Magic and Miracles in the Talmud: Class 2

A man may not go out on Shabbat with a spiked sandal. And not with a single sandal when there is no wound on his foot. And neither with phylacteries, nor with an amulet when it is not from those proven effective. And neither with a breastplate, nor with a helmet, nor with iron boots. And if he went out with these, he is not liable to bring a sin-offering.

Mar said: Nor with an amulet even if it proved effective. Didn’t we learn one may not go out with an amulet that has not proved effective? If it proved effective, he has acted well. In this case too, it's an amulet that has not proved effective. Doesn’t the baraita teach: Even if it proved effective? Proved effective for a person, and did not prove effective for an animal. Is there such a thing as proved effective for a person and is not effective for an animal? Yes, it aids a person, who is under an angel [mazal];, it does not aid an animal, which is not under an angel.

'Nor with an amulet when it is not from an expert.' Rav Pappa said: Do not say they only go if the person is an expert and the amulet is proven effective. Rather, if the person is an expert, even though the amulet has not proven effective. This is also precise, as it teaches: Nor with an amulet when it is not from an expert, and it does not teach: When it is not effective. Learn from it. The Sages taught: What is an effective amulet? Any amulet that healed, and again, and a third. Both a written amulet and an amulet of roots; both a sick person who is dangerously ill, and a sick person who is not dangerously ill. But not where one has fallen due to epilepsy. Rather, so he will not fall.

The Sages taught: one who drinks in pairs - his blood is upon his own head. Rav Yehuda said: When? When one did not view the marketplace. However, if he saw the marketplace, he can keep going. Rav Ashi said: I saw Rav Ḥananya bar Beivai, after each cup, leave and view the marketplace. And we said this only if he's going to set out on the road , but if he stays in his home - no. Rabbi Zeira said: And sleeping is comparable to setting out on the road. Rav Pappa said: And going to the bathroom is comparable to setting out on the road.
And if one is in his home, no? But Rava would count the beams. And Abaye, when he would drink one cup, his mother would place two cups in his two hands. And when Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak would drink two cups, his attendant would place one cup in his hand, and if he drank one cup, he would place two cups in his two hands. An important person is different.

Rav Yosef said: Yosef the Demon said to me: Ashmedai, the king of the demons, is appointed over all use pairs, and a king is not called a harmful spirit. Some say in this manner: On the contrary, he is an angry king who does what he wants, that a king can breach the fence in order to form a path for himself, and none may protest him. Rav Pappa said: Yosef the Demon said to me: For two, we kill; for four, we do not kill. Four, we harm. With two, whether he drinks unwittingly or intentionally. With four, intentionally, yes, unwittingly, no. And if one forgets and it happens that he goes outside, what is his solution? He should take his right thumb in his left hand, and his left thumb in his right hand, and say as follows: You and I are three. And if he hears something say: You and I are four, he says to it: You and I are five. And if he hears it say: You and I are six, he says to it: You and I are seven. Someone did this until a hundred and one, and the demon burst. Ameimar said: The chief of witches said to me: One who encounters witches says this: Hot feces in torn date baskets in your mouth, witches; may your hairs fall out; your crumbs should scatter; your spices should scatter; the wind should carry away the fresh saffron that you witches hold. As long as I was shown favor and you showed me favor, I did not come here. Now that I have come here, your favor toward me has cooled and you should find favor. In the West, they are not particular with regard to pairs. Rav Dimi from Neharde’a was particular even with regard to the signs on a barrel. That happened and the barrel burst. The rule of the matter: all who are pay attention; it pays attention to him; and if one does not pay attention, then it does not pay attention to him. However, one is required to be concerned.

Like that certain man who divorced his wife. She went and married a shopkeeper. Every day, he would go and drink wine. She would perform witchcraft upon him, and it would not be effective for her because he was careful with regard to pairs. One day he drank a lot, and he did not know how much he drank. Until sixteen, he was lucid and was careful with regard to himself. From there on he was not lucid and did not take care with himself, and she caused him to leave on a pair. As he walked, a certain Arab met him and said to him: It is a dead man who walks here. He went and hugged a palm tree the palm tree dried out and (he) burst.

Do not go out alone at night, as it was taught in a baraita: Do not go out alone at night, neither on Tuesday nights nor on Shabbat nights, because Agrat, daughter of Maḥalat, she and 180,000 angels of destruction go out. And each and every one has permission to destroy in its own right. Initially, they were present every day. Once, she met Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa and said to him: Had they not announced about you in the Heavens: Be careful of Ḥanina and his Torah, I would have placed you in danger. He said to her: If I am important in Heaven, I decree upon you that you never travel through inhabited places. She said to him: I beg you, leave me a little space. He left for her Shabbat nights and Tuesday nights. And furthermore, once she met Abaye and said to him: Had they not announced about you in the Heavens: Be careful of Naḥmani and his Torah, I would have placed you in danger. He said to her: If I am important in Heaven, I decree upon you that you never pass through inhabited places. But we see that they do pass through! They say: They are on the paths, as horses flee, and they come to lead them.