""Begone, you tooth worm, drink no more blood!" long before antibiotics, anaesthesia and X-rays changed the face of medicine, this is how healers all over the world might have tried to banish ailments with words. In the Middle Ages, incantations were used to address disease "demons" or body parts directly, such as plague spirits or the "wandering womb" blamed for abdominal pain or infertility. The idea of this personalization was to threaten the supposed source of the illness and persuade it to abandon the body."
"In a formula from about 1800 BCE, the "tooth worm" is described as living between the tooth and gum and drinking its host's blood before the god of wisdom, Ea, strikes it with a "strong hand." To cure the problem, an incantation was recited several times and a healing salve was applied to the tooth. The worm imagery helped served as an explanation for the toothache, as well as an adversary in the form of a demon to defeat."
""Incantations tended to be used especially for certain conditions, not equally for everything," Catherine Rider, professor of medieval history at the University of Exeter, told DW. "They are commonly found for bleeding, epilepsy, toothache and childbirth," she added. For centuries, the distinction between prayer and witchcraft was the subject of heated debates. In her book "Magic and Religion in Medieval England," Rider describes how religious scholars, confessors, and physicians constantly debated whether a particular"
Incantations have been used worldwide as verbal remedies to confront perceived disease agents or afflicted body parts. Medieval healers addressed plague spirits and the "wandering womb" with spoken commands that personalized and intimidated the supposed source of illness. Incantatory practices often accompanied herbs, massages and salves to soothe symptoms. Ancient Mesopotamian formulas depicted a "tooth worm" drinking blood and described ritual recitation plus an ointment to relieve toothache. Incantations appeared especially for bleeding, epilepsy, toothache and childbirth. Religious and medical authorities historically debated distinctions between prayer, magic and witchcraft in determining acceptable healing practices.
Read at www.dw.com
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