The Mystery and Romance of Alchemy and Pharmacy

From very remote times a somewhat curious link has existed between the art of healing and religion, and those who proposed the cure of the body or the soul have ever sought to work upon that uncanny chord we call superstition, which pervades more or less all classes of mankind. The influence of superstition manifested itself in many ways, and among others the belief in amulets, talismans and charms survives even to-day. Two thousand years ago they were dispensed by the priests, and afterwards by those who practised medicine, alchemy, and astrology, during the middle ages, when medical practice was mainly composed of a mixture of white magic, witchcraft, and religion.

An amulet consisted of an object in wood, stone, or metal, carved or painted; also certain words or signs, written or spoken, which were supposed to possess some mysterious virtue or hidden property, and avert disease and death from the wearer. The word means something that is suspended from the neck, or bound round a part of the body, to strengthen it; to drive off disease or poison, bringing about certain results of a peculiar character, and invested with supernatural virtues. Portions of animals and herbs were also used for this purpose. Talismans were objects, usually of metal or one of the precious stones, worn about the person to ward off danger, ill-luck, or the evil eye, as well as for their supposed medicinal virtues.

By their means it was thought possible to hold commune with the world of spirits. Their origin is lost in antiquity, but they were used by the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Jews hundreds of years before the Christian era, and afterwards by the Greeks and Romans. It is probable the Jews learned the use of amulets from the Egyptians at the time of the captivity, by whom they were very generally worn. Egyptian amulets were mostly composed of stone or porcelain objects, fashioned in various forms. Some were emblematic of deities, such as the nilometer, which was a symbol of Osiris, while others represented human heads or the figures of animals. Many were engraved with zodiacal symbols which had special significance. The crab was worn to ward off fevers, the bull to guard against the evil-doing of others, fishes kept away gout and kindred diseases, and the scorpion rendered the wearer invulnerable to the bites or stings of venomous reptiles. It was customary with the Egyptians to attach certain amulets to the bodies of the dead to protect them from evil spirits, and they are frequently found suspended from the necks of mummies. Amulets are worn in Egypt to-day, and also in most Mohammedan countries. They usually take the form of a small strip of parchment, on which is written some cabalistic sign or a few lines from the Koran, the whole being enclosed in a small leather or tin case, and hung around the neck. Amulets were also known and much used by the early Greeks.

Pliny mentions their virtue, while Galen, Dioscorides, Cardamus, and other ancient writers on medicine, speak of their value in warding off disease. Galen tells us that the Egyptian king, Nechepsus, who lived 630 years B.C., wore a green jasper cut into the form of a dragon, surrounded with rays, which, applied externally to the region of the digestive organs, was said to wonderfully strengthen that part. The Romans were also great believers in the power of the amulet, and in the declining era of the great empire the custom of wearing them became so general that the Emperor Caracalla made a public edict, that no man should wear an amulet about his person, under heavy penalties.

Amulets have been known to that curious nation the Chinese from the earliest period of their history, and are still worn by them. They are sold by the priests in the form of small pieces of metal, chains, or characters written on a piece of skin or parchment, and worn as a charm against accident, sickness, etc.

The amulets and talismans probably held in the highest esteem were those in the form of precious stones. They were supposed to be influenced in some mysterious way by the planets, and to be the abode of spirits. Five or six hundred years ago a lady would present her knight with a talisman on his departure on some adventurous or warlike expedition; this often took the form of a jewel set in the hilt of his sword. The diamond was thus supposed to endow the wearer with courage, and make him more fearless than careful. A jacinth had the reputation of being able to strengthen the heart, and was often worn close to the region of that organ, fashioned into the form of some animal or saint. The sapphire was supposed to possess a Divine gift of sharpening the intellect, and was also worn as a preventive against the bites of venomous animals. A wearer of this stone was also said to have the power of resisting “necromantick apparitions”. The emerald was worn in a ring to prevent giddiness and strengthen the memory. Garcious quaintly states: “It takes away vain and foolish fears as of devils and hobgoblins, folly and anger, and causeth good conditions; if it do so being worn about one, reason will tell him, that being beaten into powder and taken inwardly it will do much more”. Great faith was placed in the ruby as an amulet to ward off plagues and pestilences. Cardamus says: “It has the power of making the wearer cheerful, and banishing idle and foolish thoughts”.

The amethyst was supposed to promote temperance and sobriety, and cause the wearer to abstain from strong drinks and from taking too much sleep. By other writers it is also said to quicken the wit and repel vapours from the head—altogether a very useful kind of amulet to have about. The chrysolite was said to ward off fevers; while the onyx, worn round the neck, was supposed to prevent an attack of epilepsy. The opal was believed to cure weak eyes, and the topaz to cure inflammation and keep the wearer from sleep-walking. Lapis-lazuli, worn as a jewel, was said to make the wearer fortunate and rich, while amulets of jasper resisted fevers and dropsy. Ancient warriors often carried an amulet composed of bloodstone, which was supposed to stop bleeding when applied to a wound. The old Egyptian amulets were mostly carved in stone, porcelain, carnelian, or lapis-lazuli, etc. They were fashioned in many forms, the most common being the heart, the symbolic eye, two fingers, disc and horns, snakes, the tat, and the papyrus sceptre.

Coming to those fashioned in metal, amulets of gold were also highly esteemed. The precious metal was supposed to strengthen the heart, drive away melancholy, fever, and other infirmities. Silver was attributed with the possession of similar properties, but in a lesser degree. Zoroaster and Paracelsus advocated the use of metallic amulets. Special value was attached to those made from a peculiar metal called electron, which was composed of seven metals fused together in fixed proportions. Amulet rings were always worn on the third finger, which was called the medicine-finger by alchemists, through which they believed the heart was most susceptible to influence. Written amulets usually consisted of some cabalistic character, or a few words written on a small piece of skin or parchment. This was either enclosed in a tiny case and suspended from the neck, or bound against the body. It was not uncommon for the physician of the fifteenth century to write his prescription in mysterious characters, and hang it round the neck of the patient, or bind it over the part nearest the seat of the complaint. Of written amulets perhaps the most famous formula was Abracadabra, which, when written on a piece of parchment in the following manner, was said to protect the wearer from most diseases:—

Another common formula was the sign A II, which, inscribed on parchment, was worn round the neck to prevent sore eyes. Others were composed of astrological signs and certain numbers. A favourite inscription was A B R A X A S, supposed to ward off fever and pestilence.

The Jews used the fifth and sixth verses of the sixteenth Psalm as an amulet to discover hidden thieves, it being supposed that on repeating these words they would be compelled to come forth from their hiding-places. The modern burglar requires an amulet of a somewhat stronger nature in these prosaic days. A curious charm for warts, used some 400 years ago, was to write on seven little wafers the following words: Maximanus, Walchus, Johannes, Martinianus, Dionysius, Constantius, Serapion, and sing a prescribed incantation first into one ear, then into the other, and then above the patient’s poll, after which a virgin was to hang the incantation around the patient’s neck, when the warts would disappear. Another amulet to charm away warts was an iron ring made from the chain of a gibbet. The following incantation was supposed to stop bleeding from the nose: Make the sign of the Cross thrice, repeat the Lord’s Prayer thrice; then say the Ave Maria, and repeat the words Max, Hackx, Lyacx, Iseus, Christus. Among the many strange and curious articles worn as amulets the old philosophers seem to have had the greatest veneration for certain mysterious stones, such as bezoar, the origin of which in most cases is exceedingly doubtful. Dark and weird are the legends relating to the power of the toadstone, that amulet so highly prized by witches and astrologers. Among other properties it was supposed to protect its owner from the bites of venomous animals.

Lemnius tells us of “a stone of the bigness of a bean, to be found in the gizzard of an old cock, which makes him that wears it beloved, constant, bold, and valiant in fighting and sports”. Such amulets brought big prices, and were eagerly sought after. The toadstone was much esteemed as a charm against the bites of snakes and reptiles; it also had a reputation for curing weak eyes and headache. Orpheus believed that when this amulet was worn by a public speaker he could always compel and hold the attention of his audience. A charm against the evil eye consisted of a quill filled with mercury, sealed at each end, and worn bound to the body. A small portion of the plant called St. John’s Wort was carried about the person as a preventive from harm by witches or devils. A toad, well dried in the sun, put into a bag and hung round the neck, low enough to touch the region of the heart, was used to allay hæmorrhage; and a very well salted herring split open and applied to the soles of the feet was a noted remedy for ague. An emerald suspended from the neck was worn as an amulet to ward off the same complaint. Aqua divina, a famous remedy, supposed to possess “magnetick power,” was prepared by macerating a human body in water and distilling it twice or thrice. Human bones, various parts of a mummy, and other equally gruesome objects, were supposed to be endowed with some mysterious power to ward off accident, disease, and death.

In some parts of the country, especially in Cornwall, eel skins were and are still used, tied round the legs to prevent cramp; and two sticks laid crosswise on the bedroom floor were supposed to charm away the same painful complaint. It is still a common custom in other country districts to pass a weakly child through the split branch of a tree in order to make it grow stronger; and a certain class have the strongest belief in a charm of a romantic nature that is worked with the gum called dragon’s blood.

A famous amulet, the remarkable history of which inspired Sir Walter Scott to write The Talisman, was “The Lee Penny,” which we believe is still in existence, and held in veneration in some parts of Scotland. The singular history attached to this coin was as follows: Sir Simon Lockhart, of Lee and Cartland, was a well-known knight in the time of Robert the Bruce and his son David. He was one of the chief Scottish knights who accompanied Lord Douglas on his expedition to the Holy Land with the heart of King Robert Bruce, and was there engaged in the war with the Saracens. Tradition goes on to state that he captured in battle an emir of great rank and wealth, and fixed a price at which he should be ransomed. The aged mother of the prisoner came to the Christian camp to redeem her son, and on pulling out a large purse which contained the ransom, a peculiar pebble inserted in a coin fell to the ground. The old woman, it is said, showed such haste and anxiety to recover it, that it gave the Scottish knight a high idea of its value—on which he refused to set the emir at liberty till the amulet was added to the ransom. This the woman consented to do, and also explained to Sir Simon the use of the talisman, which was of great repute. When dipped in water the liquid assumed the properties of a styptic and a febrifuge, etc. Sir Simon Lockhart, after much experience of its value, brought it home, and left it to his heirs, and it is known as the “Lee penny” from the name of his native place. The coin is said to be of the early Byzantine period.

The most remarkable part of its history, as stated in the introduction to The Talisman, was, that it escaped condemnation in an extraordinary manner when the Church of Scotland impeached many other cures of the kind which savoured of the miraculous, as occasioned by sorcery, and censured the appeal to them; “excepting only that to the amulet called the ‘Lee penny,’ to which it had pleased God to annex certain healing virtues which the Church did not presume to condemn”. It still exists, and its powers are sometimes yet resorted to.

For epilepsy, a curious custom was to take the sick man by the hand and whisper softly in his ear, “I conjure thee by the sun and moon, and by the Gospel of the day delivered by God to Hubert, Giles, Cornelius, and John, that thou rise and fall no more”.

Singular virtues were supposed to be attached to a “dead man’s hand”. In a Roman Catholic chapel in Ashton-in-Mackerfield, there is preserved with great care in a white silk bag, a hand, which is still held in veneration, and wonderful cures are said to have been wrought by this ghastly relic.

The hand is said to have been that of one Father Edmund Arrowsmith, who was executed at Lancaster in 1628, for apparently no greater offence than that of being true to his faith. After his execution one of his friends cut off his right hand, which was preserved for many years at Bryn Hall, in Lancashire, and afterwards removed to Ashton.

This “Holy hand” was formerly held in great esteem in Lancashire, and pilgrims came from all parts of the country to receive its touch, which was reputed to cure various diseases. It was believed to remove tumours when rubbed over the part, and restore health to the paralysed.

Consumption was believed by the ignorant to be produced by drinking water which had been boiled too long. The cure was to dig a hole in the earth, lie in it face downwards, and breathe into the soil. This extraordinary remedy was also largely used for coughs, asthma, and those suffering from hysteria.

A curious charm is still practised in Devonshire as a cure for the complaint called a white swelling or white leg. Bandages are used to tie round the afflicted limb, over which the following charm is repeated nine times, and each time followed by the Lord’s Prayer:—

“As Christ was walking, He saw the Virgin Mary sitting on a cold marble stone. He said unto her, ‘If it is a white ill thing, or a red ill thing, or a black ill thing, or a sticking, crackling, pricking, stabbing, bone ill thing, or a sore ill thing, or a swelling ill thing, or a rotten ill thing, or a cold creeping ill thing, or a smarting ill thing, let it fall from thee to the earth in My name, and the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.’”