Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery | Page 7

Pope Leo guaranteed the
bearer thereof against bodily injuries, fainting spells, and drowning.
Then followed the words, Christus vincit; Christus regnat, together
with the names of the twelve apostles, and those of the three Wise Men,
Balthasar, Melchior, and Kaspar.[23:1]
This doubtless was a fair specimen of the inscribed amulets, worn by
German peasants in the fifteenth century.
Even nowadays the names of the three magi are often to be seen, as
talismanic symbols, upon the doors and walls of dwellings in certain
Roman Catholic countries; a fact noted by the present writer, while
sojourning in the Austrian Tyrol a few years ago.
FOOTNOTES:
[20:1] M. F. Blumler, A History of Amulets.
[22:1] The Century Dictionary.
[23:1] Johann Heinrich Zedler, Grosses Universal Lexicon, art.
"Talismans." Leipzig und Halle, 1744.
CHAPTER III
PHYLACTERIES
They ware in their foreheads scrowles of parchment, wherein were
written the tenne commaundements given by God to Moses, which they
called philaterias. JOHN MARBECK, Book of Notes and
Common-Places: 1581.
There were Phylacteries for the head, reaching from one ear to the other,
and tied behind with a thong; and Phylacteries for the hand, fastened
upon the left arme, above the elbow, on the inside, so that it might be
near the heart. THOMAS GODWIN, Moses and Aaron: 1616.

Among the Greeks of the first century A. D. the word phylacterion
(from +phylassein+, to guard, and equivalent to the Roman amuletum)
signified a portable charm, which was believed to afford protection
against disease and evil spirits. Such charms, in their simplest form,
consisted of rolls of parchment or ribbon, inscribed with magical spells,
and were hung around the wearer's neck, or attached to the hem of his
garment. Among the Hebrews and early Christians similar protectives
were used, although the latter substituted Gospel texts for the magic
formulas. Some authorities have maintained that phylacteries were not
strictly amulets, but it is certain that they were held in superstitious
regard.[25:1] More elaborate phylacteries consisted of tiny leathern
boxes, cubical in form, and containing four sections of the Mosaic Law,
written on parchment and folded in the skin of a clean beast. These
were carried either upon the head or left arm.[25:2]
The custom of wearing portions of the Gospels, suspended from the
neck, was common in the East. Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) sent
to Theodelinda, Queen of the Lombards, a box containing a copy of the
Gospels, as a charm against the evil spirits which beset children.[25:3]
The origin of this practice is found in Deuteronomy VI, 6-9: "And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the
way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou
shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts
of thy house, and on thy gates."
In the rabbinical Targum, the Aramaic translation of the Bible, canto
VIII, written about A. D. 500, occurs this passage: "The congregation
of Israel hath said, I am chosen above all people, because I bind the
Phylacteries on my left hand and on my head, and the scroll is fixed on
the right side of my door, the third part of which is opposite my
bed-room, that the evil spirits may not have power to hurt me."
Thus it would appear that the saying quoted by Grimm, "Christians
place their faith in words, the Jews in precious stones, and the Pagans

in herbs," is not wholly correct, for the Jews added to a trust in stones, a
faith in the long, embroidered, text-inscribed phylactery.[26:1]
At the beginning of the Christian era, the belief was general among the
Jews and pagans, that by means of magical formulas the evil influence
of the Devil and demons could be successfully resisted. Therefore the
Hebrew exorcists found easily a fertile soil for the cultivation of their
supernatural art. This, says a writer in the "Jewish Encyclopædia," was
the atmosphere in which Christianity arose, with the claim of healing
all that were oppressed of the Devil. The name of Jesus became the
power by which the host of Satan was to be overcome. But pharisaism
diagnosed the disease of the age differently, and insisted that the
observance of the Law was the best prophylactic against disease. The
wearing of phylacteries indicates that they were regarded by the Jews
as amulets. Belief in the power of the Law became the antidote against
what may be termed "Satanophobia," a pessimistic and habitual dread
of devils and demons.
The wearing of phylacteries is a fundamental principle of the Jewish
religion. They are to