Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery | Page 9

themselves, appear weak or faint in comparison with those that
come from the expressions.[30:1]
The medical science of the ancient Romans was largely theurgical, and
was founded on a pretended influence over spiritual beings, whether
gods or demons. Their system of therapeutics included prayers,
invocations, and magical sentences. In speaking of verbal charms, Lord
Bacon commented on the fact that amongst the heathen nations, either
barbarous words, without meaning, were used, or "words of
similitude," which were intended to feed the imagination. Also
religious texts, which strengthen that faculty. Mystical expressions
were favorites, as were also Hebrew sentences, as belonging to the holy
tongue. No examples of magical formulas are found in the Bible, but
Rabbinical literature contains a large number of them, the majority
being designated as "heathen," and their use forbidden.[31:1]
A belief in the potency of written or spoken words, for the production
of good or evil, has been characteristic of all historic epochs and
nations. The exorcist of ancient Egypt relied on amulets and mysterious
phrases for the cure of disease; and a metrical petition traced on a
papyrus-leaf, or a formula of prayer opportunely repeated, "put to flight
the serpents, who were the instruments of fate."[31:2]
The efficacy anciently attributed to verbal charms appears to have been
partly due to a current opinion that names of persons and things were
not of arbitrary invention, but were in some mysterious manner evolved
from nature, and hence were possessed of a certain inherent force,
which was potent either for good or evil.[32:1]
Our Lord, when on earth, went about healing the sick by the sole power

of words. A notable instance of this is the case of the centurion of
Capernaum, who deemed himself unworthy of the honor of having
Christ enter his dwelling, in order to cure his servant, who lay sick of
the palsy. "But speak the word only," he said, "and my servant shall be
healed." And the Master replied: "Go thy way; and as thou hast
believed, so be it done unto thee." And his servant was healed in the
self-same hour. That evening, we are told, many that were possessed
with devils were brought unto him; and he cast out the spirits with his
word, and healed all that were sick.[32:2] The popularity of Scriptural
texts in primitive therapeutics is doubtless largely due to the many
wonderful cures wrought by words, which are recorded in the Bible.
Usually, in the Gospels, the healing word is addressed to the patient,
but occasionally to his master, or to one of his parents. Whenever the
belief in the power of sacred words appears outside of Holy Writ, it is
generally expressed in the guise of a superstitious formula. This belief
is found, however, in the mystical tenets of the ancient Jewish sect,
known as the Essenes. It is also clearly stated in the Zend Avesta, as
follows: "One may heal with herbs, one may heal with the Law, one
may heal with the Holy Word; amongst all remedies, this is the healing
one, that heals with the Holy Word; this one it is that will best drive
away sickness from the body of the faithful; for this one is the best
healing of all remedies."[33:1]
The religious and devotional sentences, which are so commonly seen
above the entrances of dwellings in Germany and other European lands,
and the passages from the Koran similarly used among Moslems, are
not necessarily evidence of the piety of the members of a household.
For, as has been remarked, these sentences are often regarded merely as
protective charms.[33:2]
According to an old Welsh custom, fighting-cocks were provided with
prophylactic amulets before entering the arena. These amulets consisted
of biblical verses, inscribed on slips of paper, which were bound around
the cocks' legs. A favorite verse thus used was Ephesians, VI, 16:
"Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked."[33:3] Some of the old English medical

verse-spells are sufficiently quaint exponents of popular credulity.
The following, for example, was in vogue as a remedy for cramp in the
leg:--
"The Devil is tying a knot in my leg, Mark, Luke and John, unloose it, I
beg."[34:1]
Mr. W. G. Black, in his "Folk-Medicine" (p. 170), remarks that many
of the magic writings used as charms were nothing else than
invocations of the Devil; and cites the case of a young woman living in
Chelsea, England, who reposed confidence in a sealed paper,
mystically inscribed, as a prophylactic against toothache. Having
consented, at the request of her priest, to examine the writing, this is
what she found: "Good Devil, cure her, and take her for your pains."
This illustrates the somewhat trite proverb, "Where ignorance is bliss,
'twere folly to be wise," and