Magic formulas to heal
"Haut Haut istasis tarsis ardannabon": this was the magic formula that, according to Cato (De agricultura), did heal anybody from all evil and had to be sung every day after pater familias had performed the propitiatory ritual of healing, said luxum ut excantes.
In reality it was an ancient phytotherapy practice: the pater familiae was provided with a rod that was incised longitudinally in order to represent a kind of arch or needle eye through which he had to pass the sick and meanwhile had to pronounce the magic formula
“motas uaeta daries dardares astataries dissunapiter”
the ritual was based on the belief that the rod had the power to stop the growth of all things, and therefore also of the ills that assailed the human body.
In fact the rod is the "baton", the primitive weapon with which the man was fighting and expressed his power, that over time has become a symbol of authority, power and sacredness; kings, princes, commanders and even the fathers of families have used it as a sign of dignity, control and respect. The scepter of the king or the ministry of bishops is nothing more than the old "baton" hired to sign their power, also, by the time of the Pharaohs is the instrument with which you wields magic.
In Rome, from its origins to the first century A.D., there was a close link between medicine and magic that became increasingly confrontational after contacts with the Greek world and the medical practices which, even if entrusted to the priests, were based on empirical knowledge. In early times the cause of the disease was always theurgical: the offense to a god or a his own caprice were considered the cause of infectious diseases and it was this interpretation of the reason why from Greece arrived in Rome the cult Aesculapius or Aesclepius as Romans called.
The most common diseases were treated by the pater familias with therapies that consisted in the application of elementary rules of hygiene, and in some remedies made with herbs and also in the use of common substances such as oil, vinegar, salt, honey, eggs, sulfur, incense used as an accompaniment to the magical rituals as a means through which the magical force showed its beneficial effect on the individual patient.
In his Naturalis Historia, Pliny relates some of the remedies for common illnesses; For example, to get rid of the rash you had to prepare a poultice of egg white mixed with pine nuts and honey, while to heal cough, phlegm and throat irritations you had to swallow the raw egg yolk being careful not to let him touch the teeth .
The ancients when they used herbs was not because they had linked the healing effects of their characteristics; Pliny makes clear that interpretation of herbal medicine by the Romans: "Nowhere in nature you have to search the scientific reason of things, but only his will"; herbs were a gift from the gods to accept without investigating about their intrinsic healing properties.
The Romans placed therefore also the natural medicine in the sphere of magic. For some plants recognized extraordinary powers as to laserwort plant of African origin, that could send to sleep sheep or to sneeze goats , but also to render harmless snake venom, aid digestion, heal circulatory disorders, sore throat , asthma, dropsy, epilepsy, jaundice, female disorders, maturing abscesses, cicatrize wounds and sores and also weed out the calluses ...
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by M.L. ©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (Ed 1.0 - 16/11/2016)