name of a god or spirit,
later a saint, in order to procure his intervention, through the power
inherent in the name. Other charms recount an effect already produced,
and this, through mimetic magic, is supposed to cause its repetition.
The earliest written documents bearing upon the paganism of the insular
Celts contain an appeal to "the science of Goibniu" to preserve butter,
and another, for magical healing, runs, "I admire the healing which
Diancecht left in his family, in order to bring health to those he
succoured." These are found in an eighth or ninth century MS., and, with
their appeal to pagan gods, were evidently used in Christian
times.[1125] Most Druidic magic was accompanied by a spell--
transformation, invisibility, power over the elements, and the discovery
of hidden persons or things. In other cases spells were used in medicine
or for healing wounds. Thus the Tuatha De Danann told the Fomorians that
they need not oppose them, because their Druids would restore the slain
to life, and when Cuchulainn was wounded we hear less of medicines than
of incantations used to stanch his blood.[1126] In other cases the Druid
could remove barrenness by spells.

The survival of the belief in spells among modern Celtic peoples is a
convincing proof of their use in pagan times, and throws light upon
their nature. In Brittany they are handed down in certain families, and
are carefully guarded from the knowledge of others. The names of saints
instead of the old gods are found in them, but in some cases diseases
are addressed as personal beings. In the Highlands similar charms are
found, and are often handed down from male to female, and from female to
male. They are also in common use in Ireland. Besides healing diseases,
such charms are supposed to cause fertility or bring good luck, or even
to transfer the property of others to the reciter, or, in the case of
darker magic, to cause death or disease.[1127] In Ireland, sorcerers
could "rime either a man or beast to death," and this recalls the power
of satire in the mouth of _File_ or Druid. It raised blotches on the
face of the victim, or even caused his death.[1128] Among primitive
races powerful internal emotion affects the body in curious ways, and in
this traditional power of the satire or "rime" we have probably an
exaggerated reference to actual fact. In other cases the "curse of
satire" affected nature, causing seas and rivers to sink back.[1129] The
satires made