There are people in existence, of opinion that the ear-rings
which Jacob buried under the oak of Sechem were charms, and that
Solomon had recourse to spells after his strange wives led him
away from the true faith.
Reginald Scot gives a recipe for a charm to preserve cattle
from witchcraft. Here it is: "At Easter you must take certain
drops that lie uppermost of the holy paschal candle; and upon
some Sunday morning, light and hold it so as it may drop upon and
between the horns and ears of the beast, and burn the beast a
little between the horns on the ears with the same wax, and that
which is left thereof stick it cross-wise about the stable or
stall, or upon the threshold, or over the door, where the cattle
go in and out; and for all that year your cattle shall never be
touched."
Mr. Pennant says: "The farmers of Scotland preserve their
cattle against witchcraft by placing boughs of[Pg 410]
mountain-ash and honey-suckle in their cow-houses on the 2nd May.
They hope to preserve the milk of their cows and of their wives
by tying red threads about them." The ancients had several
superstitious customs touching the chameleon,—as that its
tongue, torn out when the animal was alive, would assist the
possessor to gain his law-suits; burning its head and neck with
oak-wood, or roasting its liver on a red tile, would bring
thunder and rain; that its right eye, torn out before the animal
was slain, and steeped in goat's milk, removed disease of the
eye; that its tongue, worn as a charm by a married woman, eased
her pains; that its right jaw dispelled fear; and that its tail
prevented streams overflowing their banks. A famous sorcerer,
when under sentence of death, gave directions how to prepare a
potent charm. It consisted of a new earthen pot—not bought
nor bargained for—with sheep's blood, wool, hair of several
beasts, and certain herbs therein. The pot and its contents were
to be placed in a secret part in the neighbourhood where its
effects were intended to be felt, which might be either the
poisoning or tormenting of enemies. The charm could not be taken
away but by the person who secreted it or by a superior
power.
Particular trees and plants possess peculiar virtues in
consequence of crowns for deities having been made from them.
Thus we find Jupiter's crown was composed of flowers, generally
of laurel; Juno's of the vine; Bacchus' of the vine, with grapes,
and branches of ivy, flowers, and berries; those of Castor,
Pollux, and the river gods, of bulrushes; that of Apollo,
sometimes of laurel, and sometimes rushes; that of Saturn, new
figs; that of Hercules, poplar; that of Pan, pine or alder; that
of Lucina, dictamnus; that of the Horæ, the fruits proper
to each season; that of the Graces, olive branches; that of
Venus, roses; that of Ceres, ears of corn; and that of the Lares,
myrtle or rosemary. Rue was detested by[Pg 411]
witches and evil spirits. There was a heathen ceremony, called
Dendrophoria, which consisted of the carrying of one or more pine
trees through a city, at times of sacrifice in honour of certain
deities. The pine or pines were afterwards planted, and the
branches thereof were supposed to possess virtues not to be found
in non-sacred things.
There was a spirit drawn from May dew, which had striking
virtues attributed to it. Images were considered the most
powerful of all charms. They were held in great reverence by the
Romans and other nations. The noble Romans preserved the images
of their ancestors with great care, and had them carried in
procession at their funerals and triumphs. They placed them in
the vestibules of their houses, there to remain, even though the
houses happened to be sold, it being considered impious to
displace them. It was not, however, allowed for every one who had
the images of their ancestors, to have them carried at funerals.
The privilege was conferred on those only who had honourably
discharged themselves in their various offices in life. Persons
who failed in this respect, forfeited all right to bring their
images before the public; and the images of persons who had
committed serious crimes were broken in pieces.
The Egyptians had great confidence in the power of amulets and
charms to prevent and deliver from mischief. There was a class of
persons who gained their livelihood by writing billets, to secure
the wearers from the power of enchantment and all kinds of
accidents. Their most intrinsically valuable relic was the veil
sent to the Sultan to cover the Kaaba of Mecca. It was cut in
pieces, and distributed over the whole empire. Parts of it were
worn by the faithful, as one of the means of grace, and an
assurance of divine protection; and these charms were sometimes
buried in the grave along with the individuals who had prized
them when in life.
The belief of the baneful effect of the evil eye,
and[Pg
412] of envious commendations, was prevalent in the
East. Virgil's shepherd attributed to the malicious glance of an
enemy the diseased appearance of his flock. Pliny relates that
the Thessalian sorcerers destroyed whole harvests by speaking
well of the crops. In Egypt, everything which could possibly
attract attention or excite jealousy was protected by some
counteracting influence. The eye of the malicious observer was
rendered harmless by a sacred sentence, written in conspicuous
characters, and placed in a particular way that the wicked eye
might see it. The horse, it was believed, carried his rider in
safety if a charm of blue beads dangled from the animal's neck.
But the anxious mother did not consider her darling child safe,
though it had a charm about its person, unless she frequently
spat in its face.
When a mother had reason to suppose an evil eye had been cast
on her little helpless babe, her duty was to borrow a sixpence
from a neighbour, put it into a basin of water, and then wash the
child with the water so charmed. By these means the spell was
removed. To pass a child over a table was unlucky. Great
apprehensions were formerly entertained of the malignant
influence and interference of fairies with mothers in child-bed
and children unbaptized. A Bible under the pillow protected the
mother, or a bottle of holy water at the bed-foot did equally
well; and the sacrament of baptism rendered the infant secure
from fairies and witches. If one meet or see anything unlucky,
all he has to do to avert evil is to touch cold iron. To prevent
evil in time of a thunder-storm, let a candle be kept burning
until the warring elements have ceased raging. And surely it has
not been left for us to tell the good Catholics, that, to
extinguish a fire or stop an inundation, their forefathers threw
a consecrated wafer into the midst of the flames or overflowing
river. Every little Catholic maid, who can count her beads, knows
that if she cannot secure the affections of[Pg 413]
the young man on whom she has set her affections, she should
unsparingly besmear him with the holy oil of her Church. We are
assured that, before Protestantism weakened the hands of priests
and rent the Church asunder, consecrated oil was regarded as an
infallible charm and love-philter.
It was the custom at one time for the Popes to send a golden
key to faithful priests, wherein was enclosed a small quantity of
the filings of St. Peter's keys, kept sacred at Rome. These
charms were worn in the bosom, to protect the happy possessor
from disease, misfortune, and evil spirits.
The ancients had their lustral water for sprinkling and
purifying the people. From them the Romanists borrowed the holy
water used in their churches. The ancients called Dies
Lustricus, or Lustral Day, that whereon the lustrations were
performed for a child, and its name given, which was the ninth
day from the birth of a boy, and the eighth from that of a girl.
Lustral water possessed something like magical virtue. On the
great day of ceremony the nurses and domestics handed the child
backwards and forwards around a fire on the altars of the gods;
after this the infant was sprinkled with the precious water,
mixed with saliva and dust. There were public lustrations for
purifying cities, fields, and people defiled by crime or
impurity. A custom prevailed in the East, of curing sick children
by weighing them at the tomb of a saint. The counterpoising or
balancing medium consisted of money to be given to the
Church.
It was generally supposed that the first snow which fell in
the year had particular virtues. Bartholin wrote a treatise on
the uses of snow, wherein he endeavoured to show that early
gathered snow preserved from the plague, cured fevers, toothache,
and sore eyes. In Denmark the people kept snow water, obtained in
March, as a medicine.
Transplantation in natural magic was a method
resorted[Pg 414] to for curing diseases by
transferring them from one body to another. The transplantation
was effected either by the use of a medium or by simple contact.
If a gouty person desire to get rid of his troubles, he is
recommended to bore a hole in an oak, and deposit the parings of
his nails therein; and if one has whitlow in his finger, the pain
might be transferred to the domestic cat by rubbing the sore
finger with the ears of the animal.
The keys of a consecrated building, shaken over the heads of
dogs, horses, and cattle, when they are ill, effect a cure; and a
faithful worshipper finds relief from acute suffering by standing
on one foot and holding a wax taper in his hand, during
particular portions of the mass. It is common in some places to
lay upon the altar, during mass, the nails of a shoe taken from a
horse which has become lame, to restore the animal to soundness.
Pieces of consecrated bread carried home and preserved is a
preventative against the bite of a mad dog. The shepherd who
first gives his offering will be rewarded by his ewes bringing
forth the finest lambs in the neighbourhood; and the horses and
cattle that are watered immediately after the owners or keepers
return from mass, will be saved from illness.
In 1589 the people placed on the altars of many of their
churches in Paris, wax effigies of King Henry III., and pricked
them with pins and needles during mass, in the hope of obtaining
a speedy termination to his existence.
The wearing of a ribbon which has been worn by a lady, or a
lock of her hair, near the heart, is supposed to be capable of
securing her affections. But if everything else fail, the proper
application of dead men's bones, holy relics, and magic spells
will soften the hard heart.
It is related by the Indians of Vixnu, that a ribbon tied
round the neck or arm, with the name "Laximi" (who for many years
was worshipped under the form of a cow, and sometimes of a horse)
written thereon or[Pg 415] attached thereto, is a certain
cure for all diseases; and is likewise a preventative against
accidents. Corns are cured by one stealing a small piece of beef
and burying it in the ground. As the flesh rots, the corns
disappear. Whenever either an enemy or friend becomes
troublesome, and it is considered necessary to get rid of him,
the desire can be accomplished by securing a garment belonging to
him and burying it in the earth. Just as sure as the burying of
the beef destroys corns, as certain will the concealment of the
garment in the earth send the obnoxious person to his long home.
Fond mothers endeavoured to cure hooping-cough by passing their
afflicted children three times before breakfast under a
blackberry bush the branches of which grew into the ground; other
parents went out into the highways in search of a man riding on a
piebald horse, to ask him what would restore to health their
children affected with this painful cough. Whatever he
recommended, was adopted as a remedy.
Index | Next
