The 35th prohibition is that we are forbidden from practicing the ritual of chover ["incantations"], which is the recitation of utterances1 that the person believes are helpful for certain things and damaging for others.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He),2 "Among you there shall not be found anyone...who utters incantations ['chover chaver']."
In the words of the Sifri, "The prohibition of uttering incantations applies whether they are directed to a snake or to a scorpion." This means that he utters these incantations over them because he imagines that as a result they will not bite, or that he speaks over the location of the bite in order to stop the pain.
One who transgresses this prohibition is punished by lashes.3
The details of this mitzvah have been explained in the seventh chapter of tractate Shabbos.4
