The historiola is a modern term for a kind of

incantation An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...

incorporating a short mythic story that provides the paradigm for the desired magical action. It can be found in ancient Mesopotamian,Fritz Graf
"Historiola"
in '' Brill’s New Pauly''. Consulted online on 29 December 2020. Egyptian and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

mythology, in the

Aramaic Uruk incantation The Aramaic Uruk incantation acquired 1913 by the Louvre, Paris and stored there under AO 6489François Thureau-Dangin, ''Textes cunéiformes VI, Tablettes d’Uruk'' (Paris, 1922), no. 58.Christa Müller-Kessler, "Die aramäische Beschwörung und i ...

, incorporated in Mandaean incantations, as well as in

Jewish kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

. There are also Christian examples evoking Christian legends.

References

Egyptian mythology Greek mythology Incantation {{Mythology-stub