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Herbs and Psalms...

Healing with the Psalter

Through the centuries, cunning men and women have cast healing spells using herbs, blessed
waters, and many potions derived from the natural world. When Christianity started to take hold,
many practitioners turned to a great wealth of magickal information most commonly known as
The Psalms. They would prepare their mixtures and pray a particular Psalm over it to empower
the components and speed them on their way to their intended purpose.

This practice became a very common feature of cunning sorcery and also helped get a pass from
the local vicar or other church official. For, if one were to be found using the "word of God" in
their healing, then they couldn't be of the Devil, could they? In nearly every home of a healer, you
would find the family Bible, chocked full of births, deaths, and healing formulas. Indications of
which Psalm did what, and which herbal preparation gave healing and wholeness to the subject,
were written as notation throughout the book. So in effect, these Bibles would become the
grimoires of the natural sorcerer, or witch, hiding in plain sight, if you will.

Thus the local parishioners would look at the cunning man or woman as an asset to the
community and blessed of God. And many were of the Christian ilk, but many more were of an
older way and their gods were draped in the cloak of those in power. In the times when no one
was listening, they would call to the Master of the Art, or the Mistress of the Path to open the ways
and grant them power. The horned father would be asked to bless their path and guide their hands
in their work. Was this of the Devil? Certainly to the uninformed and crazed church official it may
have seemed this way, but that was never for their eyes. It was only for the eyes of those of the
same blood, the same path, and the same gods.

There are many very good books on the subject of using Psalms in casting spells and performing
healings. One of the most popular, especially with the Hoodoo folks, is The Power of the
Psalms by Anna Riva. One of our personal favorites, which also includes a bit of Kabbalah, is
Secrets of the Psalms by Godfrey A. Selig. It is a bit harder to find, but well worth the effort.

Within the pages of the aforementioned books, you will find many uses that can take a person
down a long road of craft and cunning. To some, using the works of Christianity seems
incongruous with the pagan path of witchery, but please always remember this... Power is Power.

www.arcanusmagickus.com
Here is an example of using an herb in healing a cut from my familys store of knowledge. Though
the language is somewhat archaic, it lends itself to the mystical use -

"This physick I know from old times for hurts of the flesh... Take ye of an amount Old Man's
Pepper and press it into the wound. Look to the North saying -

'To the lands of the departed do I cast my minds eye. Draw back the flow and staunch the flood.
Hold and Heal. Wend and wane. And keep ye safe from harm.

- Here recite Psalm 147 and the malady shall be remedied.

Notes:

1. The secret of using the Psalms is to know which passages to utter in concordance with the
purpose intended.

2. Somewhat simple, but used for years to heal cuts and scrapes and stop the bleeding of
various wounds, Old Man's Pepper is an old name for Yarrow. A very efficacious herb.
And we, personally, have benefited from this spell when we were but a child. Try it and
look into use of the Psalms in your craft work, you may be surprised at how powerful you
can become.

3. A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional
material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints.

www.arcanusmagickus.com

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