never the
belief in the power of sacred words appears outside of Holy Writ, it is
generally expressed in the guise of a superstitious formula. This belief
is found, however, in the mystical tenets of the ancient Jewish sect,
known as the Essenes. It is also clearly stated in the Zend Avesta, as
follows: "One may heal with herbs, one may heal with the Law, one may
heal with the Holy Word; amongst all remedies, this is the healing one,
that heals with the Holy Word; this one it is that will best drive away
sickness from the body of the faithful; for this one is the best healing
of all remedies."[33:1]

The religious and devotional sentences, which are so commonly seen above
the entrances of dwellings in Germany and other European lands, and the
passages from the Koran similarly used among Moslems, are not
necessarily evidence of the piety of the members of a household. For, as
has been remarked, these sentences are often regarded merely as
protective charms.[33:2]

According to an old Welsh custom, fighting-cocks were provided with
prophylactic amulets before entering the arena. These amulets consisted
of biblical verses, inscribed on slips of paper, which were bound around
the cocks' legs. A favorite verse thus used was Ephesians, VI, 16:
"Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked."[33:3] Some of the old English medical
verse-spells are sufficiently quaint exponents of popular credulity.

The following, for example, was in vogue as a remedy for cramp in the
leg:--

"The Devil is tying a knot in my leg,
Mark, Luke and John, unloose it, I beg."[34:1]

Mr. W. G. Black, in his "Folk-Medicine" (p. 170), remarks that many of
the magic writings used as charms were nothing else than invocations of
the Devil; and cites the case of a young woman living in Chelsea,
England, who reposed confidence in a sealed paper, mystically inscribed,
as a prophylactic against toothache. Having consented, at the request of
her priest, to examine the writing, this is what she found: "Good Devil,
cure her, and take her for your pains." This illustrates the somewhat
trite proverb, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'twere folly to be wise," and
is a proof of the wisdom of the popular belief that the inscription of a
healing formula should not be seen by the wearer, inasmuch as its mystic
words are ordinarily invocations of spiritual Beings, and are not
therefore adapted for comprehens