The subject covered by the present work are Russian medicinal charms (spells) treated as an example of the eff ects of words as an instrument of sorcery. Material for analysis has been taken from ethnographical entries found in the collection of Russian spells and incantations edited by Prof. V. P. Anikin and published in Moscow in 1998. Th e collection represents the results of many years of ethnographical fi eldwork, conducted from 1953 to 1993 within the territory of northern Russia.