Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery | Page 8

be preserved with the greatest care. Indeed, the
Rabbis assert that the single precept of the phylacteries is equal in value
to all the commandments.[27:1] The Talmud says: "Whoever has the
phylacteries bound to his head and arm, and the fringes thrown over his
garments, and the Mezuza[27:2] fixed on his door-post, is safe from sin;
for these are excellent memorials, and the angels secure him from sin;
as it is written, 'The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that
fear him, and delivereth them.'"[27:3] Maimonides, the Jewish
philosopher of the twelfth century, extolled the sacred influence of the
phylacteries. For as long as one wears them on his head and arm, he is
obliged to be meek and God-fearing, and must not suffer himself to be
carried away by laughter or idle talk, nor indulge in evil thoughts, but
must turn his attention to the words of truth and uprightness.
In order to emphasize their religious zeal, the Pharisees and scribes, in
our Lord's time, were wont to "make broad their phylacteries."[27:4]
Josephus, the historian of the first century, speaks of the wearing of
phylacteries, as an established and recognized custom. According to the

Cabala, they were significant of the wisdom and greatness of God, and
their use distinguished the cultured and pious from the common people,
who were ignorant of the Law.
Great care was taken in the preparation of phylacteries, and no
Christian, apostate, or woman was allowed to write the inscriptions
upon them. Even at the present time, there are Jews in Russia and
Poland, who wear them during the whole day.[28:1]
It was customary to tie certain kinds of phylacteries into a knot.
Reference to this ancient practice is found in certain Assyrian talismans,
now in the British Museum. Following is a translation of one of them:
"Hea says: 'Go, my son! take a woman's kerchief, bind it round thy
right hand; loose it from the left hand. Knot it with seven knots; do so
twice. Sprinkle it with bright wine; bind it round the head of the sick
man. Bind it round his hands and feet, like manacles and fetters; sit
down on his bed; sprinkle water over him. He shall hear the voice of
Hea. Darkness shall protect him, and Marduk, eldest son of Heaven,
shall find him a happy habitation.'"[28:2]
While the practice of wearing phylacteries may not have originated in a
superstitious belief in their virtues as "appurtenances to make prayers
more powerful," it would appear that they came to be regarded not only
as protective charms, which is indicated by their name, but also as
magical remedies, having occult healing properties.[29:1] Their power
was supposed to inhere in the written words, enclosed in the small
leathern case.
At the present day, verses from the Scriptures, the Koran, and other
sacred writings are sometimes worn upon the person and are also
placed upon horses or camels, by Arabs, Turks, Grecians, and Italians,
with the avowed purpose of averting malignant glances.[29:2]
FOOTNOTES:
[25:1] Encyclopædia Britannica.
[25:2] Samuel Burder, Oriental Customs, vol. ii, p. 226.

[25:3] Smith and Cheetham, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities.
[26:1] William George Black, Folk-Medicine, p. 165.
[27:1] Joseph Barclay, The Talmud.
[27:2] Scroll of parchment, inscribed with passages of Scripture.
[27:3] Psalm xxxiv, 7.
[27:4] James Hastings, D.D., A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels,
1908, p. 360. Matthew, xxiii, 5.
[28:1] Philip Schaff, D.D., A Religious Encyclopædia.
[28:2] Biblical Things not generally known, 1879, pp. 177-8. Marduk,
the Chaldean Hercules.
[29:1] James Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible.
[29:2] Frederick Thomas Elworthy, The Evil Eye.
CHAPTER IV
THE POWER OF WORDS
In every word there is a magic influence, and each word is in itself the
breath of the internal and moving spirit. JOSEPH ENNEMOSER: The
History of Magic.
There is magic in words, surely, and many a treasure besides Ali Baba's
is unlocked with a verbal key. HENRY VAN DYKE: Little Rivers.
For it was neither herbs, nor mollifying plaster that restored them to
health, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things. WISDOM OF
SOLOMON, XVI, 12.
The power of words in stimulating the imagination is well expressed in
the following sentences:--

Words, when well chosen, have so great a force in them, that a
description often gives us more lively ideas than the sight of the things
themselves. The reader finds a scene drawn in stronger colors, and
painted more to the life in his imagination, by the help of words, than
by an actual survey of the scene which they describe. In this case the
poet seems to get the better of nature. He takes indeed the landscape
after her, but gives it more vigorous touches, heightens its beauty, and
so enlivens the whole piece, that the images which flow from the
objects