The Love Magic of Yehudah bar Yoshiyah
Mythic Historical - RoPD describes amulet magic in the larger context of Divine magic. Jewish amulets found in the Cairo Genizah, and dating to around 1220 suggest the existence of a Holy Tradition of amulet magic outside what might conventionally be considered holy. Holy Traditions are explained on page 47 of RoPD. Yehudah bar Yoshiyah, described below, was a historical person, a prominent Egyptian scholar and contemporary of Maimonides. The amulet described was found in the Cairo Genizah and is translated by Noam Sienna in A Rainbow Thread.
Certain Sephardic Jews have their own traditions of amulet magic that extend to the creation of love amulets, designed to cause someone to fall in love with the creator of the amulet. This is the result of a holy magical tradition, one of the champions of which is Yehudah bar Yoshiyah, a scholar and magician of Cairo.
Yehudah invokes Hashem through the use of many variations of His name and by quoting from the Hebrew Bible to create his amulets.
The Amulet that Inflames Love for Yehudah
Level 15
R: Arcane Connection, D: Worn, T: Individual
This amulet seeks to make a certain man, Hodaya bar Shlomo, fall in love with Yehudah. First Yehudah invokes the divine name by writing the forty two initials of the Ana b’Koach prayer. Then he writes:“I adjure you to inflame Hodaya bar Shlomo for Yehudah bar Yoshiya. Many waters cannot quench love and rivers cannot wash it away. If Hodayah bar Shlomo were to give all the wealth of his house to Yehudah bar Yoshiyah, he would be utterly scorned. As the deer pants for streams of water so the soul of Hodayah bar Shlomo pants for you, Yehudah bar Yoshiyah. And he shall come to him swiftly and speedily. Amen Amen Selah. This great secret is designated to be as a sharp sword in the hand of Yehudah bar Yoshiyah in the name of the Lord of Hosts who is enthroned between the Cherubim, I Am That I Am.
The amulet takes the form of a scrap of paper written with the words above. It is sealed in purple wax with Hodaya’s name written in the wax.
This particular amulet was created with the Craft Amulet ability, the Invocation Method and the Blessing Power. Yehudah has sewn the amulet into the hem of Hodaya’s favorite tunic. As a Major Amulet it can be activated multiple times, and each time Hodayah puts on the tunic he falls in love with Yehudah again.
Yehudah created the amulet with his Dexterity of +2, Craft Amulets of 5, Invocation of 4, Blessing of 4, Writing Hodaya’s Name +5, a Dominion Aura of 4, and a Holy Tradition bonus of +6. That total of 30 is compared against the level 15 effect, which means that Yehudah can complete the amulet in one season.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Worn)
New Minor Social Virtue - She’ohavim
You are one of the amulet makers of the She’ohavim - the Ones Who Love. They are a Holy Tradition, distinct from the Ba’al Shem tradition described in RoPD. They can be found across the Sephardic world, in the Hermetic Tribunals of Iberia, Provance, Rome, and the Levant, as well as outside the Hermetic world in Egypt and Africa. You treat Invocation, Blessing, Cursing, and Craft Amulets as favored Abilities. In addition, the Invocation Method can be used with all guideline abilities of both Blessing and Cursing. Finally, the tradition is especially focused on affecting people with its magic. You get a +3 bonus when you create an amulet that hampers a person without injuring them, +3 bonus when creating amulets that generate love between two people, and a +6 bonus when creating an amulet that makes someone fall in love with you personally. Members of this tradition often know some Legerdemain and Stealth so they can sneak amulets on to their target’s person.
Story Seed - Suspicious Love Magic
Covenants across the Sephardic world may encounter Holy Magic used for love charms. Wizards who do might be suspicious that it is not holy at all - mind control does not seem particularly divine. Worse, the fact that some creators use the effects to cause men to fall in love with other men is shocking to more traditional Christian and Jewish observers. But this is a Divine tradition. While characters with True Faith would risk their faith if they went around coercing people to love them, characters without True Faith can have more freedom to use these Divine abilities for selfish ends. After all, the desire to love and be loved is a holy emotion in Judaism. What happens when a companion or grog suddenly falls in love with a Jewish mystic? Will the covenant investigate this strange new magic? Story guides note - this tradition that supports men loving men may be considered dangerous or unholy by characters in the story, but you should make sure that you steer clear of homophobia in your portrayal of the mystics who practice the tradition.