Page - 56 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

56 | Alisha Meininghaus www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 45–65 Interpretations of the Astrological Illustrations The zodiac signs on these last amulets are confusing in that their text bears no reference to astrology.25 For all other woodcut prints discussed here, a more or less direct relationship between illustration and text can be reconstructed: the depictions of angels refer back to the angels invoked in the text, while the man with the staff, the bride, and the man with the book visualize the gen- der and future development of the child mentioned in the title. Still, engage- ment with astrology in the text of the amulet would have been possible, since a reasonably intensive literary occupation with astrology existed in Jewish sources from antiquity to modern times.26 A comparison with other Jewish objects of the same period in German-speaking countries depicting the zodiac signs illustrates the conspicuousness of this incongruity between text and image: zodiac signs were used to illustrate numerous printings, manuscripts, and textiles, for example, calendars,27 books with prayers for celebrations throughout the year (Maḥsor books),28 embroidered or painted Torah bind- ers made from the cloth in which boys were swaddled at their circumcision (Mappot),29 wedding certificates (Ketubbot),30 as well as the printing signs of individual Jewish printers.31 Although the zodiac signs were sometimes used for purely decorative purposes,32 in most cases there are explicit or implicit references to astrological topics in the text. In calendars, they were arranged to correspond to the respective Jewish months. Maḥsor books contain two prayers with astrological references, while in the case of the Torah binders, the month of birth of the boy can be represented by zodiac signs. In the case of wedding certificates, the zodiac signs illustrate the congratulation “mazel ṭow” (literally: “a lucky star!”), while on a printer’s sign they often symbolize the birth month of the printer. There are also amulets from Frankfurt an der Oder which contain all 12 zodiac signs and refer explicitly to them in the text. 25 For this reason, the amulets can be called pseudo-astrological. The illustration of the mermaid noted above, however, needs explanation along the same lines as the zodiac signs treated here. 26 See Leicht 2006. 27 See Rosenfeld 1989, 29 and Rosenfeld 1990, 28, and also Carlebach 2011, 80–81. 28 See Fagin Davis 1991 and Narkiss 2007, 364. 29 See Weber 1997. 30 See Sonne 1953b. 31 See Sonne 1953a, 4. 32 See Sonne 1953a, 3 and Wiesemann 2002, 12.