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114 [part il
CHAPTER VII.
SERPENT-CHARMERS, AND PERFORMERS OF
LEGERDEMAIN TRICKS, &C.
Many modern writers upon Egypt have given surprising accounts of a class of men in this country,
supposed, like the ancient " Psylli" of Cyrenaica,
to possess a secret art, to which allusion is made in
the Bible*, enabling them to secure themselves
from the poison of serpents. I have met with
many persons among the more intelligent of the
Egyptians who condemn these modern Psylli as
impostors, but none who have been able to offer a
satisfactory explanation of the most common and
most interesting of their performances, which I am
about to describe.
Many Rifa'ee and Saadee darweeshes obtain their
livelihood, as I have mentioned on a former occasion, by going about to charm away serpents from
houses. A few other persons also profess the same
art, but are not so famous. The former travel over
every part of Egypt, and find abundant employment;
but their gains are barely sufficient to procure them
a scanty subsistence. The charmer professes to
discover, without ocular perception (but perhaps
he does so by a peculiar smell), whether there be
* See Psalm lviii. 4, 5 ; Eccles. x. 11; and Jerem. viii. 17.
| Title | An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians - 2 |
| Creator | Lane, Edward William |
| Publisher | C. Knight and Co. |
| Place of Publication | London |
| Date | 1842 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000126 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 114 [part il CHAPTER VII. SERPENT-CHARMERS, AND PERFORMERS OF LEGERDEMAIN TRICKS, &C. Many modern writers upon Egypt have given surprising accounts of a class of men in this country, supposed, like the ancient " Psylli" of Cyrenaica, to possess a secret art, to which allusion is made in the Bible*, enabling them to secure themselves from the poison of serpents. I have met with many persons among the more intelligent of the Egyptians who condemn these modern Psylli as impostors, but none who have been able to offer a satisfactory explanation of the most common and most interesting of their performances, which I am about to describe. Many Rifa'ee and Saadee darweeshes obtain their livelihood, as I have mentioned on a former occasion, by going about to charm away serpents from houses. A few other persons also profess the same art, but are not so famous. The former travel over every part of Egypt, and find abundant employment; but their gains are barely sufficient to procure them a scanty subsistence. The charmer professes to discover, without ocular perception (but perhaps he does so by a peculiar smell), whether there be * See Psalm lviii. 4, 5 ; Eccles. x. 11; and Jerem. viii. 17. |
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