parchment, paper, blank/pure parchment, blank paper

Ingredients

parchment, paper

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Talismans are instructed to be written on organic substrates such as 'parchment' or 'paper' (p. 238). For a four-based magic square, al-Būnī instructs the practitioner to write 'after achieving ritual purity through ablutions... a hundred times on a blank/pure parchment' (p. 241). In other cases, a seal is written on 'blank paper' and then worn 'in the seam of his coat' for protection against thieves and other threats (p. 242).

Evidence

"The instructions to use the properties for a material gain usually indicate that the letter has to be written on a specific material (parchment, paper, etc.)"

Remarks

Parchment and paper serve as the primary substrates for written talismans in the early core of the Būnian tradition. The selection of the specific substrate is tied to the 'khawāṣṣ' (esoteric properties) of the letters and the purpose of the talisman (p. 238). The paper mentions the transition of these instructions from early 13th-century works to later apocryphal compilations like the Shams al-maʿārif al-kubrā (p. 236, 241). The preservation of these manuscripts (e.g., MS Paris, BnF, Arabe 2637) provides evidence of the historical use of these materials (p. 240).