Exorcismes or conjuratiōs against serpents. I conjure thee O serpent in this houre, by the five holie woonds of our/184. Lord, that thou remove not out of this place, but here staie, as certeinelie as God was borne of a pure virgine. ❈ Otherwise: I conjure thee serpent In nomine patris, & filii, & spiritus sancti: I command thee serpent by our ladie S. Marie, that thou obeie me, as wax obeieth the fier, and as fier obeieth water; that thou neither hurt me, nor anie other christian, as certeinelie as God was borne of an immaculate virgine, in which respect I take thee up, In nomine patris & filii, & spiritus sancti: Ely lash eiter, ely lash eiter, ely lash eiter. ❈ Otherwise: O vermine, thou must come as God came unto the Jewes.L. Vair. lib. de fascinat. 1. cap. 4. ❈ Otherwise: L. Vairus saith, that Serpens quernis frondibus contacta, that a serpent touched with oke leaves dieth, and staieth even in the beginning of his going, if a feather of the bird Ibis be cast or throwne upon him: and that/255. a viper smitten or hot with a reed is astonied, and touched with a beechen branch is presentlie numme and stiffe.
Usurpers of kinred with blessed Paule and S Katharine. Here is to be remembred, that manie use to boast that they are of S. Paules race and kinred, shewing upon their bodies the prints of serpents: which (as the papists affirme) was incident to all them of S. Paules stocke. Marie they saie herewithall, that all his kinsfolks can handle serpents, or anie poison without danger. Others likewise have (as they brag) a Katharine wheele upon their bodies, and they saie they are kin to S. Katharine, and that they can carrie burning coles in their bare hands, and dip their said hands in hot skalding liquor, and also go into hot ovens. Whereof though the last be but a bare jest, and to be doone by anie that will prove (as a bad fellow in London had used to doo, making no tariance at all therein:) yet there is a shew made of the other, as though it were certeine and undoubted; by annointing the hands with the juice of mallowes, mercurie, urine, &c: which for a little time are defensatives against these scalding liquors, and scortching fiers.
But they that take upon them to worke these mysteries and miracles, doo indeed (after rehearsall of these and such like words and charmes) take up even in their bare hands, those snakes and vipers, and sometimes put them about their necks, without receiving anie hurt thereby, to the terror and astonishment of the beholders, which naturallie both feare and abhorre all serpents. But these charmers (upon my word) dare not trust to their charmes, but use such an inchantment, as everie man maie lawfullie use, and in the lawfull use thereof maie bring to passe that they shalbe in securitie, and take no harme, how much soever they handle them: marie with a woollen rag they pull out their teeth before hand, as some men saie; but as truth is, they wearie them, and that is of certeintie. And surelie this is a kind of witchcraft, which I terme private confederacie. BodinJ. Bodin. lib. de dæm. 1. cap. 3. saith, that all the snakes in one countrie were by charmes and verses driven into another region: perhaps he meaneth Ireland, where S. Patrike is said to have doone it with his holinesse, &c.
James Sprenger, and Henrie Institor affirme, that serpents and snakes, and their skins exceed all other creatures for witchcraft: in so much as witches doo use to burie them under mens/256. threshholds, either of the house or stalles, whereby barrennes is procured both to woman and beast: yea and that the verie earth and ashes of them continue to have force of fascination. In respect whereof they wish all men now and then to dig/185. awaie the earth under their threshholds, and to sprinkle holie water in the place, & also to hang boughes (hallowed on midsummer daie) at the stall doore where the cattell stand: & produce examples thereupon, of witches lies, or else their owne, which I omit; bicause I see my booke groweth to be greater than I meant it should be.
The xvi. Chapter.
Charmes to carrie water in a sive, to know what is spoken of us behind our backs, for bleare eies, to make seeds to growe well, of images made of wax, to be rid of a witch, to hang hir up, notable authorities against waxen images, a storie bewraieng the knaverie of waxen images.
EONARDUS VAIRUSL. Vairus lib. fascin. 1. ca. 5.
Oratio Tuscæ vestalis. saith, that there was a praier extant, whereby might be carried in a sive, water, or other liquor: I thinke it was Clam claie; which a crow taught a maid, that was promised a cake of so great quantitie, as might be kneded of so much floure as she could wet with the water that she brought in a sive, and by that meanes she clamd it with claie, & brought in so much water, as whereby she had a great cake, and so beguiled hir sisters, &c. And this tale I heard among my grandams maides, whereby I can decipher this witchcraft. Item, by the tingling of the eare, men heretofore could tell what was spoken of them. If anie see a scorpion, and saie this word (Bud) Of the word (Bud) and the Greeke letters Π & Α. he shall not be stoong or bitten therewith. These two Greeke letters Π and Α written in a paper, and hoong about ones necke, preserve the partie from bleereiednesse. Cummin or hempseed sowne with curssing and opprobrious words grow the faster and the better. Berosus Anianus maketh witchcraft of great antiquitie: for he saith, that/257. Cham touching his fathers naked member uttered a charme, wherby his father became emasculated or deprived of the powers generative.
¶ A charme teaching how to hurt whom you list with images of wax, &c.
MAke an image in his name, whom you would hurt or kill, of new virgine wax; under the right arme poke whereof place a swallowes hart, and the liver under the left; then hang about the necke thereof a new thred in a new needle pricked into the member which you would have hurt, with the rehearsall of certeine words, which for the avoiding of foolish superstition and credulitie in this behalfe is to be omitted. And if they were inserted, I dare undertake they would doo no harme, were it not to make fooles, and catch gudgins. ❈ Otherwise: Sometimes these images are made of brasse, and then the hand is placed where the foote should be, and the foote where the hand, and the face downeward. ❈ Otherwise: For a greater mischeefe, the like image is made in the forme of a man or woman, upon whose head is written the certeine name of the partie: and on his or hir ribs these words, Ailif, casyl, zaze, hit/ mel meltat:186. then the same must be buried.The practiser of these charmes must have skill in the planetarie motions, or else he may go shoo the goose. ❈ Otherwise: In the dominion of Mars, two images must be prepared, one of wax, the other of the earth of a dead man; each image must have in his hand a sword wherwith a man hath beene slaine, & he that must be slaine may have his head thrust through with a foine. In both must be written certeine peculiar characters, and then must they be hid in a certeine place. ❈ Otherwise: To obteine a womans love, an image must be made in the houre of Venus, of virgine wax, in the name of the beloved, wherupon a character is written, & is warmed at a fier, and in dooing therof the name of some angell must be mentioned. To be utterlie rid of the witch, and to hang hir up by the haire, you must prepare an image of the earth of a dead man to be baptised in another mans name, whereon the name, with a character, must be written: then must it be perfumed with a rotten bone, and then these psalmes read backward: Domine Dominus noster, Dominus illuminatio mea, Domine exaudi orationem meam, Deus laudem meam ne tacueris: and then burie it, first in one place, and/258. afterwards in another. Howbeit, it is written in the 21 article of the determination of Paris, that to affirme that images of brasse, lead, gold, of white or red wax, or of any other stuffe (conjured, baptised, consecrated, or rather execrated through these magicall arts at certeine days) have woonderfull vertues, or such as are avowed in their bookes or assertions, is error in faith, naturall philosophie, and true astronomie: yea it is concluded in the 22 article of that councell, that it is as great an error to beleeve those things, as to doo them.