ReSIA: Sacred Power: The Motif of the Seven Magical Signs

The motif of the Seven Magical Signs is a set of seven symbols believed to represent the Most Exalted Name of God.

They are discussed in texts on magic such as the Shams al­ma‘arif al-kubra and appear on amulets and various talismanic objects.

This seminar will examine the tradition of the Seven Magical Signs in Southeast Asia from the perspective of both texts and objects. In doing so it aims to investigate possible relationships between the textual tradition and material culture, which may help shed further light into the connections between theory and practice in the occult sciences within Muslim societies.

Dr Farouk Yahya’s research interests include the Southeast Asian arts of the book, as well as texts and images relating to magic and divination. He holds an MA in Islamic art and a PhD on Malay manuscripts from SOAS University of London. He is the author of Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts (Brill, 2016), editor of The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections (Areca Books, 2017), and co-editor of Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice (Brill, 2021).

More recent publications include: “The Maxwell Collection and Local Private Libraries in the Malay Peninsula during the Nineteenth Century”, in “Manuscript Libraries and Colonialism in Island Southeast Asia”, edited by Alan Darmawan and Mulaika Hijjas, special issue of Archipel, vol. 110 (2025): pp. 239-280; with Anna Contadini,  “Planispheric astrolabe”, “Wing-handled vases”, “Honey jar”, “Glass pitcher and vase”, in Conoscenza e Libertà: Arte Islamica al Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna, edited by Anna Contadini, Genoa: Sagep, 2024, cats. 1, 20-21, 24, 26-27; and “Talismans with the Names of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus/Aṣḥāb al-Kahf in Muslim Southeast Asia”, in Malay-Indonesian Islamic Studies: A Festschrift in Honor of Peter G. Riddell, edited by Majid Daneshgar and Ervan Nurtawab, Leiden: Brill, 2023, pp. 209–265.

This is event is part of the ReSIA (Research Seminar in Islamic Arts) series.

Image: Ring with the Seven Magical Signs, Indonesia, c. 2010s-2023. Author’s collection.