Old Spells by Rev. Carol A. Ingle AKA Raven

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Old Spells

In the days of fairies, elves and goblins, how could you really be sure that your baby wasn't a changeling? How could you cure a headache? How did you keep yourself safe from the dwarves? With dog poo cakes and gall stones from birds of course...

A Spell Against a Dwarf

To drive away a dwarf you must take the excrement of a white dog, pound it to dust mix it with flour and then bake this mixture (Yum, poo cake!). Give the cake to the afflicted person to eat, just before the dwarf's arrival in either day the day or the night. His attack will at first be very severe, but after that it will abate and completely pass away.

For Headaches

You must take little stones from a young swallow's stomach. Be sure that the nestlings in which you find the stones are well grown. Take care that once you retrieve the stones they touch neither earth, nor water or any other stones. Select three of these and then put them on the person in distress, and he will soon be well. They stones are good for headache, for pain in the eyes, against temptations of a fiend, against nocturnal demons, for ague, against incubi, for sexual constriction, for bewitchment and against hexes.

Against an Elf and Charm Magick

Crumble myrrh and an equal portion of white frankincense into wine, and shave part of the stone Jet into the wine. After fasting for a night dirnk this for three, four, nine or twelve mornings.

To Detect a Changeling.

Changelings were fairy creatures that were left in the place of stolen children. The naughty fae folk often used to steal babies, and leave their own young in their place.

If you suspected your baby had been replaced, this is what the mother of the child had to do:

Take 24 eggshells, set them up on the hearth, and start to brew beer. The changeling would then it up and say:

"I heard it from my father, and he from his, and he from his, that an acorn was before the oak, and the oak was in the ground, but I have never seen brewing done in egdshells before!" which meant that it was definatly a changeling.

Once you knew this the mother would heat a shovel until it was red-hot and hold the child above it and let it fall. The changeling would fly away up the chimney, laughing and shrieking, and the child would be returned safely.