Hmayil: Part 12
Հմայիլ. բաժին ԺԲ
*Աղօթք գլխացաւի և աչից ցաւի:1
Prayer for head pain and eye pain.1
ԳԱՅՐ2 ԳԵՏՆ ՅՈՐդանան և բերէր ծառ մի գեղեցիկ և պատուական, և եկեալ ծառն այն կանգներ ՚ի մէջ գետոյն խաչանման: և շուրջ ունէին զնովաւ սերօբէք և քերօբէքն՝ աղաղակէին բարձրաձայն և ասէին: սուրբ՝ սուրբ՝ սուրբ՝ Տէր զօրութեանց. լի՛ են երկինք և երկիր փառօք քո:3
*Խնդրէին յաստուծոյ վասն ակին աչաց.4 և ակնահարին. տանակին.5 դրուցակին.6 խաժուկին.7 մեղուշակին.8 և այլ ազգ չար ակին: գլխացաւի. և աչացաւի. խօլք խլի.9 գնայունի. ծծացաւի.10 և սրտացաւի. փորացաւի. միջաց ցաւի: և աղերսէին վասն փրկելոյ՝ յկե պիղծ ցաւոց որ պատահի ՚ի մարդս: զոր և աղերսանօք քերօբէիցն՝ պահեսցէ և փրկեսցէ աստուած զծառայս իւր (name)
The River Jordan flowed here2 and brought one beautiful and precious tree, and that tree arrived [and] rose up like a cross in the middle of the river. And the seraphim and cherubim around it cried out in a loud voice and said: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts; heaven and earth are full of your glory.”3
They asked God on account of the eye of eyes,4 and the enchanted eye, the knife eye,5 the alien eye,6 the blueish eye,7 the sweet eye,8 and other kinds of evil eye. [And on account] of head pain, eye pain, deaf mutes [pain],9 walking [pain], sinus pain,10 heart pain, abdominal pain, [and] loin pain. And [they] entreated [God] to deliver [us from] 365 foul ts‘avs that befall men. Which also through the supplications of the cherubim, let God protect and save this servant of his (name).
*Ողորմեա՛ ինձ տէր՝ զի հիւանդ եմ ես. բժշկեա՛ զանձն իմ զի խռովեցան ոսկերք իմ:11
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. Cure my being, for my bones were troubled.11
*Լոյս տուր տէր աչաց իմոց, զի մի՛ երբէք ննջեցից ՚ի մահ:12
Give light, O Lord, to my eyes, lest I sleep unto death.12
1 Manuk Abeghyan (1865–1944), the great scholar of Armenian folklore, discusses spirits of disease (ցաւք) and the evil eye (չար աչքն or չար ակն) as follows:
These two types of spirits in charm prayers are recalled and cursed together, since they have practically the same influence. The spirits of disease are called ts‘avs (“pains”) and illnesses also are sometimes called groghs, just as the wicked angels of death. They personify diseases such as fever and plague, and are small creatures who wear triangular pointed hats. They have their own chief who knows which country and people God no longer wants to protect. [The chief] writes their names in his book or receives a similar book from God in which are already recorded the names of people who are fated to receive a certain disease or death. The chief collects his groghs or ts‘avs and has them punish a country. Each grogh has its own district. …
The most dangerous spirit of disease is the “evil eye,” which is a personification of “flickering lightning in the clouds.” The angry or frightening glace from this entity can harm not only humans and animals, but everything it encounters. …
In Armenian folk beliefs, the “evil eye” plays an important role. As a being, he is a dev, the personification of evil itself, who roams everywhere and has 666 illnesses with which to harm people and spoil all good things. …
The demon of the evil eye is usually perceived as a blonde man with blue eyes, sometimes as a black man with brown eyes. For example, one incantation says:
I have bound [the evil eye’s] arm and elbow
I have bound the blonde and black man.
I have bound them with triple-twisted hemp.
One I bound.
One I hanged.
One I hurled into the bottomless sea.
Another spell says:
The eye of the blue-eyed [demon] burst.
The eye of the dark-eyed [demon] burst.
Ordinarily, a man’s very blue or green eyes are considered evil. One should beware of people possessing them, for when they give someone else the evil eye, nothing that person does will succeed. … Folk seek to eliminate such evil effects with various charms and spells. When people encounter men with the power of the evil eye, they spit and say: “This is for you, evil satan.” They also will spit on a rock and then turn it over, so that the influence of the evil eye transfers to the rock. This belief appears to be quite ancient. … People who are bald, pale, one-eyed, cross-eyed, lame, blind, etc. are still considered dangerous, though not to the same extent as those possessing the evil eye. This is because all these physical flaws are seen as the result of evil influence. …
… Often, in spells, the evil eye is sent to the fire: “The evil eye to the evil thorn; the evil thorn to the burning fire.” (Abeghyan, M., Hay Zhoghovrtakan havatk‘ĕ [Armenian Folk Beliefs]. Originally published in German as Abeghyan’s doctoral dissertation, Der armenische Volksglaube, Leipzig: 1899. Translated into Armenian by Dora Sakayan in Abeghyan’s Erker [Works], Vol. 7, pp. 11–102, Erevan: 1975. English translation by Robert Bedrosian, Long Branch, NJ: 2012. Online at archive.org)
This incantation is found in Part 13, in which evil is sent thence to the stone and to the bottomless sea.
2 գայր, “flowed here”, literally “arrived”, i.e., the water of the river arrived.
3 Isa. 6:3, and the sharagan Surp, Surp, Surp, reflecting that which the six-winged seraphim continually cry out to God in heaven (cf. Rev. 4:8).
4 ակին աչաց, “of the eye of eyes”, i.e., the evil eye par excellence, or the prototype of all evil eyes (J. R. Russell, personal communication, January 22, 2002). This common way of expressing a superlative has its origin in the shahanshah of the Parthian empire. Other similar expressions include թագաւոր թագաւորաց, “king of kings”; իշխան իշխանաց, “prince of princes”; and յաւիտեանս յաւիտենից, “unto ages of ages”.
5 Reading տանակին as դանակին.
6 դրուցակին, “of the alien-eye”, from դրուցակն = դրսի, դրսեցու, օտարի աչք (չար աչքի իմաստով), “outer, outsider, alien eye (in the sense of the evil eye)”. (Harutyunyan, S., Hay hmayakan ew zhoghovrdakan aghot‘k‘ner [Armenian Incantations and Folk Prayers], Yerevan: 2007 (in Armenian).)
7 For խաժուկին, read խաժակին, “of the bluish-eye”, from խաժուկն = կապտավուն (երկնագույն) աչք ունեցող, “having bluish (light blue) eyes” (ibid.). See also note 1 above regarding the significance of blue eyes.
8 մեղուշակին, “of the sweet-eye”, from մեղուշակ = դուրեկան, քաղցր աչք, “pleasant, sweet eye” (ibid.).
9 խօլք, “foolish, senseless, irrational (ones)”, is contextually rendered “mutes”, based on the associated word խլի, nom. խուլ, “deaf”. It is presumed that խօլք խլի, “(of) deaf mutes”, refers to an evil-spirit pain (ցաւ) that causes this condition.
10 ծծացաւի is rendered “sinus-pain”, based on ծուծք = “nostrils”.
11 Psa. 6:3 (6:2).
12 Psa. 12:4 (13:3).