Sefer goralot
These illustrated pages are from a manuscript copy of Sefer goralot (Book of Lots), a treatise on geomancy, which was a method of divination popular in the medieval world. The text was attributed, incorrectly, to the twelfth-century biblical commentator and astrologer, Abraham Ibn Ezra. The manuscript includes many images related to the zodiac.
Credits
Collection Ets Haim — Livraria Montezinos, Amsterdam, EH 47 E 41 009.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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To Kill a Foe
To kill a foe: write these twelve names on deerskin or calfskin parchment on Monday evening at the third or fourth hour, or at those times at night. And this is what you shall write:He who gives forth…
Adjuration for a Person in Shock and Falling Sickness
An adjuration for a person in shock and for a person with the falling sickness [epilepsy—Ed.]. When you go to a person in shock or a person with the falling sickness recite the following:
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For Opening the Heart
For opening the heart; tested and tried. Take a new glass and write on it:
I adjure you, Patḥiel, to open my heart to all the Torah to learn all that I desire. That my heart should be as an…
For One Who Becomes Possessed
One who becomes possessed by a demon should recite this adjuration three times, and it [the demon] will leave him, God willing.
In the explicit name [Shem ha-meforash] of the God of Israel may His…
To Ask a Question So as Not to Leave Empty-Handed
More for the aforementioned [recipe so as not to leave empty-handed]: wash your hands and feet in warm water and file the toenail of the left or right hallux with a new knife. Using a needle—not ink…
Igerot ha-remez (Epistles of the Secret)
To the eminent sage, his honor our rabbi, R. Samson Bacchi of Casale, may the Compassionate One keep and preserve him
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You may also like
To Kill a Foe
To kill a foe: write these twelve names on deerskin or calfskin parchment on Monday evening at the third or fourth hour, or at those times at night. And this is what you shall write:He who gives forth…
Adjuration for a Person in Shock and Falling Sickness
An adjuration for a person in shock and for a person with the falling sickness [epilepsy—Ed.]. When you go to a person in shock or a person with the falling sickness recite the following:
In the…
For Opening the Heart
For opening the heart; tested and tried. Take a new glass and write on it:
I adjure you, Patḥiel, to open my heart to all the Torah to learn all that I desire. That my heart should be as an…
For One Who Becomes Possessed
One who becomes possessed by a demon should recite this adjuration three times, and it [the demon] will leave him, God willing.
In the explicit name [Shem ha-meforash] of the God of Israel may His…
To Ask a Question So as Not to Leave Empty-Handed
More for the aforementioned [recipe so as not to leave empty-handed]: wash your hands and feet in warm water and file the toenail of the left or right hallux with a new knife. Using a needle—not ink…
Igerot ha-remez (Epistles of the Secret)
To the eminent sage, his honor our rabbi, R. Samson Bacchi of Casale, may the Compassionate One keep and preserve him