How the blog works

The poems on this blog are mostly written on the basis of my historical reading and are intended to be both educational and entertaining.
Recently I have also begun posting some of my work with Anglo-Saxon charms. This work is somewhat speculative and is conducted as an amateur researcher and keen Pagan historian.

Please feel free to use anything on this site as a resource if you think that it may be relevant to your needs.

Saturday 30 November 2013

To charm a cow

Introduction
In order to have firm subject matter I conduct my own investigations into the lives of the common people in Saxon England, bringing various materials and ideas together. Recently I have been trying my hand at translating some lessor Anglo-Saxon healing documents known as Fly Leaf Leechdoms.

This poem was inspired by an incomplete charm (MS. Cott. Yitell. E. xviii., fol. 13 b).
The charm begins: This is to cure thy cattle and goes on to mention the casting down of sticks inscribed with the Paternoster. Using this as a point of departure I have substituted runes in place of the prayer and added various expressions from other lessor charms (that I have translated) to produce the basis of this piece.

Glossary:
Galdor - a spell or charm to be sung or chanted
Scucca - goblins or demons
Shippon - a cow shed (were you a farmer you might know this one)
Wight - a land spirit.

To charm a cow

This thou shalt use, to cure mickle cattle,
Against a pale ghost, or fiend do battle.
If cow be addled, by dwarf or dark elf,
Sing this charm to bring, thine cow back to health.

Shield from shadow-goer, Scucca sent in night,
Chant this charm to cure, thy addled cow blight.
Thou must sing to beast, each evening of three,
This galdor sing thrice, over them chant thee.

   Galdor
   With white rune wand from, old oaken bower,
   I doth thee charge with, Wodans wise power.
   Be shielded from wrath, and ever made well,
   Undamaged by poisons, or magic spell.

   By power of runes, on long oaken stave,
   From wrath and cruel curse, this heifer to save.
   I Sing solemn spell, to the power of three,
   From flying venom, this will protect thee.

May runes be inscribed, on old oaken sticks,
On three edges thou, inscribe them betwixt.
Against flying venom, rude runes to write,
For thee to banish, this unwelcome wight.

Take thou all three staves, into thy shippon.
Cast two wands about, the ground there upon,
Across door threshold, let to fall the last,
For magic galdor, to be wholly cast.

Copyright Andrew Rea November 2013

Saturday 23 November 2013

A charm against Heartburn

Leechbook III LXII - 4
If a man hath aelfsogotha, (heart burn) his eyes are yellow,
where they should be red. If thou have a will to
cure the man, observe his gestures, and consider of what
sex he be; if it be a man and looketh up, when thou
first seest him, and the countenance be yellowish black,
thou mayst cure the man thoroughly if he is not too
long in the disease; if it is a woman and looketh
down, when thou first seest her, and her countenance
is livid red, thou mayst also cure that; if it has been
upon the man longer than a twelvemonth and a day,
and the aspect be such as this, then mayst thou amend
it for a while, and notwithstanding mayst not entirely
cure it. Write this writing:

"Scriptum est, rex regum et dominus dominantium Veronica, Veronica, . . הוהי
Αγιος, αγιος, αγιος,sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, domilinus, deus sabaoth, amen, alleluiah”

Sing this over the drink and the writing:
"Deus omnipotens, pater domini nostri Iesu Christi, per impositionem hums
a scriptures expelle a famulo tuo, here insert the name,
omnem impetum castalidum de capite, de capillis, de
cerebro, defronte, de lingua, de sublingua, de gutture, de
a faucibus, de dentibus, de oculis, de naribus, de auribus,
de manibus, de collo, de brachiis, de corde, de anima,
de genibus, de coxis, de pedibus, de compaginibus
omnium membrorum intus et foris. Amen."

Then work up a drink thus; font water, rue, sage, cassuck,
dragons, the netherward part of the smooth waybroad,
feverfue, a head of dill, three cloves of garlic, fennel,
wormwood, lovage, lupin, of all equal quantities; write
a cross three times with the oil of unction, and say,
“Pax tibi”. Then take the writing, describe a cross
with it over the drink, and sing this over it:

"Dominus omnipotens, pater domini nostri Iesu Christi, per im-
positionem huius scripturse et per gustum huius expelle
diabolum a famulo tuo;"
here insert the name, and the Credo, and Paternoster. Wet the writing in the drink,
and write a cross with it on every limb, and say:
“Signum crucis Christi conservet te in vitam aeternam. Amen."

Translation of the Latin/Hebrew/Greek
“It is written, king of kings and lord of lords, Veronica, Veronica god saint, saint, saint holy, holy, holy, is the lord of the hosts amen, alleluia”.

Sing this over the drink and the writing:
“God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the imposition of writing, drive away from this thy servant, here insert the name,
every attack of the nymph from the head, the hair, of the brain, of the front of the tongue, of the under-tongue, of the throat, of a throat, from the teeth, of the eyes, of the nose, about the ears, out of the hands, from the neck, of the arms, out of the heart, of the soul, the knees, the hips, the feet, the structure of all the members, within and without. Amen”.

…..and sing this over it:
“Lord almighty, the father of our lord Jesus Christ, by the imposition of this Scripture and the taste of this drive your servant of the devil".

Here insert the name, and the Credo, and Paternoster. Wet the writing in the drink,
and write a cross with it on every limb, and say:

“The sign of the cross of Christ may keep thee in life everlasting. Amen”.


Possible Modifications to paganise the text
We can make simple changes e.g. font water to holy water, the writing of a cross to that of a rune but some texts present more of a challenge. Here is my attempt at the charm:
Write this writing:
“It is written, lord of lords, Drychten of Drychten, Wodan, Wodan, Wodan, holy, holy, holy, is the lord of the Ese, so mote it be”.
Sing this over the drink and the writing:
Wodan, by the imposition of writing, drive away from this thy servant, here insert the name, every attack of the scucca from the head, the hair, of the brain, of the front of the tongue, of the under-tongue, of the throat, of a throat, from the teeth, of the eyes, of the nose, about the ears, out of the hands, from the neck, of the arms, out of the heart, of the soul, the knees, the hips, the feet, the structure of all the members, within and without. So mote it be”.

Then work up a drink thus; holy water, rue, sage, cassuck,
dragons, the netherward part of the smooth waybroad,
feverfue, a head of dill, three cloves of garlic, fennel,
wormwood, lovage, lupin, of all equal quantities; write
three runes with the consecrated oil, and say,
“peace to you”. Then take the writing, describe a rune
with it over the drink, and sing this over it:

“Almighty Drychten, by the imposition of this galdor and its taste, banish your servant of the scucca".

Here insert the name, and an invocation to Wodan (Wodan weoh! Wodan ure þu, þe eart on heofonum, Si þin nama gehalgod. Hwæt we nied, syle us todæg, Gewurþe ðin willa! = Wodan make sacred, Our Wodan, that is in heaven, your name is holy, what we need, give us today, be done your will).
Wet the writing in the drink and write a rune with it on every limb, and say:

“May the power of this rune keep thee in life”.

Saturday 16 November 2013

Portal Active

Introduction

This poem draws on the ritual of the lessor banishing pentagram by Eliphas Levi together with the work of Dr John Dee and his assistant Edward Kelly.

John Dee is possibly England's most under sung hero having been the magician in the court of Queen Elizabeth, he used astrology to determine the date of the queen's coronation. He advised as to voyages of discovery and set out the case in international law for England to start an empire in the Americas and advocated the strengthening of the navy to serve the empire. He is arguably the father of the British Empire. He was a polymath who's skills led him to instructing our navel captains and officers in the art of navigation and cartography. He also developed a system of rituals used to communicate with angels known as Enochian Magic.

This poem combines these two types of angel magic, the strange words are from the ritual of the lessor banishing pentagram, these are in Aramaic and are translated in the following line. As in Enochian the poem is to be intoned when read, as if you are casting your voice to infinity especially when calling the angels or intoning the Aramaic.

Portal Active

Arise Dr. John Dee, I call on thee,
Magician thee be, to the highest degree.
EH-HEH-YAY, the ipsissimus am I,
Summon the angels, come down from the sky.

Draw down the spirit, with crystal containment,
The forty nine gates, there for attainment.
Draw back the curtain, rend it asunder,
Invoke the guardians, call them with thunder.

Thou angels of truth, return from afar,
Cry A-TEH, MAL-KUTH, VE-GE-VU-RAH.
Thou art the kingdom, and the power,
I call upon thee, to guard the watchtower.

I call from afar, the power of ten,
Tone VE-GE-DU-LAH, LE-OLAHM A-MEN.
The glory forever, so mote it be,
Arise Edward Kelly, and assist me.

Thou spirits obey, the five pointed star,
YAH-WEH AH-DOH-NYE, EH-HEH-YAY AH-GLAH.
Oh Divinity, glory to thee oh Lord,
Abide by my charge, take heed of my sword.

RA-PHA-EL before me, bearing his blade,
Draw closer I command thee, to my aid.
GA-BRI-EL behind, with silver chalice,
Stand at my quarter, guard me from malice.

MI-CHA-EL to the right, with the red wand,
I call upon thee, I give thee my bond.
AU-RI-EL to left, with white pentagram,
With thee at my side, protected I am.

On a sphere of light, watch towers in place,
The banishing rite, the circle to trace.
Standing here safe, flaming stars around,
The hexagram over, the power bound.

Copyright Andrew Rea 2008

Saturday 9 November 2013

Dweorgh Dwosle

Introduction to 'Dweorgh Dwosle' (Penny Royal)


This poem, set in Anglo-Saxon times, is based on a cure for fever, headaches, soreness, cramp and spasms. The original manuscript (Lacnunga 11C) attributes these conditions to the malignant influence of dwarves - supernatural beings that lived in rocks and underground. The herb would have been gathered by the whole root ball before being taken away to be prepared into a salve or balm.

Dweorgh Dwosle

Dweorgh Dwosle to, Anglo Saxons was famed,
In thousand years, Pennyroyal renamed.
This herb wilt cure those, dwarf made unwell,
A little infusion, sickness to quell.

The destroyer of dwarves, Dweorgh Dwosle be,
Soreness cramp and spasm, to name but three.
Fever and headaches, it wilt also cure,
Gathereth with root ball, keep fresh and pure.

Useth with incense, and ritual to charm,
Apply to thy pain, and use it as balm.
As eye salve it taketh, soreness away,
A loaf or few eggs, wilt serve thee as pay.

Copyright Andrew Rea 2009

Sunday 3 November 2013

Watch in the woods

Introduction
It is a mostly forgotten fact that before the invention of electric light and gas lighting that people tended to sleep in two sessions known as the first and second sleep. This would have been particularly true if you were poor, as most folks were, since candles were expensive. The period of wakefulness between lasted one to two hours and was known as the watch. During this time people would , lie awake, chat, or even visit neighbours in their one room huts.
In this poem we look at the discrete nocturnal meetings of a young couple.

Aelfscyne is the Old English word for beautiful (elf like).

Watch in the woods

Awake after first sleep, with heart in hand,
Young elven mistress, to seek on the land.
Young wife man awake, in small hut close by,
Silently awaiting, for her owl to cry.

Stealthfully leaving, into darkest night,
Clad with canopy, of stars shining bright.
Wise hooting like owl, his sweetheart to call,
In moonlit shadow, trying not to fall.

Two shadows step on, darkest forest floor,
Slowly approaching, pass through secret door.
Silently stepping, on their secret path,
Snaking through branches, to their forest garth.

Things that young folk did, in dark nights of yore,
Going to be doing, that which no one saw.
On soft mossy glade, with maiden at hand,
Watch spent in the woods, rite of fertile land.

Snapping small soft shoots, to sound of wild boar,
An hour alone, but still wanting more.
Aelfflad so aelfscyne, in silver moonlight,
Perchance in the spring, a hand fasting rite.

Long blond flowing locks, and eyes burning bright,
Tall slim blushing maid, in hands held tight.
So wexed by this wife man’s, smooth shining skin,
As heathens we do, not have carnal sin.

Copyright Andrew Rea Winterfylleth 2013