Ted Hand doth schreibble :
>
> It seems as if Khem has handled your specific question.
Not completely, by any means ;)
Here's another relevant bit from Trachtenberg:
' Already in the pages of the Talmud we read that
"the demons keep away from everyone who recites the
Shema before retiring."
There grew up an increasingly elaborate scheme of
prayer around this nocturnal recitation of the Shema
(Kriat Shema she'al ha-Mita), to reinforce its
protective powers, and coupled with straightforward
pleas for deliverance from "the terrors that threaten
by night" were potent Biblical verses and Psalms, magic
names, appeals to the angels, three- and seven-fold
repetitions, prayers with obscure mystical connotations,
&tc.
There was no attempt to disguise the purpose of this
prayer service; it was frankly admitted time and again
that "it exists only because of the demons."
This night-prayer offers an interesting illustration
of the tenacity of magical and superstitious forms.
One of its constituents invokes the protection of the
angels: "at my right Michael, at my left Gabriel,
before me Uriel, behind me Raphael."
This is nothing more than a Jewish version of the
ancient Babylonian incantation, "Shamash before me,
behind me Sin, Nergal at my right, Ninib at my left,"
or, "May the good Shedu go at my right, the good
Lamasu at my left," &tc. '
~ from :
*Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion*
by Joshua Trachtenberg, page 156.
(Preview @GoogleBooks )
http://tinyurl.com/29anp9e
Cors in Manu Domine,
~ Khem Caigan
<[log in to unmask]>
"Heat and Moisture are Active to Generation;
Cold and Dryness are Passive, in and to each Thing;
Fire and Air, Active by Elementation;
Water and Earth, Passive to Generation."
*Of the Division of Chaos*
-Dr. Simon Forman
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