CHAPTER 6

HEALING OF ANIMALS

BLOOD FLOW

458   FOR BLOOD FLOW FROM THE NOSTRILS OF A BEAST OF BURDEN

Write this on a virgin parchment and hang it around the animal’s neck with a string: “The fire is cold, the water is thirsty, the mule gives birth; tasca mascas venas omnes.”

The spell is an adynaton (see entry 297) listing impossibilities. “The mule gives birth” can be found earlier, but reversed, in Marcellus de Bordeaux’s De medicamentis liber (8.191) in the series: “Neither gives birth, not the stone bears wool. . . .”

  Latin, sixth century. P. Vegetius, Digestorum artis, 4:26, in P. Vegeti Renati Digestorum artis mulomedicinae libri, 306.

BOUQUET (SHEEP SCAB)

The bouquet is a pustular disease specific to sheep and goats.

459 AGAINST THE CANKEROUS BOUQUET, FEVERS

Take the first sheep you see that has been attacked by this evil. Turned toward the rising sun, open the animal’s mouth and speak inside it the words that follow:

Brac, Cabrac, Carabra, Cadebrac, Cabracam, I cure you.

Blow into the sheep’s mouth each time, and then cast it among the others, they will all be cured. You must make as many signs of the cross as there are marks. These same words, written on a paper, worn around the neck for nine days, will heal fever.

This spell is a variant of Abracadabra.

  France, 1670, Honorius, Le livre des conjurations, 119.

CANKER

Canker is a cancerous disease that appears in the hooves of ruminants.

460 TO CURE AN OX FROM THE CANKER

If your ox has the canker, lead him into the meadow and cut a round of sod that he would have stepped on, then hang this sod above the hearth; as the sod dries up, the sickness of your ox will diminish.

Hanging a plant in the chimney so it will dry out is a very common technique when people are seeking to counter illnesses or curses.

  France (Ardennes), nineteenth century. Meyrac, Traditions, 178, no. 86.

CHARBON (ANTHRAX)

Bacterial charbon first affects sheep, then cows and horses, in whom it is displayed by fever, and by pustules and edemas in humans.

461 A CHARM AGAINST THE CHARBON DISEASE

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen. “I conjure you, evil charbon, in the name of God, creator of heaven, earth, hell, the sun, the moon, and the seven stars, and all creatures, and all angels, and all the confessors, bishops, and all the one hundred abbots ready to sing on winter solstice night, that you neither enter nor stay any longer [in this animal], in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” Say this for the horse.

The mix of pagan elements (the celestial bodies) and Christian elements show how easy it was to make a charm orthodox: all it required was the addition of God, Jesus, the saints.

  Middle English, fifteenth century. London, British Library, Sloane 963, fol. 137v.

FARCY

Farcy is a cutaneous form of glanders, an infectious disease affecting Equidae.

462 A CHARM FOR FARCY

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen. In the honor of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Lady Saint Mary and Saint Job and the soul of his father and that of his mother and the soul of all his ancestors, say three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys. Then: “Saint Job had nine worms, had eight worms, had seven worms, had six worms, had five worms, had four worms, had three worms, had two worms, had one worm, he had no more ulcers.” Speak these words for the horse and he will be healed by God’s grace.

  Middle English, thirteenth century. London, British Library, Sloane 692, fol. 133v.

FERTILITY

463 TO INCREASE FERTILITY

To increase a mare’s fertility, you should give it its first oats in an apron or gourd while saying:

Three asses, three dogs
Racing up the mountain.
May your body swell, eat and drink!
Three asses, three dogs
Racing down the mountain,
Sealing all the cavities!
They are placing a moon there.
You will soon be impregnated.

  Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 139.

GANGLIA

464 TO CURE GANGLIA ON A HORSE

If a horse has ganglion cysts behind the jaw, you must recite, with three Our Fathers, these words three times:

† abgla † abgli † alphara † asy † Our Father, and so on.

  France (Paris), circa 1393, Le Mesnagier de Paris, 470.

LAMINITIS

465 TO WARD OFF DEMONS IN YOUR HORSE

Begin by reciting an Our Father into the horse’s right ear.

Then say the verse below.

Leave, demon!
Harm nothing.
There was a protection.
There was a demon.
From where did you come?
Depart into the mountains, into the seas.

Then say an Our Father three times for the healing.

  Latin and Middle High German, twelfth century. Zurich, Zentralbibliothek, MS C. 58, fol. 47r; HDA, vol. 6, 1676ff., “Pferdesegen.”

466 CHARM AGAINST LAMINITIS

Say the following words:

Hinnitus quisitys vena vacca bane barra.
And say a Pater and an Ave three times, for this is most effective, as many blacksmiths can attest.

  Latin and Middle English, fifteenth century. London, British Library, Sloane 692, fol. 136v.

NAIL WOUND

This is a wound caused by the blacksmith who when putting a shoe on a horse’s hoof, drives one of the nails into the soft tissue, which causes an abscess. But this is also an evil spell against human beings. A person will take the nails from an old coffin and plant them in the footprint left by the person they want to make suffer.

467 AGAINST NAIL WOUNDS

In the same way for the nail wound of a horse, say this charm: “God, as patiently as you were bound [on the cross] at the roadside, when Longinus pierced your heart with a spear, save this horse!” And say three Our Fathers and three Ave in the name of the Holy Ghost.

  Middle English, fifteenth century. London, British Library, Sloane 692, fol. 134v.

468 TO TREAT A HORSE INJURED BY A NAIL

To treat a horse hurt by a smith’s nail, take a piece of white bread and the herb that is called misery [spiderwort]; blend them together and give the mixture to the horse two or three times and it will recover. Ah, sweet Lord Jesus Christ, as true as your father and son and holy ghost, three persons and one God, and as you give chaplains the virtue of making flesh and blood from wheat bread,^*20 and as true as you suffered from grave wounds in your flesh and your blood on the cross by iron nails to save the sinners, and as true as you have given powers to stones, herbs, and words, give this power to this bread and to this herb so that may heal without delay the nail-caused hurt of this animal, in the honor of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

  French, beginning of the fourteenth century. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS 57, fol. 217v.

PARALYSIS OF HORSES

469 TO HEAL PARALYSIS IN A HORSE

First of all, say an Our Father. Then repeat the following verse:

A fish swam in the water, it dislocated its fins,

Then Our Lord healed it.

May the same Lord who healed the fish,

Heal this horse of paralysis.

  Old Saxon, ninth century. Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex 751, fol. 188v.

SPRAIN

470 AGAINST SPRAINS

If a horse has twisted its leg, speak these words:

Nabor, return whence you came!
By three times
I had faith, when I said
By three times.
Alpha et O initium et finis.
The crosss is life for me and death for you, enemy!

[Recite] an Our Father.

  Latin, tenth–eleventh century. London, British Library, Harley 585, fol. 181v–182r.

471   FOR HEALING SPRAINS AND TWISTED LIMBS

You must repeat the following phrase three times while striking the horse’s hoof. If it is on the side of the mounting block, strike the left hoof. This works for men as well.

“Atay de satay suratay avalde, walk!”

  France, 1670, Honorius, Le livre des conjurations, 120.

TRENCHES OF HORSES

Trenches are violent attacks of colic.

472 TO HEAL HORSE COLIC

To heal horse colic, say five Pater, five Ave, and, making the sign of the cross with your left foot on the horse’s stomach, add: “Red trenches, white trenches, sharp and other trenches, I conjure you, in the name of the great living God, to depart from the body of this animal as quickly as Our Lord left the Garden of Olives, as true as Joseph of Arimathea was the first to enter holy paradise after Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

  France, Ardennes, nineteenth century. Meyrac, Traditions, 188, no. 207.

473 TO CURE A HORSE OF TRENCHES

Repeat the following:

Saint George, patron of riders, and you blessed Saint Eligius, who shod the horses of the great King Dagobert, we confide to your cares the horse or mare of so and so, of such robe (say the name of the person and the color of the hair).

Lay one hand on the horse’s croup and use the other to support its stomach while saying: “If you have the vives, no matter their color, whether they are red trenches, or the illness has some entirely different cause, may Saint George and Saint Eligius come to your aid and may God heal you, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. May it be so.”

In Normandy, people add: “Say five Pater and five Ave while on your knees. For this, concerning the horse, open the horse’s mouth and blow inside it three times [while] speaking these words: in tes dulame bonis vint diver nos Sathan.”

Saint Eligius, patron saint of horses.

  Nisard, Histoire des livres populaires, 77; Le Pesant, “Prières superstitieuses du pays d’Ouche,” 331.

474 CHARM TO CURE HORSE TRENCHES

Black or gray horses, because it is important to distinguish the animal’s hair color, belonging to [name], if you have the vives of whatever color they may be, or red trenches, or one of the thirty-six other illnesses, whatever the case may be, God heal you and blessed Saint Eligius. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And you will say five Pater and five Ave to thank God for his grace.

  France (Troyes), ca. 1840, Laissez dire et faites le bien: Le Médecin des pauvres, 10.

UNSPECIFIED DISEASES

475 FOR LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Say the following words.

 chavit rauto † ad qui bany † de p—corte ut maxime rector

  Latin, ninth century. St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 751; Heim, “Incantamenta magica,” 564.

476 TO HEAL A HORSE

Rub the back of the purchased horse with powdered goat dung while saying:

May all the sickness
Leave your body!
The dung of goats quickly chases
All the illnesses from your stomach,
From your hooves, from your back,
From your eyes, from your ears!
Be henceforth like a newborn,
Follow no other person but me,
Stay, stay, stay here!

  Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 148.

477 AGAINST THE SICKNESS OF ANIMALS

Take two birds, quail if possible; kill the first then sprinkle the other with its blood before letting it fly away. The remaining blood is used to feed the ailing animal while saying:

May the sickness in you depart!
Here is a good dwelling
For the malicious spirit!
When the blood dries up
The illness leaves.
Evil Spirit, get out,
This dwelling is not good!
Hold on, here is blood!

  Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 148.

478 TO CLEANSE A COW’S MILK

When a cow gives bloody milk, pour this milk into a field where there are quails while saying:

Here is some blood for you;
It is not good!
That of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Is the sole that is useful;
May he be with us always!

  Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 151.

479 TO CURE A COW OF DISEASE

When a cow urinates while it is being milked, this urine should be boiled with onion peels and the egg of a black hen, then her feed should be watered with this blend while saying:

May what is within come out!
Three good Urma are calling it,
Three good Urma are expelling it
Into an eggshell.
May it live there, reside there,
Warm itself by the fire
And cool down in the water!

  Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 148.

The Urma are spirits that appear as women of unnatural beauty; they are the fairies of fate. Their life is held in three golden hairs on their occiput. They live in glittering palaces built on mountains created by the Sun King and called “the happy mountains” (baçtalo bar) where they sing and dance at night under the moon. There are three of them. The eldest is named Lace Urme, “the good fairy,” and she is the guardian spirit; the middle one, Šilale Urme, “the cold fairy,” bears this name because her desires and prophecies are halfway between those of her two sisters. The last one, Miseçe Urme, “the evil fairy,” brings only evil and suffering to people; she resembles a horrible old crone and lives in a castle surrounded by a sterile wasteland.