Tuareg Amulet – Cross On Gris-Gris – Niger

Metal, leather grams 27,1 (0.51 oz). Cm. 8,6 x 6,5 (2.87” x 1.69”).

The Tuareg live in one of the most inhospitable areas of the planet: the central part of the Sahara Desert. Their whole existence, difficult and precarious, is dominated by an overriding concern to protect and defend themselves from hostile supernatural forces that inhabit the surrounding environment – the ” Jinn ” (evil spirits, from the terrible Ghul to the Ifrit, no less cruel in tending traps to travelers) – and gain the protection of beneficial genies.

The main instruments of protection are the amulets and talismans. Every Tuareg, man or woman, old or young child , has an amulet or a talisman: leather ( the gri-gri ) or silver (the khomissar , the tcherot , the herz), often contain magic formulas, powders of animal and / or vegetable or verses from the Koran.

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