Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tradition, as in good luck charms perhaps some token on a charm bracelet , amulets , or gestures such as crossed fingers or knocking on wood.
Many different objects and charms were used for protection throughout history. Apotropaic magical rituals were practiced throughout the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt. Fearsome deities were invoked via ritual in order to protect individuals by warding away evil spirits. In ancient Egypt, these household rituals performed in the home, not in state-run temples were embodied by the deity who personified magic itself, Heka.
Objects were often used in these rituals in order to facilitate communication with the gods. One of the most commonly found magical objects, the ivory apotropaic wand birth tusk , gained widespread popularity in the Middle Kingdom c. The cowroid amulet imitating the cowrie shell was also used to protect pregnant mothers and children, and was typically incorporated into a woman's girdle. Likewise, protective amulets bearing the likenesses of gods and goddesses such as Taweret were commonly worn.
Water came to be used frequently in ritual as well, wherein libation vessels in the shape of Taweret were used to pour healing water over an individual. In much later periods when Egypt came under the Greek Ptolemies , stele featuring the god Horus were used in similar rituals; water would be poured over the stele andβafter ritually acquiring healing powersβwas collected in a basin for an afflicted person to drink. The ancient Greeks had various protective symbols and objects, with various names, such as apotropaia, probaskania, periammata, periapta and profylaktika.
Another way for protection from enchantment used by the ancient Greeks was by spitting into the folds of the clothes. Ancient Greeks also had an old custom of dressing boys as girls in order to avert the evil eye. In Ireland, it is customary on St Brigid's Day to weave a Brigid's cross from rushes, which is hung over doors and windows to protect the household from fire, lightning, illness and evil spirits.
