CHAPTER 7
PROTECTIONS
Magical protection essentially assumes two forms in our accounts: prayer or amulet. Every time there is a recommendation to carry or wear something on your person, the mental process conforms with the etymology of the word amulet, which comes from the verb amoliri, “to ward off,” “to protect.” The object—plant, mineral, artifact—is a phylactery to which is attributed a preventive virtue against illnesses, afflictions, accidents, and evil spells. People seek protection when starting a journey, by land or sea, and, when staying at home, against anything that could possibly befall them.
HDA, vol. 7, 1611–16, “Reisesegen”; Charles A. E. Wickersheimer, “Figures médico-astrologiques des IXe, Xe et XIe siècles,” Janus 19 (1914): 157–77; Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Particularly in England; Lecouteux, The High Magic of Talismans and Amulets.
PROTECTIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL
480 
FOR PROTECTION WHILE
TRAVELING
If you carry verbena on your person while traveling, you should have no fear of thieves, as it sends them fleeing.
Latin, fourth century. Pseudo-Apuleius, Herbarius, 73.
481
FOR THE DANGERS OF THE ROAD
Repeat the following:
I enter today upon the path taken by Our Lord Jesus Christ. May he be as gentle and good to me. May His pink and holy blood come aid me, and His five sacred wounds, so that I may never be captured or bound. May he guard me from all my enemies, may he protect me from drowning, swords, shot, and all manner of perils, bad company, and misadventure. May all bonds be removed from me, at once, as Our Lord Jesus Christ was liberated when he rose to heaven.
Middle High German, fifteenth century. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 3:499.
482
FOR PROTECTION ON A JOURNEY
Repeat the following:
I shall go and travel among you1 with God’s love, Christ’s humility, the holiness of Our Blessed Lady, Abraham’s faith, Isaac’s justice, David’s virtue, Peter’s power, Paul’s steadfastness, God’s word, Gregory’s authority, Clement’s prayer, and the waves of the Jordan.
f f p c g e g a q q est p t 1 k a b 2 a x t b a m g 2 4 2 1 qp x c g k q a 9 9 p o q q r.
O one Father
O one Lord
And Jesus passed among them
pursuing his path
In the name of the Father
the Son
and
the Holy Ghost
The letters are the initials of words that form a charm or orison, but we have not been able to pierce the secret.
England, 1584, Reginald Scot, The Discovery of Witchcraft, 12.9.233.
483
A PENTACLE FOR JOURNEYS BY LAND
AND SEA
The True Minor Keys of King Solomon by Armandel, London: British Library, Lansdowne 1202 4to, 134.
484
A PENTACLE FOR PROTECTION FROM DANGER
ON LAND OR SEA
This figure is called the luck sign (lukkustafir); he who carries it will not incur any danger on land or on water.
Iceland, seventeenth century. Daviđsson, “Isländische Zauberzeichen,” 277.
485
PROTECTION FOR THE JOURNEY
Repeat the following verse:
I have crossed my threshold,
May Jesus be my companion!
Let my enemies sleep,
Assist me in all my actions,
On the water and on solid ground,
Be my solid help!
In the forest, against spirits and brigands,
In the plains against the laggards,
At day, against the invisibles,
At night, against the devils,
Without stop, for eternity,
Protect my blood and flesh. Amen.
Saxons of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksglaube, 112.
486
PROTECTION BREF
Joseph of Arimathea found this bref on the wounds inflicted on the side of Jesus Christ, written by God’s finger when His body was taken down from the cross. Whoever carries it on his person will not die an evil death if he believes in Christ, and he will be immediately delivered from any awkward situation, fear, and danger.
Fons
alpha & omega
figa figalis
Sabbaoth
Emmanuel
Adonai
O
Neray
Elay
Ihe
Rentone
Neger
Sahe
Pangeton
Commen
a
g
l
a
Mattheus
Marcus
Lucas
Iohannes
titulus triumphalis
Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudeorum
ecce dominicae cruces signum X fugite parte adversae, vicit leo de tribu Iuda, radix, David, alelujah, Kyrie eleeson, Christe eleeson, Pater Noster, ave maria, & ne nos, & veniat super nos salutare tuum: Oremus, and so forth.
In addition to the names of God, such as Agla, and some unidentified words, what we have here is an extract of the Mass of the Invention and exaltation of the Holy Cross, otherwise used as an exorcism, notably in the Roman Breviary and the Feasts of the Spanish Saints. Folk tradition mentions the Orison of the Holy Cross used against the temptations of the devil.
The prayers indicated here are the Our Father, the Angelic Salutation, the sixth request of the Pater Noster, and the Litany of the Saints, with a gap. It should read: Et veniat super nos misericordia tua Domine. Et salutarre tuum secundum eloquium tuum.
England, 1584, Scot, The Discovery of Witchcraft, 12.9.233ff.
487
THE SIXTH PENTACLE OF
JUPITER FOR PROTECTION
Sixth pentacle of Jupiter; it is used for protection against all kinds of dangers on land [and] if one looks at it with devotion every day while repeating the verse that encircles it (Psalm 21:17), you will never perish.
The four names on the arms of the cross are Seraph, Cherub, Ariel, and Tharsis, the masters of the four elements.
The True Minor Keys of King Solomon by Armandel, London, British Library, Lansdowne 1202 4to, 134.
488
THE SECOND PENTACLE
OF THE MOON FOR PROTECTION
The second pentacle of the moon; it helps against all the perils and dangers found on the water.
French, eighteenth century. London, British Library, Sloane 3091, fol. 69r.
The second pentacle of the Moon.
489
PROTECTION AGAINST THE DANGERS OF WATER
You must wear this sign under your right arm; it protects against the dangers of the water.
Written on it is: “May God grant happiness and blessing in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Iceland, seventeenth century. Daviđsson, “Isländische Zauberzeichen,” 276.
490
PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING AND THUNDER
The ceraunia protects from lightning and thunder the one who carries it, and protects him from his enemies. Write these names on this stone: Raphael, Gabriel, Michael; you will defeat all enemies.
Ceraunia, or “thunderbolts,” are stones with magical properties that were thought to have fallen from the sky when lightning hit the ground.
Middle French, late fourteenth century. Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, MS 2872, fol. 37r, a.
491
PROTECTION AGAINST THE WOLF
Say the following verse:
Listen, golden foot!
Do not take my foot of wool!
I would like you to be a good distance
Away and not close to me.
Shame on Holland!
Shame on Hell!
In eighteenth-century France, for protection “from the inconvenience one might receive from wolves,” the following was recommended:
If you carry on your person the eyes and the heart of a mastiff that has died violently, have no fear of the wolf that approaches you, as to the contrary, you shall see him flee like a timid rabbit. . . . If you hang the tail of a wolf you have savagely killed in the manger or stable of fat or thin livestock, no wolf will come close. . . . The same effect will occur for an entire village, if you bury pieces of wolf on the avenues.
Sweden (Bohuslän), ca. 1920–30, Klintberg,
Svenska trollformler, 99, no. 94, “vargen.”
Petit Albert, 41ff.
492
FOR PROTECTION IF
YOU MEET A BEAR
Say the following verse:
You are bear, I am man
You were not baptized at the same fonts as me
You should flee into the forest
And bite the trees,
But don’t bite me at all!
Sweden (Värmland), ca. 1880–90, Klintberg, Svenska trollformler, 99, no. 90, “vid björnmöte.”
493
FOR PROTECTION AGAINST WOLVES
For a guaranteed protection against wolves, when crossing though the woods at night, and one fears encountering one, say:
Saint John, lock his teeth together,
Saint Gregory, lock his jaw shut,
Saint Remo, lock his intestines,
Saint Gesippe, lock up his guts.
The choice of saints is based on their consonance with the part of the body*21 mentioned. Gesippe is Saint Hegesippus, and Saint Remo is Saint Remy.
France (Ardennes), nineteenth century. Meyrac, Traditions, 180, no. 100.
494
PHYLACTERY FOR CHILDREN AGAINST THE
EVIL EYE OR FALSE
WITNESS
Hang mandrake around the child’s neck in a piece of clean linen cloth so that, when the time comes, no one speaks his or her name.
Byzantine amulet against the evil eye.
Latin, fourth century. Pseudo-Apuleius, Herbarius, 131. On mandrake, Gubernatis, La Mythologie des plantes, 2:219ff.; Elworthy, The Evil Eye: An Account of This Ancient and Wide Spread Superstition.
495
PROTECTION FROM THE EVIL EYE
OR GOSSIP
Whoever carries on his person a man’s eye and a wolf ’s eye, cannot be obstructed by an evil eye or wicked gossip.
Latin, Spain, thirteenth century. Ritter and Plessner, Picatrix, 3.11.
496
PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN FROM CURSES
AND ILLNESSES
Put a live [fish] in oil and keep it there. Carried by children it will ward them from curses and illnesses.
We should note here that in nineteenth-century France people used a charm for healing weever stings: “Little fish blessed by God † by the five wounds of Our Lord † do not cause harm to this person † [first and last name].”
Latin, twelfth century. Liber Kyranidorum, 35, 13. Greek, fourteenth century. KYPANIΣ III, Δ; Mély, Les lapidaires grecs, 15.
497
PROTECTION AGAINST DEMONS AND ENEMIES
In the name of the living Father Our Lord Jesus Christ, take very pure gold and melt it when the sun enters Aries, which is to say on the fifteenth day of the calends of April. Make a round seal of it and, while doing this, say: “Arise light of the world, Jesus, true lamb, you who remove our sins and cast light into our darkness.” Then recite the Psalm Domine, dominus noster [Psalm 8], and so on. This done, set it aside.
Next, when the moon is in Cancer or Leo, carve on one side the figure of Aries and on the circumference: Arahel Tribus Juda V and VII. On the other side, carve these very holy words: Verbo carum factum est es habitavit in nobis with the Î' and the Ω in the middle and sanctus Petrus. This precious seal is proof against all demons and the principal enemies, against evil spells . . . against lightning, storm, inundations, the impetuosity of the winds and pestilential airs. . . . Nothing will be able to harm the inhabitants of the house where it is kept. It works against the demoniac, the frenzied, the maniac, those who suffer from tonsillitis and for the ailments of the head and eyes, the catarrhs, and, as it is said everywhere, wards off all evil and brings good fortune. May he who wears it avoid all uncleanliness as best he can, as well as lust and mortal sin. One wears it on the head with reverence and honor.
Latin, thirteenth century. Arnold of Villanova, Opera, fol. 301v.
498
FOR PROTECTION FROM EVIL
SPELLS
The dried end of a lion’s tail provides protection from evil spells, and a person should always keep it with him. It is especially important that it be placed near the food when he eats and drinks. If it contains poison, the food moves about the plate and the poisoned food will start to swell. This is how the presence of poison can be detected. If, despite all this, it has been ingested, he should stick the end of the tail in warm wine and drink it, the poison will be eliminated immediately when he goes to the toilet.
Latin, twelfth century. Hildegard von Bingen, Physica, VII, 3, “On the Lion.”
499
PROTECTION AGAINST VOULTS
If someone makes a voult of a man to kill, harm, or bewitch him, nothing will happen to him if he carries fern on his person.
The voult is a wax figure that resembles the individual targeted, into which pins are stuck. It is also called a dagyde. The Hammer of Witches (2.1.11, fol. 68v) says this about them:
When a sorcerer crafts a wax image (imaginem ceream) in order to bewitch someone . . . everything done to harm this image—a sting or cut [punctura vel alia lesura]—by a witch or another person, in order to strike the bewitched man, the demon of the aforementioned wound strikes the cursed individual invisibly.
The inquisitors cite the case of an inhabitant of Innsbruck who had been bewitched and fallen ill. They found beneath the threshold of her house “a wax image a palm’s length, pierced through everywhere, with two needles going from side to side. . . .” (ibid., 2.1.12, fol. 68r).
Germany (Speyer), 1456, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussische Besitz, Codex mgf 817, fol. 27r.
Roland Villeneuve,
L’Envoûtement; Descormiers, Étude sur l’envoûtement, les chaînes invisibles. On fern, see Camus,
Circa instans, no. 189; Platearius, Livre des simples médecines, 2:156, chap. 172a.
500
APOTROPAIC SPELL
Repeat the following spell:
Nine they were, the sons of Nockunden,
That Noren led,
Who carried their dead mother.
Why were they carrying her dead this way?
Because she knew how to hide and conceal all things.
As she did, so shall I:
I will bind the fire to where it has burned,
I will bind the cauldron to the place it ahs reached,
I will bind the man to where he has ridden,
I will bind the boat to where it has sailed,
I will bind the iron houses*22
To make them weep tears of blood.
This is a sorcerer speaking. Since the time of antiquity we have found a mythic individual in charms who has seven or nine demonic children. This charm is definitely not in its original state because others have corrupted it. The names Nockunden and Noren appear to be incomprehensible. The second is likely a garbled version of Moren, “the mother.” Nockunden may designate a woman with a hooked nose. In Norse literature and especially in the sagas of ancient times (fornaldsögur), there are giantesses with hooked noses. Nock means “hook” (Norwegian nokke).
Sweden (Blekinge), 1679, Klintberg, Svenska trollformler, 92, no. 71, “Skyddsformel.”
501
PROTECTION AGAINST ALL MAGIC
This rune protects from all magic. Write it on a seal’s shoulder blade with mouse blood and carry it on your person.
Iceland, Strandgaldur, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Hólmavik.
502
PROTECTION FROM CHARMS AND CURSES
Attach nail heads to the doors of houses in order that the people and animals living there will be protected from charms and curses.
France, seventeenth century. Thiers, Traité des superstitions (1679), 322.
503
PROTECTION AGAINST WITCHES
Repeat the following verse:
Jesus went on to the flaming mountain
And saw the evil women:
I urge you, evil woman,
Give back to me what is mine:
Plain as an egg.
Sweet as mother’s milk,
Red as a flower,
In three settings of the sun,
Drawn or marked with the sign of the cross
As well as blown
Three times over salt.
†††
Sweden (Ångermanland), 1674, Klintberg, Svenska trollformler, 92, no. 72, “trollkvinnor.”
504
PROTECTION SO THAT
NONE MAY BEWITCH
YOU
Write these words on paper on a Thursday before sunrise in large letters, then carry it secretly beneath your right armpit:
Merida, Meron, Mionda, Ragon
Norway, ca. 1770, Bang, Norske hexeformularer, no. 1094.
505
FOR PROTECTION AGAINST ALL
DAMAGE
Write the characters listed below on paper and always carry it with you:
+B: +N: +G: +N: +R: +4
O: +B: +C: +B: +4:+
C: +C: +M: +N: +S: +B+e
Poland, nineteenth century. Vaitkevičienė, Lietuvių užkalbėjimai, no. 1621.
506
CHARM AGAINST REVENANTS
Cross over the sky, cross over earth, cross over this place where I sleep. There is a cross, there is also a citadel with precious stones and Saint Nicetas sat there, a sword and a stout whip in his hand, and he kept watch from midnight to cockcrow and from cockcrow until dawn, like a block of stone in front of the door.
The beginning of the text is a fragment of prayer that is rarely used in the charms of the oral tradition. Saint Nicetas the Goth, martyred in 372 and whose feast day is September 15, is depicted as clad in armor and battling against the devil.
Romania, text written by a scribe of Oltenia around 1777, Bucharest, Biblioteca Academiei Române din Bucureşti, MS Romanian BAR 2183, fol. 161v, “Pentru strigoi descântec.”
507
PROTECTION AGAINST GHOSTS
Suffumigations with peony root drive away demons and evil ghosts.
Latin, twelfth century. Liber Kyranidorum, 33, 66.
508
PROTECTION AGAINST DIABOLICAL GLAMORS
A certain kind of jasper drives ghosts away and protects its bearer from all manner of diabolical glamors.
According to the medieval lapidaries, this would be green jasper. Other stones possess this same power: gorgonian, coral, polophos.
Latin, thirteenth century. William of Auvergne, De universo, 2, 3, 1061 A.
509
PROTECTION TO WARD OFF
ALL GHOSTS
Suffumigations or beverages of peony root drive demons away and, if worn, it will ward off all ghosts.
Greek, fourteenth century. KYPANIΣ I, Γ; Mély, Les lapidaires grecs, 13.
510
PROTECTION AGAINST PHANTOMS
He who carries the heart fat of a dragon in buckskin or chamois, and ties it to his arm or beneath the elbow, will fear no phantom at night, even if he had been fearful before.
Germany, 1546, Herr, Das neue Tier-und Arzneibuch, chap. 47.
511
PROTECTION AGAINST GHOSTS AND EVIL
SPIRITS
To drive off ghosts and evil spirits, you must carve these signs on oak and paint them with blood from your hand. Hang them above your door to ward off ghosts and evil spirits.
Iceland, Strandgaldur, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Hólmavik.
512
PROTECTION AGAINST EVIL SPIRITS
The Seal of David (Davíđs innsigli) protects its bearer against evil spirits.
The runes signify Amen. I and H designate Christ.
Iceland, seventeenth century. Daviđsson, “Isländische Zauberzeichen,” 277.
513
PROTECTION AGAINST ENEMIES
May he who has enemies listen to a mass in honor of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen. Three Pater Noster with three genuflexions, one Ave Maria, three Pater Noster with three genuflexions, then say at the moment he stands up: “May my enemies be as dead men before the name of Jesus Christ! May they have no more power to harm me than those who have been buried thirty years! They have the vengeance of the dead in their mouths, they have the pain of the dead in their hearts. It is also true that Milady Saint Mary conceived and begat a son for all [incomprehensible passage]. Eya, the name of Jesus Christ is always a truth! Eya, the name of Jesus Christ is always a truth! Eya, and so on. May the Father be with me, may the Son be with all my enemies, and may the Holy Ghost be between us. May he separate us into bodies and virtues.” To be spoken three times.
Mixture of Latin and late Middle High German, fifteenth century. London, British Library, Additional 17527 in folio, fol. 14v.
514
PROTECTION AGAINST HATE AND JEALOUSY
I arose one morning
Against all my cares,
I girded myself with the bond of anger
Against man and woman,
Against the sword, against the world,
Against all my misfortunes.
This is how hatred and jealousy will melt
Over me today
As salt dissolves
In cool water.
††† Amen.
Sweden (Uppland), 1646, Klintberg, Svenska trollformler, 93, no. 73, “ovänner.”
515
AGAINST AN ENEMY
Say the following prayer:
In the same way the impetuous winds extinguish the stars, may the heart and lips of my enemy go pale; and like death is voiceless, may my enemy be voiceless unable to speak a word against me; and like death cannot see the light, may my enemy be unable to see me and speak evil about me [name], God’s servant. Amen.
Russia, nineteenth century. Gruel-Apert, La Tradition orale russe, 108.
516
PROTECTION CHARM
Today I put on my right foot
The hood of victory,
A foot of steel
And the power of the eagle
And the sacred force.
Victory I will have
And victory I will speak,
Victory shall enter my clothing
And victory shall travel on my roads!
I place chains around the feet of my enemies
And shackles around the legs of my enemies
And bars around the root of my enemies’ tongue.
May my enemies mutter,
May my enemies fall silent,
But I, I am speaking.
My words will be feared
And my pages will be spread
First and foremost before God in the heavens
And next before all the good men of God!
And if I had burned towns
And raped virgins,
If I had committed adultery and murder
And if I had sent father and sister into the ground,
None of all that will shine over me
Except the sun in its purity.
††† Amen.
This charm is borrowing the ancient form of the lorica, “armor”—magical armor, of course. For binding, cf. Mircea Eliade, Images and Symbols (London: Harvill Press, 1961), 92–124, “The God Who Binds and the Symbolism of Knots.” We find this notion of a breastplate in a nineteenth-century French charm intended to provide protection against any evil act:
I enter into the shirt of Our Lady; may I be wrapped in the wounds of my God, the four crowns of heaven, of Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Luke, Saint Matthew, and Saint Mark; may they be able to guard me; may neither man, nor woman, nor lead, nor iron, nor steel, be able to wound me, cut me, or break my bones; to God, peace.
Sweden (Blekinge), 1679, Klintberg, Svenska trollformler, 91, no. 70, “Skyddsformel.”
517
SPELL FOR DULLING YOUR
ENEMY’S SWORD
OFfüsa † O Amplustra † O Geministra. In nomine Patris † Filii † et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
The first term garbles the Latin fuse (“abundantly”), and geministra is the merger of gemma (“gem,” or “stone”) and minister (“servant”). What we have here are the fragments of a Latin spell that was passed on orally without being understood.
Norway, circa 1480, Vinjeboka, no. 7.
518
PROTECTION AGAINST WEAPONS
Repeat the following:
Today is Friday, tomorrow is another day, when God the Son was crucified on the holy cross. His large and small wounds were flowing, and he was sorely struck and hit. In [His] name I will arise, and I will carry it upon me; it will guard me from all arms and blades so they cannot strike me, either by thrust or cut. May no evil tongue break this charm!
It is next necessary to recite five Our Fathers, five Ave Marias, and five Credos, every Friday.
Switzerland, 1552, Wackernagel, “Ein schweizerischer Waffensegen aus dem 16. Jahrhundert,” Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde 40 (1942–44): 122.
519
PROTECTION AGAINST ALL
KINDS OF ARMS
You take three roots of cardoon or fuller’s teasel that no longer has its tip, like a brush used to clean tin pots, and take them on the eve of Saint John the Baptist, after the sun has set everywhere, at that very moment you will harvest them while saying: “I am taking you for all the virtue that you may hold,” or else, “I take you that you may have the strength, by the virtue given you by God, to defend me against swords and bullets, and against all kinds of firearms, In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” Wrap them in a piece of black cloth that is brand new and never dyed, and once you have your root above you, you shall never be wounded by any arm, whether you find yourself in battle or elsewhere, for with the help of God and the virtue of this root, you will be safe from all danger.
To protect against all kinds of weapons, individuals would also make a wheat cake with flour and holy water, that would then be brought near a hanged man or someone who had died violently. Once returned home, the individual would make little balls out of the cake that would be wrapped in white paper on which was written: 1. u. n. ; 1. a : Fau., 1. Moot, and Dorbort, Amen. These balls would be swallowed while reciting Our Father and the Ave five times.
Switzerland (Vaud canton), ca. 1808, Georges Hervé, “Superstitions populaires suisses concernant les armes, le tir, la guerre, les blessures,” Revue anthropologique 26 (1916): 361ff.
520
PROTECTION FROM PERIL AND SICKNESS
Take the aetite stone,*23 carve an eagle on it, and, beneath his foot, stick a seed of bryony and a little piece of eagle wing. Place all of this in a ring and wear it. It will protect you from all peril and all sickness.
Middle French, late fourteenth century. Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, MS 2872, fol. 39r, b.
521
PROTECTION TO REPEL FEVER
Torn out before sunrise, the eyes of a frog that you will throw back alive into the water, will repel fever once you have tied them to your person.
France, 1548, Fernel, De abditis rerum causis libri dvo, 244.
522
PROTECTION AGAINST THE MIASMS OF EARTH
AND AIR
This “Helmet of the children of Heaven” (Himinsbarnahjálmur) offers protection against the miasms of earth and air.
Iceland, seventeenth century. Daviđsson, “Isländische Zauberzeichen,” 277.
523
THE CHARM OF LONGINUS
Repeat the following verse:
Lord God, protect me, [name], today,
By the strike of the very holy spear
That Longinus stuck into your side,
When your sacred heart broke.
May it protect me the blood
That flowed from your wound,
So that all dangers are driven far from me,
That all weapons become blunted,
That all steel and iron
Cannot bite me at all,
Like the Virgin retained her virginity
When God incarnated within her.
The apocryphal story of Longinus is, in fact, used quite frequently in charms against bleeding that form a family that experts have called “Charm of Longinus.”
Middle High German, fourteenth century. Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex 2817 [med. 9], fol. 25v.
524
PROTECTION OF THE EYES
The eyes and eyesight of the person who always wears a dried fox tongue tied to his right arm will never know pain or impairment, even if there is a predisposition to it.
Germany, sixteenth century. Herr, Das neue Tier-und Arzneibuch, chap. 5.
PROTECTION OF PROPERTY
525
PROTECTION OF THE GARDEN
On certain days of the year, touch the herbs and vegetables of the garden with a broom to prevent ants, grasshoppers, snails, caterpillars, worms, and other insects from bothering them.
France, seventeenth century. Thiers, Traité des superstitions (1679), 326.
526
PRAYER OF THE MARTYR SAINT
TRYPHON FOR GARDENS, VINEYARDS,
AND FIELDS
Say the following prayer:
God, you answer the prayers of those who trust in You. Send an angel from his home so he may overcome all the kinds of animals that devastate the vineyard, field, and garden of God’s servant [full name]. And I know exactly the names of these animals and am thinking of caterpillars, worms, earthworms, grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, ticks, calobates [flies], ants, lice, sedge, fleas, bugs, blight, snails, earwigs, and everything that attacks and annihilates the grapes and other kinds of plants.
I conjure you by the holy cherubim with four eyes and by the seraphim with six wings that circle the Throne shouting: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth” for the glory of God the Father.
I conjure you by all the holy angels and all the powers and the ten thousand times ten thousand and the thousand times thousand that are plunged into profound terror at the sight of the Lord’s glory.
Do not destroy the vineyard, nor the garden with its trees and plants, of God’s servant [full name], but go to the deserted woods of wild mountains that divine grace has given you for your daily food.
I conjure you by the venerable blood and body of Christ, the true God and our Savior, who offers us deliverance and redemption and in whose name we shall die. Do not harm this field, this vineyard, nor this garden, nor any tree, whether it bears fruit or not, nor a leaf of a vegetable around and within the domain of God’s servant [full name].
If you do not obey this and go beyond the ban of my conjuration, you will not be acting against me, weak and insignificant Tryphon, but against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who will come to judge the living and the dead. This is why I am telling you, retreat to the uncultivated forests of the wild mountains. If you do not obey this, I will appeal to the friendly God to send me His angel assigned to vermin and he will strike you and kill you because you will have annihilated the conjuration and prayer of the weak Tryphon, and even the birds sent by my prayer will devour you.
I conjure you again by the majestic name carved on the rock that you are not able to withstand at all—you will melt before him in the way the rock melts like wax in the presence of fire—leave this land, as I have commanded! Depart for the inaccessible deserts and sterile places. Depart from the home and surrounding of God’s servant who has asked me for help, assistance, and salvation, so that in all this the most holy name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost be glorified and the request of the weak Tryphon be granted, because, for all eternity, to God goes the power and the glory. Amen.
Greece, eighteenth century. Malzew, Blitt-, Dank- und Weihe-Gottesdienste der orthodox-katholischen Kirche des Morgenlandes (Berlin, 1897), 744.
527
CONJURATORY BENEDICTION TO KILL
GARDEN PESTS
Repeat the following:
I conjure you, abominable mice [or grasshoppers, crickets, worms, and other animals] by the all-powerful God, by Jesus † Christ, his son incarnate, by the Holy † Ghost who comes from both of them, to immediately depart our fields and meadows and not stay a moment more, but to depart for where you cannot harm anyone. I curse you in the stead of all-powerful God and all his celestial court and the Holy Church, may you be cursed or may you be on your way! Get weaker mutually every day and die, until none of you remain, save that which is useful and salutary to men! May God grant [us] this, He who will come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.
Martinus de Arles, Tractatus de superstionibus (1559). “Is it permissible to use divine names to get rid of pests?”
In 1583, in his Three Books of Charms, Sorcery, and Enchantments, Leonard Vair teaches us an odd technique for getting rid of grasshoppers:
When the villagers wished to drive away grasshoppers and other noxious vermin, they chose a certain conjurer as judge before whom two lawyers were selected, one to represent the people while the other pleaded the side of the vermin. The people’s lawyer demanded justice against the grasshoppers and caterpillars, to drive them out of the fields. The other responded that they should not be expelled. Finally when the ceremonies were fulfilled, a sentence of excommunication was handed down against the vermin if they did not leave the fields within a certain period of time.
In 1611, Martin Delrio noted (Les Controverses, 6.11, 1098ff.): “There are others who attribute to themselves a certain art of particular power, as granted by God, to drive away and kill caterpillars, locusts, and other insects and vermin of the fields, who chew and spoil all the seed, fruits, and roots, and disappoint the hopes of the poor laborers,” and follows with a summary of what Leonard Vair said.
The Petit Albert mentions a very interesting practice because its includes a circumambulation:
Prayer for protecting from bugs, snails, worms, or caterpillars, fields and parks of vegetables or grains.
After making the sign of the cross, say: “Our Lady of the Hyssop, on my path I found worms eating the leaves; make it Mary so that they leave the heart. I pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to ensure that the insects and worms of this earth do not touch at all the heart of the plants or grains sowed in this field, as they left alone the heart of Our Lady of the Hyssop.”
This prayer is said three times. The first while walking around the edge of the field or park; the second, while crossing it from the first corner to the third; the third time from the second corner to the fourth, as depicted on the following diagram.
Latin, Italy, twentieth century. Rituale Romanum Pauli V Pontificus Maximi . . . (Rome, 1955).
528
FOR PROTECTING FRUITS
It is said that hanging a frog in the barn will protect the fruits stored there.
And from the same source: if one imprisons a frog in a new pot that is then buried in the field, no bad weather will harm the sowings.
Germany, sixteenth century. Herr, Das neue Tier- und Arzneibuch, chap. 34.
529
FOR PROTECTION OF FRUITS
AND HARVESTS
If you find on any kind of precious stone the image of an armed man with, above his right hand, a cross encircled by stars, know that it will be helpful for fruits and harvests; and storms cannot strike the place where it is located.
Latin, Italy, 1502. Leonardi, Speculum lapidum, 3:15.16.
530
PROTECTION FOR CROPS
Repeat the following:
In nomine domini nostril Iesu Christi ad saluandum fructus terre † Christi † Christi: sed fortiter descendisti ad terram, etc.
Spain, 1559, Martinus de Arles, Tractatus de superstionibus; Lebrun, Superstitions anciennes et modernes.
PROTECTION OF CROPS AGAINST METEORS
For protection from meteors, which were reputed to be sent by weather witches or sorcerers, people had recourse to a variety of methods: for example, appeal to the saints—Colomban, Donat, Ely, George, John the Evangelist, and so on.
Leonard Vair notes:
There is no cause for surprise if the Demons procure this easily. In similar fashion, lightning, hail, rain and other disturbances of the air are excited by several spoken words that denote the pact one has made with the demons. . . .
Wilhelm Fiedler, Antiker Wetterzauber; Lecouteux, “Les maîtres du temps: tempestaires, obligateurs, defenseurs,” in Le Temps qu’ il fait au Moyen Âge; Ohrt, Fluchtafel und Wettersegen; Vair, Trois Livres des charmes, sorcelages, ov enchantemens, 306.
531
PROTECTION AGAINST HAIL
Say: Uno, apostle un abe, one apostle coro me. May God keep us from the hail, the storm from the sky, weather, two apostles, two sobe [?], two crowned apostles. May God keep us from the hail, the storm, and the bad weather. May God keep us from the storm from heaven, the storm of heaven. Continue until twelve apostles.
France, nineteenth century. Le Médecin des Pauvres (1875).
Recipe recommended for protection from meteors, Germany, 1670.
532
PROTECTION AGAINST HAIL AND STORMS
Three hailstones are thrown into the fire with an invocation of the holy Trinity; then the dominical orison and angelic salutation are added twice or thrice, then the Gospel of Saint John, “In the beginning was the Word,” then the sign of the cross is made toward all sides, front, back, and toward the four cardinal points against the storm. Then, once one has repeated: “the Word was made flesh,” and “by the words of the Gospel may this tempest be dispelled,” three times, if the storm was caused by an evil spell, it will stop immediately.
Latin, late fifteenth century. Malleus maleficarum, 2.2.7, fol. 90v, b–91r, a.
533
PROTECTION AGAINST THE TEMPEST
It is said that the Lord’s cross was made from four woods. The foot was of cedar, the trunk was cypress, the branches were palm, and the top was that of the olive tree. With this sign of the cross, may the storms vanish.
Spain, 1530, Franz, Die kirchlichen Benediktionen, 2:115.
534
PROTECTION AGAINST LIGHTNING
The night of Saint Lawence (August 10), mother and daughter should go outside; the daughter should lie down naked flat on her back on the ground while her mother draws a circle around her with ember, then steps over her three times while allowing three drops of blood to fall on her left palm.
Saxons of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksglaube, 81.
535
PRECIOUS ORISON FOR PROTECTING
US FROM CLOUDS
The following orison was found in the tomb of Our Lady, in the town of Josaphat, and has so many properties and virtues that one who reads or has it read once a day, or carries it on his person, in good intentions and devotion, cannot die by fire, nor by water, nor in battle, and will enjoy happiness and victory over his enemies, nor can they cause him harm or trouble him, and offers many advantages. For if a person has fallen into mortal sin, the Virgin Mary would come to his aid and comfort.
Martinus de Arles, Tractatus de superstitionibus (1559). “Fragment of a prayer for protecting the fruits of the earth from meteors.”
Orison to Protect All Things
O glorious Virgin Mary, mother of God, Lady of the benign Angels and pure hope and reassurance for all good creature, may it please you Lady and Mother of Angels, to protect body and soul, we pray your most precious son, that he seek to guard us from all perils and dangers, from the enemy, hell, and temptations for the merits of his beloved passion, bring an end to mortality, war, and protect the fruits of the earth, O Mother of God, full of mercy, have pity on the poor sinners, and spare us from eternal torment, and lead us to the kingdom of heaven, where we will find all before God, the important Father to whom on our knees we ask forgiveness, and may it please him to forgive us as he did Magdalene and the Good Thief when he asked for forgiveness on the tree of the Cross—May it be so.
Curiously, the tone of the text does not correspond to its heading. Its style and punctuation testify to the folk origin of this orison.
France, eighteenth–nineteenth century. Revue du clergé français 89, no. 529 (1917), 247–48.
PROTECTIONS OF THE HOUSE
In 1496, the inquisitors Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer wrote this:
The surest protection for places, men, and beasts are the words of the glorious title of Our Savior inscribed at the four corners of the house in the shape of a cross: Jesus † Nazarene † King † of the Jews [= INRI]. One can add the name of the Virgin Mary to this or the words of John: “the Word made flesh.”2
Here are some other practices, which of course have been Christianized, but whose pagan roots are clearly visible.
536
PROTECTION OF A NEW HOUSE
The person building a house should invite an enchanter to come and secretly bury a horse skull in the foundations and say:
Jesus entered Jerusalem alone on a horse,
The Jews stoned him,
The Lord said: “I am going to make you suffer
For eternity!
Your joy shall disappear,
Your city shall be destroyed!”
Lord Jesus, you who are in heaven,
Good and sweet Christ,
Do not destroy this home,
Banish all evil folk,
This Satanic mob, beyond the sea of fire;
So that they cannot venture near!
May no enemy come near bearing fire or sword,
May no witch or minion of the devil come near;
May lightning bury itself in the ground,
May no illness or plague befall us,
May they bury themselves in the green forest
May they atone and amend their ways!
There flow the three springs of grace;
May they remain there until Last Judgment!
May the blood of Christ surround this house
So that it remains safe and solid
Like Christ rested in the arms of Mary!
May the Lord God grant this
For all eternity! Amen.
This must be said three times at each corner of the house.
A horse skull possesses apotropaic value. In the excavation of tenth-century buildings in Novgorod, horse skeletons were found. In Latvia, in the motte and bailey of the castle of Talsi, bones and skulls of horses were exhumed in 1936 that had been placed between the stones of the foundations of various buildings dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Also found was a horse skull surrounded by ox bones, dating from the thirteenth century.
Saxons of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki,
Volksglaube, 109.
HDA, vol. 3, 1576–77, “Haussegen.”
537
PROTECTION FOR THE ENTIRE HOUSE
According to the magi, the bile of a male black dog is an amulet for the entire house: it is only necessary to perform suffumigations or purifications with this bile to obtain protection against all evil spells. The same is true of dog blood if it is sprinkled on the walls, or the genitals of this animal, if they are buried beneath the threshold of the door.
Latin, first century. Pliny, Historia naturalis, XX, 82.
538
PROTECTION AGAINST ENCHANTMENTS
The right arm of a man with the head of a greyhound in a person’s house posesses power against enchantments.
Latin, Spain, thirteenth century. Ritter and Plessner, Picatrix, 3.11, 107.
539
PROTECTION FROM WITCHES AND SPIRITS
To protect houses from witches and spirits, this is written:
The deformed pentacle to the right of the magic square was called trolltecken (troll sign). It can be found in all the Germanic lands, where it is called “foot of the Drud” meaning of the “witch” or “nightmare.” In 1872, in Norway, it takes the form of a double star of David and protects from nightmares. Oddly enough, this form of protection can also be found in Brittany (Morbihan), carved on a chimney (see illustration below):
540
PROTECTION FOR THE HOME
Repeat the following verse:
May come four holy virgins pious and pure;
May they ward off from the four cardinal points
Plague, misfortune, and fire!
In the hand of the Almighty, this land
Should remain for eternity.
May the good Jesus Christ on the roof
Protect this house both day and night!
Even if the evil [spirits] come out from the green forests,
The parched fields, the cold springs,
The hot stones, we have no fear of them!
Our God is a mighty fortress,
Christ protects us!
In the name of, and so on.
Saxons of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksglaube, 108.
541
PROTECTION FOR THE HOUSE
When you have built a new house, spit at its four corners while saying this prayer at each of them and kissing them, then piss in front of the western gable:
This house is built of green wood coming from the green forest, of white stone coming from the white rocks, of black dirt coming from the black earth, and cold water coming from the cold water. Illness coming from the green forest, do not approach, you have enough wood! Women of the white rocks, do not approach, you have enough stones! Devil of the black earth, do not approach, you have enough dirt! Women of the springs, do not approach, you have enough water! Leave the dead in peace and avert from the living drowning, conflagration, famine, and lightning! Send them children who will continue to build, praise you, and raise their eyes toward Christ in heaven! In the name of, etc. Amen.
After pissing, say:
Protect this building from thieves and enemies, Strike he who shits on me!*24
Corners are an ambivalent site, the abode of either beneficial or malevolent forces. They are watered with certain liquids or this or that element will be placed near them. During construction, people would bury beneath one corner of the house one or more coins, a horseshoe, or even pour some mercury in the mortise of the beams in order to protect the house from lightning and all illnesses. Urine was reputed to send spirits fleeing, a belief also found in the Évangiles des quenouilles [The Distaff Gospels] (late fifteenth century). In the first century, Pliny the Elder noted:
The magi expressly forbid people urinating from uncovering in the face of the sun or moon, or from urinating on the shadow of any object whatsoever. Hesiod recommends that people urinate on an object directly in front of them, so that no deity might be offended by their nakedness.3 Osthanes says that as protection against all noxious substances, one should drip some urine on his foot (Historia naturalis, XXVIII, 69).
Several warnings appear in the Évangiles des quenouilles, such as “Pissing between two houses will earn you the affliction of the eyes called a stye. . . . He who while pissing turns counter the sun, will have kidney stones all his life.”
Saxons of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki,
Volksglaube, 110ff.
HDA, vol. 2, 438ff., “Harnen”;
Évangiles des quenouilles, 127, 131; For more on corners, cf. Lecouteux, “Trois hypothèse sur nos voisins invisibles,” in Hugur:
Mélanges offerts à Régis Boyer, 289–97.
542
PROTECTION AGAINST FIRE
Write with a charcoal A.I.N.R.B. or In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in æternum.4
France. Les Œuvres magiques de Henri-Corneille Agrippa, 81.
543
CONJURATION OF RATS
To get rid of rats, you must say: “Erat verbum, apud deum nostrum: I conjure you, rats and ratlings, by the Great God, to leave my house, all my dwellings, and make your way to [a place is named here] there to end your days.” Then say these words in Latin three times: Decretis, reversis et desembarassis virgo potens, Clemens, justitie. Write these same words on three pieces of paper and fold them carefully, then place one under the door over which the rats being expelled will pass, and another on the path that should lead them to the spot where you sent them; this conjuration should be made at sunrise.
France (Ardennes), nineteenth century. Meyrac, Traditions, 176, no. 68.
544
PROTECTION AGAINST A THIEF
You must go to the place where you fear being robbed, and make a circle by walking from east to north while saying:
Three thieves arrived.
Maria said: “Peterus, Peterus, Peterus!
Bind, bind, bind!
I have bound you with iron chains,
No man, but one, can save you!
All night, he should see and hear
The stars in the sky and the sound of the bells.
As insensitive as a log,
Stiff as a staff!
I leave you the problem of unbinding,
I am taking away the key!
Whether it blackens or stays white,
Makes me neither hot nor cold!
May this scoundrel
Make no reproaches against me!”
If the thief subsequently comes and steals something. The moment he takes it he will remain frozen in place until dawn. When the sun rises, he is freed but transformed into a black man and the one who banned him can never again speak this charm against thieves. That is why the property owner should return to the scene of the crime and free the malefactor while saying:
The key I hold
And always carry on my person
Opens the tomb of the Lord;
I lend it to you gladly.
The key is quite large
The one with which I free you.
After these words, the thief will drop the stolen goods and escape. He should not be retained or even scolded, otherwise you can never again ban a robber. Instead, you must call out to the fugitive, “Go, in the name of God!” He will never steal again.
Pomerania, nineteenth century. Tettau and Temme, Die Volkssagen, 344ff.
545
ANOTHER PROTECTION AGAINST A THIEF
Declaim the following charm around the animal or object you wish to protect from theft:
Thief, remain stuck here,
Advance no farther
Your hands and feet will rot
If you touch this animal.
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 148.
PROTECTION OF ANIMALS
In 1496, Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer mentioned women who on May 1 would pick branches, weave them into crowns, and hang them at the stable entrance to ensure the animals remained healthy and protected from all witchcraft (Malleus maleficarum, 2.2.7, fol. 90r).
546
TO BREAK AND DESTROY
ALL EVIL SPELLS
Take a good amount of salt based more or less on the number of animals that have been cursed; speak over it the following:
Herego gomet hunc gueridans sesserant deliberant amei.
Walk around the animals three times beginning from the side of the rising sun and continuing by following the course of this body, the animals in front of you, while you are casting pinches of salt upon them, reciting the same words.
France, 1670, Honorius, Le livre des conjurations, 83.
547
PENTACLES FOR GUARDING THE FLOCK
Write above two pentacles made on virgin parchment the words that follow:
Aytheos † Anastos † Noxio † Bay † Gloy † Aper † Agia † Agios † Hischiros.
Deus Tetragrammaton misericors et pius, per ista sanctissima nomina et per tua sanctissima attributa da mihi fortunam et horm bonam in omnibus meis factis, at libera me omni male et perturbation. Amen. Three Credos, and so forth.
This pentacle should be made on parchment, as said; on it you will write the aforementioned orisons, then have a mass said over it, and ruffle the sheep with it, then place it between two boards at the exit of the sheepfold so that the flock passes over it; then pull said parchment out and conserve it properly.
France. Les Œuvres magiques de Henri-Corneille Agrippa, 87.
548
PROTECTION AGAINST THE EVIL EYE
ON ANIMALS
Jesus and Mary were walking along the shore. There they spied the good valerian planted in the ground. Jesus pulled [it] up and Saint Peter took [it]. The troll in the mountain stood up and shouted: “The root is no good for anything!” Saint Peter went forth and answered: “The root is good against numerous ills! It is good against exhaustion, anemia, the fangs of the wolf, the fangs of the bear, and the hand of sorcerers!”
In the Germanic countries, it was believed that valerian had the power to drive elves away. Anemia here means the “presence of blood in the urine” (hemoglobinuria: blodsot), cf. R. Grambo, Norske trolleformler og magiske . . ., 143.
Norway,
Dovreboka, in Svartbok frå Gudbrandsdalen, 70–77, no. 1, “For avind paa Kreaturene.”
Gubernatis,
La Mythologie des plantes, 2:366.
549
TO ALLAY MAGIC
ARROWS
The Virgin Mary said: What has happened to your beasts!—Sorcery and shots, you fly upon my animals! The Virgin Mary will take care of this.
Against the strikes (shots) of the mountain (trolls)
Against the black strikes (shots)
Against the strikes (shots) of the witch’s children.
And against all shot
Against the magic shot
And against the shots that fly in the wind and in the weather.
Norway, Dovreboka, no. 17: “At døve Ganskud.”
550
COUNTER-CHARM
Hostia sacra vera corrum, in putting down the great devil of hell, all words, enchantments, and characters that have been said, read, and celebrated over the bodies of my living horses, whether they may be broken or fractured behind me.
France, 1670, Honorius, Le livre des conjurations, 118.
551
FOR BEWITCHED LIVESTOCK
Repeat the following spell:
In the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.
I command not by myself, but with the assistance of Lord Jesus and the help of the holy Virgin.
Lord Jesus reached the Mount of Olives; the Lord Jesus took a small white staff in his most holy hand when rabid dogs assailed him; they tore apart his clothes but left his sacred body intact. Just as nothing happened to this lord nor to Saint John, may this livestock be protected from madness, not by my power but by that of Lord Jesus.
† And may the holy Virgin pray to her Son for nothing to happen—not by my power but by that of Lord Jesus. Saint John baptized the Lord Jesus in the Jordan and Mary Magdalene attended this baptism. The Jordan stopped flowing, and this madness will stop in the same way, not by my power but with the help of Lord Jesus, the Holy Trinity, the most holy Virgin, and all the saints. My words concern those gripped by madness, not by my power but by that of Lord Jesus, with the help of the most holy Virgin and all the saints. † I have put an end to these howls, neighs, and so on, with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen †††
All the saints appeared barefoot, and this is how the madness will appear, not by my power but with the help of Lord Jesus, and similar to this water falling will fall the frenzy of this animal, not by my power but by that of Lord Jesus and the aid of all the saints. Amen †
It is necessary to recite an Our Father at each cross and the Angelic Salutation, and repeat the entire spell three times.
Eastern Prussia, nineteenth century. Tettau and Temme, Die Volkssagen, 269.
552
FOR ALL EVIL SPELLS
This amulet is called Gem of Jonas (Gimsteinn Jónasar); it wards off all evil spells in use north of the Equator. A certain Thorvald allegedly convoked the spirit of the sun this way and made it descend to 800 miles above the ground, thereby causing an earthquake.
Iceland, seventeenth century. Daviđsson, “Isländische Zauberzeichen,” 277.
553
PROTECTION FOR LIVESTOCK FROM CURSES
AND MAGIC
Write the following spell on a black tablet or paper and hang it anywhere in the stables:
SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS
Poland, nineteenth century. Vaitkevičienė, Lietuvių užkalbėjimai, no. 1533.
The spell of the magic square SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS, which was used to fight all manner of afflictions and evil spells.
In France, the heart of an animal killed by witchcraft would be taken and pierced with nine hawthorn thorns, the first with one spell, the second with two spells, and so on (see illustration below).
For more on this spell, cf. Lecouteux, Dictionary of Ancient Magic Words and Spells, “Sator.”
554
TO PROTECT A HORSE
FROM BEING BEWITCHED
To prevent a horse from being bewitched, a sour herring should be placed in its fodder.
Pomerania, nineteenth century. Tettau and Temme, Die Volkssagen, 341.
555
TO PROTECT ANIMALS
Tie alyssum in a red cloth to the neck of a farm animal to ward off illnesses.
Greek, first century. Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De Materia Medica Libri quinque, 3.87.
556
TO FREE ANIMALS OF
ALL ILLS
Read this over salt and malt, and give them to your animals:
Jesus and the Virgin Mary were traveling along the shore when they saw the good valerian planted in the ground. Jesus began to dig up the root. The troll in the mountain began shouting about the uselessness of the root. Saint Peter arrived and answered the troll of the mountain this way: “It is good against many ills. It is good against exhaustion and anemia! It is good against the fang of the wolf and the claw of the bear and the tooth of Satan and the hand [the contact] of sorcerers and against all ill that flies between heaven and earth.” By the three Names and [speak] the Our Father three times before and three times after.
Norway, Kvamsboka, in Svartbok frå Gudbrandsdalen, 42–61, Norsk Folkeminnelags skrifter, 110 (Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø: Universiteforlaget, 1974), no. 4, “At fri sine Chreature fra alt ondt.”
557
TO PREVENT SHEEP FROM
TAKING THE GOBES
Write the following verse on a piece of paper: Super aspidem et basilicum ambulabis leonem et draconen. Drive the sheep out of the sheepfold or the park, and srouez [?] them with this note, speaking the same words aloud.
A gobe is a hairball that is sometimes found in the digestive tracts of animals; the technical term is aegagropila.
France. Les Œuvres magiques de Henri-Corneille Agrippa, 91–92.
558
ORISON PLEADING FOR PROTECTION
OF FLOCKS
Repeat the following prayer:
Saint Genevieve of Paris, you who guarded the lambs as once Joseph guarded the flocks of the pharaoh of Egypt, spread your holy grace over the shepherd’s crook so that no wolf nor any wicked beast can come near.
Saint Genevieve of Brabant, for whom Jesus and your good guardian angel guarded the doe from all peril and your person from the fury of Golo, pray for the lambs of this good pastor.
Jesus, our sweet Savior, who was born in the manger of Bethlehem, do not suffer, we implore you, any evil to befall any of the animals that were the first witnesses of your coming into the world.
Saint Genevieve of Paris, intercede for us.
Saint Genevieve of Brabant, pray for us.
Jesus, answer our prayers.
Among the references, we find the figure of Golo, which is part of the legend of Genevieve of Brabant. This legend forms the subject of many of the chapbooks that basically tell this story: before leaving to wage war at the side of Charles Martel, Comte Siffroy entrusted his wife, Genevieve, to his steward Golo. Golo declared his love and Genevieve pushed him away. He accused her of adultery and had her imprisoned. After many misfortunes, Genevieve reunited with her husband and Golo was drawn and quartered.
France, eighteenth century.
Le Médecin des pauvres, Troyes, 6ff.
Leclerc, “Les mères douloureuses et les innocenses persécutées dans l’imaginaire populaire: Essai d’analyse iconographique,”
Bulletin de la Société Archéologique 328–31 (1993–94): 223–34, 260–73, 306–20, 458–72.
559
PROTECTION AGAINST WOLVES
To protect lost lambs against the wolf, you must say:
Saint Peter and Saint John were strolling in these valleys,
meeting there a she-wolf and pups,
She-wolf and pups, what are you doing in these valleys?
I am looking to see if there are any stray sheep.
What will you do to them?
I will rip out their throats and drink their blood.
I conjure you to guard them until the sun rises.
Another spell quite similar to this one varies at the end: “I forbid you from piercing their skin and sucking their blood. Lockjaw, lockjaw, lockjaw!”
France (Ardennes), nineteenth century. Meyrac, Traditions, 177, no. 74.
560
PROTECTION FOR THE FLOCK
To provide your flock protection from wolves, you must say when you find yourself at a crossroads:
Saint Egarec,
Who goes over mountains and valleys,
On behalf of the great living God,
I forbid you from touching flesh or blood
[here the flock is named]
Before the great guard [the sun] comes close.
France (Ardennes), nineteenth century. Meyrac, Traditions, 179, no. 93.
561
TO PROTECT YOUR
ANIMALS
Carve this sign on the horn of a goat, place it near your house, your animals will be protected.
Iceland, Strandgaldur, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Hólmavik.
562
TO PROTECT YOUR
HORSE FROM THE DEVIL
A circle is drawn around the left hoof of the horse with charcoal, and a cross on the right hoof, while saying:
Round, round, round,
Stay health!
May the devil forever avoid you
May God always be with you!
Gentle God drive
Out of the body of this horse
The father of Evil!
Follow no person,
I have just bought you
Be handsome, be good
Be of good humor!
Listen you seven wives of Phuvush
There are seven chains
That protect and save
This animal from you.
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 147.
563
PROTECTION AGAINST THE DEATH OF PIGS
To protect your pigs from death, write these characters on as many notes as there are pigs and place them in their mash. Here are the words: Futus, Eiortus ful, kout, Erfratus.
Norway, 1750, Bang, Norske hexeformularer, no. 1148, “For Svin Død.”
564
PROTECTION FOR YOUR ANIMALS
Have three drops of blood from a child dripped on a piece of bread to be given to the animal you wish to protect, and say:
I give you three drops of blood,
It is young and good!
May the blood and flesh wither
Of he who steals you!
When the blood, when the blood
Rests in your body,
May the fire, may the fire
Devour any man
Who tries to approach you!
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 150.
565
TO PRESERVE THE GOOD
HEALTH OF HORSES
If you wish to keep your horses fat and active, you must smear their back with garlic during the waning of the moon and say:
May the devil quickly devour
The sickness that is in you!
May the good in you
Grow and remain in you!
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 153.
566
PROTECTION AGAINST FOX BITE
Carve this on the forehead of one of the castrated billy goats and the fox will not kill.
Iceland, Strandgaldur, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Hólmavik.
567
ANOTHER PROTECTION AGAINST FOX
BITE
Carve this on the forehead of one of the castrated billy goats and the fox will not kill; keep these runes in the sheepfold and you will have no fear of the bite of the fox.
Iceland, Strandgaldur, Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Hólmavik.
568
PROTECTION AGAINST THE HOSPODAŘIČE
During the moon’s first quarter and before the sun rises, pick some clumps of cherries, make from them a small repelling arrow and a doll, and hang this on the stable door. The kobold will amuse himself with this and leave the animals alone.
From at least the tenth century, it was believed that a spirit called a dwarf, elf, or later, a kobold (hospodařiček), would come at night to ride the horses, the reason why they would be found covered in sweat in the morning, or else their manes would be braided.
Czech, Bohemia, seventeenth century. Eis,
Altdeutsche Zaubersprüche, 235.
Lecouteux,
Les Nains et les Elfes, 179–82.
569
PROTECTION AGAINST THE DEMON CALLED
GRIEF
To protect a horse from the demon called Grief, it should be tied to a stake that has previously been rubbed with garlic. Then a circle is made on the ground with a red thread some distance from the horse, so he cannot touch it, and while doing this, one says:
May all evil remain caught
In this thread, in this length!
Grief, leave your water
In the first brooklet
And jump behind it!
The urine of the Grief often causes abscesses on the animal’s body. It would be covered the following day with a red rag that was placed that night in the hole of a tree; while this hole was being plugged up, one said:
Stay here
Until the rag becomes animal,
The animal, tree,
The tree, a man*25
Who will kill you.
The Grief (Hágrin) is a demon that tortures animals at night. It was said to resemble a yellowish porcupine, around twenty inches long and a span in width. Because of its odor, garlic was reputed to send spirits fleeing, and a red thread has always possessed an apotropaic value. The circle made with it forms an impassable closure.
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 151–52.
570
PROTECTION FOR PIGS
To ensure that pigs remain with their new owner and thrive, a little garlic is mixed in with their first mash and one says:
You must prevent the Nivashi
From eating your mash!
Eyes that falsely gaze upon you
Must perish here
Must be eaten by you!
On the Nivashi, see no. 409.
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 148ff.
571
TO PROTECT AN ANIMAL
OR AN OBJECT
Go to a crossroad at midnight with the animal or object you wish to protect and draw a circle around it. Then, taking a few hairs from the animal or a small pice of the object, toss it onto the ground outside the circle while saying:
Here is your part,
Never spend any time at our home.
I am giving you what I can.
Listen, Phuvush,
Block the thieves
For we have three chains,
Three good Urmen.
They will save us.
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 149.
572
TO PROTECT ONE’S
HORSE
Dig a small hole in which you place nine kinds of herbs and hairs, then draw the left hoof in the dirt, cut out the imprint and, while saying the following, plug up the hole:
A sprig of herb, a hair,
Never lack for fodder!
May die whoever shall steal you,
Die like this sprig and hair
Rotting, planted in the earth.
Phuvush, here is your part,
Leave my horse safe and sound!
A fine example of a reducing diagram; this operatory style survived into the twentieth century.
Gypsies of Transylvania, nineteenth century. Wlislocki, Volksdichtungen, 148.
573
PROTECTION FROM SPIRITS ABOVE THE HIGHEST
WINDS
This amulet is called “Signet of the Queen” (Drottningar Signet); it protects from all the spirits that are “above the highest winds.”
Iceland, seventeenth century. Daviđsson, “Isländische Zauberzeichen,” 277.