"In the Middle Ages, textual amuletsβshort texts written on parchment or paper and worn on the bodyβwere thought to protect the bearer against enemies, to heal afflictions caused by demonic invasions, and to bring the wearer good fortune. In Binding Words, Don C. Skemer provides the first book-length study of this once-common means of harnessing the magical power of words.
Textual amulets were a unique source of empowerment, promising the believer safe passage through a precarious world by means of an ever-changing mix of scriptural quotations, divine names, common prayers, and liturgical formulas. Although theologians and canon lawyers frequently derided textual amulets as ignorant superstition, many literate clergy played a central role in producing and disseminating them. The texts were, in turn, embraced by a broad cross-section of Western Europe. Saints and parish priests, physicians and village healers, landowners and peasants alike believed in their efficacy.
Skemer offers careful analysis of several dozen surviving textual amulets along with other contemporary medieval source materials. In the process, Binding Words enriches our understanding of popular religion and magic in everyday medieval life."
Textual amulets were a unique source of empowerment, promising the believer safe passage through a precarious world by means of an ever-changing mix of scriptural quotations, divine names, common prayers, and liturgical formulas. Although theologians and canon lawyers frequently derided textual amulets as ignorant superstition, many literate clergy played a central role in producing and disseminating them. The texts were, in turn, embraced by a broad cross-section of Western Europe. Saints and parish priests, physicians and village healers, landowners and peasants alike believed in their efficacy.
Skemer offers careful analysis of several dozen surviving textual amulets along with other contemporary medieval source materials. In the process, Binding Words enriches our understanding of popular religion and magic in everyday medieval life."
Forwarded from ULTIMO MONDO OBSCURA
The Sentient Tumors of Gulmer Stillop, 1960
Dr. Stillop's occult research at The Institute for the Scientific Study of Human & Non-Human Phenomena led him to a palimpsest on a papyrus document from 1st-century BC Hermopolis.
Proper cantation of the invocation to Thoth produced no visible effects for four days, then resulted in small pustules on Stillop's neck, which soon evolved into organelles resembling human heads.
Regarded as a "Thothian miracle" by the Egyptian press, Stillop fled the country and came back to his native Moravia. There he was regarded as a shaman. His heads could sing multi-part polyphonic song including some very difficult pieces by Rolando de Lassus and Josquin dePrez.
However, at night the heads would whisper far more disturbing suggestions. Stillop was eventually found dead in 1962: the heads had all eaten each other. The corpse was regarded by the Moravian Coroner's Office as "nejhorΕ‘Γ lΓ©kaΕskΓ© horor, jakΓ½ jsme kdy vidΔli" ("the worst thing we have ever seen")
Dr. Stillop's occult research at The Institute for the Scientific Study of Human & Non-Human Phenomena led him to a palimpsest on a papyrus document from 1st-century BC Hermopolis.
Proper cantation of the invocation to Thoth produced no visible effects for four days, then resulted in small pustules on Stillop's neck, which soon evolved into organelles resembling human heads.
Regarded as a "Thothian miracle" by the Egyptian press, Stillop fled the country and came back to his native Moravia. There he was regarded as a shaman. His heads could sing multi-part polyphonic song including some very difficult pieces by Rolando de Lassus and Josquin dePrez.
However, at night the heads would whisper far more disturbing suggestions. Stillop was eventually found dead in 1962: the heads had all eaten each other. The corpse was regarded by the Moravian Coroner's Office as "nejhorΕ‘Γ lΓ©kaΕskΓ© horor, jakΓ½ jsme kdy vidΔli" ("the worst thing we have ever seen")
Forwarded from π¨π£ππ π₯ππ© (π°π’π―ππ’π«π±π¦π«π)
Forwarded from EN EREBOS PHOS
βIf anyone dares to call upon me, Iβll be in my blanket fortress, surrounded by shadows and whispering monsters, plotting the return of things better left undisturbed.β