Spells

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SPELLS

SPELLS belong to the general context of magical thought. They consist of words or sets of words that issue a command that is efficacious merely because it has been pronounced. Spells represent one of the many techniques used to control nature and the evils arising in a given society. They are found universally and are probably as old as language itself, having been in existence since the Lower Paleolithic.

The basis of the power of spells is the primitive idea that nothing exists without a name and that to know the names of things is to possess them. Thus, to give orders with the appropriate words is to ensure success, made even more certain when the speaker is a witch, shaman, holy person, or anyone else whose profession it is to deal with mystery.

Stated in other terms, spells are all-powerful spoken formulas, words, or phrases of power. They are definitive: Once uttered, the desired chain of events is set irrevocably in motion. Each word, once enunciated, has a magical value and weight that none can control.

The order given in the spell, addressed to deities, spirits, or the forces of nature, can be creative, destructive, protective, or medicinal; it can demand triumph over an enemy, or the attainment of impossible powers or things. It can be used to break spells, cast spells, or obtain love.

Conditions of Spells

According to magical thought, only prayers can be spoken by anyone at any time and remain effective. Spells, by contrast, and other such magical activities, have many prerequisites. Spells in particular must be pronounced by a person who is initiated into the mysteries or endowed with supernatural powers, and who is sexually, dietetically, and socially pure. The person casting the spell must know with precision the words he or she will pronounce, the time when they must be uttered, the cardinal point toward which one will face, what one will stand or sit on, how his or her person must be arranged, the clothing, colors, ornaments, and objects to be used, the number of times one must repeat the words, and the psychological attitude and manners one must assume. Everything must be precise. As a part of religious and magical activities, spells sometimes require musical backgrounds, specially prepared settings, appropriate instruments, prudent timing, and attention to taboos that might be violated, such as sex, the lack of initiation, or impurity.

Spells can serve either collective ends, such as victory in battle, the banishing of plagues and epidemics, or the bringing of rain, or they can serve personal ends, such as the attainment of love, health, power, wealth, virility, fertility, finding out who has stolen something, or causing harm to an enemy. The former collective spells require a complex ceremony and initiates. The latter, usually carried out on a popular level, generally need only to be repeated continually or for a magical number of times.

As a general rule, spells accompany the preparation of potions, amulets, weapons, magical paraphernalia, scepters, and objects of sorcery. They are recited over sick people, addressed to the natural elements one wants to control, or murmured softly and continuously. Rarely are they repeated by large groups of people, although this does happen occasionally.

Powerful Sounds and Words

Many scholars have concentrated on the study of the word as a symbol. These scholars include linguists, sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, educators, psychiatrists, and occultists. Many of these researchers are inclined to give an onomatopoeic value to sounds: For example, /m/ and /n/ are related to the mother because of the sound made during breastfeeding; /g/ is related to water, because that is how it sounds when swallowed; and /a/ is an imperative for calling attention. Since ancient times, philosophers such as Plato (in his dialogue Cratylus ) have remarked on how words somehow take on the form of the things they name.

Nevertheless, a serious analysis yields very few sounds or words that have the same value in all cultures. Greater universality can be found, perhaps, in the language of gestures: assenting by moving the head up and down, negating by moving it from right to left, beckoning with the arm and hand, pointing things out with the index finger or the eyes and brows, or threatening by raising a fist.

In Qabbalah, the interest in a knowledge of sounds, written letters, and words was intensified. Each sign was given a magical value that had a religious meaning and a numerical relationship. For example, the Hebrew letter alef became the symbol of humankind and the abstract principle of material objects; it is the trinity in unity and its numerical value is 1 (Scholem, 1974). Freemasonry also produced speculations in this field, but it assigned many meanings to the same letter. The letter A became an emblem of the first of the three faculties of divinity—creative power—in addition to being the abbreviation for the word architect (Powells, 1982). This association of the word with creation is found among many peoples of the world.

The history of religions has provided several words or short phrases that have been believed to be particularly powerful. The gnostics of North Africa, for instance, made an abundant use of talismans and incantations. Two words in particular have survived to this day: abraxas and abracadabra. The word abraxas represents the supreme deity and his supreme power. Numerically (a = 1, b = 2, r = 100, a = 1, x = 60, a = 1, s = 200) it adds up to 365, or the number of days in the solar year, the cycle of divine action. The word was carved into stone as a talisman and pronounced as a protective device. The word abracadabra, derived from the Aramaic phrase "Avreiq ʿad havraʾ " ("Hurl thunderbolts to [unto? at?] darkness"), was used to invoke the aid of the supreme spirits. Inscribed as an inverted triangle, with one less letter on each successive line, it was considered a powerful talisman.

The Jews, a people rich in esoteric and magical lore, were the inventors of Qabbalah, which includes one of the most important techniques for the numerological analysis of words and letters, intended to reveal their esoteric meaning. Four words in particular deserve mention. Adonai, which means "supreme lord," was spoken as an infallible invocation of aid. Haleluyah, translated as "hymn to the lord," also served as an invocation. Amen was a term that gave a full and definitive meaning to whatever was expressed. It was understood as "So be it," but with the magical sense that things could not be otherwise. Some think it was derived from invocations to Amun. Golem referred to the basic substance from which God created humans. When deprived of a soul, it could be used to create evil beings, who could be controlled only by pronouncing the true and secret name of God.

Within Islam, three phrases are believed by some to have a magical power. The phrase "Lā ilāha illā Allāh" ("There is no god but God") has been used to perform miracles (Idries Shah, 1968). The phrase "Allāh akbar" ("God is great") serves as a basis for white magic, and the words "Ism al-aʿẓam" are used to subjugate or subdue evil spirits.

Among Christians, the names Christ and Jesus serve to stave off evil. Roman Catholics may seek triple insurance by naming all three members of the holy family: "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

For Tibetan Buddhists, the phrase "Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ" contains many occult meanings. It is believed that the first word, oṃ, emanates from the cosmic vibration essential to creation. Some scholars maintain that it is equivalent to the Amin of the Muslims and the Amen of the Jews. It is the basic name of the creator god. The complete phrase expresses a desire to be pure and to be part of the universal spirit.

Spells in the History of Religions

Since ancient times people have uttered and written words, phrases, and formulas that they have believed to have some magic power or irresistible influence. Spells to ward off what is evil or undesirable and to bring about what is good or desirable are known in many cultures.

Egypt

The basic esoteric activity of the ancient Egyptians was preparation for life after death. For this purpose they developed high levels of art, magic, and religion. The preparation of a scarab, carved from semi-precious stone to replace the heart of the deceased, required that the artisan recite the following spell: "I am Thoth, the inventor and founder of medicine and letters; come to me, thou who art under the earth, rise up to me, great spirit." This spell was to be uttered without fail on a set number of days after the new moon (Idries Shah, 1968). Many similar spells are known to have been used, usually with apotropaic intent. In addition, the Egyptian Book of Going Forth by Day records spells that were to be used for each moment after a person's death.

Mesopotamia

The earliest Mesopotamian cultures have left very few records of their magico-religious thought. Later Assyro-Babylonian translations make it seem that one of the most crucial concerns of these peoples was the evil eye, the evil that surrounds people on all sides and affects them especially in the form of the envy of enemies. One spell against the evil eye went as follows:

Let the finger point to the evil desires,
the word of ill omen.
Evil is the eye, the enemy eye,
eye of woman, eye of man,
eye of a rival, anyone's eye.
Eye, you have nailed yourself to the door
and have made the doorsill tremble.
You have penetrated the house.…
Destroy that eye! Drive out that eye!
Cast it off! Block its path!
Break the eye like an earthen bowl! (Garcia Font, 1963)

The old spells used in Assyrian medicine had something of a mythical nature. Take, for instance, this spell for toothache:

After Anu made the heavens, the heavens made the earth, the earth made the rivers, the rivers made the canals, the canals made the swamps, and the swamps, in turn, made the Worm. The Worm, crying, approached Shamash, and he approached Ea, spilling tears: "What will you give me to eat and what will you give me to destroy?" "I will give you dried figs and apricots." "Of what use are they to me? Put me between your teeth and let me live in your gums, so that I can destroy the blood of the teeth and gnaw at the marrow of the gums.…" "Since you have spoken thus, O Worm, let Ea crush you with his powerful fist." (Hocart, 1975)

This was repeated until the pain disappeared.

Greece

The Greeks imagined their gods as having human form and character, and they occasionally ordered them to help the needy by means of magical formulas, as in the following spell addressed to Hekate:

Come, infernal, earthly and heavenly one … goddess of the crossroads, bearer of light, queen of the night, enemy of the sun, friend and companion of the darkness; you who are happy with the barking of dogs and bloodshed, and who wander in the darkness, near the tombs, thirsty for blood, the terror of mortals, Gorgon, Mormon, moon of a thousand forms, accept my sacrifice. (Caro Baroja, 1964)

Medieval Europe

In Europe, the practitioners of witchcraft developed multiple spells for defense against enemies, always preceded by the name of God and the archangels. Terrible spells that try to control enemies have also been found. In the anonymous medieval work Clavicula Salomonis (Small Key of Salomo), one reads: "Man or woman! Young man or old! Whoever might be the evil person trying to harm me, either directly or indirectly, bodily or spiritually … MALEDICTUS ETERNAM EST, by the holy names of Adonai, Elohim, and Semaforas. Amen." After reciting this spell, a candle was extinguished as a sign of the finality of the curse.

Sudan

The Sudan covers a territory between Egypt and Ethiopia, where the magic of Egyptian antiquity and the later Muslims is mixed with primitive animistic magic. Popular sorcerers and magicians abound, openly offering their services. Frequently they exalt their own powers, which they obtain through their spells. For example, when a hunter hires one to obtain luck at hunting, the magician says: "I am a magician, all powerful in spells. What I say comes true. I say, 'Give victory to so and so.' He will have victory in all things." Afterward, the magician goes about filled with the desire that events might occur that will instill the hunter and the warrior with luck. This is accompanied by whistlelike sounds and by facing toward different cardinal points, whistling three times in each direction while holding a receptacle of water. The Sudanese believe that spells are more powerful when pronounced over running water.

The Sudanese also have spells to give power to certain leaves that are used in the preparation of medicines. The spells are recited over the leaves a specific number of times in order to bring about the desired effect.

To obtain the love of the opposite sex, the magician draws a magic circle within which the magician prepares a potion of herbs and feathers. In order to give the potion the necessary potency, the magician repeats the following spell: "I am a magician, O Pot, you contain the medicines of love, the spell of love, of passion. My heart throbs like the drum, my blood boils like water." This is repeated three times, and afterward another spell is intoned: "Bring my desire to me, my name is so-and-so, and my desire is the one whom I love." This spell requires solemnity and precision. To make it more effective, one has to open and close one's eyes four times, slowly, while saying it.

Such spells are not taught to laypersons, only to initiates. To be able to pronounce them one has to undertake a series of purifications, such as abstaining from food and sex for forty to sixty days (Idries Shah, 1968).

India

The sheer number of spells used in the sacred books of India is noteworthy in itself. The Atharvaveda in particular is full of them. Here will be mentioned only one, dedicated to obtaining a man's love: "By the power and laws of Varuna, I invoke the burning force of love, in thee, for thee. The desire, the potent love-spirit which all the gods have created in the waters, this I invoke, this I employ, to secure thee for me" (Idries Shah, 1968).

China

One result of China's use of ideograms is that its magic produces mostly written talismans, although spells abound, greatly influenced by their historical past. A spell written on the blade of a sword could make it invincible: "I wield the large sword of Heaven to cut down specters in their five shapes; one stroke of this divine blade disperses a myriad of these beings" (Idries Shah, 1968).

Mesoamerica

As in most cultures, magic in pre-Conquest Mexico was highly specialized, permitted only to initiates. The spells themselves prove this, since their language was comprehensible only to occultists of the time; for example, a spell for alleviating intestinal pain—very common in tropical countries—was recorded in the seventeenth century by Jacinto de la Serna:

Ea, white serpent, yellow serpent, observe that you are damaging the coffer … the tendons of meat.… But the white eagle already goes ahead, but it is not my intention to harm or destroy you, I want only to stop the harm you cause by withdrawing … by stopping your powerful hands and feet. But should you rebel and disobey, I will call to my aid the pledged spirit Huactzin and also call the black chichimeco, who is also hungry and thirsty, and who rips out his intentines, to follow you. I will also call my sister, the one with the skirt of jade, who soils and disorders stones and trees, and in whose company will go the pledged leopard, who will go and make noise in the place of the precious stones and treasures: the skeletal green leopard will also accompany her. (de la Serna, [1656] 1953)

The serpents mentioned at the beginning are the intestinal maladies (intestinal worms, pinworms, tapeworms, etc.) that harm the stomach and intestines. They are threatened with the eagle, which represents the needle used to pierce the stomach for bloodletting. They are also threatened with the spirit of medicinal plants and liquids.

Modern-day spells

With the development of experimental science, one would expect magic and religion to decline. In fact all three remain active, although magic has certainly yielded ground. (Magic tends to gain ground in times of crisis.) One finds both ancient and modern spells disguised in the folk tales recorded by the brothers Grimm, such as the traditional "Magic wand, by the powers you possess, I command you to make me [rich, invisible, etc.]."

Mexico provides an interesting example of the survival of ancient spells. In pre-Conquest Mexico, death was believed to be a change of life, and it was thought that the god of the underworld, Mictlantecuhtli, was a disembodied, skeletal being with whom those who died natural deaths were united in burial. After the Spanish conquest, the figure was assimilated, ending up as a being who lends aid when the request is made in the appropriate fashion. Thus today, at the entrance to thousands of churches throughout Mexico, one can buy prayers and spells "To Most Holy Death." The most common of these tries to obtain the love of some indifferent person and says: "Death, beloved of my heart, do not separate me from your protection; do not leave him a quiet moment, bother him every instant, frighten him, worry him so that he will always think of me." This is repeated as often as possible, with the interjection of Catholic prayers.

The new mythology is even felt in the kitchen. For example, when there is some fear the the cooking will not turn out well, the following spell is recited: "Saint Theresa, you who found God in the stew, help my stew not to be [salty, burned, overcooked, etc.]." It must be admitted, however, that this and many other spells are usually said out of habit, not from a certainty that the words, through their intrinsic power, will bring the desired results. Nevertheless, a belief in the power of spells can still be found among marginal groups even today, as it has been found in the past.

Bibliography

Caro Baroja, Julio. The World of Witches. Translated by O. N. V. Glendinning. Chicago, 1984.

Cassirer, Ernst. Language and Myth. Translated by Susanne K. Langer. New York, 1948.

Cirlot, J. E. Simbolismo fonetico. Barcelona, 1973.

Garcia Font, Juan. El mundo de la magia. Madrid, 1963.

Hitschler, K. Pouvoirs secrets des mots et des symboles. Paris, 1968.

Hocart, A. M. Mito, ritual y costumbre. Barcelona, 1975.

Idries Shah, Sayed. Oriental Magic. New ed. London, 1968.

Jung, C. G. Symbols of Transformation, vol. 5 of Collected Works of Carl G. Jung. 2d ed. Edited by Gerhard Adler and translated by R. F. Hull. Princeton, N. J., 1967.

Powells, L. La sociedad secreta y la iluminación interior. Buenos Aires, 1982.

Scholem, Gershom. Kabbalah. New York, 1974.

Serna, Jacinto de la. Manual de Ministros de Indios para el conocimiento de sus idolatrías y extirpación de ellas (1656). Reprint, Mexico City, 1953.

Suares, Carlo. The Sepher Yetsira: Including the Original Astrology according to the Qabala and Its Zodiac. Translated by Vincent Stuart. Boulder, Colo., 1976.