GRUPO 4.- TASAS EN MATERIA DE OBRAS PÚBLICAS, URBANISMO, COSTAS, PUERTOS, CARRETERAS Y TRANSPORTES
4) MORTEROS, HORMIGÓN Y ESTABILIZANTES CON CEMENTO
M
aintaining good health throughout ones natural life is a major issue for all of us. We appear to be extremely vulnerable, and the onset of sudden sickness and disabilities are constant reminders of just how vulnerable we mortals are. Come to think of it, the sum-total of human suffering all round must be incredible, and yet it seems to be considered quite a normal condition in this world, as long as it is happening to somebody else. It should therefore come as no surprise that next to “protection amulets,” those promoting health must be ranked amongst the most popular.I have broached the topic of magical healing elsewhere,1 and will in the current instance focus on the use of Kameot in the promotion of healing and good health. In this regard we might commence with a careful investigation of pterygomas. Etymologically the term “pterygoma” refers to something “wing shaped.” In the current instance, this term is employed in reference to the reduction of words, phrases, the names of demonic entities, etc., employed in magical amulets, this being done one letter at a time in order to sympathetically diminish and annihilate their impact in the lives of those impacted by malevolent forces.
The most famous pterygoma must assuredly be the
)rbdk)rb) (Abracadabra) formula.2 It was often used in the form of a pterygoma to dispel inflamation and fever, and for this purpose it was usually written in the following manner on a piece
of pure sheepskin parchment. The belief is that the word being reduced to nothing, would take the fever with it and likewise dwindle it to zero:
) r b d k ) r b )
r b d k ) r b )
b d k ) r b )
d k ) r b )
k ) r b )
) r b )
r b )
b )
)
Having addressed the term Abracadabra and some related magical expressions to some extent in “The Book of Sacred Names,”3 I will add here further clarification and talismanic uses which are not addressed in the mentioned tome. In this regard, a most important amulet comprises the Nwlqrb)/swlqrb) (Abrakolos/
Abrakolon) pterygomas which are closely related to the Abracadabra pterygoma, and are likewise meant to reduce a raging
fever, and to invoke healing for all kinds of contagious diseases. In fact, the term swlqrb) (Abrakolos) is said to be the name of the “Prince of Fever.”4
We are instructed to engrave the Nwlqrb)/swlqrb) (Abrakolos/ Abrakolon) Kamea on a small square plate made of lead, and to do so in the name of the individual requiring healing. Furthermore, this action should be executed with new knife comprising a black handle. The amulet is comprised of two virtually identical formats, these being respectively inscribed on the front and the rear of the amulet. As shown in the following illustration, the swlqrb) (Abrakolos) pterygoma is employed on the front of the leaden square, and the Nwlqrb) (Abrakolon) one on the rear:5
Kameot for Health, Wealth & Happiness / 349
Front
Rear
Beside the mentioned pterygomas, both sides of the Kamea comprise the same header and central incantation. The header reads:
Transliteration:
B’shem YHVH Elohei Yisra’el El na r’fa na l’[...Ploni ben Ploni...] r’fua Shleimah m’cholei kadachat
Translation:
In the Name YHVH, God of Israel, please El bring healing to [...name of afflicted individual....], complete recovery from the raging fever sickness.
Next the central written adjuration reads:
Kk txdqh r# l# M#h hz Klwhw +(mtm# M#k wnmm qltsyw [ynwlp Nb ynwlp]m txdqh ylwx +(mty Mymb trpw(k llcwyw )br )mwhtd )bqwnl Klyw hl(y )lw wdqpy )lw wrkzy )l r#) Mwqmb Myryd) wyrb)b# dx) rb)b )lw [ynwlp Nb ynwlp] bl l(
[xcn hls Nm)] n~s) [ynwlp Nb ynwlp] l# wpwg lkb#
Nwcr yhy Nkw
Transliteration:
K’shem shemitma’et v’holech zeh ha-shem shel sar ha- kadachat kach yitma’et cholei ha-kadachat mi[...Ploni ben Ploni...] v’yistalek mimeno v’yelech l’nukva d’t’homa raba v’yotzlal ke’oferet b’mayim adirim b’makom asher lo yizkeru v’lo yipakdu v’lo ya’aleh al lev [...Ploni ben Ploni...] v’lo b’evar echad sh’v’evarav sh’b’kol gufo shel
[...Ploni ben Ploni...] omein selah netzach v’ken y’hi
ratzon
Translation:
Like this name dwindles down, this name of the prince of fever, so shall the fever sickness dwindle from [...name of afflicted individual....], and depart from him and go to a great desolate abyss and sink like lead in mighty waters in a place where it will not be remembered, and not be missed, and not rest on the heart of [...name of afflicted individual....], and not in a single organ of all the parts of the entire body of [...name of afflicted individual...]
Kameot for Health, Wealth & Happiness / 351
We are instructed to draw a line below this written incantation, and to write the words wht Mwht (t’hom tohu—“the depths of desolation”) three times below it.
As you might imagine, the earlier mentioned Abracadabra and associated pterygomas are not the only ones employed in the reduction of fevers. The following pterygoma is utilised for the very same purpose:6