YW_Issue_94_July-18_68 pages

Heal The
Sword To
Heal The
Wound
In the 17 th Century
Englishman Sir Kenelm
Digby, a state-sponsored
pirate, compiler of
recipes, a collector of
antiques, and dabbler in
philosophy and alchemy,
science and magic, food
and flavours, developed
the idea of the ‘powder
of sympathy’. It was a
form of ‘Sympathetic
medicine’, popular in the
17 th century in Europe,
whereby a remedy was
applied to the weapon
that had caused a wound
in the hope of healing
the injury it had made.
So, if someone was
wounded by sword, this
powder, a green vitriol
that was first dissolved
in water and afterwards
recrystallised or calcined
in the sun, was applied
to the sword. Digby
believed that the sun’s
rays extracted the spirits
of the blood and the
vitriol, while, at the
same time, the heat of
the wound caused the
healing principle thus
produced to be attracted
to it by means of a
current of air.
Medicine At Midnight
All ancient civilisations believed in the medicinal properties of
roots, stems, flowers, fruits and barks of different trees. Some
of the plants used for curing illness were considered magical.
One such plant was Mandrake. The magician-physician believed
that the plant could only be
plucked in the moonlight
or at dawn when the dew
was still fresh on its leaves.
If this wasn’t followed,
the plant was said to give
out a piercing scream and
whoever heard it dropped
dead. The physician hence
preferred to approach the
plant at midnight, his ears
covered with wax, and the
plant was tied to the dog’s
tail. When the man ran
away, the dog followed
him, dragging with him the
uprooted plant. Needless to
say, no physician ever heard
the plant scream!
Kiss The Skull
ancient
wellness
Ancient Babylonian and Sumerian physicians were also magicians,
who often prescribed strange cures to their patients. If someone
complained of their habit of grinding their teeth, the physicianmagician
would ask him to sleep with a human skull next to him
and, from time to time, wake up and kiss the skull seven times
per night. This, according to the physician, would cure the teethgrinding
because, according to them, every ailment was a result
of demonic afflictions and kissing the skull would ward off the
evil powers.
65
- Confucius
He who
conquers
himself is
the mightiest
warrior.
July 2018 • Issue II • Volume VII • yourwellness.com