The same prelate in his Poenitential ordains[[867]]:—
“Gif ǽnig man óðerne mid wiccecræfte fordó, fæste .vii. gear,” etc.
“Gif hwá drífe stacan on ǽnigne man, fæste .iii. gear, and gif se man for ðǽre stacunge deád bið, ðonne fæste he .vii. gear, ealswá hit hér búfpon áwriten is[[868]].”
This “stacan drífan” or “stacung” is the invultuatio which has been explained in the text, and of which an example has been given from a charter of Eádgár. Mr. Thorpe’s explanation of Stacung is as follows:—
“Stácung, a sticking. The practice of sticking pins or needles into a waxen image of the person against whom the witchcraft was directed, consisted probably at first in sticking them actually into the body of the individual, ‘gif hwá drífe stácan on ǽnigne man;’ but as this process was no doubt sometimes attended with inconvenience and danger to the operator, the easier and safer method was devised of substituting a waxen proxy, instead of the true man. This practice was known under the name of defixio, ‘quod eiusmodi incantores acus subinde defigerent in imagines cereas, iis locis quibus viros ipsos pungere decreverant, qui puncturas ipsas, ac si ipsi pungerentur persentiebant.’ Du Cange. To it Ovid alludes:
‘Devovit absentes, simulacraque cerea fingit,
Et miserum tenues in iecur urget acus.’”
Ecgberht thus continues respecting philtres and other magical practices:—
“Gif hwá wiccige ymbe ǽniges mannes lufe, ⁊ him on æte sylle oððe on drince, oððe on ǽniges cynnes gealdorcræftum, ðæt hyra lufu forðon ðe máre beón scyle,” etc.[[869]]
“Gif hwá hlytas oððe hwatunga begá, oððe his wæccan æt ǽnigum wylle hæbbe, oððe æt ǽnigre óðre gesceafte bútan æt Godes cyricean, fæste he .iii. gear,” etc.