Gosiec are tiny spirits that can get accidentally trapped in a human or animal body. It flails around the body trying to escape, causing a great deal of harm. Check for a Gosiec when a patient has many inexplicable symptoms that travel quickly across the body. Maybe the patient has a sharp pain in their leg, then knots in their stomach, and then a miserable biting headache. If it approaches the surface, you may see a worm-like movement across the skin.

Sometimes the Gosiec manages to escape and causes a daglock, a knot of hair, on the patient’s head. Once in a daglock, the Gosiec can actually be helpful to the patient, relieving headaches or skin infections.

In return, it will make demands through its host. If refused, it may twist the patients’ limbs into knots. This can be particularly dangerous for children. Therefore, a child with a daglock must not be refused a thing.

Never cut off the daglock with shears or a knife or you may kill the patient. You should only burn the daglock off at its base one hair at a time and let it fall off naturally. Only do this procedure between sunset and sunrise. Once the daglock falls off, wash the patient’s hair in spikenard oil to prevent the Gosiec from returning. Wrap the daglock in fabric and stuff it in an inaccessible place in the home, like a crack or under a threshold. 

Commentary #

To draw out a Gosiec into a daglock, sprinkle ash on the patient’s head. It may take more than a day for the Gosiec to emerge as a knot in the hair. This reduces risk and increases benefit to both parties, turning the relationship symbiotic. — Rafa Shai