#summuning
Constantinople’s Ottoman inhabitants, like their Byzantine precursors, took magic very seriously. They employed strange spells for a variety of mundane, sometimes downright cruel purposes. The spells reveal a mental landscape of insecurity, fear, arrogance and superstition. Below are five examples:
To get a woman pregnant from her rightful husband:
Write this spell and place it in her bed.
Note the stylised image of a woman, represented as a triangle.
To tie tongues:
Write this spell on a piece of paper. Bury it under a tombstone. Say out loud: “Tie their tongue, as if they lie dead in the tomb.” Whoever you name, will be as mute as a corpse.
Write this if your servant or maid runs away:
Bury this where your servants stay when calm. Their roads will be tied and they will return, unable to escape.
If you desire to separate two people:
Write these on two pieces of bread, on a Sunday, on the afternoon and before midday. Feed one to the dog, and the other, to the cat.
For increased companionship:
Carve this spell on a copper plate. Throw the plate into a hot fire. Remove from fire when your loved one arrives. As the spell cools, she will warm up to you. This is the spell.
Source:Dünden Bugüne İstanbul Ansiklopedisi [The Encyclopedia of Istanbul, from the Past to the Present] by the Republic of Turkey Culture Ministry and the Turkish History Foundation. (1994)
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