Celtic Prayers and Incantations

Alexander Carmichael

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486457413
• eBook ISBN: 9780486146102
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Here, in one concise volume, are highlights from Carmina Gadelica, a 19th-century anthology of ancient Gaelic prayers and incantations. Enriched with a combination of pagan and Christian imagery, these texts are written witnesses to a centuries-old oral tradition—a rare literary feast of Gaelic folklore from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
This collection of prayers, hymns, charms, incantations, blessings, runes, poems, and songs sweeps the landscape of the Gaelic imagination. An extraordinary assembly of verse and prose, it reveals the mysteries of a culture's arcane knowledge and spellbinding lore. From incantations used in healing, to blessings on livestock, prayers for protection against the evil eye, and seasonal hymns that include Christmas carols, these religious texts fascinate with their dignified, liturgical style. A monumental achievement in literature, this written record of ancient prayers captures the beauty and wisdom of the oral originals, which were once recited around traditional peat fires. Drawn from the depths of Celtic Christianity, they are a lasting testament of Gaelic faith.

Incantations

122 Charm for rose

Behold, Son and Christ,
The breast of Thy Mother swollen;
Give Thou peace to the breast,
Subdue Thou the swelling;
Give Thou peace to the breast,
Subdue Thou the swelling.

Behold it thyself, Queen,
Since of thee the Son was born,
Appease thou the breast,
Subdue thou the swelling;
Appease thou the breast,
Subdue thou the swelling.

See Thou it, Jesu,
Since Thou art King of life;
Appease Thou the breast,
Subdue Thou the udder;
Appease Thou the breast,
Subdue Thou the udder.

I behold, said Christ,
And I do as is meet,
I give ease to the breast,
And rest to the udder;
I give ease to the breast,
And rest to the udder.

123 Charm for rose

Thou rose windy, swelling, deadly,
Leave that part and spot,
There is the udder in the ground,
And leave the breast.

See, Christ, the woman
And her breast swollen,
See her thyself, Mary,
It was thou didst bear the Son.

Thou rose windy, deadly, thirsty,
Leave the breast and the spot,
And take thyself off;
Healed be the breast,
Withered be the swelling.

Flee thieving red one,
Flee quickly thieving one,
Swelling that was in the breast,
Leave the udder and the breast,
And flee hence.

124 Charm for rose

Thou rose deathly, deadly, swollen,
Leave the udder of the white-footed cow,
Leave the udder of the spotted cow,
Leave, leave that swelling,
And betake thyself to other swelling.

Thou rose thrawn, obstinate,
Surly in the udder of the cow,
Leave thou the swelling and the udder,
Flee to the bottom of the stone.

I place the rose to the stone,
I place the stone to the earth,
I place milk in the udder,
I place substance in the kidney.

125 Charm for swollen breast

The charm made by Gillecaluim,
On the one cow of the carlin,
For rose, for hardness, for pain,
For swelling, for lump, for growth,
For uzzening, for udder, for milking,
For the three corracha crith,
For the three corracha cnamh,
For the three corracha creothail,
Do not deny it to beast,
Do not refuse it to wife,
Do not withhold it on Sunday.
The charm made of generous Fionn,
To his very sister,
For rose, for hardness,
For swelling of breast.

126 Toothache charm

The incantation put by lovely Bride
Before the thumb of the Mother of God,
On lint, on wort, on hemp,
For worm, for venom, for teeth.

The worm that tortured me,
In the teeth of my head,
Hell hard by my teeth,
The teeth of hell distressing me.

The teeth of hell close to me;
As long as I myself shall last
May my teeth last in my head.

127 Charm for jaundice

For the jaundice, for the spaul, for the bloody flux,
For the red disease, for the withering disease,
For the bot disease, for the skin disease,
For the brown disease, for the foot disease,
And for every disease that might be
In the constitution of cow
Or adhering to stirk.

128 Charm for a bursting vein

The rune made by the holy maiden Bride
To the lame mariner,
For knee, for crookedness, for crippleness,
For the nine painful diseases, for the three venomous
diseases,
Refuse it not to beast, deny it not to dame.

Christ went on a horse,
A horse broke his leg,
Christ went down,
He made whole the leg.

As Christ made whole that,
May Christ make whole this,
And more than this,
If it be His will so to do.

The charm made by Columba,
On the bottom of the glen,
For bursting of vein, for dislocation of bone:
Thou art ill today, thou shalt be well tomorrow.

129 Charm for bursting vein

Rosary of Mary, one,
Rosary of Mary, two,
Rosary of Mary, three,
Rosary of Mary, four,
Rosary of Mary, five,
Rosary of Mary, six,
Rosary of Mary, seven,
Seven Rosaries of Mary ever
Between pain and ease,
Between sole and summit,
Between health and gr...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Publisher’s Note
• Table of Contents
• Invocations
• Seasons
• Labour
• Incantations
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