Born under a Lucky Star - Interpretations of Woodcuts of Pseudo-astrological Birth Amulets from German-Jewish Printing Houses in the 18th Century

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aurora

This article examines woodcut illustrations of zodiac signs on 18th-century German-Jewish birth amulets from Jewish printing houses, situating them within a wider tradition of astrological references in Jewish art and literature. The amulet texts themselves contain no astrological content, raising the question of how image choice relates to text and amulet function. By contextualizing the woodcuts alongside contemporary illustration practices, the article develops three interpretation models to explain the selected zodiac signs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages21

Reading Time53 min

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Astrology and Amulets

Amulets as protective objects and interpretive challenges

Types of 18th-century Jewish amulet prints

Visual vs. textual relationship in the amulets

Alisha Meininghaus Born under a Lucky Star Interpretations of Woodcuts of Pseudo-astrological Birth Amulets from German-Jewish Printing Houses in the 18th Century Abstract This article examines illustrations of the zodiac signs on birth amulets from German-Jewish printing houses from the 18th century. These woodcuts are part of a long tradition of astrological references in Jewish art and literature. However, the amulet texts themselves do not contain any astrological topics. What, then, is the relationship of the woodcuts to the text and to the function of the amulets? By contextualizing the images with other contemporary traditions of illustration, this article provides three interpretation models which can explain the choice of the zodiac signs on the amulets. Keywords Woodcuts, Amulets, Zodiac Signs, Astrology, Judaism, Magic Biography Alisha Meininghaus is a doctoral candidate in the Department of the Study of Religions at the Philipps University of Marburg. Her dissertation focuses on German-Jewish birth amulets in the 18th and 19th centuries. She is a fellow of the Leo Baeck Programme of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the Leo Baeck Institute London and is an associate member of the collaborative project “Dynamiken religiöser Dinge im Museum”(REDIM) . Astrology and Amulets Astrological ideas are certainly not the first association that comes to mind when thinking about traditional Judaism.1 However, when one looks at objects that originate from the early modern tradition of the German Jews, nu- 1 My sincere thanks go to all the individuals and institutions mentioned in the captions for kindly providing the photographs. [www.jrfm.eu](www.jrfm.eu) 2021, 7/1, 45–65 Born under a Lucky Star | 45 DOI: 10. 25364/05 .7:2021 .1.4 merous illustrations of zodiac signs catch the eye. These illustrations belong to an old tradition that is not limited to groups marginalized as heretics. The long list of astrological references in Jewish art and literature includes, for example, illustrations of the zodiac signs on mosaic floors of synagogues in ancient Israel, astrological texts in the literature of Qumran as well as in the Babylonian Talmud, and philosophical discussions about astrology among Spanish scholars from the 12th century onwards.2 This article interprets the depictions of zodiac signs on birth amulets from Jewish printing houses of the 18th century in German-speaking countries.3 So far, studies of Jewish amulets have been mostly philological, and a comprehensive analysis of woodcut prints – embracing the visual dimension and the material history of the prints – remains a desideratum of research.4 Therefore, this article is located within a framework of “material religion” and “visual religion”5, and will supplement previous approaches. The term “amulet” is a translation of the Hebrew word kame’a (קמיע) and denotes objects which are supposed to have a protective function. The term can be misleading, because in everyday language it implies objects which are worn directly on the body, which was not the case with amulet prints. Furthermore, the term “amulet” can evoke the assignment of these objects to the category “magic”. However, the concept of magic in the study of religions is highly problematic, and it is deliberately not applied in this article.6 Nevertheless, the term “amulet” allows a connection to previous academic discoursesand is therefore used in this text. Early modern Jewish amulets from German-speaking regions can be divided into prints, manuscripts, textiles, and metal amulets. The prints this article focuses on have been attributed an apotropaic function, primarily the protection of women in childbed and their new-born children against the demoness Lilith. There are five types of prints: (1) prints with illustrations of the 12 zo- 2 See Leicht 2006 and Fishof 2001. 3 The considerations presented here are the first results of research for my dissertation on Ge

FAQs

What protective purpose are the amulet prints primarily associated with?

They are primarily attributed an apotropaic function protecting women in childbed and their newborn children against the demoness Lilith.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aurora