Syriac
Charms or Prayers of Protection
by Fr. Dale A. Johnson
Once when I was conducting the Divine Liturgy in Syriac in the little village of Gunduk Shukro, a woman rushed to the foot of the altar and begged me to take something from her hands. She explained that she wanted me to place two pieces of lead on the altar and after the service to return them to her. She explained that she would take them home and put them under a pillow to help cure a sickness (perhaps a migraine headache). The goodness of the prayers would be absorbed by the lead. It was not the first time I had seen lead used to invoke the immune response in a person. I had seen in a display at the University of Chicago a piece of lead with a Syriac charm written on it to ward off evil and gunfire.
This was one of many encounters I had with Syriac speaking people, especially of Tur Abdin that involved magic and charms. In the monastery of Mor Gabriel the nuns have a magic skull from which people can drink blessed water to receive healing. William Dalrymple refers to this practice in his visit to the monastery in the mid 1990s. The nuns told me that it was the skull of a monk named John and it was used especially with other women.
Also, the monastery is famous for helping women to get pregnant. Christian and Muslim women come and sleep in the church for three nights in the belief that they will get pregnant. It must work because we have many children named Gabriella and Gabriel in the region named after the patron saint of the monastery. But the reason it works is not due to superstition. There are practical physical reasons. When a husband and wife are apart for three nights and they quit trying
to have a child, the chances of pregnancy dramatically increases with their reunion.
On the other hand, many people would come to the monastery and take sand from the graves of saints Samuel and Shemoun. This very act and faith in the efficacy of the saint stimulated the immune system and people actually were healed. Some might say this is a psychosomatic response but the healing was just as real as if they had taken a medicine.
As a priest, I have a book of many prayers for various occasions. Some are quit delightful. A prayer to bless a child who is getting his first haircut. A prayer to bless a wine press. A prayer for the adoption of a child. Many of these prayers read like Syriac charms I have read in incantation bowls, some that date back almost 5000 years. Aramaic incantation bowls pre-date Christianity but were quickly adopted by Christians. There are hundreds of these magic bowls in museums and institutions around the world.
It seems that many of these magic charms were written by Syriac priests and even bishops. At first it seems counter intuitive because of all the prohibitions against magic and sorcery in the Bible. But on the other hand, priest were often the few who were able to read and write. It seems that Syriac priests would write these charms or prayers as blessings. They are written on leather, metal, and clay. My favorite are written on the inside of bowls in a circular pattern.
At Harvard University there are a few Syriac Charm texts from the 18th and 19th centuries. They were more than likely written by Syriac priests. One reads as follows:
The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the message of John. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And God was with the Word. This (then) was with God in the beginning. Everything was by his hand. And without him not one thing came to be (of any sort) that came to be.
Through him life came to be and life was the light of humankind. The light shone in the darkness. And the darkness did not overtake it. By the power of these ten sayings glorious Godhead.
By the name I am that I am, El Shaddai, Adonai, Lord of Hosts. I bind and I repel , and I remove all pains and diseases and the evil and covetous eye. And fear and terror and trembling. And every kind of fright. And dehydrating heat-sicknesses and all sicknesses and all pains and all illnesses and the hot and cold fever and throbbing of the head and splitting and the "spirit of the heart." And the "spirit of the bone" from the body and from the members of the bearer of this writing. Amen.
John Brolley at the University of Cincinnati studies these texts says “"So, for example, if I were a farmer who had somehow ended up with a sick cow or a sick spouse, the priest, probably for some small amount of money, would copy down a charm from one of the books and the farmer would take it and wear it as an amulet. Many of the local villagers may not have been Christian, but they appear to have considered the local priest what you and I would call a medicine man, and were able to trust him."
Some of the Syriac Charm prayers are quit humorous. Who hasn’t been awakened by the endless barking of dogs. Here is a prayer to BIND THE MOUTH OF DOGS.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 'By the greatness of thine arm they shall sink as stones'. Make them still, O Lord God, make them still by that stone which was put upon the mouth of the tomb of our Redeemer. By it may these dogs be silenced through the prayers of my Lady, the blessed Mary, and of Mar John the Baptist, and through the prayer of all the martyrs and saints of our Lord. Amen!
This is followed by the instruction: Say the benediction over three morsels, and throw them in front of the dogs.
At the monastery of Mor Gabriel in southeast, Turkey, nuns would milk the cows and for the most part the cows were gentle and obedient. When the veterinarian came to give injections to the cows, the cows became nervous and would run from the nuns. So Bishop Timotheos would call for me to come and wrestle the cows (or a bull in one case) into submission so the nuns could put a rope around its neck. I wish I had known the following charm.
For THE COW WHICH DISLIKES, OR IS EXCITED TOWARDS, HER MISTRESS.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We beg of Thee, O Lord, God of Hosts, that by thy exalted [xli] and strong arm, this beast may be fond of and subject herself to her mistress and her son. Guard her against the evil and envious eye, by the power of thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of the angels who minister before Thee both night and day, who exclaim and repeat, 'Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts, the heaven and the earth are full of his glory!' Make this cow at peace with her mistress A. the daughter of B., so that she may milk her by thy living and holy command, by the sanctification of those on high, and the action of those below, through the prayer of my Lady, the blessed Mary, and Mar John the Baptist. Amen!
In the end, I am quite ambivalent about the use of these charms and prayers because they tempt people to be superstitious rather than trust in the words rather than God. On the other hand, I never turn down someone who wants a blessing. The prayer is a gateway to the presence of God, and if a piece of lead or a written prayer hung around the neck can help, then I cannot say no. It is often the beginning of a journey toward God.
