Against the night-mare

trollkatt:

Trollkatt’s English version of a charm against the night-mare from Nes in Hedmark county, Norway.

Night-mare, night-mare!
If you’re about,
you shall out!
That you shall, that you shall, that you shall.
Run up the hills you shall,
run down the valleys you shall.
That you shall, that you shall, that you shall.
To crook all the straight birches,
to straighten all the crooked birches.
That you shall, that you shall, that you shall.

This you recite as you go to bed. It works against both sleep-paralysis and disturbing dreams.

In addition, you can place your slippers in front of your bed so they shape a T. That’s the protective shape of the god’s hammer. The “handle” should point towards the bed, and the “head” towards the door.

Another Norwegian apotropaic custom against the night-mare, is to draw a “mare cross” on a piece of paper, roll it up and stuff it in the keyhole to your bedroom. “Mare cross” – marekors – is another word for the pentagram. It is drawn from the left to the right. A night-mare cannot slip past it.

There are more ways, but it is bed time, so I’ll save them for another day.