Romanian sorcerers. Offensive magic
Analysis and description of verbal magical practical actions involving an active harmful influence on people and animals by the sorcerer's intention and with the help of otherworldly forces and reflected in Romanian ritual and musical-verbal folklore.
| Рубрика | Религия и мифология |
| Вид | статья |
| Язык | английский |
| Дата добавления | 29.08.2023 |
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University of Bucharest
ROMANIAN SORCERERS. OFFENSIVE MAGIC
Antoaneta OLTEANU
Bucharest
Анотація
magical animal sorcerer romanian
Антоанета ОЛТЯНУ, Бухарестський університет, Бухарест (Румунія)
Оскільки сфера магії в Румунії дуже різноманітна, у цій статті розглядаються виключно негативні сторони магічних практик, які здійснюють носії езотеричних знань. Спеціалізовані виконавці (румунською мовою вони зустрічаються під різними назвами, яким притаманні різні характеристики - чаклуни (strigoi), мертві чаклуни (strigoi morfi), маги, відьми) у народних повір'ях видаються менш страшними, ніж їхні західноєвропейські відповідники, однак мають чіткі риси демонізму, які характерні для “чорної магії”. Мета статті полягає в описі та дослідженні вербальних магічних практичних дійств, що передбачають активний шкідливий вплив на людей і тварин з умислу чаклуна та за допомоги потойбічних сил і відображені у румунському обрядовому і музично-словесному фольклорі. Новизна статті полягає у сконденсованому вибірковому аналізі тих зразків етнологічних знахідок, що належать само до шкідливої магії, що досі не було розглянуто саме в порівняльному ключі. Методи і матеріали. В основі статті стали дослідження з праці “Соломонова школа. Ворожіння і чаклунство в порівняльному контексті”, тож базовим методом є порівняльний і зіставний підхід. Висновки. Починаючи з процесу становлення таких істот (чаклунів, відьом) - від народження чи ініціації - ця стаття має завдання надати короткий виклад негативних магічних практик (чорної магії та ін.), які виконують чаклуни, залишаючи осторонь практики у виконані “аматорами”, які були зацікавлені в покращенні свого добробуту або в зворотних практиках, призначених для скасування заклинань або зняття заклять, накладених чаклунами.
Ключові слова: румунська магія, чаклунство, чаклуни, відьми, чорна магія, мертві чаклуни, шкідлива магія.
1. Semantic differences
The status of the sorcerer changes quite fast in the history of mentalities from the most reliable person, from an official priest, a messenger of the divine to an outcast, an unofficial, obscure practician of certain rites, which were once all-important to the well going of the fortress. The association of white magic, in fact, of magic in general, with black magic and to Church desecration, began to be viewed as a common point of view in the description of their practicians, of the sorcerers. If, in Western Europe, the hunt for the witches serving the Devil represented the main theme of the battle the Church waged against the non-believers, in the East, magic gained appreciable ground and included not demonic pacts, but the acquiring of malefic knowledge, aimed against peers.
Generally speaking, when mentioning traditional societies, we must make a distinction on one hand, between sorcerer (vrajitor) and enchanter (fermecator), and, on the other hand between sorcerer and disenchanter (descintator), in other words, between defensive and offensive magic. Closely related to the first difference, but without being generated by it, we must emphasize a second disjjuncture, which is especially mirrored in the intrusion of the Church in the magic reality. It is the demonic, satanic sorcerer and the sorcerer-representative of the ancient cults offertility.
For this purpose, Margaret Murray, in her works, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) and The God of the Witches (1931) states that in the 17th century there were still traces of the ancient fertility cults, which were later demonized. In its turn, British anthropology proposed differentiations and definitions of the concepts of witchcraft and sorcery. E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1937), who opposed for The material presented in this study is to be found in our work, §coala de solomonie. Divinafe f vrajitorie m context comparat (School of Solomon. Divination and witchcraft in comparative context), Paideia Publishing House, Bucharest, 1999, 616 p. [in Romanian]. the first time the two terms, says that magic activities are not a priori the subject of approval or disapproval by society: they are socially and morally “neutral”. Wether or not they are exercised or not by experts, they try to control the impersonal and supernatural forces, which influence the course of events. The essential difference between sorcerer and witch is related to the fact that the first one uses magic in order to perpetrate his evil doings, while the latter acts through supernatural powers, which are specific to her personality. Aarne Runeberg (1947) believes that magicians, grouped in real societies, had inherited from a distant past the formulas and masses (nocturnal ones) capable to induce fertility or to strike enemies. J. Russell (1972) has a similar point of view. In his opinion, millenary rites and masses meant to ensure fertility, including dances, banquets and erotic unwinding, were turned into sabbat days under the pressure of Christian society. As they were a form of rebellion against the social and religious conformism, these nihilist groups were the product of an oppressive Christian civilization and especially of the Inquisition. The one who shades some real light on the representatives of the ancient cults of fertility is, undoubtedly, Carlo Ginzburg (1966). He attests, after one thousand years of official Christianity, the survival of the fertility cults. The Benandanti were men born with the amniotic membrane, which they carried, tied to their necks, as an amulet. On solstice days, they were imagining that they went out at night - when they were apparently in a cataleptic state - armed with dill bunches and in organized groups, to fight sorcerers, who were also organized and endowed with bird seed ears. They said that this ritual battle was important for the crops and harvests.
In Romania, S. Fl. Marian was the first to ever try to differentiate sorcerers from enchanters, meaning those who cast spells and those who use charms: “The sorcerers and the witches are generally viewed by people as unlawful, people who have renounced God, who have many connections with devilish spirits, because, in their incantations, instead of addressing God, the supreme and almighty being, asking for help in order to attain the aimed purpose, they generally turn to devilish spirits or mythical beings, in order for them to provide the necessary help and to fulfil their wish” Marian S. F. Vraji, farmece §i desfaceri. Descantece poporane romane [Spells, charms and undoing of spells. Romanian Popular Incantations], Bucharest, 1996, P. 9 [in Romanian].. The distinctions made by Marian do not really clarify the essentially malefic nature of the sorcerer. In general, the difference between sorcerer (strigoi, living sorcerer) and charmer is relative - the difference is not made by the action, but by the particular attributes of the two characters. The demonism of the sorcerer would be represented by the adopting of an explicitly malicious attitude, related to “black” magic, which also includes the pact with the demon.
Although the definitions of those who have tried to analyze the activity of the demonized do not concretely reflect the essence, from an examination of the magic practices performed by the sorcerer, we can say that, for the Romanian popular beliefs, it is not compulsory to activate his “black” demonic side (the same as in the Western mythologies); the same as the charmer, with whom he is confounded, the sorcerer is characterized by the performance of some malefic magic acts, aimed at disturbing of the balance of the peers, either related to sending illnesses, fate spells (the calling, binding, conjuring away of the partner), stealing the milk and field “benefit”, etc. Let us not forget one thing: by virtue of the coincidentia oppositorum principle, even the concepts of good and evil are relative: the things that were good to someone could be bad for the one lacking a constituent element of his way of life. Not only the sorcerer (charmer) could do good and bad; in its turn, according to the addressee, good could be bad for the person who had lost it (for instance, in the case of the practices meant to take away the benefit of a farm).
Furthermore, we are to present the aspects of Romanian sorcery - namely, the use of malefic magic, mainly with negative connotations, - in traditional societies, while positive magic - the divinatory, oracular one, the one meant to redirect charms and illnesses, etc. is to be described in another study. Also, we mentioned those practices performed by specialized characters and not by individuals, who, by observing some indications of the experts, can practice themselves acts of magic.
2. Types of sorcerers
If we were to begin our analysis with the main performers, the sorcerers, we could realize that there are two distinct types of malefic beings with different power intensities: on one hand, the innate sorcerers, who received the demonic power at birth, without them asking for it, and, on the other hand, the sorcerers, who, consciously, in their mature age have shown a desire to make contact with the evil forces.
The innate sorcerers
Receiving the sorcerer's attributes by birth proves to have various causes. It is said that the witch “was conceived at a weak hour”. “The pregnant woman who will drink impure water from devilish slaver will give birth to a vampire” Candrea I. A. Privire generala asupra folklorului roman in legatura cu al altor popoare [General Overview of Romanian Folklore compared to the folklore of other peoples], Bucharest, 1991 [in Romanian].. A series of widely known beliefs related to sorcerers say that they are children born with a tail. One knows that a new-born is to become a vampire “by the small tail hidden either in the armpit or behind the ear, where you cannot see it” Scurtu V. “Cercetari folklorice in Ugocea romaneasca” [Folkloric Researches in the Romanian Ugocea], Anuarul Arhivei de folklor, VI, 1942, P. 40 [in Romanian].. By tradition, the sorcerers grow a tail, a shorter one at the beginning and later a longer one; sometimes mentioned as such: they have a dog tail Mujlea I. Tipologia folclorului. Din raspunsurile la chestionarele lui B.P. Hasdeu [Folklore Typology Based on Answers Given to Hasdeu's Questionnaire], Bucharest: Minerva, 1970, P. 246 [in Romanian].. The presence of the caul (of the amniotic membrane) in the case of the new-born is an indubitable sign of sacred designation, of election from the very birth of the initiated sorcerer. Such a child is born by a woman who gets out at night without covering her head: “At that moment Satan comes and places on her head a red cap, like its own, and in due time the child will be born wearing the sorcerer cap” Pamfile T. Mitologie romaneasca. I. Dujmani §i prieteni ai omului [Romanian Mythology. I. Man's Enemies and Friends], Bucharest: Romanian Academy, Socec, 1916, P. 130 [in Romanian].. Sometimes the midwife fulfils the role of the fate women and assumes the decision of negatively marking the child's fate, by confirming its witch potential anticipated by the presence of the caul: “When the midwife sees the child with a caul, she names it as a sorcerer over the animals, the grains or the fish. Only after she has decided its fate, she can remove its caul” Mujlea I. Tipologia folclorului..., op. cit., P. 245.. In other cases, the child only becomes a sorcerer if it swallows the caul. The sorcerers called solomonari, upon reaching a certain age, by wearing the magic caul, they can become invisible or can activate their magic powers.
The initiation of sorcerers.
The consecration, the initiation into the secrets of magic, into the manipulation of the sacred forces is to be performed through numerous procedures.
Initiation performed by another sorcerer. The initiation following apprenticeship is not included among Romanian beliefs. The most frequent procedure, the involuntary acquiring of malefic powers, can be performed upon the death of a sorcerer. The sorcerer was compelled to pass all his knowledge, which he could not take with him to the grave. The passing on of the knowledge was performed by sharing it with an apprentice, to a young man - often the son of grandson of the magician -, who swears under oath to pass on this secret information, or by passing it to a chosen one, who is not familiar with the power he received (through contagion, he receives from a moribund a certain object and absorbs all the knowledge).
Initiation with the help of the demons. Many legends tell that it is not very difficult to establish a connection with the devil, which may come without delay, as it is very excited by the availability of someone willing to learn the secrets of sorcery. Sometimes a simple call is sufficient to approach the Evil one.
When a woman needs the devil and calls it - in order for it not to harm her, she places in her belt, all around her waist, nine spoons, nine knives, nine axle pins - so that it cannot come closer. She calls it at midnight, through the chimney, at the hearth, it comes and she sends it wherever she likes. [...] The day she wants to call it, she does not bathe, she does not talk to anyone, she does not eat salty food, she sweeps the floor counter-clockwise, she does not bring water from places used by everyone, but from deserted ponds [...] and it comes by night. If someone does as such during the entire Passion week, on Easter Eve, at dawn,