The Oracle of the Secrets
Antigo Livro de São Cipriano, 1993, Editora Espiritualista, Ltda, Rio de Janeiro
The "Oracle of the Secrets" is a collection of knowledge, beliefs and "sympathies" from ancient times. No wonder people lived to the age of forty at that time.
For
the man to know if the woman is faithful to him
At any time of the night, the man should carefully place his hand on his heart.
If, besides being asleep, she is also dreaming, the woman will tell everything
from her own mouth if she is being faithful. Everything must be done
quickly so that the woman doesn't wake up and observe what you are doing.
She will never know what she said.
The
effects of vinagar and urine
When a person gets a cut and wants to be cured in 8 hours, he should put vinagar
or urine on the cut. It always works. (I
would try the vinegar if I were you)
To
get rid of headaches
Grind the cloves of a garlic after peeling, then take the garlic paste and
rub it on your forehead. (You will also not have
any friends)
For
not feeling tired while walking
To walk without tiring, the pilgrim should carry a pouch full of artemisia
leaves. Besides not tiring, the pilgrim will not feel sick because of the
heat. (I don't think they sell artemisia leaves in
Carrefour on the Way of Santiago)
For
tapeworms in children
Every morning, before eating, the child should drink water with rye
flour and milk whey. This will kill the tapeworms.
For
your hair to remain black and never fall out
Make a mixture of holm-oak leaves and dried cucumber peelings.
Squeeze everything very well and add half a liter of canforated alcohol and
leave it exposed to the dew of the night, for eight nights. Wash your head
with this mixture and your hair will not fall out.
To
avoid ants, mosquitos, and bedbugs
The part where we don't want the ants to come in should be covered with a
line of thick charcoal, or with ashes or brine.
To keep mosquitoes from coming to your bed at night, you should hang some nails on the bedpost.
For bedbugs you should boil straw with alum (pedra-uma). After cooling off, this mixture should be rubbed on your feet and the bedframe, and the bedbugs will stay away. For beds that have been infested, place a burner under the bed and burn a green pepper. All the bedbugs that have contact with the smoke from the burner will die.
To
recognize mange and how to cure it
Mange appears with little bubbles between the fingers. To cure it,
place drops of oil on the infected part without rubbing, leaving it for one hour
every day until it goes away. Another remedy is to wash your hands with
concentrated tar. (I tried this on my dog and it
died.)
For
those who get seasick
This remedy is mainly for those people who travelling in boats or ships get
sick to their stomach. When you start feeling your head spin and your
stomach queasy, take 2 to 5 drops of cloroform and you will feel better
immediately. Ether has the same effect. (If
you fall asleep don't stand near the rail.)
To
cure a cold
Take 6 to 12 drops of terebintine, preferably when you are eating.
Even the most resistant colds wil disappear with this simple medicine.
About
the properties of the egg
The egg works against bad temper. By eating it raw in the morning or
at night, happiness will return to the person who is in bad temper. It
also regulates the functions of the liver.
To
know how tall children will be when they grow up
The Sun divides the other six planets in two parts: three above,
called late because they are slow in their movement. These are also called
masculine. The three below are called fast-feminine, because they are
quick in their movement. The Moon, Mercury, and Venus, which are below the
Sun, because they are fast, represent the first three years of our lives.
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, because they are masculine-slow, and are above the
Sun, represent the rest of our lives. To know the height that a child will
have in the future, you should measure his height when he is three years old.
Then double this measured height and you will know the exact height he will have
when he grows up. (Whoever made this up didn't
understand the Solar System very well.)
To
know if the next child will be a boy or a girl
When a woman gives birth, to know if the next child will be a boy or a girl,
you should look at the whirl (redemoinho) that the child has in its hair.
If there is only one whirl, right in the middle of the head, the next child will
be a boy. If there are two whirls, or if there is one and it leans towards
one of the sides, in the next birth the woman will have a girl.
The
virtues of the snakeskin
Burnt snakeskin placed on a wound will cure it, and if there is a splinter
inside the flesh it will come out. Snakeskin powder will protect you from
leprosy. The skin must be burnt when the sun is in the sign of Aries, from
12 March to 26 April.
To
preserve chastity and repress the desires of the flesh
The juice of the plant called saguntum (sagunta), drunk before breakfast,
represses the desires of the flesh, and its leaves rubbed on the genitals has
the virtue of placating lust. Chewing rue (arruda) diminishes the desires
of the flesh in men; while in women it stimulates. (I
took some rue and my wife too and it was hell trying to escape her in our small
apartment.)
To
rid your rooms of bedbugs, fleas, flies, mosquitos and mice
Shred pieces of leather in water and cook until the mixture is thin, then
mix with oil and rub the floor, and all the wooden furniture with the mixture.
Against
fleas
Boil lemon in water. Then, with this water, spray all the room after
sweeping well. The fleas will die and others will not appear if this is
done twice a week.
Against
flies
Mix honey and flour with water. Add arsenic and place this mixture
where there are flies and they will drop dead. The same effect is caused
by the laurel mixed with ground pepper and water and placed in containers around
the house.
About
married couples that don't have children
To know which of the couple has a problem that prevents them from having
children, take their urine in separate containers. In each container, put
in a little wheat flour. The urine which has the defect of not being able
to procreate or conceive will develop maggots.
So
that body hair doesn't appear
Shave the region that you want to be free of body hair. Apply bat's
blood or cat's excrement mixed with vinagar.
So
that your beard and hair are always dark
Have a big lead comb made and with it comb your beard and hair frequently.
Doing so they will stay dark.
So
that your beard and hair are always fair
Mix walnut leavaes with pomegranate peel and wash your beard and hair every
two weeks. In this way they will stay fair.
So
that your fingernails and hair don't grow long
Your fingernails and hair should be cut at the waning moon; if the moon is
in Taurus, Virgin, or Libra, they will grow even less
To
improve the harvest
When the farmer plants, he should observe that the moon is in the sign of
Taurus, Cancer, Virgen, Libra, or Capricorn and he will have a great improvement
in the crop.
To
dry up a woman's milk
Place dry elder tree leaves on the woman's breasts and the milk will
eventually dry up.
