Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/192

 164 Folklore from the Southern Sporades.

" As thou didst free the prophet Daniel when he was cast like a sheep to the lions, and didst break his three chains in Babylon, so save me also, the servant of God, N or M. .... In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. As thou didst banish the devils from paradise, so keep my enemies far from me, and bind their tongues and their reason, and let them not be able to speak or to eat, or see with their eyes : . . . . Franks, Armenians, Turks, and every evil and passionate man or woman, young and old, believers or hereticks, who hate the holy baptism and the Christians, poisoners and stranglers." In this passage are several old words, such as 6(f)da\fi6<;.

The Evil Eye has already been alluded to ; and it is one of the commonest means by which these malign influences are supposed to work. I am happy to be able to present the Folk-Lore Society with another charm potent against it, from the same source as the last. You must put water in a dish, and oil in a cup. Then take a drop of the oil on your finger and let it fall into the water thrice, each time repeating this charm :

" Two eyes have cast a spell on thee And three again have raised thee, Christ and the Holy Trinity." ^

With the water and oil then besprinkle the person betwitched forty-one times. In my MS. ^aa/cavia, or bewitching by the Evil Eye, is often mentioned, and one charm is given to counteract it. This consists of the usual cross and letters, with prayers such as, " Let Christ arise," and allusions to King Solomon. Here the crosses are longer than usual, and more in number, in consequence of the subtle nature of the affliction.

1 bvo-fi/udria ue ^dapfiiaave [ = 6<pda\fxi'(raye'] KHt -pia ae 'I'etrri'iaai'e, [ = avefjrrjaay^ o XpttTTOs Kcti At Tpiuba.