12. "nobis in diem, et remitte nobis peccata nostra, etenim ipsi
13. "remittimus omnibus qui nobis debent; et ne nos inducas in tentat-
14. "-ionem, sed libera nos a malo. Fiat."
It will be seen that the first three lines of this charm are a sort of gibberish, with an admixture of Greek and Latin words, constituting in itself a charm, supposed to be efficacious in expelling or restraining evil spirits. With the fourth line, then, we begin our translation.
"As it is said in the seventeenth chapter of St. Matthew, at the twentieth verse, 'By faith ye may remove mountains: be it according to [my] faith,'[51] if there is, or ever shall be, witchcraft [or enchantment] or evil spirit, that haunts or troubles this person, or this place, or this beast [or these cattle], I adjure thee to depart, without disturbance, molestation, or trouble in the least, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." [Then follows the Lord's Prayer in Latin, ending with the word "Fiat" (be it done), instead of Amen.] These words are endorsed or written outside the paper in two lines:—
"Agla + On [or En] Tetragrammaton."
In a charm cited in the Heptameron, or Mercurial Elements of Peter de Abano, these are called "the three secret names." The first two are names given to the Deity by the Jewish cabalists. The third (which is also the last word in the second line of the charm) is one also frequently in use amongst Talmudists and Jewish writers, meaning literally "four-lettered," as descriptive of the sacred and unpronounceable name ("Jehovah," written in Hebrew by four letters). The word is here endorsed, as if to authenticate the whole charm, and to show that it is the production of an artist who understood his business; for "tetragrammaton," and "fiat," are words of such potency, that a charm without them would be of no efficacy whatever. The Rev. Richard Garnett adds to his account of this charm (in May, 1825):—"I should think that the document is of no great antiquity, probably not more than thirty or forty years old. It was doubtless manufactured by some country 'wise man,' a regular dealer in such articles. There are, I believe, several persons within twenty miles of Blackburn, who still carry on a trade of this sort."
[In the Heptameron, already quoted, is "The Conjuration of the Lord's Day," which runs thus:—"I conjure and confirm upon you, ye strong and holy angels of God ... [here follow various names of angels, including those 'who rule in the fourth heaven'], and by the name of his star, which is Sol, and by his sign, and by the immense name of the living God, and by all the names aforesaid—I conjure thee, Michael, O! great angel, who art chief ruler of the Lord's Day," &c.].