A charm against Heartburn

Leechbook III LXII - 4

If a man hath aelfsogotha, (heart burn) his eyes are yellow,

where they should be red. If thou have a will to

cure the man, observe his gestures, and consider of what

sex he be; if it be a man and looketh up, when thou

first seest him, and the countenance be yellowish black,

thou mayst cure the man thoroughly if he is not too

long in the disease; if it is a woman and looketh

down, when thou first seest her, and her countenance

is livid red, thou mayst also cure that; if it has been

upon the man longer than a twelvemonth and a day,

and the aspect be such as this, then mayst thou amend

it for a while, and notwithstanding mayst not entirely

cure it. Write this writing:

"Scriptum est, rex regum et dominus dominantium Veronica, Veronica, . . הוהי

Αγιος, αγιος, αγιος,sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, domilinus, deus sabaoth, amen, alleluiah”

Sing this over the drink and the writing:

"Deus omnipotens, pater domini nostri Iesu Christi, per impositionem hums

a scriptures expelle a famulo tuo, here insert the name,

omnem impetum castalidum de capite, de capillis, de

cerebro, defronte, de lingua, de sublingua, de gutture, de

a faucibus, de dentibus, de oculis, de naribus, de auribus,

de manibus, de collo, de brachiis, de corde, de anima,

de genibus, de coxis, de pedibus, de compaginibus

omnium membrorum intus et foris. Amen."

Then work up a drink thus; font water, rue, sage, cassuck,

dragons, the netherward part of the smooth waybroad,

feverfue, a head of dill, three cloves of garlic, fennel,

wormwood, lovage, lupin, of all equal quantities; write

a cross three times with the oil of unction, and say,

“Pax tibi”. Then take the writing, describe a cross

with it over the drink, and sing this over it:

"Dominus omnipotens, pater domini nostri Iesu Christi, per im-

positionem huius scripturse et per gustum huius expelle

diabolum a famulo tuo;"

here insert the name, and the Credo, and Paternoster. Wet the writing in the drink,

and write a cross with it on every limb, and say:

“Signum crucis Christi conservet te in vitam aeternam. Amen."

Translation of the Latin/Hebrew/Greek

“It is written, king of kings and lord of lords, Veronica, Veronica god saint, saint, saint holy, holy, holy, is the lord of the hosts amen, alleluia”.

Sing this over the drink and the writing:

“God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the imposition of writing, drive away from this thy servant, here insert the name,

every attack of the nymph from the head, the hair, of the brain, of the front of the tongue, of the under-tongue, of the throat, of a throat, from the teeth, of the eyes, of the nose, about the ears, out of the hands, from the neck, of the arms, out of the heart, of the soul, the knees, the hips, the feet, the structure of all the members, within and without. Amen”.

…..and sing this over it:

“Lord almighty, the father of our lord Jesus Christ, by the imposition of this Scripture and the taste of this drive your servant of the devil".

Here insert the name, and the Credo, and Paternoster. Wet the writing in the drink,

and write a cross with it on every limb, and say:

“The sign of the cross of Christ may keep thee in life everlasting. Amen”.

Possible Modifications to paganise the text

We can make simple changes e.g. font water to holy water, the writing of a cross to that of a rune but some texts present more of a challenge. Here is my attempt at the charm:

Write this writing:

“It is written, lord of lords, Drychten of Drychten, Wodan, Wodan, Wodan, holy, holy, holy, is the lord of the Ese, so mote it be”.

Sing this over the drink and the writing:

Wodan, by the imposition of writing, drive away from this thy servant, here insert the name, every attack of the scucca from the head, the hair, of the brain, of the front of the tongue, of the under-tongue, of the throat, of a throat, from the teeth, of the eyes, of the nose, about the ears, out of the hands, from the neck, of the arms, out of the heart, of the soul, the knees, the hips, the feet, the structure of all the members, within and without. So mote it be”.

Then work up a drink thus; holy water, rue, sage, cassuck,

dragons, the netherward part of the smooth waybroad,

feverfue, a head of dill, three cloves of garlic, fennel,

wormwood, lovage, lupin, of all equal quantities; write

three runes with the consecrated oil, and say,

“peace to you”. Then take the writing, describe a rune

with it over the drink, and sing this over it:

“Almighty Drychten, by the imposition of this galdor and its taste, banish your servant of the scucca".

Here insert the name, and an invocation to Wodan (Wodan weoh! Wodan ure þu, þe eart on heofonum, Si þin nama gehalgod. Hwæt we nied, syle us todæg, Gewurþe ðin willa! = Wodan make sacred, Our Wodan, that is in heaven, your name is holy, what we need, give us today, be done your will).

Wet the writing in the drink and write a rune with it on every limb, and say:

“May the power of this rune keep thee in life”.