Thokcha

loads. Thokcha ( ; also alternatively ) are Tibetan amulets which are said to have fallen from the sky in traditional Tibetan folklore. These are traditionally believed to contain a magical, protective power comparable to Tibetan dzi beads. Most thokcha are made of a copper alloy. The use of meteoric iron has been common throughout the history of ferrous metallurgy. Historically, thokcha were prized for the metallurgical fabrication of weapons, musical instruments, and sacred tools, such as the phurba. Thokcha are an auspicious addition in the metallurgical fabrication of sacred objects cast from panchaloha. Writer Robert Beer regards meteoric iron as "the supreme substance for forging the physical representation of the vajra or other iron weapons." It was believed that these amulets had been tempered by the celestial gods before falling to Earth. Beer describes the metal falling from space as a metaphor for "the indivisibility of form and emptiness." Many meteorite fragments can be found in Tibet due to its high altitude and open landscape.

loads. Thokcha ( ; also alternatively ) are Tibetan amulets which are said to have fallen from the sky in traditional Tibetan folklore. These are traditionally believed to contain a magical, protective power comparable to Tibetan dzi beads. Most thokcha are made of a copper alloy. The use of meteoric iron has been common throughout the history of ferrous metallurgy. Historically, thokcha were prized for the metallurgical fabrication of weapons, musical instruments, and sacred tools, such as the phurba. Thokcha are an auspicious addition in the metallurgical fabrication of sacred objects cast from panchaloha. Writer Robert Beer regards meteoric iron as "the supreme substance for forging the physical representation of the vajra or other iron weapons." It was believed that these amulets had been tempered by the celestial gods before falling to Earth. Beer describes the metal falling from space as a metaphor for "the indivisibility of form and emptiness." Many meteorite fragments can be found in Tibet due to its high altitude and open landscape.

Age

The age of Thokcha amulets are classified into two overlapping periods. The pre-Buddhist Ancient Bon (gdod ma'i Bon) period ( 1000 BCE 900 CE) and the Buddhist period (after 700). Some of the earliest thokcha are said to originate in the Zhangzhung culture.

Types

Thokcha are metal objects approximately , originally made to function as horse harnesses, buckles, fibulae, and arrowheads. Many years later, after their creation, they are reused by the Tibetan people as protective amulets and adornments for clothing, lighters, and purses. Some thokcha may represent real or legendary creatures, often being deities originating from Bon or Buddhism. However, since many thokcha pieces are very abstract in their forms, the precise figures they are made to represent remain uncertain.

Popular belief

The word Thokcha is composed of two words; thog that means above, primordial, first, or thunderbolt, and lcags that stands for iron or metal, so the literal meaning of thokcha is "original iron" or "thunderbolt iron." A popular Tibetan belief is that thokcha are produced magically when a thunderbolt strikes the earth. Historically, it was believed that if one was to find a thokcha underground by chance, they would work as a good luck charm. A gesture of sympathetic magic portrays that if you cast vajras from the metal, it would return a piece of the original iron to the site where it was found.

See also

Glossary of meteoritics Iron Man, a Tibetan sculpture of Vaiśravaṇa carved from an iron meteorite Panchaloha Orichalcum

Notes

References

Anninos, Tony, Tokches – Images of Change in Early Buddhist Tibet, Orientations, October 1998, 29(9): 93. Anninos, Tony, Thokcha: the Ancient Amulets of Tibet, Thokcha World, The Max Maxwell Collection, San Francisco, 2000. Bellezza, John Vincent, "Thog lcags", The Tibet Journal, 1994, 19(1): 92–97. Bellezza, John Vincent, "Thogchags: Talismans of Tibet", Arts of Asia, May–June 1998, 28(3): 44–64. John, Gudrun, Tibetische Amulette aus Himmelseisen - Das Geheimnis der Toktschaks, VML-Verlag, Raden/Westf., 2006. Lin, Tung-Kuang, Antique Tibetan Thogchags and Seals, The Art of Tibet, Taipei, 2003. Weihreter, Hans, Thog-lcags. Geheimnisvolle Amulette Tibets. PDF-Dokument, Edition Kyung, Augsburg, 2002.

External links

Thokcha ~ Tibetan Amulets Tibetan Meteorite Tibetan Thogchag http://www.asianart.com/articles/thogchags/index.html http://www.asianart.com/articles/vestiges/index.html

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1335561034 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.