The Seba library treats Charm in 8 passages, across 6 authors (including Campbell, Joseph, Jung, Carl Gustav, Harrison, Jane Ellen).
Maya is experienced as fascination, charm; specifically, feminine charm. And to this point there is a Buddhist saying: 'Of all the forms of maya that of woman is supreme.'
Campbell identifies charm as the phenomenological face of maya — the cosmic illusory power — and singles out feminine charm as its supreme manifestation, linking psychological fascination to a cosmogonic veiling and projecting force.
, The Mythic Image, 1974thesis
under the stimulation of the voyage and of countries fleetingly seen, coupled with the vast silence and impalpable charm of the sea — to produce this beautiful dream.
Jung treats the sea's 'impalpable charm' as a rationalizing cover for unconscious erotic and anima-projections, arguing that dismissive phrases like 'only this' cannot contain what the charm conceals.
, Symbols of Transformation, 1952thesis
she herself, according to the books of the astronomers, and in planetary hours, gathered every day of all charm-bearing herbs.
Campbell's retelling of the Caridwen myth presents charm as a literal botanical-magical ingredient, gathered under astrological conditions to brew prophetic inspiration — aligning enchantment with cosmic timing and initiatory power.
, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, 2015supporting
Arthava-veda 4,1,4 is a charm to promote virility: 'Thee, the plant, which the Gandharva dug up for Varuna, when his virility had decayed, thee, that causest strength, we dig up.'
Jung's Red Book annotation cites a Vedic charm as a ritual technology for restoring vital force, connecting the concept directly to archaic uses of verbal and botanical magic as psychic energizers.
, The Red Book: Liber Novus, 2009supporting
suspect that the sacrifice of the bull in the Bouphonia was a rain 'charm,' later a 'sacrifice to Zeus Hyetios
Harrison argues that the Bouphonia's ritual logic is rooted in sympathetic rain-charm magic, situating charm within the social origins of Greek religion as a coercive technique directed at sky-deities.
, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912supporting
θέλγω [v.] 'to enchant, beguile, cheat' (ll.)… δελκτήριον 'charm' (ll.), adj. δελκτήριος 'enchanting'… δέλγημα 'id.'
Beekes documents the Greek etymological cluster around enchantment and beguiling, showing that 'charm' in the ancient semantic field is tightly bound to deception, wounding, and the evil eye — a darker register than mere attractiveness.
, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2010supporting
every man and boy, slave and free, both sexes, and the whole city, should never cease charming themselves with the strains of which we have spoken
Plato's Athenian Stranger proposes continuous civic self-charming through musical and choral practice, casting charm as a social-regulatory and educative force operating through aesthetic repetition.
, Laws, -348supporting
Pl. Charm., a dialogue about sōphrosunē in which the youthful Charmides exemplifies that concept in his modesty and bashfulness; see Charm. 158c2-7
Cairns references Plato's Charmides as a site where charm (in the figure of Charmides) is correlated with sōphrosunē — modesty and bashfulness — gesturing toward the connection between personal allure and ethical temperance.
, Aidos: The Psychology and Ethics of Honour and Shame in Ancient Greek Literature, 1993aside