in opposition to law. The gospel of St.
John was written elaborately on thin paper and placed secretly under
the altar cover in a Roman Catholic church, and left there till the
priest had thrice read the mass over it; then it was placed in a quill
or the shell of a hazel nut, and the opening was cemented with Spanish
lac or wax, or this capsule was framed in gold or silver and hung round
the neck. Others received the host at the Lord's supper, accompanying
it with a silent invocation to the devil; taking the wafer out of their
mouths again, they separated the skin from the flesh in some part of
the body, placed the wafer there, and let the wound heal over it. The
most reckless gave themselves up entirely to the devil; such people
could not only make other men invulnerable, but even eatables, such as
butter, cheese, and fruit, so that the sharpest knife could not
penetrate them.[16]

There was a change of form and name in the written parchments also
which contained charms.

"_Pope Leo's blessing_" originated in the early Landsknecht times; it
contained good Christian words and promises. Besides this there was the
"_Blessing of the Knight of Flanders_," so called because a knight who
had once worn it could not be beheaded; it was written in strange
characters and types interspersed with signs of the cross. Then there
was "_The benediction_," or charm in time of need, which in a moment of
danger arrested the sword or gun of the enemy.[17]

Similar were the "_Passau charms_" of the seventeenth century, written
on post paper, virgin parchment, or the host, with a peculiar pen in
bat's blood; the superstition was in strange characters, wizard feet,
circles, crosses, and the letters of foreign languages; according to
Grimmelshausen[18] the rhyme runs thus: Devil help me, body and soul
give I thee. When fastened under the left arm they expelled the shot
and closed the guns of the enemy. Sometimes even the charms were eaten.
But opinions concerning their efficacy were fluctuating. Some thought
them safeguards only for four-and-twenty hours; but according to others
their magic did not begin to work till after the first four-and-twenty
hours, and whoever was shot before that time belonged to the devil.
Other charms were also used for protection, everything odious and
dismal was collected together, and what had been fearful in the ancient
mythology continued to retain its old power. A piece of the cord or
chain by which a man ha