Also called Second Merseburg Charm, Wodan's horse charm, sprain charm, repair charm
The Second Merseburg Charm, a ninth or tenth century Old High German healing spell, closes with a famous list: bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb, as if they were glued. This page tells its history and adapts that joining formula as a charm said while repairing broken hardware.
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Phol and Wodan ride into the woods and Balder's foal sprains its foot. Several goddesses sing charms over it, and then Wodan, who knew the craft best, sings bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb.
Carmichael recorded Gaelic sprain charms in which Christ or Saint Columba sets bone to bone and sinew to sinew, said while tying a black thread around the injured limb. They are clear descendants of the same joining formula.
Later Nordic charms tell of Jesus riding to church when his horse stumbles, and he heals it with a list of joinings. The pagan gods are gone but the closing formula survives almost unchanged.
In 1841 the historian Georg Waitz found two charms written into a blank page of a theological manuscript in the cathedral library at Merseburg, in Saxony. Jacob Grimm published them in 1842. They are the only known pre-Christian charms in Old High German. The second tells of Wodan healing a horse's sprained leg with a list of joinings, and versions of that list turn up in healing charms across Europe for the next thousand years.
The charm was made for horses and people. It never mentioned machines, and we do not claim it did. Our adaptation borrows only the shape of its closing line, a list that names each part and joins it to its partner, and says it while doing a careful repair. It works as a mindful repair habit that keeps you slow, orderly and attentive to every connector.
Gaelic healing charms and prayers collected in the Scottish Highlands and Islands by Alexander Carmichael, spoken over sprains, toothache and other ills with the names of Christ, Mary and Saint Bride. Folk tradition only; see a doctor for any injury or illness.
A family of British and Appalachian folk charms in which a wart is touched with an object that is then buried, tied off or given away, so that as the object rots the wart fades. Folk tradition only; see a doctor or dermatologist about skin growths.
An Old English sung charm that names nine herbs and calls on their power against poison, infection and flying venom. It is folk tradition and history, not medical care: for any illness or wound, see a doctor.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
