“So too, when a manuscript enjoins its reader to write the words ‘pax + pix + abyra + syth + samasic’ on a hazelwood, hit a woman on the head three times with the stick, then kiss her at once to obtain her ‘love’, we are probably safe in assuming that the love in question is a matter of immediate sexual passion, not ‘esteem enlivened by desire.’”
— From “Erotic magic in medieval Europe,” by Richard Kieckhefer, an article I had to read for my class tomorrow. It goes on to say that this particular bit of magic was probably written “in jest,” which actually just made me really happy because it means people in the middle ages cracked jokes.
