Incantation
Spoken or chanted words used in a rite, in the belief that sound and exact wording carry power.
Also: chant, invocation, charm-song, mantra
The word comes from Latin incantare, to chant over. Incantations are found in nearly every tradition: Vedic hymns and mantras, Mesopotamian and Egyptian spells, Celtic healing charms, Christian prayers and blessings, and Islamic and Jewish recitations. Many require exact repetition, a fixed tempo or an old language, and some are kept private. Linguists have noted that the sound of a formula can matter as much as its sense, and that a rite may use words the speaker no longer understands. Practitioners generally distinguish an incantation from ordinary speech by its setting, its repetition and the belief that it affects things.