A Charm to Stop Bleeding

The original charm included here is a historical charm from Manuscript KU3335 from Lakbäck, Hälsingland (in central Sweden). It is included in Dr. Thomas K. Johnson’s Svartkonstböcker as MS 5 in its English translation. It is also included in the earlier version of this dissertation (Tidebast och Vändelrot) in its original Swedish, which is where I initially found its attestation.

KU3335 was cataloged by the Royal Library. It belonged to the father of the man who lent it to the library (J. Arboren). According to the owner of the book, his father was a fisherman, farmer, and cunningman who copied the book from a cunningman’s manuscript (which he had borrowed from the man’s wife). Because the original book had been taken without the owner’s permission, Aboren’s father had only one day to copy all from the Black Book that he could manage, and must return the book before its owner came home the next day.

Swedish Charm: Blod mot blod. Hud mot hud, kött mot kott [.] Sen mot sen, Ben mot ben och Blod mot blod. Satt du onda blod, satt du goda blod. [Här] skall du stå och intet rinna du skall wara så sen till att rinna, lika så som Jesum Christum när han bar sitt kors i Örtagården till att springa. Statt du blod här skall du stå och der skall du Stanna så säkert som den själ som e Helwettt står och Stannar.

English Translation: Blood to blood, skin to skin, flesh to flesh[,] sinew to sinew, bone to bone and blood to blood. Stand still, you bad blood, Stand still you good blood, here you shall stand and not run. You shall be so reluctant to run just as Jesus Christ when he carried his cross in the Garden of Gethsemane was to run. Stand still you blood, here you still stand, and there you shall stop, as surely as the soul stands and stays in Hell.

Since I am not and never have been a Christian, here is the adaptation that I use:

Blood to blood, skin to skin, flesh to flesh, sinew to sinew, bone to bone, and blood to blood. Stand still, you bad blood. Stand still, you good blood. Here you shall stand and not run. As the mountain is fixed into its place, as the troll at dawn is turned to stone, so shall you be fixed where you are. Stand still, you blood. Here you shall stand, and here you shall stop, as the standing stone is bound into the earth, as the mighty oak is rooted to the ground.