Unit 22

UNIT 22 WORD LIST altar An altar is a table used in churches. The altar had many lit candles on it. arthritis Arthritis is an illness causing pain and swelling in a person's joints. Agatha couldn't play the piano anymore because of her arthritis. botany Botany is the study of plants. Gardens are the best places for botany. credible If something or someone is credible, they can be believed or trusted. Dick gave a credible reason for being late and didn't get in any trouble. deceased If someone is deceased, they are dead. We visited the graves of our deceased grandparents. deception Deception is the act of lying or tricking someone. The magic looked very real, but it was only deception. document A document is a written text, usually not in the form of a book. Please scan this document so we have an electronic copy. dung Dung is solid waste material produced by animals. There was cow dung all over the field. dusk Dusk is the time in the evening when it begins to get dark. After dusk, Hannah went to catch fireflies in the park. gratify To gratify someone means to please them. Bonnie was gratified after receiving her gift from her parents.

hone To hone something is to improve it and make it very good. Lisa honed her chess skills through hours and hours of practice. interpret When you interpret something, you find its meaning, often by changing it into a different language. It is difficult to interpret while someone is speaking. motive Your motive is your reason for doing something. We can show he had a motive to commit the crime, but we cannot show he did it. pneumonia Pneumonia is a dangerous illness causing the lungs to fill with liquid. Elaine got pneumonia after playing outside in the rain without a coat. psychic When someone is psychic, they know what will happen or what people think. I think my grandmother has psychic abilities because she can predict anything. psychotic If someone is psychotic, they have a very serious mental illness. The psychotic patient believed he saw things that weren't real. scope The scope of something is how many people or things it relates to. Modern history has a wide scope. sinister If something or someone is sinister, they are evil. Bad guys in most movies have sinister laughs. strife Strife is disagreement or fighting between people or groups. There was a lot of strife between Jim and Lisa about what TV show to watch. text Text is language used in communicating messages. Spoken text has many features which are different from written text.

Greek Magical Papyri The Greek Magical Papyri is a collection of writing about magic. After it was found in the Egyptian desert, it took experts years to interpret it. The text was written in at least three different ancient languages. After many years, experts realized the document contained a number of spells that varied greatly in scope. The most common types of magic in the collection dealt with healing illnesses like pneumonia. Some spells also gave advice for treating people with mental illnesses, such as those who became psychotic. Some spells utilised unusual things, like crocodile dung. But botany was an important part of the magic. Many healing spells gave instructions on how to use herbs and plants that were believed to be helpful. For example, in order to cure arthritis, the book says that the magician should build a beautiful altar. Then he should crush different types of herbs and place them on top of it. At dusk, he is supposed to say a spell so the gods would be gratified. Other parts of the collection describe how to hone one's psychic abilities and how to give credible descriptions of the future. Often, the book advised people how to use different objects to tell the future, including tea leaves. Also, one part of the book tells what different dreams might mean. It gives advice for using dreams to tell the future. A small part of the book, however, has more sinister motives than the rest. It is meant to cause strife and deception. For example, one tells how to give someone warts, while another will make all of the victim's farm animals die. However, if someone's farm animals died as a result of a curse, he could ask a magician to perform magic that makes the deceased recover and come back to life.