what is incantation

An incantation is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or object. It can be spoken, sung, or chanted, and can also be performed during ceremonial rituals or prayers. Incantations are often spoken with inflection and emphasis on the words being said, and the tone and rhyme of how the words are spoken and the placement of words used in the formula may differ depending on the desired outcome of the magical effect. In Babylonian, incantations can be used in rituals to burn images of ones own enemies, and in the Orient, the charming of snakes has been used in incantations of the past and still used today. An incantation can be a use of spells or verbal charms spoken or sung as a part of a ritual of magic, or a written or recited formula of words designed to produce a particular effect. The word incantation originally stems from the joining of the Latin prefix in-, meaning “in, into, on,” and the Latin verb cantare, which meant “to chant” or “to sing” .