Folk Medicine

Thou shalt on paper write the spell divine,

ABRACADABRA called in many a line,

Each under each in even order place,

But the last letter in each line efface,

 As by degrees the elements grow few,

Still take away and fix the residue,

Till at last one letter stands alone,

 And the whole dwindles to a tapering cone,

Tie this about the neck with flaxon string,

Mighty the good twill to the patient bring,

 Its mighty potency shall guard his head,

And drive disease and death from his bed.

Severus Sammonicus

Third Century AD