Healing Charms Research Articles

Spears and Spikes: Illness, Emotion and Bodily Invasion in Old Norse Abscess Narratives

Abstract The Old Norse medical corpus, both manuscript and epigraphic, illuminates understandings of the body and of the relationship between sickness, somatic emotion and the perceived integrity of the individual self in Viking and medieval Scandinavia. This essay argues that Old Norse medical texts and charms understand illness not only as an imbalance of humours but also as an invasive, anthropomorphised agent that seeks to breach the boundaries of the human body. Falling victim to illness is understood as a zero-sum power exchange, visualised through images of martial defeat and sexualised submission. Strong emotion can be rendered as physical illness in Old Norse literature because both forces threaten the integrity of the contained and individualised self. As a thematic case study, this essay examines runic healing charms, late medieval medical manuscripts and saga episodes dealing with boils and abscesses, which are attributed both to the surging of vital spirits and to the action of supernatural disease agents, to examine the way these texts understand the embodied self.

Excising Superstition from Knowledge: August of Saxony’s Book of Healing Charms

Excising Superstition from Knowledge: August of Saxony’s Book of Healing Charms

“Just as You Quenched the Fiery Furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, Also Quench Every Fever.” The Three Holy Children in Coptic Magic

Abstract This article offers editions of four amulets with Coptic healing charms invoking the Three Holy Children from the third chapter of the book of Daniel. As an introduction, it discusses the importance of the Three Children in Christian traditions and their role as healing saints, and provides an overview of their occurrences in Coptic magic.

Белорусские и украинские заговоры от перелогов: межжанровые переклички

The word perelogi (Ukrainian перелоги, Belarusian пералогi, перэлогi) ‘livestock and horses disease’ is mentioned in the folk veterinary medicine of some regions of Eastern Slavia. The article is devoted to the analysis of this phenomenon in folklore and traditional culture of Belarusians and Ukrainians. It is considered from the point of view of its terminology, accompanying beliefs, magical practices and numerous charms used to treat animals. The charms that are commonly read against perelogi are based on the plot “Three (two) characters share what they find among themselves; the devil gets the perelogi.” The article explores the possible folklore origins of this plot, as well as the circumstances of the devil’s appearance in it, which is extremely atypical for East Slavic healing charms. The author comes to a conclusion that the main role in this was played by tales about the fooled devil and especially by ATU/СУС 1030 “Harvest Division.” In addition, the plot was most likely influenced by such circumstances as the somatic “parallelism” of devil and animal and the secondary mythologization of the term perelogi. These two circumstances supported the figure of devil which is key for this plot, using elements of folklore imagery, rhyme, cultural semantics of the keyword and other factors.

Verbal magic and healing charms in Glasgow University Library Ferguson MS 147

Manuscript Ferguson MS 147, a fifteenth-century volume written in Middle English and housed in Glasgow University Library, contains a copy of the Antidotarium Nicholai, a sarum calendar and a medical compilation which includes medical recipes, prognostic texts, and healing charms. Our interest is placed on the charms in the medical recipe collection found in folios 63r–159v. Following earlier studies on the charm genre, we will characterise the medical charms found in Ferguson MS 147 from a linguistic standpoint. This touches upon the use of language and other technical features, such as the presence of code-switching, the use of specialised symbols and characters, and the terminology used by the scribe to refer to the genre, among others. Concerning textual tradition, we also aim to examine whether the healing charms present variation, even if small, with earlier described charms. From a methodological point of view, the comparison includes contrasting our material with other edited compilations of charms.

Names of Trees in East Slavic Charms

This paper continues the series of the authors’ works on the toponymy of charms previously published in Voprosy Onomastiki. It deals with proper names of trees (dendronyms) in East Slavic spells coming from East Belarusian, East Ukrainian, West and South Russian territories where the considered folklore tradition is particularly prominent. The naming of revered trees is a fairly common cult practice that occurs through cultural semiotization of significant plant properties: the most important features are the size and spreading of a tree, its situational connection with a person, the place of growth, etc. The folklore tradition (as reflected in charms) of naming trees follows the same logic, however, direct evidence of dendronyms “migration” from the real toponymic system to the texts of charms is lacking. The origins of mythodendronyms are established mainly in folklore, book and manuscript tradition. The paper explores functional features of charms that include names of trees (typically these are healing charms against fever and a snakebite). Hence, a classification of dendronyms from the point of view of their origin is proposed: deanthroponymic names (Yevim oak, Erofei tree, Katyarina byarosa, etc.), toponym-based names (Mamvriy oak, Buyan oak, Lukomor oak, etc.), ethnonym-based names (Sorochinsky oak, Vereisk oak, etc.), names derived form appellatives (karcolist tree, starodub oak, Rakitaniy oak, Kindyashnoe tree, and many others). The paper proposes etymological and motivational solutions for most of the mythodendronyms known to the authors, many of which are “opaque” and have not yet received a reliable interpretation.

Ravitsejad Siberi eesti kogukondades

The article is based on manuscripts as well as sound and video recordings on folk medicine collected during fieldwork conducted by the researchers of the Estonian Folklore Archives in 1991–2013 from Estonians born and raised in different Siberian Estonian communities. The ancestors of the visited Estonians had either left their homeland in search of land in the last decades of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries or were descendants of those deported and exiled by the Russian tsarist authorities in the first half of the 19th century. Fieldwork at Siberian Estonians in the last decade of the 20th century enriched the Estonian Folklore Archives with invaluable lore material, including the material related to folk medicine. Although the advance of the state medicine system with small hospitals and first aid posts had reached Siberian villages half a century before, and the activity of healers had been banned for decades, the collectors were surprised by the number of healers in villages and the extent of the practical use of folk medicine. The folk medicine tradition was upheld mostly by older women (as was the case also with other fields of lore), which resulted, on the one hand, from the demographic situation, and, on the other hand, from women’s leading position in the preservation of communal traditions. In the older Siberian Estonian communities, which had been established by the deportees (e.g. Ülem(Upper)-Suetuk, Ryzhkovo), it was believed that healing words and skills were available and could be learned by anyone; they were often compared to God’s word. Some people thought that knowledge and skills could only be shared with those younger than yourself. In the villages established by exiles people were considerably more cautious about passing on healing words and the like. In most villages with southern Estonian background, healing charms were kept in secret, as it was believed that when sharing their knowledge, the healers would lose their abilities. It was only at their death’s door that the healers selected their successor. Not all the people who were offered to learn the healing skills were ready to accept the responsibility. The first or last child in the family was thought to have more prerequisites for becoming a good healer. In the first decade of the 21st century, the situation with passing on the healing words and skills had changed considerably in older Siberian villages. Many of the healers had passed away, and there were not enough young people who were interested in continuing the tradition. So the healing skills inevitably concentrated into the hands of a few wise women. Currently, the folk healing tradition in Siberian Estonian communities is fading away, above all, due to the fast aging and diminishing of the communities.

Репрезентація лінгвокультурних кодів знахарського дискурсу

There is a need for linguistic studies of the linguistic and conceptual structure of folklore genres which constitute phenomena of linguoculture. Healing charms are examined by scholars from the standpoint of their structure as well as their voluntative and magical/mystical function. Yet the means and communicative mechanisms of linguocultural coding and its realization in the discourse of healing have never been studied in a focused manner. In particular, there is a need for the studies of verbal forms of expression of linguocultural codes. The present study uses the following methods of linguistic inquiry: semasiological procedure of field modelling; component and distributive analysis; and contextological interpretation. The article addresses the problem of representing spiritual, spatial, biomorphic and sensory linguocultural codes. It argues that their linguistic realization depends on the genre, thematic and structural features of folklore texts. “Desire” as an element of healing charms drives either positive or negative utilitarian and teleological evaluations of linguistic signs in the studied codes. The study analyses the recurrent linguistic images of healing charms. It describes their role within the linguocultural coding of the proper (anthroponyms, anthropomorphonyms, toponyms) and common names. It also examines how the potential of ethnocultural symbols is being used. It elucidates that the discourse of healing is produced due to the activization not only of the magical and the voluntative but also the aesthetic, axiological, expressive and suggestive functions of code verbalizers. A fruitful line of inquiry into the discourse of healing would also address the representation of the medical code of linguoculture.

"Red Growth, Yellow Growth, White Growth...": Chromatic Beliefs in Udmurt Folk Medicine and Healing Charms

Traditional culture is one of the key factors influencing our colour perception. The present article aims to analyse the colour concepts and symbolism of Udmurt folk medicine, in particular, healing rituals and charms. Consideration is given not only to the most widespread hues and their specific meanings within magic folk poetry, but also to the combination of colours, which fulfils an important role in emphasizing the efficacy of verbal means of magic. Additionally, the study demonstrates the folk classification of medical conditions based on colour characteristics. It is concluded that colour semantics entirely depends on the pragmatic objectives of healing rituals and charms.

Origins of Plague and Cholera according to the Lithuanian Folklore

Origins of Plague and Cholera according to the Lithuanian Folklore

<em>My Neighbor Totoro</em>: The Healing of Nature, the Nature of Healing

Originally released in 1988, Hayao Miyazaki’s fourth feature film, My Neighbor Totoro , could, in retrospect, be viewed as heralding the prominence of healing in the popular culture of Japan in the 1990s. During that decade, healing charms and incenses that would purportedly soothe one’s weary spirit were popular among younger generations; racks of new age and easy- listening cds were recategorized as “healing music”; and vhs rental shops offered an assembly of “healing movies”— films that were set against bucolic provincial backdrops and carried an emotional storyline capable of producing a cathartic effect. Such films would include Powder (directed by Victor Salva in 1995) and Phenome non (directed by John Turteltaub in 1996)— both set in US small towns surrounded by woods and pastures— as well as Nabbie’s Love (directed by Yuji Nakae in 1999), a Japanese film that showcased the lavish natural beauty of an island in Okinawa, the southernmost archipelago in Japan. Those who could afford to do so also escaped from urban areas in order to indulge in the healing practices available at a growing for est of resort hotels overlooking gleaming subtropical seas that year by year are being depleted of their sustainable resources. Appearing at the zenith of Japanese people’s satisfaction and complacency with the country’s economic achievements and just prior to the collapsing of the bubble economy, My Neighbor Totoro offered a utopian portrayal of 1950s rural scenes that stirred the viewers’ imagination through the beauty, the power, and the simplicity of its representation of nature. The film appealed both to the young, who were unfamiliar with the film’s setting,

The Oral and Written Traditions of Latvian Charms

This article is about the oral and written traditions of Latvian charms, analysing them in a historical and cultural context. The article examines healing charms mainly and contextualizes them by reference to similar texts from the European charm tradition. The division into oral and written traditions is based on the assumption of their functioning, dissemination and transmission through different generations, space and time. Schematically, the depiction of the influence on Latvian folklore and cultural history relating to the spread and functioning of Latvian charms and folk medicine traditions, can be divided into three clusters: 1) the pre-Christian, 2) the Early Christianity and 3) a cluster of Lutheran and Herrnhut charms. The first two clusters are associated mainly with the oral charm tradition, while the third, with written tradition.

Parchment, Praxis And Performance Of Charms In Early Medieval Ireland

St. Gall MS 1395, a collection of fragments from various periods, includes a page of Irish origin and apparently ninth-century date, containing four healing charms known as the St. Gall Incantations, each followed by instructions concerning its ritual performance. A close study of this single vellum folio examining the characteristics of the text, scribal practices and the cultural setting in which the document was compiled, provides a basis for theorizing about Old Irish magical practices and their multidimensional performative context. By highlighting the investigation of the liaison between the words of the charm and the associated ritual, an attempt will be made to elucidate how the textual register of the manuscript translated into physical performance. Accordingly, questions of mise-en-page performance and the manuscript as a material amulet are addressed in order to understand the written environment of magical language as well as the practices of charming in early medieval Ireland.

Charms In Slovenian Culture

Nowadays, there only remains a small fraction of charms that used to exist in Slovenia. Charms seem to have become a little known relic of Slovenian culture. Despite this, some healing charms have been preserved and even published in research works by Ivan Grafenauer and Milan Dolenc. The most widely known charms in Slovenia include charms for snakebite, sprain, toothache, cramp, fever, and red rash. In those charms there are obvious German influences, though some charms still show Slavic roots. Charms are a genre that has not been studied by the Slovenian researchers as intensively as other traditional genres, like narratives. We will introduce the main charm types and their characteristics in the Slovenian culture.

Formulae for Expelling Illnesses/Diseases in Udmurt Charms and Prayers

The article is devoted to Udmurt healing charms (pellaskon) and traditional prayers (kuriskon) which have been collected since the 18th century. The living tradition of charming is still considered to be one of the effective ways of fighting with different diseases and weird spirits which cause abnormal con- ditions both in people and livestock. Available magic texts of folklore allow the revelation of the principles of resistance to diseases and evil spirits and con- sider them as the representatives of the other world. These conclusions are made on the basis of the analysis of special formulae which are aimed at expel- ling the illness/disease from the human body and the local environment.

Oral Traces and Speech Acts in a Corpus of Medieval English Healing Charms

Oral Traces and Speech Acts in a Corpus of Medieval English Healing Charms

Anglo-Saxon Charms in Performance

Providing explicit ritual instructions alongside verbal incantations, the Old English healing charms offer us a relatively rare glimpse of poetry in performance in the Anglo-Saxon world. The well-studied verse incantations as well as the lesser known non-metrical remedies functioned as part of rituals performed to cure disease, improve crops, and even return lost or stolen property. Lea Olsan has noted that “unlike epic poetry, riddles, or lyrics, charms are performed toward specific practical ends” and “their mode of operation is performative” (1999:401). Scribes often underscored the importance of performance by stating explicitly that an incantation be spoken (cwe∂an) or sung (singan). As John Niles reminds us, the modern usage of the term “charm” is perhaps too limited for conveying the importance of performance in these solemn rites of healing. The native term gealdor (or galdor), 1 with its broader semantic range, more explicitly denotes performance, deriving from the verb galan, which means “to sing,” “to enchant,” “to cry out aloud” (Niles 1999:27). Because they are so deeply rooted in their performance context, the Old English charms require us to move beyond conventional text-based literary analysis and classification to apply performance-based approaches that allow us to examine the charms on their own terms. Taken collectively, the charms blur distinctions between the oral and the literate, the Christian and the Germanic, the metrical and the non-metrical, the poetic and the practical, even the sensical and non-sensical. In performance, the charm’s function as healing remedy becomes all-encompassing, and once-familiar dichotomies quickly break down, revealing insightful intersections between categories that might at first seem mutually exclusive. In many significant ways, awareness of performance contexts allows us to transcend potentially

Healing Charms in Use in England and Wales 1700–1950

The collection and analysis of Anglo-Saxon and early medieval healing charms has long generated an active interest in their content and application. However, despite the quite extensive ethnographic evidence concerning the content of healing charms in use from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, there has been no attempt, so far, to make an extensive collection of charm formulae from this period. This paper seeks to begin that task. It is hoped that this inventory, not only serves to highlight an important aspect of the English and Welsh tradition of folk medicine, but also serves to indicate the long history of that tradition. An examination of these charms also provides an illustration of the importance of the written word in the transmission of popular knowledge.

Tradition and the Collective Talent: Oral Epic, Textual Meaning, and Receptionalist Theory

with a nagging and seemingly insoluble dilemma that has taken many forms and resists being held captive in any single, all-encompassing formulation. I mention as examples the academic jousting over analytical terms such as the phraseological "formula" and the narrative "theme" and the long debates over what is or is not a "motif. " The basic question amounts to this: can we agree on a grammar of compositional units and further, does our chosen model remain viable as we cross the linguistic line from one tradition to another? For the purposes of this essay and in order to speak directly to the concerns of this special collection of papers, I shall leapfrog both a bibliographical rehearsal of particular issues and the inevitable polemics involved, and instead concentrate on proposing a solution to the "unit problem" which, while perhaps rather radical in itself, finds its seeds in the writings of Walter Ong, Eric Havelock, Werner Kelber, Franz Bauml, Charles Segal, Robert Kellogg, and others. In concert with the general shift of critical focus from the text as object to the work as the reader's experience of that object, I suggest that we define the "units" of oral traditional discourse not strictly and exclusively as textual data, but also and equally as the necessarily subjective apprehension of those data by a reader or participant (whatever the prior experience of the reader or participant may be). I propose that we take as a starting point the idea of the work and its parts as processes rather than as an artifice and its discrete components, and that we stipulate that the unit of discourse-whether phraseological or narrative-cannot be understood as an object but only as a response. In other words, to summon the canonical Parry-Lord "oral formula" as an example, we need to realize that the phraseological unit consists not only of whatever chirographic avatar the highly literate reader uses as a reading mnemonic, but also and crucially of the informed but finally subjective response one makes to those "little black dots on the white page" in the larger context of the unexpressed (and inexpressible) reality of an oral tradition.

The Power of the Word: Healing Charms as an Oral Genre

As PART OF AN ONGOING STUDY of aspects of oral tradition in the Balkans,' in this paper we present evidence that healing charms are still being transmitted orally and continue as part of the contemporary folk repertoire. Our concern here is with process, both cultural and linguistic. We want to discover why as well as how orality works as a vital means of preservation and transmission. This we undertake by examining bajanje, a form of folk curing relying primarily on incantation. Texts of basme, oral charms uttered by practitioners of this type of medicine, have been reported by local ethnographers and others over the past fifty years.2 While these fragments are of interest comparatively,