Charms, Spells, and Curses. V. J. Banis

hens’ brains.

      You will ensure long life and good health if each day before dinner you will take two or three spoonfuls of honey.

      If you will make a bracelet of raw silk and tie this about a child’s wrist, he will not suffer from convulsions. But this danger is present until the period of the first teething is past, and so this bracelet must be kept on at all times and taken off only to be replaced by a clean one. Another protection against these convulsions is to steep the seeds of the male peony in white wine; then make a necklace of these on linen or hempen thread. The necklace must consist of an odd number of the seeds, not an even number.

      Here is how you can make yourself appear to be ill and have a temporary feverishness. Cook a stag beetle in olive oil and rub the pulse with this ointment.

      Jacinth cures dropsy.

      To bring about a stoppage of bleeding, red coral is wanted.

      Hyena stone cures quartan ague as well as the gout.

      Sapphire cures inflammations of the eyes, especially when engraved with the image of a ram.

      Antracites, antrachas, and anthrax are the same stone, which sparkles like fire. It cures imposthumes. It is girdled with a white veining. When it is smeared with oil it loses color, but if dipped in water it sparkles the more.

      A Babylonian invocation to the goddess Tasmitu, to remove sickness or evil spells:

      I, son of ___, whose god is ____, whose goddess is ____,

      In the evil of an eclipse of the Moon, which in-month and on-day has taken place

      In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good, which are in my palace and my land,

      Have turned toward thee! I have established thee!

      Listen to the incantation! Before Nabu thy spouse, the lord, the prince, the first-born son of Isagila, intercede for me!

      May he hearken to my cry at the word of thy mouth!

      May he remove my sighing, may he learn my supplication!

      At his mighty word may god and goddess deal graciously with me!

      May the sickness of my body be torn away!

      May the groaning of my flesh be consumed!

      May the consumption of my muscles be removed!

      May the poisons that are upon me be loosed!

      May the ban be torn away!

      Akkadian incantation against disease:

      The wicked god, the wicked demon, the demon of the desert, the demon of the mountain, the demon of the sea, the demon of the marsh,

      Spirit of the heavens, conjure it!

      Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

      Akkadian incantation for the plague:

      Incantation. Wicked demon, malignant plague,

      The spirit of the earth makes you leave his body.

      May the favorable genius, the good giant,

      The favorable demon,

      Come with the spirit of the earth.

      Incantation of the powerful, powerful, powerful God.

      Amen.

      An Akkadian incantation against ulcers:

      That which does not go away,

      That which is not propitious,

      That which grows up,

      Ulcers of a bad kind,

      Poignant ulcers, enlarged ulcers, excoriated ulcers, ulcers,

      Ulcers which spread, malignant ulcers,

      Spirit of the heavens, conjure it!

      Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

      An Akkadian conjuration against disease:

      The seven gods of the vast heavens,

      The seven gods of the great earth,

      The seven gods of the igneous spheres,

      These are the seven gods,

      The seven malevolent gods,

      The seven malevolent phantoms.

      Spirit of the heavens, conjure it!

      Spirit of the earth, conjure it!

      An Assyrian healing spell:

      The man of Ea am I,

      The man of Damkina am I,

      The messenger of Marduk am I.

      My spell is the spell of Ea,

      My incantation is the incantation of Marduk,

      The circle of Ea is in my hand,

      The Tamarisk, the powerful weapon of Anu,

      In my hand I hold,

      The death spathe, mighty in decision,

      In my hand I hold.

      A Chaldean magic formula against headache:

      Knot on the right and arrange flat in regular bands, on the left a woman’s diadem:

      Divide it twice in seven little bands;

      Gird the head of the invalid with it:

      Gird the seat of life with it:

      Gird his hands and his feet:

      Seat him on his bed:

      Pour on him enchanted waters.

      An Egyptian spell for poison or one suffering from any venomous bite:

      Fashion a hawk with two feathers on the head; this should be made of ivy wood and painted. Recite the spell below over it; open its mouth and offer it bread and beer and incense; then place it on the face of the victim. It will quickly repel the poison. This is the spell to be chanted:

      “Flow out, thou poison, come forth upon the ground. Horus conjures thee, he cuts thee off, he spits thee out, and thou risest not up but fallest down. Thou art weak and not strong, a coward and dost not fight, blind and dost not see. Thou liftest not thy face. Thou art turned back and findest not thy way. Thou mournest and dost not rejoice. Thou creepest away and dost not appear. So speaketh Horus, efficacious of magic! The poison which was rejoicing, the hearts of multitudes grieve for it; Horus has slain it by his magic. He who mourned is in joy. Stand up, thou who wast prostrate. Horus has restored thee to life. He who came as one carried is gone forth of himself; Horus has overcome his bites. All men, when they behold Re, praise the son of Osiris. Turn back, thou snake, conjured is thy poison which was in any limb of _____, the son of _____. Behold, the magic of Horus is powerful against thee. Flow out, thou poison, come forth upon the ground.”

      A Roman spell to banish pain:

      Hang around the neck these words on a paper:

      An ant has no blood nor bile:

      Flee, uvula, lest a crab eat you.

      A Roman incantation for dislocated bone:

      Huat hanat huat

      Ista pista sista

      Comiabo damnaustra.