Rituals and Segula of the Talmud, Part 2:
Today’s practice comes from Berakhot 6a:6 in which it describes a rituals to see demonic forces around us. The later, is described as exceedingly dangerous and wounded even one if the great Sages of the Talmud, as it is taught by Abba Binyamin “If the eye was given permission to see, no creature would be able to withstand the abundance and ubiquity of the demons” (Berakhot 6a:2) and as we are told by Rav Huna, “Each and every one of us has a thousand demons to his left and ten thousand to his right.“ (Berakhot 6a:4). In fact, the abundance of demons that swarm around us are acredited to why the clothes of the Sages, who do not perform manual labor, still weather and fray as the demons swarm around them (Berakhot 6a:5).
“One who seeks to know that the demons exist should place fine ashes around his bed, and in the morning the demons’ footprints appear like chickens’ footprints, in the ash. One who seeks to see them should take the afterbirth of a firstborn female black cat, born to a firstborn female black cat, burn it in the fire, grind it and place it in his eyes, and he will see them. He must then place the ashes in an iron tube sealed with an iron seal [gushpanka] lest the demons steal it from him, and then seal the opening so he will not be harmed. Rav Beivai bar Abaye performed this procedure, saw the demons, and was harmed. The Sages prayed for mercy on his behalf and he was healed” (Berakhot 6a:6)
