Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/143

 CJiar in against the Child-stealing Witch. 133

Olives met Avezuha, the wing of Satan, and she was dread- ful to behold ; the hair of her head was hanging down to the ground, her eyes were like stars, her hands of iron, the nails of her hands and feet were like sickles, and from her mouth came forth a flame of lire. The Archangel Michael, Lord over the Heavenly hosts, said unto her, ' Whence dost thou come, thou unclean Spirit, and whither art thou going?' ' I am going to Bethlehem in Judea, for I have heard that Jesus Christ is going to be born of His Virgin Mother Maria, and I am going to hurt her.' Whereupon the Archangel Michael took hold of the hair of her head, fastened an iron chain round her, stuck his sword into her side, and began to beat her terribly, in order to make her tell him all her secret arts. She began and said : ' I change myself into a dog, a cat, a fly, a spider, a raven, an evil-looking girl^ and thus enter into the houses of the people and hurt the women and bring trouble upon the children, and I bring changelings, and I have nineteen names. One, Vestitza ; second, Nova- daria ; third, Valnomia ; fourth, Sina ; fifth, Nicozda ; sixth, Avezuha; seventh, Scorcoila ; eighth, Tiha; ninth, Miha; tenth, Grompa; eleventh, Slalo; twelfth, Necausa; thirteenth, Hatav; fourteenth, Hulila; fifteenth, Huva; sixteenth, Ghiana; seventeenth, Gluviana ; eighteenth, Prava ; nineteenth, Samca ; and wherever these names will be found written I shall not be able to approach that house a distance of three thousand steps.' And the Archangel Michael, the Lord over the Heavenly hosts said unto her : * I tell thee, and I conjure thee, that thou shalt have neither the power to approach the house of X. the servant of the Lord, nor to hurt his property, his flocks, or anything that belongs to him. Thou shalt go to the desolate mountains where no one lives, there shalt thou abide. Amen.' "

In this charm we have the key to the preceding one. The Evil Spirit or the Evil Hour mentioned there is a sub- stitution for the Evil Spirit, much more accurately described in the last charm, where we see that we are dealing with a child-stealing witch. All these charms have, as already