ISSN:
1468-2982
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Medieval headache treatment is largely unknown. Medieval incantations against headache enumerate bodily organs to be protected. One 8th-century Latin hymn from Lake Constance using this device is addressed to St. Aid “mechprech”, who has been identified as Aed Mac Brice, Bishop of Killare, 6th century. This Irish Saint inspired unusual legends by some rather unorthodox activities: He abducted a young girl as hostage while his inheritance was withheld, but at the same time was seen surrounded by angels. He prayed for a nun who was pregnant and made the pregnancy vanish by a miracle, and he replaced the severed heads of maids, men and horses, creating a new spring as a by-product of this operation. Already at his birth his head had hit a stone, leaving a hole in the stone which collected rainwater that cured all ailments. In our own time, such “bullaun stones” are still believed to cure headache in Ireland. According to the legends collected by Plummer and Co1man, St. Aed Mac Bricc was well known for his power to cure headaches. He relieved St. Brigid's headache when she was suffering many miles away, but his most impressive cure was in convincing a headache sufferer that the patient's headache could actually be transferred to his own head. The headache hymn or incantation is intended to repeat Aed's unique miracle.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1468-2982.1996.1608536.x
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