Ill 



"THE SWEAT" TALISMAN 



The following talisman w^s in high repute among 

 Arab date growers of the dark ages : Ibn Awam quotes 

 the formula from the Book of Nabathean Agriculture : 



"A man takes a sheet of copper weighing 70 to 

 140 mithqals (267 to 534 gr.). He goes to the middle 

 of the field where he wishes to plant his date seeds; 

 there he digs a hole to the depth of seven Nabathean 

 feet (2.53 m.); then he takes a clay jar, very deep and 

 rendered very hard by the action of a violent fire; 

 he puts the copper tablet in it, after having rubbed it 

 with olive oil. Plant the vase in the hole, and the 

 seeds will give palms of excellent varieties, very sweet 

 and handsome. This shall be done when the horoscope 

 is in the two houses of Jupiter. If it is in Jupiter 

 itself, that is excellent. The moon ought to be 

 apparent and in conjunction with the sun, or else with 

 Jupiter. If the moon is in one of the houses of this 

 planet and the horoscope is there, it is very good. 

 Distrust The Tail and Mars, for if one of them or 

 both are in the horoscope, or if they occupy the middle 

 of the sky, the palms produced by the seeds will be 

 shy bearers. Kimama says: 'Draw with an iron 

 style on this sheet of copper the figure of a man with 

 one hand above the other. Rub honey on the figure 

 and olive oil on the rest of the plate; shake powdered 

 sugar on the honey. Put the sheet in the jar and 

 cover it with a layer of clay, then bury it among the 

 roots of a palm which lets its fruit drop before they 

 are ripe: it will retain them and its product will be 

 as beautiful as possible'." 



