In 2014 I bought a Tibetan amulet on eBay. Back in that innocent time it seemed like a good idea to acquire such a unique and fascinating artefact. Yet after subsequently experiencing uncanny events and serious illness, and my family going through a plethora of misfortunes, I reluctantly let go of it after 956 days.1 From the outset, I must stress that I’m not going to argue that these events were directly ‘caused’ by this object due to its being cursed or somehow malign; but the fact is that its presence coincided with the strangest and most tumultuous period of my life. And I was warned about it before things got really bad – which they most certainly did.
Listed as a ‘Unique Tibetan Bonpo Shamanic Ceramic Amulet’, it was an emaciated figurine of a dicephalic (two-headed) fœtus, about 20cm (8in) long, pigmented with an orange powder. Also included were several woodblock-printed Buddhist texts, a small piece of saffron-coloured cloth patterned with swastikas, and – critically for my interest – a card written by a British Museum curator authenticating the amulet.2 This was nothing like the ‘vampire killing kits’ (FT288:32-39) or ‘cursed dolls’ (see, for example, FT326:10-11, 411:10) that haunt the Really Weird or Totally Bizarre categories to ensnare the unwary eBayer. This thing was genuine, fortean and tangible – a real rarity. Never having seen anything like it before or since I just had to have it for my little collection of curiosities.
In my hands, the red-brown fœtus felt too lightweight to be a ceramic model. Could it be real human remains, desiccated or mummified? Its detailed form, with discernible joints, ribs, fingers, and toes, made this seem disturbingly possible. The curator’s card explained how in Bonpo tradition there are five personal gods of the head, and the fœtus expressed the sacred unity of Po Lha, the male god, and Mo Lha, the female god. This somehow related to the sharing of wealth between brother and sister, “the prime forces of this belief”, as per the Buddhist ritual text. Not really knowing what to make of this, it seemed worthwhile seeking other opinions, so I consulted a few experts and set about looking into just what
