CHABMS AND AMULETS 69 



others is a rirnau Mramat, or ghost-tiger,' ' The magic 

 five-pointed star (peritacle) is the foot-print of King 

 Solomon. This mystic figure is worn as a defence 

 against demons ; it resembles the five-pointed star-fish. 

 The foot-print of a girl is often referred to in Malay love 

 charms ; for example, one quoted by Dr. Winstedt is : 

 " Take sand from her foot-print or her foot-bridge or 

 from the front of her house-door. Take a black jacket, 

 oval at the neck ; put the sand in the jacket ; tear it right 

 and left and make it up like a doll ; fold it m two and 

 tie it with threads of seven colours. Turn the doll 

 round every morning and evening, at mid-day, at mid- 

 night." The most common Malay amulet is the azimai, 

 or written talisman, worn for good luck. It generally 

 takes the form of written texts from the Koran, with or 

 without Arabic figures. The magic writing is preserved 

 in a cover, made either of gold, silver, zmc or other 

 metal, or simply of cloth, according to the means or the 

 fancy of the wearer. The azimat is a personal charm, 

 and is obtained on request, for all legitimate purposes, 

 from the local resident saint (To* Wall), by whom it is 

 blest. One of the most common is the azimai sawan, 

 folded into the form of a triangle and incased in a 

 triangular metal or cloth cover with a base of 1 J inches. 

 These are worn romid the necks of cliildren to afford 

 protection from convulsions. A similar protective 

 charm takes the form of a piece of holy thread, perhaps 

 imported from Mecca, either black or of the royal 

 yellow colour, tied romid the child's right wrist, A 

 good deal seems to depend upon the way m which the 

 Malay amulet is woni. Some charms to keep the devil 

 away and the azimat sawan mentioned above are worn 

 round the neck covered up under the clothing ; others, 

 such as charms to invoke pity {azimat orang tengok 

 kedJian), charms to terrify [azimat pe7iggirun), and 



