Hey this might be an uncommon opinion, but I hope it'll be taken gracefully.
I'm a Jew, and a practicing one at that, which means that every day I put on my Tefillin. For those who don't know what it is, it's a pair of leather boxes with scrolls of the Torah (Bible) inside. Everyone has their own, each was made specifically for the owner, it's a whole thing. But in short, it's a big part of Jewish culture. Its word in English is "Phylactery".
"Phylactery" is not a common word, and it sounds like a cool mystical thing. Nonetheless, D&D has taken the word for this sacred piece of Jewish culture and uses it as a Horcrux for a Lich, an evil wizard of all things. To be frank, it's a bit antisemitic to associate Jews with Liches, we aren't evil wizards, just a small ethnoreligious group. Of course, the creators of D&D, nor Wizards, may not know what a Phylactery really is, and what their decision to associate it with Lich actually means. I firmly believe that creators of D&D and Wizards are not antisemitic and that they did not mean to spite Jews by associating the Phylactery with Lich.
But now with Wizards making D&D more inclusive and modern, I believe that it would be wrong to leave the Phylactery as a word associated with Lich.
I think something similar- as soon as I realized that "phylactery" was a religious term, I decided to change what they were called in my setting. "Horcrux" is a bit easily relatable to Harry Potter, so I call them "Soul Anchors" in my setting.
Here's the meaning and origin of the word phylactery:
The word phylactery has its origins in Greek and refers to an amulet or charm used for protection. The term comes from the Greek word "phylaktērion" (φυλακτήριον), meaning "safeguard" or "protection," which is derived from "phylassein" (φυλάσσειν), meaning "to guard" or "to protect."
In a more specific context, phylactery is commonly associated with a small leather box containing verses from the Torah, which is worn by some Jewish men during morning prayers as part of traditional practice. These boxes, known as tefillin in Hebrew, are strapped to the arm and the forehead, following the commandment in the Torah to bind the words of God "as a sign upon your hand" and "as frontlets between your eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8).
In popular culture, particularly in fantasy and gaming, a phylactery often refers to an object used by a powerful being, such as a lich, to store their soul, allowing them to achieve immortality by keeping their essence hidden away in a protected item.
Oh, I forgot to add: So the word to avoid seems to be tefillin.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Even if it's not *directly* offensive to the etymology, language does evolve and change, and in our current Era, "phylactery" has a stronger Jewish connection to the tefillin than it's Greek origin.
That being said, even if we were to forget all of that, the term "phylactery" for a lich still seems very inaccurate. If the original meaning of "protection" is meant to be the reason it can house a soul, it just seems like a leap in logic when it seems like it's meant to be used to name charms you would keep on your person, not an object you hide away somewhere.
Even if it's not *directly* offensive to the etymology, language does evolve and change, and in our current Era, "phylactery" has a stronger Jewish connection to the tefillin than it's Greek origin.
That being said, even if we were to forget all of that, the term "phylactery" for a lich still seems very inaccurate. If the original meaning of "protection" is meant to be the reason it can house a soul, it just seems like a leap in logic when it seems like it's meant to be used to name charms you would keep on your person, not an object you hide away somewhere.
I really don't want to get into any discussion about this, at all. I wanted to provide context. Phylactery is not a hebrew word. It's a greek word. There is a hebrew word with the same meaning, but it's an entirely different word.
DnD has not taken a sacred jewish word. It has taken an ancient greek word.
That is the context I can find. I consider that relevant. Other than that, I respectfully bow out of any further discussion.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Even if it's not *directly* offensive to the etymology, language does evolve and change, and in our current Era, "phylactery" has a stronger Jewish connection to the tefillin than it's Greek origin.
That being said, even if we were to forget all of that, the term "phylactery" for a lich still seems very inaccurate. If the original meaning of "protection" is meant to be the reason it can house a soul, it just seems like a leap in logic when it seems like it's meant to be used to name charms you would keep on your person, not an object you hide away somewhere.
I really don't want to get into any discussion about this, at all. I wanted to provide context. Phylactery is not a hebrew word. It's a greek word. There is a hebrew word with the same meaning, but it's an entirely different word.
DnD has not taken a sacred jewish word. It has taken an ancient greek word.
That is the context I can find. I consider that relevant. Other than that, I respectfully bow out of any further discussion.
All good friend, but the meaning of Phylactery is still Tefillin, all be it a word in a different language. It isn't even a Greek word, it has Greek origins, every word in the English language has either Greek, Latin, Germanic or Nordic origins, but they are all English word. And the English word for Tefillin (תפילין) is Phylactery.
Could phylactery just be a homonym - a word that is spelt and sounds the same but has a different meaning??
It doesn't, though - phylactery doesn't sound like tefillin, at all.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Even if it's not *directly* offensive to the etymology, language does evolve and change, and in our current Era, "phylactery" has a stronger Jewish connection to the tefillin than it's Greek origin.
That being said, even if we were to forget all of that, the term "phylactery" for a lich still seems very inaccurate. If the original meaning of "protection" is meant to be the reason it can house a soul, it just seems like a leap in logic when it seems like it's meant to be used to name charms you would keep on your person, not an object you hide away somewhere.
I really don't want to get into any discussion about this, at all. I wanted to provide context. Phylactery is not a hebrew word. It's a greek word. There is a hebrew word with the same meaning, but it's an entirely different word.
DnD has not taken a sacred jewish word. It has taken an ancient greek word.
That is the context I can find. I consider that relevant. Other than that, I respectfully bow out of any further discussion.
All good friend, but the meaning of Phylactery is still Tefillin, all be it a word in a different language. It isn't even a Greek word, it has Greek origins, every word in the English language has either Greek, Latin, Germanic or Nordic origins, but they are all English word. And the English word for Tefillin (תפילין) is Phylactery.
And there's multiple different religious/spiritual associations for the shape formed when you draw a series of lines inside the border of a regular pentagon to connect all its points. That doesn't mean grade school teachers are appropriating the iconography when they draw stars on students' homework, it just means an abstract root concept has branched into different directions. We've established that there is a basis for the word outside of its use in relation to the Jewish faith, so this simply appears to be another case of branching.
Interesting. For context I'm also Jewish, though of the New York variety.
When I think of the word phylactery, the first thing I think of is the more Christian idea of a reliquary, though it certainly fits tefillin. I don't really mind the use of phylactery in the context of liches because I see "phylactery" as an umbrella word that includes tefillin, but is broader. I also don't think horcrux is a great replacement word for the same reason that calling every tiered magical item a "vestige" is distasteful--namely that these expressions are specific to the worlds in which they originated (the first being the Harry Potter universe and the latter being specific to the lore of Critical Role).
But now with Wizards making D&D more inclusive and modern, I believe that it would be wrong to leave the Phylactery as a word associated with Lich.
Without offering an opinion on the term phylactery and its historical usage in lichdom in D&D, I believe WotC is already moving away from the term phylactery.
In an article from April about becoming a lich it mentions spirit jars as opposed to phylacteries.
But now with Wizards making D&D more inclusive and modern, I believe that it would be wrong to leave the Phylactery as a word associated with Lich.
Without offering an opinion on the term phylactery and its historical usage in lichdom in D&D, I believe WotC is already moving away from the term phylactery.
In an article from April about becoming a lich it mentions spirit jars as opposed to phylacteries.
Oh wow I did not see that article thank you, I wonder if it'll be mentioned or called a spirit jar in the new DMG.
As this recent news story demonstrates, the word, in modern use, is not specific to a Jewish Tefillin, but applies also to historical such as early Christian or other uses of an amulet etc. that contains religious writings.
"A silver amulet found in a 1,800-year-old grave in Germany speaks to the importance — and the risk — of being Christian in Roman times."
"The purpose of these amulets, also known as phylacteries, "was to protect or heal their owners from a range of misfortunes, such as illnesses, bodily aches, infertility, or even demonic forces," Tine Rassalle, an independent biblical archaeologist who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email. "In an era without advanced medical knowledge, such items were vital sources of comfort and security for you and your loved ones.""
So while it may be primarily Jews who actively wear/use such a device nowadays, the word itself is used in the contemporary scientific literature and popular media (this news story) to describe similar items from other religions as well. It's just a rare word that most people - other than practicing Jews and D&D players - will be unfamiliar with. Any D&D player who is unfamiliar with the word may find it on Wikipedia with multiple definitions, including Jewish use, other religious use, and D&D liches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylactery
Yeah definately don’t call a soul tupperware tefillin, mostly cause it wouldn’t even make sense. And speaking as a Jew, we don’t really call it a Phylactery that often in my community. I’d say the bigger concern would be concern is english-speaking gentiles who hear about tefillin under that name and immediately associate it with a Lich’s phylactery
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Hey this might be an uncommon opinion, but I hope it'll be taken gracefully.
I'm a Jew, and a practicing one at that, which means that every day I put on my Tefillin. For those who don't know what it is, it's a pair of leather boxes with scrolls of the Torah (Bible) inside. Everyone has their own, each was made specifically for the owner, it's a whole thing. But in short, it's a big part of Jewish culture. Its word in English is "Phylactery".
"Phylactery" is not a common word, and it sounds like a cool mystical thing. Nonetheless, D&D has taken the word for this sacred piece of Jewish culture and uses it as a Horcrux for a Lich, an evil wizard of all things. To be frank, it's a bit antisemitic to associate Jews with Liches, we aren't evil wizards, just a small ethnoreligious group. Of course, the creators of D&D, nor Wizards, may not know what a Phylactery really is, and what their decision to associate it with Lich actually means. I firmly believe that creators of D&D and Wizards are not antisemitic and that they did not mean to spite Jews by associating the Phylactery with Lich.
But now with Wizards making D&D more inclusive and modern, I believe that it would be wrong to leave the Phylactery as a word associated with Lich.
I think something similar- as soon as I realized that "phylactery" was a religious term, I decided to change what they were called in my setting. "Horcrux" is a bit easily relatable to Harry Potter, so I call them "Soul Anchors" in my setting.
Thank you, that is a great name!
Here's the meaning and origin of the word phylactery:
The word phylactery has its origins in Greek and refers to an amulet or charm used for protection. The term comes from the Greek word "phylaktērion" (φυλακτήριον), meaning "safeguard" or "protection," which is derived from "phylassein" (φυλάσσειν), meaning "to guard" or "to protect."
In a more specific context, phylactery is commonly associated with a small leather box containing verses from the Torah, which is worn by some Jewish men during morning prayers as part of traditional practice. These boxes, known as tefillin in Hebrew, are strapped to the arm and the forehead, following the commandment in the Torah to bind the words of God "as a sign upon your hand" and "as frontlets between your eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8).
In popular culture, particularly in fantasy and gaming, a phylactery often refers to an object used by a powerful being, such as a lich, to store their soul, allowing them to achieve immortality by keeping their essence hidden away in a protected item.
Oh, I forgot to add: So the word to avoid seems to be tefillin.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Even if it's not *directly* offensive to the etymology, language does evolve and change, and in our current Era, "phylactery" has a stronger Jewish connection to the tefillin than it's Greek origin.
That being said, even if we were to forget all of that, the term "phylactery" for a lich still seems very inaccurate. If the original meaning of "protection" is meant to be the reason it can house a soul, it just seems like a leap in logic when it seems like it's meant to be used to name charms you would keep on your person, not an object you hide away somewhere.
I really don't want to get into any discussion about this, at all. I wanted to provide context. Phylactery is not a hebrew word. It's a greek word. There is a hebrew word with the same meaning, but it's an entirely different word.
DnD has not taken a sacred jewish word. It has taken an ancient greek word.
That is the context I can find. I consider that relevant. Other than that, I respectfully bow out of any further discussion.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
All good friend, but the meaning of Phylactery is still Tefillin, all be it a word in a different language. It isn't even a Greek word, it has Greek origins, every word in the English language has either Greek, Latin, Germanic or Nordic origins, but they are all English word. And the English word for Tefillin (תפילין) is Phylactery.
Could phylactery just be a homonym - a word that is spelt and sounds the same but has a different meaning??
It doesn't, though - phylactery doesn't sound like tefillin, at all.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
And there's multiple different religious/spiritual associations for the shape formed when you draw a series of lines inside the border of a regular pentagon to connect all its points. That doesn't mean grade school teachers are appropriating the iconography when they draw stars on students' homework, it just means an abstract root concept has branched into different directions. We've established that there is a basis for the word outside of its use in relation to the Jewish faith, so this simply appears to be another case of branching.
Interesting. For context I'm also Jewish, though of the New York variety.
When I think of the word phylactery, the first thing I think of is the more Christian idea of a reliquary, though it certainly fits tefillin. I don't really mind the use of phylactery in the context of liches because I see "phylactery" as an umbrella word that includes tefillin, but is broader. I also don't think horcrux is a great replacement word for the same reason that calling every tiered magical item a "vestige" is distasteful--namely that these expressions are specific to the worlds in which they originated (the first being the Harry Potter universe and the latter being specific to the lore of Critical Role).
Without offering an opinion on the term phylactery and its historical usage in lichdom in D&D, I believe WotC is already moving away from the term phylactery.
In an article from April about becoming a lich it mentions spirit jars as opposed to phylacteries.
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Oh wow I did not see that article thank you, I wonder if it'll be mentioned or called a spirit jar in the new DMG.
As this recent news story demonstrates, the word, in modern use, is not specific to a Jewish Tefillin, but applies also to historical such as early Christian or other uses of an amulet etc. that contains religious writings.
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/1-800-year-old-silver-amulet-could-rewrite-history-of-christianity-in-the-early-roman-empire
"A silver amulet found in a 1,800-year-old grave in Germany speaks to the importance — and the risk — of being Christian in Roman times."
"The purpose of these amulets, also known as phylacteries, "was to protect or heal their owners from a range of misfortunes, such as illnesses, bodily aches, infertility, or even demonic forces," Tine Rassalle, an independent biblical archaeologist who was not involved in the study, told Live Science in an email. "In an era without advanced medical knowledge, such items were vital sources of comfort and security for you and your loved ones.""
So while it may be primarily Jews who actively wear/use such a device nowadays, the word itself is used in the contemporary scientific literature and popular media (this news story) to describe similar items from other religions as well. It's just a rare word that most people - other than practicing Jews and D&D players - will be unfamiliar with. Any D&D player who is unfamiliar with the word may find it on Wikipedia with multiple definitions, including Jewish use, other religious use, and D&D liches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylactery
Yeah definately don’t call a soul tupperware tefillin, mostly cause it wouldn’t even make sense. And speaking as a Jew, we don’t really call it a Phylactery that often in my community. I’d say the bigger concern would be concern is english-speaking gentiles who hear about tefillin under that name and immediately associate it with a Lich’s phylactery