Wednesday 18 April 2012

Rabbi Yosef Cohen, Ms. 7

This manuscript is paper, from the Orient,  19th century, and consists of  two leaves; loose (unbound). Dimensions: 4 x 6.5 in.

Folio 1 Recto:




[Translation]

 For Love: On iron etch “In the name of [various names] [sigils], so too may X son of X[1] ‘s heart be raised in love of X daughter of X”.




[1] פ"בפ can either refer to a unnamed man or woman and the order of “son of” and “daughter of” can be reversed.




[Text] Another²: Bury [this] in your house: [sigil]

²i.e. for love.
(Note: The texts makes no mention as to what material (e.g. parchment, metal etc.) this amulet is to be made on. Presumably, any material is fine.


Another amulet, translation not provided: 






Folio 1 verso




[Text] For hatred: Cut an egg and give half to a dog and half to a cat. And then say: “As they separate one from each other, so too X son of X¹ from X son/daughter of X¹ in the name of [Divine names] [sigils] Amen, Netzach Selah V’ed³

³ אנסו which is an abbreviation for אמן נצח סלה ועד is a common conclusion in Hebrew spells and amulets.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Mihai,

    An interesting MS. It uses the terminology of much of the 'Segulot' (Virtues) books.
    But one correction to the translation-
    in the first receipt, you don't need to etch "in the name" phrase. In the first line of the MS there is an abbreviation (Taf-Alef-He) that means "Tachrot et HaShemot" (etch that names). basically, you just need to etch the names.

    Have a nice day!
    Gal

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  2. Shalom Gal. The translation is not mine. How did you find this blog? Practically nobody knows it.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mihai,

      you gave me the address in our last discussion...
      Let the translator know about this abbreviation.

      Gal

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Rabbi Said: by the way, I took another look at your blog and the coment. After the abbreviation of תא"ש the very next word is hard to read but I think it says בשם which means "In the name" or "By the name". It is possible that it reads בטס which means "on a plate" -that is ,the instruction is to etch the names on an iron plate. (not a food plate, I mean a iron foil type). -I'm open to a variant reading. However, many Hebrew amulets contain as an opening phase to Names by "in the name of..".

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    Replies
    1. Yes, many Hebrew amulets contain this opening, but from the picture above it is clear that the words are תא"ה בטס, as you said- etch the names on a plate (very common way).

      Thanks for you comment! :)

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