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Tibetan Thogchags
Tibet Art Resources

"Thogchags are Tibetan talismans made of bronze and meteoric metals dating as far back as the Bronze Age. While precise dates for the Tibetan Bronze Age have yet to be formulated, archaeological evidence from various sites around the country indicate that it started around the beginning of the Second Millennium BCE. An unbroken tradition of producing amulets extends into the Iron Age and Buddhist periods creating a cultural legacy several thousand years old...
Highly prized by Tibetans, thogchags were traditionally worn for protection and good luck. In the pre-Buddhist Bon religion rituals to dispel evil and attract good fortune were prevalent. The function of thogchags closely reflects this ancient religious preoccupation.
Although they were often hung around the neck or attached to clothing, thogchags were also sewn on amulet pouches or tied to religious articles. They were frequently used and displayed by healers, spirit-mediums and magicians, the so-called "shamans" of Tibet. These practitioners of ancient Tibetan traditions had a special affinity with the equally ancient thogchags...
These sacred objects are believed to be magically formed and not manufactured by human beings. Said to have fallen from the sky, thogchags are steeped in mystery and myth which is only now being unraveled by scholars…"

[Left] A rare sacred Tibetan Fibula, probably used in Pre-Buddhist Bon religious rites. The top half depicts six birds flanking a sacred vase which rest on energy spirals on the outer ring. Below this are two Bon stupas and stylized motifs. The sacred vase or tsebum has its origins in ancient Bonpo long-life and fortune-bestowing rituals. A sextet of birds found in western Tibetan myths of clan origins may correspond to the birds gracing the fibula. These type of stupas have also been discovered in petroglyphs/pictographs in caves in the north of Tibet, and are related to primitive forms of worship. The juxtaposition of these sacred elements along with the zoomorphic design of the turtle whose head points downwards, and flippers protrude on the side, suggests that this fibula was invested with cosmological symbolism. This is the earliest thogchag Fibula found in perfect condition in this size and could be 4th or 5th Century.  (Photo and text courtesy of John Vincent Bellezza)