Northvegr - John George Hohman's Pow-Wows

Our Fathers' Godsaga : Retold for the Young.

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John George Hohman's Pow-Wows

TO CURE THE POLL-EVIL IN HORSES, IN TWO OR THREE APPLICATIONS.
Break off three twigs from a cherry-tree: one towards morning, one towards evening, and one towards mid. night. Cut three small pieces off the hind part of your shirt, and wrap each of those twigs in one of these pieces; then clean the poll-evil with the twigs and leave them under-the eaves. The ends of the twigs which had been in the wound must be turned toward the north; after which you must do your business on them, that is to say, you must dirty them; then cover it, leaving the rags around the twigs. After all this the wound must be again stirred with the three twigs, in one or two days, and the twigs placed as before.

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A GOOD REMEDY FOR BAD WOUNDS AND BURNS.
The word of God, the milk of Jesus' mother, and Christ's blood, is for all wounds and burnings good.
+ + +
It is the safest way in all these cases to make the crosses with the hand or thumb three times over the affected parts; that is to say, over all those things to which the three crosses are attached.

A VERY GOOD REMEDY FOR THE WILD-FIRE.
Wild-fire and the dragon, flew over a wagon,
The wild-fire abated and the dragon skated.

TO STOP PAINS OR SMARTING IN A WOUND.
Cut three small twigs from a tree--each to be cut off in one cut--rub one end of each twig in the wound, and wrap them separately in a piece of white paper, and put them in a warm and dry place.

TO DESTROY WARTS.
Roast chicken-feet and rub the warts with them; then bury them under the eaves.

TO BANISH THE WHOOPING COUGH.
Cut three small bunches of hair from the crown of the head of a child that has never seen its father; sew this hair up in an unbleached rag and hang it around the neck of the child having the whooping cough. The thread with which the rag is sewed must also be unbleached.

ANOTHER REMEDY FOR THE WHOOPING COUGH WHICH HAS CURED THE MAJORITY OF THOSE WHO HAVE APPLIED IT.
Thrust the child having the whooping cough three times through a blackberry bush, without speaking or saying anything. The bush, however, must be grown
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fast at the two ends, and the child must be thrust through three times in the same manner, that is to say, from the same side it was thrust through in the first place.

A GOOD REMEDY TO STOP BLEEDING.
This is the day on which the injury happened. Blood, thou must stop, until the Virgin Mary bring forth another son. Repeat these words three times.

A GOOD REMEDY FOR THE TOOTHACHE.
Stir the sore tooth with a needle until it draws blood; then take a thread and soak it with this blood. Then take vinegar and flour, mix them well so as to form a paste and spread it on a rag, then wrap this rag around the root of an apple-tree, and tie it very close with the above thread, after which the root must be well covered with ground.

HOW TO WALK AND STEP SECURELY IN ALL PLACES.
Jesus walketh with [name]. He is my head; I am his limb. Therefore walketh Jesus with [name].
+ + +

A VERY GOOD REMEDY FOR THE COLIC.
Take half a gill of good rye whiskey, and a pipe full of tobacco; put the whiskey in a bottle, then smoke the tobacco and blow the smoke into the bottle, shake it well and drink it. This has cured the author of this book and many others. Or, take a white clay pipe which has turned blackish from smoking, pound it to a fine powder, and take it. This will have the same effect.

TO BANISH CONVULSIVE FEVERS.
Write the following letters on a piece of white paper, sew it on a piece of linen or muslin, and bang it around the neck until the fever leaves you:
p. 17
A b a x a C a t a b a x
A b a x a C a t a b a x
A b a x a C a t a b a
A b a x a C a t a b
A b a x a C a t a
A b a x a C a t
A b a x a C a
A b a x a C
A b a x a
A b a x
A b a
A b

HOW TO BANISH THE FEVER.
Write the following words upon a paper and wrap it up in knot-grass, (breiten megrich,) and then tie it upon the body of the person who has the fever:

Potmat sineat,
Potmat sineat,
Potmat sineat.

A VERY GOOD PLASTER.
I doubt very much whether any physician in the United States can make a plaster equal to this. It heals the white swelling, and has cured the sore leg of a woman who for eighteen years had used the prescriptions of doctors in vain.

Take two quarts of cider, one pound of bees-wax, one pound of sheep-tallow, and one pound of tobacco; boil the tobacco in the cider till the strength is out, and then strain it, and add the other articles to the liquid: stir it over a gentle fire till all is dissolved.

TO MAKE A GOOD EYE-WATER.
Take four cents' worth of white vitriol, four cents' worth of prepared spicewort (calamus root), four cents'
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worth of cloves, a gill of good whiskey and a gill of water. Make the calamus fine and mix all together; then use it after it has stood a few hours.

A VERY GOOD REMEDY FOR THE WHITE SWELLING.
Take a quart of unslacked lime, and pour two parts of water on it; stir it well and let it stand over night. The scum that collects on the lime-water must be taken off, and a pint of flax-seed oil poured in, after which it must be stirred until it becomes somewhat consistent . then put it in a pot or pan, and add a little lard and wax; melt it well, and make a plaster, and apply it to the parts affected-the plaster should be renewed every day, or at least every other day, until the swelling is gone.

A REMEDY FOR EPILEPSY, PROVIDED THE SUBJECT HAD NEVER FALLEN INTO FIRE OR WATER.
Write reversedly or backwards upon a piece of paper: "IT IS ALL OVER!" This is to be written but once upon the paper; then put it in a scarlet-red cloth, and then wrap it in a piece of unbleached linen, and hang it around the neck on the first Friday of the new moon. The thread with which it is tied must also be unbleached.
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REMEDY FOR BURNS.
"Burn, I blow on thee!"--It must be blown on three times in the same breath, like the fire by the sun.
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TO STOP BLEEDING.
Count backwards from fifty inclusive till you come down to three. As soon as you arrive at three, you will be done bleeding.

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