Healing Incantations from Northwestern Russia
These are nine healing charms of the Veps people — magical incantations against toothache, snakebite, the evil eye, gout, wind-sickness, curses, and swelling. Each charm begins with the same formulaic opening: "I rose in blessing, I washed myself in blessing. I went into a green field, into a wide meadow..." — and then the charmer finds, in that mythic meadow, the power that will heal: God himself on a white stone, a copper serpent whose parents walk in red boots, a golden rooster pecking at the four winds, twenty sisters washing in holy water, nine young men with golden hands rising from beneath the earth.
The Veps are a Baltic-Finnic people of northwestern Russia, linguistic cousins of the Finns and Estonians. Their language, now near-extinct with fewer than four thousand speakers, belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic family. These charms were collected from fieldwork data gathered by August Ahlqvist and Elias Lönnrot among the Veps of the Oyat and Sholtjärv districts, and published by the Hungarian linguist Károly Jenő Ujfalvy in his Essai de grammaire vêpse (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1875). The charm structure — the blessing-opening, the mythic journey, the encounter with a supernatural healer, the banishing command — is shared across the entire Baltic-Finnic world, from Finnish syntyloitsut to Estonian sõnad. These are the first English translations from the Veps.
Published in Ujfalvy, Károly Jenő (Charles-Eugène de Ujfalvy), Essai de grammaire vêpse ou Tchoude du Nord, Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1875. Based on fieldwork data of A. Ahlqvist and E. Lönnrot. The Veps language belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family; the Oyat dialect was spoken in the Oyat River district of what is now the Vologda and Leningrad Oblasts of northwestern Russia.
I. The Tooth Charm
Hambhan Puhed
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a green field,
into a wide meadow.
I found a stone —
upon the stone sits God himself,
his beard white and his head white.
A man, Kuizma, comes and asks:
"Teach me the sorcery
and the deliverance from the toothache."
II. The Serpent's Words
Gaadan Puheh
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a green field,
into a wide meadow.
I found a black serpent,
I found a many-colored serpent
and a copper serpent.
Copper serpent —
I know your father and your mother.
Your father walks in red boots,
your mother walks in red shoes,
and she says:
"Let the pain go into the bush,
let the hurt go into the stone,
and let this servant be delivered."
III. The Steam-Bath Charm
Vastôimis'en Puheh
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I took a child and went
into a green field,
into a wide meadow.
I found a golden stone —
upon the golden stone sits a white man.
I bowed before the man:
"Wise man — take away this evil,
bite it between your teeth,
swallow it into your heart,
and deliver this child."
IV. The Stinging Words
Nena Puheh — Against the Curse
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a green field,
into a wide meadow.
I found a bridge —
upon the bridge stand a hundred soldiers
with soldiers,
and the soldiers have a hundred rifles
with rifles.
These soldiers fire
and deliver this man from evil.
V. Against the Wind
I rose in blessing.
I went into a wide field,
into a green meadow.
In the wide field,
in the green meadow —
a golden image.
Upon the head of the golden image,
a golden pillar.
Upon the golden pillar,
a golden rooster.
The rooster with its golden beak
pecks, scratches, and scrapes
the wind of the north,
the wind of the east,
the wind of the south,
the wind of the west —
purifies and delivers
this person from evil.
VI. Against the Evil Eye
I rose in blessing.
I went into a wide field,
into a green meadow.
In the wide field,
in the green meadow —
a man.
The man held a worm in his hand —
bitter, sharp,
with grey eyes, with black eyes,
with white hair,
with brown hair, with black hair.
He purifies and delivers
from the curse of the people,
from the scorn of the people.
VII. Against the Serpent's Bite
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a wide field,
into a green meadow.
In the wide field,
in the green meadow —
a black serpent, a grey serpent,
a many-colored serpent, a brown serpent,
and the eldest of all serpents,
with wool in its mouth,
with wool upon its head.
I drive this bite
into a heap of stones,
into a thicket of willow,
into a pile of dry wood —
itself, forever.
VIII. Against the Gout
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a wide field,
into a green meadow.
In the wide field,
in the green meadow —
twenty sisters with sisters,
and forty bone-gnawers
bathe and wash themselves
in holy water.
They purify this man
and deliver him from the bone-sickness.
IX. Against the Swelling
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a wide field,
into a green meadow.
In the wide field,
in the green meadow —
beneath nine earths
nine young men rise up.
They have golden hands
up to the elbow.
With their golden hands
they scratch, they scrape this man —
purify him and deliver him.
IX (variant). Against the Swelling
I rose in blessing,
I washed myself in blessing.
I went into a wide field,
into a green meadow.
In the wide field,
in the green meadow —
a golden sea.
In the golden sea, a golden stone.
Upon the golden stone, a golden rooster.
As the stone is set in the sea
forever —
so let this evil cease
forever.
Colophon
Translated from Veps (Oyat dialect) by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026.
Source: Ujfalvy, Károly Jenő (Charles-Eugène de Ujfalvy), Essai de grammaire vêpse ou Tchoude du Nord, Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1875. Based on fieldwork data of A. Ahlqvist and E. Lönnrot among the Veps of the Oyat and Sholtjärv districts, northwestern Russia. Public domain.
Translation method: Independent verse translation from the Veps source text. Ujfalvy's original French translations (1875, public domain) served as the primary interpretive bridge. Finnish and Estonian cognates were used as structural aids for Veps vocabulary and grammar. The English verse was composed independently; no prior English translation of these charms exists.
A Good Works Translation. NTAC + Claude.
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Source Text: Veps (Oyat Dialect)
From Ujfalvy, Essai de grammaire vêpse (1875), "Formules de Magie" section. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
I. Hambhan Puhed
Nousin blahoslovas, pezimoi blahoslovas, lâksin vihandaha peldho, lagedaha normhe, lôûsin minakiven, kivelis'tub its'e jumal bard valged, i pà valged, uks m'es Kuizma tulob i kûzub: — opeta mindài noidits'emaha i harabhihe kibutos p'âstmaha.
II. Gaadan Puheh
Nousin blahoslovas, pezimoi blahoslovas, lâksin vihandaha peldho, lagedaha normhe, lôûsin minamustan gaadan, lôùsin ktijvan gaadan i vass'en gaadan: vasne gaad, tunden mina taatais' imamais'. Bateis' kàvelob rusttis'saapkeis', mamais' kàvelob rusttis' ts'iverikois' i sanub: — Tusk mângha kustha, kibu mângha kivehe, n'etsida rabat p'âstkaha. —
III. Vastôimis'en Puheh
Nousin blahoslovas, pezimoi blahoslovas, otin lapsen, lâksin vihandaha peldho, lagedaha normhe, lôûsin mina kuldais'en kiven, kuldais'el kivel is'tub valged mus'ik, i kumarsimoi mus'ikale: — Mus'ik kitriba, n'etse pahus sina p'âsta i hamhhil pure, i sûdamehe lainda, i p'âsta n'etsidalast. —
IV. Nena Puheh
Nousin blahoslovas, pezimoi blahoslovas, lâksin vihandaha peldho, lagedaha normhe, lôûsin sildan, sildal om sata saldatad saldatan-ked, i saldate il sata orus'jad orus'jan-ked, i n'en'ed saldatad ambtas i n'etsida m'est p'âsttas pahuses-pâi.
V. Contre le Vent
Nousin blaslovas, lâksin likahtin lagedaha pôldho, vihandaha normhe; lagedas pôldos, vihandas normes kuldaine kujo kuldais'en kujon pas kuldainen patsas, patsha pas kuldaine kukoi, kukoi kuldais'el n'okal n'okib, kûnsib i kabitseb pohjais'tull'ais'-nenan, pàiv-nousman tull'ais'-nenan, keskpâivan tulrais'-nenan, pàivan-laskman tull'ais'-nenan, puhtastab i selgitab ristîtus-pai n'etsen pahuden.
VI. Quand on a été rendu malade par le mauvais oeil
Nousin blaslovas, làksin likahtin lagedaha pôldho, vihandaha normhe; lagedas pôldos, vihandas normes mes, mehel touk kàdes; kits'erois', kats'erois', hahkas silmâs, mustas silmâs, valgtas hibuses, rustas hibuses, mustas hibuses, rahfan ossut, rahfan prisor puhtastab i selgitab.
VII. Contre la morsure du serpent
Nousin blaslovas, pezimoi blaslovas, lâksin likahtin lagedaha pôldho, vihandaha normhe; lagedas pôldos, vihandas normes must jos', hahk jos', kirjavjos', ruâkedjos', i kaik iden jos'iden vanhemb, sus villad, pas villad; n'etsen kokaidusen ajan kivi-ronkhu, ajan paju-sarkha, aidris'uhu, its'e igaks kaikeks.
VIII. Contre la goutte
Nousin blaslovas, pezimoi blaslovas, lâksin likahtin lagedaha pôldho, vihandaha normhe; lagedas pôldos, vihandas normes kakskûmed sisarest sisaresiden-ked, n'elkûmed murebust sv'àtal vedudel pazetab i kùlbetab, n'etsen mehen puhtastab i selgitah n'etsis' murebuses-pài.
IX. Contre l'enflure
Nousin blaslovas, pezimoi blaslovas, lâksin likahtin lagedaha pôldho, vihandaha normhe; lagedas pôldos, vihandas normes ûhtsân man al-pâi ûhtsà molotsad libuba, i heil kuldais'ed kàded kûnambrushe-sai, i kuldais'il kàzil kùnsiba i kabitseba n'etsid mesti puhtastab i selgitab.
IX (variant). Contre l'enflure
Nousin blaslovas, pezimoi blaslovas, làksin likahtin lagedaha pôldho, vihandaha normhe; lagedas pôldos, vihandas normes kuldaine meri, kuldais'es mères kuldaine kivi, kuldais'el kivel kuldaine kukoi; kut kivi asetui merehe its'e igaks kaikeks, muga n'etse pahus asetuis' its'e igaks kaikeks.
Source Colophon
Veps (Oyat dialect). From Ujfalvy, Károly Jenő (Charles-Eugène de Ujfalvy), Essai de grammaire vêpse ou Tchoude du Nord, Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1875, pp. 56–60. Based on fieldwork data collected by August Ahlqvist and Elias Lönnrot among the Veps of the Oyat and Sholtjärv districts of northwestern Russia. The Veps language belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family. The Oyat dialect was spoken along the Oyat River in what is now the Vologda and Leningrad Oblasts of the Russian Federation. The orthography follows Ujfalvy's original transcription, which reflects French phonetic conventions applied to Veps phonology.
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