I Put a Spell on You: Witchcraft in the Talmud

The Sages taught in a baraita: One who was walking outside a city and smelled a scent; if the majority of the town’s residents are gentiles he may not recite a blessing over the scent, but if the majority are Jews, he may recite a blessing. Rabbi Yosei says: Even if the majority are Jews, one may not recite a blessing, as the daughters of Israel burn incense for witchcraft. Is that to say that they all burn incense to witchcraft? Rather, there is a minority of people who burn incense to witchcraft, and a different minority who burn spices in order to perfume their garments with incense. A majority, therefore, exists that does not use it for fragrance, and in a case where the majority does not use it for fragrance, one does not recite a blessing.

Ameimar said: The chief of witches (magical women?) said to me: One who encounters witches should say this incantation: Hot feces in torn date baskets in your mouth, witches! may your hairs fall out; your crumbs should scatter; your spices, should scatter; the wind should carry away the fresh saffron that you witches hold. As long as I was shown favor from Heaven and you showed me favor, I did not come here. Now that I have come here, your favor toward me has cooled and you should find favor....

And the Gemara notes that that which we said above, that the numbers ten, eight, six, and four do not cause the danger associated with pairs, we said only with regard to harmful spirits. However, with regard to witchcraft, we are concerned even with regard to one who performed an activity a greater number of times. This is like that incident involving a certain man who divorced his wife. She went and married a shopkeeper who sold wine in his store. Every day, the first husband would go and drink wine in that shop. His ex-wife would perform witchcraft upon him, and it would not be effective for her in her attempts to harm him because he was careful with regard to pairs. One day he drank a lot, and he did not know how much he drank. Until he drank sixteen cups, he was lucid and was careful with regard to himself, to keep track of how many cups he had drunk. From here onward he was not lucid and was not careful to watch himself, and she caused him to leave after having consumed a pair, i.e., an even number of cups. As he walked, a certain Arab met him and, noticing that he was bewitched, said to him: It is a dead man who walks here. He went and hugged a palm tree for support; the palm tree dried out due to the witchcraft, and he burst.

The Sages taught: Three objects should not be allowed to pass between two people walking along a road, and people should not walk between two of them: A dog, a palm tree, and a woman. And some say: Also a pig. And some say: Also a snake. [All of these were associated with witchcraft.] And if they pass between them, what is the remedy to prevent one from harm? Rav Pappa said: He should begin [reciting a passage from the Torah] with God and conclude with God. [In other words, he should recite the passage: “God Who brought them out of Egypt is for them like the lofty horns of the wild ox. For there is no enchantment with Jacob, nor is there any divination with Israel; now is it said of Jacob and of Israel: What has been performed by God” (Numbers 23:22–23).] Alternatively, he should open with a verse that begins with the word lo, no, and should conclude with lo [“No [lo] man is God that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent. When He has said will He not do it, or when He has spoken will He not [lo] make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)].

These two men, between whom a menstruating woman passes, if she is at the beginning of her menstruation she kills one of them, i.e., she causes the death of one of the two men. If she is at the end of her menstruation, she causes a fight between them. What is his remedy? He should open with a verse that begins with the word God and he should conclude with God, as explained above.

The Gemara further states: These two women, who are sitting at a crossroads, one on this side of the road and the other on the other side, and they are facing each other, they are certainly engaging in witchcraft. What is the remedy for one who walks by? If there is another route, he should go by it. And if there is no other route, if there is another person with him, they should hold hands and switch places. And if there is no other person with him, he should say as follows: Iggeret, Azlat, Asiya, Belusiya are killed by arrows. These are names of demons invoked by witches.

The Gemara cites a related statement: One who meets a woman when she is ascending from the ritual immersion of a mitzva, after her menstruation, if he has intercourse with any woman first, a spirit of immorality overtakes him; if she has intercourse first, a spirit of immorality overtakes her. What is his remedy? He should say this: “He pours contempt upon princes, and causes them to wander in the waste, where there is no way” (Psalms 107:40).