The Conjuration of the Lemon and Pins

Scongiurazione al Limone appuntato un Spille.
Sacred to Diana.

A lemon stuck full of pins of different colors always brings good fortune.

If you receive as a gift a lemon full of pins of divers colors, without any black ones among them, it signifies that your life will be perfectly happy and prosperous and joyful.

But if some black pins are among them, you may enjoy good fortune and health, yet mingled with trou bles which may be of small account. [However, to lessen their influence, you must perform the following ceremony, and pronounce this incantation, wherein all is also described.]

[1. This passage is not given in the original MS., but it is necessary to clearly explain what follows abruptly.]

The Incantation to Diana.

Italian	Translation.
Al punto di mezza notte Un limone ho raccolto, Lo raccolto nel giardino Ho raccolto un limone, Un arancio e un mandarino, Cogliendo queste cose, Cogliendo, io ho detto; Tu, o Regina del sole Delia luna e delle stelle, Ti chiamo in mio ajuto E con quanta forza ho a te scongiuro Che una grazia tu mi voglia fare, Tre cose ho racolto nel giardino; Un limone, un arancio, E un mandarino; una Di queste cose per mia fortuna, Voglio tenere due Di questi oggetti di mano, E quello che dovra servirmi Per la buona fortuna Regina delle stelle: Fa lo rimanare in mia mano!	At the instant when the midnight came, I have picked a lemon in the garden, I have picked a lemon, and with it An orange and a (fragrant) mandarin. Gathering with care these (precious) things, And while gathering I said with care: “Thou who art Queen of the sun and of the moon And of the stars-lo! here I call to thee! And with what power I have I conjure thee To grant to me the favour I implore! Three things I’ve gathered in the garden here: A lemon, orange, and a mandarin; I’ve gathered them to bring good luck to me. Two of them I do grasp here in my hand, And that which is to serve me for my fate, Queen of the stars! Then make that fruit remain firm in my grasp. [Something is here omitted in the MS. I conjecture that the two are tossed without seeing them into the air, and if the lemon remains, the ceremony proceeds as follows. This is evident, since in it the incantation is confused with a prose direction how to act.]

Italian

Translation.

Al punto di mezza notte
Un limone ho raccolto,
Lo raccolto nel giardino
Ho raccolto un limone,
Un arancio e un mandarino,
Cogliendo queste cose,
Cogliendo, io ho detto;
Tu, o Regina del sole
Delia luna e delle stelle,
Ti chiamo in mio ajuto
E con quanta forza ho a te scongiuro
Che una grazia tu mi voglia fare,
Tre cose ho racolto nel giardino;
Un limone, un arancio,
E un mandarino; una
Di queste cose per mia fortuna,
Voglio tenere due
Di questi oggetti di mano,
E quello che dovra servirmi
Per la buona fortuna
Regina delle stelle:
Fa lo rimanare in mia mano!

At the instant when the midnight came,
I have picked a lemon in the garden,
I have picked a lemon, and with it
An orange and a (fragrant) mandarin.
Gathering with care these (precious) things,
And while gathering I said with care:
“Thou who art Queen of the sun and of the moon
And of the stars-lo! here I call to thee!
And with what power I have I conjure thee
To grant to me the favour I implore!
Three things I’ve gathered in the garden here:
A lemon, orange, and a mandarin;
I’ve gathered them to bring good luck to me.
Two of them I do grasp here in my hand,
And that which is to serve me for my fate,
Queen of the stars!
Then make that fruit remain firm in my grasp.

[Something is here omitted in the MS. I conjecture that the two are tossed without seeing them into the air, and if the lemon remains, the ceremony proceeds as follows. This is evident, since in it the incantation is confused with a prose direction how to act.]

Saying this, one looks up at the sky, and I found the lemon in one hand, and a voice said to me “Take many pins, and carefully stick them in the lemon, pins of many colors; and as thou wilt have good luck, and if thou desirest to give the lemon to any one or to a friend, thou shouldst stick in it many pins of varied colors.

“But if thou wilt that evil befall any one, put in it black pins.

“But for this thou must pronounce a different incantation (thus)”:-

Italian	The Invocation to Diana.
Dia Diana, a te scongiuro! E te chiamo ad alta voce! Che tu non abbia pace ne bene Se non viene in nuo aiuto Domani al punto di mezzo giorno, Ti aspetto a quello punto Un bicchiere di vino portero, E una piccola lente al occhio E dentro tredici spilli, Spilli neri vi metterò, E tu Diana tutti I diavoli dell’ inferno chiamerai, E in compagma del sole il manderai, E tutto il fuoco dell’inferno preso di seLo porteranno, e daranno forza, Al sole di farmi questo vino bollire, Perche questi spilli possano arroventire, E con questi il limone apunteró Per non dare più pace, E ne bene alla persona Che questo limone le presenterò! Se questa grazia mi farete, Un segnale mi darete, Dentro tre giorni, Una cosa voglio vedere, O vento, o acqua, o grandine, Se questo segnale non avró, Piu pace Diana non te darò, Tanto di giorno che di notte,Sempre ti tormenterò.	Goddess Diana, I do conjure thee And with uplifted voice to thee I call, That thou shalt never have content or peace Until thou comest to give me all thy aid. Therefore to-morrow at the stroke of noon I’ll wait for thee, bearing a cup of wine, Therewith a lens or a small burning-glass.¹ And thirteen pins I’ll put into the charm; Those which I put shall all indeed be black, But thou, Diana, thou wilt place them all! [1. This appears from very early ages, as in Roman times, to have been regarded as gifted with magic properties, and was used in occult ceremonies. And thou shalt call for me the fiends from hell; Thou’lt send them as companions of the Sun, And all the fire infernal of itself Those fiends shall bring, and bring with it the, power Unto the Sun to make this (red) wine boil,¹ So that these pins by heat may be red-hot, And with them I do fill the lemon here, That unto her or him to who ‘tis given is Peace and prosperity shall be unknown. [1. That is, Diana is invoked to send demons with the very life of the fire of hell to still more increase that of the sun to intensify the wine.] If this grace I gain from thee Give a sign, I pray, to me! Ere the third day Shall pass away, Let me either hear or see A roaring wind, a rattling rain, Or hall a clattering on the plain; Till one of these three signs you show, Peace, Diana, thou shalt not know. Answer well the prayer I’ve sent thee, Or day and night will I torment thee!

Italian

The Invocation to Diana.

Dia Diana, a te scongiuro!
E te chiamo ad alta voce!
Che tu non abbia pace ne bene
Se non viene in nuo aiuto
Domani al punto di mezzo giorno,
Ti aspetto a quello punto
Un bicchiere di vino portero,
E una piccola lente al occhio
E dentro tredici spilli,
Spilli neri vi metterò,
E tu Diana tutti
I diavoli dell’ inferno chiamerai,
E in compagma del sole il manderai,
E tutto il fuoco dell’inferno preso di seLo porteranno, e daranno forza,
Al sole di farmi questo vino bollire,
Perche questi spilli possano arroventire,
E con questi il limone apunteró
Per non dare più pace,
E ne bene alla persona
Che questo limone le presenterò!

Se questa grazia mi farete,
Un segnale mi darete,
Dentro tre giorni,
Una cosa voglio vedere,
O vento, o acqua, o grandine,
Se questo segnale non avró,
Piu pace Diana non te darò,
Tanto di giorno che di notte,Sempre ti tormenterò.

Goddess Diana, I do conjure thee
And with uplifted voice to thee I call,
That thou shalt never have content or peace
Until thou comest to give me all thy aid.
Therefore to-morrow at the stroke of noon
I’ll wait for thee, bearing a cup of wine,
Therewith a lens or a small burning-glass.¹
And thirteen pins I’ll put into the charm;
Those which I put shall all indeed be black,
But thou, Diana, thou wilt place them all!

[1. This appears from very early ages, as in Roman times, to have been regarded as gifted with magic properties, and was used in occult ceremonies.

And thou shalt call for me the fiends from hell;
Thou’lt send them as companions of the Sun,
And all the fire infernal of itself
Those fiends shall bring, and bring with it the, power
Unto the Sun to make this (red) wine boil,¹
So that these pins by heat may be red-hot,
And with them I do fill the lemon here,
That unto her or him to who ‘tis given is
Peace and prosperity shall be unknown.

[1. That is, Diana is invoked to send demons with the very life of the fire of hell to still more increase that of the sun to intensify the wine.]

If this grace I gain from thee
Give a sign, I pray, to me! Ere the third day
Shall pass away,
Let me either hear or see
A roaring wind, a rattling rain,
Or hall a clattering on the plain;
Till one of these three signs you show,
Peace, Diana, thou shalt not know.
Answer well the prayer I’ve sent thee,
Or day and night will I torment thee!

As the orange was the fruit of the Sun, so is the lemon suggestive of the Moon or Diana, its color being of the lighter yellow. However, the lemon specially chosen for the charm is always a green one, because it “sets hard” and turns black. It is generally known that orange and lemon peel, subjected to pressure and combined with an adhesive may be made into a hard substance which can be moulded or used for many purposes. I have devoted a chapter to this in an as yet unpublished work entitled One Hundred Minor Arts. This was suggested to me by the hardened lemon given to me for a charm by a witch.