CHAPTER XVI.MEDICAL AMULETS.

Any object believed to be possessed of a mysterious power of warding off or removing evil of any kind may be regarded as an amulet. A medical amulet is one capable of warding off or of removing a disease or diseases. The prevention of disease, or, what is much the same thing, the preservation of health, is the use to which it has been chiefly put. This is quite as true of its use to-day as formerly.

In speaking of medical amulets one has no reason to use only the past tense. They are still much used, as the reader of Brande, or of the publications of the Folk-Lore Society, or ofNotes and Queries, well knows. Nor are the patrons of them of the illiterate class only. Every physician has, doubtless, met with instances of their use by persons of intelligence. Here is a clergyman who carries a chestnut in his pocket to keep off rheumatism; and there is an attorney-at-law who keeps a stolen potato about him for the same purpose. In ancient times, however, their use was extremely common, all but universal.

Of the practical value of amulets I may say, without hesitancy, that it is very great. Of course it would be irrational to hold that they act, to any extent, otherwise than through impressions made by them on the mind. Such impressions may undoubtedly be powerful for good. That this is the case few competent to form an opinion on the subject will question. The intelligent reader of history, as well as the scientific psychologistand physician, has abundant reason to know that it is true. I repeat what I have deliberately said elsewhere: “Amulets do serve, in a measure, to prevent disease. Anything which inspires confidence and hope is sanative in its effects. Faith is a powerful healer.”[477]

A gem with a symbol of one kind or another engraved on it was, from an early period, an ordinary medical amulet. A common symbol was a figure of Hygeia; and one of Serapis was long quite as common. The name of Raphael (literally healer of God), the patron angel of the early Christians, was often shown on both amulets and talismans. This angel had a reputation as a healer,[478]as the reader familiar with “Tobias” is aware. In that historical book, it is said that when Tobias and Sara were afflicted “the holy angel of the Lord, Raphael, was sent to heal them both.”[479]Tobias was told by him that if he put a little piece of a fish’s heart upon coals the smoke thereof would drive away all kinds of devils, either from man or woman, and that they would not return.[480]

A serpent was a very familiar object on gems used as amulets. The later Egyptians, who were great believers in such things, were very partial to it. Among the objects found by General Di Cesnola, in Cypress, was a scarabæoid of banded agate, on which are engraved two asps with a cartouche between, inscribed with the word εχις. In reference to this word he says: “It can be no other than έχις, the old form of εχιδνα,and may possibly be a proper name after the analogy of Draco, not uncommon in Greece; and Echidna, whose amour with Hercules Herodotus relates. Or, if taken in its primary sense the word may constitute an amulet against the asps, still so plentiful in Cyprus, and to be of the nature of those prophylactic rings against snake-bites alluded to by Aristophanes.[481]Arab amulets, at the present day, bear the figure of the thing against which they exert their virtue, and all Oriental practices in this line come down from immemorial antiquity.”[482]

I may remark that the use of images of things feared to save from them has, indeed, been extensively practiced. The cause and the effect, in many afflictions, might be so used. The golden emerods and mice, spoken of in the Bible, are instances.[483]The same idea may have had something to do with the use of the brazen serpent of Moses. The Chaldeans, in resorting to this peculiar plan of dealing with their evil spirits, represented them, says Lenormant, “under such hideous forms that they believed that it was sufficient for them to be shown their own image to cause them to flee away alarmed.”[484]And this leads me to say that great medical virtues have been held to spring from things repulsive. Thus, water drank from the skull of a suicide has received credit for the cure of many a case of epilepsy. Tasting the blood of a murderer has been resorted to successfully in cases of the same disease.

A word in this connection aboutadder-stonesmay not be amiss. These objects have long been regarded by many as charms or amulets of great power. They are simply the whorls or rude fly-wheels put on spindlesof spinning-wheels. Dr. A. Mitchell discusses them at length in his interesting archæological work.[485]

Under the head of medical amulets are to be classed many things, such asblessed objectsandrelicsof various kinds. The extent to which these were used, century after century, down even to our own day, is surprising. The interested reader may advantageously turn to Fort’s learned work.[486]The sprinkling of “holy water”[487]over patients by pious Catholics is familiar to every physician. I have seen a few drops of water from Lourdes given by a priest to his mother, sinking from lung disease. A few weeks ago I saw a cup of water in which a little earth from Knock, in the south of Ireland, was mixed, given with great confidence in its power for good, in a case of difficult labor. In the “Zend Avesta” wonderful virtue is ascribed togomez;[488]and the same thing is equally lauded in the sacred books of the Hindus. What strange beliefs mortals may have!

Certainnumeralshave had remarkable properties accorded them by philosophical and other speculators.Sevenhas occupied a prominent position. The primitive Chaldeans, in their study of the heavens, became acquainted with seven planets, including the sun and moon, and their week consisted of seven days. With the Egyptians and others the same was the case. Pythagoras saw in this number the three of the triangle and the four of the square,—the two perfect figures. It was considered sacred to Helios and also Apollo. The Hebrewshebameans seven, and was the symbol of adeity[489]before it came to signify an oath. As a charm or amulet, the number was believed to be possessed of great potency. Health was assured by carrying it about the person on a gem or the like. Ebers illustrates this superstition in one of his splendid historical novels; he makes Boges, in giving a ring to Crœsus, speak thus:—

“Take this ring. It has never left my finger since I quitted Egypt, and it has a significance far beyond its outward worth. Pythagoras, the noblest of the Greeks, gave it to my mother when he was tarrying in Egypt to learn the wisdom of our priests, and it was her parting gift to me. The number seven is engraved upon the simple stone. This indivisible number represents perfect health, both to soul and body, for health is likewise one and indivisible. The sickness of one member is the sickness of all; one evil thought allowed to take up its abode within our heart destroys the entire harmony of the soul. When you see this seven, therefore, let it recall my heart’s wish that you may ever enjoy undisturbed bodily health and long retain that loving gentleness which has made you the most virtuous and, therefore, the healthiest of men.”[490]

As already intimated, the Chaldeans attributed special virtues to certain numbers, of which seven would seem to have been the most highly esteemed. Unfortunately, none of their numerical formulæ have as yet been discovered. The “mamit” or “number” has been referred to before. Lenormant remarks: “More powerful than the incantations were conjurations wrought by the power of numbers. In this way the supreme secretwhich Hea taught to his son, Silik-mulu-khi, when he consulted him in his distress, was always called ‘the number.’”[491]

A remnant of the old belief in the relation of seven to health is the wide-spread superstitious notion that the seventh son of the seventh son is possessed of special healing powers. Curiously enough, I had a visit from such a person, just before writing this; and he as firmly believes that he can cure “the evil” and other ills with certainty as any king that ever exercised the royal gift.

The colorredhas long served the purpose of an amulet. To this day a red string is occasionally seen around the necks of children to protect them against scarlet fever and other pestilential diseases; and the belief in the special virtue of red flannel is almost universal. Says Aubrey: “Johannes Medicus, who lived and wrote in the time of Edward II, and was Physition to that king, gives an account of his curing the prince of ye small-pox, a disease but then lately known in England, by ordering his bed, his room, and his attendants to be all in scarlet, and imputes ye cure in great measure to the virtue of ye colour.”[492]The same was done in the case of the Emperor Francis I, in 1765.

Of red it is certainly true that it is a warm color; and the impression of it on the mind is stimulating. Experiments have shown that different colors exert various influences over living forms, including man.

But, although medical virtues have been ascribed to red, it has been looked on as anything but good. Says Ebers: “In the ‘Papyrus-Ebers’ all injurious and evil things are called red.”[493]The scorching sands of the desert, likely, gave the Egyptian his dislike to the color.In the Hindu book of the law,[494]a man is forbidden to marry a girl with reddish hair, but why is not stated. Satan is usually given a suit of fiery hue.

TheAnkhwas a symbol of the Egyptians signifying life. It received the Latin name ofcrux ansata, or handled cross, from its shape. Sometimes it is spoken of as the key of life. Each of the great divinities carries one. “We do not know,” says Kenrick, “the reason why life was represented by thecrux ansata.”[495]It seems, however, that the object was at first simply a crossed pole, used to measure the degree of rise in the waters of the Nile during the period of flood, an annual occurrence of vital importance to the inhabitants of the historic region. From this originated, according to Pluche and others, the meaning of life attached to it. In the hand of Thoth, a serpent was sometimes twined around it. From it has sprung, according to Gerald Massey, many modern symbols and words. “It is extant,” says he, “in the great seals of England, in a reversed position, as the token of power and authority;”[496]and he ventures to affirm that “to be anxious is to be very much alive.”[497]

Fig. 22.—Ankh, or Crux Ansata.

Regarded as aTauor T[498]with a link attached, it was often interpreted as Typhon chained. As such it was customary to suspend it as an amulet from the necks of children and sick people; and it was connected with thewrappings of mummies. M. Pluche, who has gone at length into this interesting subject, says: “This custom of bridling the powers of the enemy, and of hanging a captive Typhon about the necks of children, of sick persons, and of the dead, appeared so beneficial and so important that it was adopted by other nations. The children and the sick most commonly wore a ticket, whereon was a T, which they looked upon as a powerful preventive. In process of time, other characters were substituted in the room of the letter T, which was at first engraved on this ticket, but of which the other nations understood neither the meaning nor intention. They often put a serpent on it, an Harpocrates, or the object of the devotions in vogue; nay, sometimes ridiculous figures, or even some that were of the utmost indecency. But the name ofamuletthat was given to the ticket, and which signifies the removal of evil, most naturally represents the intention of the Egyptians, from whom this practice came.”[499]

Fig. 23.—Health, in Hieroglyphics.

Asceptre(Tem), which, alone, may signify strong, in connection with the ankh stands for strong life, or health. This combination is seen on one of the faces of the obelisk now in London.

Touch-pieces, or golden eagles, were special coins first issued by King Henry VII to persons “touched for the evil.” One side of the piece bore an angel standing on a dragon, with the inscription,Soli Deo gloria, and the other a ship in full sail. Some had other designs. A hand extending from above was often given,—an old symbol of healing, being in use in Egypt, and generally having in connection with it a serpent, or afigure of Serapis.[500]The hand of the Lord so frequently spoken of in the Bible may have suggested it. Specimens of those issued by Charles II and James II are to be seen in the collection of coins now in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. There are cuts of several in Pettigrew’s work.[501]

The touch-pieces were carefully preserved and used as amulets.

The practice of touching for the evil by English sovereigns, from Edward the Conqueror down to Queen Anne, did not originate with them. Tacitus[502]gives an interesting account of the cure of a case of blindness and of one of paralysis, in the same way, by Vespasian. Every Bible-reader knows that it was resorted to in Palestine. But it was in vogue in Greece three centuries before our era. In his “Life of Pyrrhus,” Plutarch says: “It was believed that he cured the swelling of the spleen by sacrificing a white cock, and with his right foot gently pressing the part affected, the patients lying upon their backs for the purpose. There was no person, however poor or mean, to whom this relief, if requested, was refused. He received no reward except the cock for sacrifice, and this present was very agreeable to him.”

Fig. 24.—A Medicine-Bag.

Themedicine-bagof the North American Indians has been almost universally regarded by that race as of wonderful virtue in warding off harmful influences of all kinds. It has served them as a preventive, and also, like Prince Ahmed’s apple, as a cure for every disease. Catlin says he found that “every [male] Indian, in hisprimitive state, carries his medicine-bag in some form or other, to which he pays the greatest homage and to which he looks for safety and protection through life.”[503]The same writer, who, I may remark, had a very wide acquaintance among Indians, pronounces it to be “the key to Indian life and Indian character.”[504]

The contents of this mysterious bag, this “bag of wonders,” are preserved a secret, one which none wishes to discover. These consist of a medicinal herb, or the like, with some packing-material, such as dried grass or moss.

The medicine-bag is formed from the skin of a human being or some reptile, bird, or other creature. The suggestion of the substance to be used was left to a dream, inspired by the “great spirit,” and experienced during the fast indulged in about puberty, the time when the Indian “makes his medicine;” that is, learns what animal is to be his guardian, as it were. Various ornaments are attached to it.

The medicine-bag is attached to the belt or carried in the hand. No other possession could be compared with it in value, and money could not buy one. It is buried with its owner.

As already hinted, the medicine-bag is not considered of medical import only; it is believed to have a power over all injurious influences. By “medicine” the Indian has reference to everything he cannot understand. Catlin and others are doubtless right in their opinion that it came from the French word for doctor,médecin.It is themanitoormanitouof the Algonkin, theokiof the Iroquois, and theteotlof the Aztec. And, curious to observe, these words also mean serpent.

I may also explain here that the “medicine-man” is not alone the physician; he deals with the mysterious generally. There were three kinds: the Jossakeeds, or seers or prophets; the Medas, or medical practitioners; and the Wabenos, a class that indulged in night orgies.

In Miss Emerson’s book it is said that “the dress of the Medas of the celebrated Mandan Indians, whose tribe is now extinct, was a medley of the animal and vegetable kingdom. All anomalies in nature were used as of great medical effect in the construction of this professional guard. The skin of the yellow bear usually formed the most important feature of the dress, and to this was sometimes attached the skins of snakes and the hoofs of deer, goats, and antelopes.”[505]The appearance of such a “doctor” was surely sufficient to frighten away most of the evil spirits which were the source of human ills.

Back to Index Next