Also called Shimmush Tehillim, Secrets of the Psalms, using the psalms, psalms for protection
The practice of reciting chosen psalms for specific needs such as protection, travel, healing or peace at home, found in a medieval Jewish manual and later in Pennsylvania German and African American Hoodoo tradition.
TraditionJewish practical psalmody (Shimmush Tehillim), later Hoodoo
RegionMiddle East and Europe, later the United States
EraMedieval manual, first printed 1551; Hoodoo use 19th and 20th centuries
Moon◐ Any moon
DayAny
ElementSpirit
Difficulty●○○ Simple
Time10 minutes
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
The working
Pick a psalm that matches your need. Psalm 23 is widely read for comfort, Psalm 91 for protection, Psalm 121 for travelers, and Psalm 37 when you fear someone means you harm.
Wash your hands and sit somewhere quiet. Light a candle if you like.
Read the psalm aloud slowly, ideally once in the morning and once at night. Old manuals often prescribe a number of repetitions, commonly three or seven.
After reading, say in your own words what you are asking for and for whom.
Repeat daily for as long as the need lasts, or for a set number of days such as seven or nine.
Some Hoodoo practitioners leave the Bible open at the psalm on a table for a few days; you can do the same as a reminder of your prayer.
Take care: Psalms are sacred texts to Jews and Christians; use them with respect. Some psalms contain curses against enemies; do not aim them at real people. Prayer is no substitute for medical care.
Versions across time and place
i
Sefer Shimmush Tehillim
Jewish practical Kabbalah · Late antiquity to medieval, printed Sabbioneta 1551
This Hebrew manual assigns a practical use to each psalm, often with a holy name to meditate on and a short accompanying act, such as reciting over water or oil. Tradition attributes it to Hai Gaon, though scholars trace its growth over centuries, with fragments in the Cairo Genizah. It was one of the most popular magical books in Judaism.
Recorded in: Bill Rebiger, Sefer Shimmush Tehillim (Mohr Siebeck, 2010)
ii
Secrets of the Psalms
German and American folk practice · 18th to 20th century
A Christian adaptation of the Shimmush Tehillim circulated in German, and an English pamphlet called Secrets of the Psalms, issued under the name Godfrey Selig, was later sold through American mail-order spiritual supply catalogs. It gives a use for each psalm, such as safe travel, relief from headache or peace in a marriage, and became a standard Hoodoo text.
Recorded in: Pamphlet attributed to Godfrey Selig; Yvonne Chireau, Black Magic (2003)
iii
The open Bible in Hoodoo
African American conjure · Early 20th century
Collected testimony describes a woman reading Psalm 37 when she feared harm and leaving the Bible open with its head turned to the east for up to three days. Practitioners also carried a Bible for protection or read psalms over candles and baths.
Recorded in: Folklore collections cited in Wikipedia, Hoodoo (spirituality)
History
Using scripture for protection is very old. The Hebrew manual Sefer Shimmush Tehillim, the Book of the Use of the Psalms, gives each psalm a purpose, from calming a storm at sea to protecting a home. Bill Rebiger's 2010 critical edition traces its beginnings to late antique Egypt and Palestine and its first printing to Sabbioneta in Italy in 1551. Jewish communities still read Psalm 91 and others for protection and for the sick.
The manual crossed into Christian folk practice through German translations, and an English version under the name Godfrey Selig spread in the United States. Historian Yvonne Chireau describes how African American conjure treated the Bible as both scripture and a powerful object, and Hoodoo practitioners came to call it the greatest conjure book in the world. Reading psalms aloud remains the gentlest and most widely shared form of the practice.
