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Verbal Magic: Impossibility Formulas

Impossibility formulas are a verbal means of magic which express (as is common in incantations) the wish to attain a particular concrete aim (that illness should end, the disease demon should depart or the grain should grow, etc.). These are arranged into some sort of parallel grammatical structure which follows the metaphoric vision of incantations. Similes as well as metaphors, which are syntactically more hidden, are evidently means of analogic magic (may X happen just like Y) and provide the most common structure for incantations worldwide.

Impossibility formulas provide very widespread and varied subgroups of this type of magic (at least in European cultures). The lead sentence of the similes refers to some ‘impossibility’ in an affirmative or negative form, i.e. stating it as ‘truth’ or ‘a lie’. This may be a natural image, process or empirical fact (rocks grow no wool, water will not run backwards). It can also be a reference to a rite which is supposed to be carried out while reciting the text, e.g. this grain of barley (which the charmer throws into the well) will/will not sprout.

Finally, and most relevantly to our present subject matter, the simile can refer to a mythical or legendary event or a miracle (such as cannot take place in the present context, e.g. Christ can/cannot be born once more). After the lead sentence the wish is introduced in a clause starting with as/when/if. This wish can be formulated in several different ways in terms of its truth value or logical structure, as compared to the content of the lead sentence. It can be an affirmative, optative or negative statement, depending on the truth value of the lead sentence (the process of recovery, for example, can be connected in a logically straight or a reverse fashion to the impossible condition depending on the concrete content). The text may specifically include an impossible condition (e.g. the onset or return of some trouble may be tied to a condition) or give an ‘impossible’ task to a belief creature. As we shall see, the possibilities are extremely varied. Structures of the if – then, when – then, just as type can serve as frames for the emergence of spontaneous texts. The ‘impossibilities’ of the lead sentence, as we mentioned above, are permanent elements of the texts, either as natural images fixed in a poetic form or as fragments from biblical texts or motifs of legendary recoveries. According to twentieth century practice, these are then applied to the familiar structure, or adjusted to the momentary situation of recovery, as textual motifs known from oral tradition (incantations and other genres). In the process of cultural transmission, these motifs find their way into other types of incantations, as well as into different genres.

Source: Charms, Charmers and Charming: International Research on Verbal Magic by Jonathan Roper

#rhetoric magic #verbal magic #charms #incantations #folk magic #traditional withcraft

When dealing with the power of poetry, we saw that this power was in fact considered as magic. It was irrational, it came from the gods, it was a charm (θίλκτηρι,ον). Now that we come to magic proper, we must first observe that it is directly connected with poetry. We have a number of magic formulas, generally written on tablets, which were then buried, or eventually written on papyri. But this is the lowest and latest level of magic spells. What we know of magic rests mainly on the poets [...] Poetry, therefore, does not only resemble magic in the irrational influence it has on people's emotions; it also conveys a lively picture of magic proper, with all the mysterious power of its formulas—a power which it may have been a temptation to emulate.

"Magic and Rhetoric in Ancient Greece" by Jacquiline de Romilly

#greek magic #poetry #rhetoric magic

The idea of a talented and skillful poet using versified curses against his enemies has persisted in Iceland well into the twentieth century. An example of this persistent tradition in the more recent times is the image of kraftaskáld (“power-poet”) present in Icelandic folklore. These characters have a sort of spontaneous skill with words. A versified curse they would utter on the spur of the moment would always come true.

Fear, Superstition and Bargaining: a Curse as a Threat in Old Norse Literature by Anna Solovyeva

#icelandic #norse #rhetoric magic

Rhetoric Magic

Hi! Inspired by this post by @liminalblessings on rhetoric magic, I want to share some thoughts on the use of poetry to empower spells. Reading through Pow-Wows, or Long Lost Friend, I found a pattern that is prevalent in many of the incantations. For example:

{103.} TO STOP BLEEDING. I walk through a green forest; There I find three wells, cool and cold; The first is called courage, The second is called good, And the third is called stop the blood.

{155.} TO CHARM ENEMIES, ROBBERS AND MURDERERS.

[...] There are three roses upon the heart of God; the first is beneficent, the other is omnipotent, the third is his holy will. You thieves must therefore stand under it, standing still as long as I will. In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, you are conjured and made to stand.

{169.} A GOOD CHARM AGAINST THIEVES.

There are three lilies standing upon the grave of the Lord our God; the first one is the courage of God, the other is the blood of God, and the third one is the will of God [...]

{147.} TO RETAIN THE RIGHT IN COURT AND COUNCIL

[...] Three dead men look out of the window; one having no tongue, the other having no lungs, and the third was sick, blind and dumb.

This pattern of setting up the scene, naming three components of the charm and then stating their desired purpose is used throughout. I have adapted the structure to be used to empower a folk oil for banishing and uncrossing, and it worked splendidly. I really want to see if these type of chants or charms or incantations exist in other forms of folk magic, as I find the use of poetry and repetition incredibly effective in raising and directing power.

#rhetoric magic #folk magic #charms #incantations #poetry

Historiola in the PGM

A contrast to this cosmogonic historiola is the Greek Philinna papyrus, whose portentous references do not appear to have specific mythological antecedents: "The son of the most august goddess, the initiate, was scorched. On the highest mount he was scorched. The fire gulped down seven springs of wolves, seven bears, seven of lions, but seven dark-eyed maidens drew water with dark blue jugs and quieted the untiring fire" (PGM XX). Concluding in this way, the spell contains neither precise mythological allusions nor ritual indications. But we can begin to see four basic structural aspects of the historiola in the Philinna papyrus: (1) the past tense suggests that it describes events in mythic time; (2) in contrast to the Babylonian toothache spell, the Philinna papyrus shows that a historiola need not explicitly reflect a well-known mythological discourse like a cosmogony; (3) the lack of explicit application, in the Philinna spell, to a "real-world" situation suggests that the narrative's power is invoked by implicit analogy; and (4) the fact that this is the entire spell-lacking not only application, but also invocation or voces magicae, demonstrates that the magical power of the Philinna spell and its analogues is, indeed, contained within the narrative itself, not sacred names, symbols, or commands.

Ancient Magic and Ritual Power edited by Marvin Meyer and Paul Mirecki

#pgm #incantation #rhetoric magic