Preston Guardian
Saturday 10 July 1847
Charm Against Evil Spirits And Bad Wishers
The document, of which the following is a verbatim et literatin copy, has been put into our possession by a gentleman of Burnley, for whom it was obtained by a workman employed at his own works. The original is a very interesting document to those who take pleasure in the "folk-lore" of the county:- "Tetrageam Atonagle." (Then follow the symbols for the Sun, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Conjunction, Moon, Trine, Sextile, Saturn, Saturn, in the order given.) "I desire you to the living God Jehovah that those who possess this Paper may be defended against all evil spirits and bad Wishers and the Lord of Glory grant them good Luck and Prosperity. Amen. God sees thee O thou condemned villain. (Down one side of the remainder of the paper, and along the bottom, are seventeen crosses, enclosing the following.) "God spake all these words saying I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage thou shalt have no other Gods but me." The paper is folded to the size of two inches, by one-and-a-half, and is endorsed, "A defence against all evil spirits and Wishers." We understand the charms are intended to be worn either inside the breast of the shirt, in the waistband of the trowsers, or in a belt which workmen usually wear round the body. They are manufactured "according to order" by a schoolmaster in the neighbourhood of Burnley, and are sold by him at the "low price" of one shilling each! Let "Baines and Co.," "put a pin in []ithis[/i] fact," and say whether it is not high time for more rational and effective "schoolmasters to be abroad."
_________________ Mel
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