Characts are amulets in the form of inscriptions, and are to be found in all the old houses still existing in Edinburgh.[603] The name of God is one of the commonest characts.
Rabbi Hama gives a sacred seal with divine names written in Hebrew, which he declares will cure not only all kinds of diseases, but heal all griefs whatsoever. The seals are figured in Morley’s Life of Cornelius Agrippa.[604]
When a charact or charm lost its original meaning, it came to bear that of something worn for its supposed efficacy in preserving the wearer from danger in mind or body, and now means a mere trinket to hang on a watch chain. One of the most famous of ancient charms was the name of the supreme deity of the Assyrians. This was the Abracadabra, which was supposed to have a magical efficacy as an antidote against ague, fever, flux, and toothache.[605] It was written on parchment, and arranged as follows:—
A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
This was suspended round the neck by a linen thread. The word Abraxas, or Abrasax, was engraved on antique stones, and used as amulets or charms against disease. Sometimes mystical characters and figures were added, as the head of a fowl, the arms and bust of a man terminating in the body and tail of a serpent. It is of Egyptian origin, and is referred to by the Greek Fathers. The Egyptians used it to dispossess evil spirits and to cure diseases.[606]
Abraxas is the president of the 365th heaven, and is thus evidently a sun myth. Apollo is the sun in mythology, and he was the god of physic or healing.[607]
Brande, in his Popular Antiquities, gives the following charm from a manuscript of the date of 1475:[608]—
“Here ys a charme for wyked Wych. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Per Virtutem Domini sint Medicina mei pia Crux ✠ et passio Christi ✠. Vulnera quinque Domini sint Medicina mei ✠. Virgo Maria mihi succurre, et defende ab omni maligno Demonio, et ab omni maligno Spiritu. Amen. ✠ a ✠ g ✠ l ✠ a ✠ Tetragrammaton. ✠ Alpha, ✠ oo, ✠ primogenitus, ✠ vita, vita. ✠ Sapiencia, ✠ Virtus, ✠ Jesus Nazarenus rex judeorum, ✠ fili Domini, miserere mei. Amen. ✠ Marcus ✠ Matheus ✠ Lucas ✠ Johannes mihi succurrite et defendite. Amen. ✠ Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, hunc N. famulum tuum hoc breve Scriptum super se portantem prospere salvet dormiendo, vigilando, potando, et precipue sompniando ab omni Maligno Demonio, eciam ab omni maligno spiritu ✠.”
One of the most famous charms of this kind is the “Solomon’s Seal.”
