It was customary to tie certain kinds of phylacteries into a knot. Reference to this ancient practice is found in certain Assyrian talismans, now in the British Museum. Following is a translation of one of them: "Hea says: 'Go, my son! take a woman's kerchief, bind it round thy right hand; loose it from the left hand. Knot it with seven knots; do so twice. Sprinkle it with bright wine; bind it round the head of the sick man. Bind it round his hands and feet, like manacles and fetters; sit down on his bed; sprinkle water over him. He shall hear the voice of Hea. Darkness shall protect him, and Marduk, eldest son of Heaven, shall find him a happy habitation.'"[28:2] While the practice of wearing phylacteries may not have originated in a superstitious belief in their virtues as "appurtenances to make prayers more powerful," it would appear that they came to be regarded not only as protective charms, which is indicated by their name, but also as magical remedies, having occult healing properties.[29:1] Their power was supposed to inhere in the written words, enclosed in the small leathern case. At the present day, verses from the Scriptures, the Koran, and other sacred writings are sometimes worn upon the person and are also placed upon horses or camels, by Arabs, Turks, Grecians, and Italians, with the avowed purpose of averting malignant glances.[29:2] FOOTNOTES: [25:1] _Encyclopædia Britannica._ [25:2] Samuel Burder, _Oriental Customs_, vol. ii, p. 226. [25:3] Smith and Cheetham, _A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities_. [26:1] William George Black, _Folk-Medicine_, p. 165. [27:1] Joseph Barclay, _The Talmud_. [27:2] Scroll of parchment, inscribed with passages of Scripture. [27:3] Psalm xxxiv, 7. [27:4] James Hastings, D.D., _A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels_, 1908, p. 360. Matthew, xxiii, 5. [28:1] Philip Schaff, D.D., _A Religious Encyclopædia_. [28:2] _Biblical Things not generally known_, 1879, pp. 177-8. _Marduk, the Chaldean Hercules._ [29:1] James Hastings, _A Dictionary of the Bible_. [29:2] Frederick Thomas Elworthy, _The Evil Eye_. CHAPTER IV THE POWER OF WORDS In every word there is a magic influence, and each word is in itself the breath of the internal and moving spirit. JOSEPH ENNEMOSER: _The History of Magic_. There is magic in words, surely, and many a treasure besides Ali Baba's is unlocked with a verbal key. HENRY VAN DYKE: _Little Rivers_. For it was neither herbs, nor mollifying plaster that restored them to health, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things. WISDOM OF SOLOMON, XVI, 12. The power of words in stimulating the imagination is well expressed in the following sentences:--