Talmud - Gittin 69a גיטין ס״ט א׳

§ As a remedy for eye disease [beroketi], let him bring the body of a seven-colored scorpion, dry it in the shade, and grind together two portions of stibium and one portion of the dried scorpion. And let him place three eyebrushes full in this eye, and three eyebrushes full in that eye. But he should not place more, as if he does not heed this advice and he does place more, his eye will burst.

As a remedy for night blindness, he should bring a rope of animal hair [shudra barka], and he should tie one of his legs and one leg of a dog together with the rope. And let children throw pottery shards behind him, and let them say to him: The dog is old and the rooster is foolish. And let him take seven pieces of raw meat from seven houses and let him leave them for him in the socket of the door. And let him then eat them in the junkyard of the city. Afterward, he should untie the rope of hair and say as follows: The blindness of so-and-so, son of so-and-so; leave so-and-so, son of so-and-so; and then they say: Let them blow into the dog’s eye.

As a remedy for day blindness, hemeralopia, which is the inability to see clearly in bright light, let him bring seven animal spleens, and let the patient roast them on the pottery shard of a bloodletter. And let the patient sit on the inside of the house and let another person sit on the outside, and let the patient say to himself: Blind man, give me something to eat, and let the other one say to the patient: Seeing man, take and eat. And after the patient eats, let him break the shard, as if not, the blindness will follow him.

As a remedy for a nosebleed, let the patient bring a man named Levi who is a priest, and that man should write for the patient the name Levi, backward. And if the patient is not able do this let him bring an ordinary man, and let that man write for the patient the following expression: I am Pappi Sheila bar Summakei. And that man should also write this backward.

And if he is not able to do this let that man write for the patient like this: Taste from a bucket in silver water, taste from a bucket in tainted water. And if the patient is not able to do this let him bring the root of fodder [aspasta], rope [ashla] from an old bed, and paper [kurtesa], and saffron, and the red portion of a palm branch, and let him burn them with each other. And let the patient bring a fleece of wool and spin it into two strings, and let him soak [litmish] them in vinegar, roll them in this ash of the burned materials, and place them in his nostrils.

And if the patient is not able to do this let him look at a stream of water flowing from the east toward the west, and let him spread his legs and stand with one foot on this side and one foot on that side. And let him take clay in his right hand from under his left foot, and let him take clay with his left hand from under his right foot. And let him spin two strings of wool, soak them in the clay, and place them in his nostrils.

And if the patient is not able to do this let him sit under the gutter and let them bring water and pour it on him. And let them say: Just as the water has ceased, let the blood of so-and-so, son of so-and-so, cease.

As a remedy for blood that comes from the mouth we check the patient with a straw of wheat. If the blood sticks to the straw then it comes from his lungs and it has a remedy. But if the blood does not stick to the straw, it means that the blood comes from the liver and it has no remedy.

Rav Ami said to Rav Ashi: But didn’t we learn the opposite in a mishna (Ḥullin 42a): If the liver was completely removed and none of it remains, then it is considered to be an animal with a condition that will cause it to die within twelve months [tereifa]. But in the case of a lung that is punctured or missing, the animal is considered to be a tereifa, even if it has not been completely removed. This indicates that damage to the lung is more serious than damage to the liver. Rav Ashi said to him: Since the blood comes out from this person’s mouth, one must say that the liver has dissolved and he will not survive.

The Master said: If the blood comes from the lungs then it has a remedy. The Gemara asks: What is its remedy? The Gemara answers: Let him bring seven fistfuls of sliced beets, and seven fistfuls of sliced leek, and five fistfuls of perida grass, and three fistfuls of lentils, and a fistful of cumin, and a fistful of ropes, and a corresponding amount of the intestines of a firstborn animal. And let him cook all of it together and let him eat everything and afterward let him drink good, strong beer.

With regard to the remedy for pain in one’s teeth [lekhakha], Rabba bar Rav Huna said: Let him bring an individual garlic that grew as a single clove and grind it with oil and salt. And let him place it on the thumbnail of the side that hurts him, and let him surround it with a rim [gedanpa] of dough. And he should take care that it does not touch his flesh because it is harmful and can cause boils.

With regard to the remedy for gums, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Spanish chamomile [ḥomti] plant is like the mamru plant, and the root of the Spanish chamomile is preferable to mamru, and let him take it in his mouth. This is meant to stabilize the illness so that it does not intensify. To boil them, meaning to cause the wounds to open so that the pus can be removed from them, let him bring the coarsest bran found at the upper portion of the sifter, and lentils in their dirt, and fenugreek [shuvlilta], and the flower of the hop plant. And let him take an amount about the size of a nut in his mouth.

In order to open the blisters to remove the pus, let his friend blow white cress into his mouth with a straw of wheat. And if he wishes to heal the blisters let him bring dirt found in the shade of the bathroom and knead it with honey and eat it, as this is effective for curing the blisters.

For a bronchial infection [levarsam], let him bring a nut-sized amount of ammonia [nishdor] water and a nut-sized amount of sweet galbanum, and a large spoonful of white honey, a vessel from Meḥoza, i.e., one that holds a quarter-log of liquid, full of clear [nekida] wine, and let him boil them together. And once the ammonia is cooked everything will have cooked. And if he is not able to do this let him bring a quarter-log of milk from a white goat,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Gittin 69a details ancient folk remedies for eye ailments, night and day blindness, and nosebleeds using unusual ritual and herbal methods.