Besides amulets there are certain amulets which go by the popular name of
zapisi (inscriptions) in Bosnia, with whose help one neutralises magical effects on a human. Paper on which the amulet is inscribed on is submerged in a bottle of clear water and is left for 12 hours, i.e. overnight, in order to release the power of the ink and to transfer the beneficent energy into the water. The spellbound or diseased man drinks that water for a couple of days, seven or nine, and then the rest of the water is mixed with warm water and it is used for bathing. He would usually do it after a normal shower, when the body is cleansed of sweat and other dirt, then he uses the water to pour it over his head and down his body, usually uttering a short formula: "Dear god, let me wash hands of others from my body!" The term "hands of others" alludes to the magical work of a wizard or a witch whose results, desires or intentions, one wants to neutralise.
Inscriptions or talismans (
tilsumi) unlike amulets, whose primary function is to stop the contact with negative energy, have a wide spectre of activity on numerous areas of life from love, work, happiness, success etc. However, talismans can be used for negative goals such as causing a break up of a marriage, hatred, bad luck, disease and even death. Their function is tied to the banishment of certain Jinn from homes, etc.
Talismans are usually inscribed on paper (five colours of paper), which has to be absolutely clean or on the skin of a wild animal, such as a gazelle, deer, etc. When they are done on paper, the talismans are burned in certain places, or they are left to hang at a certain place or are buried somewhere, like near a river, stream, or an unmarked grave, etc.
In order to write an amulet one needs to know
"ilag bil-qur'an" or healing with the help of the Qur'an, characteristics and effect of certain chapters of the Qur'an and their practical value, which is often combined with the construction of magic squares (
wafq), to create a talisman it is necessary to have a deeper knowledge or
al-alum ar-ruhaniyya, which one could translate as spiritual science.
Talisman,
wafq or amulet cannot, according to popular belief, be written with a regular pencil but with a special, so called Arabic ink, made out of saffron and rose water in which one would usually add musk. Besides this, rain water is also used, water from the stream, Zamzam water, human or animal blood, etc. We need to stress that there are two types of ink: for white magic and for black magic. The procedure of creating ink is quite complicated and different in regards to the ingredients. Normally it is prepared for a couple of days and is finished on Friday before sunrise. The entire time, while the ink is being prepared, one would utter certain verses or prayers from the Qur'an a few times. When the ink is finally completely prepared it must be kept in a dark and dry place far from light and ink used for black magic. Actually, these two inks cannot be in the same room.
The use of pencils out of reed (bamboo) was once used for writing, which doesn't mean that it cannot be used today, however, a much better and simpler variant is to use a pen (quill) constructed out of a special type of copper. Every magi should have two pencils while working, one for writing all positive talismans and another one for evil talismans. Every practitioner should have both inks whether or not he actually practices black magic. Even more the ink for evil is more important for work then the one meant for positive purposes.
Numerous practitioners of magic, which are successful in their work, do not heed the above mentioned rules, and they use regular or ballpoint pens in their work, since experience showed that real spiritual power doesn't come from props but the person (magi). Several very successful persons in more recent and distant past of Bosnia used regular pens when writing talismans. However, their spiritual power came from a direct contact with one or more spiritual beings which is proof enough that without the contact with celestial or earth spiritual beings (
khadam ulqiyya and
khadam sufliyya) there is no successful magical work.
According to Arabic authors of magical manuals for successful work it is necessary to know numerous particulars of spiritual science such as the lunar calendar, in order to calculate under which
menzil, the moon station or moon house, the man is born and to convert his date of birth according to the Hijri calendar, which is a necessary prerequisite for the construction of magical squares (
wafq) and
taksir huruf. Namely, in its trajectory or circling the moon goes through 28 stations "
menzilet" out of which each one is individually tied with one of the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet. That movement and its passing through each station has a very pronounced effect on our planet, on the behaviour of people at a certain moment, their relationship, and with that it has an important influence on the performance of magical rituals, creation of inscriptions, amulets and talismans.
