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 of _Notes 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 psychologist
and 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 about ADDER-STONES may 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 spindles
of 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
as BLESSED OBJECTS and RELICS of 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 to _gomez_;[488] and the same
thing is equally lauded in the sacred books of the Hindus. What strange
beliefs mortals may have!
Certain NUMERALS have had remarkable properties accorded them by
philosophical and other speculators. SEVEN has 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 Hebrew _sheba_ means seven, and was the
symbol of a deity[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 secret which
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 color RED has 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.
The ANKH was a symbol of the Egyptians signifying life. It received the
Latin name of _crux 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 the _crux 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]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.—ANKH, OR CRUX ANSATA.]
Regarded as a TAU or 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 the wrappings 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 of _amulet_
that 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]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.—HEALTH, IN HIEROGLYPHICS.]
A SCEPTRE (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 a figure 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.”
[Illustration: FIG. 24.—A MEDICINE-BAG.]
The MEDICINE-BAG of 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 his primitive 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 the _manito_ or _manitou_
of the Algonkin, the _oki_ of the Iroquois, and the _teotl_ of 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.