While on the subject of fragmenting the body, I was wondering if
anyone could suggest any references to the practice of dismembering
the corpses of hanged men and using the body parts to ward off evil.
I'm trying to understand the origins of a practice described in early
Cape Town, (early 18th century) where, in one example, the arm of a
hanged man was severed and placed under the bed of a woman whose
husband was trying to murder her. Some of the bone of the arm was
also ground into her food. I believe that in the middle ages and
early modern period, the semen of hanged men was also considered
powerful.
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