Recited charms have been used against illnesses throughout the centuries. This practice is still common in traditional medicine, often combined with herbs, massage and other treatments. Long before antibiotics, anesthesia and X-rays transformed medicine, healers around the world were trying to banish disease with words.
In the Middle Ages, enchantments and spells were used to directly address demons or body parts that caused illness. This personalization aimed to insult, threaten and expel the supposed cause of the disease.
In many parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, incantations are still used today in folk medicine or religious rituals, often in combination with herbs, massage, and other treatments.
Spells against demons
One of the oldest examples of enchantments comes from Mesopotamia. Around 1800 BC, a spell was repeatedly recited against the “toothworm” while a medicinal mixture was applied. The worm was both a demon and a disease, representing both tooth decay and toothache. The phrases were intended to keep the worm away and the ointment was intended to relieve the inflammation.
“Amulets were used for specific illnesses and not for everything: for example, they are often found in cases of bleeding, epilepsy, toothache and childbirth,” explains historian Catherine Rider, of the University of Exeter. The boundary between prayer and witchcraft has been hotly debated. In his book Magic and Religion in Medieval England, Rider describes how theologians, confessors, and physicians constantly debated whether a formula was still pious prayer or already forbidden magic. Healing words containing biblical quotations or names of saints were generally tolerated, while cryptic sequences of syllables were quickly labeled as potentially demonic.
Healing of body and mind
It’s important to note that the incantations were primarily used as “complementary therapy,” Rider wrote to DW. “In medieval medical books, they are often listed alongside other remedies, such as drinks, baths, etc., so that the doctor and/or patient can choose which approach to take.”
Expert knowledge of the symptoms and active ingredients does not contradict the incantations, but rather combines with them to form a complete package intended to treat both body and mind, Rider explained.
Amulets and magic words
Ancient oriental medicine also follows this dual principle: exorcists recite against the spirits, while ointments, incense and potions are administered; Amulets in the shape of eyes, with scenes of illness or formulas, serve to permanently bind the blessing of healing to the body.
In Islamic tradition, certain verses of the Quran, such as the opening surah (chapter) or the two protective surahs, are considered to have healing powers. We recite them over the patient, we write it on paper or we add it to the water that the patient drinks: the prayer and the magic formula merge.
The term “hocus pocus,” which frequently appears in connection with alternative healing methods, is an onomatopoeia of the Latin Mass formula “Hoc est enim corpus meum” (“This is my body”). The term is also used pejoratively to criticize fraud and methods considered ineffective or esoteric by medical professionals.
Healing power of words
Words repeated and spoken with authority – by a priest, exorcist, or doctor – can reduce anxiety, subjectively relieve pain, and increase the willingness to endure painful treatments.
Catherine Rider is convinced that the incantations served as a kind of suggestive or psychological support to patients, essentially a placebo effect. “Most medieval doctors do not explain them in these terms, but there is a treatise by the 9th-century medieval Arabic scholar Qusta Ibn Luqa in which he explains how the incantations are also useful if the patient believes them to be effective.” Rider argues that the scholar therefore delineated the placebo effect as early as 860 CE.
How words fight illness
In some cultures, illnesses are considered attacks by angry spirits or deities. Enchantments transform these evils into an understandable narrative. Those who believe they know which demon is responsible are better able to tolerate pain and even painful treatments.
From today’s perspective, fever, tooth decay or depression can be cured through medication, surgery and psychotherapy. But the history of enchantments shows how powerful words can be in moments of crisis: they make the invisible, the incomprehensible, more understandable.
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