> From: Dr. Karen Jolly [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>
> I agree. Insofar as they don't fall into one category another (our
> categories), can we see what categories they used for themselves? The
> prayers you mention--can you give me a reference since I am not as
> familiar with the Irish evidence?
>
Four invocations/healing charms are found in the St. Gall
incantations edited and published by Stokes & Strahan in Thesaurus
Paleohibernicus:
1- The first invokes both "Christ" and "Goibniu" in healing a wound.
(Goibniu was an Irish smith god--often compared to Vulcan; in the folk
tradition smiths were associated with healing in Ireland and the Scottish
Highlands into the modern period).
2- The second does not specify deities but invokes the following as
protectors against strangury: cattle, wood, birds, birdflocks, and cunning
sorcerers.
3- Against headache, the third invokes Christ, Isaiah, Elijah, Noah,
Job, Solomon, Matthew, Benjamin, Paul, John, Abraham, Abel. It also requires
marking the forehead and temples with a U.
4- The last example is used with a salve and invokes Diancecht, one
of the Irish healing gods.
Francine Nicholson
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