Cyprianus 1

CyprianusFor the bishop of Carthage, see Cyprian.

This published Cyprianus from 1916 calls itself a"dream and fortunetelling book", and it also

promises an astrological almanac from TychoBrahe.

Cyprianus is a name given in Scandinavian traditions of folk magic tothe "black book" ("Svarteboken"): a grimoire or manuscript collectionof spells; and by extension to the magical tradition that these spellsform a part of. There is no standard text called "Cyprianus"; it was ageneral label given to a collection of spells.[1]

Manuscripts called or referring to Cyprianus had a dark reputation; insome versions, you obtained the text by renouncing your baptism anddevoting yourself to Satan. The common people's opinion of the bookwas that it was a standard grimoire concerned with the summoning ofdemons and spirits. Ministers were often thought to have obtained itthrough their studies at university; it is not coincidence that ministers'wives often functioned as folk healers in rural communities.[2] Likemany such texts, it is bound to its owner and hard to get rid of; it willnot burn nor be destroyed by water, and attempting to discard it willonly result in its supernatural return.[3] These compilationsnevertheless were widely circulated among the cunning folk ofScandinavia, who in a rural land with few physicians were the folkhealers sought out by ordinary people beset by injury or illness.

Cyprianus

"Cyprianus" is the name frequently given to the compiler or author ofthe spells contained in the tradition. A variety of stories are told concerning the identity of this Cyprianus.Saint Cyprian of Carthage was a bishop and martyr in early Christianity. In the Middle Ages, a variety of legendsattached to his name, including a tradition that he practiced magic before his conversion, and as such was the authorof a magical textbook. In another medieval tradition, Cyprianus was a sorcerer who sought to seduce St. Justina, butwas foiled and converted when she made the sign of the cross and he followed suit, freeing himself from the powerof the devil. The sorcerer and the historical bishop were likely confounded in later legend.[4][5] The Black Books ofElverum claim to be a summary of a Cyprianus by a "Bishop Johannes Sell" from Oxford, England in 1682. TheBritish bishop John Fell may be the person who is meant here; Fell did publish an edition of the works of St.Cyprian.[6]

The actual stories told of Cyprianus in Scandinavia often made no reference to St. Cyprian. Some made Cyprianusinto a typical Faust figure; some said that Cyprianus was a wicked Norwegian or Dane who learned magic throughhis dealings with the Devil; one version makes Cyprianus so evil that the Devil threw him out of Hell; Cyprianuswrote the text to have his revenge. A different and strongly contradictory version explains that Cyprianus was astudent who discovered he was attending a diabolical "black school", and wrote the text to explain how to undo allthe witchcraft he learned there.[7]

Cyprianus 2

En Signekjerring, an 1848 painting by AdolphTidemand. The elderly woman is performing thestyping divination ritual to seek the cause of the

child's illness.

An anachronistic tale told in the printed Danish spell collectionOldtidens Sortebog ("Old Time Magic Book") makes Cyprianus tohave been a pious and beautiful Mexican nun from the fourteenthcentury. In a gothic tale, Oldtidens Sortebog has Cyprianus cast into adungeon in 1351. While imprisoned in the dungeon, Cyprianus rendsher clothing and commits her magical knowledge to the rags, written inher own blood. Her text was then found in an old castle.[8]

The spells

The spells in the Cyprianus tradition are typical Germanic folk magic:a mixed bag of folk remedies, prayers, and actual magic. Theyresemble the spells of the German language braucherei, "pow-wow",and The Long Lost Friend traditions. One typical spell to heal a sprained ankle went:

Jesus rei over ei heiFlln snva og foten vreiJesus steig av og la foten ansom den tilforn vari namnet Gud, Fader, Snn, og Hellignd

"Jesus rode over a stony plain.His horse stumbled, its leg it did sprain.Jesus dismounted to cure the painAnd made he injury good again.In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."[9]

The methods of contagion and transference are in use here; a sacred personage in an apocryphal story is confrontedwith a problem similar to that faced by the actual sufferer, who avails himself of their supernatural aid.[10]

An important aspect of the magical tradition was the performance of divination, often by pouring molten leadthrough a hole in a piece of flatbread into cold water, a practice called styping. Lead scraped from the windows ofchurches was often used for this purpose. This was done to divine the cause of rickets, which was often thought to bethe result of a changeling, a huldrabarn or bytting, left in the place of a healthy child by the malicious huldra-folk.The diviner in this ritual was called a signekjerring, a "blessing crone".[11]

References[1] Mary Rustad, The Black Books of Elverum (Galde Press, 1999; ISBN 1-880090-75-9)[2] Kathleen Stokker, Remedies and rituals: folk medicine in Norway and the New Land (Minnesota Historical Society, 2007; ISBN

0-87351-576-5); ch. 5, "The Pastor as Doctor"[3] Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon (1915-1930), v. 5, pp. 386-387 (http:/ / runeberg. org/ salmonsen/ 2/ 5/ 0387. html)[4] Ludwig Radermacher, Griechische Quellen zur Faustsage: Der Zauberer Cyprianus (Hlder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1927)[5] Rosemary Guiley, The encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy (Infobase, 2006; ISBN 0-8160-6048-7), p. 38 (http:/ / books. google. com/

books?id=fkc10_zCBv0C& pg=PA38& dq=cyprianus+ magic& hl=en& ei=DTMLTu2hGqKqsAKR1eSnAQ& sa=X& oi=book_result&ct=result& resnum=10& ved=0CFYQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage& q=cyprianus magic& f=false)

[6][6] Rustad, p. 1[7] Benjamin Thorpe, Northern Mythology: comprising the principal popular traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, north Germany, and

the Netherlands (London: Edward Lumley, 1851) v. 2 pp. 186 et. seq. (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=TTMMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA186& source=gbs_toc_r& cad=4#v=onepage& q& f=false)

[8] Stokker, above; see generally the chapter, " The Black Book (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=YfiMGNKxmwUC& pg=PT140&dq=cyprianus+ stokker& hl=en& ei=qTkLTuSiE-SosAK3t93GAQ& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q=cyprianus stokker& f=false)"

[9][9] Stokker, p. 91

Cyprianus 3

[10][10] Stokker, pp. 90-93[11][11] Stokker, ch. "Rickets remedies and lore"

textual sources Bang, Anton Christia, ed. (1901-2). Norske hexeformularer og magiske opskrifter (http:/ / books. google. com/

books?id=OhrXAAAAMAAJ& pg=PA1). Videnskabsselskabets skrifter: Historisk-filosofiske klasse, No.1.Kristiania (Oslo, Norway): I Commission hos Jacob Dybwad.

Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsCyprianus Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=581019715 Contributors: BD2412, ChrisGualtieri, Ihcoyc, Jonund, Kiyoweap, Magioladitis, Maria M Lopes, MarnetteD, Sfan00IMG, 2 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Cyprianus.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cyprianus.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Smerdis of TlnFile:Signekjerring.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Signekjerring.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bukk, Smerdis of Tln, 1 anonymous edits

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