Magical Rituals Research Articles

Hunting Practices Among the Indigenous “Truká” in the Semiarid Region of Brazil

This paper aims to provide information on hunting in the Semi-arid Northeast counting the hunting practices of the Truká Indigenous people. These pieces of information were obtained through interviews, using semi-structured questionnaires with fifty-five Indigenous hunters, distributed in four Truká villages located in the states of Bahia and Pernambuco. Thirty-nine poultries, thirteen mammals, and seven reptiles commonly captured the Truká have been cited. Out of the total number, forty-five (42.3%) were used for feeding. Species used as pets (n=20), in magic rituals (n=1), in traditional medicine (n=11), in local handicraft (n=23) and in control hunting (n=6) have also been quoted. Among those species, only one is listed as endangered, to say, Anodorhynchus leari, and one vulnerable, Leopardus tigrinus. Among the interviewees, the common hunting techniques are trap, hatch, pitfall, lasso, hunting net, rifle, slingshot, hook, besides handgrip and dog hunting. The awareness of local perception in the usage of wild fauna is fundamental for decision making in the elaboration of projects for the conservation and management of local fauna, aiming both the maintenance and the continuity of access to this natural resource.

Prophecy and Its Cultic Dimensions

Prophecy and Its Cultic Dimensions

Wariancje semantyczne pojęcia "kołtuna" w wybranych tekstach kultury polskiej i litewskiej

SEMANTIC VARIATIONS OF THE CONCEPT OF KOŁTUN ‘POLISH PLAIT’ IN SELECTED TEXT OF POLISH AND LITHUANIAN CULTURES
 The paper discusses semantic changes and stylistic derivation of the cultural concept of kołtun ‘Polish plait’ (Plica polonica) in Polish and Lithuanian. Although today it is impossible to meet a person with a kołtun on their head, the concept itself, as an element of socially established knowledge of the world, has survived and is still used in various discourses (ranging from dialectal texts and folklore, belles-lettres and journalistic writing, to contemporary Internet messages), to communicate different meanings, both literal and metaphorical.There are similarities and differences between the conceptualizations of kołtun in texts of Polish and Lithuanian cultures. The unifying element is the perception of kołtun as a formation of entangled hair or a mysterious disease that is inscribed into the folk system of beliefs and magical rituals. On the other hand, what sets the analysed concept apart in the two languages, is a much richer resource of folk and colloquial forms (compounds, hybrid words, phrasemes) in Lithuanian, and in addition, the lack of negative evaluation of kołtun in Lithuanian, whereas in Polish the word is often used to describe a backward, small-minded person.

Złota culture grave from Kleczanów, Sandomierz district, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship

In 2014, a niche grave linked with the Złota culture was accidentally discovered in Kleczanów (Sandomierz district, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship). An approximately 25-year-old man was inhumed inside. He was crippled: one of his legs was shorter as a result of an improperly healed fracture. His body was subjected to magical rituals. For example, his skull was separated from the rest of the body and placed in a stone-lined cache. The grave inventory was composed of at least three vessels (a mug with a handle and two amphorae), two bone plaques (belt elements), a bone awl, and a flint arrowhead, as well as animal bones (a pig mandible, limb bones of the following animals: roe deer, medium-sized bird, and sheep or goat). A 14C date obtained from a bone fragment allows us to date the grave to the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC.

Theater Art in Oleksandrivsk (Zaporizhzhya): end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th сenturies

Theater Art in Oleksandrivsk (Zaporizhzhya): end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th сenturies

ПОВСЕДНЕВНЫЕ ЧУДЕСА АВАДХА (СЕВЕРНАЯ ИНДИЯ): ВСТРЕЧИ С ИЗВЕСТНЫМ И ТАЙНЫМ

The sphere of the unknown, supernatural and miraculous is one of the most popular subjects for everyday discussions in Ayodhya – the last of the provinces of the Mughal Empire, which entered the British Raj in 1859, and in the distant past – the space of many legendary and mythological events. Mostly they concern encounters with inhabitants of the “other world” – spirits, ghosts, jinns as well as miraculous healings following magic rituals or meetings with the so-called saints of different religions (Hindu sadhus, Sufi dervishes),with incomprehensible and frightening natural phenomena. According to the author’s observations ideas of the unknown in Avadh are codified and structured in Avadh better than in other parts of India. Local people can clearly define if they witness a bhut or a jinn and whether the disease is caused by some witchcraft or other reasons. Perhaps that is due to the presence in the holy town of a persistent tradition of katha, the public presentation of plots from the Ramayana epic in both the narrative and poetic as well as performative forms. But are the events and phenomena in question a miracle for the Avadhvasis, residents of Ayodhya and its environs, or are they so commonplace that they do not surprise or fascinate? That exactly is the subject of the essay, written on the basis of materials collected by the author in Ayodhya during the period of 2010 – 2019. The author would like to express his appreciation to Mr. Alok Sharma (Faizabad) for his advice and cooperation.

ДОХРИСТИАНСКИЕ АРХЕТИПЫ КАК ФАКТОР СОХРАНЕНИЯ СТАРООБРЯДЧЕСКОЙ РЕЛИГИОЗНО-КУЛЬТУРНОЙ САМОБЫТНОСТИ

The article considers the foundations of the cultural identity of the Old Believers as an ethno- confessional community within the Russian people, the most important feature of which is a genetic connection with the culture of the Middle Ages, characterized by the presence of elements of a traditional culture dating back to the pre-Christian period, largely lost by the New Orthodoxy. Excessive saturation with magical rituals, remnants of pre-Christian ideas gave the Old Believers the originality of their cultural appearance that made them a bearer of great Russian traditions in their medieval version.

The causal power of music in magical rituals at the Renaissance

The causal power of music in magical rituals at the Renaissance

ВІКНА І ДВЕРІ ЯК МЕЖОВІ СИМВОЛИ ХАТНЬОГО ПРОСТОРУ

The article deals with the ritual significance of some traditional Ukrainian dwellings architectural elements, such as windows and doors. This theme is not completely studied at the scientific literature, because scientists mainly describe the external characteristics of architectural forms and only rarely mention their symbolic meaning. So, this article is based on the analysis of many examples of Ukrainian folklore, first of all lyric and calendar songs, legends and fairytales, as well as the rituals describing, taken by cultural anthropologists and folklorists from the 19th century. During the study the authors find out, that windows and doors in Ukrainian traditional culture were perceived as complex elements, because they were both part of the dwelling complex and had a symbolic meaning and special functions in rituals and folklore. Having lots ot similar features, the ritual meaning of windows and doors at the same time have some differences. Doors, first of all, served as an entrance and an exit, so their basic function was to pass in the house, to let out from it and to provide protection; instead, the window provided a visual connection to the outside world. The general sacred value of the studied objects was their role as a symbolic border between «own» and «alien» space. This provided a connection between the inhabitants of the house and the outside world and protected the interior home space from real and mythological threats from the outside. Windows and doors in traditional culture had to provide the transparency of limits. As a result, the studied architectural elements of the dwelling have been given the status of particularly dangerous points of contact with the outside world. It was signified in the relevant beliefs of our ancestors. People must cross the threshold without stepping on it, it was impossible to sit on it, it was impossible to stand on it during the thunder. As it was mentioned above, windows and doors served as the limit between «own» and «alien» space, therefore they could not only let the souls of the dead in the house on some calendar holidays, but they also protect house from unwanted arrival of different demonological creatures (witches, mermaids, living dead, etc.), for what on windows and doors, above them and under them were put various amulets. Sacralized locuses of home space have become elements of calendar, family, magic rituals that have accompanied a person in traditional society from birth to death.

Tretman duševno poremećenih osoba u srednjovekovnoj Srbiji

The treatment of mental health patients in Serbia in the Middle ages was the same as in other European countries. Medicine of that time was based on science, the use of magic rituals and witchcraft was banned. Doctors from Serbia, Byzantium and the national doctors had been educated in Salerno and Montpellier, the most developed centers of medicine. They took the exam in front of the government Medical testimony. The development of medicine was followed in the Hodoloski code which was considered the oldest record of folk medicine and the Hilandar medical code which represented a collection of medieval scientific European medicine and Serbian medicine culture (XII-XV). The first Serbian hospital was established in Hilandar in 1199. The founder was Saint Sava who wrote the rules about the work of the hospital. Actually, it was the practice for all medical facilities that were opened later. We know about mental diseases and healing in Serbia from Lives of Saints in monasteries Zica (from 1207) and Decani (1327) and from the biography of Medieval ruler (king) Stephen of Decani. The illustrations of healing some patients with mental diseases were shown on frescoes and in the lives of saints. In Medieval Serbia, there were 49 foreign doctors working (15 in XIV, 30 in XV and 4 in XVI century) and until Turkish conquest Serbia took a very important place in Medieval Europe. Objective of this paper is to show where psychiatric patients were treated in Medieval Serbia, the way they were treated, who treated them, where the hospitals were and what kind of treatment wereapplied.

The Festival of Hermes Kriophoros in Tanagra (Boeotia): an anthropological interpretation

The subject to be considered is the festival of Hermes Kriophoros in Tanagra. A brief Pausanias’ reference (9.22.1) contains very few but remarkable details of the celebration as it was held in Late Antiquity. All indications concerning the procedure and the content of the festival inferred from Pausanias’s description are analyzed in combination with the attested characteristics and attributes of Hermes, as well as with the religious symbolism universally attached to the ram, the divine shepherd, and ritual circular movement. The ethnographic evidence for similar rituals is also adduced. It is concluded that the Tanagran festival originated in an ancestral communal ceremony of annual territorial lustration. That ceremony was linked to the increase of solar activity in midspring and therefore also included the parallel magical stimulation of the sun’s course. Gradually, that primitive magic ritual would have been elaborated in a more complex seasonal ceremony of stimulation of the generative solar power of the Great Mother-Goddess with the help of a young male ram-god and was eventually transformed nto a celebration of the sacred marriage between the Great Mother-Goddess and a young beautiful divine shepherd. In the process of the formation of polis, the festival became a more social celebration, which served to secure the city-state’s secure existence under the protection of Hermes Kriophoros.

An unusual example of beheading in an Old Kingdom burial at Giza (Egypt)

Ten years ago, the Russian archaeological mission at Giza (IOS RAS) excavated the tomb of the metal worker Perinedju (GE 19) at the eastern escarpment of the necropolis and discovered there an unusual burial of a beheaded male individual with the skull lying apart from the skeleton. The burial may be dated to the late 5th or early 6th Old Kingdom Dynasty (24th–23rd cent. BC). A lesion on the skull suggests that the head was separated from the body when the individual had already been dead. While alive, the man did not demonstrate any physical deviations. The authors argue that the decapitation may have been caused due to a magical ritual. The aim of the ritual is still unclear but available Old Kingdom sources and extrapolated later written evidence suggest three main possibilities: to do the dead person some harm, to neutralize the deceased in the world of the living or to involve into the revival of the beheaded dead divine forces. The search for analogies among excavated burials revealed several similar cases. However, none of Old Kingdom burials followed the same pattern of internment of a beheaded body observed in the tomb of Perinedju. The main reason for this is the lack of well documented archaeological contexts from early excavations and the absence of paleopathological studies of associated bioarcheological materials. Postmortem decapitation is a rare Old Kingdom burial practice. The precondition for revealing the nature and meaning of this phenomenon is the careful attention of excavators to irregular Old Kingdom burials in future.

TOPRAK, BEREKET VE EL İLİŞKİSİ ÜZERİNE BİR DEĞERLENDİRME

Yeryüzündeki varlığını sürdürmek ve yeme, içme, barınma gibi temel ihtiyaçlarını karşılamak adına pek çok çareye başvuran insanoğlu, modern teknolojinin gelişmediği çağlarda veya teknolojik ilerlemelerle bir bağı bulunmayan kırsal mekânlarda pek çok dinsel-büyüsel uygulamaya başvurmuş, pek çok inanışı benimsemiştir. Ele alınan çalışmanın amacı, insanoğlunun en eski çağlardan bu yana yeryüzündeki bereketi avına, soyuna, toprağına çekmeye yönelik geliştirdiği toprak, bereket ve el odaklı inanış ve uygulamaları incelemektir. İnsanın hayatî bir uzvu olan elin yaşam enerjisi, bereket ve bollukla olan ilişkisi ise bu inanış ve uygulamaları çözümlemede hareket noktası olmuştur. Tarihöncesi çağlardan itibaren gerek mağara gerek tapınaklarda karşılaşılan el sembolü, bolluk ve bereket sağlamak adına başvurulan bir unsurdur. Çalışmanın içerisinde dikkat çekilen önemli bir husus, tarih öncesi çağlardan itibaren dişil prensiple ilgili görülen el sembolünün günümüzde dahi toprakla ilişkili kutsal kadın imajıyla birlikte pek çok inanış ve uygulamada yer alıyor olmasıdır. Diğer önemli bir husus ise, elin kutsallığı ve bereket getiriciliğinin odak noktası olduğu tarıma bağlı inanış ve uygulamalardır. Tohumun toprağa ekiminden hasat dönemi yapılan bayramlara kadar geniş bir zaman diliminde karşılaşılan bu inanış ve uygulamalar çalışma içerisinde analiz edilecektir.

Theater der Magie – Magie des Theaters. Das Beispiel der Affaire des poisons (1676–1682)

Abstract Focusing on the historico-cultural context of the Affair of the Poisons (1676–1682), the following article deals with the complementarity of magic and theatre which manifests itself on the one hand in the spectacular features of magic rituals and on the other in the illusionary effects of the comedy La Devineresse written by Thomas Corneille and Jean Donneau de Visé. Under recourse to New Historicism, the transitions between magical and aesthetic illusion are examined as well as the different conditions of building credibility which are specific for both phenomena: While the theatricality of magical acts contributes to their authentication as it appears in the case files of the affair, magical effects on stage produce two opposite views: the creation of illusion and credibility on the intratextual level and the breaking of illusion and the concomitant challenge of credibility on the extratextual level. Due to the two levels of theatrical communication, La Devineresse represents an important contribution to the demystification of magical practices during the scandal of poisons.

Cultural contexts of Kazakh traditional music

The article Кreveals the features of the geographical location of Kazakhstan as the middle territory between Asia and Europe (East and West). At the same time, due to climatic conditions, this territory (zone of the Great Steppe) was the «cradle» of nomadic culture and civilization, the whole history of which is represented as a history of coexistence and harmonious interrelationship between man and nature. The article notes the spatial and chronological continuity of the material and spiritual culture of nomads (S.Akataev), its internal integrity and syncretic unity. According to the author, syncretism in music is related to the fact that both folklore and the musical and poetic art of the Kazakhs are connected with ancient beliefs (totemism, shamanism, the cult of ancestors as components of Tengrism) and ritual and magical rituals. In the article, the author, based on the works of the famous scientist E.Tursynov, specifies the functioning and the most important role in the spiritual life of society of such carriers of musical culture as bacsy (shamans), akyns, zhyrau, sal, seri, kuishi. It is also stated that the connection of folklore and oral-professional music of Kazakhs with the Tengrian calendar (mushel), derived in the Kazakh musicology by A. Mukhambetova, made it possible to identify the ethnocultural basis of Kazakh music and its systemic classification structure. Key words: nomadic culture, syncretism, ancient beliefs, magic ritual, shaman-backsy, zhyrau, sal- seri, kuishi, Tengrian calendar.

Satul românesc din Bărăganul Brăilei, între tradiție și modernism

The Romanian village preserved, throughout the ages, the practices, traditions, magical rituals and superstitions inherited from the Dacian-Roman ancestors. Gathered in part and often linked to the great Christian celebrations and liturgical practices of the church, they became, together with the authentic Christian traditions, a constituent part of Romanians’ identity. Under the pressure of modernism, the development of large cities at the expense of the rural environment, the process started after World War II and aggravated by the destruction of many villages in the last period of the communist regime, some of these traditions began to fade. The opening of Romania to the West after the fall of the communist regime, from 1989, brought with it a rapid change in the attitudes of Romanians to the traditions and habits preserved and transmitted from ancient times in the Romanian villages, which began to appear compared to some of the events encountered in the sunset, which they borrowed without any discernment, accelerating the process further. Aware that the loss of these traditional values of the Romanian village can become irreparable with the passage of time, the Orthodox Romanian Church, in turn retaining an important cultural and spiritualtreasure created by the Romanian people in Around Christian values, he ordained that the year 2019 be the “Tribute year of the Romanian village”, a suitable opportunity to bring to the collective memory these lost traditions and customs, or about to be abandoned at the expense of some “imported” from the west, in Vogue Now especially in the great urban agglomerations, where they tend to migrate to rural communities as it is. The present study puts in light, punctually, some traditions that I have known and practiced in the village of Brăila’s Steppe where I lived my childhood, such as those related to the great religious celebrations over the year, by the important events in human life – birth, marriage and death – or those related to domestic life, social-community, etc., A general approach requiring a space that would exceed the frameworks of a study, due to the diversity and particularities. These traditions and customs, differ not only from an ethnographic area of the country to another, but also from one community to another.

Монгольское сочинение о гадании по приметам из собрания Рукописного фонда Института восточных рукописей РАН

Introduction. Investigations of source issues dealing with history of everyday life have been intensively developed in Oriental studies — including Mongol studies — since the mid-to-late 20th century, and still remain a vital task. Meanwhile, this area of social history can help take a fresh look at many processes that have taken place in Mongolia. It covers all cycles of everyday life of the Mongols ‒ economy, life and seasonal rituals, daily religious practices, magical rituals associated with sacrifices, treatment of cattle, divinations, etc. The goal of the current article is to introduce into scientific discourse one rare source, a written artifact, characterizing divination practices used by Mongols in everyday life. The source base of history of everyday life, as a rule, is incomplete as materials to make a picture of everyday life of people are always insufficient. Moreover, these lacunae are obvious in the field of written sources. It is clear that the detection of texts that would reflect all aspects of life of Mongolia’s population in full is impossible. Various aspects have not been captured in writing, many have been lost. However, there are still a number of texts. The main material for research was the text under code Q 695 from the Manuscript Fund of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the RAS (St. Petersburg). The latter deals with omens and divination by omens. The text has no title page, so the title is totally unknown. The results of the research demonstrate that inherent qualities of the text itself and its contents that might indicate its origin are not evident. The significant attention paid to the cattle breeding theme might attest to the Mongolian character of the monument. However, there are also stories that are not typical for nomadic life. There are signs of use of Tibetan and Chinese materials. Thus, one can say that this work has a heterogeneous character and is a compilation from different sources. As for the concepts of omens themselves, those obviously have a wider area of distribution than certain national borders and reflect practices of protecting life in a wide area of Central Asia, Northern India, and China. The manuscript consists of 8 sheets, pages 3 and 9 are absent. The manuscript is not old, the text is written on Russian paper in black ink, pen. The handwriting is not professional, the text is full of spelling and grammatical mistakes. The work can be divided into several parts, e.g., omens regarding behavior of animals: horses, cows, sheep; birds flying into in homes; barking and howling of dogs; buzz of pots; deformity of animals; behavior of dogs, appearance of a tornado, on the gnashing of teeth. Obviously, the work is a collection of narratives from various sources.

Choroba jako wynik działania czarownicy, bóstwa, demona lub ducha na przykładzie mezopotamskich tekstów magicznych i medycznych

The aim of this article is to show the influence of witches, demons, ghosts, and gods on human health in Ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian medicine was based on magic and considered illness to be the work of a supernatural power. Ashu and ashipu – doctors of body and soul – worked together to diagnose and help the patient. Sometimes prayers and magical rituals were necessary for a patient to get well; often, only a herbal mixture was needed. Mesopotamian magical and medical texts describe many kinds of diseases: somatic, mental, and others. Among these are: fever, headaches, leprosy, epilepsy, blindness, impotency, paralysis. This article is an effort to analyse Mesopotamian prescriptions, incantations, and medical interventions and to answer questions about the health of ancient mankind.

"Phanariotic manuscript" by Doiny Rushty - Balkan education novel

The aim of the study. Roman Doiny Rush "Fanariotic Manuscript" - The Balkan Education Romance "offers to explore the history of Joanis Millikpu, which becomes the history of Leuna and the history of Kiroz, changing the complex features of one destiny. Bucharest is a place and a central reality that has the power of metamorphosis, a city of mixture of the Balkan nations, with some French and Russian influences. Methods of this study. Roman Fanariotsky manuscript by Romanian author Doyne Rushti analyzed through the prism of literary onomastics and symbolic synesthesia: 1) the intra-textual aspect of the wider context of the name, the role of the name in the process of redefinition should be introduced into general and a universal tradition, as well as a ritual tradition concerning the history of Romanian literature; 2) urban legends in the Fanarite Bucharest, cosmopolites, created through a combination of feelings, facilitating the exit from historical time and entry into the mythical reality. Conclusion. The legend of the name exists in the Romanian rural environment, and according to her, the name changes through religious and magical rites, or rather because the ethnologists call the rites of the transition, changing destiny, disposing of illness, death, evil spirits, threatening the lives of people, etc., showing great confidence in the power of the word, which can become a reality. At the heart of the novel is a document found in the archive, and Doyne Rushti captures the magic Balkan world in all its intricacies at the end of the XVIII century. The name is also able to display fragments of history on the verge between legend and reality. Hence anthroponomy, a means of humanizing the city. One of them the most famous urban legends is the story of Bucharest women enriched with the name of Giorgom. A well-chosen name can bring a person a glory, and destroy it.

Curse, Possession and Other Worlds: Magic and Witchcraft among the Bosniaks

This article aims to provide the readers with both the theoretical concepts necessary for studying popular magic rituals and ideas on jinn, ghosts, magic and witchcraft in Islam and on different levels of tradition in living Islam, as well as a practical excursion into the vivid contemporary everyday reality of Muslim Bosniaks, based on studying Muslim web portals and interviewing the participants. It is focused on the theoretical realm of authoritative scriptural Islam embodied by the local and global Islamic scholarly discourse in comparison with the participants' perception of their own experience. The paper attempts to find certain parallels with the situation in the rest of Europe and the Muslim world and formulate the proper conceptualisation and contextualisation of the phenomena in the light of comparative religious studies.