Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing

more could he desire as an amu

charms, which can do no good at all, but out of a strong conceit, as Pomponatius p

and charms his physician. He wears Paracelsian characters for the toothac

Saints, Images, Relicts, Holy-Waters, Shrines, Avemarys, Crucifixes, Benedictions, Charms, Characters, Sigils of the Planets and of Signs, inverted Words, &c.,

out the person, while the talisman may simply be in possession of a person wherever it may be, or deposited at

r, to remove; others consider that it comes from "amula," the name of a small vessel with lustral water in it, which the Romans sometimes carried in their pockets for purification and e

hat an oath was formerly administered to persons about to fight a legal duel "that they had ne charme ne herb of virtue." St. Chrysostom and others of the church fathers condemned the practi

rescribed, taxed by some, approved by Renodeus, Platerus, and others; looke for them in Mizaldus,

ut helps the Cholick. A spider, an Ague, &c. ... Some Medicines are to be exploded, that consist of Words, Characters, Spells, and Charms, which

call Characters, or in some other things which are to be hanged and bound about the Body, and kept in a dancing posture. Such are Ear-rings hanged upon the tip of each ear,

n see great virtue in a four-leafed clover; men carry luck pennies, and certain stones are worn in rings and scarf pins; camphor is worn about the person to avert febrile contagion, and anodyne necklaces of "Job's tears" and other

, rather than the material of which they were composed or the inscription on them, was the efficacious factor. Perhaps material, shape, and inscription would be combined in one object; or many ob

Garnet, if hung about the neck or taken in drink, much assisteth sorrow and recreates the heart; and the chrysolite is described as the friend of wisdom and the enemy of folly. Renodeus admires preciou

s portray to us the ef

h health; yea, and some write that it provoketh raine, and dark

lunaticke person of hi

e heate of the minde, and qualifieth

ues and gowts, and suffereth not the bearer to be afraid; it hath virtue a

e. The sapphire when taken as a potion pulverized in milk, cured internal ulcers and c

y recommended for unusual sanative virtues, but the

elancholic affections. Manardus says it remov

cornelian worn on the finger or suspended from the neck pacified anger and provoked contentment. Onyx superinduced troubled sleep, but fastened to the

e fourth virtue is, that the man, who hath on him secretly the loathly fiend, if he taketh in liquid any portion of the shavings of the stone, then soon is exhibited manifestly in him, that which before lay secretly hid. The fifth virtue is, he who is afflicted with any disease, if he taketh the stone in liquid, it i

d, a Saphire, or a Draconites, which you shall bear for an ornament; for in stones, as also in hearbes, there is great efficacie and vertue, but they are not altogether perceived by us; hold sometime in your mouth eyther a Hyacinth, or a Crystall, or a Garnat, or pure Gold, or Silver, or else sometimes pure

gies carved out of gold or silver, or incised upon tiles, perpetually as amulets. They were safeguards against diseases

n physic is

loved gold

composed of various materials, glass, paste, sometimes metals, but principally of various kinds of stones. Through the irresistible might of Abrax, their supreme divinity, the Basilideans were protected and cured. Clement of Alexandria strictly interdicted the use of gems for personal ornamentation, with evident allusion

A = 1, Ξ = 60, A = 1, Σ = 200, is 365. The significance of this was that the deity was the ruler of 365 heavens, or of the angels inhabiting these heavens; he was also ruler over the 365 d

fficacy as an antidote against ague, fever, flux, and toothache. Serenus Samonicus, a physician in the reign of Caracalla, recommends it very highly for ague, instructing how it should be written, and commanding it to be worn around the neck. It might

ACA

CAD

CA

C

A

RACA

ACA

ACA

RA

RA

RA

B

B

B

nner is as efficacious as writing it. The Jews attributed an e

Lady, or other like, thei shall die no sodain death, nor be hanged, or yf he be hanged, he shall not die. There is so manye suche, though ye laugh, and beleve it not, and not hard to shewe them with a wet finger." The same author observes that our devotion o

ed Jackson, who died in Chichester jail in February, 1749. He was "struck wi

ee holy

elchior,

, and in the ho

hey are to preserve travellers from accidents on the road, headaches, fall

gue? Jesus answered and said, I am not afraid, neither have I the ague. All those which bear the name of Jesus about them shall not be afraid, nor yet have the ague. Amen, sweet Jesus, Amen, sweet Jehovah, A

childbirth. It was necessary, however, for the writer of such amulets to plunge into a bath as soon as he

r φυρφαραν and hang it round the man's neck; it will stop the approach of inflammation. The following will stop inflammation coming on, written on a clean sheet of paper: ρουβο?, ρνονεια? ρηελιο? ω?' καντεφορα και παντε? ηακοτει; it must be hung to the neck b

the Koran are written and worn

ound sewed in his doublet. This was a "profession of faith" whi

These were used for preservatives against thunderbolts and diseases, to procure many wives and to give them easy deliveries, to avert shipwreck or slavery, and to secure victory in battle. One, to be used for the last purpose, which had belonged to a king of Brak, in Senegal, was found on his body after he had the misfortune to be killed in battle with the amulet upon him. It had the following sentences from t

n down. The Mischna permitted the Jews to wear amulets provided they had been found efficacious in at le

itage from the northern pagan races, were freely

ed to be of the greatest efficacy, and ready for suspension from the neck. Their efficacy was admitt

ordered them as placebos for rich and fastidious patients who could not be persuaded to adopt a more rational treatment. Baas tells us that

every evil rune lay, and one full of elvish tricks, writ for the bewitched man, this writing in Greek letters: Alfa, Omega, Iesvm, BERONIKH. Again, another dust and drink against a rune lay;

tiations, and promote infallibly, rapid and enormous influence, "other virtues of a surprising character were awarded the omnipotent mandragora. It conciliated affection and maintained friendship, preserved conjugal fealty and developed benevolence. The immensity of worth inherent in this mystical medicament, its vital essence,

number of the most noted amulets, according to the di

as supposed to be especially efficacious in ague. The chips of a gallows put into a bag and worn around the neck, or next the skin, have been said to have served as a cure, at least, so reports Brand.99 Millefolium or

g: "I tooke early in the morning a good dose of Elixir, and hung thre

medical aid, by applying to his wrists "a mixture of two handfuls of bay salt, the same quantity of fresh English hops, and a quarter of a pound of blu

ery, sore eyes, aches, &c., and such experimental medicines, as all the country where she dwelt can witness, to have done many famous and good cures upon divers poor folks that were otherwise destitute of help, yet among all other experiments, this methought was most absurd and ridiculous. I could see no warrant for it. Quid aranea cum

d that it should be bound upon the girl's wrist and there allowed to remain until she was well. The ague returned no more; and Holt, having remained in the house a week, called for his bill. "God bless you, sir," said the old woman, "you're nothing in my debt, I'm sure. I wish, on the contrary, that I was able to pay you for the cure which you have made of my daughter. Oh! if I had had the happiness to see you ten months ago, it would have saved me forty pounds." With pretended reluctance he accepted his accommodation as a recompense, and rode away. Many years elapsed, Holt advanced in his profession of the law, and went a circuit, as one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, into the same county, where, among other criminals brought before him, was an old woman under a charge of witchcraft. To support this accusation, several witnesses swore that the prisoner had a spell with which she could either cure such cattle as were sick or destroy those that were well, and that in the use of this spell she had been lately detected, and that it was now ready to be

pecies of jasper, when bound to the left wrist, was a cure

relief. Until quite recently they were kept by many families in the Highlands of Scotland. They were marked with certain figures and were applied with certain

cholera was prevalent during the early part of the last century, it was common in many parts of Austria, Germany, and Italy to wear an amulet at the pit of the stomach, in contact with th

o take it from a dog that is black. Alexander of Tralles recommended the heart of a lark to be fastened to the left thigh as a remedy for colic. Mr. Cockayne, the editor of Saxon Leechdoms, gives us further remedies for colic which Alexander prescribed. "Thus for colic, he

ulets are mentioned as

Ring on th

thread below

ings will be considere

ly wrote the formula on parchment and suspended it from the ne

t two of its knees, or knots, in nine pieces, and these pieces being bound in a piece of linen, be in a thread, so hung about the neck, that they touch the spoon of the heart, or the sword-formed cartilage; and that they may stay more firmly in that place, they are to be bound thereon with a linen or silken roller wrapt about the

its efficacy is greatly increased. This was the receipt in Berkshire, but in Devonshire silver was not necessary. Here they prefer a ring made from three nails or screws dug out of a church-yard, which had been used to fasten a coffin. We are also informed that another kind of ri

essfully employed in the cure of epilepsy after various medical means failed.111 Lupton says: "A piece of a child

the right arm and worn for seven weeks; the latter was a preventive as well as a cure. Among the ancients, Serapion prescribed crocodile's dung and turtle's blo

ollowing is the method of preparing the amulet. It is to be made of "Elder on which the sun never shined. If the piece betwixt the two knots be hung abo

it to be worn about the necks of children. Douce has given engravings of several Roman amulets which were

many necks, written in paper and enclosed in silke, never failing to do sovereigne good when all other helpes were helplesse. No sight might dare to reade or open. At length a curi

ct, in his eye, catch a fox alive, cut his tongue out, let him go, dry his tongue and tie it up in a red rag and hang it round the man's neck

g, lap it in a piece of russet cloth and hang it about the neck; it cureth the right eye if it bee e

at among the ancients Chrysippus believed in amulets for quartan fevers an

e bag, and wear it near the ankles. The words are meu, treu, mor, phor, teux, za, zor, phe, lou, chri, ge, ze, ou, as the sun is consolidated in these names, and is renewed every day; so consolidate this plaster as it was b

an herb picked from the head of a statue, ti

hey may be relieved by a stone, which will prevent, if constantly worn about the person, any

be borne about." He recommends for head melancholy such things as hypericon, or St. John's-wort, gathered on a Friday in the ho

erning preservatives against the pestilence, says: "Perceiving many in this Citie to weare about their Necks, upon the region of the Heart, certaine Placents or Amulets, (as preservatives against the pestilence,) confected of Arsenicke, my opinion is that they are so farre fr

lor Hatton to Sir Thomas Smith written at a time of an alarming epidemic. Among other things he writes: "I am likewise bold to recommend my most humble duty to our dear mistress (Queen Elizabeth) by this LETTER AND

n vain attempted to destroy a Malay so long as he wore a bracelet containing a bone set in gold, which rendered him proo

of the inhabitants of the garrison to the sword; and that in obedience thereto, the heads of all were cut off, excepting of eight persons, who, by the efficacy of a diabolical charm, consisting of a jewel or amulet introduc

lp." To this Brand adds: "Squire Morley of Essex used to say a Prayer which he hoped would do no harm when he hung a bit of vervain

imes wore a tooth taken from a corpse, kept in a bag

imal so marked are held in high estimation as a cure for the hooping-cough. In this metropolis, at least so lately as 1842, an elderly lady advised a friend who had a child dangerously ill with that complaint, to procure three such hairs, and hang them round the neck of the sufferer in a muslin bag. It was added that the animal from whom th

ted with the hooping-cough. In reply to some inquiries as to her treatment of the child, the mother pointed to its neck, on which was a string fastened, having nine knots tied in it. The poor woman stated that it was the stay-lace of the child's godmother which, if a

his faith in it. "The root of cut Malowe hanged about the neck driveth away blemishes of the eyen, whether it be in a man or a horse, as I, Jerome of Brunsweig

to be cured by this application." The efficacy of the elder also extended to animals, for a lame pig was formerly cured by boring a hole in his ear and putti

ons Connected with ... Medicin

tomy of Melanchol

ular Antiquities

itions Connected with ... M

Medical Economy During t

tions Connected with ... Med

ular Antiquities

and Growth of the H

tions Connected with ... Med

f Medical Economy During

pular Antiquiti

n and Growth of the

al Medicine," Nineteent

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atomy of Melancho

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ess of Natural Philos

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, pp. 251

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cal and Physica

Notable Th

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bid.,

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d., III

al Medicine," Nineteent