1946 – Sea Bean: Amulet
- Physical description:
- Roundish grey sea bean. These beans were used as amulets for childbirth and against witchcraft.
- Museum classification:
- Sea Witchcraft
- Size:
- 20 x 17 x 13
- Information:
See also 1800 and 1945.
Donated by Jane Darke.
Grey Nickarnut - Caesalpinia Bonduc.
Sea beans cross the Atlantic on ocean currents from Central and South America, and can be found on beaches in Cornwall, Scotland, Iceland, the Faeroes and Scandinavia.
They have been prized for their magical power for centuries. An Icelandic poem (the H'sdr'pa) describes the Br'singamen, the priceless treasure of the Goddess Freyja, as a 'sea kidney'.
These round grey beans are known as nickarnuts, probably from the Old English word 'nicor' meaning 'sea monster'. In Scotland they were known as Mary's Nuts, after the Virgin Mary, and were used as amulets to aid childbirth (John Morisone, late 17th C.). They were also believed to protect against witchcraft and the Evil Eye (Martin Martin, 1703).
See Audrey Meaney, 'Drift Seeds and the Br'singamen', Folklore, Vol. 94, No. 1 (1983), pp. 33-39.- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Plant
- Copyright ownership:
- Treetrunk Ltd
See also 1800 and 1945.
Donated by Jane Darke.
Grey Nickarnut - Caesalpinia Bonduc.
Sea beans cross the Atlantic on ocean currents from Central and South America, and can be found on beaches in Cornwall, Scotland, Iceland, the Faeroes and Scandinavia.
They have been prized for their magical power for centuries. An Icelandic poem (the H'sdr'pa) describes the Br'singamen, the priceless treasure of the Goddess Freyja, as a 'sea kidney'.
These round grey beans are known as nickarnuts, probably from the Old English word 'nicor' meaning 'sea monster'. In Scotland they were known as Mary's Nuts, after the Virgin Mary, and were used as amulets to aid childbirth (John Morisone, late 17th C.). They were also believed to protect against witchcraft and the Evil Eye (Martin Martin, 1703).
See Audrey Meaney, 'Drift Seeds and the Br'singamen', Folklore, Vol. 94, No. 1 (1983), pp. 33-39.