Take nine pieces of a dead man's skull, grind them to powder, and then
mix with a decoction of wall rue. Give the patient a spoonful of this mixture
every morning fasting, till the whole potion is swallowed. None must be
left, or the dead man would come to look for the pieces of his skull.
FOR DEPRESSION OF HEART
When a person becomes low and depressed and careless about
everything, as if all vital strength and energy had gone, he is said to have
got a fairy blast. And blast-water must be poured over him by the hands of
a fairy doctor while saying, "In the name of the saint with the sword, who
has strength before God and stands at His right hand." Great care being
taken that- no portion of the water is profaned. Whatever is left after the
operation must be poured on the fire.
FOR THE FAIRY DART
Fairy darts are generally aimed at the fingers, causing the joints to swell
and grow red and inflamed. An eminent fairy-woman made the cure of
fairy darts her specialty, and she was sent for by all the country round, and
was generally successful. But she had no power unless asked to make the
cure, and she took no reward at the time; not till the patient was cured, and
the dart extracted. The treatment included a great many prayers and much
anointing with a salve, of which she only had the secret. Then she
proceeded to extract the dart. with great solemnity, working with a small
instrument, on the point of which she finally produced the dart. This proved
to be a bit of flax artfully laid under the skin by the malicious fairies,
causing all the evil, and of course on seeing the flax no one could doubt the
power of the operator, and the grateful patient paid his fee.
VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS AND CURES
THERE is a book, a little book, and the house which has it will never be
burned; the ship that holds it will never founder; the woman who keeps it in
her hand will be safe in childbirth. But none except a fairy man knows the
name of the book, and he will not reveal it for love or money; only on his
death-bed will he tell the secret of the name to the one person he selects.
The adepts and fairy doctors keep their mysteries very secret, and it is
not easy to discover the word of a charm, for the operator loses his power if
the words are said without the proper preliminaries, or if said by a profane