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Text Excerpt
האי מאן דמפני אגירדא דדיקלא — אחדא ליה לדידיה רוח פלגא. והאי מאן דמצלי רישיה אגירדא דדיקלא — אחדא ליה רוח צרדא. האי מאן דפסעי אדיקלא, אי מיקטל — קטיל, אי איעקר — מיעקר ומיית. הני מילי דלא מנח כרעיה עילויה, אבל מנח כרעיה — עילויה לית לן בה.
The Talmud continues to discuss harmful spirits. One who relieves himself on the stump of a palm tree will be seized by a spirit of sickness, and one who places his head on the stump of a palm tree will be seized by a spirit of a headache of half his head, i.e., a migraine. One who walks over a palm tree, if the tree is cut down, he too will be killed. If that tree is uprooted, he will also be uprooted and will die. The Talmud comments: This statement applies only if he does not place his legs upon it; however, if he places his legs upon it, we have no problem with it.
The Talmud cites another statement with regard to shadows. There are 5 types of dangerous shadows: The shadow of a single palm tree, the shadow of a tree called kanda, the shadow of a caper-bush, and the shadow of the sorb tree. Some say: Also the shadow of a ship and the shadow of a willow. The general rule of the matter is: Whatever has many branches, its shadow is dangerous.
וכל דקשי סילויה — קשי טוליה, לבר מכרו משא, אף על גב דקשי סילויה — לא קשי טוליה, דאמרה לה שידא לברה: פירחי נפשיך מכרו משא, דאיהו הוא דקטיל לאבוך, וקטיל לדידיה. אמר רב אשי: חזינא לרב כהנא דפריש מכולהו טולי.
And any tree whose wood is hard, its shadow is dangerous, except for the tree called kero masa. Although its wood is hard, its shadow is not dangerous, as the demon said to her son: Leave the kero masa tree alone, as it was that tree that killed your father. And the tree later killed the son too. The kero masa tree is harmful to demons. Rav Ashi said: I saw that Rav Kahana avoided all types of shadows.