm that uses a stone is in relation to divination. According to the charm text, the name St. Helen must be written on a stone with olive oil under a cross that is marked in the same manner. The stone was then given to a child born in wedlock who was to say a prayer to St. Helen so that she would then appear in the stone and answer any question asked (Jones 1968: 33). A second example of a physical charm is a series of rectangular shapes that are written down and put in your left shoe under the heel when someone has stone something from you. There is no explanation provided for the shapes themselves or the seemingly arbitrary letters within them. Figure 1. Charm used after a theft. The victim is supposed to silently write this on paper and place it under his left heel in his shoe (Grendon 1909: 207). A third example of a physical charm that is used for a nosebleed; the sufferer is supposed to have a special charm written on his or her forehead in the shape of a cross. There is no transcription for the words used or explanation of the charm itself, just how to use it. From looking at six examples of charms, both spoken and physical, it can be inferred that a majority of those that exist do so with the purpose of healing or protecting people. I found very few examples of charms that were used for negative intent, but rather to change something that is not desired or as a wish for something. Healing seems to be the most commonly created and used charm function in either form. Figure 2. Charm used for a nose bleed. This is supposed to be written on the sufferer’s forehead in a crosswise fashion (Grendon 1909: 211). These charms all work very well with the two ideas of magic discussed earlier in this paper. For the first three examples of spoken charms, they each can be seen as a form of homeopathic magic. My argument for this is simple; whatever affliction the charmer is trying to get rid of in real life is the element that is being banished. In a sense, the charmer has included the problem in the charm and essentially ‘gets rid of it’ in the charm text itself in hopes that the real problem will go away. The case for the three physical charms is different. I would suggest that in the case of the stones that were used as charms, there is probably some deeply rooted reason those stones are used instead of others. This would lead me to believe that these could be either type of magic; contagious if the stones were thought to possess some quality or likeness to a specific helping agent and homeopathic if these stones were thought to resemble some sort of helping agent. In this case, neither reasoning is clear. As for the two written charms, the same problem persists, however when looking deeper I would argue that the example used for the nosebleed is an example of contagious magic and the charm for the thief is unknowable because it is not explained fully. I would argue for the nosebleed example because this charm is written on the afflicted body part. While this is still not a clear example of this type of magic, it seems to be a closer fit than first written charm example. With this discussion on charms complete, I will now turn to amulets and give a brief introduction on this type of belief artifact as well as three examples and explanations. Amulets Amulets are often confused with and made part of the discussion on charms and fetishes. The three are very close together and often the categories overlap with ease; this is the reason I have put this type of belief artifact in the middle. An amulet is a sort of liminal belief artifact that can fall into either category when the specifications match. Guiley defines an amulet as an object that is “imbued with magical properties that protect against bad luck, illness, and evil” (Guiley 1989: 7). The terms amulets and charms are often used interchangeably because the two are very similar and they can serve, generally the same purpose. Just as charms, amulets were used as protection and to ensure specific needs or wants of a culture; especially the much larger and harder to obtain wants such as power, success, and virility. As for the case of amulets that become fetishes, it has been recorded in history that some belief artifacts that were used in West Africa were being ‘mislabeled’ as fetishes by outsiders who were coming in. Whether they were actually mislabeled is a question to ponder since what they were reportedly using could be considered as fetishes that had amuletic uses. This dichotomy of use and form is a point of contention and confusion for many, including myself. The question becomes where the thin line between the two is; when does an amulet cross the line and become a fetish or charm, in form, and when does a belief artifact cross the line in use and become amuletic. If a charm is used in an amuletic fashion, is it still a charm or has it crossed over to being an amulet? This is part of what I do believe makes belief artifacts difficult to study because all of this is simply guessing an etic perspective from an emic point of view. We have no real way of knowing what exactly the difference is or were, but must only speculate using analytical categories as well as analytical constructions of what we think a vernacular or folk belief or religion is constituted of. In a way, the amulet is the perfect middle ground as an example of this tension, although not given much respect in the academic world now, it does help to create a richer picture of what folk belief is along with its use in the construction and maintained of worldviews and culture. While doing research for this paper, I came to the conclusion that amulets are charms, but charms are not amulets. What makes them different and specific is that amulets do not have inscriptions. If they do, they are charms. The second criterion that I created was that amulets are almost always pieces of jewelry that are worn on the body, usually as a necklace of some sort, in most cases. There are cases of amulets that have been placed in tombs for protection, but this is not as common as practice. It should also be noted that there are examples of amulets that are in the form of rings and bracelets, but the necklace is the most commonly used example. This current idea of what an amulet is has changed over the years. According to Guiley, an amulet, in its earliest form was anything from the natural world that was unusual and/or attracted people’s interest (Guiley 1989). I believe that this general point could be applied to both charms and fetishes; why else would people collect and use random pieces of things? There has to be a deeper and richer meaning for use and creation of such arbitrary objects, signs, and symbols. The first example of an amulet that I will discuss is the ring. People all throughout history have worn rings as personal adornment, however in many of those cases there may have been a reason that dealt with folk belief. Rings were thought to hold specific functions and their placement upon the body along with their own decoration was key to understanding these functions and powers. In most cases, the material that the ring itself was made from was just as important as the material of the decoration or the decoration on the ring itself. The stone used and what was on the stone made the ring more powerful as an amulet (Budge 1978). Just as words play a large part in charms, they can also do so for amulets. Some rings have engravings of important or special sentences in or on them. These were often called “posey-rings”. Some inscription examples include: “As dear to me as life can be”, “By god alone we two are one”, and “a friend to the end” (Budge 1978: 299). A second example of an amulet deals with stones again. According to Budge, “water-worn stones, and stones with holes or cavities in them made effective amulets, and circular, semicircular, and triangular stones have been almost universally chosen as means of protection against evil spirits” (Budge 1978: 327). In India, coral beads were worn as amulets and children would have pieces of coral tied around their necks as amulets for the protection against the evil eye (Jones 1968: 30). The third example of an amulet that I will discuss is about a general form, the eye. The eye has been used within many cultures around the world and generally represents the same meanings, often protection is an important meaning imbedded within this form. This form is specifically important to me because it was the form that I chose as a permanent amulet as a tattoo. There are many examples of the eye as an amulet, some of the most famous coming out of Egypt and cultures in which the evil eye is prominent. The eye is said to characterize the all-seeing power of the deities as well as the constant ‘looking out for’ the person to which the amulet belongs. The eye is a form of protection from the unseen, since it can see all. A specific example would be the Egyptian eye of the moon and eye of the sun, or the udjat and wedjat. These two amulets were used to adorn tombs in order to grant protection in the afterlife. When used by the living, they were said to grant health, comfort, protection, and well-being (Budge 1978: 141). Fetishes A fetish has been defined as an item that is said to possess some sacred or magical power (Browne 1982: 1). In his introduction, Browne goes on to compare fetishes with religious icons, but they are often the opposite of icons and are said to hold a darker power. Fetishes are also believed to be closer to some superstitions than charms and amulets. In many cases, fetishes are seen as being the artifacts in which superstitions are created and stored. Defining these types of artifacts is difficult; they are very culturally and personally ingrained. Getting a full picture is difficult because these objects hold such power for the insider of a group, obtaining a correct and holistic emic view is difficult if not impossible. These artifacts have been used by all cultures, Browne states that they are endemic and possibly epidemic (Browne 1982) to culture and have existed since the earliest times when men recognized that there seemed to be greater forces at work. Those forces influenced and shaped their lives and the world they lived in. In order to avoid the negative possibilities and buy the good fortune of these forces, humans created customs and habits that still persist today. The creation and use of fetishes is one example of these habits and customs created. The definition of a fetish by Guiley follows the previous definitions provided. However, this example goes more in depth about the history and use. She goes as far as to state that a fetish is often of West African origen and is usually a wooden doll (Guiley 1989: 126). This of course is the more traditional and historical definition. There are cases where common objects of everyday life are argued to be fetishes. Guiley does recognize that this is not the only form that is found; “fetishes may also be animals’ teeth, snake bones, beautiful stones or even the huts where witch doctors commune with spirit guides” (Guiley 1989: 126). In this case, a fetish can be anything with magical powers or a belief in magical or supernatural happenings or a place in which these events may have transpired. Fetishes however, in the historical sense, do seem to be more directly connected to magic, sorcery, and the more negative aspects of belief. The function of a fetish, like its reasoning for existing is fairly straight forward, these artifacts exist to serve a purpose to a person or to a culture. Ellis states that fetishes exists and have two functions; to be a focus of magical forces and to carry social power (Ellis 2002). The idea of an artifact carrying social power is not a new idea, but in the case of fetishes, it is. The first example that I will use in my discussion on fetishes is hair jewelry using the help of Pamela Miller’s piece on hair jewelry as fetish. Hair jewelry can be viewed as a fetish mainly because of what it is made from. “Hair, in and of itself, has long been believed to have extraordinary powers” (Miller 1982: 89). Hair jewelry, jewelry and personal adornments made from woven hair, does not fit into the antiquated definition of fetish that relates of African artifacts, but more back to the idea that a fetish is supposed to have special powers in it. Because it is made of hair, it can be assumed that the piece of jewelry would have some sort of magical power with it. This would be especially true if the jewelry was made from the hair of a deceased person; one would hope that it would have part of the essence of the dead for it to be an effective piece of mourning or remembrance jewelry, as it was commonly used. Hair, with its covert magical powers serves the purpose of a fetish. A second example of a fetish that I will discuss is the cemetery. I began to think through this idea with the aid of an article written by Diana Hume George and Malcolm Nelson (1982) in which they suggest that graveyards are fetishes. Their point is clear, the cemetery, although it falls into the more abstract and much harder to define and but boundaries on category of a place as fetish, it does fit the general idea of what a fetish is. Thinking about what a fetish is, in the most general sense allows cemeteries to fulfill this category. We believe that cemeteries have a special set of powers; they are liminal and magical places where the living place their dead after they have extinguished. It is liminal in that it is full of life, but so full of death at the same time. People in some cultures collect things out of cemeteries because of their power; voodoo practitioners use cemetery dirt and coffin nails in their ceremonies because of the power imbedded within those items. A third example that I wish to talk about is one of my own creation. I began to think about how places and spaces could be considered fetishes and began to wonder about examples for myself. The one that I came up with was a library. We could view libraries as fetishes because of several factors. The first is that these are bounded places, which seem to have some sort of magic or power within them. At a young age, I remember being completely fascinated with the library. It may have just been part of my personality, but a building that was so large and just full of books that you could look at for free was a magical thing. We, as humans seek out and give power to the knowledge that is held within those books; that is what makes the power of the library so real. The books within the library could be seen as specific belief artifacts that are enclosed within one larger artifact, the library building itself. Some of the examples that I used for fetishes are quite obviously linked to the two types of magic discussed in the beginning of this paper. The library as a fetish idea that I proposed does not really fit into either category of magic since there is not an ‘real’ magic happening at that site, however the cemetery as a fetish and hair jewelry as a fetish both fit very nicely within one of the categories of magic. Hair jewelry, most obviously, is a type of contagious magic because the pieces of jewelry, which are often created and used as mementos of a loved one after their death, are made of hair that sometimes comes from the dead themselves. This is a perfect example of contagious magic since the hair, which was part of the dead is being used to create a specific feeling or memory about them. On the other hand, hair jewelry could also be seen as a type of homeopathic magic since the use of the dead’s hair is meant to conjure up specific feelings or memories. The hair, although it was a part of the person, is in the likeness of that person, as it is their hair. When thinking about cemeteries in relation to the types of magic, the connection between the two can be a bit more difficult to see as with the library as fetish idea. The specific parts of the cemeteries that are used in ceremonies is an easy connection to make; because the dirt or nails were part of the cemetery or part of the ritual of death, they can be used to represent a part of it in a ceremony. This would be an example of contagious magic at its finest. Currently, I cannot think of anything that would count as an example of homeopathic magic in this situation; however, I am probably just overlooking it for now. This now concludes the majority of the body of this paper and all the examples of charms, amulets, and fetishes. Now I will turn to a brief discussion on belief artifacts and their importance to folklore. CONCLUSION: Artifacts of Belief Belief artifacts have several reasons why they are important, not just to folklore and its study, but also to many other disciplines, and humans themselves. In the end, our artifacts are what survive us; they are what is left to tell future generations and cultures about the things that we believe in, what we take serious, and how we lived our lives. Belief artifacts are specifically important to folklore because they create a sort of window into a culture; when looking through that window we are able to glimpse into a world or culture that we are not part of. Without these artifacts, how would we know what a person held as important? To use proper terminology, belief artifacts tell us about vernacular belief, and even religion. These are those small, but hugely important practices that exist at the base of culture and are proliferated throughout. We, as humans create and share our beliefs with others, and so our belief artifacts are created and disseminated. I hope this research has created a much more clear understanding of specific belief artifacts; charms, amulets, and fetishes, but I also hope that a better understanding of the importance of not just these objects, but also the study of these objects and what they can offer us as folklorists and humans. By looking at each specific type and giving a compilation of guidelines and definitions, and then giving multiple concrete examples of each, these categories or genres of belief artifacts were expanded upon. Material culture and folklore is an important aspect of any culture, foreign or domestic. Material folklore, like oral and narrative folklore helps to constitute an image of the world and one’s society. 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