B ETWEEN
THE W ORLDS:
MAGIC, MIRACLES,
AND MYSTICISM
Vol. 2
Maeva, M., Y. Erolova, P. Stoyanova, M. Hristova, V. Ivanova (eds.) (2020) Between the
Worlds: Magic, Miracles, and Mysticism. Vol. 2. Sofia: IEFSEM – BAS & Paradigma.
To cite this e-collection: Maeva, M., Y. Erolova, P. Stoyanova, M. Hristova, V. Ivanova (eds.) (2020) Between the Worlds: Magic, Miracles, and Mysticism. Vol. 2. Sofia:
IEFSEM – BAS & Paradigma. URL: https://conferenceworlds.wordpress.com/publications/.
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e-ISSN: 2683-0213
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‘Between the worlds’ conference proceedings.
First edition 2020
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The publication of this e-collection was funded by Bulgarian Science Fund, Ministry of
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All authors have given written agreement for their text to be included in the electronic
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diversity of sources used and literature written in various languages, when authors,
titles, publications and certain names written in the Cyrillic alphabet equally appear in
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All papers are double blind peer-reviewed. We thank all reviewers who kindly advised
us during the process of preparation of the volume.
INSTITUTE OF ETHNOLOGY AND FOLKLORE STUDIES WITH ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM
BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
E-collection of Conference Proceedings
B ETWEEN
THE W ORLDS:
MAGIC, MIRACLES,
AND MYSTICISM
Vol. 2
Edited by:
Mila Maeva
Yelis Erolova
Plamena Stoyanova
Mina Hristova
Vanya Ivanova
Paradigma
Sofia • 2020
I NTERNATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEWERS
Dr. Sc. Arbnora Dushi, Institute of Albanology, Prishtina, Kosova; Prof. Aida Gasimova, PhD, Baku State University, Azerbaijan; Prof. DSc Albena Georgieva, Institute
of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Alexandar Ganchev, DSc, Odessa National Academy of
Telecommunications, Odessa, Ukraine; Prof. Emeritus Ali Eminov, PhD, Wayne State
College, USA; Assoc. Prof. Bozhidar Alexiev, PhD, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria;
Assoc. Prof. Ane Ohrvik, PhD, University of Oslo, Norway; Catalin Berescu, PhD, Research Institute for Quality of Life, Romanian Academy, Romania; Prof. DSc Christo
Matanov, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Dalia Senvaityte, PhD, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania; Assoc. Prof. Desislava Naydenova,
PhD, Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria;
Dimitar Grigorov, Archives State Agency, Bulgaria; Prof. Dimo Cheshmedzhiev, PhD,
Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc.
Prof. Dzheni Madzharov, PhD, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria; Prof.
Elena Marushiakova, PhD, University of St. Andrews, UK; Assoc. Prof. Elya Tzaneva,
PhD, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assist. Prof. Evlogi Stanchev, PhD, Institute
of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology ‘Prof. Alexander Fol’, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Fenya Dekalo, PhD, Israel; Prof. Fotini Tsibiridou, PhD,
University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece; Assoc. Prof. Galina Evstatieva, PhD,
Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’,
Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Gergana Doncheva, PhD, Institute of Balkan Studies and Center
of Thracology ‘Prof. Alexander Fol’, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc.
Prof. Gergana Georgieva, PhD, University of Veliko Tarnovo ‘St. Cyril and St. Methodius’, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Hristina Ambareva, PhD, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Iliya Iliev, PhD, Sofia
University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria; Prof. Ina Merdjanova, PhD, Irish School of
Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, Senior Researcher and Adjunct Assist. Prof., Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations, Coventry University, Visiting Professor, UK;
Prof. Irina Sedakova, PhD, Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Russia; Assist. Prof. Ivelina Evtimova, PhD, Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Iva Trifonova, PhD, Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Iveta Todorova-Pirgova, PhD,
Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Millville, New Jersey, USA; Lehel Peti, PhD, Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, Romania; Assoc. Prof. Maxim Ma-
kartsev, PhD, Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia; Assoc.
Prof. Marco Scarpa, PhD, Cyrillo-Methodian Research Center, Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Margarita Dobreva, PhD, Institute of Balkan Studies
and Center of Thracology ‘Prof. Alexander Fol’, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Prof. Mare Kõiva, PhD, Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies, Estonian Literary Museum, Estonia; Assoc. Prof. Meglena Zlatkova, PhD, Plovdiv University ‘Paisii
Hilendarski’, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Mirjana Mirchevska, PhD, Institute of Ethnology
and Anthropology, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Republic of Northern
Macedonia; Prof. Pavel Pavlovitch, PhD, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Petar Petrov, PhD, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with
Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Petko
Hristov, PhD, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Assoc. Prof. Reet Hiiemäe, PhD, Centre of
Excellence in Estonian Studies, Estonian Literary Museum, Estonia; Tatiana Minniyakhmetova, PhD, Independent researcher, Austria; Assoc. Prof. Todor Hristov, PhD,
Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria; Assist. Prof. Silviya Borisova, PhD,
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Prof.
Simeon Evstatiev, PhD, Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Sofia University
St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria; Assist. Prof. Simeon Kyurkchiev, PhD, University of
Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Bulgaria; Prof. DSc Vassil Nikolov, National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Correspondent Member of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Prof. Vesselin Popov, PhD, University of St. Andrews,
UK; Assist. Prof. Vyara Popova, PhD, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Yasen Andreev, PhD, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
C ONTENTS
PREFACE ....................................................................................................................10
Defining Magic in the Ancient World ................................................................................. 16
Markham J. Geller
Part I. MYTH AND MAGIC:
TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS .........................................................25
Cave and Magic Lamp ............................................................................................................26
Kujtim Rrahmani
Setting up a Ritual in Deleuze’s Thought-Architecture ..................................................... 41
Cecilia Inkol
Sacred Places and Ritual Movement. Notes on the
Impact of Space in Bulgarian Folk Customs ....................................................................... 55
Bozhidar Parvanov
The Birth of Philosophy: from Mythos to Logos ................................................................ 70
Abdülkadir Çücen
Part II. MYSTICAL AND MAGICAL
BOUNDARIES OF RELIGION ................................................................................ 80
The Magic of ‘Mugham’ and Azerbaijani Mysticism ......................................................... 81
Bogdana Todorova
Spirit Possession, Javanese Magic and Islam: Current State of Affairs ...........................94
Eva Rapoport
Painters’ Names as Saints’ Amulets:
Of Inscribing Oneself into Sacredness ............................................................................... 113
Jakov Đorđević
Magic in the Turkish Family in Northeastern Bulgaria ..................................................130
Behrin Shopova
Embodied ‘Miracles’: Crossing the Boundaries of Pain
(The Case of Tariqa Rifā῾Iyya in Kosovo) .......................................................................... 147
Ioannis Mylonelis
The Concept of Good and Evil in Jewish Folklore and Mysticism ................................ 160
Vladimir Janev
7
Part III. MAGICAL ENTANGLEMENTS
OF PLACES AND SPACES ......................................................................................172
Twilight Zone: The Topoi of Miracles
(To the Life of St. Macarius of Rome)................................................................................. 173
Vanya Lozanova-Stancheva
Wonderworking Objects and Miracles at Holy Sites in
Pernik Region in the Past and Nowadays .......................................................................... 189
Tanya Matanova
Mystic Relations to the Homeland ..................................................................................... 210
Mila Maeva
Urban Mythology. A Discussion of Islamic Urban Aesthetics,
Architecture and Mythology ...............................................................................................222
Ana Negoiță
Part IV. MAGIC IN THE PAST AND MODERN ERA ..................................................238
To Receive Information from the Dead .............................................................................239
Valeria Fol
Sacred Places and Miracles (To the Legendary Heritage of
Heterodox Islam in Northeastern Bulgaria) .....................................................................247
Veneta Yankova
The New Spiritualism in Bulgarian Society after the
Political Changes in 1989 .....................................................................................................259
Plamena Stoyanova
Josip Broz Tito, Imagination and Post-Yugoslav
Quest for a Miracle................................................................................................................286
Sanja Lazarević Radak
Patron Saints for Russian Professions: A Modern Point of View ...................................305
Victoria Legkikh
Part V. CULTURAL AND ART
DIMENSIONS OF THE MAGIC .............................................................................324
The Empty Night Ritual in Literature,
Film and the Life of Modern Kashubians ..........................................................................325
Maša Guštin and Natalia Wyszogrodzka-Liberadzka
8
On the Question of Magical Practices in the Cult of
Ancestors as a Tool for Forming Collective Memory
among Romanians in Ukraine ............................................................................................344
Elena Dyakova
Magical Healing through Gestures (Preliminary Remarks) .......................................... 357
Ekaterina Todorova
Sheeps-Goats and Shepherds Relationship in Anatolia in
Respective to Magic, Mysticism and Festives ................................................................... 370
Ayse Hilal Tuztas-Horzumlu
Part VI. MAGICAL FIGURES AND CREATURES ...............................................385
Beliefs about Flying Serpents in the Belarusian,
Estonian and Estonian Russian Tradition .........................................................................386
Alena Boganeva and Mare Kõiva
There and Back Again: Little People in Mythology and Fiction ....................................402
Mare Kõiva
Wizardry and Magic Ritual Practices of
Amazigh / Berber Women in Morocco..............................................................................422
Houssine Soussi
Contemporary Images of Healers – between Sacred and Magic....................................438
Violeta Kotseva
Part VII. THE MATERIALITY OF MAGIC .......................................................... 454
Sеmomit in a New Incantation Bowl..................................................................................455
Gaby AbouSamra
Magic and Ritual in the Roman Amphitheatre of
Beit Guvrin, Israel .................................................................................................................465
Noy Shemesh
Precious ‘Magic’ from the East – an Example of
EXotic Precious ‘Magic’ – Early Modern Bezoars And The
Austrian Habsburg Court in The Second Half of the 16th Century .............................488
Aneliya Stoyanova
Banishing Acts in the Arslan Tash Amulets ..................................................................... 501
Marilyn Love
9
P REFACE1
When we first discussed the idea of organising a conference related to the magical thinking of the modern society, we – coming from different scholarly fields – have
had our fair share of experiences related to the ‘world of the unknown’ mostly via our
fieldwork and the number of people we meet in its context. Despite the fact we mostly
research topics related to modern processes and phenomena, we have noticed that even
in the 21st century aside from the overly rational setting of our lives there is this ‘mysterious glue’ (in the words of Yuval Harari, 2014) holding people around the world –
stories, belief in the ‘otherworldly’ events, places, creatures. We can possibly attribute
these to the rising uncertainty we experience daily due to the numerous, diverse, and
contradicting narratives of the modernity, political and humanitarian crises (Hermans
and Dimaggio, 2007), but most notably – to the saturation of information related to all
of them. The latter specifically creates the belief not only that the individual is incapable to control the surrounding world, but also creates a vivid picture of the uneven
development of people and nations, in turn rendering them ‘threatened’ – culturally,
identity-wise and physically (Motak, 2009; Pratto, 2017).
Mythology, but also magic, miracles and mysticism, are a natural part of our social
lives – archetypes in their own right, guiding and informing our value systems, infusing our everyday lives (in the logic of Kelsey, 2017) in the past, but also now, creating
shared communal memories and current experiences and cultural frames, not rarely
overcoming constructed, imagined, and manufactured borders that we otherwise respect. Religion as well as magic (if perceived as the social and individual sides of the
same phenomena; Durkheim, 2008) aim to standardise events – good and bad – in the
life of the community and the human, thus keeping under control the levels of uncertainty.
At the beginning of the 21st century, discussions no longer call into question the
complex relations between globalisation, the free movement of people, ideas and capital,
secularisation, cultural rationalisation and the devaluation of religious ideas in postmodern societies, a phenomenon we can put under the term ‘disenchantment of the
world’ (Weber, 1920). As a counterbalance to these global trends, opposite processes
related to re-sacralisation / re-enchantment of the world are also observed (Heelas and
Woodhead, 2005; Tacey, 2003). This ‘return of the sacred’ is located at the border between traditional religions, spiritual teachings and phenomena, it could be defined as
liminal – both religious and non-religious. It is no coincidence, therefore, that postmodern spirituality continues to be associated with phenomena such as magic, mir1
The conference and the publication are funded by the Bulgarian Science Fund under the programme for support of
international forums in Bulgaria (КП-06-МНФ/20).
10
P REFACE
acles, and mysticism, and this interrelatedness intensifies in times of crisis. The topics
are especially relevant to the current period of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has
changed the lives of individuals, groups, communities, and societies.
In 2020 these thoughts brought together researchers from around the world to
participate in our first hybrid, but second interdisciplinary conference (‘Between the
Worlds: Magic, Miracles, and Mysticism’) (BEW 2020)2, which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on October 29th – 31st. The event was attended by 62 researchers from 24 countries
and 3 lecturers (keynote speeches) – prominent researchers in the field from the UK,
Norway and Greece. The organising committee of the event remained international
and includes both well-established scientists, young researchers and PhD students from
Bulgaria, United Kingdom, USA, Greece, and Estonia.
As in the first volume of the ‘Between the Worlds’ series, this collection includes
chronologically, geographically and thematically diverse topics concerning the phenomena of magic, wonders, and mysticism, and reflecting the different scholarly backgrounds of our authors. The new e-collection ‘Between the Worlds: Magic, Miracles,
and Mysticism’ presents a variety of viewpoints and analytical perspectives related to
magical and mystical perceptions, experiences, views, beliefs, and practices in different
historical periods – from Antiquity and the Middle Ages, to Modernity and the contemporary globalised world. The articles are focused on the individual and communal
magical rituals, the wonders of nature, sacred places, icons, and cultural monuments,
which continue to gather many believers each year in different parts of the world. The
analysed magical and mystical practices testify to the fact that people still want to know
the unknown and touch what cannot be seen. Thus, the created contact spaces between
humans and supernatural forces bring different social and cultural aspects to the fore
and in this way directly influence the identification strategies of the communities. As a
result, magical and mystical perceptions, experiences, views, beliefs, and practices are
becoming more visible today.
The collection includes 32 articles belonging to various scientific schools and fields
such as archaeology, history, philosophy, anthropology, ethnology, linguistics, sociology, culturology, folklore and museology, a fact which testifies for the methodological and thematic diversity of the research on magic, miracles and mysticism and their
connections and presence in mythology, religions, art, materiality, locality in historical
and contemporary context. The internal structure of the volume includes 7 parts, thematically organised around several core ideas. Outside of this structure and acting as
introductory and framework text is Mark Geller’s article defining the magic in the ancient world. He organises the age-old practices of medicine, divination, witchcraft, and
mystical speculation under the umbrella notion of ‘ancient science’.
2
The conference was organised by the Balkan Ethnology Department from the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore
Studies with Ethnographic Museum (IEFSEM) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
11
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
The first part includes four studies and is devoted to mythological and magical
transitions and transformations. K. Rrahmani explores Plato’s parable Cave and the
fairy tale of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp from ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ as two
symbolical reference points that both provide a suitable landscape for a meditating and
thinking journey in the world of magic and are seen as a part of the human experience
and adventure. The philosophical thread in the volume is continued by C. Inkol’s article,
which focuses on Deleuze’s lexicon and its explanation of ritual as practice and sense
generators. B. Parvanov turns to the analysis of the traditional Bulgarian culture, the
goal of which is to present the interaction between space, place, and ritual on the basis
of a number of ethnographic examples. A. Çüçen’s study traces the complex transformation of mythos to logos, which marks the beginning of the birth of rational knowledge
in the Ancient world and the construction of the human.
The second part of the volume which focuses on the mystical and magical boundaries of religion begins with B. Todorova’s study. The article analyses one of the main
genres in traditional Azerbaijani music – Mughаm (Azerb. Muğam), part of the musical-poetic art of Azerbaijan’s nation which combines philosophical poetry with the philosophy of music and presents the harmony of being. E. Rapoport’s research draws readers’ attention to spirit possession, magic and pre-Islamic beliefs existing and persisting
among the Javanese – the largest ethnic group in both Indonesia and entire Southeast
Asia during the past two decades. The next articles return the research focus in the
Balkans. J. Đorđević studies the existing signatures of painters, hidden somewhere in
the depicted figures of saints and their role as amulets during the Byzantine period.
Further, B. Shopova discusses the content and meaning of the magical rituals and practices, accompanying the main stages in the circle of life among Turks in Northeastern
Bulgaria such as birth, marriage, and death. On the other hand, I. Mylonelis explores
the Rifā῾iyya tariqa in the Kosovo region, observing the celebration ceremony of Ali’s
birthday and / or the arrival of spring and suggests a re-thinking of the ritual of pain.
The traditional and modern concept of good and evil through the lens of Lilith’s image
in the Jewish folklore and mysticism are in the focus of V. Janev’s study.
The next, third part, of the volume pays attention to the magic and its influence on
the places and spaces. V. Lozanova-Stancheva aims to systematise and analyse ‘Life of
St. Macarius of Rome’ in a miracle context. T. Matanova’s research attention is attracted
by miracles and stories about healing and punishment, related to natural objects (trees,
springs, and caves) in Pernik province. M. Maeva’s article is based on narrative analyses of fieldwork materials from Bulgarian immigrants living in the UK, USA, Canada
and Norway and their mystical relations to the homeland. The last paper in this part
is the research of A. Negoiță, discussing the Islamic urban aesthetic, architecture and
mythology.
The fourth part dedicated to the past and contemporary dimensions of magic starts
12
P REFACE
with V. Fol’s comparative analysis on information obtained from the dead through a
magical rite described in the ‘Odyssey’ by Homer and ‘An Ethiopian Story’ (Aethiopica – Ethiopian Story or Theagenes and Chariclea) by Heliodorus as a way to observe an
inherited magical practice and the change of attitude towards it in the value system. V.
Yankova presents legendary narratives recorded during field studies at utraquistic (dual,
binary ritual), Muslim and Christian, sacral places in the region of Shumen and Targovishte (Northeastern Bulgaria). Pl. Stoyanova discusses the topic about the spiritual
searches and phenomena in the Bulgarian society through the so-called transition period, following the political changes in 1989. S. Lazarević Radak opens the question to
the reconstruction of the miracle in contemporary Serbian yellow press by identifying
three key figures (archetypes) of Josip Broz Tito as a Yugoslav hero, father and trickster.
In the fifth part of the volume focused on the cultural and art dimensions of magic
M. Guštin and N. Wyszogrodzka-Liberadzka present the Kashubian Empty Night (Pustô
noc) ritual in Poland and its modern depictions in movies, books, and music. At the
end of the article the authors include their fieldwork interviews as support material for
their analysis. E. Dyakova focuses her research on the formation of collective memory
among Romanians in Western Ukraine on the basis of magical practices in Krasnoilsk.
E. Todorova points her attention to the ritual actions, symbols, words and gestures in
the traditional Bulgarian magic practices. A. Hilal Tuztas Horzumlu analyses the mystical relationship between shepherds and sheep-goats in Anatolia contextualised by magic, mysticism, and festivities.
In the next, sixth part, dedicated to the magical figures and creatures M. Kõiva
and A. Boganeva present the place of the flying fire serpents comparing the traditional
Belarussian and Russian beliefs. The following article, this time authored only by M.
Kõiva, explores the etiology, terminology, activity, and functions of little people on the
basis of older and newer Estonian mythology. H. Soussi studies magic and wizardry
among Amazigh / Berber women of the Souss Region in Morocco. V. Kotseva’s text discusses the relationship between magic, religion, and healing practices, in a Bulgarian
context, in the early 21st century.
The seventh part presents the materiality of magic. It starts with G. Abousamra’s
study on magic bowls found in Mesopotamia (from approx. 5th – 7th c. AD) containing
spells meant to disable demons and protect people from all sorts of bodily and mental
illness. Next article of N. Shemesh analyses the artefacts found in the amphitheatre of
Beit Guvrin, Israel, built in the 2nd century A. D. and their magical and ritual functions. A. Stoyanova focuses on the role of the bezoirs in the Austian-Habsburg court
through the 16th century. M. Love explores the ritual performance of Arslan Tash (ancient Hadātu) amulets from Northern Syria near the border of Turkey with Hittite and
Assyrian influence blending their performative speech and inscribed iconography elements.
13
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
We believe that by combining the rudiments of the past and the modern implications of the magical, mystical and miracle beliefs this volume suggests most of all
empirical testimonies of what in the words of Levi-Strauss sounds like:
Conceptions of the mana (magical) type are so frequent and so widespread that
we should ask ourselves if we are not confronted with a permanent and universal
form of thought which, being a function of a certain situation of the mind in the
face of things, must appear each time this situation is given (Lévi-Strauss, 1977).
What magic brings to the humankind is not only the possibility to explain not only
the unexpected, the traumatic, the important and positive events, but also leaves the
chance for us to preserve our faith in the numerous possibilities and ways of the Universe. This in turn, more than anything provides us with the sense of freedom due to
the countless possibilities which we have in our lives and paths, contrary to the image
we get from media and public discourses.
Our perceptiveness to the trickstery and to the unexplainable, makes the research
of the magical and miraculous a gateway to understanding the strength and weakness
of human societies and the individual him / herself. We express our heartfelt thanks to
the authors and reviewers for helping us in making further steps in this direction and
we hope to continue our discussions on the various topics between the worlds in the
future!
The Editors
R eferences:
Durkheim, E. (1898) L’individualisme et les intellectuels. Revue bleue X: 7–13.
Durkheim, E. (2008) Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Oxford, New York: Oxford
University press.
Harari, Y. (2014) Power and Imagination. Available at: http://www.ynharari.com/topic/
power-and-imagination/ (accessed 21 December 2020).
Heelas, P. and L. Woodhead (2005) The Spiritual Revolution. Why Religion is Giving
Way to Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hermans, H. and G. Dimaggio (2007) Self, Identity, and Globalization in Times of Uncertainty: A dialogical analysis. Review of General Psychology 11(1): 31–61.
Kelsey, D. (2017) Media and Affective Mythologies: Discourse, Archetypes and Ideology in
Contemporary Politics. New York: Palgrave, Macmillan.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1977) Structural Anthropology II (Trans. Monique Layton). London:
Penguin Books.
Motak, D. (2009) Postmodern Spirituality and the Culture of Individualism. Scripta
14
P REFACE
Instituti Donneriani Aboensis 21: 149–161.
Pratto, F. (2017) Introduction. In: F. Pratto, I. Zezelj, E. Maloku, V. Turjacanin and M.
Brankovic (eds.). Shaping Social Identities After Violent Conflict: Youth in the Western Balkans. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tacey, D. (2003) The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality. London: Harper Collins.
Weber, M. [1920] (1993) The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press.
15
D EFINING MAGIC IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
Markham J. Geller
Abstract: Although many attempts have been made to define ancient magic, this is
often made more complicated by assuming that magic can also include medicine, divination, witchcraft, and mystical speculation. I will argue that, in antiquity, each of
these topics represents a separate discipline which cannot simply be included under the
heading of ‘magic’ nor should they be confused with magic. Once these disciplines are
treated separately, it is possible to arrive at a much clearer meaning for ‘magic’, which
sets it apart from other types of theory and practice within a general category of ‘ancient
science’.
Keywords: magic, Ancient world, ancient science
It is indeed an honour to be the opening speaker at this very interesting and important conference on Magic, Miracles, and Mysticism, three related but very different
topics. Magic is a subject of unending fascination, which develops in certain directions
to include unexpected events, which we usually call ‘miracles’, and magic also leads to
speculation about the world around us which we cannot easily explain, which we usually call ‘mysticism’. My aim is to deal exclusively with magic, particularly in its earliest
phases, to take us back to the origins or earliest phases of magic, to see how it develops
as a separate discipline in the ancient world. I will leave to others the other fascinating
topics of miracles and mysticism, which became prominent in later periods of magic.
Of course, ancient scholars thought about unexpected happenings, like the dividing of
the Red Sea in Exodus, but in the world of the Bible such sudden events did not belong
to magic but to religious or pious narratives. This reminds us of the need to understand
ancient magic as a discipline which influenced but did not share in later forms of mystical thinking.
There are several related problems here, and I will take them in turn. The first is
how to define magic, which is always a slippery problem and not easy to grasp, which
is why the question of defining magic always crops up at conferences like this. What
is magic? There are two approaches to this question: we can think of magic in a way
which appeals to our modern sensibilities, or we can see how ancients defined magic, a
classic emic-etic approach. I would like to offer this definition: magic was, in antiquity,
a technical means for altering one’s physical or social environment, within significant
logical limitations. To illustrate this rule of thumb, one clear example is curing disease
by means of incantations and rituals as well as medications, which can alter the course
of a disease or change its symptoms. This is a clear case of altering the physical environ16
D EFINING MAGIC IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
ment. Another is to reduce anxieties arising from the social environment, such as fear
of the evil eye, for which magic can offer protection. The same kind of protection is on
offer against bad omens, curses, or even divine anger and punishment, all of which can
be diverted through the correct application of magical spells and rituals. But these measures are not miracles, in any sense. One cannot, for instance, alter a lunar eclipse, but
magic can seek to avert any bad omens resulting from this same lunar eclipse. The same
applies to all other aspects of the natural world: magic cannot change nature but can
influence the effects of nature. So much for our modern appreciation of ancient magic.
But how did the ancients define it?
In fact, ancients did not usually define magic, and this has caused gross misunderstandings over time. For many biblical exegesis, ‘magic’ was considered to be illegitimate, based on the famous statement in Exodus 22.18, that ‘you must not allow
a witch to live’. The Hebrew word for ‘witch’ is mekashephah, which is derived from
a more abstract word, kishuf, meaning ‘witchcraft’, and these two Hebrew terms are
closely related to Babylonian or Akkadian words kashaptu and kishpu, meaning ‘witch’
and ‘witchcraft’, with more or less the same range of meanings. But ‘witchcraft’ is not
magic. It shares some basic characteristics, since it aims to alter one’s physical and social
environment by influencing what happens to an individual. The witch’s curse might
influence illness; the sickness gets worse rather than get better. Witchcraft might cause
a person to imagine that colleagues or companions or family find one ugly or hateful.
Witchcraft might make one have bad dreams or believe that the gods have turned angry; all of this reflects deep seated feelings of anxiety. None of this is very desirable, but
what is interesting is how poorly attested witchcraft as a discipline is in antiquity. We
have virtually no ancient handbooks from Mesopotamia to explain how to perform socalled black magic. Instead, we have numerous incantations and rituals showing how
to protect us against witchcraft (cf. Schwemer, 2019: 36–64; Abusch, 2002). This leads
to an interesting observation: you do not actually need witches in order to have witchcraft. Witches are by their nature anonymous and we never normally know who they
are. They are a dark and hidden enemy, which affects us from the shadows, and we only
have a vague idea about their tools of the trade. We know that they use figurines of their
victims, which act as proxies for their aggressive magic, so whatever they do to the figurines or images can also affect us. How can we counter this kind of aggressive magic?
We will return to this question shortly, but first we have to return to our original question: if witchcraft was not magic, then what exactly was magic to ancient practitioners?
Let us begin by looking at words for magic, for which we can start with the Greeks.
Although they had terms which they could have used, Greek, and then Latin, preferred
to use a Persian word, mageia, which of course is our word for magic. It is not clear why
Greeks had to borrow a foreign word for this very basic concept, since Greeks did not often borrow foreign vocabulary. The best way to define mageia, however, is the way Fritz
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
Graf described it in his important book on magic in the ancient world: ‘Magic (Greek
mageia, Latin magia, is the art of the magos, magus’ (Graf, 1997: 20). We know this magos from the Christmas story, the famous three Magoi who visited Bethlehem because,
being astrologers, they knew that a new king was born. The magos is the Persian priest
who is also an astrologer and conducts healing rituals, in short, performs mageia. In
the Babylonian world, there is also no actual word for ‘magic’, but there is a word for the
‘magical expert’ or exorcist. He is called an ashipu, who -- like the magos -- happens to
be a temple priest. What does the ashipu do? -- he performs ashiputu, which can only
be understood as whatever the ashipu gets up to. These may be incantations, or rituals,
or even normal priesthood activities. There was never any need to explain the term
ashiputu, because the meaning was obvious: everything which the ashipu does (Frahm,
2018: 9–47). As it turns out, this is far from unusual. Take the English word ‘witchcraft’,
which clearly just means the art or craft of being a witch. Remember the famous British
pop song, ‘Do you believe in miracles?’ Actually, in the ancient world, the answer would
probably be ‘yes’, but not in relation to magic. There are no reports of ‘magical miracles’
from the Ancient Near East. From a Mesopotamian perspective, unwritten but widely
understood rules governed the worlds of both gods and men, and breaching these rules
would imperil the social order of the cosmos. One primary example of this is the myth
known as Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld, in which the goddess Inanna leaves her
heavenly abode and visits the world of the dead, which was known as the KUR.NU.GI,
the ‘land of no return’. Inanna’s presence in the Netherworld upset the natural order in
ways which caused consternation among the gods, and the situation could only be saved
by Enki, the god of wisdom, who resorted to magical means to rescue Inanna from her
Netherworld captivity (Jacobsen, 1997: 205–232). But this is the stuff of mythology, not
an historical narrative referring to humans but to gods, which is a very different sort
of universe. In reality, one did not employ magic to try to change the natural patterns
of life and death, day and night, tides and floods. One could pray to the gods to win favour, in hope that gods would send the seasonal floods or rain, but this is different from
praying for floods or rain, and when the irrigating floods do finally come, this is not
perceived as a miracle. Magic itself does not bring floods or rain, but it can help ensure
divine favour, which is ultimately responsible for natural events. Mesopotamia also had
no wonder-performing holy men who could freely dispense miracles, since magic was
a technology, able to manipulate the natural order within established boundaries and
limitations.
Although there was no philosophical reflection in ancient magic regarding this
kind of narrative, there was a relevant issue of the close relationship between magic and
religion. Magic requires the ether of religion in order to thrive. The difficulty comes
when we try to find a clear line of demarcation between magic and religion. What is
the difference, for instance, between an incantation and prayer? It can be difficult to
18
D EFINING MAGIC IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
distinguish magic from liturgy, which is often viewed as a continuum, a sliding scale of
requests for divine help based on belief in benevolent deities. Scholars have struggled
with this question without finding completely satisfactory answers (cf. Lenzi, 2011). One
difference is that which we already mentioned, that magic does not normally need miracles. Magic may ask for divine protection or healing or a reversal of bad luck, but none
of this is cosmic. The aims of magic all fall within the realm of what is possible within
natural limits; it is incorrect to speak of the ‘supernatural’ in regard to Mesopotamia.
There is one further difference: magic uses elaborate rituals, such as fumigations, censers and torches, peeling onions, and other kinds of cleansing procedures, since the primary area of magical application was for ill health. None of these magical rituals reflect
what happens in temple rituals in conjunction with prayers. So, while incantations and
prayers can sometimes look similar, magical rituals differ from temple rituals and are
really readily distinguishable.
Nevertheless, if a major interest of magic is to heal illness or more realistically alleviate symptoms, how is any of this different from what happens in medicine? Again,
this is another area of overlap which is sometimes difficult to pry apart, in order to
differentiate magic from medicine, if both disciplines intend to heal a patient. But once
again, we turn first to the Greek world, to see how this difference looks in practice. Any
of our impressions about Greek magic are governed by a single book of the Hippocratic
corpus, on the so-called Sacred Disease.3 This treatise insists that while older healing
practices depended upon the services of magicians and charlatans, new Hippocratic medicine operated along more rational principles which involved observation and
medical theory. The facts are somewhat different. Magic carried on being practiced in
Greek healing circles, but yet our knowledge of Greek magical texts is rather poor. One
reason is explained by the Roman historian Suetonius, who reported that the Emperor
Augustus had 2000 magical books burned in 13 BCE. As Hans Dieter Betz points out,
‘the first centuries of the Christian era saw many burnings of books, often of magical
books, and not a few burnings that included the magicians themselves’ (Betz, 1986: xli).
It seems clear that Greek magic was, for a variety of reasons, either considered to be
illicit or heretical. Apart from curse tablets and some binding incantations, the largest
single corpus of magic in Greek and Demotic is an assortment of magical texts from
Egypt, the so-called Greek Magical Papyri, which are a syncretistic mixed bag of spells
and divination drawn mostly from Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish magic, and it remains
difficult to make sense of these papyri. The picture from Mesopotamia, however, is very
different.
There are two very large corpora of healing texts from Mesopotamia, one magical
and the other medical, and these reflect different strategies for treating illnesses. In a
nutshell, the biggest difference between magic and medicine in Mesopotamia is one of
3
There is an enormous literature on this topic, but see generally Jacques Jouanna, 1999.
19
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
style as well as content. Magic is drama. It includes elaborate ritual procedures, exotic
aromas, special venues, colourful costumes, music and chanting, and everything which
gives magic the aura of a theatrical performance (see Panayotov, 2020: 129–158). Medicine is the opposite of show biz. It is sober and quiet and serious. It involves taking pills,
drinks, enemas, purges, occasional surgery, and other unpleasant types of treatments.4
Both magic and medicine have something in common, that both attempt to give the
poor patient some feelings of confidence that whatever is being done will be helpful,
that treatment will reduce pain or fever or swelling or especially anxiety, and that the
future promised to be better than the present. But magic and medicine have one thing
in common: neither deals in miracles. The healing which was on offer, or the possible
reversal of ill-fortune, was not anything which interfered with nature but were actually
part of nature. As Lorraine Daston has pointed out, miracles are a ‘divine suspension
of natural laws’ (Daston and Park, 1997: 14). Babylonians never signed up to this idea.
If we have magic in the ancient world but no miracles, what about mysticism? This
is a more difficult question than it appears at first, since we certainly have mystery cults
in antiquity which claim to own the secrets of the cosmos and of life in general, or at
least know how to acquire these secrets from their divine sources (see Johnston, 2019:
694–719). But the question is whether these have anything in the ancient world to do
with magic.
Scholars in ancient Mesopotamia had no difficulties in labelling their work as ‘esoteric’ or as ‘hidden’ or even as ‘secret’, only to be studied by those educated enough to
understand magic and medicine and divination and astrology and similar disciplines
(Lenzi, 2008). Among these, one of the most prominent genres of texts within the Mesopotamian scholarly curriculum was forecasting the future, based on signs or coded
messages thought to come directly from the gods. These forms of divination took many
forms, but the most enduring of these is astrology, which carries on even today, based
on the principles established by Mesopotamian scholarship. Astrology was characterised as ‘heavenly writing’, as if the stars represented messages which one could read
once one had the proper know-how (Rochberg, 2004). Other forms of messages could
be derived from the complex examination of entrails of animals, or noting the patterns of oil on water, or flights of birds, or dreams, or a variety of many other forms
which messages could take, usually mediated by professional diviners.5 The question
is whether predictions from these events were always seen as personal messages from
gods, or alternatively, whether forecasts were programmed into nature or the cosmos.
One example of natural predictions were medical diagnoses, which were made from
careful observations of symptoms and signs from the patient’s body, to chart the course
of a disease.6 In general, however, the knowledge of how to predict future events is by
4
5
6
For a general survey, see Geller, 2010, and for translations, see Scurlock, 2014.
See Maul, 2018.
For a general treatment of the Babylonian diagnostics, see Heeßel, 2000.
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D EFINING MAGIC IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
its very nature esoteric or secret knowledge, since the connections between omens and
predictions are often less than obvious. Here is a random sample of divination, this one
dealing with birds and stars, showing how difficult it is for us to appreciate the underlying logic of divination texts, dating from the 11th century BCE.
If in the house of a man a patient is sick and in the morning behind the house a
falcon crosses from the outer left corner to the outer right corner – that patient: he will [recover] soon.
If in the house of a man a patient is sick and in the morning behind the house a
falcon crosses from the outer right corner to the outer left corner – that patient:
his sickness will be long.
If in the house of a man a patient is sick and in the morning behind the house of
the sick a falcon flies away – that patient: he will die.
If a man is about to plow a (fallow) field and a falcon crosses from the right of the
man to the left of the man – he will see luxuriance of the field.
If a man throws the seed and a raven goes upon it and caws to the left of the
man – the furrow will increase its yield.
If a man is about to plow a (fallow) field and a falcon crosses from the left of the
man to the right of the man – the furrow will decrease its yield (De Zorzi, 2009:
95).7
Here is another example from the 8th century.
If a star twinkled from the right of the man to the left of the man – favourable;
the patient: he will die.
If a star twinkled from the left of the man to the man right of the man – unfavourable; the patient: he will recover.
If a star twinkled in front of the man – attaining of the desire; the patient:
he will die.
If (a star) twinkled directly in front of a man and passes by him – not attaining of
the desire; the patient: he will recover (Ibid., 105)
From our modern perspective, neither of these passages makes much sense as rational inferences, that a patient’s chances of survival can be determined by either the
flight of birds or twinkling of a star. This reflects the nature of secret knowledge, based
upon assumptions or logic which is never adequately explained, despite the fact that we
possess literally thousands of similar omens from Mesopotamia. This does not mean
7
Translation from De Zorzi, 2009: 95.
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
that these associations are completely illogical, but that they reflect an underlying esoteric or secret knowledge of the cosmos. One of the standard notations is that omens
are either ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’, or that astronomical phenomena are either ‘regular’
or ‘irregular’, indicating an ordered cosmos. Nevertheless, because the criteria behind
these omen predictions are not apparent, access to this level of knowledge was only
available to scholars with proper training and sensitivity to these cosmic patterns. It
is hardly surprising, therefore, that within this intellectual framework, there was little
need for mysticism or a higher order of knowledge of the cosmos, beyond what was
already present within the Babylonian episteme.
In my opinion, the ancient world of Mesopotamia had no special need of mysticism, because divination seemed to push back the boundaries of secret knowledge
of the cosmos. There was no special relationship between mysticism and magic. The
professional exorcist or ashipu who dealt with magic also operated as a temple priest.
He occupied a completely independent sphere of influence from that of the professional diviner, a layman who usually advised the king and crown. But there is a problem
with our evidence. The clear distinction in disciplines was lost in the West, especially
in Greek magic, which confused magic and divination, as can be seen in the Greek
Magical Papyri. These texts often refer to a lamp used for forecasting the future, in
the same collection of magical incantations designed as binding spells or love charms.8
Later Greek and Demotic scholars or librarians from Egypt collected and assembled all
manner of texts trying to influence the natural order, without bothering to make clear
genre distinctions between ritual and prognosis. The main problem is not that the ancient papyri obscured these distinctions, but rather that modern scholars have failed to
understand the differences between the genres of magic and divination.
My message is one of caution. It is essential that we know how to define the conceptual frameworks of magic and mysticism as they developed from their ancient roots.
The ancient world before the Greeks had no dedicated term for ‘nature’ and may not
have even had an abstract idea of ‘nature’, as we think of it.9 Magic was a tool for manipulating the cosmos or natural order. In its original form, there was no need to apply
miracles to the mechanistic views of the cosmos, which were already governed by rules
determining whether events were normal or abnormal. Magic played no role. By the
same logic, there was no need for mystical speculation, since divination itself encompassed a formal kind of cosmic knowledge which did not follow the logic of everyday
life, nor was it influenced in any way by magic. By the time we arrive at Late Antiquity
and Middle Ages, these ideas have evolved dramatically, and of course miracles and
mysticism follow naturally from concepts of magic. But these novel concepts cannot be
traced directly back into antiquity, when different rules applied.
8
9
For an example in Greek of lamp divination, see Betz, 1986: 133–134, with many more examples in Demotic.
See the stimulating arguments of Rochberg, 2016.
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D EFINING MAGIC IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
R eferences:
Betz, H. D. (1986) The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Chicago / London: Univ. of
Chicago Press.
Daston, L. and K. Katherine Park (1998) Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150-1750.
New York: Zone Books.
Frahm, E (2018) ‘The ‘Exorcist’s Manual’: Structure, Language, ‘Sitz im Leben’. In: G.
Van Buylaere et al. (Ed). Sources of Evil: Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore.
Ancient Magic and Divination 15, Leiden/Boston, pp. 9–47.
Geller, M. J. (2010) Ancient Babylonian Medicine in Theory and Practice. Colchester:
Wiley.
Graf, F. (1997) Magic in the Ancient World. Cambridge / London: Harvard.
Heeßel, N. (2000) Babylonisch-assyrische Diagnostik. AOAT.
Hippocrates (1992) Sacred Disease (Vol. II, Loeb Classical Library, transl. by Jones, W.
H. S. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press.
Jacobsen, T. (1997) The Harps That Once. New Haven: Yale.
Jacques Jouanna, J. (1999) Hippocrates. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.
Johnston, S. I. (2019) Magic and Theurgy. In: D. Frankfurter (Ed). Guide to the Study of
Ancient Magic. Leiden / Boston: Brill, pp. 694-719.
Lenzi, A. (2008) Secrecy and the Gods: Secret Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia and
Biblical Israel. State Archives of Assyria Studies, 19. Helsinki: Helsinki Univ. Press.
Lenzi, A. (2011) Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns. Atlanta: SBL.
Maul, S. M. (2018) The Art of Divination in the Ancient Near East, Reading the Signs of
Heaven and Earth. Waco: Baylor Univ. Press.
De Zorzi, N. (2009) (Transl.) Bird Divination in Mesopotamia, New Evidence from BM
108874, KASKAL 6.
Panayotov, S. (2020) Healing in Images and Texts: The Sickbed Scene. In: J. C. Johnson
(Еd). Patients and Performative Identities. University Park: Eisenbrauns, pp. 129158.
Rochberg, F. (2004) The Heavenly Writing. Cambridge: CUP.
Rochberg, F. (2016) Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Schwemer, D. (2019) Mesopotamia. In: D. Frankfurter (Ed). Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic. Leiden / Boston: Brill, pp. 36-64.
Tzvi Abusch, T. (2002) Mesopotamian Witchcraft. Toward a History and Understanding
of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature. Leiden: Brill / Styx.
23
Mark Geller, PhD, is currently Fellow at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study (2020–
2021), but otherwise Jewish Chronicle Professor at University College London. Between
2010–2018 he was on secondment to the Freie Universität Berlin as Professor für Wissensgeschichte. He is also a fellow at the Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, and has held fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
and Netherlands Institute of Advanced Study, as well as being Visiting Professor at the
École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, France. He was PI of an ERC Advanced Grant,
BabMed, from 2013–2108.
E-mail: m.geller@ucl.ac.uk
P art I
MYTH AND MAGIC:
TRANSITIONS AND
TRANSFORMATIONS
C AVE AND MAGIC LAMP
Kujtim Rrahmani
Abstract: We dwell in a cave, searching for a magic lamp. No kidding. This is not a
masquerade. A light embodied into the magic lamp stems from the inside of the cave.
There is no cave without a lantern or the other way round. The cave and the magic lamp
constitute the foundations of darkness-and-light life oxymoron.
This essay aims to explore the imaginary space of the cave and the lamp as a topic, a
genre, an emotion, a symbol and a world of the uncanny in a fairy tale, in knowledge
and everyday life. Plato’s parable, the Cave, and the fairy tale of Aladdin and the Magic
Lamp from the 1001 Nights are just two symbolic reference points that provide a suitable
landscape for a journey of meditation and pondering in a world of magic.
The quest for the magic lamp becomes an inner human urge to comprehend, realise,
experience and believe, but not understand at the same time. Certainly, the cave and
the magic lamp shed light on crucial life dimensions, dilemmas and struggles. A genie
granting wishes and capable of helping one get ‘out of the cave’ remains ubiquitous in
human experience.
The cave and the magic lamp render human adventure of human existence possible,
making it always fit for endless exploration. This essay is a small effort to tread along
that path.
Keywords: magic lamp, cave, magic, wonder, fiction, knowledge
E xordium
One should acknowledge that a cave ignoring either real and sensual or imaginative presence of a magic lamp is meaningless, trivial and… just a cave.
Which of us has not marveled at or got shocked by numerous and breath-taking
magic tales, myths, heroes and uncanny narrative mysteries that have found a home in
us? Does the wonder depicted in these magic worlds make for the essence of the cave
and the magic lamp that was imparted upon us? Which of us did not recognise the
mystery and the emotion of the eternal relation between the cave and the magic lamp as
a cornerstone of life’s darkness-and-light oxymoron?
Being ‘in us’, the cave and the magic lamp are gestated in the dialogue between ‘I/
Us’ and ‘Them’, a dialogue that develops into an adventure. The coexistence between
the cave and the magic lamp makes the most wonderful oxymoron of human existence, sublimating a necessary erotic, agapeic and natural relationship and depicting an
unconditional love between them. They produce a two-dimensional world with a rich
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P ART I • MYTH AND MAGIC: TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
memory and a marvelous imagination. There is no cave without the illusion of the lamp,
and no magic lamp without the illusion of the cave.
Plato’s cave and Aladdin’s magic lamp remain both a never-changing horizon of
our being in this world, our knowledge, prejudice and taste of life. Plato and Aladdin
complement each other’s experiences and understandings as human beings. The magic
of humanitas matters greatly for the sake of its human cave, for the sake of its human
lantern.
T he magic and the lamp
Though the human being is always inclined to pursue the magic, as a beautiful and
intrinsic feature of nature and the humane, it has been politically denied that the magic
touches upon our lives to that degree because of our modern mastering of a ‘reasonable’
vocabulary, which should inhabit, in essence, our language and knowledge registries.
The magic – which in common explanations literally means magus or goeteia – was
embraced by common people, philosophers and elites alike 3000 years ago and gained
fame in the practices and various rituals of Old Greeks, mystics and poets. The term
‘magic’ is, per se, very complex and contradictory at times, so much that it was arguably
maintained that ‘defining magic is a ‘maddening’ task’ (Davies, 2012: 1) indeed. Even
nowadays, the remnants of the concept of ‘miracle’ suggest its ‘consistency with nature’
and ‘beyond natural law’ (Lewis, 1947). In due course, the meaning of magic bounced to
the magic lamp, as a term that deploys the inner inclination towards fire or light.
At first glance, the potential of the magic lamp as an object-symbol reminds us of
the old purifying power of the sun. The purifying quality of the light echoes the light of
the fire or the candle as a call for sunbeams, a call for a flock of dazzling rays in Buddhist enlightening sessions.
Keeping in mind the culture as a lens through which life is perceived, the magic
lamp became one of the icons of fairy tales, literary fantasy and entire fiction. As a synonym of magic, the magic lamp occupied a place in the foundational ground of fiction,
shaping the very landscape and uniqueness of the fiction itself, especially in the Modern
Era, when the human being ‘had to’ declare victory over its ‘human cave and magic’ as
‘a false science and abortive art’ (Frazer, 2009: 11), and project the symbolism of the cave
as ‘primitivism’.
If for ‘the rise of human cultures should be credited both conscious feeling and
creative intelligence’ (Damasio, 2018: 188), this is owed to fairy tale’s magic lamp, as an
icon of an open emotional and intellectual entity. Some believe that feelings are invented. The conceived images become imagination, and imagination and feelings dwell in
an eternal echo and call for each other. Our body has to keep the position of a cave of
feelings and imagination and has no choice but to radiate magic lamp effects. The cave
and the lamp entered a relationship by ludare, by raising, stratifying and humanizing
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
the meaning through the play.
The presence of magic in fairy tales, myths and fables illustrates their continuous
and timeless appearance as well as their emotional share in the human psyche. Moreover, the strong omnipresence of magic in life and arts could be elaborated on as a
phenomenon that comes from ‘nowhere’, as thunder from nature; as ‘nothing’ that becomes ‘something’. This is why magic always remains a cosmogonist and cosmological
interpretation. In fact, the original, natural, magic lamp happens to be ‘the thunder’, as
a primary, bright and temporary light that elucidates everything. Who can forget the
myth of Zeus, the King of all Gods, of the sky and Olympus, the symbol of lightning
and thunder? The ancient Greek saying engraved in the entrance door of Heidegger’s
Hütte (the hut) seems symptomatic; it seems as his oracle said: ‘Alles steuert der Blitz’
(Lightning rules everything) (Gadamer, 1985: 232). If to Bachelard, the hut is a centred
solitude that radiates a ‘universe that meditates and prays, a universe beyond the universe’ like a hermit, and ‘a hermit is alone before the God’ (2005: 46a), both the ‘hut’ and
the ‘hermit’ produce powerful semantics of the cave inside the cosmology of human
psyche.
The ‘lightning’ reveals the meaning of the cave, forging it at the same time. In addition, the lightning remains the ‘first’ natural magic lamp of the world – in parallel with
the sun, as a great magic lamp effect in the myths of creation – a lamp born in wonder
and turned into wonder for the world, in the play of inner and outer transcendence of
the light. The magic of the light remakes the identity of the cave and its darkness in us.
By allying itself with the symbols of ring, lantern, magic cave and magic stick, the
magic lamp preserves and amplifies the magic and mystery, helping us imagine and
think, how to have a wish, how to set a goal and follow our bliss (Ellis, 1998). In short,
the magic lamp inhabits so much space in our lives. Its omnipresence turns the magical
into an authority in itself, which also derives from the mystery of the cave. Consequently, the cave had no choice but to ‘invent’ the magical lamp as an object, revealing imagination and a ‘black hole’ in the cosmos or a cosmos in itself, as a cavern in the world,
in the human body and the human mind, as a bag that we hold in our hands. The cave
simply recalls the whole spectrum of caves, from the ‘mother’s cave’ to the cosmological
ones.
T he cave and the lamp: Plato and Aladdin
The cave and the magic lamp reveal themselves inside our physical and imaginary
space. We are snuggled up and keep quiet, immersed into the cave’s darkness as a source
of the magic lamp. The ‘sacral power of darkness’ makes us imagine that ‘caves straddle
time’ (Moyes, 2012: 5).
The long-term use of these wide spectrum symbols and concepts covers the human
psyche’s quest for intrinsic rather than instrumental values. A cave, like the magic cave
28
P ART I • MYTH AND MAGIC: TRANSITIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS
of Sesame, for instance, constructs its semantic configuration in parallel with the magic
lamp, which also intertwines with the semantic spectrum of the magic stick. Caves
‘truly were the entrances to the underworld’ (Büster, Warmenbol and Mlekuž, 2019:
1); they embodied sacral and profane worlds, excited the imagination in us, created a
vibrant ritualising and liminal spaces, initiated physical and spiritual journeys (Ibid.,
2019: 1–3).
The cave in itself is derived as a space of magic with two sides. On the one side,
magic emerges as an inner psychological uncanny world where thought and meditation have to wait to experience Enlightenment, like in Plato’s Cave; on the other, magic
comes from the outside, as an object, event, experience that saves us from danger and
brings us to the shore, fulfilling our great wishes, like in the fairy tale of Aladdin and
the Magic Lamp.
The cave remains a mystery of an uncanny world that accompanies a sober man
and his reason and imagination. Plato says:
Picture men dwelling in a sort of subterranean cavern with a long entrance open
to the light on its entire width. Conceive them as having their legs and necks
fettered from their childhood, so that they remain in the same spot, able to look
forward only, and prevented by the fetters from turning their heads. Picture further the light from a fire burning higher up and at a distance behind them, and
between the fire and the prisoners and the exhibitors of the puppet shows have
partitions before the men themselves, above which they show the puppets. […]
For to begin with, tell me do you think that these men would have seen anything
of themselves or of one another except the shadows cast from the fire on the wall
of the cave that fronted them? […] If then they were able to talk to one other, do
you not think that they would suppose that in naming the things that they saw
they were naming the passing objects? Necessarily (1989: 747).
Through Plato’s voice, Socrates insists that the world revealed by our senses is just
a part of our world, which has to be completed by adding other dimensions from ‘a
true reality’, excluding the interference of magic, mysticism and myths as a part of the
‘real’ world understanding. However, this parable indicates how hard it is to ‘reveal’ the
truth for ‘the prisoners’ beyond romantic and non-romantic ‘mirror effects of the lamp’
(Abrams, 1953).
Hence, to Plato, the human reality remains distorted, because of the magic effects of
interpretation itself as a ‘false mirror’. This mirror, which comes as a ‘puppet’ reflection
of the light from the ‘fire burning higher up’, enters into an intrinsic relationship with
the darkness of the cavern, creating a longue durée (sustainable), the timeless face of the
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magic effects in life. As Bachelard affirms, ‘in the cavern, the darkness dwells day and
night; even with the candle in his hand, the man in the cavern sees the shadows dancing
on the walls’ (2005a: 36). Plato’s prisoners see such play of shadows and puppets on the
wall and can comment on the dance on the wall, believing that ‘by naming the things
that they have seen, they were naming the passing objects’. Their implacable arguments
seem plausible. Their epistemic path would be naïve if it would choose to ignore the
magic umbrella; the entire cognitive endeavour would be naïve if they would choose to
ignore the naivety of the magical uncanny. This way, magic transcends its own borders,
becoming a part of cognition and hermeneutics in pursuit of cosmic and moral truth.
‘Since the best human life, according to Socrates, is the life whose central concern is
virtue, and since, in the Cave, knowledge of virtue is inaccessible, the best human life
will be the life spent in the search for moral truth’ (Weiss, 2001: 6). The constant duty of
magic is to deal with the symbiosis between the reality of truth and the truth of reality.
And, if, to some degree, the magic forges realities, it can also help interpret realities.
From another viewpoint, as it was said, the parable of the cave speaks of ‘the troubled relation between Socrates and the Athenian polis’ (Huard, 2007: 8). Indeed, the
Socrates-Athenian agonistic relation could have been a motivational situation for Plato initially, but the prefigured allegorical meaning remains marginal in the text after
assuming the actual form, because of the very literary form of the parable, in which
the text was imbued. In Plato’s cavern, the darkness remains blinding even outside of
the cave. It is the light of the moon that can offer the mildness for a physical and mental setting which would be suitable for the eyes that emerge from the cave. Hence, the
dark dimension of the cave will undergo ‘an être obscure (obscure being) of the house’
(Bachelard, 2005a: 35); turning the geo-space into idiosyncratic inner human space,
as an experience and imagination that encompasses the entire cave, the house and the
dream. The cave means home, treasury, prison, slavery; but it might be God too. The
cave discovers, reveals, kills, illuminates. The cave holds the license of the magic lamp.
On the one hand, Plato’s cave echoes Aladdin’s tale; on the other, Aladdin’s tale
evokes Plato’s cave. In a way, the magic tale implies the parable of the cave – suggesting a
cognition process as well – beyond claims for a ‘scientific’ interpretation. Furthermore,
the magic cave becomes a cognition cave. But, how does the magic lamp enter into the
world of the cave? More like a wish than a gift?
It seems that seen from a specific point of view, in both Plato’s cavern and Aladdin’s hands, the light of the fire or the lantern appears as a present that may be given
to discover the inner world of the cave or as a ‘chosen friend’ that leads us torching the
path of deliverance from the cave for us.
Aladdin, a young boy, dreams of love, money and adventures. His character embodies the spirit of a fighter for his own goals. Aladdin was seduced by his uncle, a magician, who said he knew the secret place where a treasure was hidden, in a cave ‘down
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into the hoard’. Aladdin was surprised when he found himself in the darkness of the
cave and the cracks on the floor widened and a giant crystal rose from beneath. The
magic happened. He collected the sparkling and shining fruits and when he reached a
big stone, a shining lamp was standing there. He kept it in his hands. And:
He rubbed the ring which the magician gave him, and which he had never
thought of, nor knew not the use of; and immediately a genie, of an enormous
size and frightful look, rose out of the earth, and said to him: what wouldst thou
have with me? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all who possess the ring on thy finger; I and the other slaves of that ring. […] Whoever thou
art, deliver me from this place, if thou art able. He had no sooner made an end
of these words, but the earth opened, and he found himself where the magician
made his conjuration (Mack, 1995: 661).
Thus, the magic lamp opened the gate to Aladdin to go home, after he expressed
his wish and after the Genie said: ‘To hear is to obey’. These words affirm the magic
as a high instance that requires obedience, like in the Old Testament. But it is more
than that in Aladdin’s tale. ‘To hear is to obey, as I hear, I obey’, becomes, first of all,
a language of magic, a formula about a phenomenon in which we must believe before
resonating about it.
Aladdin’s lamp, which implies a lamp with a genie in it, carries a magical power to
help people by granting their wishes and displacing castles or even the moon from its
orbit. Aladdin had gone to the cave hoping to become rich and convert that wealth into
a good life for himself and his family, into happiness. When he got in trouble and felt
lost forever, the magic happened. And, when he finally lost his interest in the wonderful
favours of the magic lamp, having gained the earthly happiness by marrying the princess and becoming a king, he decided to bid the lamp ‘farewell’. But does young Aladdin
become a ‘wise man’, of the sort of a ‘mug’, in the meantime? A sort of lamp in itself?
Perhaps he receives such signs too.
Most of the time, the ‘functions’ (Propp, 1968) of an old man or a young boy are
associated with an endeavour to capture and keep an object identified with the magic
lamp here. Jung speaks of the role of the old man as a prudent, clever and honest man
in the North and South American fairy tales, analysing how ‘the old man is identified
with the sun’ (Jung, 1957: 110). Is the sun, in this case, a kind of magic lamp shedding
light on the inner spiritual mysteries and outer dilemmas of the material world? In the
very end of the tale, Aladdin’s lamp helps him rethink his position in the world. Being
profoundly thankful for his gains, he chooses to keep on living without his lamp’s company. A sign that the magic of the lamp comes and goes, but ‘something’ more precious
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remains with us, such as the experience and knowledge embodied in a ‘sage’. Ultimately,
Aladdin’s lamp, like the cave, makes us more prudent and richer, ennobling our emotional and intellectual capacities.
Aladdin’s adventure reminds us that the decision to fetch the lamp, as a crucial
step for the wish to be granted, comes after we have nurtured our abilities to dream and
hope. The Genie lodging in the lamp obeys to the master of the lamp, revealing that the
wishes are granted for his sake and that, in a way, he deserves it.
The magical lamp has become a tale of tales not only in the realm of fairy tales but
in the realm of fiction in general. Transcended into a symbol of knowledge registry,
the magic lamp makes miracles happen. Metaphorically, the magic lamp forges the reality within a dream and the dream within a reality. ‘The unconscious sends all sorts
of vapours, odd beings, terrors, and deluding images up into the mind [...] down into
unsuspected Aladdin caves’ (Campbell, 1993: 8). Thus, Aladdin’s caves save our conscious-unconscious matters into magical boxes, by offering, at the same time, a magical
ring or lamp to identify them. Magic comes as a boat toward the desired and promised
shore. Magic nurtures and is nurtured by this cave-space.
Though, at first glance, ‘to the fairy tale, lacks reverence for the wonder’ (Eicher,
1996: 8), the omnipresence of the miracle and magical requalifies the wonder as quality
of genre; by entering the fairy tale, we accept to set foot in an awesome world, which
makes us familiar with the extraordinary, and we take the latter for granted. The extraordinary becomes a part of us, recognizing our intention to identify with the hero of
the fairy tale.
The magic lamp granted to Aladdin emerges from the cold darkness of the cave. In
contrast to it, the light to the prisoners in Plato’s cavern was given ‘from the fire that was
burning higher up’, outside the cave. The light from the inside becomes light from the
outside; an exchanging function of these lights covers a wide range of magical sources
of light. For both dwellers of these caves, the cave constitutes a geographical and psychological space required to experience world meanings. The same applies to emotional
experiences. These two cave-and-light actions come about in their own way, as founding and fostering sources of knowledge. In both cases, the cave remains a paradigm of
life cosmology.
The shadows on the wall or puppet shows in Plato’s allegory are symbolically transferred into shadows of the magic lamp or wishes in Aladdin’s cave (Slusser and Rabkin,
1985). The transferring potency of the lamp continues to have a great impact on today’s fictional fantasy and science fiction and, in its own way, in everyday life all over
the world. In short, the light of Aladdin’s lamp has attached, ‘with the help of wonder’
(Neuhaus, 2017: 48), a heavyweight to the authorial genre of literary fantasy in the 20th
century and the culture of fantasy in general (Attebery, 1992; Mendlesohn, 2013). The
magic lamp as an ‘object-world’ of the high symbolic spectrum assumes a great role in
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the fairy tale and some myths, be it as fiction or as a cognitive and interpretative world
parable. It is much more than an object; it becomes an event, an imaginative field and
a peculiar sensitivity, similar to the magic cave or the magic stick – becoming thus a
world in itself.
When we recall that ‘the beauty, the sacred, the magic, are originally and qualitatively intertwined in their primary game’ (Huizinga, 1970: 165); we see magic lamp as
an important poetic constituent-maker in the game, turned into an event and experience and being characterised by the beauty and the bliss of the poetic world turned into
narrative.
‘The marvellous appears in magical times and at magical places’ (Eicher, 1996: 9);
the sources of magic have their roots beyond human abilities to imagine. Although
knowledge remains always limited, the sources of human magic nurture and foster it
incessantly. If Plato claims that ‘his’ prisoners can never escape from the darkness, we
would add: how fun to have the dark, because of the ‘secret imaginary’ and light that it
harbours (Brunel, 1998).
M agic and the uncanny
Does magic determine us or we determine magic?
This is perhaps one of the most mysterious questions and dilemmas of a human
being. There are at least two spellbinding forms in which magic appears. The first one
is the inherited and common worldview about magic as an irreplaceable cornerstone of
our world understanding; this reminds us of how we have usually determined magic.
The second is the uncanny (Unheimlich) that imparts the strange, disconnected and
terrific substance of thought and behaviour and ‘comes above all, perhaps, in the uncertainties of silence, solitude and darkness’ (Royle, 2003: 2). As a way of (mis)understanding, it is able to mask disguise itself with dresses in front of the world; this reminds us
that magic determines us.
While the first form of magic implies the magical originating from myths, fairy
tales, rituals and dreams, which prevail in our way of living, thinking and feeling, the
second one inhabits us, giving us a hand in everyday life and snuggling in our emotions. It also appears as a transcending ladder helping us find solutions and achieve the
goals of which we have dreamed of. Accordingly, the uncanny entails both stated and
unstated forms of magic. Yet, here we are focusing on the first form mainly, with some
coincidental traits and ‘happenings’ from the second.
Showing its presence in dark and light, in polis and poiesis, magic is imbued in our
psyche and body, in mythic thinking and imagination, in the imagination of fairy tales
and the uncanny of dreams and fantasy. If, in ancient Greece, polis comprised poiesis
in itself, it means that the truth of the world and the imaginary view are identified with
each other; ‘man makes polis and polis makes man’ (Andersson, 1971: 23). Accordingly,
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polis moulds magic and magic moulds polis.
Many scholars, even nowadays, tend to play down the magical as a delusional form
of our worldview and interpretation, diminishing its potential into belief, superstition
and prejudice. This stereotype was inherited from the times of Enlightenment and rationalism, times when ‘disenchantment’ was engineered and conquered the modern
world understanding in the spirit of the rational secular world which had to build a new
life science. Fortunately, there were several brilliant minds who acknowledged that ‘the
world remains a great enchanted garden’ (Weber, 1971: 270) arguing how even the most
‘disenchanted’ world entails magic, prospecting a reconciliation of technical rationality
and mystical irrationality (Stockhammer, 2000). Therefore, the ‘enchanted world’ remains sheltered under the tree of the uncanny, as a secret ground of magic.
The concept of the ‘uncanny’ had seen its golden days especially from 1919, through
Freud’s homonym essay, built on the semantic radius of the fearful, the uncommon and
the mysterious (Freud, 2018). According to him, the omnipotence of magic, animism
and sorcery delivers uncanny effects in fairy tales. The Freudian search for the roots of
the uncanny leads us back to the old, animistic conception of the universe. Furthermore, ‘the uncanny wonder’ that provokes Freud’s attention takes critical analysis far
from the affirmative wonder of aesthetics (McNamara, 2009: 84).
In this vein, the uncanny prevails everywhere and forges the quality of feelings. This makes us think that ‘the uncanny experience is not a negative revelation of
what everyday life was like, but a positive revelation of what the human essence is like’
(Withy, 2015: 4). It matters greatly that the uncanny ‘contaminates’ the magic and entire human psyche profoundly. Actually, the unbewusstes (unconscious) reigns through
‘irrational circumstances of the fairy tales, myths and dreams […] alongside ‘latent’ rational relationships’ (Jung, 1957: 131) being imbued into their language of the uncanny.
The uncanny that encompasses the triangle space of the myth, the tale and the dream
is shaped as a collective theme in the myth, as a personalised collective topic in a fairy
tale and as a personal imaginary in dreams. In all cases, it finds a way to provide its
contribution to the magical happenings and experiences of the human being.
We simply dwell in a fairy tale, and the fairy tale dwells in us (Demers, 2005),
but the same applies to myths and dreams. All these classical genres are converted into
new artistic, animated genres and ‘digital magic’ images from the digital world. The human inclination to reside within the imaginary space of these genres makes them allies
that recognise the uncanny as their own dome. The feeling of the uncanny that derives
from the relations between the magic lamp, the mystery zone and what is a terra of feelings, constitutes a very special way in which the echo of human cosmology reaches the
course of our everyday lives, where magic is also sheltered.
While, as one might believe, ‘the myth always tells something that has happened […] having to do with the creation of the world’ (Eliade, 1957: 13), its uncan-
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niness is generated as an echoing voice of the past attached to the attempt to rebuild
the ‘primary truth’. Within the imaginary space of the fairy tales, the uncanny has
developed into a dialogic challenge with tale’s ‘once upon a time’ world that can always
be our world ‘here’ and ‘now’ too. The magic power of the uncanny has more freedom
and does not dread a failure to tell the truth; it creates drama and interpretation without
fearing misinterpretation. The dream goes another step further; its uncanniness has
no conscious responsibility of the subject in relations to the situations and the scenes
in which it finds itself. The uncanny is in its full form; the magic has almost no magic
anymore because it sounds known, familiar. While the myth relates, through the uncanny, with historical feelings and imagination, the fairy tale employs the uncanny at
the service of imagination and feelings, in the form of a human adventure in the world,
and the dream employs the uncanny as a self-reflective way of creation and emerges
as an unexpected and aimless world. Therefore, it seems that the roots of the uncanny
stem from the dream and are modified in the fairy tale and the myth. This way has the
uncanny become a root of the magic.
M agic in a fairy tale
The magic displays the thaumaturgic part of the fairy tale. What is miraculous has
to make us wonder and create values incrementally. It sounds naïve to neglect how fairy
tales, gods, and magic were created (Zipes, 1994); they help the human psyche navigate
through life.
The magic has, over time, become a cradle of the miracle of fairy tales. Yet, it has
not only remained a procedural and ritualistic means of magic making. But, more than
as a source of fantasy literature and artistic projections, it ‘was used to deceive and manipulate, in order to enslave, wound and kill. It was used in the battle to both defend
and destroy’ (Dickerson, 2006: 232) by becoming a key element of imagination and a
rich source of thinking. Accordingly, the magic has assumed the qualities of the seal of
every event, character and idea. Moreover, the fairy tale embodied traits of magic as a
genre in itself.
Nothing can better illustrate the fairy tale’s astonishing narrative power than the
case of Scheherazade from 1001 Nights. She must amaze the world in order to survive;
her head is saved by the grace of her words. She has to deliver wonder and miracle. This
is why, as a narrator, she is a magician too. To tell the tale, for her, means to save herself
through the magic that can bemuse kings and common people. Thus, Scheherazade
reveals the power of telling tales as an art of magic. Attributing the magic to the telling
of tales, the fiction in itself gains the status of the magic lamp. The same revealing and
referential status as Scheherazade is gained by the 1001 Nights in the Europe of the 18th
century through the French collection and translation of Antoine Galland (1704 – 1717)
and retranslation from French into English one hundred years later (1805) and into
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other languages later on (Leeuwen 2018; Marzolph and Leeuwen, 2004). Through the
West European retelling of the 1001 Nights, new magic of the narrative art in modern
narration was affirmed.
Unlike the ‘fantastic’ fiction, where it seems that the reader is reluctant to identify
himself with the hero, because of the unusualness of the events (Todorov, 1970), the
fairy tale becomes a part of us, converting our inner sensitivity for the magic into an
agreement with the magic as a part of our spiritual and physical body.
Under new circumstances, when ‘the ideology of progress leads its irresistible ascent’ (Manfrédo, 2016: 16), the magic of the fairy tale has to find a way to coexist with
the ‘veracity’ of scientific views. The consumerist society aims to reframe the magical
of the tale into a visual, contemporary jugglery and wizardry, turning the ‘old genres’
of the magical into ‘take-away’ genres of cinematographic camera. The new ‘magical’
effects distilled from mythic and fairy tale motifs are yet ephemeral and an extension
to the social-political propaganda, which ‘makes sure’ to create labels from the magical,
striving to translate enchanting phenomena into enchanting words and propagandistic
labels, in décor, scribble and free drawings.
The mutilated and fettered magical of the present, especially in the genre of science fiction, like in Star Wars, Matrix, Spiderman, much as it is losing its literary status
(Manfrédo, 2016) does not yet represent a who knows what obstacle to foster a dimension that relates to the authorial literary fantasy in a novelistic imaginary (like J. R. R.
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, for instance), hence making
special ‘conversions’ in cinematographic projects too.
Hearing the voice of a ‘ludic theatralisation’ (Regnery, 2003: 1), fairy tale’s magical
power provides a playful imaginary to homo ludens. As a true conductor of the spiritual uncanny of human poetics, the fairy tale wandered across ages and continents,
becoming a ‘great instrument which always comes back to forge and build thinking and
knowledge’ (Sanoussi, 2003: 2). Fairy tales and fantasy have also become a human space
where the magic lamp calls knowledge too. The magical was catapulted into our inner
lantern, which can also be transformed into a ‘ring’ that we hold in our fingers or a lamp
that we hold in our hand. That can make us a ‘Lord of the Ring’, a ‘Lord of the Lamp’ or
even a ‘Lord of the Cave’ at any moment.
Is this demarche of the magic in arts and cinema bringing new signals as regards
recognition between the fairy tale and mythical magic and the newly perceived scientific truth? Might be! A new attempt of such sort has been repeated from one period
to another. As for the other search for magical imagination in line with rational and
meaningful activities, the search is still going on in its own pace. Decades ago, while
talking about the fairy tale, Tolkien (1964) insisted that human fantasy, as a natural
human activity, does not ruin or undermine reasoning or cloud our image of truth
and scientific veracity. Unquestionably, fairy tales and myths provide an eternal feeding
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ground for knowledge.
Lüthi used to say that ‘the hero in a fairy tale is an ‘abstract figure’ and not at all human’ (Franz, 1996: 17). Magic aspires abstraction and imparts abstraction and wonder.
Taking into account that ‘the language of the fairy tale seems to be an international language of all mankind – of all ages and all races and cultures’ (Ibid., 27–28), one might
imagine that it is precisely, and first of all, the magic source of its language that makes
it an intangible heritage of humanity.
The magic of the fairy tale is sealed by wonderful fantastic flights which are richer
than social egalitarian horizons projected as utopian necessities of the fairy tale. Desire,
love and justice are always there as decisive elements evoking or creating the magical
more than a ‘true’ ideological interpretative perspective. Besides the miracle of the singular ‘I’, the evidenced miracle of the plural ‘we’ in fairy tales always remains at the
service of the singular ‘I’, as perception and experience. The ideological of the plural ‘we’
remains eclipsed under the garment of possible social constructions.
Above all, the magic of the fairy tale affirms magical powers that make you a hero.
And, if you are a hero, you are not like the others. In The Magic Lamp of Aladdin, Aladdin becomes the owner of the magic ring and lamp, to become different from the others,
not like them. This, in its own way, prompts in him the sense of justice, the love for his
beloved and his mother, but being aware that magic makes him what he wants to be.
The magic helps you create the miracle of your life, through extraordinary ideas and
situations. That helps you get out of the cave or find your lantern precisely in your way.
If the play is not just an instrument to enjoyment, but ‘the very thing enjoyed’ (Dooley,
2009: 141), so is the magic: a wonderful experience of homo ludens.
R oundup
Magic always means wonder, astonishment. This is why it grows in us. Wonder
generates love that comes from the touch of nature with culture; reason with the uncanny and the nexus between emotions and ideas.
If ‘play’, as Huizinga argues, seems to be older than culture, growing homo ludens
even in a dream, than the play assumes traits of wonder, the magical and miracle. There
is no play without the slightest element of the magical and astonishment. The magical
seems to be the beloved magic of the very instinct and imaginary impulse. It sounds
like the magical mimesis of the fairy tale is a reflection of an ‘imitative instinct’ that
originates from the dream.
Magic inhabits both the cave and the magic lamp. The cosmology of the cave creates the magic lamp and the magic lamp makes sense in the cave but both are, more
than ‘means’, states of mind and ‘ends’ and ‘events’ for their own sake. Their symbolic
radius encompasses a whole range of material, spiritual and emotional registries.
Transcended into a symbol within a registry of knowledge, the magic lamp has
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turned into the first sign of a great discovery. Metaphorically said, the magic lamp forges the reality within the dream and the dream within the reality.
In the end, the magic lamp does not make sense outside its relation with the cave.
Nor an emotion. It remains just a lantern. Such a lantern, covered with the curse of a
lightless lantern, is of no use to anyone. Hence, the magical lurks in the cave and both
lurk under the shelter of love. Only with love can the magic create something from the
cave and the lantern or ‘something’ or ‘everything’ from ‘nothing’.
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Sanoussi, K. (2003) La magie du conte africain (The Magic of the African Tale). Menaibuc.
Slusser, G. E and Rabkin, E. S. (eds.) (1985) Shadows of the Magic Lamp: Fantasy and
Science Fiction in Film. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Stockhammer, R. (2000) Zaubertexte. Die Wiederkehr der Magie und die Literatur
1880–1945 (Magic Texts. The Return of Magic and Literature 1880-1945). Berlin:
Akademie Verlag.
Todorov, T. (1970) Introduction à la littérature fantastique. (Introduction to Fantastic
Literature). Paris: Editions du Seuil.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (1964) Tree and Leaf: Including the Poem Mythopoeia. London: Allen
and Unwin.
Weber, M. (1971) The Sociology of Religion. (Transl. by Ephraim Fischoff) London:
Methuen.
Weiss, R. (2001) Virtue in the Cave. Moral Inquiry in Plato’s Meno. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Withy, K. (2015) Heidegger on Being Uncanny. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Zipes, J. (1994) Fairy Tale as Myth, Myth as Fairy Tale. Lexington: The University Press
of Kentucky.
Kujtim Rrahmani, PhD, is a Professor of Literature and Senior Researcher at the Institute of Albanology in Pristina, Kosovo. He holds a PhD in Literature. He is an author of
books in literary studies, novelist and author of articles in academic journals, winner of
literary prices, and a visiting fellow in many universities abroad. His research interests
include: literature, epics, emotions, anthropoetics, myth and fairy tale.
E-mail: kujtim68@gmail.com
40
D ELEUZE, THE RITUAL AND MAGIC
AS THE FORMATION OF SENSE
Cecilia Inkol
Abstract: What is a ritual? A ritual is an enactment, an ordered series of actions to
invoke certain states of consciousness, spiritual entities or to provoke an influence that
ripples from the domain of imagination and intention to manifest spiritual, social, personal and/ or material effects. A ritual is bound up with repetition in connotation and
practice; we repeat a ritual in the endeavour to induce again a particular outcome of
effects.
G. Deleuze’s philosophy has been productively compared with hermeticism (Ramey,
2012). If we mine the philosophical oeuvre of Deleuze, we can derive fresh insight into
the nature of the ritual, what it expresses, and how it operates. For Deleuze, repetition is
not what we think it is. Repetition secretly expresses difference and change: repetition
is novelty. Repetition is the invocation of chaos, chaos as ordered structure, activating a
non-chronological model of time that Deleuze calls the Aion.
In Deleuze’s lexicon, the ritual can be conceived as a practice of magic that endeavours
to create chains of resonance which energise a dimension of sense, as well as sense-experience or sensation. The inscription of sense is the generation of meaning, and creates
new significations, how myth and poetry attain their valences, and is the promise of
revolution or transformation. The inscription of sense is the creation of an effect, and
the opening of a world. Sense creates existence through its expression, and thus is the
locus of magic, as well as its invocation in the ritual.
Keywords: ritual, Deleuze, magic, practices, time
I ntroduction
What is a ritual? A ritual is an enactment, an ordered series of actions to invoke
certain states of consciousness, spiritual entities or to provoke an influence that ripples
from the domain of imagination and intention to manifest spiritual, social, personal
and/or material effects. A ritual is bound up with repetition in connotation and practice; we repeat a ritual in the endeavour to induce again a particular outcome of effects.
G. Deleuze’s philosophy has been productively compared with hermeticism (Ramey 2012). If we mine the philosophical oeuvre of Deleuze, we can derive fresh insight
into the nature of the ritual, what it expresses, and how it operates. For Deleuze, repetition is not what we think it is. Repetition secretly expresses difference and change:
repetition is novelty. Repetition is the invocation of chaos, chaos as ordered structure,
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activating a non-chronological model of time that Deleuze calls the Aion.
In Deleuze’s lexicon, the ritual can be conceived as a practice of magic that endeavours to create chains of resonance which energise a dimension of sense, as well as
sense-experience or sensation. The inscription of sense is the generation of meaning,
and creates new significations, how myth and poetry attain their valences, and is the
promise of revolution or transformation. The inscription of sense is the creation of an
effect, and the opening of a world. Sense creates existence through its expression, and
thus is the locus of magic, as well as its invocation in the ritual.
W hat is magic? A question
The following exposition seeks to unfurl the nature of the magical ritual, hinging
upon a particular understanding of what magic is: magic as an articulation of sense,
magic as a practice that pertains to meaning. Meaning, I undertake to evince, is not just
symbolical, or psychical, but embedded in materiality, grounded in the fabric of life itself, and connected with time-experience. Meaning is also the locus of transformation,
its effects psychical, material, and supra-material. This interpretation is imbued with
various entailments for understanding how we interpret what rituals are, what rituals
do, what results they can precipitate, and how their effectuations are elicited.
I will be drawing on the thought-architecture of Deleuze in this exposition;
Deleuze’s thought has been mined in relation to magic by a number of authors in recent
years, viz., Ramey, Bonta, and Lee. Ramey has demonstrated a congruence of Deleuze’s
thought with the Hermetic lineage in The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual
Ordeal (2012), and Deleuze’s thought has been excavated to produce resonance with
esoteric theorists Jacob Boehme by Mark Bonta (2010) as well as with Austin Spare by
Matt Lee (2003).
My own engagement with Deleuze in the interstice of magic will proceed in the
following manner. Its point of departure is a consideration of the ritual, and the ritual
as a praxis of magic. The magical ritual is repeated, is practiced repetitively to achieve
a certain outcome of effects. Such a discussion leads to an interpretation of the ritual
in the context of the thought-architecture of Deleuze, evincing that the repetition of
the ritual is endued with a secret face; it occupies a dimension of sense, effects, and
time. The magical procedure, its ritual, is thus conceived as an articulation of sense.
Deleuze himself does not explicitly state this formulation of magic as sense-production, although he uses the term ‘sorcery’ to denote the process of becoming-animal, of
soliciting alien affects to open onto a more expansive plane of subjectivity. The notion
of magic as process of sense-generation is my own theoretical framework, developed in
my Master’s thesis (The Monstrous Feminine and the Structure of Transformation: Art,
Language, Technology, Magic completed in 2015 at Ryerson University in Toronto). I am
arguing that this framework of magic as practice of meaning-generation can be read
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into Deleuze, and that by mining Deleuze’s thought-architecture, new light can be shed
on the ancient practice of ritual to render a modern understanding.
T he ritual as a magical practice
The ritual involves the employment of an ordered series of actions, meticulously
orchestrated. The ritual creates a set-up to propel certain outcomes. The ritual is an act
of encoding that facilitates a realm of experience. It can be used to promote change or
maintain homeostasis. The ritual can be consciously motivated, or motivated or propelled by unconscious forces. The ritual is performed repetitively, repeatedly. I would
delineate between magical rituals, neurotic rituals, and scientific rituals as different
types of rituals.
The neurotic has rituals that temporarily assuage her neuroses. She repeats them
ceaselessly. If I worry about the future, I will be better prepared for it; I will be able to
control it more, conceives the neurotic. Her logic is unconscious. She practices her rituals in an endeavour to control her experience. She acts as a host for the perpetuation and
promulgation of the ritual.
The ritual can be magical in orientation. Magic does not just refer to parlour trickery, slights of hand, smoke and mirrors, illusion. Magic exists as an historical phenomenon as a praxis, and as imbricated within a philosophical lineage of thinking as a metaphysical understanding. The magician performs particular rites and utters magical
formulae to provoke a state of consciousness, to achieve certain hoped-for, envisioned
or intended effects, to solicit a response from spiritual forces and powers. For the magician conceives of an alternate vision of causality than does the materialist scientist: the
magician conceives that there exist secret pathways and tunnels embedded within life, a
structure of formal coherence that binds spiritual and physical domains. This structure
of coherence can be accessed and activated with certain keys and codes, which enable
communication with spiritual or psychical forces, and powers. These keys and codes
may be aesthetic, verbal, psychical, dramatical, employing objects, verbal incantations,
images, or gestures which are conceived to be imbued with spiritual or symbolical power.
Through activating this formal coherence, it is conceived by magical practitioners, a
resonance is produced, precipitating an ontological effectuation: this is to say, a transformation or transmutation is initiated which can take place at the personal, social,
spiritual and/or material levels. The ritual practitioner wants to guide the way transformation is elicited through intentionality, will, and directed imagination; she engages
in a correspondence with life, or with herself, through symbolic action, intention and
imaginative cognition.
An insight we can derive from the thought of Deleuze is the notion that magic can
be conceived as an articulation of sense. We can thus frame magic in terms of meaning
and say that the mage corresponds with a dimension of meaning, that the ritual con43
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
structs an imaginary of sense. Magic can be conceived using the Deleuzian framework
as a practice of sense-production, of initiating chains of resonance that reverberate at
the level of sense. As we will glean, meanings are both conscious and unconscious, spiritual and embedded in materiality.
The mage interprets reality in a starkly different manner than does the materialist
scientist, but the scientist also conducts rituals, conducting her experiments in a ritualistic fashion; the materialist scientist strives to recreate material conditions of experience to prove the veracity of her experimental results.
The magician conceives: if I draw this particular sigil with this particular incantation, X spirit will hear its call and manifest itself to me, I will induce Y effect. The
scientist conceives: if I recreate the conditions of my experiment, its veracity will be
confirmed.
But one of the insights Deleuze imparts to us is that no repetition is ever repeated
exactly the same way. There are always anomalies, nuances of difference, despite all
attempts to foment identical conditions; no scientific or magical ritualistic experiments
are ever completely repeatable. The ritual is not about re-production but production.
The ritual cannot be performed in the exact same way in every instance it is conducted,
and its effects will never always be homologous. The ritual is not about producing similarities, but about producing differences. This is an act that invokes the very structure
underlying life, and it is a structure of meaning.
R epetition, the eternal return, and its time-scape
Deleuze tells us that repetition is not what it appears to be: it possesses a secret
face. What appears at first glance as a repetition of the same is enmeshed in a larger
pattern of meaning, a pattern which is continually evolving, changing, an expression
of chaos and novelty. Deleuze is drawing on the scientific notion of chaos theory here,
and offering an interpretation of Nietzsche’s eternal return. Nietzsche’s eternal return,
Deleuze says, continually returns anew, in a new way. Every compulsion, automatism,
regress, recidivism is just a section of a larger pattern and even what appears unchanging is imbued with aspects though perhaps minute, even imperceptible, of difference
and change. Nothing can ever be repeated in exactly the same way: there are always
elements of chance, encounters that disturb its equilibrium and homogeneity.
The eternal return as a repetition that expresses difference, novelty, newness exists
as a dimension of time called the Aion. Deleuze refers to the Aion as time that is ‘pure’
and ‘empty’, the time of events and sense-effects (Deleuze, 1990: 62).
Time can be conceived as composing two disparate structures of meaning: Chronos
and Aion. Chronos is cyclical, comprised of ‘interlocking presents’: presents that pass
into one another, enjoined, creating the perception of linear time-experience. Chronos
is the time that bodies occupy; the actions that bodies enact on other bodies, and the
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interactions of bodies is seen as the causal mechanism underlying why things transpire
as they do, how causality operates in this dimension (Ibid., 61).
But Aion permits a very different vision of causality that is bound up with events,
sense, and surface-effects. Aion is the dimension of time that appertains to events. It
comprises a straight line, each event marked as a singularity, a node on its trajectory.
This straight line is continually subdividing itself (Ibid., 61), past and future as unlimited, both sides perpetually growing deeper and undergoing complexification, involution, change. This dynamic of subdivision takes place through the aleatory point which
propels the events on the line to communicate with one another. This communication
between events elicits resonance, producing new events. Each event comprises the full
Aion. As each event undergoes communication with all other events, all events comprise the same Event. In the milieu of the Aion, each event which forms a single Event
is endowed with eternal truth: Aion is the ‘eternal truth of time’ (Ibid., 64). At this site
where all events entwine, ‘transmutation’ occurs, and we are told that even ‘death turns
against death’ (Ibid., 153). This notion of ‘transmutation’ and how it occurs will be further elaborated in the proceeding sections in the context of the magical ritual.
T he event as novelty-production, sign, and sense-formation
What are these events which communicate, entrain and produce more events populating the straight line of the Aion? The event is an eruption of novelty, difference,
newness, disclosure, change. We are told that every event comprises a ‘plague, war,
wound, death’ (Ibid., 151). Events are violent manifestations, their protrusions fomenting a re-arrangement of the architecture which it is embedded within, forging a new
agreement for the structure that its meaning comprises. This is the way in which their
gathering together in the Aion compels transmutation: the tectonic plates underlying
the order and structure of evental life shift, and such a shift produces certain results.
Events and their productions are never personal, neither private nor collective, but occupy a ‘4th person’ perspective (Ibid., 152).
Events are signs (Ibid., 63), and we meet the event through signs. Signs are both the
object of the encounter as well as the encounter itself. Signs comprise communication
systems for an encounter, are not static expressions of meaning (Deleuze, 1994: 20).
Signs exist in both physical and virtual registers of life; the virtual comprises a prototype for actualisation, a blueprint for reality-to-come. Learning is a process of entraining with signs, of resonating alongside them, of hooking up to signs and their singularities, their distributions of meaning; thus, we glean the fundamental complicity between
life and psyche, an agreement forged through signs (Ibid., 165). We think through signs,
but veritable thinking is violent in its reorganising power, and creative, transporting us
to unexpected places. Genetic life is comprised of signs. Beyond the material frame exists a genetic structure, a system of relay between sign-events that interact, resonate and
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produce movement (Ibid., 126); this is how the induction-event of novelty is produced,
the communication between events at work in the Aion.
The event is a formation of sense (Ibid., 191). Sense as novelty is generated by interruption, the interruption of a new revelation that causes reconfigures the rations of
pre-constituted meaning, the injection of death / Thanatos, into the mundane routine
of habit, the status quo. The creation of sense maps terrains of meaning for the Idea to
explore, engendering zones of inquiry Deleuze calls ‘problems’ (Ibid., 164). Deleuze’s
notion of the Idea does not refer to essence; in Proust and Signs, Deleuze defines essence
and the Idea in the following ways. Essence does not refer to an object, but enjoins two
different objects (Deleuze, 1972: 47). Essence is the common quality of two disparates,
evincing ‘individualising difference in itself’ (Ibid., 48). Essence is what is the same,
as common, yet expressing difference: it is difference affirmed through autorepetition.
Difference and repetition are thus the two inextricable and correlating powers of essence (Ibid., 48).
Ideas are defined in Proust and Signs as already extant in the sign; ideas comprise
the laws of a series, the logic underlying a series, its theme (Ibid., 72). So, when Deleuze
says in Difference and Repetition that ideas comprise maps of virtual meaning, the objective terrain of problems, this is what he means. Ideas inhere within the sign (Ibid.,
163), existing as its domain or territory of meaning.
N onsense and the void
Sense has to emerge from out of a surface of nonsense to disclose itself. Nonsense is
bereft of sense, yet its barrenness enables it to bequeath sense. Its own sense is lacking,
yet excessive (Deleuze, 1990: 71). Nonsense is the register wherein all virtualities of
sense reside.
The Sage (or mage in this instance) intuits object-events undergoing communication within the void (Ibid., 136). She perceives objects as they are expressed, or as they
can be expressed; the void is the site where the sense-event encounters and ‘harmonises
with its own nonsense’ (Ibid., 137), this is to say, enjoins with it, resonates alongside it,
meets it in a new way. The Sage or mage sees the hidden aspects of life engaging with the
esoteric dimension of nonsense.
T he surface nonsense: quasi-cause
The formation of sense is a surface phenomenon, takes place at the surface. The
surface is metaphysical, comprised of nonsense (Ibid., 136). The surface is the locus
of sense, where sense arises from out of nonsense as an event. Signs are bereft of sense
until they enter into the surface. The surface nonsense is considered by Deleuze as ‘quasi-cause’ in that the significations it produces are effectuations of a sort that defy ma-
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terial notions of causality. The surface is the frontier between bodies and propositions.
Such a frontier bespeaks properties of sound as related to the surface, therefore enabling
a particular distribution of language to bodies (Ibid, 125). This frontier is Aion, the time
of event-effects.
Nonsense is excess meaning. We also see excess meaning at work in the empty
square and the floating signifier; they are vehicles for nonsense to create novel forms of
signification. Empty squares perform a particular function in the production of sense.
Empty square act as blank signifiers, signifiers that can bestow meaning; their circulation facilitates new formations of meaning, giving voice to singularities which are
pre-individual, and nonpersonal (Ibid., 73). The floating signifier is not fixed in meaning, but transient, flittering, adaptable to new meaning-constellations. The floating signifier contains a signifying excess, and barrenness of signified. It has more capacity to
generate meaning that it does possess meaning. The floating signifier is what grants art,
poetry, and myth its valences; this capacity of the floating signifier to endow signification is also the promise of all revolution (Ibid., 49): the capacity for change, transformation, transmutation starts with a shift in meaning, a novel generation of sense.
The surface-effects of sense that act as the propeller of revolution and change are
also what make language possible. The possibility for language is engendered from incorporeal effects (or events) upon the effects at the level of the surface. Language is
grounded by pure events because events:
[W]ait for it as much as they wait for us and have a pure, singular, impersonal
and pre-individual existence only inside the language which expresses them. It
is what is expressed in its independence that grounds language and expression –
that is, the metaphysical property that sounds acquire in order to have a sense,
and secondarily to signify, manifest, denote, rather than to belong to bodies as
physical qualities. The most general operation of sense is this: it brings that which
expresses it into existence; and from that point on, as pure inherence, it brings
itself to exist within that which expresses it. It rests therefore with the Aion, as the
milieu of surface-effects or events, to trace a frontier between things and propositions; and the Aion traces it with its entire straight line. Without it, sounds
would fall back on bodies, and propositions themselves would not be ‘possible’.
Language is rendered possible by the frontier which separates it from things and
from bodies (Ibid., 166).
When Deleuze writes that sense ‘brings that which expresses it into existence’ and
‘brings itself to exist within that which expresses it’, such effects can be conceived in
terms of the endeavour of magic to spark effectuations beyond the laws of physical causality.
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S ense as: force; sensation; bodily manifestation; and world-creation
We have seen thus far that the formation of sense is a creative act, a revolutionary
act. An event that takes place on the secret countenance of time. A magical act. I want
to subsequently evince the facets of sense as an articulation of force, as sensation, and
as a procedure of world-creation.
What determines Sense are the forces which inhabit a phenomenon, Deleuze says,
commenting on Nietzsche (1983: 3). As differing forces can possess a phenomenon, its
sense or meaning is necessarily multiple, multitudinous (Ibid., 4). Forces imply a spiritual dimension, and evoke the impetus of the unconscious, its implorations that compel
us to act in certain ways that emanate from beyond our conscious awareness.
Force exists in terms of quality and quantity. Force exists in terms of quality in the
way it is related to every other force (Ibid., 42). As a quantity that measures differences,
force exists as the will-to-power. Will-to-power is the inner will embedded in force
(Ibid., 49). The will-to-power invokes chance, what brings forces into relation with one
another; it is the will-to-power which determines that relation, determining the qualities of its forces by interpreting them. This is what interpretation means for Deleuze: to
decide the forces which fabricate the sense of something. Interpreting means interpreting difference, the qualities comprising forces (Ibid., 53).
Sense is also sensation, sense imbued with an experiential aspect that reveals itself through the body. Making oneself available to expanded subjectivities, singularities
disclose themselves as bodily sensations or affects, spiritual forces which enliven one,
(Deleuze, 1987: 240; Deleuze, 2005: 21) the invocation of nonsense to disclose new formations of sense through sensation. We also see bodily manifestation of sense-production in the phantasm. The phantasm is a representation of the event which shows itself
on the body, a bodily manifestation. It is imbued with both corporeality and the ideality
of the event (Deleuze, 1990: 211). The phantasm unites inner and outer registers, where
they meet on a single plane: site of the eternal return, going from unconscious to conscious registers and vice versa (Ibid., 217). It results from the action of bodies as well as
from the surface quasi-cause which brought it into effect at the surface, entering it into
communication with all the other event-phantasms. What reveals itself in the phantom is the opening gesture whereby the ego enters into the terrain of the surface, and
liberates singularities which are pre-individual, acosmic, releasing them ‘like spores’,
(Ibid., 213), as a germinating gesture, planting the seeds of an expanded subjectivity.
The phantasm is the event which is ‘inscribed in flesh’, intimating the secret of the
body: a hidden, incorporeal quasi-cause that reveals its presence through this form of
revelation (Ibid., 221).
In Logic of Sense, Deleuze defines sense as the ‘power to draw together or to express
an incorporeal effect distinct from actions and passions of body and an ideational event
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distinct from its present realisation’ (Ibid., 87). He goes on to inform us: ‘Every event is
realised, be it in a hallucinatory form’ (Ibid., 87). Deleuze is saying here, that the power
of sense is to elide an ‘incorporeal effect’, a sign, a vision, a phantasmagoria, with an
event: the incorporeal effect marks the event. The event bestows a vision, or some other
incorporeal effect. It always shows itself, but not always physically, sometimes psychically.
Where series converge, sense constituted containing a unique essence, an original
world is birthed (Deleuze, 1972: 43, 147; Deleuze, 1990: 109). Each novel quality inhabits
its own world, every event of sense world-constituting. There thus exists a myriad of
worlds that we can tune into or harmonise with when we become available to new distributions of sense. These are the multitudinous dimensions of meaning which are really-existing and comprise the landscapes of magic. Magic as a procedure of sense-production, generating surface-effects is thus also an operation of world-production, of
traversing realms of meaning which are spiritual and incorporeal, but can also exist in
corporeality.
C ounter-actualisation: grasping oneself as event and
acting as agent of one’s own events
Actualisation of a phenomena is related to its expression, selection and local renewal (Deleuze, 1990: 109). But counter-actualisation is a more profound magical act.
Counter-actualisation is to act as the agent of one’s own events: to ‘lead the event to its
completion and transmutation, and finally become masters of actualisations and causes’ (Ibid., 212).
We are not just persons, with individual identities but are also comprised of singularities, which are pre-individual, anonymous, impersonal and mobile or nomadic.
Deleuze stipulates that in order for individuals to listen in on the ‘universal communication of events’, the individual must understand herself as Event (Ibid., 178). To grasp
oneself as event, in the 4th person (Ibid., 152), we are told, endows us with freedom,
fortitude as we exist within singularities that are ‘more us than ourselves, more divine
than gods’, bespeaking ‘permanent revolution’ (Ibid., 72).
When the agent grasps herself as Event, releasing herself to the Aion, she perceives
the past and future arising as unlimited on a flat surface as though gazing into a mirror.
She actualises the event but this mode of actualisation differs from genetic depth; she
redoubles cosmic or material actualisation, she affirms it. Such an agent is a free person,
and she is able to understand all violence through a single act of it; she perceives the
deeper structures of meaning at work in life all at once, through the glimpse of one of its
faces. A seer, she perceives the past and future through the present. She grasps the event
in an act of ‘volitional intuition’, with the will that the event created within her: an act
of divination through the perception of the will (Ibid., 150).
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E vental divination: reading surfaces, the intuition of the will, and casting
the dice
Magic, as I am defining it, is in large part a mode of perception, a way of seeing
and simultaneously an act of willing. In Logic of Sense, Deleuze outlines two divinatory
procedures, one of which he terms logic. Divination can be conceived as the interpretive
act of attributing meaning to surfaces, lines and singular points that appear on surfaces.
It is a twofold operation: firstly, generating a physical surface for lines, images, imprints,
representations and subsequently translating these forms onto a metaphysical surface
upon which only the incorporeal lines of the pure event are unfolded, representing the
sense of these forms (Ibid., 143).
There is another, more intense form of divinatory rite that Deleuze refers to as logic,
deriving it from Stoic ethics. In this procedure, one wills the event bereft of interpretation hinging on representational aids. Deleuze refers to this as logic rather than divination, saying that it is a more intense form of engagement with the event.
For in the case of divination, we travel from cosmic present instantiation to seeing
a glimpse of an event which is not-yet-actualised, whereas for Stoic logic, we traverse
from pure event to its present actualisation, though in its most limited form (Ibid., 143).
Ethics for Stoic logic therefore entails being worthy of what occurs to one (Ibid., 149). To
will the event is to will the unknown, its violent tumult: to affirm war, death, wounds.
It does not matter what occurs for the event is encrypted within its occurrence. Amor
Fati, to love whatever arises, and affirms its means of disclosure. This is a very different
form of life-engagement than ancient notions of sacrifice, endeavouring to compel gods
to fulfil one’s wishes, the will-to-control the uncontrollable. Evental meaning-magic has
nothing to do with control. The mage might conduct a ritual that generates a certain
expression of sense-experience; but its incorporeal effects manifest in unexpected ways,
doing violence to our preconceived notions of who we are and what we think we want.
Only the ‘bad player’ of the divinatory game of the dice throw anticipates a particular result, Deleuze tells us in Nietzsche and Philosophy. The throw of the dice can be
conceived as an act of divination. The throw of the dice in Deleuze’s lexicon is to generate problems for thinking by combining heterogeneous series that create a landscape
for the virtual Ideas to traverse, thereby disclosing new formulations of difference. The
game of dice throwing is the eternal return. The player who understands the nature of
the game after the dice has been cast re-collects the fragments and throws the dice anew,
affirming chance instead of corporeal causality (Deleuze, 1983: 26, 27, 29). Chance is the
essence of force; and the greatest forces are unconscious. As we know from A Thousand
Plateaus, the unconscious is everywhere, perforating all things, cosmic in scope, not
the limited individual. The affirmation of chance is to relegate one’s will to an unknown
subjectivity, a force of meaning greater than oneself.
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B eing as univocal not analogical
The seer who employs divination to interpret surfaces or play the game of the dice
throw to affirm chance, would not interpret her results with the logic of analogy, the traditional esoteric and hermetic approach. Being is univocal but not analogical, Deleuze
tells us. Univocal means that every aspect of Being speaks; but being is multiple, a multiplicity and its speech is not homologous: it speaks in different ways, bearing different
messages in its different limbs, organs (Deleuze, 1990: 179). This is to say: on Deleuze’s
account, the messages we receive in our divinations will be different according to which
of its aspects are enlivened.
T he work of art as perceptual modality: aesthetic divination
The ritual can be conceived as an act of divination in another sense: as an aesthetic
practice of perception or vision, seeing or envisioning signs. What does the work of
art do? The work of art ‘spiritualises’ substance, the work of art enacts ‘transmutation’
(Deleuze, 1972: 46): it is the identity of a sign and its meaning, the essence and its transmuted substance having attained perfect adequation (Ibid., 40). Art spiritualises matter
in the sense that it makes visible the essences or qualities of difference, each essence
inhabiting an original world (Ibid., 47). Art is conceived by Deleuze as the: ‘splendid
final unity of an immaterial sign and spiritual meaning’ (Ibid., 85), and to perceive the
essences of things is the work of ‘pure thought’ (Ibid., 46). If we can conceive of the work
of art as a mode of perception, as a perceptual practice, the work of art can be conceived
as a metaphor for the magical ritual: the see in the perception of the work of art is to
perceive difference in itself. The Sage (or Mage) perceives the essences of things, seeing
life as a work of art in an act of divination, or divinatory transmutation of substance.
S ense as locus of magic
Sense is always endowed with an effect, physical or immaterial, bodily, or incorporeal. It is this effect that engenders significations, and the architectures they comprise,
accreting systems of meaning. The event always comes bearing a manifestation, an effect, generated by the surface. Its effect can be material in that it can show itself on the
body (phantasm), incorporeal in that its sense-formation constitutes an event (events
are incorporeal effects) and we have also seen, incorporeal effects can include hallucinations. We have seen how sense is formed by the circulation of blank signifiers or empty squares, and how upon the floating signifier is inscribed the promise of revolution.
Change, transformation and transmutation, the magical act, hinges upon its power. As
afore elaborated, sense ushers its expression into existence, and what expresses it into
existence.
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Sense-effects are not restricted to the causality of bodies that act on one another
and interact. Sense jumps from one register to another, from incorporeal event to physical manifestation as meaning or sense is not something merely psychical or social but
material, encrypted within materiality. As magic is the dimension of experience which
engages non-material visions of causality, sense and its effects can thus be pinpointed
as the locus of magic and its practice of the ritual; in this framework, magic can thus be
reconceived as an endeavour that pertains to sense, an encounter with meaning and its
flittering transformations.
C onclusion: what event is speaking through me?
The materialist scientist, the neurotic or obsessive compulsive and mage practice
rituals of repetition. But only the mage foments meaning-production and, and only if
she makes herself available to its unforeseen outputs.
The materialist scientist endeavours to create identical conditions for her experiments to endeavour to prove a particular outcome, result. But not every aspect of her experiment can be controlled. There are dimensions of meaning teeming from out of her
measuring apparatuses and technical instruments but she does not perceive them. She
measures only quantity not quality, sense supersedes her initiative. She constricts and
inhibits the colours, folds, worlds of meaning that effervesce at the surface. In Deleuze’s
exegesis of Nietzsche, forces are comprised of both quality and quantity. But the materialist scientific or mechanistic interpretation can only measure forces of quantity, not
quality (Deleuze, 1983: 43). The paradigm or imaginary of materialist science engages
with the inscriptions of meaning that life is dead, meaningless, operating through the
framework that life is something that can be controlled and contained, captured by
technical instruments. The possibility of life-engagement for the paradigm of scientific
materialism is delimited by a conceptual apparatus which does not glean the layers of
meaning which escape the purview of their measurements, experiments, tools. It has
drawn a boundary where none exists and proclaimed the limits of existence as the limits of their own perceptual capacities and epistemological framework.
The neurotic compulsive conducts personal rituals to assuage her neuroses because
she conceives a particular outcome will result from her actions. If I worry about the
future, then I can better control the outcome, her neurosis says. But it is just a force
possessing her, expressing itself through her and it has grown comfortable in its host.
The neurotic also engages with meaning, yet her compulsions are part of a larger frame
of reference. Slowly, imperceptibly, if only over the course of years, she trains herself to
relinquish control, realising the futility of her neurotic proclivity. The unceasing unchanging automatism is just an illusion; sooner or later, the pattern will break, if only
with her death.
When we inhibit, stultify, limit the flourishing and disclosure of meaning, we limit
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the capacities of life to engage, entrain with us, to show us alternate, clandestine routes,
creative problematics and to open its hidden doors to us.
The ritual is a way of conceiving a magical practice in which the mage relinquishes
her human sheath in favour of the subjectivities of the singularities which comprise
the Event. No rituals can ever be repeated in exactly the same way. The mage creates
chains of resonance that enable novelty and meaning-production to unfold, articulate
itself as effects that can be corporeal or incorporeal, physical, or immaterial. She accepts and loves whatever life bestows to her. She perceives life in terms of singularities
of difference being expressed in an act of pure thinking, realising the will of the Event,
and her seeing an act of divination, perceiving all dimensions of time through the moment she inhabits. She synthesises meaning as a magical practice; the tectonic plates of
meaning shift in response to her practice. We do not know in what ways until its secret
is unfurled, flowers, achieves fruition. We never know what the results, its effects of our
magical ritual will be; the player who understands the game of the dice-throw does not
favour any particular result, but affirms the will of the Event itself. She poses the query
to herself, ‘what Event is speaking through me?’
In Deleuze’s understanding, meaning is part of the fabric of life, but it must be
constructed from out of a surface of nonsense. Life is not endued with pre-existent
meanings, but inheres with multitudinous pathways for the forces of meaning to inhabit. Meaning exists within materiality; materiality is not as solid and implacable as it may
appear at times. What we perceive as solid and unmoving is riddled with hidden dimensions of meaning and a secret surface. At the surface of materiality exists a myriad
worlds, the gift bequeathed by nonsense; its radical openness to inscribe and re-inscribe
meaning is how myth and poetry attain their valences: the gap between signifier and
signified the locus of revolution, transformation and transmutation. The meanings we
are privy to enable particular modes of life-engagement and enable a communicative
pathway between the querent and life; how life responds to us is a function of the how
we engage with life, and the structure of meaning we have architected to converse with
life. Each meaning we bestow grants a mode of life-engagement, and permits ingress to
its effects, world, and its time.
Rituals distribute meaning, compose inscriptions or programmes of sense. The ritual enlivens certain coordinates, vivifies, and grants voice to a force of meaning. Rituals
as they are unconscious, help us to look away, stuck in various routines, entrained in
a groove of sense-experience, inhibiting meaning, blocking new experiences, endeavouring to block new productions of meaning. Rituals energise orderings of sense and
sense-experience, producing identification, subjectivity. I am the neurotic, the unconscious logic of the neurotic thinks. I am the materialist scientist; the materialist scientist
conceives. There is the Event, conceives the magician who conducts her ritual in a manner that affirms chance, invoking the Aion in her thought-incantations and sense-pro-
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ductions: her magic an encounter with meaning.
R eferences:
Bonta, M. (2010) Rhizome of Boehme and Deleuze: Esoteric Precursors of the God of
Complexity. SubStance 39 (1): 62–75.
Deleuze, G. (1972) Proust and Signs. Trans. Richard Howard. New York: George Brazilier Inc.
Deleuze, G. (1983) Nietzsche and Philosophy. Trans: Hugh Tomlinson. New York: Columbia University Press.
Deleuze, G. and F. Guattari (1987) A Thousand Plateaus. Trans. Brian Massumi. London: University of Minnesota Press.
Deleuze, G. (1990) The Logic of Sense. Trans. Mark Lester with Charles Stivale. Ed. Constantin V. Boundas. New York: Columbia University Press.
Deleuze, G. (1994) Difference and Repetition. Trans. Paul Patton. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Deleuze, G. (2005) Francis Bacon. The Logic of Sensation. Trans. Daniel Smith. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
Lee, M. (2003) ‘Memories of a Sorcerer’: Notes on Gilles Deleuze-Felix Guattari, Austin Osman Spare and Anomalous Sorceries. The Journal for the Academic Study of
Magic 1.
Nietzsche, F. (1983) Untimely Meditations. Trans. R. J. Hollingdale. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ramey, J. (2012) The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal (New Slant:
Religion, Politics, Ontology). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Cecilia Inkol is a PhD student in the Humanities at York University in Toronto, Canada. She is an art-based researcher, artist, animator and experimental film-maker. Her
research interests include continental philosophy, aesthetics, technology, and esotericism. She has published on the mythic feminine entitled, ‘MELUSINE MACHINE: The
Metal Mermaids of Jung, Deleuze and Guattari.’
E-mail: ceciliainkol@gmail.com
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S ACRED PLACES AND RITUAL MOVEMENT.
NOTES ON THE IMPACT OF
SPACE IN BULGARIAN FOLK CUSTOMS
Bozhidar Parvanov
Abstract: The following study deals with several key points concerning the ritualised
usage of space and place in some of the more indicative Bulgarian folk customs and
ceremonies. Although the paper only points out a few examples in which spatial dimensions are examined separately, the overall review shows the consecutive processes
in which the intimate symbolic place is achieved and created through social and religious experience. Therefore, the main task is to designate the stages in which space and
place acquire their sacred and ritualistic symbolic significance. Another part of the subject-matter are the roles of space and place in the process of ritual-building. Ritualised
and sacred space and time are the backbone of some of the most significant aspects of
social interaction, and even of social structure itself. Furthermore, this study is concentrated on the objective of outlining a research paradigm which will allow a form of
constructive analysis to be applied in the isolated study of space in Bulgarian pre-modern culture – a method that has been somewhat lacking within the field of Bulgarian
ethnography. The accurate theorising of the ritual aspects of space will contribute to a
more complete viewpoint on Bulgarian folk culture.
Keywords: space, place, ritual, symbolism, ritualised behaviour
F ew preliminary words on the subject of space and its relation to ritual
The subject of space and place10 is hardly unbeknownst to the divergent researches
and elaborations within the field of ethnology and anthropology, and it is often present
in a number of other scholarly disciplines. The manifestation of these two categories
in the context of the integrity of the cultural rhythm can have a number of roles and
meanings, at the same time carrying valuable information about the cultural framework itself. To a large extent, the manner of habitation and mobility within the spatial
dimensions, which are recognised and adopted by both the community and the individual, carries a lot of data about the structure of the social units in question. Furthermore,
the way of organising and inhabiting the familiar spaces and places is an important
10 One clarification should be made as to the nature of the concepts themselves. First of all, it is worth emphasizing that
these two terms will be considered here mainly in their essence of cultural phenomena, and not of physical categories.
This points to their role in the establishment and maintenance of several sustainable socio-cultural norms and practices.
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indicator of the specifics of the spiritual and religious realm in the life of the community. Choosing the ritual practice as a basic cultural template within which to trace the
principles and functions of space and place is all but accidental. The gradual imposition
of the topic of ritualised behaviour in the field of humanities speaks of a fundamental
change in the viewpoint on this issue. Originally considered as forms of pre-modern
conduct, rituals and ceremonies are now generally seen as a key to the understanding and systematising of cultures. Rituals are a persistent mechanism that helps the
establishment of notions concerning oneself, as well as the ‘other’. These concepts can
define and outline both the personal and the collective identity (Kreinath, Snoek and
Stausberg, 2006: XV). The theorisation of rituals can be phrased in several important
aspects: its connection with mythological standpoints, as well as the worldview and its
implementation in the immediate habitable environment; the usage of ritual as means
to achieve social cohesion, and as an expression of certain psychological (collective or
individual) ground principles. Thus, rituals enter into an integral connection with certain essential values – belief, myth, society and psyche (Kreinath, Snoek, Stausberg,
2006: XVI‒XVII).
O n the cultural discourse of Space and Place
Historically, the research on the issue of cultural space can often be associated
with the apartness of different schools of thought, which are subsequently linked in
the overall framework of anthropological theory. However, it is difficult to speak of a
distinct field in ethnology and anthropology, which is specifically aimed at the diverse
and multifaceted manifestations of the cultural use of the many modalities of space. In
a sense, it is tempting to turn to the proxemics introduced more than half a century ago
by Edward T. Hall, as few clarifications should be made in advance. Despite the earnest
contributions that this scientific framework provides to the field of social anthropology,
it is still concentrated within a strictly defined part of the cultural sphere. It deals mostly with the implicit means of communication, which are undoubtedly important for our
study, but it does not completely elucidate the issue of the cultural significance of space,
although this was hardly the intention of Edward T. Hall in the first place. E. Т. Hall’s
research efforts on the communicative role of space, as a kind of a paralanguage, are
quite well-founded, not accidentally linking its use to the overall functionality of language and other forms of expression. For this reason, the main emphasis falls on several
key features – distance, proximity and territoriality, which are the immediate physical
examples of communicative adaptation of space. This notion largely predestines the
term to which the specified theoretical framework (‘proxemics’11) is tied. Forms of com11 Proxemics, from: Proximity (n.) – late 15th century, from Middle French proximité ‘nearness’ (14th century.), from
Latin proximitatem (nominative proximitas) ‘nearness, vicinity’, from proximus ‘nearest, next; most direct; adjoining’,
figuratively ‘latest, most recent; next, following; most faithful’ (Online Etymology Dictionary. Available at: https://www.
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munication, as E. Hall himself notes, take place at various levels, sometimes even simultaneously, and this is associated with different degrees of consciousness (Hall, 1966:
3–5). The main emphasis in E. Hall’s proxemics focuses on behaviour, as well as the
various manners and variations of the body’s positioning in the environment, which
should also characterise a certain cultural norm. According to this concept, there is
an innate mechanism of ‘distancing – approximation’ in humans, which is set by the
cultural model, and subsequently serves to regulate social relations and communication
(Low, Lawrence-Zuniga, 2003: 4).
Although E. Hall’s idea that communication stands in the core of culture itself, and
of life in general, may seem obviously true and indisputable12, some questions remain
open. Namely: which are the entities and images in the individual and social consciousness that predetermine the need for communication, as well as the need for them to be
objectified in a certain figure? We believe that the means of expression are often found
in the origins, meanings and perceptions that make up the essence of the cultural organism. This largely characterises the ambiguity in the relationship between meaning
and symbol. Therefore, spaces, even distances, can be more than a mode of nonverbal
communication. Clifford Geertz draws attention to this ambivalence in the structure of
culture when he speaks of the manifestations of sacredness and symbolism in religion.
The cultural sphere can be substantiated in two main sections: one is associated with a
certain ethos, which includes all manifestations of social life, moral and aesthetic principles, common values (including the means and methods of communication), and the
second section refers to what is often described in our studies as a worldview – the unity
of ideas that include the most universal notions of natural and social order (Geertz,
1973: 126–127). The mutual confirmation of worldview and ethos to a very large extent
predetermines the existence of elements shared between them. The idea of the structure
and order in space, as well as its use in the process of communication remind exactly of
this setting. The economic profile of a community also contributes to the construction
of the cultural essence and purpose of space. In this order, A. Leroi-Gourhan defines
the rules of lived space/habitat as the most concrete and clear of symbols within the
social system. When clarifying the principles of social functionalism, it is important
to consider also the instances of unification between the socio-spatial organisation and
the technical-economic situation (Leroi-Gourhan, 1993: 322).
Setha Low (2016) offers a relatively detailed overview of the topic of space and place
in the realm of ethnography and anthropology, while highlighting some particularly
important views on the issue. S. Low’s research on this subject is mainly characterised
by the problems of urban space, especially the domains of power, identity and social
justice, as well as their application in the public environment (Low, 2016: 2, 4, 45–46).
etymonline.com/word/proximity (accessed 11 May 2020).
12 Especially in this province of culture, which is not directly related to the utilitarian transformation of the environment
and the goods it provides.
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At first glance, these issues may seem too circumferential to the current topic, which
rather aims to articulate some aspects of the ritualised usage of space, furthermore in a
traditional, non-urban society. However, S. Low sheds valuable perspectives on the genealogy of ideas and notions of space and place, outlining key theoretical frameworks,
some of them deriving from Antiquity. According to the author, space is a more comprehensive, respectively more abstract category, based on a social and material form of
productivity. Space is rather a social construct, concentrating the movement and activity of both the individual and society, as it adheres also to the historical and political
phenomena. Place is used in the sense of a space that is loaded with personal and group
meaning and understanding. It represents mostly the concentration of subjectivity in
space. In other words, place appears as a form of the experienced space (Low, 2016: 32).
S acred and ritual space
In our attempt to continue the topic of the subjectivity of spaces, we should pay
attention in advance to some of the main definitions concerning the aforementioned
entities. Speaking of space, as a volatile but at the same time constantly present paradigm in the many aspects of ritual practice, it is appropriate to introduce the differentiation between the types of spaces. As far as religion is concerned – be it a Church
or a set of folklore traditions and rites, there is always a spontaneous parcelling and
hierarchy of the habitable environment, precisely in accordance with the principles of
the respective belief system. A number of authors (Eliade, 1998, 2002; Grimes, 2014;
Smith, 1982, 1987) consider two types of space in the context of religion and ritualism – sacred and ritualistic.13 In everyday life, another variety can emerge, namely the
so-called informal/living space, which in turn exhibits a remarkable semantic dynamic,
as through a certain ritualised intervention it can acquire the functionality of a sacred
or ritual space. The delineation of certain areas as sacred or ritualistic is a complex process that requires the introduction and observance of strictly defined, but at the same
time sustainable, norms and regulations. The main building block of religion – ritual,
constantly affirms this specificity: the capacity to turn every form of behaviour into a
routine. It transforms the incident into an established pattern, giving it significance and
regularity, while its original nature of an ‘incident’ is erased. The sacred place is a field
of ‘clarification’ and concretisation, where both man and the divine are fully visible and
‘transparent’ to each other. This is the environment in which static or random-sporadic
forms of communication are minimised in favour of purposeful exchange of information. This process is achieved precisely through ritualised repetition and routine (Smith,
1982: 54). The sacredness of a particular spatial unit itself also has a clearly visible dual
13 This does not concern the sacred and profane dichotomy, the concept that Emile Durkheim proposed and was later
developed by M. Eliade and other authors. In this case, we are rather intrigued by a purely methodological idea, which
refers to the adaptation and use of certain objects in the field of religious experience.
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nature. As J. Z. Smith himself (1987: 104) emphasises:
A ritual object or action becomes sacred by having attention focused on it in a
highly marked way. From such a point of view, there is nothing that is inherently sacred or profane. These are not substantive categories, but rather situational
ones. Sacrality is, above all, a category of emplacement.
Sacredness and ritual practice are linked in an extremely dynamic and changing
integrity. Indeed, when we speak of it, especially in the context of a strictly defined ritualised form, then the question of localisation and delineation of the physical character
of the ‘sacred’ naturally unfolds. This mechanism is often associated with the presence
of a particular object or point that should manifest its sacrality. For such a marker to
exist, however, it is necessary to seek and verify a specific mythological precedent. M.
Eliade speaks about the so-called mythical geography, i.e., the ideal sacred space, a notion representative of the ancient world where myth is real because it tells of the display
of true reality: the sacred. It is in such a place that man directly connects with the sacred – whether it is materialised through certain objects (churinga, images of the deity,
etc.) or manifested in hierarchical cosmic symbols (Pillar of the World, Tree of Life,
etc.) (Eliade, 1998: 37). Rites are the most certain means of guaranteeing complete and
complex transmission of symbolic information. In order to properly assess the role of
the rite in the mechanism of a given tradition, it is necessary to take into account all
the peculiarities in the attitude towards the universum by ‘homo traditionalis’. In this
system of thinking, reality is understood through its consistency towards a precedent.
Anything that does not correspond to the models stored in the collective memory, as
well as that which goes beyond the stereotypical experience, is considered non-existent,
meaningless. In this line of thinking, the perception of the world could be understood
as a collection of precedents. Those precedents that are most essential for the vitality
of the group determine the key situations reproduced through the ritualised activity.
The rites, in turn, are based on specific reference points, relating them to the results
of certain sacred actions, while at the same time giving them the status of real events.
In short: the essence and purpose of the rite is to confirm whether there is an affirmation between the sacred examples and the empirical facts. Particularly significant
prerequisites and conditions presuppose the periodic ‘confirmation’ of this accordance
(Bayburin, 1983: 6–7). Ritual is the human (cultural) transmigration of the climax of
certain spatial, temporal and sacred elements in a common dynamic whole (Ibid., 15).
M. B. Hundley offers a similar reading of this concept, referring to the ancient Middle
Eastern temple structure. According to him, sacred space is associated with a specific
physical place where the human and the transcendental intersect. Some spaces are considered sacred by regulation or assignment. In most cases, this applies to sites that are
not pre-designed but form an integral part of the landscape, although according to the
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worldview of the community in question, inhabiting the immediate area, they are ‘by
nature’ loaded with special significance. On the other hand, the temple construction
has a completely different idea and purpose – to ‘lure’ the divine presence and integrate
it in a man-controlled way. In many cases, this process is associated with places where
there is a clear continuity in the sacred inheritance, but less often such a phenomenon
can be fixed in a completely new place, not pre-loaded with peculiar significance (Hundley 2020: 1). The first model can be clearly illustrated by some examples from votive
practices (obrok) in Western Bulgaria. This concerns the placement of votive monoliths
(mostly shaped as crosses), which specifically mark the sacred space relating to the selfsame ritual practice. This occasion can be clarified by accurate data and objects that
indicate the existence of real relics from the past, but in some cases this justification
can be entirely narrative. It is not uncommon for the constitution of votive monuments
and the establishment of consecrated places to be associated with legends that churches,
monasteries, ancient and medieval fortresses, settlement and tomb mounds, ancient
sanctuaries, etc., had previously existed in the chosen sacred space. For example, on
Petrovski Krast (‘St. Peter’s Cross’) peak in the Chepan Mountain (Western Bulgaria),
in addition to the votive cross, there is also a sanctuary of Sabazios, dating between
the 2nd–3rd centuries A. D. Archaeological excavations have uncovered a total of four
dedicatory inscriptions, from which it is clear that the sanctuary was dedicated both to
Heros and Sabazios. The notion of St. Peter’s Cross as a sacred topos is well preserved
in time, long after the adoption of Christianity (Nikolov, 1978: 40–41). We observe similar frequent cases in Pernik and Breznik regions (also in Western Bulgaria), where a
large number of votive monuments are placed in the territorial boundaries of ancient
Roman or Thracian sanctuaries. There are such examples near the villages of Noevtsi,
Gorna and Dolna Sekirna, between the villages of Zavala and Yaroslav in the locality
of Prokopie (St. Procopius) and others (Mutafov, 1989: 198). In this regard, it will be of
use to point out an observation made by archaeologists while studying the consecrated
grounds dedicated to ‘Sv. Spas’ (Ascension of Christ) in some western Bulgarian provinces. Based on the excavations carried out in the area, the votive monuments dedicated
to the Ascension can positively be considered as reliable archaeological markers, especially in the discovery and excavation of religious buildings, dating to medieval times, as
well as to the period of the Bulgarian National Revival. For example, in the north-eastern part of the vicinity of the village of Zabel, Tran Region, there is such a consecrated
place, near which the remains of a medieval church and an ancient necropolis were
found. Of particular interest is the case of the consecration, once more dedicated to the
Ascension, located at the foot of the hill Krakra near Pernik. The foundations of three
churches were found built on top of each other, identified as early Christian (from the
6th century), medieval (from the 14th century) and a chapel built in the late 19th century.
A cemetery was discovered in the near surroundings which existed between the 14th
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and 19th centuries (Paunova, 2008: 163–173). This clearly testifies to the continuity in
the tradition of adoption of sacred territories since Antiquity. As to their nature and
functionality, votive crosses can be related to a broader paradigm, excellently illustrated
by Michael B. Hundley. He speaks of the purpose of the standing stones in the ancient
Near Eastern rural areas, which to a large degree correspond with the designation of
votive crosses, found in large numbers throughout the Western Bulgarian countryside.
In the same fashion as temples, freestanding monoliths serve as another means of communication between the human and the divine. They are in some cases enclosed in
a certain structure or previously manufactured environment, but are often found as
free-standing. Like statues and icons in temples, free-standing monoliths can serve as
a ‘recipient’ of the divine presence. They also suggest significantly freer access, being
independent of traditional channels of admission to the temple space. This can also be
conceived as a more egalitarian form of expressed religiosity. As there are no restrictions typical for the temple admittance and etiquette, the lack of dogmatic regulation of
behaviour presupposes a certain variability and ‘flexibility’ of the religious-ideological
setting (Hundley, 2013: 356–358).
O n experience and perception. Cosmos and sacred topoi
Perceptions of space vary over time, relating to the ways in which people respond
to it, including a number of social and cultural factors. The immediate conception of
space will most likely present it essentially as a physical value, with no particular social
and cultural significance whatsoever for the individual. It becomes a place only when a
certain cultural form declares it as substantial, growing into an objectivity created by
human experience. Due to the fact that people react to and evaluate space differently14,
one particular space can be several places at once. The symbolically laden space is often
ambiguous, as sacred and profane elements can appear in the same location. A home
shelf, for example, may contain elements of the sacred – an icon, candlestick or other
religious indication, but also attributes related to everyday life (Hundley, 2013: 2). In the
ancient history of the Middle East, temples were often defined as dwellings of the divine,
while observing a number of restrictions on accessibility. In many ancient Middle Eastern languages, the names for domestic dwelling overlap with those for temple buildings
(Ibid., 118). For this reason, the structure of the ancient temples is more reminiscent
14 Of particular interest is the position of Immanuel Kant regarding the processes of perception and conceptualisation
of space. Kant defines space as a pure form of intuition, complemented by human sensitivity and sense, i.e., forms of
knowledge a priori – knowledge that does not necessarily arise from experience. Unlike Newton’s followers, who refer
to space as a self-sufficient quantity that exists independently of the objects in it, or Leibniz, who considers space as a
system of connections between concepts and objects, Kant proposes an alternative reading of the issue. Kant’s answer is
that space and time are forms inherent especially in human perceptions and senses. This does not exclude in particular
the experience of space. Kant considers space primarily as a subjective form of the mind that the individual intuitively
possesses, while at the same time it is necessary for the broader perception of ontological phenomena (Kant, 1998: 157–
162).
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of a well-organised home than a modern-day church. Despite the differences in some
details, many of the ancient temples have a striking resemblance to each other in terms
of construction, function and ideology. Like a house with an adjacent yard, each temple
has an outer part, closed to the rest of the settlement, but still without a roof, as the
temple itself has both a wall and a roof, which indicates its special status as a significant
place (Hundley, 2013: 2–3). Michael Hundley draws and extremely interesting parallel
between the temple setting and that of the dwelling, especially in the context of shaping
the notion of the sacred. In the Bulgarian folk tradition, the construction of a new home
is an example of purposeful demarcation of a sacred space, as the ritual practice can
be likened to that in the construction of temples and sanctuaries. Ivan Nikolov (1996)
draws attention to the issues related to the initial construction of the new domestic
setting, while taking into account a serious shortcoming in the Bulgarian ethnographic
tradition. For years, Bulgarian ethnography purposefully grouped a number of cultural
phenomena into two main categories – spiritual and material (tangible) culture. This,
in turn, can often be an obstacle to the study of culture and its occurrences, rather than
a well-functioning categorisation that facilitates ethnographic research. As I. Nikolov
himself (Ibid., 25) points out:
In a number of studies, the notions, beliefs, customs and rites associated with the
construction and consecration of the dwelling were considered independently
as a ‘spiritual culture’. Regardless of the conditional nature of this distinction by
inertia, the traditional dwelling is understood as a phenomenon of the ‘material’
and ‘spiritual’ spheres, but not in view of its syncretic character, but as a partitioned whole. Emphasis is placed on imaginary polar states, without taking into
account that such a division does not correspond to the philosophy of the cultural system and the behaviour in the social life of man, which have an indivisible
character.
The polarised representation of culture in two ‘distinct’ opposites does not correspond to the concepts and notions in culture itself. The multidirectional and delineated
study of a particular subject does not necessarily help to its comprehension. According
to I. Nikolov, the beginning of the dwelling construction is associated with the mythological motif of Creation, the initial semantics of the universal spatial model (Ibid., 26).
In a sense, the ritualised choice of location for the new home is a special act, which is
characterised by a distinctive intimacy. This characteristic refers mainly to the fact that
the act of selection itself is carried out by people with direct kinship. Builders who will
subsequently be involved in the work process do not take part in this ritual practice, as
they are distinguished as outsiders. More generally, the choice of location has no direct
connection with the construction itself and excludes the participation of people who
do not share a direct family relationship with those initiating the new home (Ibid., 27).
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The signs by which the space for the new dwelling in the Bulgarian pre-modern culture
is selected are often ambiguous. On the one hand, they correspond to a large extent
with the purely practical advantages and benefits of the construction, as well as with an
intent of ensuring the stability and durability of the structure itself. On the other hand,
however, some peculiarities concerning certain mythological notions and perceptions
of the worldview are taken into account, which at first glance are not related to the utilitarian use of the dwelling. This ontological assessment of space is made through several
fundamental binary oppositions that stem from the primordial view of the world. At
first glance, the opposition ‘good – ill’ stands out most clearly, but behind these two
concepts there are a number of peculiarities and specific properties. These features of a
certain place are determined mostly by the general idea of the space within the settled
vicinity, which is essentially a set of composites, qualitatively different places (Luleva,
1998: 64). Some of them are ‘good’, i.e., sunny and wind warded, and others ‘ill’, i.e.,
moist and dank. This notion leads to the opposition of ‘benign’ – ‘bleak/barren’ land,
well represented and frequent folkloric motif. The notion of a ‘good / right’ place is the
basis of the most general criteria for the integration of the community into a part of the
still uninhabited space. These measures apply a system of contrasts that distinguish the
good place as opposed to characteristics such as ‘cold’, ‘waterless’, ‘windy’, ‘empty’ (i.e.,
without any traces of human cultural activity) (Nikolov, 1996: 28). These are the visible
signs that speak of the positive or negative features of space, but there is also a specific
mythological connection.
Dank areas and wetlands are considered a habitat to harmful, supernatural creatures, and this peculiarity is counteracted by some specific ritual forms. The actions
around the divination rituals for determining the positive or negative quality of the
construction site are first characterised by the fencing and separation of the site in question. Initially, the border is outlined with water, ash, thread or other perishable material,
and subsequently ‘affirmed’ with a fence, ditch or boards, i.e., it turns into a well-adopted yard. Constraint is the first step in the process of creating a place which is qualitatively different from the rest of the space outside (Luleva, 1998: 64). The reassurance and
specification of the positive qualities of the space are also supported by a widespread
ritual. In Northwestern Bulgaria (Vidin, Vratsa, Lovech regions) at night the householders place water containers in the centre or the periphery of the foundations. If in the
morning the water is clean and intact, then the place is considered suitable for construction. There are also various records about the outlining of circles of rye or millet grains,
which are left for a certain time. If they remain intact, again the place is considered
‘good’ and suitable (Nikolov, 1996: 35). The ethnographic materials which speak of the
selection of a construction site reveal the archaic basis in the notions and beliefs about
the qualitative inhomogeneity of the uninhabited space. The initial selection marks the
beginning of the change in the status of the micro-space towards integration and ac-
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cession to the established social environment. The next stage is carried out within the
built-up area. Although within control, it still has ‘conflicting’ and contradictory spatial
points. At the level of the settlement territory a detailed classification is made, based on
a number of features and qualities that determine man’s attitude to a place. The ancestral territory bears the marks of human presence and inheritance between generations;
therefore, it is the most preferred area (Ibid., 30).
In every single ritualised action, there is a key topos, which to a large extent predetermines the essence of the self-same ritual process. In this line of thinking we will
return again to the construction and cultivation of the dwelling as a symbolic centre
of the lineal community, but at a later stage, marked by the initial entry and official
‘domestication’. Entering the new home is a strictly established ritual. In the morning,
before dawn (on Monday, the beginning of the week, or Wednesday, which is a day of
fasting), the householders enter the new home by pouring water on their way (sometimes only around the threshold), at the same time throwing wheat and money as well.
Usually, the first to enter is the one who has to light the fire in the hearth. There is a quite
frequent plot in which the householders offer a sacrifice – a rooster or a ram – in front
of the above-mentioned hearth or around the threshold. The blood of the sacrificial animal, in some cases the head as well, is thrown inside the fireplace (Luleva, 1998: 74–75).
It can be seen that two particularly fundamental semantic topoi are emerging – the
hearth and the threshold. Passing through or moving around them, marking them in
general with a strictly predetermined ritualistic movement, is a symbolic interpretation
of the complete and comprehensive integration of the home in the spheres of family
inheritance and society.
T he impact of space. Ritual rhythm and social change
The wedding ceremonies observed in the Bulgarian folk culture quite well illustrate some of the key principles for the formation and manifestation of the notions of
the sacred / ritual space and place. One of the most successful attempts to segment and
analyse certain aspects of ritual space and time in Bulgarian folk culture was made by
Radost Ivanova (1984). While examining series of formalised actions at the vernacular
wedding ceremony, she comes to some particularly interesting observations. In essence,
her research adheres to the concepts formulated by Arnold van Gennep, attributing
wedding rituals to the category of rites de passage (Ibid., 142). In addition, there are
some distinctions of the sacral chronotope in marriage ceremonies. One of the most
remarkable features of this system are actually movement and direction, as well as the
summary of the way travelled. A key role in this case falls on the distance between certain objects and individuals, as well as their surrounding environment. The emphasis
stands out exclusively in the context of the ritualised passage/movement through space,
as well as in the idea of the journey. At the wedding, the spatial dimensions are equal
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to the sum of the parameters of the two dwellings (the groom’s and the bride’s) plus
the distance between them, which has the meaning of neutral space. The pathway for
the male side is different from that of the female. For the groom’s wedding entourage,
the beginning of the transition starts with the successive passage on the way from his
home to the periphery (yard, neighbourhood and village). Schematically represented,
this transition goes as follows: leaving his family territory – entering the neutral space
(actual transition) – entering the unfamiliar environment. The time perspective for the
two newlyweds is also different. When the young man is in the bride’s home, he is
already in a state of transition, insofar as for her this transition has not yet occurred –
i.e., for the two main figures in the wedding festive system, the moment of the actual
transition occurs at different times. This speaks to the rule that time and space in the
wedding ritual complex have a different modality for each of the characters involved,
and also their experience of the process is strictly individual. At the moment when the
bride leaves her home, her direction is: familiar – neutral – alien, while for the groom:
alien – neutral – familiar (Ibid., 1984: 142). As the bride moves towards the groom’s
home, the horizontal plan of the pathway is outlined and the oppositions ‘familiar –
unfamiliar’ and ‘male – female’ are overcome, but the journey for both future spouses
also has vertical dimensions. The latter consist in the elimination of the opposites ‘girl –
woman’, ‘boy – man’, which is a sign of a change in the social status of the newlyweds.
Therefore, the path of the two can be represented as a spiral motion with an end point,
which is located above the starting point, on the upper circle of the spiral. For the bride,
this movement is preceded by a road with significant horizontal parameters (Ibid., 159).
The wedding ritual complex contains various indications for a change in the established social order and the transformation of spaces into specific, symbolically laden
places. This phenomenon is especially clear in the forms of communication between
mother-in-law and bride. The arrival of the young married couple at the groom’s home
is characterised by some special ritualised patterns. Particular attention in this case is
paid more to the bride, as before entering the home space, a white canvas is laid in front
of the threshold, through which the girl must pass (AEIM, №705-II: 55). The space in
front of the threshold is thus marked by the bride’s movement, and after setting foot
into the house she is greeted by her mother-in-law, who gives her bread and pitchers of
water or wine, and in some cases smears her with honey (Southern Bulgaria, Central
Rhodopes) (Tsaneva, 1994: 180). The special care to which the bride is subjected by the
mother-in-law speaks of this turning point in which the new member of the family is
accepted as a person with a special status, different from the precisely defined subordination that would summarise the social relationship between the elder woman and the
younger daughter-in-law. The gifts that at first glance semantically refer to the notions
of well-being and fertility (bread, wine, green twigs, etc.) that the girl receives from her
mother-in-law mark the bride more as a special character whose role in this a specific
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moment of the ritual procession is to be the bearer and personification of prosperity
and success. This is confirmed by a specific custom in which the bride is given honey,
with which she smears the doors and threshold of the house (Haskovo and Vidin Regions) (AEIM, №1002: 155; AEIM, №512- II: 18). Through this act she blesses the family
dwelling, which is still not yet perceived as ‘her own’, i.e., the role of the bride in this
case is rather equivalent to a peripheral figure, one with a special/extraordinary status,
as the manner of welcoming them in the particular home is important for the general
well-being of the household. Apropos, when formally crossing the white canvas before
stepping on the threshold, a kind of zenith is noticed in the liminal state of the bride,
as at that moment she does not ‘belong’ either to her family, with which she has already
solemnly separated, or to the groom’s family. For the young bride, the space around the
threshold is in this case a special, intimate place, which will subsequently determine her
new social affiliation, and this process is characterised by two main opposite modalities – passing through the white canvas and smearing the threshold/door with honey.
Specifically, in this case, the borderline condition of the girl is outlined not only by her
transition from one social stratum to another (girl/ maiden – married woman), but also
by the replacement of the family affiliation and the primacy of one genetic link with
another. In addition, it is worth mentioning the spatial and semantic transformation of
what is perceived as home. Undoubtedly for the young bride the wedding ritual system
marks one of the most crucial moments of her life cycle, as in this complex are concentrated many mechanisms for the metamorphosis of existential and social roles.
However, the integration into the new social and kindred environment is not
marked only by the girl’s first entry into the new home. Even then, she is still in an
extraordinary state, which has yet to be ‘restored’ through a series of rituals. The main
point in the structure of this ritual complex is the first formal pouring of water by the
bride. There are too many variations of this custom, so we will focus only on the more
significant aspects. The implementation of this custom has different temporal dimensions, as it can take place immediately after the introduction of the young married couple in the groom’s home, or after their first wedding night. In some villages in the vicinity of Sofia, immediately after the newlyweds enter the house, the bride is accompanied
to a nearby water supply, from which she pours water, and then brings it back home.
Upon entering the house again, this time an armful of wood is placed on the threshold,
and on them, wrapped in a mantle, lay the mother-in-law. The young bride has to ‘find’
her, give her water to drink while kissing her hand, and bring the wood inside to the
hearth, where its usual place is (Genchev, 1993: 215). As we see, there is a slow normalisation of the social structure, as the hierarchy is restored by the act of kissing the hand
of the mother-in-law by the young bride, who is already entering the house with the
notion that it is more or less her own, placing an object into its right place.15 In another
15
The hearth, which is perceived as a figurative centre of the domestic environment.
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variation of this custom, the new, foreign space is ‘cultivated’ individually by the bride,
as she places coins in the four corners of the living space (AEIM, №705-II: 57). Again,
it can be seen that through the ritualised use of space, the restoration of an implicit,
certain social and existential order is sought. The dynamic in both the semantics and
utility of space is in many cases identical to the dynamics in the social processes and in
the relations of the individuals involved in them.
C onclusion
The separate role of the spatial dimensions in the construction of the ritual process
is a relatively poorly studied topic in the Bulgarian ethnographic literature. However,
it can be seen that through careful selection of some elements a consistent framework
can be built to isolate and analyse the spatial (and temporal) aspects in the structure of
the rite. Particular attention should be paid to several main points which have not been
the subject of an in-depth analysis so far. In the first place comes the question of space
and place purely as an objective circumstance, i.e., how they are assimilated and inhabited. Secondly, the dynamics of their semantics and symbolic characteristics should be
traced, but in the form of conceptual de-structuring. From this initial point, the role of
spaces/places in the sphere of social (but also lineal) organisation and its intertwining
in the religious-worldview system can now be considered. The aim is to bring out a developed scientific apparatus, which, like the constructive study of ritualised behaviour
(gestures, symbols, expression, and speech) would clearly and precisely distinguish
the functional and symbolic characteristics of spaces and their cultural appliance. The
main emphasis should be on the transformative function of ritual acts, as well as the
flexibility, adaptability, but above all else, the integrity of all ritual components.
R eferences:
Arhiv na etnografski institut s muzey (1969) (Archive of the Ethnographic Institute
with Museum), №512-II. Terenni etnografski materiali ot s. Gradets, Vidinsko
(Ethnographic Fieldwork Materials from the Village of Gradets, Vidin Region).
Arhiv na etnografski institut s muzey (1971) (Archive of the Ethnographic Institute
with Museum), №705-II. Terenni etnografski materiali ot s. Dinevo, Haskovsko
(Ethnographic Fieldwork Materials from the Village of Dinevo, Haskovo Region).
Arhiv na etnografski institut s muzey (1959) (Archive of the Ethnographic Institute
with Museum), №1002. Terenni etnografski materiali ot s. Dropla, Dobrichko
(Ethnographic Fieldwork Materials from the Village of Dropla, Dobrich Region).
Bayburin, A. (1983) Zhilishte v obryadah i predstavleniyah vostochnayh slavyan (The
Home Dwelling in the Rites and Worldview of Eastern Slavs). Leningrad: Nauka.
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Eliade, M. (1998) Obrazi i simvoli (Images and Symbols). Sofia: Prozorets.
Eliade, M. (2002) Mitat za vechnoto zavrashtane (The Myth of the Eternal Return). Sofia: Zahariy Stoyanov.
Geertz, C. (1973) The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. Inc.
Genchev, St. (1993) Semeyni obichai i obredi (Family Customs and Rites). In: Sofiyski
kray. Etnografski i ezikovi prouchvaniya. Sofia: Akad. izdatelstvo ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’, pp. 196-233.
Grimes, R. L. (2014) The Craft of Ritual Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hall, E. T. (1966) The Hidden Dimension. New York: Anchor Books.
Hundley, M. B. (2013) Gods in Dwellings. Temples and Divine Presence in the Ancient
Near East. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
Hundley, M. B. (2020) Chapter 11. Sacred and Common Space. In: S. E. Balentine (Ed).
Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Forthcoming). Available at: (https://www.academia.edu/37305774/Sacred_and_Common_Space (accessed 10 November 2019).
Ivanova, R. (1984) Balgarskata folklorna svatba (The Bulgarian Folk Wedding). Sofia:
Akad. izdatelstvo ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’.
Kant, I. (1998) Critique of Pure Reason. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant. Guyer, P. and A. W. Wood (eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kreinath, J., J. Snoek and M. Stausberg (2006) Theorizing Rituals. Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts. Boston: Brill Leiden.
Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1993) Gesture and Speech. Cambridge, London: October Books.
Low, S. and D. Lawrence-Zuniga (2003) Locating Culture. In: S. Low, D. Lawrence-Zuniga (eds). The Anthropology of Space and Place. Locating Culture. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 1-48.
Low, S. (2016) Spatializing Culture. The Ethnography of Space and Place. New York:
Routledge.
Luleva, A. (1998) Izgrazhdaneto na domashnoto prostranstvo. Kam semantikata na balgarskiya traditsionen model na doma (The Creation of the Home Space. About the
Semantics of the Traditional Bulgarian Home Model). In: Etnografski problemi na
narodnata kultura. Kn. 5. Sofia: Akad. izdatelstvo ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’, pp. 63-105.
Mutafov, V. (1989) Obrochishtata kato kultovi obekti (Votives as Cult Objects) In: Etnografski problemi na narodnata duhovna kultura. Sofia: Akad. izdatelstvo ‘Prof.
Marin Drinov’, pp. 194-122.
Nikolov, V. (1978) Trakiysko svetilishte na vrah ‘Petrovski krast’ v Chepan (Thracian
Sanctuary at the ‘St. Peter’s Cross’ summit in the Chepan Mountain). Vekove 2:
40–52.
Nikolov, I. (1996) Izbor na myasto ili ‘nachaloto’ v stroitelstvoto na novo zhilishte (The
Choosing of a Place or ‘The Beginning’ in the Construction of a New Dwelling).
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Bulgarian Ethnology 1: 25–38.
Paunova, V. (2008) Obrochishtata ‘Sv. Spas’ kato ‘zhiva starina’ (Votives Dedicated to
the Ascension of Christ as a ‘Living Antiquity’). In: Izvestiya na RIM–Pernik. Pernik: Izd. RIM-Pernik, pp. 161-194.
Smith, J. Z. (1982) The Bare Facts of Ritual. In: J. Z. Smith (Ed.) Imagining Religion:
From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 53-65, 143145.
Smith, J. Z. (1987) To Take Place. Towards Theory in Ritual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tsaneva, E. (1994) Svatbeni obredi i obichai (Wedding Rites and Customs). In: Rodopi.
Traditsionna narodna duhovna i sotsialnonormativna kultura. Sofia: Akad. izdatelstvo ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’, pp. 146-190.
Bozhidar Parvanov is a curator at the National Ethnographic Museum in Sofia (IEFSEM-BAS) and a PhD Student in Ethnology in Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’.
His research interests are focused mainly on the field of symbolic and interpretive anthropology, anthropology of space and place and ritual studies. His PhD thesis deals
with the subject of Space and Place and their dynamics and modalities in the perspective of symbolism and social status change within rituals, adjacent to Bulgarian folk
culture. His MA thesis deals with the history and the current development of votive
practices and rituals in Western Bulgaria.
E-mail: parvanov.bozhidar@gmail.com
69
T HE BIRTH OF PHILOSOPHY:
FROM MYTHOS TO LOGOS
Abdulkadir Çüçen
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to address a new way of thinking and reveal the
very complex transition from mythos to logos at the birth of rational knowledge in the
Ancient world. Man uses different sources and types of knowledge to explain what is
happening around him; he wants to be able to explain his existence and organise his life.
‘Human beings want to know by nature’, says Aristotle; thus, knowing for man is as basic as his natural needs. Human beings want to know by nature because it is impossible
to live without acquiring knowledge. For men, trying to determine their life; knowledge
becomes a basic tool.
The question of how to be sure that the acquired knowledge is correct is one of the
main concerns in philosophy. Therefore, besides the conditions for obtaining knowledge, the criterion for determining the accuracy of that knowledge poses a problem in
itself. When employing this criterion in cases where it is not predetermined or where
the accuracy of the knowledge obtained is obscure, another ability of man is revealed,
namely, faith. Thus, besides the desire to know, there is also a desire to believe. Knowing
a situation is closely related to a man’s understanding of that situation. In this sense,
sometimes people use ‘irrational’ reasons to explain situations whose underlying causes
they cannot rationally grasp. So, in this paper I would like to explore how the knowledge of myth and the knowledge of philosophy are different from each other, and how
man transfers knowledge from mythos to logos.
Keywords: knowledge, philosophy, myths, ‘mythos’, ‘logos’, Ancient Greek
I ntroduction
To understand why and how philosophy came into existence in a global culture
dominated by poetic mythology and codified legal norms, it will be necessary to take
into account the geographical, literary, social, political, religious, mythical and scientific contexts of the ancient world. The aim of this study is to reveal and address the
transition from mythos to logos at the birth of philosophy in the Ancient world. It will
also discuss whether this transition is a ‘Greek miracle’ or not. As many philosophers
in the East, South and North of the Mediterranean, in China and India were settling in
the chaotic structure and orders they were faced with, they tried to create new orders by
rejecting the established habits, religious and mythological beliefs of the cultures they
belong to. These wise men, or philosophers, for whom thought tends to be a certain
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abstraction, asked deeper questions and revealed more ambitious, more speculative,
and more passionate answers. Five of these sages, all belonging to separate cultures, can
be highlighted: Zarathustra (628–551 BC), Thales (625–547 BC), Siddhartha Gautama
(563–545 BC), Confucius (551–479 BC) and Lao-Tzu (6th century BC).
When observed beyond thousands of years, it is impossible to unsee that Greek
philosophers stand on a point which separates two eras. The fundamental reason
of the ‘intellectual revolution’ that has been started by Pre-Socratic philosopher
in Greek world is the adoption of a new attitude towards comprehending and
explaining the truth. This attitude can be summarized as an attempt to provide
rational explanations in place of myth and religion statements that have been
traditionally accepted. Therefore, it is necessary to look at both sides of the opposition in order to understand the innovation and change that has been realised.
Thus, investigating the meanings of mythos and logos, how they differentiate,
what kind of a conception of cosmos they represent and how they interact with
each other will help us gain a deeper comprehension regarding the ethos of Ancient Greek philosophy (Berke, 2020: 134).
Philosophy and science have always interacted in a positive way in the form of theoretical philosophy, but, eventually practical philosophy was the one that became popular. It began to reject the explanation of natural events with mythology and suggested
that natural events should be explained as consequences of natural causes. That is how
ancient philosophy distinguished itself from mythology and polytheistic religions and
started to explain natural events differently. The most distinctive representatives of this
philosophy in the Ancient world are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
The first half of the 6th century BC, this time in the West, on Turkey’s Aegean coast,
Thales appeared on the philosophical stage. As a philosopher, he was interested in describing natural reality and the nature of existence in general. Up until then, it was
Zarathustra who explained the nature of divine reality; Confucius and Lao Tzu properly explored socio-political reality; and Buddha who morally organised the individual.
However, Thales was not content with the Greek mythology’s beliefs of that time, and
he developed a different philosophical and entirely rational approach in explanation of
the existence. He believed that every natural event could be explained by a natural and
logical cause. He was well known for his discoveries in astronomy and mathematics.
However, it is evident that his successes in those fields were culturally based on information gathered from previous civilisations.
T he Terms ‘mythos’, ‘epos’ and ‘logos’
‘First there was the word’, says the Holy Book. If Plato were to hear this, he would
possibly ask, ‘Which word?’, since in the ancient Greek language, there were not one,
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but three words covering the concept of ‘word’: one is mythos, the other is epos, and the
third is logos. ‘Mythos’ is the spoken or heard word, meaning fairy tale, story, legend.
However, there is not much truth in mythos because when people describe what they
see and hear, they can adorn it with lies. This is why a historian like Herodotus calls
mythos an unreliable rumour that has no historical value, and a philosopher like Plato
describes mythos as a fictitious, empty and ridiculous tale (Erhat, 1996: 1). Myths are
narratives about the gods, heroes and supernatural beings by topic. They are organised
in a harmonious system and are traditionally transmitted verbally by bards and priests.
They are often endorsed by priests or rulers who are associated with the religious or
spiritual life of their own community. When myths lose these spiritual positions in the
community, that is, when they lose their connection with the spiritual structure of the
community, they lose their mythological qualities and become folklore or fairy tales
(Erçel, 2014: 3).
Myths often aim to explain the emergence of both the universe as a whole, and on a
more specific level, of local region. Examples of these are the myths of creation and the
establishment legends, respectively. Myths also frequently aim to explain natural events
and cultural practices that cannot be explained otherwise. In general, it can be said
that myths are often used to explain anything that does not naturally present a simple
explanation. Myths tell sacred stories; they tell of events that happened in earlier times,
at the time of ‘original’ fairy tales. Myths are always stories of a ‘creation’: they tell how
something was created, how it began to exist (Ibid., 3).
‘Epos’ has a different meaning. It signifies a word that is spoken and read in a certain order and manner. Epos is God’s gift to man, combining beautiful words and enchanting its listeners. If we want to explain the nature of epos with the words of the
poet, we should say that epos is poetry, epic and melody in one. Today we see it in all
Western languages as epic and epope. There is an affinity between mythos and epos.
Epos makes the story of the mythos more balanced and more decorated. The more
beautiful the epos, the more effective mythos is. It is this successful marriage of epos
and mythos that enabled the legends from ancient times to survive until today. The
concept of mythos gained international recognition (Erhat, 1996: 1).
But there is also logos. The word physiologoi, meaning ‘natural scientists’, was
coined by the Ionian thinkers, and particularly, by Heraclitus. According to them, logos
is the truth expressed by the human word. Logos reflects a legal order, just as there is
logos in the human body and soul, there is also logos in nature and in the universe. Logos is the thought in man and the law in nature; it exists everywhere and in everything;
it is both common and divine. The main task of the thinker is to find the logos, reveal
its secrets, and express them in human words. This epoch, which had started with the
concept of logos, has reached direct science, so that logos-logia has become a word / a
verbal supplement used to express knowledge and science in any field of research today
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(Ibid., 1).
According to Toynbee, the myth is a glimpse of the ultimate reality hidden behind
the veil of appearance. According to Freud, it is the projection into the outer world of
our internal desires and conflicts. According to Maclver, it is, among other things, the
foundation on which the State is built (as cited in Monro, 1950: 1). Generally speaking,
myths are narratives that give information about the universe, the world, and man.
These narratives contain knowledge or information, but this knowledge or information
is mostly unfounded, based on imagination and belief. Therefore, myths – more specifically, the ancient Greek myths – contain both cosmogony and theology, and in that they
differ from legends. Indeed, legends or epics do not have such qualities.
D iscussion on the birth of philosophy
Greek mythology is part of the Greek view of life. Each culture forms myths in its
historical development. There is no culture without myths. There are myths specific to
certain cultures, and there are also shared myths, which sometimes undergo change
during their transition between cultures depending on the lifestyle and beliefs of the
culture into which they transition. Ancient philosophers sometimes tried to express
their thoughts more effectively through symbols and connotations that received insights from their imagination, as well as through mythical expressions, whenever philosophical concepts were deemed insufficient. When we think about how much mythical and poetic narration took place in Greek society and how strong and effective the
traces of such narratives are in social memory, it becomes much more understandable
why Greek philosophers, themselves members of Greek society, sometimes resorted to
mythical expressions. It is important to note that the Greeks, who are much more introverted with spells or aphorisms, have been affected by these elements, but this has
not cast a shadow over their glorious achievements in natural philosophy, metaphysics,
psychology, epistemology, ethics and politics (Berke, 2020: 149–150).
On the other hand, Aristotle can be used to clarify the difference between mythos
and logos, or philosophy and mythology. According to Aristotle, only the universal can
be an object of philosophical knowledge since the latter is independent from the particulars and because the aim of philosophy is, according to him, to know or grasp what the
first reasons are. Myths, on the other hand, are different from philosophical knowledge
as they connect particular events to particular causes.
Understanding the phenomena is not by achieving what makes them singular,
but by achieving the manifestation of general laws. But a general law cannot entitle the individual character of each event. It was precisely this singularity in
events that prevailed in the experience of ancient people (Guthrie, 2011: 54).
Undoubtedly, the mythological explanations about being and existence arose from
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the people’s curiosity and lack of knowledge about these issues. In this context, it would
not be wrong to claim that people at that time had reached a level of consciousness
allowing them to ask questions and to give explanations about nature and the human
world. The level of consciousness, combined with mythological explanations, became
the basis and reason for the birth of philosophy. People had reached a point at which
they needed to connect natural events to a cause. Speaking to Greek society, they felt
obliged to link all facts and processes to a common origin cause, as the ‘nothing causes
nothing’ motto became the basis of their perception of the universe. Over time, this way
of thinking has manifested itself in the arche (arkhé) problem that forms the source of
philosophy.
At this point, the following question arises: Why did the Greeks not settle with
myths but attempted to explain nature and the universe on philosophical grounds? The
most important reason for this was the formation of a ‘primitive scientific consciousness’ and in connection to the experience of natural phenomena, and it would not be
wrong to say that there developed a need for explanation based on observable reasons.
Moreover, this need arose from the satisfying of certain material needs. A certain economic well-being and the free time resulting from it created that curiosity in man. In
addition, the geographical location of Miletus and the Aegean coast, where philosophy
originated, had an established trade network with Egypt and other eastern civilisations,
thus becoming the place of origin of a free political order that in its turn allowed intellectual speculation and philosophy. Thus, geographical location can be included in the
material conditions and reasons ‘not mandatory but effective’ for the birth of philosophy (Guthrie, 2011: 45–46).
The process, which proceeds from explaining the causes of natural phenomena and
events with myths, poses a problem in terms of history of philosophy, namely, whether
the transition from mythos to logos was a sudden one or not; and whether, while one
was ending, the other one was already starting or not. Still, the line between myth and
reason is not always clear.
The importance of the attempt to comprehend and explain the universe through
reason, starting with Thales, in terms of human history is obvious. However, …
the point we should be careful about is not to see this attempt as a sudden and
total break with mythological and theological thought (Berke, 2020: 144).
Mythological structure, which was intertwined with the religious explanation style
in the Greek world of thought, met the intellectual need for explanation of the origin
of the universe until there developed a readiness for a new type explanation – one independent of divine explanations. This readiness shows that the religious mythological structure had completed its function in the intellectual process and a new style
of explanation about the universe had emerged. Philosophy arose as a result of man’s
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desire to interpret the universe on the basis of reason and language, independently and
differently from religious and/or mythological thought without causing conflict with
the established religious mythological structure. Thus, the birth of philosophy was the
transition process of the Greek intellectual world from religious mythological structure
to philosophy. This transition process was the result of the progress of thought and the
need to go beyond the religious mythological explanation in the Greek world of thought
(Atış, 2009: 59). Thus, the subject covered by mythology and theology in the Greek
world of thought became the subject of philosophical thinking. As a result, mythological and divine elements were passed on and used in the philosophical explanations of
the origin of the universe. In effect, philosophy’s reference to mythology as a source
makes theology the starting point of philosophy because the philosophy studies of the
first philosophers were not of human or society, but of the universe (Ibid., 60).
The first Greek thinkers were the ones who try to explain certain issues with a
philosophical and rational attitude (the first cause, the original principle, the one that
did not occur, the uncreated reason that did not have its own cause for the existence
of everything, etc.). So, the philosophers of Antiquity started to unravel the mysteries
of nature by relying on their knowledge rather than providing explanations based on
Divine intervention.
Philosophers began to rethink existing problems and produce solutions in a way
that placed the mind in a more dominant position (Arslan, 2006: 27–28). According to
Karatani (2017: 8), the origin of Greek philosophy is located in the natural philosophy
of Ionia. This was a critique of the gods of Olympus by means of reason. Hence, it is
generally understood that philosophy began as the antithesis of religion.
Opposing this view, Cornford goes a step further and considers that the claim that
the philosophers of the early period were indeed doing scientific research is not true
because their problems, goals and methods differed from what is nowadays understood
as belonging to natural science. For him (as cited in Arslan, 2006: 28–29), these early
philosophers did not form their thoughts based on experiments, and they did not conduct systematic observations. Their thoughts were more focused on the knowledge they
intended to obtain through a ‘speculative-natural’ method. According to Cornford, the
reason for this is that the thought structure of Ionia, although seemingly abstract and
free, was formed as a ‘system of thinking’ developed by religion. As a matter of fact,
most of the philosophers from this period adopted the role of a ‘seer, poet and prophet’
with a God or a Goddess as the inspiration or source of their ideas. Conford considers
that in this period, the philosophers were men who realised the existence of a reality
distant from the senses and closed to them (as cited in Arslan, 2006: 30). Their intuitive
mind replaces supernatural abilities, which were previously active in dreams and prophetic visions, and turned to metaphysical ones.
Stating that the philosophers of the first period placed an intellectual order in the
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universe and thought that order would be grasped directly with the mind instead of
through ‘sensory experiment and observation’, Cornford claims that this could be observed even in Plato. According to him, Plato’s doctrine of the eternal, and Plato’s belief
that it could be grasped directly through intuition and theoria without resorting to the
outside world, is proof of this claim. Thus, Cornford argues that rather than being an intellectual transformation from myth to logos, pre-Socrates philosophy was a structural
continuation of ‘myths and poetic cosmogony’; however, what philosophers did differently was that they ‘tried to rob this scheme from the elements of mythical analogy by
taking the last steps in this rationalisation process’ (as cited in Arslan, 2006: 30).
The mythos is the explanatory, story-telling comportment closely related to the
parable and allegory… The narrative semantic structure of myth allows for the revelation of meaning but does not impose a meaning. The logos is the foundation of Western
philosophy. It is itself the act of founding, of giving account, of grounding experience
in reason. This grounding reason looks for a first principle or original substance to
account for phenomena in the beginning of time. It also takes the form of the propositional statement of predication, connecting a subject to its properties. From the logos
comes the objective-theoretical comportment that seeks the truth as a direct connection
among extant things and meaning as information communication (Karatani, 2017: 8).
According to the historians of philosophy like Burnet and Gomperz (2015: 18), the
transition from myth to logos was noticeably sudden. Burnet states that there is no
trace of theological fictions in the philosophy that emerged in Ionia, and that it is wrong
to search for the roots of ‘Ionian science’ in myths. According to him, the word ‘God’
found on the fragments at hand was used to emphasise the qualities of the primary substance, such as unchanged, eternal, or immortal; that is, to point to the ‘divinity’ aspect.
According to Burnet, God gradually lost his place as an object of worship in the works
of Homer, and especially, in the works of Hesiod. In these texts, the Gods are described
mostly as ‘natural phenomena’ or as ‘personification of human passions’. Hence, ‘Ionian
science’ understood what was born of these characteristic qualities of the period and
was completely free from nature. Such qualities are based on this myth.
Historical research in a certain area is sometimes based on the method of sequencing historical events. This approach is sometimes valid for the history of philosophy.
In this context, it is stated by some aforementioned historians of philosophy that mentioned that the transition from ‘myth to logos’ is sudden – according to them, in the
world of thought, myth ended and the logos began. However, there is no such sharp line
between historical processes. On the contrary, historical events are often intertwined
(Erdemli, 2015: 9). In other words, the beginning of logos does not mean that the myth
has ended, and claiming the opposite may lead to overlooking the relationship and interaction between the two processes.
It does not seem plausible to argue that pre-Socrates philosophers’ approach was
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completely stripped from a mythological thought structure and that they made philosophical analyses of nature through a brand-new method and system of thought. On
the other hand, any claim that would overshadow the existence of a different level of
consciousness at the birth of philosophy, which would overshadow the peculiarities of
the philosophers of that period, seems equally unreasonable. For this reason, it seems
that the right way to view the birth of philosophy is by looking for a source that is not
completely divorced from mythological thinking and whose roots extend to mythological texts. Nevertheless, there is also an indication that there was an original and
reasonable thinking structure at the birth of philosophy – one, seeking a single regulatory principle behind the multiplicity and determining that principle as existing from
nature, and thus linking the causes of the events in the universe to an internal reason.
However, the interaction of mythology and philosophy (logos) actually makes the
relationship between the level of consciousness and language more pronounced. In other words, the level of consciousness is in line with the level of language development.
It is possible to say that the level of consciousness develops accordingly as language
develops. Myths became one of the most important factors that improve this language
level over time. Because of mythology, for example, the special concepts (cosmos, chaos,
beginning, etc.) that it used to explain the formation of the universe opened new ways in
the language, and therefore in the field of thinking. In this context, as language developed, the burgeoning of philosophy became inevitable (Erdemli, 2015: 67). According
to Wilhelm Nestle, the relationship between the myth and the logos, the creation of religion and knowledge, concepts and views, views and fantasy is combined in an astonishing way in Ancient Greece. The emergence of the myth and logos manifests itself in two
forms: on the one hand, as the comprehension of the fantasy that constitutes the myths;
on the other, as the fantasy in the service of the comprehending and understanding (as
cited in Erdemli, 2015: 18).
C onclusion
Therefore, if we were to describe the original character of Ancient Greece, the land
where philosophy was born, it would not be wrong to say that mythos and religion
were at its core. Otherwise, the birth of philosophy would be perceived as a ‘miraculous’ event, separating two different civilisations (before and after philosophy). However, philosophy could not just arise out of nothing. There was mythical thinking before
philosophical thinking developed. Where oral or verbal culture flourished, mythology
also developed. People were explaining the world around them with myths. Over the
course of time, along with social, cultural, economic, political, military and intellectual
change, philosophical thinking emerged. Thus, myths and logos replaced each other.
We can say that what makes Greek philosophy stand out is that it formed a written tradition, that is, the thoughts produced were put on paper and thus became available for
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studying to the generations to come.
The basis for the emergence of logos from myth was philosophical thinking, which
was a very different type of thinking. The Greeks asked the question of ‘why’ and ‘how’,
which naturally led to cause-oriented generalisations. What constituted the giant step
taken by the Greeks in science and philosophy was this particular transition towards
abstract generalisations, which could only be made through reasoning, or in other
words, logos.
Before the advent of philosophy, the Greek world of thought was represented by
religion and mythology. As those two fields continued their independent existence, they
also affected the emerging field of philosophy. However, philosophy in Greek thought
has in turn also influenced religion and mythology. Philosophy presents itself as a way
of thinking and as a form of expression different from religion and mythology. It was a
product of applying a rational and systematic human mind on every topic it wanted to
explore. However, the relationship between philosophy as logos and mythology in the
Greek intellectual world was not one of conflict, but rather of working together, which
also explains the reasons and conditions for the emergence of philosophy in the Greek
world of thought. During the emergence and development of Greek philosophy as rational thinking, the religious and mythological structures not only did not prevent, but
even nurtured the emergence of this new way of thinking. Thus, the old and established
structure of the Greek intellectual world created a suitable environment for the emergence and development of philosophy (Atış, 2009: 65). The main and original point is:
mythos uses the fluid language of images, metaphors and symbols; the philosophical
and scientific rationality dispenses with this language and focuses strictly on verifiable
references, predications and predictions.
R eferences:
Arslan, A. (2006) İlkçağ Felsefe Tarihi 1, Sokrates Öncesi Yunan Felsefesi. 1.b, İstanbul:
İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
Atış, N. (2009) The Relationship Between Religion Mythology and Philosophy in Greek
Thought. Kaygı: Uludag University. Journal of Philosophy 12: 57–66.
Berke, Z. (2020) İki Ayrı Perspektiften Mitos-Logos İlişkisi. Kaygı: Uludag University.
Journal of Philosophy 19 (1): 135–151.
Burnet, J. (2015) Erken Yunan Felsefesi, 4.b, İstanbul: İdea Yayınları.
Guthrie, W. K. C. (2011) Yunan Felsefesi Tarihi, 1.b, İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınları.
Erçel, G. and Hiperlink (Firm) (2014) Mitoloji Sözlüğü. İstanbul: Kafekültür Yayıncılık.
Erdemli, A. (2015) Mitostan Felsefeye. 1.b, İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Erhat, A. (1996) Mitoloji Sözlüğü. İstanbul Remzi Kitabevi.
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Karatani, K. (2017) Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy. Durham: Duke University
Press.
Monuro, D. H. (1950) The Concept of Myth. The Sociological Review 42 (1): 115–132.
Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467954X.1950.tb02465.x#accessDenialLayout (accessed 20 March 2020).
Abdulkadir Çüçen, PhD, is a Professor of the Department of Philosophy at Bursa
Uludağ University in Turkey. He is an author of numerous articles and books on epistemology, ontology, human rights and especially Heidegger’s philosophy of Being. His
research interests are: philosophy of knowledge and being, logic, human rights, ecology,
and philosophy of science. Main publications: ‘Introduction to Philosophy’ (in Turkish,
2016); ‘Logic’ (in Turkish, 2016); ‘Ethic of Respect for Nature in Deep Ecology’ (2016:
2809–2819); ‘Martin Heidegger vice versa René Descartes’ (2017); ‘Introduction to Philosophy of Science’ (in Turkish, 2017); ‘Essays on Heidegger and Philosophy’ (2018);
‘Heidegger’s Philosophy: Being and Time’ (in Turkish, 2018); ‘Human Rights’ (in Turkish, 2018). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8092-1472.
E-mail: kadir@uludag.edu.tr
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MYSTICAL
AND MAGICAL
BOUNDARIES
OF RELIGION
T HE MAGIC OF MUGHAM IN AZERBAIJAN –
A SYNTHESIS OF MYSTICISM AND PHILOSOPHY16
Bogdana Todorova
Abstract: Mughаm (Azerb. Muğam) is one of the main genres in traditional Azerbaijani
music, part of the musical-poetic art of the Azerbaijan nation. The Mughаm combines
philosophical poetry with the philosophy of music as a complement to the harmony
of being. In 2008 UNESCO proclaimed the Azerbaijani Mugham as one of the masterpieces of verbal and intangible cultural heritage. Muğamat represents a collection
of Makams (stations) (in Sufism, degrees on the path to the union with God), part of
the Arab, Turkish and Persian traditions, which symbolises the path to perfection. It is
related to the mystical-pantheistic philosophy, which relies on love as a philosophical
category and is an integral part of the mysticism of Azerbaijan. This philosophy lacks
radicalism or opposition between the material and the ideal, the Creator and creation,
the rational and irrational. It strives to achieve human excellence while also preserving humanism and tolerance. The post-Soviet period allowed Western audience and
scholars to become acquainted with the musical works of Azerbaijani masters of the
Mugham and to compare their musical-aesthetic suggestion with German Romanticism. Therefore, this report is an attempt to reveal a little-known component of the
contemporary life and the philosophical tradition of Azerbaijan by focusing primarily
on the philosophy and magic of the Mugham.
Keywords: Mugham, Azerbaijan, mysticism, philosophy, magic
I ntroduction
Mugham is part of the Azerbaijan cultural and spiritual heritage. Apart from being
a lyrical type of music, it is a state of mind, a way of fusing with the world and a sort of
cosmic philosophy. It is originally known as the ‘music sent by God’ (UNESCO, 1971).
As a genre, it was formed during the period of the so-called Muslim Renaissance
(the 12 – 13th c.), when poetry writing was in ascent. Jeffrey Werbock, the most famous
American Mugham researcher, writes that historically this feature is explained by the
following: ‘In the South Caucasus, it merged with the ashug art that had already developed there. And so, Mugham was born. The peak of its development was during the
‘Muslim Renaissance’ in the 12–13th centuries’ (Caucasian Psychodel). The poetic forms
Ghazals (an oriental lyric form) and poetic verses of later works formed the basis of
16 The article is supported by the bilateral project ‘Reality and Future Perspectives of Social-humanitarian, Scientific
and Cultural Relations of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria (2017–2020)’ between ANAS and BAS.
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
Mugham. From then on, the establishment of musical schools of Mugham in the cities of Baku, Shamakhi, Nakhchivan and Karabakh, with the prominent Karabakh Shikestesi (Karabakh sanctuary) began (Azerbaijan State News…, 2019). It is an extremely
sophisticated art mode based on classic poetry and musical improvisation with specific
local rhythms. Mugham is a modal system that, unlike the western modal system, is
associated not only with scales, but also with vocally communicated melodies and melodic fragments used by performers in the course of improvisation. The selection of a
specific Mugham and its performance style are in correspondence with a particular
event. Dramatic deployment of performance is usually associated with an increasing
intensity and Makams (degrees) of elevation as well as with a unique type of poetic-musical communication between performers and a devoted audience.
Mugham has a whole complex system known as dastgah. It has its own beginning,
culmination point and end. There are seven main modes of Mugham and each of them
is an expression of some feeling or state of the soul. Rast is the expression of bravery,
Shur of the lyrical senses, Segah – of love, Shushter – of deep sadness, Chahargah – of
excitement and passion etc. Each mode of Mugham requires an appropriate ghazal to
match its music (Bunyadzade, 2016: 293).
UNESCO started to popularise this kind of traditional music not only in Europe,
but also in the United States, Canada and Japan. Specific workshops and symposiums
on this type of music were organised in Moscow in 1971, Alma-Ata – 1973, and Samarkand – 1978 and 1983, respectively. During the 21st century, we see a revival of this kind
of music, as in 2003 the Azerbaijan Mugham was declared a supreme form of the intangible oral cultural heritage; in 2008 it was formally registered in the UNESCO World
Intangible Cultural Heritage List. On December 27, 2008, the President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev and the former UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura inaugurated the Mugham International Centre, which hosted the First Mugham International
Festival, organised at the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Fund in March of 2009. The
main objective of the festival is to popularise the Azerbaijan Mugham in the contemporary world. Further, the festival takes place every two years, attracting an increasing
number of performers and fans of this ancient and everlasting, magical musical art.
Mugham is usually performed by three musicians – the performer playing Tar, the
performer playing Kemenche and the Khanande (singer), who directs the main theme,
enriching it with improvisations and emotional nuances. From my point of view,
Mugham is not only a distinctive national music, but a philosophical and mystical way
of thinking.
The main aim of this article is to present the Azerbaijani Mugham through the concepts and texts of Azerbaijani scholars not so popular in the West. Eastern nations also
have various versions of Mugham – such as Arabian maqams, Turkish makams, Uzbek
and Tajik magoms, Uygur mukams, etc. – thus, we can hypothesise that Mugham forms
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the basis of the oriental culture in general (Bunyadzade, 2016: 283). There are different views on its origin. Konul Bunyadzade describes it as a synthesis of the Eastern
and Western thought, and it is not a coincidence that in 2003 UNESCO recognised
Mugham as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Ibid.,
283). I prefer to look at Mugham as ‘a spiritual process, a driving force that forms the
thinking of the people, preserving the dynamism of their thinking’ (Farhadova, 2018:
16). It is from this point of view that both the specificity of Mugham and its role in the
formation of the whole value system and way of thinking of the Azerbaijani people are
revealed.
Historical and philosophical approaches form the methodological basis of this article. It is an attempt to reveal a little-known component of the contemporary life of
Azerbaijan and its philosophical tradition. Тhe research is focused on the mystical and
philosophical sides of the Mugham. The thesis states that the Mugham in Azerbaijan
has to be understood in its two dimensions – as an example of art (a universal Sound)
and as a way of thinking. The main research questions are: why the Mugham philosophy is not identical with Sufism and why both Mugham and Sufism come to the idea
of union with mysticism. Due to the effort of showing the coherence of the Azerbaijan
spiritual culture, including music and religion, Mugham is equated with Islam. The
conclusion confirms the thesis that Mugham is a complex phenomenon, a carrier of
beauty, wisdom, and philosophical depth, as well as a distinct contribution to the global
musical culture.
S ufism and Mugham
Sufism is a prevalent mystic teaching in the Islamic religion. Moreover, many researchers underline that it is the most powerful philosophical-pantheistic and philosophical-theosophical stream in the Near and Middle East during the Middle Ages.
It influences religious thought, philosophy, history, literature, cosmology, and biology,
and finds acceptance in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Central Asia, Azerbaijan, etc.
There is no unified opinion among researchers about the origin and etymological
meaning of the term ‘Sufism’, which represents a mystical stream in Islam, and which
was created on the territory of current Iraq and Syria in the 8th century. The literal
meaning comes from the Arabic Sufi – dressed in woollen clothes, and is related to the
coarse woollen coat, which is characteristic of the ascetic and asceticism). According
to other researchers, the meaning of the concept ‘Sufism’ is related to the Greek ‘σοφός
άνθρωπος’ (‘wise man’). A third group finds its essence is in the moral purification
and spiritual perfection of the Sufis. This interpretation is related to the Arabic term
Saf (pure). Of course, some authors deny this interpretation since, according to them,
the Arabic ‘pure’ does not come from Sufi but from Saf and is based on purely random
sound affinity.
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The fact that some authors relate the roots of Sufism to the early mythology of the
ancient Turks clearly shows that Sufism should not be linked solely with the Islamic religion. However, it must be underlined that its impact on the social-political thought, as
well as the religious and secular world-view of the respective societies becomes stronger
with the affirmation of Islam as a world religion. Sufism becomes mainstream in the
different schools of Islam (Sunnism and Shiism).
Its features are the following: firstly, the relation between God and man is put within the confines of an extreme mysticism. In terms of religion, this means that the knowledge of God is obtained through the mystical love of Him, a final degree of which is the
confluence of God and Man. The purpose of Sufi rituals is the elevation of the spirit.
One of the aims of the Mugham is to elevate the person to unity with God. Mugham
is usually associated with Makams (degrees) of elevation in Sufism. Bunyadzade compares the various parts of the Mugham with the Sufi stages of a cognitive process. ‘These
stages are named haal (state) and maqam (station). Each part of Mugham is parallel to
a station (maqam) – this phenomenon affects and shapes our state (haal), giving it a
name – humanising it through feeling and thought’ (Bunyadzade, 2016: 294).
Sufism is based on three important notions: love, truth and justice. In Sufism, love
is a philosophical category, which is equated to nature and the universal harmony of
being. Its achievement represents the attainment of the unity of being. It is accessible to
all individuals, irrespective of their social status, religious, or racial affiliation. A similar position is a precondition for searching for the truth, which shapes the attracting
power of Sufism. It proposes several degrees of ascent to perfection (Sharia, Tariqa,
Maarifat, Haqiqa), or the route from theological to esoteric spirit of religion. A Sufi
approaches the comprehension of the religious esoteric route – the achievement of the
mysteries of the creature and the Creator. His route is associated with the refusal of
earthly pleasures, evil, hypocrisy, and violence. Moral refinement is accompanied with
the improvement of intellect and the accumulation of knowledge as a step toward the
comprehension of the things unknown to reason – the secrets of creation. At the level
of justice, a Sufi reaches the truth about the world, about himself/herself, about God,
and their inter-manifestation to one another. Using the symbols of Sufism, this unity is
presented as the unity of the lover and the beloved, the micro- and macrocosm, the part
and the total, the ‘mandatorily existing’ (the Creator) and the ‘eventually existing’ (the
creation). At this stage, the majority of Sufi acknowledge their own divinity – God is
within them and there is no God outside them. The last step is the so-called dissipation
and unity, described as Ana’l Haqq (I am the Truth), through the most famous words of
the Persian poet and mystic Mansour Hallaj, which practically negate God and cannot
be aligned with the concept of creationism, in which the Creator and the creation are
divided. Both Mugham and Sufism come to the idea of union with mysticism. The two
are important for the Islamic culture. Both Sufi music and Mugham lead to the attainment of truth and of God (Suvarnalata Rao, 2011).
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M ysticism and Mugham
Some Azerbaijani philosophers (Kazim Azimov) define mysticism as a universal
phenomenon of spiritual culture, which was historically formed through the process
of self-understanding arising from the human need for psychological self-affirmation.
Mysticism adopts various practical and theoretical forms of manifestation – from
magic to pantheistic theosophical-philosophical concepts (Quluzade, 2009a: 29), where
it finds its ultimate expression. It is part of the Oriental spiritual culture, in which it is
viewed as Irfan (the knowledge of mysticism), unlike in the West, where it is part of the
history of philosophy. In the Orient, mysticism has been coherently developed over the
centuries. In the West, during the periods of ‘radical rationalism’, mysticism has been
associated with irrationalism and intuitivism.
Тo clarify the main thesis of mysticism, several points need to be made: first, the
concept of mysticism is not characteristic only of Sufism, but also of Islam as a whole.
In general terms, mysticism is a concept that comes from the Greek mystikos (secret).
Its appearance is related to the cognitive sides of the history of mankind, and more
specifically with the unknown side of the world. Without going into details, we would
only demonstrate that the gnoseological and psychological basis of mysticism in the
initial stages of the history of mankind is not a result of any kind of encounter with unknown phenomena. The essence of the mystical worldview is formed from the moment
in which the unknown phenomena obtain characteristics of the known, and the ideas
about the duality of the world are formed. In the initial stages of the history of mankind,
this duality was not associated with the differentiation of two independent worlds – the
natural and the supernatural. The primary idea views the world as uniform and the
ideas about the natural and the supernatural are within the framework of the material
world and refer to real objects and phenomena in it. Not until later did the formation
of ideas of independent spiritual entities and the separation of two distinct worlds –
material and spiritual, natural and supernatural, come to be known, particularly with
the formation of the idea of the soul as an independent entity. The idea of the supernatural is an essential component and feature of any mysticism. Historically, the idea
of the supernatural has changed and developed, and that is why mysticism continues
to adopt different forms and manifestations until today, starting from assigning supernatural characteristics to real objects and phenomena, including to man, and eventually
reaching the status of orderly and completely built religious systems. What is common
among all of them is that through the presence of the idea of supernatural phenomena,
one goes into a world that is unmastered by natural laws and uncognisable by natural
forms and methods of knowledge.
The theoreticians of Sufism view the relation between Man and God in completely
mystical light, which manifests itself in denying the role of human reason in knowing
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God. For this purpose, intuitive knowledge, illumination, ecstasy, as well as the use of
specific religious practices are emphasised. The latter includes specific dances or repetition of religious expressions with the aim of ‘direct’ confluence of man with God.
The mystical love of God of the believer is aimed at confluence with Him, thus
leading the former to eternity in the Absolute. The teachings of two of the 9th century founders of Sufism – the Egyptian Dhul-Nun al-Misri and the Iraqi Abu Abdullah
al-Muhasibi, emphasise, for example, the importance of self-observation of human behaviour and the secret intentions of man in establishing supreme sincerity before God.
However, mysticisms’ irrevocable characteristic is universalism, as the bearer of
entirely human values and hopes. Through it, the devotee attempts to understand the
hidden secrets of being, to reach unity with God by refusing the Self, and to aspire to
social harmony and justice through self-refinement. Mugham is the musical manifestation of what humanity has historically found as valuable. However, it is not just an
expression, but an attempt at understanding the influence of historically and culturally
relevant events on the inner worlds of human beings (Bunyadzade, 2016: 296). Mugham
is therefore a type of connection with God through mystical love and spiritual experience.
T he place and role of Sufism in Azerbaijan
Sufism has found a favourable developmental ground in Azerbaijan – a country
with an ancient and unique culture inherited from the ancient Kura-Araxes. The archaeological culture of the Early Bronze Age was formed during the second half of
the 4th millennium BC and persisted till the end of the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC as exemplified by the tribes occupying the territories of the South and Central Transcaucasia, East Anatolia, north-western Iran, Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and, partially, north Ossetia. Based on objective reasons (geographical position,
natural resources), Azerbaijan is politically, economically and culturally closely linked
with various countries and peoples and their culture and customs, particularly with the
latter’s spiritual aspects. The use of Latin, Ancient Greek, Persian and Arabic writing
systems also contributed to the advance of Azerbaijan spiritual culture. The diversity of
ethnicities that took part in the formation of the Azerbaijan nation, along with Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and the shamanism previously existing on its territory,
contributed to the tolerant attitude towards different ethnicities and religious groups.
This freethinking is reflected in the ideologies of the numerous non-orthodox streams
and heresies associated with the various religions in the region. Sufism became an ideological, theoretical, and particularly practical sociocultural stream, defining the development of the Azerbaijan spiritual culture, philosophy, theology and theosophy, ethics
and aesthetics, literature, philosophical poetry, music, arts, and architecture.
Azerbaijani thinkers play a large role in the formation of Sufism not only locally,
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but also in the entire Caucasus region. In his treatises, Ayn al-Quzat Miyaneji demonstrated the pantheistic system of Sufism. Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi and Abu Hafs Umar
Suhrawardi explored the philosophical and ethical dimensions of Sufism and established the famous Sufi order As-Suhrawardia in Baghdad. Its branches can be seen in
different countries in the Orient, as it became particularly popular in India during the
8th – 9th c. Initially, it was supported by the Caliphs and ruling Islamic elites, but it
later adopted the ideas of pantheism and freethinking, and based on it, streams and
sects, such as Bahaism and Pir Jamailiya, were created. Almost all of the Azerbaijan
Sufi and their orders and teachings not only had a wide regional distribution, but also
attracted representatives of other religions. The ideology and movement of Qazalbash is
an example in this direction. The Sufi thinkers delivered their doctrines both through
the prosaic treatises and through philosophical poetry (e.g., the heritage of Baba Kuhi,
Shabustari, Owhadi Marhagei, Nesimi, S. Tabrizi). Sufism had a large influence on the
works of Nizami and Fuzûlî. The Sufi doctrine of attaining God through love and the
usage of specific mystical symbols in artistic images entered ontology, gnoseology, and
ethics, thus forming the basis of the Azerbaijan spiritual classics. Their concepts were
embraced by both the representatives of the elite, such as the Shah Ismail Hatai, and
of popular movements aiming at the restoration of social justice. The ideas of Sufism
were reflected in the court poetry (Hatran Tabrizi, Shirwani) and the philosophical
poetry of the Azerbaijan romanticists M. Hadi and G. Javid. On the one hand, based
on Sufism, new, distinct streams originated and, on the other hand, it intertwined with
other major regional streams, which it had originally opposed. Influenced by theology,
Sufism entered the channels of the orthodox theosophy of Islam (the Ghazali heritage),
while at the same time, it also intertwined with the ideas of Ismailism and the Oriental
Peripatetism, especially with its gnoseological notions.
T he philosophy of Mugham
In the Azerbaijan spiritual heritage, the Mugham philosophy is most closely related
to the philosophy of Sufism. On the one hand, the Mugham philosophy is associated
with the intrinsic union of the exoteric and the esoteric and the possibility for interpretation and specificity in its development in different nations and their musical cultures.
On the other hand, it is determined by the ideological adjustment of the performers and
the depth of the spiritual world to be achieved through the various types of Mugham,
as well as from the moral abilities of the audience and the performer/musician – particularly, their genetically inherited skills to perceive and comprehend both the external
(exoteric) and internal (esoteric) beauty of music. The latter can detach the audience and
the performer from the surrounding world and the Self, unite them and merge them
with the music, in which one dissolves oneself and forgets the past, present and future.
The body disappears and only the spirit, revived by the music, is retained. The former
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would return to the time and space inhabited prior to the music after the last chord has
ended. This complexity of the Mugham philosophy could be the reason why its exoteric
side is continuously ignored in the musical education of the Orient.
Although close to the philosophy of Sufism, the Mugham philosophy is not identical
to it. The Sufi teaching of the unity of being is based on love as a philosophical category,
which is characteristic of the spiritual culture of Islam and non-orthodox teachings as
a whole. The philosophy of Mugham can be compared to musical aesthetics of Romanticism and the overmastering philosophy of love (pining after the beloved and aspiring
to return to the primary origin). The initial ideological and philosophical principles of
Mugham (the unity with God) gradually disappeared over the ages. Only the trends towards spiritual purity and the uplifting of the audience remain unaltered. Throughout
the years, Mugham has functioned as means of spiritual improvement, influencing both
memory and consciousness, and drawing performer and audience in a state of trance,
sinking and dissipating them in an unbounded harmony and complete unity.
T he music of Mugham – a universal sound
Eventually, the disappearance of the ideological philosophical principles of
Mugham led to the breakdown of its unified system and its further transformation in
the form of national varieties of Mugham in the various nations of the Near East and
the Middle East. Some of these varieties are associated with the medieval philosophical poetry and history of Azerbaijan. This musical genre holds an important place in
Azerbaijan culture, and its nationwide presence enhances the national self-confidence
of the people of Azerbaijan. The Mugham encodes an authentic Self deeply rooted in
the consciousness of the performer. As music, it represents the light that dispels the
darkness from the heart by illuminating it and revealing what’s hidden in its depths. It
is a realistic dream with emotions, but it is also the basis of knowledge as a driving force.
The Mugham melody is the finished product of this knowledge.
The ways are different, but the end result is the same. The Mugham music is an
independent worldview, in which the sound is comparable to a spiritual experience.
God is the author, and the musicians and their hands are just the tools, which reveal the
Absolute to the audience. The sound of Mugham and the light of Sufism are individual
manifestations of God revealing the human aspiration to harmony with a universal
Sound. Mugham contains all the potential of human thought – the objective knowledge
of the divine world and the subjective influence that can lead every listener through his
own path to the truth (Bunyazdzade, 2016: 300).
In Mugham, there are 3 types of music:
1) The first type is associated with the definition of the main principles of music –
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the trajectory of music and the definition of new ideas. Only initiated individuals
can experience real pleasure from this music;
2) The second type is associated with the researchers of this musical genre and
their studies, articles, and books. Paradoxically, our knowledge of this genre proceeds from the studies of western researchers, as a shift from the East to the West
can be observed;
3) The third type is associated with the philosophical and Sufi treatises that are
devoted to the composition of music and related to the philosophy of Mugham;
Practical music can be differentiated from the theoretical one in a way similar to
the dual structure of the practical and meditative reason in Oriental philosophy. The
practical music is associated with various melodies and the instruments for their performance. The theoretical music sets a rational reason for the melody, irrespective of the
instruments for its performance; it is in a state of potency in relation to knowledge (Shehadi, 1995: 53). A melody is related to the internal imagination, irrespective of the body
sensitivity, but not to the performative skills. It is a specific kind of knowledge, in which
the creative energy, identical to God’s thought, ensures the transition from singularity
to multiplicity. The plurality of being is completed through a series of acts of mediation, turning cosmology to a phenomenology of angelic consciousness. Nous poietikos
(Intelligentia agens (active intellect)) is separated and external to the human reason,
but the human being appears directly attached to it, in which the gnostic originality
of the Oriental philosophers is encoded (Corben, 2000: 232). This reason is close to the
human world and is always active. Gaining knowledge, the active reason becomes an
acquired reason – the ultimate state of the human mind, in which it can accept – using
intuition and illumination – the forms of the active reason sent to it, without shifting to
the mediation of the senses. Al-Farabi suggests that unity with the active reason takes
place through the imagination, which is the source of creativity (Ibid., 221). The theory
of imagination is critical for the composition of a melody, where the audience connects
to the active reason through a contemplative mediation – the source of revelation and
inspiration, which not only provides pleasure, but also leaves a durable trace in the souls
of the listeners.
The composition of a melody for this type of musical art can be associated with a
‘poetical instinct’ related to the human need to be free from stress and be able to relax.
Hence, listening to this type of music should not be regarded in terms of time intervals,
but as a time flow, or like a ‘translating possibility’. It is a ‘translation’ from the dense
and compact time of the ‘sensory world’, through a ‘non-detectable time’ (the time of
an ‘imaginary world’), where a person is free from accompanying anxiety, to the ‘su-
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per-non-detectable time’ – the world of clear reason. All creatures have a quantum of
their own time or, in other words, personal time which can be modelled. This quantum
of time, that is set in a spiritual individuality, is able to envelop the infinity of being in
the present, past, and future. The pleasure of music does not necessarily require practical participation supported by the ancient philosophers (Ptolemaeus, Aristotle) (Ibid.,
102). The enjoyment taken from this melody is analogous to the sensual perceptions,
which are always accompanied by the feeling of pleasure. Thus, from a philosophical
point of view, we can find opposition to the Pythagorean idea that pleasure is the result
of the celestial spheres (Ibid., 54).
For the performers of Mugham, the aim of music is similar to poetry – the achievement of ultimate human happiness. To accomplish a perfect musical composition, one
needs to first understand the intended use of poetry and its numerous forms. Then the
use of the two arts of music and poetry is applicative to two fields of interest, those of
logic and politics. Poetry is part of the logical corpus, while music belongs to the so
called ‘poetic arts’. The correlation between poetry and melody has a central role in the
philosophy of Mugham, and melodies represent a complex effect of perception, similar
to visual decorative objects. Thanks to their poetic effect through the use of simple and
pleasant images and verbal expressions, instead of pompous terms and concepts, they
incorporate wisdom in one’s soul. The tolerant side of this kind of music is at the forefront.
Based on the above, Mugham can be defined as a kind of a multiform, systemic,
musical thinking or tradition, which ‘canonises the degree structure of the musical expression, the attainment of philosophical harmony, and the unity of being’ (Quluzade,
2009a: 56). It does not include any opposition of the material against the ideal, the unity against the multitude, the Creation against the creation, or of the rational against
the irrational (mystic). Its aim is to improve people based on humanism and tolerance.
Originally, Mugham was an effort to realise oneself as part of the unity with God. It
is a practice of viewing oneself as united with the Absolute, through the heart, and of
completing the cycle of return to the primary origin, in which prayer is a tool to return
to the lost paradise, where Man is with God.
C onclusion
Some of the tasks facing contemporary Azerbaijani musicologists and philosophers
are those of analysing and promoting the musical culture of Mugham, analysing the
objectivity of its essence, the history of its development, and the reasons for its sustainability. To preserve the pattern of Mugham, its main categories and rejected philosophical components need to be restored; a philosophical idea within the same concept of
Mugham needs to be returned (Quluzade, 2009b). One needs to trace and analyse the
connection between the concept of Maye (core) and the modal basis of the classical
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Mugham, which is associated with the esoteric origin of the ‘light of Pleroma’ and its
descents through the seventy thousand Veils to this world, embodying the archetype
of the cycle of Walayah (guardianship) and its ideological and philosophical contents
as a way of unveiling and triggering a hidden esoteric reality. It is important to develop
the forms and contents of the ethno-national Mugham in the evolution of philosophical
ideas and to resurrect the Hikmah Ilahia (God’s Wisdom) and the gnosis (Irfan) in it.
Only then the inseparability of the history of philosophy and the history of spirituality
in Islam, which is aimed at postulating a definite type of philosophy, can be comprehended. The philosophy of Mugham is an act of understanding through God and an
inspiration, in which God is a subject, object and end, or music beyond the Veil.
For the development of the regional and ethno-national musical cultures, it is very
important to examine the contents of Mugham as a phenomenon. The forms conditioning the uniqueness of the Azerbaijan Mugham, which qualitatively differentiate it from
other national Mughams in the region, should be an object of profound study. It is very
important to view it as a complex phenomenon, a carrier of beauty, wisdom, and philosophical depth, as well as a specific contribution to the global musical culture.
Mugham is deeply rooted in Azerbaijanian history and it is justly considered the
pearl of the Azerbaijan musical art. When studying and discussing Mugham, it must
be always understood in its two dimensions – as an example of art and as a way of
thinking. Sufism and mysticism are two lines that cross and merge in the philosophy
of Mugham. Mugham resembles the Sufi music and it is as important as the mystics
and Sufism. One can define it as the ‘soft power’ of Azerbaijan in the context of a foreign-policy strategy built on culture, instead of a means to an end. For a small country
like Azerbaijan, the preservation of its local culture is more important than its dissemination in foreign cultures. As a musical genre, it embodies a universal sound, while, as
a concept of thinking in a philosophical context, it is reflected in ontology, gnoseology
and ethics. As a concept, further comparison and differentiation from other philosophical streams and ideas (Nicholas of Cusa, Eckhart, Suhrawardi) are required.
The philosophy of Mugham includes personal philosophical and poetic thoughts;
consequently, it is often an individual work, which differs from group performances. It
is only through its own experience that the audience can reach the truth and connect
with the Absolute. Thus, Mugham is life, prayer, and magic.
R eferences:
Abdullazade, Q. (1983) Filosofskaya suşnost muqama. Baku.
Affifi, A. (1939) The Mystical Philosophy of Ibn-Arabi. Cambridge: University Press.
Agaeva, S. (2012) Entsiklopediya Azerbaydzhanskogo mugama (Encyclopedia of Azer91
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baijan Mugham). Baku: Sharg-Garb.
Arberry, A. J. (1952) Le Soufisme. Introduction, trad. franc de J. Gouillard. Paris: Cahiers
du Sud.
Azerbaijan State News Agency (2019) Mugham – National Heritage of Azerbaijan, Pearl
of World Music Art. Available at: https://bit.ly/3de02id (accessed 24 June 2019).
Bunyazdzade, K. (2014) Wahdat Al-Wujud and Logos of Life: The Philosophical Comparison In: Phenomenology of Space and Time: The Forces of the Cosmos and the
Ontopoietic Genesis of Life: Book Two, pp.135-147.
Bunyadzade, K. (2016) Mugham as the Synthesis of the Eastern and Western Thought.
In: Proceedings of the 9th International Congress of the Asian Philosophical Association (ICAPA), Common Values, Education, Arts & Humanities and Higher
Education Leadership in the Asian Community, 20th – 24th July 2016, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 286-300.
Corben, A. (2000) Istoriya na islyamskata filosofiya (History of Islamic Philosophy).
Sofia: Fondatsiya ‘Maulana-Dzhalaluddin’.
Daniz, R. (2020) Era, padishah nauki Nasiraddin Tusi: Islam i nauka w średniowieczu
(Polish Edition). Wydawnictwo Bezkresy Wiedzy.
Farhadova, S. (2001) Muga – monodiya kak tip myshleniya (Muga-Monade as a Type of
Thinking). Baku: Elm.
Farhadova, S. (2018) Istoricheskiye korni Azerbaydzhanskogo mugam-dastgyakha (Historical Roots of Azerbaijan Mugham-Dastgah). Baku.
Kivy, P. (1990) Music Alone: Philosophical Reflections on the Purely Musical Experience.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Massignon, L. (1929) Recueil de textes inedits concernants l’histoire de la mystique en
pays d’Islam. Paris: Tarika, El, vol. IV; Tasawwuf, El, vol. IV.
Naroditskaya, I. (2003) Song from the Land of Fire. Continuity and Change in Azerbaijanian Mugham. New York & London. Available at: https://books.google.az/
books?id=yP6Gz0 (accessed 20 August 2020).
Nicholson, R. A. (1914) The Mystics of Islam. London.
Nicholson, R. A. (1923) The Idea of Personality in Sufism. Cambridge.
Quluzade, Z. (2009a) Kontseptual’nyye problemy issledovaniya sotsiokul’turnogo razvitiya, t. 1 (The Conceptual Problems of Research on Sociocultural Development, vol.
1). Baku.
Quluzade, Z. (2009b) Mistika i panteizm kak universal’nyye fenomeny dukhovnoy kul’tury (Mystics and Pantheism as Universal Phenomena of Spiritual Culture). Baku.
Rose, H. A. (1927) The Darvishes. London: Oxford University Press.
Shehadi, F. (1995) Philosophies of Music in Medieval Islam. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Slobin, M. (1971) UNESCO – Musical Anthology of the Orient. Asian Music 2(1): 43–45.
Stock, K. (ed.) (2007) Philosophers on Music: Experience, Meaning, and Work. Oxford:
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Oxford University Press.
Suvarnalata, R. (2011) Sufi Music: The Song of the Soul. The Economic Times. Available
at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/sufi-music-the-song-of-the-soul/articleshow/7840662.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_
campaign=cppst (accessed 1 April 2011).
Thom, P. (2007) The Musician as Interpreter. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State
University Press.
The Matnawi-ye Ma’nawi of Jalaluddin Rumi, Translated by Ibrahim Gamard (yahhogroups.com)1/25/01. Available at: www.dar-al-masnavi.org/n.a-1720 html; by
R.A Nicholson, vol.1-8, Leyden 1926-1940 (Farsi and English)
The Caucasian Psychodel: What Mugham is and Why It is Worth to listen to. Available
at: https://katacult.com/en/caucasian-psychodel-what-mugham-is-and-why-it-isworth-to-listen-to
Todorova, B. (ed.) (2009) Philosophy and Sufism. Sofia: IPhR-BAS.
Turner, R. (2014) New Approaches to Performance and the Practical Application of Techniques from Non-Western and Electro-acoustic Musics in Compositions for Solo Cello since 1950: A Personal Approach and Two Case Studies, PhD in Music (Performance Practice), Department of Music, Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Ziai, H. (1990) Knowledge and Illumination: A Study of Suhrawardi’s Hikmat al-Ishraq.
Atlanta.
UNESCO – Collection of Traditional Music of the World, described it as a ‘God sent
music’. Available at: http://unesco.preslib.az/en/ (accessed 20 August 2020).
Bogdana Todorova, Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at BAS,
Doctor of Philosophical Sciences. Head of Department of ‘Social theories, strategies
and prognoses’. Graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Sofia University. Appointed research assistant to the department of Philosophy of Religion, Institute for
Philosophical Research – BAS, in 2003. Completed PhD in 2002. Head of Department
‘Anthropology and Philosophy of Religion’ (2010–2012). Field of research: Philosophy of
Religion (Islam), Fundamentalism and Terrorism, Political Philosophy (Islam). Author
of 6 books and more than 200 articles. She is lecturing on political philosophy, Islamic
philosophy, philosophy of religion. Most recent books and Volumes: The objectification
of Islam (2018), Islamic factor in Europe and in Bulgaria – tendencies and challenges
(2015), Balkans as Reality. Cultural policy and Religious communities on the Balkans:
Present condition and Future Development (2013), Bulgarian Ethnic Model – Myth or
Reality? (2010), Idjtihad against Jihad (2009).
E-mail: bonytodorova@gmail.com
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JAVANESE MAGIC AND ISLAM:
CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS
Eva Rapoport
Abstract: When religious affairs in Indonesia (casually glossed as a country with the
largest Muslim population) grab international attention that mostly comes down to Islam and attempts of further Islamisation of the Archipelago. However, local forms of
syncretic and pre-Islamic mysticism, magic and spirit beliefs persist and their adherents
keep fighting for recognition on the state level (as Indonesian freedom of religion is limited to the choice between several state-recognised confessions).
The objective of this paper is to discuss how pre-Islamic beliefs exist and persist among
the Javanese (the largest ethnic group in both Indonesia and entire Southeast Asia),
alongside with Islam and despite the advances of modernity. A more detailed outlook
on the contestation and resistance is meant to be based on the example of traditional
dance known as jathilan or kuda kepang. Trance (believed to be caused by the spirits possessing the dancers’ bodies) constitutes the main attraction of the performance
which is commonly held on various celebratory occasions (marriages, circumcisions,
village festivities and even national holidays). During the past two decades, it has been
enjoying an ever-growing popularity and nowadays most of the shows are advertised
via social media. The resilience of the trance dance is meant to be analysed by superimposing its own specific features against the background of the national religious and
cultural policies.
Keywords: spirit possession, performing arts, Javanese culture, indigenous religions,
Islam
S peaking of spirits
During the past few years Indonesia kept making international headlines with various instances of political and religious controversies splitting the population of the
country.17 But on the local level things might appear far from being that dramatic. Communal celebrations in Javanese village settings can present an idyllic alternative space
where tensions seem to be non-existent (or, at least, very well-hidden), where grandfather, wearing a Muslim skullcap and an Iron Maiden t-shirt would be hosting a trance
17 The most widely publicised case involved blasphemy allegations against the Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja
Purnama, better known as Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent. Islamist anti-Ahok rallies had shaken the capital city in
the late 2016 and resulted in the governor’s imprisonment (see Peterson, 2020).
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performance to celebrate his granddaughter’s first birthday, and a charming little kid
will stay around the stage for hours undisturbed by the loud percussive gamelan music
and extreme behaviour of the entranced dancers.
The performance in question is known by the names kuda kepang, jaranan or jathilan, with kuda in Indonesian and jaran in Javanese both meaning ‘horse’, for the hallmark props of the performance are painted flat horse effigies made of woven bamboo.
Colourfully dressed dancers represent noble Javanese warriors of the pre-Islamic era;
they perform choreographed dance routine, at times engage in mock or almost-real
fights using whips or wooden swords and eventually work themselves into the state of
trance. While in trance, they demonstrate all kinds of wild uncontrolled behaviour:
roam around with their eyes closed, bumping into each other, roll on the ground, somersault, scream, run on all four.
From the emic perspective, trance is understood to be an effect of spirit possession – thus, ancestral, territorial, and animal spirits are believed to enter the dancers’
bodies. This way the spirits, too, can partake in the communal celebrations and are
entitled to having all their needs satisfied – be that a request for particular song or just
speeding up music tempo, burning incense or spilling fragrant potion, or any kinds of
food from ordinary human snacks to unhusked rice, flower petals, green leaves, whole
coconuts (that performers husk with just their teeth and hands) or even hot coals, razor
blades and shuttered glass.
Most of my research of the horse dances was focused on the Special Region of Yogyakarta – an area truly special in so many respects: a unique administrative unit within
the Republic of Indonesia that is still being governed by a sultan; an exemplary hub for
all the things cultural: from traditional arts and crafts, to international contemporary
art biennales, from refined and solemn court ceremonies to lively and unruly street art
scene; and also a centre of the higher education with literally over a hundred public
and private universities concentrated in the region with a population under 4 million
people.18 Most typical name for the horse dance in Yogyakarta and neighbouring areas
is jathilan, so it would be further used to refer to the tradition in this paper.
During the time I have spent in Yogyakarta working on research of jathilan in 2017
and 2018, even when not conducting any planned interviews19, I got engaged in endless conversations about magical and mystical matters which were almost automatically
triggered by me mentioning my research interest. While jathilan itself remains mostly
popular among the villagers and lower-income urbanites, virtually every interlocutor
18 According to the 2019 Population by Regency census, the Special Region of Yogyakarta had 3.8 million people
(Badan Pusat Statistics (Central Statistics Agency)).
19 Being well-familiar with the tradition of jathilan from my prior experience of living in Yogyakarta (2013–2015), I
have performed six months of fieldwork in June – August 2017 and July – October 2018, during which I have documented
over two dozen performances and conducted lengthy in-depth interviews with practitioners, enthusiasts and local experts
and short structured interviews with the audience members.
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was eager to share some spirit-related stories20, including many young university-educated middle-class people, a sufficient number of whom had quite a good proficiency in
English (which they were happy to practice with a foreigner); even many fellow Western
researchers working in Indonesia and Malaysia were ready to share some stories about
their encounters with the unseen world (alam gaib).
Pic. 1. Young dancer with horse effigy and wooden sword – Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2018.
Photo: Eva Rapoport.
Many of the stories include the recurring motives regarding where the most fearsome spirits and vile black magic are coming from. And these are always some liminal
spaces: westernmost and easternmost regions of Java: Banten and Banyuwangi (Beatty,
2012: 175) and also Kalimantan – a vast island still mostly covered with jungle, therefore having significantly less development and infrastructure compared to densely populated Java where several of Indonesia’s largest cities are located. But even for Java itself,
there is persistent demarcation between human and spirit domains, thus, the latter are
20 Benedict Anderson in his memoir also mentions eagerness of the Javanese to bring up ghosts in a conversation
(2018: 78).
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believed to prevail in the wilderness: on mountain slopes and in the forests. Though,
while geographically spirits are somehow set apart, they clearly occupy a prominent
place in the people’s imagination.
For instance, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, some areas in a search for
efficient but also creative ways to enforce stay-at-home measures were employing local
residents dressed as pocong (a ghost that looks like a dead body wrapped in white burial
shroud) to patrol their neighbourhoods at night21 (Makur, 2020), or even locking people
who did not want to follow quarantine rules in an allegedly haunted house (Hastanto,
2020).
Spirit beliefs and varying degrees of spirit worship are typical to most of the Southeast Asian cultures (majority and minority ones, mainland and maritime alike) which
allows for the hypothesis regarding a shared prehistoric animistic religion spread all
over the Monsoon Asia22 long before the emergence of Hinduism and Buddhism and
later Christianity and Islam. Java itself used to be the domain of syncretic Hindu-Buddhism since, at least, the 5th century and before the spread of Islam by the late 15th
century (Acri, 2015: 261). Thus, nowadays many of the surviving pre-Islamic beliefs
are likely to be labelled as Hindu, which may be rather seen as an attempt to give them
more respectability (considering that Hinduism in Indonesia is an officially recognised
religion, professed by the majority of Balinese population). However, beliefs regarding
village guardian spirits still to greater or lesser extent reflected in the annual village
purification ceremonies (bersih desa or, in Yogyakarta, merti dusun) seem to be more
in line with the idea of the ancient Monsoon Asia’s religion, that is described as being
centred around the cults of territorial spirits, so-called lords of the soil (Mus, 2011 [1933]:
24).23 But, unlike Hinduism and Buddhism, animism has never achieved the same level
of recognition by the Indonesian state.
In this paper, I will attempt to discuss some of the Javanese notions related to spirit
beliefs in general and the tradition of the horse trance dances in particular, and subse21 The result turned out to be controversial, as many people were actually tempted to go outside and take selfies with
the ‘ghosts’.
22 The concept of Monsoon Asia was used by Paul Mus (2011 [1933]) precisely in the context of theorising about
pre-Hindu-Buddhist beliefs; later endorsed by Arci et al. (2017) aiming to emphasise the intensity and significance of
maritime connections that defined local cultures since the ancient times and also to challenge the disciplinary boundaries
of regional studies. ‘From a geographical perspective, [Monsoon Asia] may be conceptualised as the belt of territory
spanning from the eastern shores of the Indian Subcontinent (and their hinterlands) in the west to the South China
Sea, the Philippine islands and Papua New Guinea in the west. Its fulcrums are the littorals of peninsular and mainland
Southeast Asia, and what is now the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago or Nusantara’ (Ibid., 4–5). But even within the
framework of Southeast Asian studies the concept of monsoon religion (Mus, 2011 [1933]: 23) allows to look into the
similarities of spirit beliefs professed by the members of different ethnic and language groups.
23 Margaret Kartomi points out that ‘trance in both Bali and Java is almost certainly pre-Hindu in origin’ (1973: 164),
unfortunately without attempting any further explanations. Many authors prefer to avoid speaking of the origins of
the horse dances altogether, likely due to the lack of written sources – the earliest ones date back to the 19th century
(Groenendael, 2008: 13). However, the presence of the dance in the pockets of Javanese culture that have escaped
Islamisation – such as Tengger Highlands (Mauricio, 2002: 46) testifies, at least, to its pre-Islamic origins.
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quently outline the context in which the following beliefs and practices exist nowadays:
that of officially dominating Islam and rather peculiar national religious and cultural
policies affecting contested balance between doctrinal faith (agama) and indigenous
animist beliefs (aliran kepercayaan).
M ass miracles
Unlike a variety of religious miracles and revelations that are likely to be experienced by individuals or limited groups of devotees (be that Madonna’s apparitions in
Lourdes and Fatima or obscure sightings of the holy images on toasted bread), trance in
jathilan is a public affair where the contact with the mystical world, alam gaib is being
established in front of a mass audience.
Performance of a prominent group can be viewed by a few hundreds of people
(Kartomi, 1973: 168), especially considering that traditional spectacles in Java are rarely
watched from the beginning till end (Beatty, 1999: 70; Keeler, 1987: 15), so while some
spectators might eventually leave, others will arrive to take their place.
Remarkably, many Javanese are suspicious about the authenticity of trance in jathilan (Kim, 2007: 157–158; numerous personal communications, 2017–2018), but this
comes hand-in-hand with having a little doubt in the possibility of spirit possession
and the existence of spirits as such. Stories and even news reports about spontaneous
possessions disrupting the course of everyday life abound: high schoolers are believed
to become possessed when facing the need to take a standardised test, and local politicians seek exorcism in order to recover from the failure to win an election (Wargadiredja, 2019a, 2019b). Even scriptural Islam does not refute the notion of non-human agents
equipped with the special powers, including the ability to possess humans: jinns are
also believed to be the part of Allah’s creation, however orthodox religion explicitly discourages any forms of interaction with them (Bubandt, 2019: 103; Kim, 2007: 150–151).
From the spectators’ perspective, it is the demonstration of feats of physical invulnerability that is meant to prove the trance to be real: the most frequent displays would
include getting whipped (without sustaining any visible damage), husking green coconuts, eating shattered glass (the latter, in case of Yogyakarta, is more often described as
the key feature of jathilan rather than actually performed). More exotic versions might
involve biting a live snake’s head off, being run over by a motorcycle, eating uncooked
roots or leaves that normally would make one’s mouth very itchy, various ways of literally playing with fire.
It is worth pointing out that the feats of invulnerability may actually be the closest
thing to a stage magic that jathilan has. In an environment, radically different from the
rural Javanese setting – in Singapore, the horse dance is also performed, better known
by the name of kuda kepang. It was brought to the city-state by Javanese immigrants
in the late 1940s (Hardwick, 2014: 2) and is still performed among their descendants,
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despite being criticised by the local Islamic authorities, and even from a secular point of
view perceived as an unruly practice leading to noisy social gatherings and damage to
public property. Survival strategy adopted by some of the practitioners was a deliberate
course on the disenchantment of kuda kepang performances. Those still feature feats
involving whips and shattered glass, but the leader of one of the groups and the founder
of the Kuda Kepang Singapura organisation, Iswandiarjo bin Wismodiarjo (also known
as Wandi), openly and eagerly speaks on public and private occasions about how exactly
to prepare the glass and use the whips to protect performers from actual harm. To avoid
religious criticism, he shifts focus from reliance on Javanese mysticism (kebatinan) to
confidence (keyakinan) rooted in proper preparation but also belief in God (Hardwick,
2014: 16, Rapoport, 2019: 91). Though, even Wandi admits that his strategy doesn’t come
from the place of disbelief in Javanese magic and mysticism – he is sure it is still preserved and practiced in Java. It is just the Singaporean context, where Malay24 and Muslim identities are tied closer together, that requires certain re-contextualisation of the
performance in order for it to survive.
Thus, the horse dances present a mixed bag of tricks and genuine manifestations
of possession trance25, in terms of Erica Bourguignon (1973: 12), an altered state of consciousness that is believed to be caused by non-human agents – spirits or deities. Scepticism that can be directed towards a particular performance of a particular group coexists with the broadly shared beliefs in spirits, spirit possession and various ascetic
and other esoteric practices that can help to obtain physical invulnerability and powers
to command spirits. Furthermore, beliefs in practices and amulets leading to physical
invulnerability go far beyond the context of the horse dance performances in Javanese
case (Keeler, 1987: 81–82, 99; Willson, 2011: 303–305) and can be as well found in other
Southeast Asian cultures (e.g., Guelden, 2017: 121, 137). And while there may be techniques for safely handling whips and glass, striking change in the bodily movements
of the dancers at the onset of the trance phase of the performance, the way they start
roaming around with a complete abandon (for that matter the performance area is customarily surrounded with a makeshift bamboo fence) with their eyes closed or with a
blank stare, how they roll over, collapse and get up again only with the help from the
assistants, allow to assume a certain shift from the normal waking consciousness.
But while the dancers are the ones who perform spectacular feats and impersonate
spirits by acting wildly, of a paramount importance for jathilan performances is the
figure of a pawang or trance master – a person of mystical learning (ilmu or ngelmu) and
innate supernatural gift (kasekten). It is fully the pawang’s responsibility to interact with
24 In case of Singapore, being ‘Malay’ is identified in a broad sense that includes Muslim descendants of the pre-colonial
inhabitants of the island, Muslim immigrants from the Malay Peninsula, as well as those from various parts of modern
Indonesia.
25 In local terms, the altered state of consciousness experienced by the performers is often described as kesurupan,
ndadi or mabuk.
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the spirits, inviting them to join the performance, making sure they will not possess
spectators or musicians (which occasionally, nevertheless, happens: see Christensen,
2014: 108; Kartomi, 1973: 172; Kim, 2007: 156; Mauricio, 2002: 35) and convince them to
leave the dancers’ bodies at the end of the show. The figure of the pawang comes in close
proximity to the one of the dhukun – another type of Javanese mystical specialist, who
could be in charge of a wide variety of practices: from traditional ceremonies, to healing, massage and midwifery, to feared and despised black magic (Geertz, 1960: 86–111;
Koentjaraningrat, 1989 [1985]: 114–124). At times, terms ‘pawang’ and ‘dhukun’ may be
used interchangeably, however most of the regional variations of the horse dances also
have their specific terms for the trance masters (e.g., gambuh in East Java (Groenendael,
2008: 25) and penimbul in Central Java to the West of Yogyakarta (Marscall, 1995: 100).
Pic. 2. Pawang soothing entranced performer – Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2015. Photo: Eva
Rapoport.
Many pawangs also serve as the leaders of their performing groups and the owners of most of the props and music instruments that it uses (Groenendael, 2008: 48);
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but even if a group has a lay leader whose forte might be management and logistics,
pawang still would play a prominent role. And it is exactly the pawang who makes the
offerings before the performance (mostly a combination of food, flower petals and incense) – inviting the spirits to come; at times even holding a special ceremony a few days
prior to the performance, informing the spirits of a particular area about the planned
celebration and, in a sense, securing their permission to hold one, thus ensuring that
everything will go smoothly. Relative success or failure of every performance are often
explained in magical terms: powerful pawangs are believed to attract large audiences
due to their powers, which are, thus, seen as a factor more crucial than the group’s individual music and choreography style.26 Pawangs’ powers are also believed to be in use
for crowd control: to avoid any outbursts of drunken and disorderly behaviour. But if
such outbursts still occur or the spirits might prove to be not so compliant, that might
be assumed to be a result of the deliberate sabotage by some rival pawang (Foley, 1985:
31). While extreme wildness of the show can be actually appreciated, an undisputable
indication of its failure is an instance when none or very few dancers manage to achieve
trance.
A single jathilan group may have more than one pawang or at least a number of
pawang’s assistants, also capable of bringing the performers back from their trance – a
skill that, to certain extent, pawangs say, can be mastered by anyone (Rapoport, 2018: 8),
however really powerful pawangs are believed to be only the ones that are marked with
a special gift (Burridge, 1961: 34). By contrast, and, in a sense, because of the pawang’s
leading role, it is believed that virtually anyone can be a dancer and has a capacity to
enter trance during the performance (Foley, 1985: 36; Marscall, 1995: 101). Thus, the
figure of the pawang lifts most, if not all, the mystical responsibility from the dancers,
who are then only expected to master a relatively uncomplicated choreographic routine.
This accessibility and rather egalitarian nature can be seen as one of the keys to
jathilan’s popularity. Performers admit that whomever they already know and have a
good relationship with is welcome to join the group (personal communication with
the members of Kudho Praneso group, July 22, 2017). Neither esoteric (kebatinan) nor
performing arts backgrounds are required. And performing jathilan is not a full-time
vocation: most of the pawangs and dancers maintain their day jobs (many of them are
employed as drivers, motorcycle parking attendants, locksmiths, laundry workers, etc.).
While hosting a village performance in Yogyakarta area in the late 2010s could have
cost up to 7 million Indonesian rupiahs (about 450–500 USD) – a significant sum, by
the local standards, most of it is meant to be covering logistics expenses, renting sound
equipment, sometimes even costumes. Thus, individual share of every person involved
in a performance would be rather modest, at best.
26 Even success of local stores or food vendors, at times, is believed to be achieved not due to the attraction of their
goods and services, but due to some magical effort of the business owners or dukuns acting on their behalf (Pak Samsul
(pawang and leader of Kudho Nalendro jathilan group), personal communication, August 3, 2017).
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In turn, from the hosts’ side, sponsoring a performance, customarily combined
with a ceremonial feast (slametan) is not exactly an individual choice and decision but
an element of maintaining ties and obligations within a community largely based on
the reciprocity. So, neighbours and family members are expected to contribute labour
and money for a particular family’s celebration and are entitled to equal contributions
in return. Feasts and performances are expected to accompany most of the important
life-cycle events: marriages, circumcisions, nowadays even birthdays.
In terms of kebatinan, a wedding couple, a newly circumcised boy, or a newborn
baby and its mother, all suffer particular vulnerability to spirits’ attacks. In the
bright lights, noise, crowds, and bustle of the ritual celebration, a family gains
protection from spirits’ interference.
.Pic. 3. Three pawangs perform exorcism of a female dancer – Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2017.
Photo: Eva Rapoport.
What Ward Keeler (1987: 151) describes can be perfectly applicable to jathilan,
however he is talking about wayang kulit (shadow puppet) performances. The horse
dances present only one type (of many) of such performances that can be embedded
in the system of communal celebrations. And while among the Javanese arts wayang
kulit is probably the best known on the global scale, the horse dances nowadays may
have even greater appeal to the public: holding a wayang is likely to be more expensive,
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furthermore, many young Javanese complain that they have hard time understanding
a more refined rather than everyday speech language of the wayang performances. And
jathilan succeeds in being suspenseful and emotionally engaging without help of any
language and narrative, merely due to its structure: by building tension and expectations through the opening choreographed part, by turning from order into chaos at the
onset of the trance stage, and culminating in the ‘final battle’ when pawangs and their
assistants perform exorcism on the dancers, which can also be dramatic and intense in
its own way.
It is exactly controlled chaos and unpredictability that set every single performance
apart from any other. Moreover, involvement of the spirits as non-human agents acting
through the human bodies that they are believed to possess, justifies a carnivalesque (in
Michail Bakhtin’s terms (1984)) breach of the norms of everyday social conduct, which
is especially sticking in Javanese society known for its high expectations of individuals to maintain harmony and stay polite and reserved, no matter the circumstances.
Dancers should feel no shame (Groenendael, 2008: 19) and take no responsibility for
the actions of the spirits temporarily taking control of their bodies. And again, the very
idea of giving up control goes against the usual Javanese notions of self and conduct
(Kartomi, 1973: 165).
Interestingly, there is no single opinion about the actual nature of the spirits possessing the dancers in jathilan. They can be called by many different names, some with
Arabic origins and connotations: jinn, setan, roh (Wessing, 2006: 13); or belong to the
rich Javanese lore: dhemit (forest spirits), leluhur (ancestors), dhaynyang (tutelary spirit).
However, the Javenese ones now seem easier to find in the earlier ethnographic accounts
(Geertz, 1960: 16–29; Koentjaraningrat, (1989 [1985]): 338–343), rather than in the present-day informants’ own speech. The last of the aforementioned, dhanyang – a territorial or local guardian spirit, allows to connect Javanese beliefs with Paul Mus’s concept
of the monsoon religion revolving around the ‘lords of the soil’ (2011 [1933]: 24); and
this, in turn, could attest to the pre-Hindu-Buddhist origins of Javanese spirit beliefs
and performing traditions. Dyanyang might be considered as the main recipient of the
performance: among other typical occasions to hold jathilan or wayang kulit performance (or both), important place belongs to bersih desa – an annual village purification
ceremony meant to appease the local guardian spirit and ensure good luck for another
year and good harvest for the next planting season. On any other occasion, dhanyang
can be still perceived as the main authority to be contacted for the permission to have
a trance performance; and it is, in some cases, believed to manifest itself by possessing
one of the dancers (Beatty, 1999: 89).
As among jinn in Islam may be found those who have surrendered themselves to
Allah and those who remained unjust (Kim, 2007: 150), somehow similarly dhanyangs
(who are often associated with legendary or historical founders of the village) can also
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have different religious identities and be either purely Javanese or strictly Muslim
(Wessing, 2006: 13). This religious identity can further define the types of performances
that the dhanyang prefers to be celebrated with (Geertz, 1960: 27; Keeler, 1987: 166). So,
while Javanese dhanyang would enjoy shadow puppets and horse dances, a Muslim one
may highly disapprove of those and prefer different, more solemn genres involving reciting of the Koran. Thus, the same kind of performance may actually lead to good luck
in one area and bad luck in another, if it does not conform to the local guardian’s tastes.
T he hard and the tamed
27
The opposition between Javanese (preceding Islam and possibly Hindu-Buddhism)
and Islamic modes of beliefs is defined by most of the researchers, following Clifford
Geertz (1960), as the divide between abangan and santri. With abangan being the ones
who would put their Javanese identity before Islam, their beliefs can be also called kejawen – literally Javanism. While the term abangan may be casually explained as referring to nominal or syncretic Muslims, abangan attitude towards Islam can actually
lie anywhere on the spectrum from the observance of certain Islamic precepts, though
without abandoning magic and spirit beliefs and specific Javanese metaphysics (that can
be very roughly described as pantheistic and individual-centred (Mulder, 1983: 260–
261); to complete rejection and opposition to Islam. Santri, in turn, are the proponents
of pure Islam, based on the scripture and purged from the elements of local customs
and interpretations. The term santri in a narrow sense defines the students of pesantren – Islamic boarding schools.
The phenomenon of pesantren had contributed to the significant step towards Islamisation of Java. A spread of such schools occurred over the course of the 19th century,
when the introduction of steamships allowed people to perform Haj at a lower cost
and within shorter time, while the growth of a well-to-do urban class in Java led to the
increase in the number of people being able to take the journey (Ricklefs, 2012: 14). So,
these were mainly the returning pilgrims who brought home more strict and pure vision of what Islam should be and the desire to implement it.
Another significant advance of Islam at the expense of abangan beliefs and practices occurred after 1965. The infamous Indonesian Killings that started as a reaction to
the failed coup, allegedly plotted by the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis
Indonesia, PKI), led to the prosecution of actual PKI members, along with innumerous
others, suspected or accused of being PKI sympathisers. Some historians point out that,
especially in the rural areas, the reason for animosity might have been not so much a
political but rather a religious divide between santri and abangan; with many of the latter being actual supporters of PKI or at least leaning in that direction, whereas hard-line
Muslims always stayed in strong opposition to it (Cribb, 2004: 233; Ricklefs, 2012: 77).
27
The opposition borrowed from Kevin O. Browne (2003).
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Ever since its earliest years, the citizens of the Republic of Indonesia were expected
to identify with a certain religion, and it was always the Muslim-dominated Ministry
of Religion in charge of deciding what religions and according to what criteria could be
officially recognised. Their approach was clearly based on the general ideas of monotheism and the concept of world religion: thus, in order to be recognised by the state,
religion was expected to be revealed by God, possess a prophet and a holy book, have a
codified system of law for its followers, and, furthermore, it should enjoy international
recognition and not be limited to a single ethnic group (Picard, 2011: 13). Even for Indonesian adherents of Buddhism and Balinese Hinduism it took quite some intellectual
effort and ingenuity to achieve full recognition (see Abalahin, 2005). But after the wave
of anti-communist sentiment had shaken the country, religious affiliation has become
a particularly pressing matter. So, to prove themselves not to be godless communists or
abangan communist supporters, people had to officially identify themselves as Muslims or convert into Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism (conversions turned out to
be quite a wide-spread trend among the Indonesians appalled by the atrocities that in
many parts of the country were clearly connected to the groups explicitly associated
with Islam (Ricklefs, 2012: 130).
Pic. 4. ‘Possessed’ performer running on all four – Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2018. Photo: Eva
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Rapoport.
Religious affiliation, chosen from five available options (Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism and Buddhism28), had to be indicated in the national ID card
(Kartu Tanda Penduduk – KTP). For all the religious groups without official recognition it meant that marriage performed according to their rites would not be considered
legal, children born in such union – extramarital; school curriculum included compulsory religions education in one of the five faiths; even the use of electricity, alongside
with many other civil rights and services, required an ID card listing official religion
(Swazey, 2017: 8).
Everything beyond the scope of the recognised religions was branded as mere beliefs (kepercayaan). Kepercayaan or aliran kepercayaan (streams of beliefs) included not
only abangan in Java but numerous adherents of various tribal animisms all over Indonesia. While still not being treated on the same ground as recognised religions (agama),
in 1978 kepercayaan were considered to be a part of culture (budaya) and therefore
placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Culture. That provided
the representatives of kepercayaan with some degree of independence, as well as access
to resources and institutional position from which they could lobby some of their interests. Later on, during the Reformation (Reformasi) period that came after the collapse
of Suharto’s regime, in 1999, the Ministry of Education and Culture was restructured
and kepercayaan were redirected to be handled by the newly established Ministry of
Culture and Tourism, causing a general loosening in their surveillance (Picard, 2011:
18). And, finally, only in 2017 Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruled to allow for aliran
kepercayaan to be used as the seventh option of religious affiliation to be indicated in
the national IDs. That was still met with the strong pushback from the modernist and
fundamentalist Islamic organisations, and it deserves to be the topic of a separate discussion, whether any significant changes following the 2017 ruling have really occurred.
On the one hand, the Killings of 1965–66 had largely affected not only religious
beliefs but also performing practices. Even those who were lucky not to be murdered
or detained, preferred to put their activities on hold, not to attract unwanted attention.
But, on the other hand, the New Order (Orde Baru) regime that was established in the
result of the Killings, started to implement cultural policies largely directed towards
support and promotion of traditional performing arts. The regime’s objective was to
shift focus from its own problematic origins, and to set itself apart from the old regime
(Orde Lama) that it came to replace. The bet was made on explicitly turning to traditional culture ‘as a point of reference that might override the terror of the New Order’s
own origins by appearing to rescue customs from a more distant past in the post-1965
28 Confucianism, as the sixth choice, was excluded from the list in 1967 (and reinstated only in 2000) as a part of the
wider anti-Chinese policies since ethnic Chinese (suspected in the sympathies to Communist China) were also subjected
to the persecution in the course of Indonesian killings (Abalahin, 2005: 128).
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present’ (Pemberton, 1994: 150). Revolutionary era of the struggle for Independence
and tumultuous rule of the first Indonesian president Sukarno was replaced by the reaction of the authoritarian rule of the second president Suharto.
Certainly, it was not in the nature of the authoritarian regime to simply let performing practices and traditional forms of expression be. While the general idea of traditional culture was raised on the pedestal, it was not exactly the true living culture that
was supported by the state, but a carefully created construct. One of the major ideas was
to cherry-pick regional performing genres that can represent Indonesia on the national
level, while ridding the selected art forms of any elements that might have been deemed
backward, unruly, or otherwise controversial (Yampolsky, 1995: 702–704).
‘Repackaging’ traditional performances served, and quite well, dual purposes: first,
running the distraction in the light of the recent atrocities, while also making sure that
the sphere of artistic expression would be occupied by some safe and tame forms, free
from attempts to make a political commentary; and, secondly, since it was the Ministry
of Education and Culture put in charge of managing unrecognised religious beliefs,
promoting modified forms of performances and even rituals (considering, strict divide
between the two not necessarily being essential for traditional cultures) proved to be
an easier and more efficient way in implementing control, rather than strictly banning
animist and syncretic rites and ceremonies. Ethnic and religious minorities were allowed to carry on their traditions, but they were carefully guided by the government
employees in doing so. Or as Greg Acciaioli puts it: ‘Regional diversity is valued, honoured, even apotheosised, but only as long as it remains at the level of display, not belief,
performance, not enactment’ (2010: 161).
This peculiar trend has survived even beyond the lifespan of the New Order regime.
While a wide variety of traditional performing arts in Java and across Indonesia enjoy
remarkable popularity, the directives regarding how, where and when those should be
performed are still largely coming from the local departments of tourism, or culture, or
the system of art institutes (Institut Seni Indonesia – ISI), rather than being defined by
the elders passing down their tradition to younger generation.
However, the horse dances, to some extent, represent a lucky exception. Clearly,
in their original form they could not comply with the state’s cultural policies, but, at
the same time, since both groups and performances could have been organised on the
lowest grassroots level, there was no crucial need in any official support for survival of
the practice.
In present-day Java, even over two decades since the downfall of Suharto’s regime,
the horse dances can be encountered in two forms: the hard (with trance) and the tamed
or domesticated (without it (Browne, 2003: 57)). Many regencies hold the horse dance
festivals where the performers are expected to showcase their best (in terms of choreography, pageantry, even innovation) but also to be at their best behaviour – which
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means going into trance is strictly prohibited. Furthermore, most of these festivals are
held in the form of a contest, so the groups compete for a shiny trophy and a monetary
prize. Remarkably, the majority of festival participants are still the groups that include
pawangs and perform trance on other occasions. From the performers’ perspective, attraction of such festivals is in the publicity they provide, the groups that distinguish
themselves at a competition are likely to receive more invitations to participate in village performances, where nobody will expect them to forego trance. But even in the
festival settings pawangs are not deemed unnecessary. While they don’t perform any
ritual actions in front of the audience, some of the trance masters say, they still have
a role to play: that is to make sure that the spirits will stay away and don’t attempt to
possess the dancers.
However, the state cultural and religious policies still did leave some mark on the
horse dance practitioners. Most of the performers and large numbers of audience members that I have interviewed in Yogyakarta, identify jathilan with culture or heritage.
And a common explanation given by the performers for what and why, in the broadest
sense, they are doing was: we are preserving/keeping alive our culture. An answer too
smooth and too common not to be suspected in being a result of some ideological influence.
C onclusion
The case of jathilan reveals, how government support and involvement in traditional culture can follow an objective to force the performers to modify their practice,
by ridding it of religiously-controversial and un-modern elements, but also how the
performers themselves can succeed in finding ways to utilise government-sanctioned
activities to their own ends and carry on the tradition, that is significantly older than
Indonesian state itself. Important role in the horse dances’ resilience and endurance is
likely to play the direct grassroots-level interaction between the performers and performance sponsors, as well as indisputably central place of performances in local communal celebrations.
Having little need in the state support, the horse dances tradition survives due to its
own unique features. And it is exactly trance that constitutes its attraction for both audiences and participants. Unpredictability and ‘controlled chaos’ of trance make every
show fascinating and one of a kind, feats of invulnerability and the assumption of the
spirits’ involvement can be perceived as some kind of special effects, but unlike Hollywood blockbusters that also employ those, jathilan is perfectly local and free to watch.
As well as being entertaining, trance also frees the performers from any responsibility
or shame for the wild behaviour they demonstrate; it also serves as a crucial factor allowing virtually anyone to become a performer, with no special talent or background
required.
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Furthermore, the fact that trance performances are welcome in so many Javanese
villages indicates that, despite all the Islamising trends and the lack of equal recognition
on the state level, abangan culture is still alive, and beliefs in spirits, possession and
magic are widely popular. While spectators may allow themselves to doubt what they
see during a particular performance, few, if any, perceive spirit possession as something
strictly impossible. And beyond the context of trance performances, possession can
still be invoked as an idiom for emotional distress, while the spirits’ involvement or
individual magical activities can be brought up as an explanation of a success or a lack
of thereof in a wide variety of mundane situations.
Pic. 5. Non-trance performance at the big two day-long jathilan festival – Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2015. Photo: Eva Rapoport.
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R eferences:
Abalahin, A. J. (2005) A Sixth Religion? Confucianism and the Negotiation of Indonesian-Chinese Identity under the Pancasila State. In: A. C. Willfordand and K. M.
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Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, pp. 261–282.
Acri, A., Blench, R. and Landmann, A. (eds.) (2017) Spirits and Ships: Cultural Transfers
in Early Monsoon Asia. Singapore: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.
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Beatty, A. (2012) Kala defanged. Managing power in Java away from the centre. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 168 (2–3): 173–194.
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Consciousness and Social Change. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, pp. 3-39.
Browne, K. O. (2003) Awareness, Emptiness, and Javanese Selves: Jathilan Performance
in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 4 (1-2): 54–71.
Bubandt, N. (2019) Spirits as Technology: Tech-Gnosis and the Ambivalent Politics of
the Invisible in Indonesia. Contemporary Islam. Dynamics of Muslim Life 13 (1):
103–120.
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Contention in Java and Bali. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 1-20.
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Rapoport, E. (2019) Touring spirits. Javanese trance dance in immigrant communities: Adaptive strategies and transformations of meaning. In: Proceedings of the 5th
Symposium: The ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia. Department of Sabah Museum, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Sabah,
Malaysia, pp. 90-92.
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and Religious History, c. 1930 to the Present. Singapore: NUS Press.
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of Indonesian Indigenous Communities. Yogyakarta: CRSC.
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High School Exams. Vice. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pannw9/
indonesian-kids-keep-getting-possessed-by-spirits-during-high-school-exams
(accessed 24 June 2020).
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Vice. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xgzx4/indonesia-election-season-exorcism-legislative-candidates-bribes-depression (accessed 24 June 2020).
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Java. Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 18 (1):
11–111.
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Bodies in Java. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 17: 301–317.
Yampolsky, P. (1995) Forces for Change in the Regional Performing Arts of Indonesia. Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde 151(4): 700–725.
Eva Rapoport is a photographer and cultural anthropologist, originally from Russia
but for the past 7 years based in Southeast Asia, working on research of spirit possession beliefs and practices in Javanese culture and developing photography projects
documenting traditional performances and festivities in the region. Currently Eva is a
research fellow with the Foundation for Southeast Asian Studies (Thailand) and PhD
student at the School of Arts, Sunway University (Malaysia).
E-mail: eva.rapoport@gmail.com
Website: https://jathilan.me/
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P AINTERS’ NAMES AS SAINTS’ AMULETS:
OF INSCRIBING ONESELF INTO SACREDNESS
Jakov Đorđević
Abstract: Michael Astrapas, Eutychios and John Theorianos are the three Byzantine
painters who are known to have left signatures painted somewhere amidst the attire of
the warrior saints they depicted (swords, armour, shields, or garments). Whether in the
form of simple monograms or as part of a more complex formulation, this paper aims
to show that they envisioned their names as amulets for the chosen saints, intentionally instigating paradox. After exploring the customary ways in which painters usually
acquired a ‘sacred share’ of their work, the paper analyses the conceptualised understanding of inversion as an instrument pregnant with power and possibilities. Special
attention is given to the examples of signatures on painted vessels in narrative scenes,
for they do not imply any obvious connection to the proximate saintly figures, and
thus seemingly undermine the delivered argument. Finally, by making an illustrative
comparison with the famous Wilton Diptych and its angels represented as though they
are in service of King Richard II while tending the Virgin Mary, it is argued that the
three Byzantine painters relied on the magical conception of inversion, as well as the
notion of gift exchange, in order to achieve their ultimate goal – gaining lasting divine
protection.
Keywords: Byzantine amulets, painters’ signatures, gift exchange, vows, mutual bonds
I ntroduction
In the late Byzantine period, we encounter signatures of a few fresco-painters hidden somewhere amidst the attire of the saints they depicted. A number of studies were
dedicated to this phenomenon. Besides the considerable endeavour that has been made
toward the proper identification of the names, certain scholars argued that this practice
expressed the painters’ devotion to the chosen holy personages, whose cults were widespread at the time (Todić, 2001: 652–662), while others explained the signatures within
the context of the artists’ deliberate self-presentation (Papadopoulos, 2017), or as an
attempt to claim higher prestige for their craft (Drpić, 2013). However, if the signatures
had been envisioned as agents in acquiring greater dignity, they ought to have been
clearly noticeable to a broad audience. Yet, their veiled nature undermines this notion.
On the other hand, if they were markers of the painters’ devotion to the saints they
were ‘inscribed’ on, one might ask what the reasoning behind this understanding was
or, to put it another way, why would the saints have recognised them as the expressions
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of devotion toward them? This paper will try to find an answer through a particular
‘thought experiment’ by attempting to penetrate the very logic the practice in question
was based upon by analysing signatures of the three late Byzantine painters – Michael
Astrapas, Eutychios and John Theorianos. Taking into account that the main issue here
is establishing the painters’ potent relation to the sacred through the deliberate act of
their own craft, the notion of approaching sacral power will be considered in a broader
conceptual framework of the supernatural, which also includes magic.
A cquiring the sacred share
In order to find out the purpose of the painted signatures, it is first necessary to
see how Byzantine artists generally acquired the ‘sacred share’ of the holy figures they
depicted. This will also help showing why we are not dealing with the more usual means
of forging relationships with the divine often employed in the Byzantine East here, but
with the one that connects orthodox needs to ‘magical thinking’, thus strengthening
the delivery of the main argument later on.
At the beginning of her article on the vita icons, Nancy Patterson Ševčenko (1999:
149) summed up the words of an anonymous author of the Life of St Nicholas:
If someone celebrates the memory of the saint with all his heart and soul, says
this anonymous author, he will not go away disappointed. If someone builds a
chapel in the saint’s name, he will confound the devil as well as all his enemies,
and God will increase his possessions, as He did for Job. If someone writes down
the life and miracles of the saint, he will be granted release from sins on the Day
of Judgment. And if someone expounds the saint’s life and miracles before other
men, he will earn his reward in heaven and eternal life.
Later Ševčenko (1999: 150) stated that the vita icons did not only recount the saints’
lives by being visual biographies but did so publicly. We also know of a Gregorian monk
Ioannes Tohabi, who painted a group of six icons that includes four calendar icons –
four panels with images of saints devised in the order they were celebrated during the
liturgical year (Lidova, 2009). Thanks to one of the inscriptions he left, we have no doubt
about his intentions. Monk Ioannes intended them as a votive gift to the heavenly court
so that its depicted members might be his mediators on the day of the last judgment.29
Therefore, it might be quite reasonable to suppose that painters felt profoundly serious
about their work of frescoing churches.
Yet, at least at first glance, characteristic formulations usually left by Byzantine
painters next to their names seem to negate this impression. For instance, the inscrip29 These are the painted verses: ‘The four-part phalanx of glorious martyrs/ together with a multitude of prophets and
theologians/ all priests and monks successfully painted Ioannes/ as he sent them as prompt mediators before the Lord/ in
order to receive redemption from what he is sinful of ’ (Lidova, 2009: 83).
114
tion in the church of St Demetrios in the Patriarchal Monastery in Peć says: ‘God’s is
the gift, by the hand of John’ (Đurić, Ćirković and Korać, 1990: 205). It appears as if the
painter is dismissing his true role in rendering the frescoes. Such humbleness is also often underlined by the well-known medieval expression of being ‘a servant of God’, and
for that matter, a ‘sinful servant’. However, there is an unusual example from the church
of Christ the Savior in Veria with the self-flattering words of painter George Kallierges
who proclaimed himself to be ‘the best painter in all Thessaly’. These peculiar words are
part of the dedicatory inscription and, therefore, as Sophia Kalopissi-Verti (1994: 146)
argued, the donor’s widow wanted to emphasise that she hired the most skilful artist in
the region to honour her late husband and incite prestige. Still, if we compare the words
delivered in the first-person voice with the customary examples practised among the
painters but without contrasting them, we might be able to deduce a strangely similar
notion. For instance, painter John was pronouncing himself the vehicle for God’s work.
One should not dismiss the position of pride in such a statement, the same as in the
proclamation of being God’s servant. Moreover, it is similar to the prestige given to the
Emperor’s servants because such loyalty placed a person under the sovereign’s protection. Within this context, Kallierges’ words can sound ‘vain’ only in the sense that they
imply his ability to ‘convey’ divine interference in its utmost potential through his work
(Đorđević, in print).
Some painters were honoured by the inclusion of their names in the prominently
placed inscriptions on church walls, just like George Kallierges, who became part of the
dedicatory epigram. Permission depended on the will of the ktetor, and it might have
been part of the painter’s fee, maybe even serving as a kind of ‘advertisement’. However,
intertwining oneself with the memory of the ktetor in a holy space certainly had a much
more essential role for the artist. Remembering church founders meant praying for the
salvation of their souls (Đorđević, in print). It was the obligation of the community to
cherish the ktetors’ memory because its continuity and prosperity rested upon it. Thus,
prominently positioned inscriptions, especially those set in the liminal places, were read
aloud at specific events, most probably during particular services (Papalexandrou, 2001;
Papalexandrou, 2007). At those times, the gathered congregation would have become
familiar with the name of a master painter (or master mason) and included him in the
intercessory prayers (Đorđević, in print).
Nevertheless, a number of surviving inscriptions were not intended for the eyes of
many potential readers, if any at all. The one from the church of St Demetrios in the
Patriarchal Monastery in Peć was frescoed in the apse, which means that painter John’s
name could have only been seen by the clergymen. In the church of the Virgin in the
Studenica Monastery, the painter left words on the base of the drum, and they must
have mentioned his name.30 Today the inscription is damaged and faded, but it would
30 The remaining words that can be still read today are: ‘Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy and save... and... the
sinful and...’ (Kalopissi-Verti, 1994: 141).
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not have been clearly visible to anyone standing in the naos even at the time of its creation, for it is positioned quite high. This implies God as the primary viewer, which is
also indicated by the placement choice, which is charged with exceptional sacredness
within the hierarchy of the church space. Taking into account that apse and dome are
both marked by God’s presence, both inscriptions were conceptually re-enacting the
plea of the Good Thief crucified beside Christ, who was promised the Heavenly Kingdom according to the gospel of Luke (23:42). By entrusting their names to God, painters
were actually supplicating: ‘Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom’ (Đorđević, in print).
However, there are three painters who devised their names as ‘decoration’ for the
saintly attire. While painter John Theorianos is known to have only signed the blade of
the sword of Archangel Michael in the scene of David’s repentance in the gallery of the
narthex of Hagia Sophia at Ohrid around the year 1350 (Papadopoulos, 2017: 105, 110),
Michael Astrapas and Eutychios, two brothers or father and son (Marković, 2004; Marković, 2010), left their names in a variety of forms in the late 13th and early 14th century,
whether it was on saints’ swords, shields, garments, or even on the painted liturgical
vessels (Papadopoulos, 2017). Sometimes we are dealing with simple monograms (pic.
1), and sometimes these are formulations which precisely stress that the image is painted ‘by the hand of’ the given painter (pic. 2). How should we understand this practice?
Was the simple proximity of the name to the body of the holy person enough to engage
the saint as the painter’s heavenly guardian, or was there some deeper logic involved?
Were they mere expressions of the painters’ devotion to the chosen holy personages?
But then, how should we understand the examples of painted liturgical vessels? Should
we consider these instances only as statements of the painters’ identities, with no other
intention in mind? The previously discussed examples suggest that we should not.
T he power of inversion
‘Creative thinking’ was not foreign to the Middle Ages. Finding different paths to
fulfilling one’s needs and desires by relying on common cultural norms, practices, and
beliefs in extraordinary ways was practiced by certain medieval individuals. Positioned
above the south portal of the katholikon of the Dečani Monastery together with the relief of the Baptism of Christ is the dedicatory inscription containing information about
the building of the church, its founders, and the master builder. The master mason of
this Orthodox church was a Franciscan friar named Vita, who came from the city of
Kotor:
Fra Vita, minor brother, protomaistor from Kotor, the city of kings, built this
church of the Holy Pantokrator for the lord King Stefan Uroš the third, and
his son, the illustrious, most excellent, and most glorious lord King Stefan. It
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was constructed in eight years and brought to completion in the year of 6843
[1334/1335] (Pantelić, 2002: 25).
Interestingly enough, the text ends with the image of a square divided by two
diagonal lines and marked with four dots (pic. 3). Researchers have debated whether
this symbol was meant to represent a measurement upon which the katholikon’s proportions were based, or the sign of Fra Vita’s guild (Todić and Čanak-Medić, 2005:
208–209). Yet, it is possible that the square was envisioned to fulfil both roles simultaneously, intertwining the church’s identity with that of the protomaistor. However, even
more intriguing, this square symbol can be related to the empty square carved next
to Christ’s head in the tympanum. Taking into account that the relief is rendered as
though Christ is standing in an opened sarcophagus, which is, in fact, the River Jordan,
Janko Maglovski (1989: 201–202) interpreted the uncarved surface as ‘tabula rasa’ – the
erased list of sins redeemed through the act of baptism and, in the context of the relief’s
image of an ‘entombed Christ’, through Christ’s death. Therefore, it seems as though
the ‘inscribed’ square with Fra Vita’s identity was striving to ‘imitate’ the relief’s square
with its blank surface (i.e. empty of any sin), which can be compared to the devotional
practice particularly popular among the Franciscan monks – imitatio Christi.31 It seems
that the markedly filled space of Fra Vita’s sign was intended to be a pictorial translation of the words characteristic for the votive inscriptions: ‘remember me, your sinful
servant’. Being related to an icon in a liminal space, its potency did not depend on any
public recognition, but on that of God, at whom the ‘visual plea’ was directed (Đorđević,
in print). This is an astonishing example of creativity in gaining the ‘sacred share’ of
one’s own work. Is it possible to track down a similar creative impulse in the signatures
of the three painters, ‘hidden’ in the images of the saints they depicted, and determine
the belief structure behind their fashioning?
Anastasios Papadopoulos (2017: 110, 113, 117, 119–120) has interpreted them in an
interesting way. He noticed that they are painted on objects in places where one might
have expected to find signatures of craftsmen or signs of their workshops in real life.
Therefore, the painters’ signatures were imitating the living practice in a sort of amusing and witty way. However, there are examples of inscriptions on swords (Grotowski,
2010: 350, n.160), stamps on vessels (Caseau, 2012), and texts woven on textiles32 that
had the apotropaic or prophylactic function of protecting the carrier or the given object.
What if the painters’ names were intended to align with the latter possibility? Can it be
that they were envisioned as a sort of a peculiar amulet paradoxically intended for the
31 On the personal inclination of the Franciscan order toward the imitatio Christi practice, see Neff, 1999: 82–87.
32 There are many instances of adoring garments of the warrior saints in frescoes with pseudo-Kufic motifs. Taking
into account that the origins of magical practice were often associated with Near Eastern roots, pseudo-Arabic motifs as
apotropaic symbols were sometimes even employed in rendering the church templa; see Walker, 2015: 217, 228. Also, the
known example of textile with Kufic inscription is the head shroud from the grave of Pope Clement II, Papadopoulos,
2017: 116.
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saints and their protection? What kind of ‘magical conception’ would have allowed and
justified such reasoning?
Among the variety of Byzantine amulets, there were those that relied on magical names, i.e. on the power of the ‘real’ names of the divine protecting forces. Beside
various God’s names, those of his archangels and saints could also have been invoked
(Horníčková, 1998: 45; Foskolou, 2014: 334). They were sometimes incorporated in
broader ritual formulae, i.e., ritual language, with supposed potency to perform specific
(magical) actions (Horníčková, 1998: 45; Foskolou, 2014: 340). The amulets could have
also carried an image, even of a Christian subject, which was a symbolical representation of a particular ritual operation (Foskolou, 2014: 345). One fairly common example
is the image of a holy rider killing a demon – an equestrian ‘portrait’ identified with
different warrior saints and archangels (Ibid., 337–347). It is interesting to note that the
three painters chose precisely those two groups of saintly figures to ‘attach’ their signatures to, almost as if they were determined to make fresco paintings into their own
personal amulets. However, an essential aspect of amulets is the ability to carry them
in close proximity to one’s body, which is obviously impossible to accomplish with the
wall paintings. It might be that the choice of warrior saints and archangels was made
because of the generally shared notion of their continuous vigilance and ‘readiness’ to
act promptly.33 Thus, the painters’ names are closer to the idea of being amulets for the
depicted saints.
The notion that names can carry power is attested in Byzantine sources. Naming
a child after a chosen saint was a sort of ritual that established a bond between the two,
invoking the holy person to become a new-born’s guardian in life.34 Yet, the reason
why anyone would have dared to conceive his name as appropriate to ‘guard’ a saint
might have also been based on ‘magical reasoning’. There were ancient ritual festivities
of mocking a deity and subverting the cosmic order (Bakhtin, 1984: 6–7, 12, 16–17). For
the Byzantines, the idea of harmonious order (taxis) was essential for the proper functioning of the whole empire, to the extent that characteristics of its opposite – ataxia –
were sometimes associated with magic and even the possession of demons (Maguire
and Maguire, 2007: 135). One can assume that the idea of turning established relations
‘upside down’ in a society where the idea of order is highly conceptualised was pregnant
with power and possibilities. In other words, the act of ‘subverting’ the conventions and
customs by bringing about the paradox must have seemed powerful in itself. Maybe the
most striking image in Byzantine iconography that embodies this notion is the icon of
the dead Christ. It was visualising ‘the King of Glory’ through ‘the ultimate humilia33 Warrior saints and archangels were often painted next to the entrances and tombs in order to protect against
unwanted visitors and those with ill intentions, see Gerstel, 2001: 269–271; Gerstel, 2011: 139–140.
34 Simonida, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, got her name after the Apostle Simon
so that she may escape premature death, unlike some earlier children of the royal couple. The name was determined by
lighting twelve candles in front of the twelve icons of the apostles. The last remaining flame was before the icon of Apostle
Simon (Radić, 2000: 99).
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tion’ (Hetherington, 1990: 25), which was, in fact, a hierotopical depiction35 of the two
much venerated Constantinopolitan relics – the True Cross and the Shroud of Christ
(Shalina, 2003). The New Testament also gave plenty of opportunities for the manifestation of paradoxes in Byzantine poetry and visual art. The Entry into Jerusalem, for
example, was described both verbally and visually as Christ’s triumphant procession,
while the Saviour is ‘enthroned’ on an ass (Maguire, 1981: 68–74). Maybe the familiarity
with the antithesis as a pictorial ‘figure of speech’ (Ibid, 53–83) would have given the
painters higher sensitivity to its power, both metaphorical and practical. Thus, by painting their names as amulets for saints, the painters were relying on an effective principle
of inverting the expected relations in order to ‘trigger’ response from the holy warriors
and archangels.
When it comes to the painted vessels that are also ‘inscribed’ with their signatures,
one can genuinely assume that Anastasios Papadopoulos (2017: 107, 112) was correct in
refusing to see the words as the expressions of the painters’ piety. For how can an object
in a narrative scene, and without an obvious connection of belonging to any saintly
figure, secure protection? However, it is instructive to acknowledge the subjects of those
particular scenes. In the church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid, one can clearly deduce letters of the name of Michael Astrapas on a bowl containing pieces of bread in the
composition of the Last Supper (pic. 4). At least in the early Byzantine period, there were
objects like amphorae stamped with protective signs or inscriptions in order to protect
wine from turning sour (Caseau, 2012: 115–116). Taking into account that the representation of the Last Supper indicates the founding of the Eucharist, the bowl with bread
symbolically becomes a liturgical vessel holding the body of Christ. Moreover, being
‘stamped’ with letters of Michael Astrapas’ name, the signature can be interpreted as a
protective sign guarding its contents – the Saviour’s body. Thus, the bond was not established between the painter and the object, but between the painter and Christ himself.
That this type of inversion was not absolutely unique to the three Byzantine painters in the Middle Ages is attested by the famous Wilton Diptych, which is a very telling
example, even though it belongs to the visual culture of the late medieval West. The devotional object was painted at the end of the 14th century for King Richard II of England
(1367–1400) (Camille, 1996: 166–167). The image on its left wing shows the monarch
in prayer accompanied by his holy intercessors, while the right one displays the Virgin
Mary with her child in her hands escorted by a company of angels (pic. 5). What is
striking here is that the angels are wearing badges with the personal emblem of Richard
II – the white hart. As John M. Bowers (2001: 95) has put it:
The purpose of livery badges of this sort was to impose a group identity upon a
lord’s affinity and to link its members together horizontally while focusing their joint
loyalties upon the lord who retained them.
35
Hierotopy, as a term, signifies the creation of sacred space as well as a related academic field, see Lidov, 2006.
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It is as if the angels are in service of King Richard and are working in his best interest while attending the Virgin, almost as his ‘ambassadors’ in the heavenly garden.
Still, the reason why this ‘hermeneutical’ practice of inversion was employed by
the three painters has not been unveiled yet. It might be that ‘thinking with’ the Wilton Diptych can help in finding the answer. Being a product of the late medieval court
culture with the problematised notion of the expression of loyalty (cf. Perkinson, 2008),
it connotes the idea of creating a bond between one offering the service and the liege
lord who was obligated to provide protection. These mutual obligations are founded
on the archetypal concept of gift exchange, which was actually present in all medieval
societies, both East and West. In its basic form, it underlies that every gift requires a
countergift. It is instructive to quote Patrick J. Geary’s (1994: 78) remark here:
Without suitable countergifts, the imbalance would become intolerable; for as
anthropologists observe, a donor keeps eternal rights in the gift and hence in the
recipient. Only by finding a suitable countergift could a recipient ‘revenge himself or herself’ on the giver (the Latin term talio can mean both countergift and
vengeance).
In the case of the Wilton Diptych the bond of reciprocal obligations (exchange) is
already established, and it is indicated by the angels wearing the personal emblem of
their ‘lord’. They are actually shown as representatives of Richard II on a mission he entrusted them with. It is important to have in mind that ordinary angels in late medieval
art can figure as symbolic visualisation of God’s will36, as well as the personification of
the prayers of the faithful.37 If we apply the latter notion onto the Wilton Diptych, the
‘subordinate’ angels do not seem so peculiar anymore. They become the representation
of Richard II’s fervent prayers to the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, they become the sovereign’s gift offered to her, envisioned as courtly entourage tending ‘Our Lady’s’ needs.
Thus, the object of private devotion of King Richard is a remarkable example of an extraordinary creative play designed to unfold before his contemplative gaze, enhancing
the experience of prayer.
The signatures of the three Byzantine painters also do not lack in creativity. Moreover, the concept of gift exchange as a means of establishing a bond between two parties
is crucial. If inversion, as a powerful tool, was employed to instigate the saint’s response,
the nature of that response was determined by the very idea of gift-giving. Being conceptualised as an amulet, the painter’s name was offered as a gift for the saint to serve
him like a prophylactic token, which in turn requires an appropriate countergift, i.e.,
36 The depictions of the Virgin of Mercy (Madonna della Misericordia) are a good example, for they show Christ’s
mother protecting the faithful under her mantle from the angels’ arrows. Angels in this context are the executors of the
stern will of God.
37 The winged figure feeding the dead as a consequence of the fervent prayers of the living is illuminated next to the
text of Pèlerinage de la Vie Humaine in one manuscript from the 14th century; see Camille, 1996: 169. Though it is a female
figure, its visual similarity to the angels is intentional.
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the protection of the painter. It should be taken into consideration that the inscriptions
mentioning the painters discussed in the first section of this paper belong to specifically
defined contexts. They can be roughly categorised as those that relied on the sacredness
of places they were embedded in, then those which were read aloud during particular
services on special occasions, and finally those which were formulated as pleas to the divine. Not belonging to any of the listed groups, the only way in which names painted on
saints and (liturgical) vessels could have acquired the ‘sacred share’ was by relying on
the ‘magical conception’ examined here. Unlike the Wilton Diptych, the frescoed saints
were not images intended for contemplation, so it was necessary to ‘animate’ the lasting
relationship between them and the painters by imitating the practice that is potent by
itself, instead of depending on the ‘performance’ from the outside.
C onclusion
The attitude toward the saints, their icons and relics during the Middle Ages was
very complex indeed. Moreover, there is not a single attitude; we are rather dealing with
a multitude of ways in which medieval people were able to define their relationship with
the saints and express devotion toward them. The possible sense of blasphemy should
be put aside when one encounters unusual instances of religious practices in the sources, whether written or visual, and it is more fitting to approach them with openness
restrained only by the context. A particularly telling example is the ritual humiliation
of saints in the West from the 10th to 13th century – a rite enacted when holy protectors
were not fulfilling their part of the ‘deal’. On those occasions, the relics and images
were mistreated by being placed on the ground while covered with thorns, incapable to
receive proper veneration (Geary, 1994: 95–115). On the other hand, especially in the
late medieval period, the relationship could be defined through the passionate devotion of love, sometimes even eroticised (Camille, 2002; Newman, 2002;). Therefore, the
seemingly daring undertaking of the three Byzantine painters to envision their names
as amulets for saints should not be regarded as unthinkable, nor the eastern Christian
piety as unfamiliar with ‘alternative’ ways of devotion (cf. Marinis, 2014).
Though this practice is unique to them alone, it should be ascribed to their personal
creativity. The intention to accomplish one’s own desire or need can bring about creative ‘unorthodox’ means, yet they have to relate in some manner to the norms of the
context in which they are established. Richard P. H. Greenfield (1995) has shown that
magic, though officially condemned, was practiced by many in late Byzantine society,
including even monks. Moreover, magic was not predominantly perceived as sinister,
but practical. The practicality of ‘magical thinking’ must have been the primary reason
why the three painters turned toward it in their desire to acquire the ‘sacred share’ of
their own work.38
38 It is possible that John Theorianos was inspired by Michael Astrapas and Eutychios because his signature is frescoed
in Ohrid – the same town where those two brothers, or father and son, had left their names approximately fifty years
earlier, see Papadopoulos, 2017: 110.
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I llustrations:
Pic. 1. Warrior saints from the church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid (Photo: Wikimedia
Commons)
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Pic. 2. Warrior saints from the church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid (Photo: Wikimedia
Commons)
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Pic. 3. The south portal of the katholikon of the Dečani Monastery (Photo: the author)
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Pic. 4. The scene of the Last Supper from the church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid (Photo:
the author)
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Pic. 5. The Wilton Diptych (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
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Jakov Đorđević, PhD, is a research associate at the Art History Department at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. He was awarded The National Museum in
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body in the late Byzantine visual culture, under the supervision of Professor Dr Jelena
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E-mail: jakovdj@gmail.com
129
M AGIC IN THE TURKISH FAMILY
IN NORTHEASTERN BULGARIA
Behrin Shopova
Abstract: The paper discusses the content and meaning of the magical rituals and
practices, accompanying the main stages in the circle of life among Turks in Northeastern Bulgaria. The performed birth, wedding and funeral customs and ceremonies within their family, interweave with numerous notions, beliefs, religious (Islamic) and secular community norms. The aim of these traditions, apart from continuing the lineage
and ensuring a healthy and secure existence, is to prepare the individual for his afterlife
in anticipation of Qiyamah (Judgment day). The study is focused as well on the functioning of some irrational beliefs and observance of rituals related to magical character
and ‘special’ behaviour in the contemporary Turkish family, as one of the mechanisms
for preserving their traditional cultural heritage. These rituals and beliefs are one of the
factors distinguishing them from others by ethnocultural trait, and by preserving and
promoting religious syncretism in the so-called popular Islam professed by the studied
community. The empirical materials were collected as a result of periodic field studies
among Turkish Sunnis living in a rural environment in the period 2009–2019.
Keywords: Judgment day, Sunni Islam, magical rituals
I ntroduction
Belief in the supernatural and in magic has accompanied human existence since
ancient times. From the moment human beings become aware of themselves as something different from the nature around them, they begin to make purposeful attempts
to bring about change, directing their desires in the necessary direction. This desire to
change the existing world order is one of the prerequisites for folklore ritual emergence.
The goal is to establish a magical contact with otherworldly forces, hoping this will
provoke changes in real human life (Shniter, 2001: 14–18, 38). Magical rites are passed
down through the generations by the mechanisms of tradition. This type of cultural
transmission has helped to build behavioural patterns in which inherited notions of
magical power are intertwined. The aim of this study is to trace the manifestations of
these notions and their realisation in magical practices that accompany traditional culture of the Sunni Turks from Northeastern Bulgaria. The study is based on a field material, collected by the author in the period 2009–2019. The field research is conducted in
several villages in the region of the town of Targovishte among Sunni Turks, who settled
in this area during the 16th century (Mutafova, 2011: 99).
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Several important moments stand out in the traditional culture of the Sunni Turks,
which are related to magical rituals and ritual practices, concentrated mostly in family
rituals. These elements can be traced in the three main stages of human life: birth, marriage, and death. There are different researches exploring the family traditions of the
Turks in Bulgaria39, but the topic of magic rituals or their understanding as such by the
Turkish community is not studied yet. Various rituals are performed in the community
in each of these moments that are charged with a wide range of ideas and beliefs. Their
strict normativeness determines the formation of certain ritual actions and a special behaviour. In addition to procreation, it is important for people belonging to the community in question to ensure a secure existence, as well as to prepare the individual for the
time when they will move to the afterlife. The whole abode in earthly life is connected
with the preparation for this moment. That is why the pursuit of a smooth transition to
it has contributed to the formation of a complex set of magical rituals and practices that
remain unchanged even in modern times.
According to Islam40 the existence in earthly life is a temporary state, and human
life is a series of trials and preparations for passing into afterlife in anticipation of the
Judgment Day.41 These trials can be of different nature – difficulties, diseases, poverty,
loss of loved ones, etc. However, the common belief in overcoming them successfully
consists of strictly following the commands of Allah and observing the Sunnah.42 According to popular belief, anything that can harm a person in the visible and invisible
world is possible to be avoided by reading the Qur’an, praying and maintaining a state
of ‘ablution’.43 During the years this practice resulted in the separation of an individual
system – Rukye44, regulating certain surahs and verses from Qur’an as suitable to use
for treatment. There are many precepts, described in separate collections45, in which
except the surahs in compliance with the necessities, the time (within the day or / and
days of the week) (El Hüseyni, 1989: 7–13), most favourable to perform this practice is
specified. If it is performed by another person’s reading, it is called Rukye, if the corresponding surah is written on a piece of paper, it is called muska. In addition to these
two varieties, it is practiced ‘water reading’46 where the patient should drink the water
39 Refer to: Bakardzhieva, 2004; Ognyanova, 2002; Sabotinova, 2002.
40 Here I consider the peculiarities of traditional Sunni Islam, which are characteristic of Ottoman culture.
41 Refer to: Lozanova, G. Muslim eschatology. Available at: https://balgarskaetnografia.com/svetogled/mitologia/
musulmanska-eshatologia.html (accessed 10 June 2020).
42 Sunism, along with Qur`an is a dogmatic basis in Islam and is related to the adherence to Prophet’s Path (Mihaylov,
2007: 358).
43 Ablution – a ritual of washing before praying. Here not only the condition of ritual purity is considered, which is
obligatory upon praying, but also the state of spiritual purity, which is maintained by performing daily iabdets, expressed
by obeying Allah’s orders. The ibadet word literally means ‘obeyance’ (Karahasan-Chanar, 2006: 180–181).
44 Refer to: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi: 2008, Cilt 35: 219–222.
45 Refer to: TDV İslam Ansıklopedısı: 1997, Cilt 16: 522–523. The position in Sunni Islam related to the distribution
and practicing of this system is not unambiguous. Due to the use of various practices, taken by astrology, Sufism and
Hurufism, some of them are denied and are not considered eligible (caiz).
46 It is practiced in two ways – through reading verses of the Qur’an above the water or writing verses on a piece of
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or make Vefk – tables with various geometric shapes, in which letters from the Arabic
script are entered, taking into account their numerical equivalent. The general requirements for the types of Rukye practices are: the prayers to be from the Qur`an and the
Sunnah; their pronunciation/spelling should be in Arabic; they are to be performed
with the belief that it is not the action (the reading respectively) or the amulet made
(muska) that helps, but Allah; they are not to be performed in/near cemeteries, baths or
in a state of bodily impurity; the one who reads/performs Rukye should strictly follow
the commands of Allah. Another peculiarity is that Rukye is not a part of the mosque
practice and is therefore performed in another room, most often in the home of the
imam or the sick person.
In addition, there are many pre-Islamic beliefs, which form a large part of the magical practices in ritualism. Their perception as hereditary knowledge from antiquity and
as a practice that connects and, in this sense, neutralises the influences in the visible
and invisible world, predetermines the unchanging nature of this type of ritual activity
(Todorova-Pirgova, 2015: 9–10).
The desire to cause some change or to influence the course of events in order to ensure a smooth and easy transition through the difficulties of human life determine the
need to use all possible means known. In general, Islamic and pre-Islamic beliefs function in local settlement culture in parallel, passing from one to another within the ritual
system. In some cases, they are presented fragmentarily, which regulates certain members of the community as bearers of knowledge and qualities to make the appropriate
‘transition’, such as it is needed. In this type of activity there is a strict gender division.
Bullet casting, mumble incantations and magical practices in rituals are entrusted to
women, and treatment of sick by reading parts of the Qur’an is practised mainly by
men.47 Before proceeding to describe the various magical practices, I will focus on several of their main characteristics that emerged in the course of my research.
M ain characteristics of the magic practices
Spatio-temporal characteristics
It was already mentioned that practices are gender-specific. Another important feature is their spatio-temporal characteristics. When practices are part of a ritual, they
follow the course and requirements of the rite itself, but when they occur ‘by necessity’, a number of requirements need to be met in order for them to have an impact. In
traditional notions, space is divided into ‘good’ and in this sense suitable for a positive
impact and ‘bad’ – which is related to all places where a negative impact can occur. The
paper that is placed in the water.
47 Treatment by reading the Qur’an may also be performed by a woman, but she is entitled to only read to women and
children.
132
same goes for time – within a day, month, year or as part of a life cycle. Thus, the ‘good’
places within the home are considered to be the hearth and the place next to the Qur’an
(usually it is placed at the highest possible point, which should be higher than eye level),
in the yard – these are the spaces around fruit trees or flowers, as roses and tulips48,
fields, mosque, fountain, river are considered having the strongest positive energy. ‘Bad’
places are the threshold, the staircase, the paths in the yard, the well, the separate places
for animal slaughter (there are present in every house), the space around the bathroom,
the toilet, the street/road. In terms of directions, the right is considered to be ‘good’
and the left – ‘bad’, which regulates the use of body parts (left or right) when performing a certain activity. Therefore, every job is started with the right hand (if a person
is left-handed, they start with the right hand and then continue with the one they are
comfortable with) and they always start with their right foot (when getting out of bed
in the morning, when entering and leaving the house, when departing, etc.). There are
many interpretations related to tremors in one or the other part of the body (eye, cheek,
lip, leg, etc.) and guidelines on how to avoid possible troubles and obstacles, respectively
(El Hüseyni, 1989: 1024–1026). The orientation is having more or less mixed characteristics, which change depending on the direction of impact, but in most cases ‘above’
carries a positive charge, and ‘below’ – a negative one. One of the most universal directions in which all types of treatments are performed is the Qibla49 direction to which all
prayers in Islam are oriented.
Beliefs about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ times are widespread in Turkish culture. The best
hours are considered from sunrise to noon when the sun is rising and gives strength
upon ritual performance (Bakardzhieva, 2006: 65). Along with this, positive charge carriers are considered to be Friday and holy nights.50 Time before waking up is considered
‘bad’, because it is believed that it is the easiest for an evil spirit to move into the human
body. ‘Bad’ is also the time before sunset, as well as the sunset itself or the so-called
‘Devil’s time’. In people’s minds, every day before nightfall, the devil tries to attract as
many souls as possible. Then angels appear and fight with him, that is why the sky turns
red. It is forbidden to let children out at sunset because they are considered to be the
most vulnerable. Night is also a very dangerous time, because genies go out for a walk
then. It is believed that these beings look like humans, but unlike man, who is made of
earth, genies are made of fire and air. Therefore, they can be invisible or take any form
and inhabit human bodies. The devil is also able to possess the human body, but while
48 Due to tulip being identified with Allah (both words have identical writing in Arabian) and the rose –
with Muhammad (according to hadiths rose is made by the sweat of the Prophet in the night Isra’ and Mi’raj).
Hadiths – from Arabic, ‘a message’, ‘a story’. They are based on myths about the life and activity of the Prophet. They
describe his words spoken on various occasions. Gradually, these hadiths were systematised and classified, and in the
IX – X centuries, together with the Qur’an and its interpretations, they became canonised precepts. United, they build the
so-called Sunnah, which is becoming the second major source in Islamic ideology (Peev, 1985: 5–41).
49 Oriented to Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca.
50 Mawlid an-Nabi, Laylat al-Raghaib, Lailat al-Miraj, Mid-Sha’ban, Laylat al-Qadr.
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he possesses the heart and soul, the jinn attack the man`s will. If this happens, one is
not responsible for one’s decisions, but one must be released very quickly, which is done
by practicing Rukye. Time can also be ‘dirty’ because of bodily impurity (for example,
the days of the month or after birth when a woman is ‘unclean’), and ‘clean’ when a
person fasts or prays. In addition, there is a division by hours during the day, which is
described in the collections containing Rukye (El Hüseyni, 1989: 7–13). In general, this
type of division regulates certain hours depending on the respective day of the week as
appropriate/unsuitable for certain activities – going on a trip, starting a new endeavour
(work, building a house, etc.), commitment, making important decisions, etc., and regulates the time for making an impact with prayer, respectively.
Ritual items
Various ritual items are used in performing magical practices. Most often, these
are items that are used in the household but have characteristics that determine their
sacred functions – such as a broom, a knife, scissors, a cup/an earthenware or a metal
bowl, yarn, a candle, etc. Objects can also be plants that have, in addition to medicinal
properties, also properties that are associated with certain beliefs and notions, such as
the widespread use of rose, rose water or rose petals, etc. Along with these objects, there
are also those that are associated with religious rituals – small editions of the Qur`an
or parts of it (for making amulets with apotropaic function), ibrik (resembling a pitcher
and used during ablution in mosques), the holy water from Zamzam Well, brought by
pilgrims returning from Mecca. It is not uncommon to use objects that have a direct
connection with persons51 or animals52, as part of them or part of things that belong to
them. These are hair, nails, horns, tail, clothes or part of clothes, threads, personal belongings, etc. (Todorova-Pirgova, 2015: 87–89). One of the most common requirements
is for the items used to be ‘clean’, i.e., to be used solely for the relevant ritual or to be used
for the first time in it and then they can be used in the household or in the mosque (as
is the case with the ibrik, which after use in the funeral is brought to the mosque to be
used for ritual washing).
Magical words
Words and ritual actions are an essential part of any magical rite (postures, gestures, facial expressions and movements of the participants in it). We have already talked about the surahs and ayats of the Qur`an that are used for Rukye. Beyond this sys51 The idea of magical induction between human being and cut parts of them is distributed all over the world. It is a
common notion that if you obtain someone’s hair or nails, you will be able, irrespective of the distance, to exercise your
will on their possessor. The same is true for clothes. This is a typical example of Contagious Magic (Frazer, 1984: 49, 55).
52 One of the most widespread magical practices is the use of the tail of an animal, slaughtered for boiled mutton (a
lamb or a calf) to be buried in the courtyard of the house and/or in the field. This act is believed to protect crops from hail
throughout the year.
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tem, the notion of 112 Surah Al-Ikhlas (The Sincerity) is widespread as universal for
overcoming all difficulties. It is recommended to be uttered by anyone who feels fear,
pain, weakness, anxiety. It is usually uttered forty times by a person when they want a
wish to come true. Healing through the names of Allah is widespread.53 Prayers, said
in Turkish are passed down through the generations and over the years some of them
have received a specific purpose – for bewitching, before construction, for protection
from evil forces, etc. One of the most common prayers is the one of the forty horsemen
of Muhammad54, who guards the home from evil forces and people. It is one of the first
prayers that girls learn growing up. Once learned, it is mandatory to say it every night
before bed. Thus, after starting a family, it is the woman who is entrusted to ‘protect’ the
home from evil at night. Another common practice is the utterance of the Bismillah verbal formula. It accompanies all daily activities. It is pronounced at the beginning of each
action. All prayers begin with this formula. There is also a longer version – Bismillah
ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate). Both
variants are found in almost every surah of the Qur’an (Lozanova, 2007: 368).55 People
believe in the beneficial effect of these words upon diseases and ailments, the presence
of illness or misfortune in the family is, respectively, associated with the fact that an
action was performed without them being uttered. Along with prayers mumbling incantations56 is often used, but they are very difficult to analyse because they are often
secret and are revealed only if the practitioner has decided to give up their activity and
the time has come to pass the practice on to someone who will replace them. What all
verbal formulas have in common is that they are spoken aloud, but in whisper.
Ritual activities
With regard to ritual actions, most often body movements have an illustrative purpose – to show what is ‘said’ by the words (Todorova-Pirgova, 2015: 94).57 The sick person
53 These are the ninety-nine names of Allah, mentioned in the Qur`an and Sunnah. Refer to El Hüseyni, 1989: 28–177.
54 Muhammad was the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet. His teachings and practices
form the basis of Islamic religious belief.
55 The use of this verbal formula is thought to have been borrowed from the pre-Islamic custom of calling on individual
tribal deities and higher powers for help. It is believed to have supported the ten-year peace treaty (Treaty of Hudaybiyyah)
between Muhammad and the Meccans in the Hudaybiyyah Valley, which gave the Prophet and his followers the right to
‘restore Ibrahim’s custom’ and thus gain access to make a pilgrimage at the shrine of Mecca. This verbal formula is also
an integral part of the verbal etiquette of Muslims. There are a number of rules for its use – it is pronounced or written at
the beginning of any important endeavour, unless the law ‘explicitly mentions the opposite requirement’ – for example, in
prayers that begin with the recitation of Allahu akbar, as well as in the recitation of Zikr (successive mention of the name
of God) (Carra de Vaux, 1960: 1084). For more details cf. Lozanova, 2007: 368–369).
56 Such mumbling incantations against bewitching was shared with me by a woman who practices bullet casting. The
text is a countdown of the digits from nine to one, as with each utterance of a number the practitioner blows into the face
of the bewitched person. Finally, they say ‘Let bewitching go!’, then they spit three times in the face and look out through
an open window somewhere far away.
57 For example, during the performance of Mawlid rituals. Mawlid / Mevlid – literally ‘birth’, represents panegyric
poems, performed in mosques and at homes, together with religious songs and parts of Qur’an. For more details cf.
Shopova, 2018: 57–77.
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or the one to be influenced is almost in all cases turned to Qibla. In most cases, hands
are in the typical prayer position – palms up, except for the rain prayer, when fingers
point downwards, ‘showing’ the direction in which rain should flow to the ground. After saying the prayer, the practitioner breathes in the patient’s face and spits three times.
When casting a bullet, the one being influenced is covered with a veil, and the practitioner moves in a circle around them while mumbling incantations, then ‘extinguishes’
the lead over the head first, then near the heart and finally near the legs. According to
belief, knots, crossing (of hands, feet, clenching of fingers) prevents the possibility of
influencing a person or, if it happens, prevents the evil from coming out of the body.
Therefore, in all cases when someone is subjected to mumbling incantations, casting a
bullet or listens to prayer reading, they must not cross any part of their body.
D escription of the magic practices in the rituals
In traditional culture, each rite has its own functional characteristics, so it is extremely important to strictly follow all those factors that determine the need to turn to
magic. It most often manifests itself in borderline moments or in states of transition.
This is true for both family and calendar rituals. In the stages of human life in the community in question these are: birth; fraternisation rituals – Aret; circumcision – Sunnet;
transition from one family to another (within the wedding rites) and the transition to
the afterlife (within the funeral and memorial rites).
Birth customs
Rituals around childbirth include a number of ritual actions and specific norms of
behaviour, which apply not only to the mother but to all family members. Their purpose
is to protect the mother and child from diseases or evil forces. The period of pregnancy
is associated with many prohibitions. In this sense, all practices related to the protection
of the future mother can be defined as a taboo (as part of inductive magic) in the sense
meant by Frazer: ‘Don’t do this so the other thing does not happen!’ (Frazer, 1984: 27).
And especially in the form of homoeopathic or imitative magic.58 Thus, until the child
moves in the mother’s womb, it is kept in secret, but if he/she moves, the news must
be shared so that the child would not be ‘dumb’ and have no difficulties in speaking.
The pregnant woman should not sit on a tied sack, jump over a rope or a chain, so that
the umbilical cord would not wrap around the baby’s neck and kill it during birth. She
should not sit on the doorstep or on an edge because it is a bad place and she can miscarry. A pregnant woman should be allowed to eat whatever she sees or wants so that
she does not miscarry. She should not steal or eat secretly, because a scar in the shape of
the stolen object will appear on the child’s body.
58 Homeopathic magic – on the principle of the law of similarity, which states that similarity begets similarity or that
the consequences resemble the causes (Frazer, 1984: 17).
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A pregnant woman should not get scared so that her child does not look like what
she was scared of. If she gets scared, she should be given water to drink, in which an
inherited coin has been dropped. The practice of casting a bullet is widespread among
Muslims59, but casting a bullet to a pregnant woman is not allowed. Instead, the pregnant woman is taken to the imam for reading. It is not customary to cut her hair so as
not to shorten child’s life. She should also not kick a dog or a cat to avoid giving birth
to a hairy baby.
Folk belief forbids a pregnant woman to go to funerals, look after or caress a dead
person, so as not to give birth to a yellow and pale child. If the deceased person is very
close to her, she ties a red thread to her little finger and goes to see the dead person in
this manner to protect the child from ‘yellowing’. The thread is then left next to the dead
person or she wears it until it is lost. It is a common belief that red thread, due to its
bright colour, attracts evil eyes and evil forces, thus ‘taking’ their negative impact before
it reaches the person. The pregnant woman should not sew so as not to sew the tongue of
the child she is carrying. In case she has to sew something, she should do it in complete
silence and with a piece of thread in her mouth, after which this thread is buried into
the ground. The understanding related to soil / earth is that it neutralises bad energy
and/or prevents it from coming back.
Because a woman is very vulnerable during pregnancy, an amulet against bewitching should be prepared for her. The harmful effects caused by a ‘bad’ look are central
to people’s perceptions around the world. A person may be bewitched not only due to
malice, but also by means of goodwill, but it is perceived that the result of both influences is the same (Goev, 1992: 84). The common sign that someone is bewitched is the
yawn (both the bewitched person and people around him yawn). The position of Islam
regarding bewitching or nazar, as it is commonly called among the Turks, is unanimous in its existence. This is regulated in the last ayats of 68 Surah Al-Qalam (The
Pen) (Qur’an 68: 51–52). The nazar word and its consequences are described in various
hadiths, the most commonly mentioned of which is the one of Sahih Muslim, which
begins with: ‘The influence of an evil eye is a fact’.60 One of the most common practices
in case of bewitching is to read or make amulets of the so-called ‘Both protectors’61 – 113
Surah Al-Falaq (The Daybreak) and 114 Surah An-Nas (Mankind). Amulets are made
by the imam. The amulet made from a leaf torn from the Qur’an is the strongest. The
sheet is folded as a triangle and sewn with seven layers of tarpaulin. This amulet is worn
throughout the pregnancy so that it is not visible to anyone, and in the evening, it is
placed under the pillow so that it does not wrap around the neck. If the amulet is seen,
even by a close person, it ceases to act, so a new one should be made. A pregnant woman
is forbidden to sing so that the child is not lazy. The only place where singing is allowed
59
60
61
Cf. Bakardzhieva, 2006: 64–76.
Muslim, S. The Book of Greetings: 2188. Available at: https://sunnah.com/muslim/39/56 (accessed 18 June 2020).
TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi 2005, Cilt 30, 336–337.
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is if the pregnant woman joins the Mewlid ritual.
According to beliefs, it is best for a child to be born on a full moon, because he/she
will grow up healthy and will have luck in life. Those born on Monday, Wednesday and
Friday will have a happy life. Those born on Saturday will see things that others cannot
see – such as goblins and vampires.62 If the moment of birth occurs in the ‘Three Holy
Months’63 or in one of the days of the two Bayrams, it is believed that the child will be
very lucky in this and the ‘other world’. If the child is born with moles or other special
features such as a white lock of hair, he/she is considered to be marked with great luck.
A child born with a scar under the armpit or on the right side of the body demonstrates
a divine origin because Muhammad had one.
The first person to announce the news that a child has been born in the house must
be rewarded by the owners. They must ‘buy’ the good news from the messenger. This
‘buying off’ is widespread among the Turks. It is customary to ‘buy off’ any good news.
The practice of ‘buying off’ is associated with almost all transition rituals. It is also
found in wedding rituals and funeral rites. It is believed that this is how all earthly debts
are paid and no account will be taken of them in the afterlife.
Newborn customs
The first and most important thing after birth is to read ezan64 with their name in
the ear of the newborn. This ritual is performed by the imam of the village. The name
is repeated three times, so the child hears their name for the first time and is already
‘christened’. Naming is done until the third day after birth. It is a common practice to
give two names. Usually, one is given by the parents and is considered the main one,
and the other one is given by the imam. The second name is always a name or a word
borrowed from the Qur’an. This name is kept in secret; its purpose is to protect the child
in case of illness or ordeal. If this happens, relatives start calling him by that name. It
must be known by the closest people because this is the name by which the child will
one day go to the ‘other world’. Therefore, after a person dies, it is customary to mourn
them by the secret name and the ezan to be read at the funeral.
Once the navel falls off, it is carefully stored and dried. If the child is a girl, it is tied
to a loom or a wheel for her to be hard-working. If the child is a boy, it is put on a plough
or in a horse-drawn carriage so that he is a good ploughman and master, a merchant
or a craftsman. And most often the umbilical cord is placed on the Qur’an, at the door
of the mosque or of the school so that the child is educated. That is a typical example of
inductive magic, of the contact type, which according to the law of contact and adhe62 In some Rukye collections I found similar descriptions, resembling a zodiac system and describing what qualities the
human must have depending on their day, month and time of birth.
63 Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan.
64 Ezan (Adhan) – the meaning of this word is ‘announcement’. It is performed five times a day, before the Friday prayer
or before the funeral prayer. It invites the believing people to prayers.
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sion states that things that have been in contact continue to influence one another from
a distance even after their physical contact is interrupted (Frazer, 1984: 17). The water
with which the newborn is bathed is discarded only at certain places. These are the garden, between flower or vegetable plantations or in the roots of a fruit tree. An obligatory
attribute is a blue bead to protect from bewitching and evil eyes. It should be hung in a
prominent place – on the chest or the hat.
It’s not good to jump over the baby; if someone does, they have to do it again from
back to front so that the baby does not stay short. When someone brings something to
the baby’s family in a plate or other container, they should not be returned immediately,
but after a while and necessarily full, so as not to take mother’s milk with them. During
the period of forty days, the child’s clothes should not be hung dry in a visible place, so
as not to attract evil eyes. Also, they should never be washed and hung dry after sunset, so as not to be possessed by evil spirits. On the twentieth day, the child is salted or
washed with saltwater, in which pieces of broom and coins are dropped. It is believed
that the broom will protect them from evil forces, and the coins will make them healthy.
The fortieth day of the child’s birth is associated with a ritual cleansing of the
mother. It is customary to put a little ash65 into the water to wash the body, to protect
the mother from evil eyes and so that she has breast milk. It is believed that from this
moment on, evil forces can hardly harm her and the child. On this day, he/she leaves
his/her home for the first time and is taken to his/her mother’s home, where her relatives come to see him/her. This custom is called Kirki uchurmak66 and is performed
in a very narrow circle of people. Guests are treated to sweet foods – khalva (Turkish
delight), baklava – to make the child’s life sweet. It is believed that it is not good to see a
baby’s face without giving money or a gift, so the guests ‘buy’ the right to take the baby
in their arms.
Until the age of one, child’s hair is not cut so as not to shorten their life. After the
age of one, only boys’ hair is cut. Nails are also not cut until the first year. Once they
start cutting them, they carefully collect the pieces and bury them in the soil.67 The place
is chosen very carefully. It is important that people and animals do not pass through, so
usually they choose a rose bush, in the roots of which child’s nails are buried.
When the child is about a year old, the Dadabakmasi68 ritual is performed. An
essential element of this ritual is the performance of Mewlid, and the sherbet, which is
customary to be given out, is served only by children whose parents are alive. Another
important element is ‘buying off’ – no one can take the child in their arms without
buying this right from the mother. Within this ritual, a donation is made, during which
65 Due to the widespread belief in the protective protective and cleansing powers and fire.
66 Kirki uchurmak (Kırkı uçurmak) – literally ‘the fortieth day to fly away’.
67 According to Frazer this practice among Turks is related to the belief in resurrection and the necessity for a man to
revive from all their parts when it comes (Frazer, 1984: 295–296).
68 Literally – ‘To see a child’ (Dada bakması).
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all the women present express wishes for health, luck, assumptions about the future of
the child are made. Before leaving the house, all those present should leave part of their
clothes (a thread or a small piece of cloth) next to the child so that he/she sleeps peacefully and does not have nightmares. If the child still cannot sleep and cries at night, the
ninth ayat of 78 Surah An-Naba (The Tidings), which reads ‘And made your sleep for
rest’ is read to them seven times. In all cases, when Sacrifice for a child is made, it is
forbidden for the parents to consume it.
Circumcision and fraternisation
The following rituals – circumcision and fraternisation, are very important to the
community. Their significance is determined by the elements of religious socialisation
with which both rituals are charged. It is widely believed that after circumcision – for
boys and fraternisation – for girls, adolescents can now begin their religious education.
There are several practices in circumcision rituals that can be described as magical.
One of them is the requirement during the processions, which are organised with musicians, guests of the event and the child (who rides in a specially decorated horse car for
the occasion) not to return home along the same way they left. This rule is also observed
during the wedding when the procession with the musicians goes around the village
to collect flags made by the relatives of the bride and groom. Another practice is, when
the skin from the circumcision is dried, to put it into father’s purse or to build it in the
construction of a new house for health and happiness.
Among the Sunni Turks, the custom of fraternisation69 or, as it is commonly called,
Duali Aret (fraternisation before the Qur`an) is very common. It is done mainly for
girls, usually up to school age. Fraternisation allies both families as blood relatives, so
subsequent marriages between their representatives are not allowed. Aret is honoured
on all holidays, respectively, each child honours the parents of the other as their own.
Similar fraternisation is possible at a later age. This is usually done in case of illness or if
the child remains with one parent. It is believed that the two children protect each other
from disease and misfortune and remain connected even in the afterlife.
Wedding rituals
Marriage for Muslims, unlike for Christians, is not a sacrament but represents the
conclusion of a contract. The main purpose of the rites is to ensure the transition of
the bride from one family to another (Aleksiev, 2012: 104–105). Traditional Turkish
wedding consists of several elements – engagement, henna and a real wedding. In them
again the rituals in which homоeopathic magic is used prevail. When they come to ask
for the girl, the members of the engagement party enter the house with their right foot
first, and during this time women watch for a black cat not to appear, because they be69
This ritual is also present among the representatives of heterodox Muslims. See Mikov, 2005: 376–383.
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lieve that this will bring misfortune to the young family. A few days after the details of
the wedding are agreed upon, the boy’s family sends gifts. Sherbet is prepared for those
who bring them. Tradition dictates that after drinking sherbet, a metal coin be dropped
in the glass so that the children who will be born into the new family are healthy. When
they leave the girl’s home, water is poured after them so that the newlyweds have good
luck.
The night before the actual wedding, a Henna night is organised. In some villages
in Northeastern Bulgaria, people are invited with pieces of bread, which is prepared at
girl’s home and is richly decorated with various motives – a tree, animals. The meaning
of the symbols is for the family to be united and to have a lot of cattle. Girl’s arms and
legs are hennaed in advance, and a symbol in the form of a circle is formed in the middle
of the palms and feet. It is an obligatory requirement for the ritual to be performed in
complete silence on the part of the bride. She must be silent until the morning to learn
to be silent when she moves to her mother-in-law’s house. The circle is a very important
element of Henna night – in addition to the symbol on the palms and feet, the arrangement of the people present is also in a circle. Since ancient times, the circle has been
perceived as a symbol having a protective function, as well as a symbol of infinity and
unity, so almost all dances are also performed in a circle.
On the wedding day, the bride must obligatorily shed a tear. It is believed that if she
cries at her wedding, when she goes to her husband’s house, she will be very happy and
will only laugh. It is customary to make flags at weddings. They are made by almost all
relatives of the boy and the girl. Various fabrics or towels are attached for this purpose,
and fruits – apple, pear, quince (depending on the season) are fixed on the top of each
flag to make the woman fertile. It is customary to throw candies, small coins and wheat
along the way of the procession, organised to take the bride to make the life of the young
people sweet, for them to be healthy and have many children.
After the wedding, the woman’s duty is to thoroughly clean the house every week,
carefully checking niches, gutters, the area around the threshold of the house and the
front door. It is believed that these are the places where someone may have cast a spell.
If something is accidentally found – feathers, animal claws, dried fruits, wrapped in
cloth or leather, they must be brought to the hodja to read to them and then thrown into
running water.
Funeral and memorial rituals
In funeral rites, in addition to religious rites, a wide place is occupied by rites,
which are charged with the ideas and understandings of the Turks about the afterlife
and the trials that the individual is expected to go through in order to reach eternal
life. These rituals are intended to free the deceased person from their sins, to help them
accept death, and to pass more easily through the period of the afterlife, in anticipation
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of the Judgment Day. These notions build a complex system of ritual actions and norms
of behaviour.
In the eschatological ideas of Turks in Northeastern Bulgaria, the afterlife is inextricably linked with earthly one. It is believed that when a person dies, their spirit stands
between heaven and earth and wanders among the living until the moment of resurrection comes. The places inhabited by the spirits of the dead are their graves, so the practices associated with their visitation and cleansing are very important. It is believed that
in the afterlife everyone looks for their family and reunites with the deceased relatives.
That is why it is customary for people from one family to be buried next to each other.
On certain days, the souls of the dead people go out to visit their loved ones. This is the
time until sunset on Fridays, as well as on the days of Arefe (Arfe; Arife), which precede
Bayrams (Ramazan Bayram / Eid al-Fitr and Qurban Bayram / Eid al-Adha). Therefore,
saç kokutma70 is practised in every house at these times, with food being given out to
children or neighbours. It is believed that the smell of this food will feed loved ones and
make their lives easier in the afterlife. This ritual is also practised if you dream of a dead
person, regardless of the day.
After being laid in the grave, it is believed that the deceased person is visited by
angels who ask them questions. They must be answered in a certain way (‘Who is your
God?’ – ‘Allah!’; ‘What is your religion?’ – ‘Islam!’; ‘What is your book?’ – ‘Qur’an!’;
‘What is your direction?’ – ‘Qibla’), they also ask if the person has prayed and kept
the Lent during their life). After answering the angels, the deceased person crosses the
Sırat (As-Sirāt) bridge. In people’s minds, this bridge is built over Hell and is ‘thinner
than a hair and sharper than a knife’. This ordeal can only be overcome if the deceased
person has been righteous. If they fail to pass through it, they fall into a river of fire that
takes them to Hell. That is why all the obligatory sacrificed animals that are slaughtered
during one’s lifetime (at Qurban Bayram / Eid al-Adha, at the birth of a child, at a prayer
for rain, at the purchase of a new house and at death) must have horns. It is believed that
the sacrificed animal will help the deceased person to cross the bridge. When Kayamet
(Kiyamet) (Yawm al-Qiyāmah or Yawm ad-Din) (Resurrection) occurs, the earth and
the sky will merge. All living beings – humans and animals – will die. Then Allah
will revive them, together with all the beings who once lived on Earth, and they will
be judged for their deeds. No one knows when this day will come. For the living, this
waiting time is a long and vague concept, but for those who have moved to the afterlife,
it is only a brief moment. All the rituals that accompany the preparation of the deceased
person, the funeral and the memorial rites are related to these notions.
If the death of a person is expected, it is customary to give water to the dying person. Usually, this water is given by a child to wash away the sins of the deceased person
70 Literally – ‘to smell like a sach’. The name comes from the dish – saç (a large metal or ceramic lid like a shallow bell),
which is used to prepare food, resembling a pancake.
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with his/her innocence. The action is also charged with another meaning. It is possible
that the devil will try to tempt the deceased person with water and thus divert them
from the right path. The practice of preparing food immediately after death has the
same meaning. It is believed that this food will satisfy the deceased person so that they
are not deceived by the devil and calmly pass into the afterlife.
If a person dies after sunset, the body stays in the house overnight. It is a widespread practice for everyone to prepare everything they need for the funeral during
their lifetime – money, the white cloth from which kefin71 is made, ibrik with which they
water the grave. After placing the body in bed, it is wrapped in a blanket. This blanket
is then used to cover the deceased person at all times of transport. A candle is lit in the
room, which should not go out. When the candle diminishes, a new one is lit. This is
done for seven days, after which the candle is extinguished and buried into the ground.
Only men are present at the funeral. The deceased person is transported to the
cemetery carried in the arms of those closest to him / her. They take turns to the cemetery, moving the coffin without leaving it on the ground. By severing the connection of
the body with the earth, it is believed that the deceased person will more easily pass to
the afterlife. After the completion of religious rituals, the body is laid into the grave. A
gutter is made on the soil, in which water is poured with the ibrik. After pouring water
on it, a round metal tray is placed on the grave, in which several towels are placed. The
meaning of this ritual is related to the coming of the Qiyamah day. On this day the
earth will be covered with fire, there will be a bright light. In people’s imagination, the
tray is for the deceased person to step into it, not to burn his/her feet, and the towel – to
cover his/her head, because he / she will not be able to withstand the light. After the
rituals are over, the tray and towels are handed out to the persons who read the prayers,
the ibrik is brought to the mosque to be used by ablution prayers; the blanket is also left
into the mosque and used in the Mewlid rituals.
On the day of the funeral, another ritual – Devri is performed by men only. The
money that the deceased person set aside for their funeral during their lifetime is placed
in a towel. Men line up next to each other and begin to pass the towel from hand to
hand. With this transfer, they ‘pass on’ the sins of the deceased person to each other, so
not everyone agrees to participate in this ritual. The amount that remains in the towel is
distributed between the imam and all those who participated in the preparation of the
grave, and the money dropped is given to the poor people or to orphans.
From death to the fifty-second day, it is believed that the deceased person is between life and death and visits their loved ones in the form of various animals or insects. Therefore, it is not customary to thoroughly clean the house, to remove cobwebs
and kill spiders in the home of the deceased person. During the night, a lighted room is
left so that the soul of the deceased person can find the way home. On the fifty-second
71
Kefin – this is the clothing the deceased person is buried with. It is frequently prepared in advance.
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day, according to beliefs, the deceased person realises that they are dead and move to
the afterlife. When this moment comes, all clothes, shoes, some of his / hers other belongings are given to relatives and friends. It is customary to use them as often as possible because it is believed that in this manner the deceased person will also be dressed
in the afterlife. It is a common practice to plant fruit trees down to tombstones because
when you eat near a grave, you also feed the soul of the deceased person.
C onclusion
The magical practices described can be related to both main meanings of ‘magic’
in scientific literature, namely – as a type of rituals (mumbling incantations, divination,
rain magic, love magic, separation magic, etc.) and the manner in which phenomena
associate in their meaning (according to Frazer’s classification of both types of magic –
Homoeopathic Magic and Contagious Magic). The purpose of these practices is to cause
changes in various aspects of the human psyche, physiology, and social status (TodorovaPirgova, 2015: 28). Conditionally, they can be divided into: healing – mumbling
incantations, casting a bullet, practising Rukye; protective – all kinds of prohibitions
in maternity customs, making amulets with apotropaic function, etc.; for good/evil –
practising Rukye (for love/separation, reconcilement/quarrel, illness, childlessness,
etc.). Magical rituals are extremely flexible and adaptable to various cultural systems.
Their dependence on the general ideas, beliefs, norms, and values predetermines the
stable manifestations in the main semantic structural units of the ritual complex. New
elements that enter the practice do not always become part of the norm. What has
been woven into the ritual system of the local settlement culture is gradually taking
the shape of a specific practice, to which representatives of other cultures also have
access (Todorova-Pirgova, 2015: 11, 98). In modern times, these types of practises are
not perceived as valid for the Turkish ethnic group only. In my conversations with
imams and bullet-casting women, they all share that they are approached by people of
different ethnicities and religions on a daily basis. As a result of historical and cultural
changes, this type of activity is modified and adapted to the changed cultural reality,
but the basic semantic landmarks remain unchanged. Therefore, their identification,
research and analysis would enrich the knowledge of the past stages in the formation
of beliefs and ideas in traditional culture, but would also complement their specific
manifestations in modern times.
R eferences:
Aleksiev, B., G. Lozanova and D. Dobreva (2012) Folklor i traditsionni praznitsi (Folklore and Traditional Holidays). In: Turtsite v Balgaria. Istoriya, traditsii, kultura.
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Sofia: ‘Vagabond media’, pp. 89-128.
Bakardzhieva, T. (2006) Da pobedish straha (Leene na kurshum sred myusyulmanite
ot Severoiztochna Balgaria) (Overcoming Fear (Bullet Casting among Muslims in
Northeastern Bulgaria). Bulgarian folklore 2: 64–76.
Bakardzhieva, T. (2004) Svyat na madrost i krasota: turskite imena w minaloto i dnes.
Rechnik (A World of Wisdom and Beauty: Turkish Names in the Past and Today.
Dictionary). Ruse: ‘Avangard-print’.
Frazer, D. (1984) Zlatnata klonka (The Golden Bough). Sofia: ‘Otechestven front’.
Goev, A. (1992) Urochasvaneto. Balgarski narodni vyarvanya (Putting a Spell. Bulgarian
Folk Beliefs), vol. 1. Gabrovo: ‘Texnosist’.
Karahasan-Chanar, I. (2006) Svetat na Islyama. Palna hronika na myusyulmanskata
tsivilizatsiya, T.1, Razhdaneto na Islyama I arabskata ekspanzya (The World of Islam. Complete Chronicle of Muslim Civilization, Vol. 1. The Birth of Islam and the
Arab Expansion). Sofia: ‘Lik’.
Lozanova, G. Myusyulmanska eshatologiya (Muslim Eschatology). Available at: https://
balgarskaetnografia.com/svetogled/mitologia/musulmanska-eshatologia.html (accessed 18 June 2020).
Lozanova, G. (2007) Rechevi stereotipi I normi na povedenie ili za upotrebata na formulata basmala pri balgarite myusyulmani (Speech Stereotypes and Norms of Behaviour or the Use of the Basmala Formula among Bulgarian Muslims). In: Problems of Bulgarian folklore, vol. 10, Folklore – identity – modernity. Sofia: Academic
Publishing House ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’, pp. 367-375.
Mihaylov, D. (2007) Zarazhdaneto na islyama v svetlinata na Korana i izvorite (The
Birth of Islam in the Light of the Qur’an and the Sources). Sofia: ‘Shambala Konsult’.
Mikov, L. (2005) Rituali za pobratimyavane pri heterodoksnite myusyulmani v Balgaria
(Twinning Rituals for Heterodox Muslims in Bulgaria). In: Problems of Bulgarian
folklore, vol. 10, Folklore – identity – modernity. Sofia: Academic Publishing House
‘Prof. Marin Drinov’, pp. 376-383.
Mutafova, K. (2011) ‘Transplantiraniyat Anadol?’: Novi registrovi danni za Osmanpazarskata kaza (‘Anatolia Transplanted?’: New Register Data about the Kaza of
Osman Pazar). In: The Balkans – Language, History, Culture, vol. 2. Veliko Tarnovo: ‘Ivis’, pp. 90-103.
Ognyanova, E. (2002) Traditsii i praznitsi v Balgar. Balgarski, armenski, evrejski, myusyulmanski, tsiganski (Traditions and Holidays in Bulgaria. Bulgarian, Armenian,
Jewish, Muslim, Gypsy). Sofia: ‘Arhimed’.
Peev, I. (1985) Istoriya i filosofiya na edna religiya (islyamat – minalo i nastoyashte) (History and Philosophy of a Religion (Islam – Past and Present). Sofia: ‘Nauka I izkustvo’.
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Todorova – Pirgova, I. (2015) Bayaniya i magii (Spells and Magic). Sofia: Academic Publishing House ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’.
Sabotinova, D. (2002) Semeynik ili koleloto na zhivota. Obichai i obredi na balgari, turtsi
I tsigani (roma) (Family or the Wheel of Life. Customs and Rites of Bulgarians,
Turks and Gypsies (Roma). Silistra: RITT.
Shniter, M. (2001) Molitva i magiya (Prayer and Magic). Sofia: ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’
University Press.
Shopova, B. (2018) Mezhdu kanona i traditsiyata – lokalni versii na Mevlida sred turtsi
suniti v Severoiztochna Balgariya (Between the Cannon and the Tradition – Local
Versions of Mawlid among the Suni Turks in Northeastern Bulgaria). Bulgarian
Folklore 1: 57–77.
Carra de Vaux, B. (Gardet, L.) (1960) Basmala. In: Encyclopaedia of Islam. New edition
(ET NE), Vol.1, B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht eds. Leiden – London, pp. 10841086.
El Hüseyni, S. (1989) Havas-ul Kur’an Kenz-ül Havvas. İstanbul.
Muslim, S. The Book of Greetings: 2188. Available at: https://sunnah.com/muslim/39/56
(accessed 20 June 2020).
Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (1997) HAVÂSSÜ’l-KUR’ÂN (‫)نآرقلا صاوخ‬,
İstanbul, Cilt 16.
Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2005) MUAVVİZETEYN (‫)نيتذ ّوعملا‬, İstanbul, Cilt 30.
Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2008) RUKYE (‫)ةيقرلا‬, İstanbul, Cilt 35.
Behrin Shopova, PhD, is a researcher, with МА in Music Pedagogy from Plovdiv Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in 2006. In 2018 she obtained PhD in Musicology,
Music and Dance Arts at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She explores the local functioning
of the traditional music and folklore culture of Sunni Turks in Bulgaria – the contemporary processes of folk culture transformation. In addition to ethnomusicology, her
studies are related to other interdisciplinary cognitive fields, such as ethnology, cultural anthropology, theology, etc. Currently, Behrin Shopova’s research work focuses on
Muslim communities, their religious and traditional rituals.
E-mail: behrin.shopova@iefem.bas.bg
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E MBODIED ‘MIRACLES’:
CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES OF PAIN
(THE CASE OF TARIQA RIFĀ῾IYYA IN KOSOVO)
Ioannis Mylonelis
Abstract: The current study presents a Sufi group from the city of Prizren, which I
met through my fieldwork in Kosovo. Starting with a definition of the common name
of Rifā’iyya, this paper goes on to focus on the modern practices of Sufism in the Balkans, and in particular, the tariqa (path) Rifā’iyya in the Kosovo region. It describes the
celebration ceremony of Ali’s birthday and/or the arrival of spring, the so-called darb
al-shish ritual, in which members of the tariqa pierce their bodies with sharp objects.
In addition, my paper examines the phenomenon of absence of pain or fear during
extreme and painful religious practices, which carries with it the perceived status of
karāmāt nafs (miracles of the Soul). My work seeks to make a comparison between the
rituals (per se) and the existent academic literature in this field of research. The aim
of this paper is to perceive the application of the so-called costly rituals or rituals of
pain – unique rituals that the members of Rifā῾iyya practice on their bodies and in a
communal context.
Keywords: Sufism, Islamic Mysticism, rituals, body, Rifā῾iyya
I ntroduction – the question ‘why’
One of the most fundamental components and characteristics of a religious system
is that of ritual. According to anthropologist Rebecca Stein (2016), a ritual can somehow
be likened to a theatrical play. The practice should be performed by actors assuming
roles (sometimes very specific ones), while the performance consists of words, texts, and
sets based on one scenario at a time. Such a theatrical play is a reflection of the culture
and the worldview of the respective society (Stein and Stein, 2016: 77). The topic of ritual
is a broad and complex subject by itself. The only thing we can express with confidence,
considering the historical time, is that ritual as a phenomenon is not static; it changes,
adapts, evolves or is lost forever with the passing of time and the change of culture (Salamone, 2004: xi). Worth mentioning at this point is Catherine Bell’s (1997) statement
that ritual has become a tool with which societies experience and understand the world.
The attempt to describe and define the notion of ritual by providing an exact definition is probably just as difficult as the desire to define in some ways the concept of
religion. Religious scholars have not yet agreed on the true nature of ritual nor its limits,
or even whether such limits do exist between a religious ritual and a secular one (Salam147
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
one, 2004: xi). Still, what we can safely say about ritual is that as an event ‘you recognize
it when or as soon as you witness it’ (Ibid.). Despite the absence of a specific definition
of the concept of ritual, its nature and diverse forms have been the subject of rigorous
discussions and studies by many religious scholars, anthropologists, historians, sociologists, psychologists, etc. The interest expressed by such a great deal of scholarship from
so many different disciplines may derive from the fact that the act of ritual is the most
visible manifestation of the complex matter called ‘religion’, which draws directly the
attention of external observers (Ibid.):
A few years ago, I visited Israel during the Passover holiday. I was watching television one night with a friend and the state-run network ran a show on several
Easter practices. One practice that caught our attention was a ritual crucifixion
in a small Philippine town. We were shocked to see volunteers being nailed to
crosses, then lifted high up above a crowd of devoted onlookers. My friend, Jacob
Goren, who is a retired professor of engineering, a socialist and atheist, immediately launched into a tirade against the superstitions of religion. He ridiculed
not only the Catholics of the Philippines, but all the other similar practices he
could think of—the Shi’i, self-beating for the martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala;
Native Americans who suspend themselves from hooks inserted in their chests;
and medieval penitential practices he had seen in movies. ‘Why’, he asked with
a mixture of curiosity and derision, ‘would anyone in his right mind do this? I
would say they’re crazy, but they can’t all be!’ (Glucklich, 2001: 3).
The above is not my own writing, but is part of the introduction of Ariel Glucklich’s (2001) great Sacred Pain project. The same simple and basic question of ‘Why?’
would always be in my mind when watching the Anastenarides dancing barefoot on
the incandescent charcoals, when photographing Shia Muslims mourning the sacrifice
of Husayn on Ashura Day on the narrow streets of Piraeus, and when meeting Islamic
mystics, known as Sufi, in the Balkans, particularly in Kosovo. The same question arose
when the Islamic mystics, known as Sufi, whom I met in the area of Kosovo, in the Balkans, would pierce their bodies with big nails, while celebrating the coming of spring
and the birth of ’Alī ibn Abi Talib. The question of why a subject would submit oneself
to extreme trials in the context of a ritual is the primary question and the starting point
of looking at the underlying reasons for such choices (Xygalatas, 2014).
Methodologically this paper is based on ethnographic research and focused fieldwork. As such, it aims at the presentation and description of the darb al-shish ceremony
of tariqa Rifā’iyya in the Prizren area of Kosovo, thus contributing to the enrichment of
the ethnographic material. But going beyond the presentation of ethnographic material
drawn from focused field research, and in dialogue with existing ethnographic records
describing the darb al-shish ritual, in which religious devotees pierce their bodies with
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sharp objects, we tried to examine whether and to what extent subjects experience pain
during the process of cutting their bodies. Similarly, we examined part of the theory,
according to which, the subjects` bodies transform into bodies that incorporate the expression of the teachings of mysticism (Pinto, 2009, 2012, 2016). Finally, we explored
the role and significance of the darb al-shish ceremony among the subjects of the tariqa
Rifā῾iyya community.
T he darb al-shish ritual: through my fieldwork
and ethnographic literature
Tariqa Rifā῾iyya, ‫( قي ِرَط‬ṭarīqa means ‘path’) are known for their ability to perform
admirable and strange acts (Hoffman, 2009: 99). This specific community became more
widely known because of the practices performed by its members during their rituals,
which ‘exacerbate’ pain in the name of faith, and which take place during the tariqa
ceremonies and rituals. The ceremonies, some of which appeal only to students of the
sufi turuq (murīd), while others are more inclusive, are at the centre of community
existence. Specifically, only religious experts have been involved with the tariqa Rifā῾iyya. Thus, in her work ‘Sufism, Mystics and Saints in Modern Egypt’, in a reference
to tariqa Rifā῾iyya, Valerie Hoffman informs us that this particular tariqa, along with
tariqa Sa’diyya, often publicly perform ‘miracles’, called karāmāt, during their rituals
(Ibid., 98–99).
In her work, Valerie Hoffman quotes information from the ethnographic recordings of E. W. Lane and Nicolaas Biegmann, referring to a ceremony of tariqa Rifā῾iyya,
called dosa, during which the dervishes pierce their cheeks and place swords in their abdomen as they dance (Ibid., 99). Biegmann (2007) has recorded and photographed various versions of dosa, in which dervishes put nails, knives and swords in their mouths
and throats. He reports that members of tariqa Rifā῾iyya perform these rituals as evidence of faith. Biegmann and other researchers, such as Paulo Pinto, report the above
Rifā῾iyya practice except for dosa and darb silah or darb al-shish (dabbūs/ small nail,
sīkh/ nail) (Biegmann, 2007a: 12; 2007b: 34–35).72
The majority of the handful researchers in the field of social sciences who have dealt
with Islamic mysticism, and specifically with the tariqa Rifā῾iyya and their ceremonies,
as well as ritual practices, are not always acquainted with the theological terms and
linguistic traditions of each region, and attribute these terms mainly to their transliteration from Arabic. Therefore, they adopted terms from the texts of the first travellers
and orientalists of the ‘era of the first encounters with the other’. Generally, the terms
darb silah or darb al-shish have the same meanings in Persian, Arabic and Ottoman. As
72 Both terms refer to sharp metal objects. These sharp metal objects have various names from place to place, for
example in Kosovo, tariqa Rifā῾iyyacall, these metal objects are called Zarfs / nails. Pinto describes those sharps metal
objects (Pinto, 2009: 117 see also Pinto, 2012: 64; 2016: 201–202).
149
for the term darb silah or darb al-shish in the context of Rifā῾iyya, we could say that the
common term darb comes from the word ‫[ برض‬ḍrb/ḍarb(pronunciation)] in Arabic
and ‫[ برص‬ḍarb/zarb(pronunciation)] meaning ‘hit’. Regarding the term silah, we could
say that it comes from the Arabic word ‫( حا َل ِس‬silāḥ) which means ‘weapon.’ It has the
same meaning in Persian, ‫( حالس‬selâh), Ottoman ‫( حالس‬silah), modern Turkish, and
the Albanian-Turkish dialect in the Balkans. As for the term al-shish in the Ottoman
language, şiş has the meaning of ‘skewer’ and comes from the Arabic word ‫( شْي ِش‬shish)
that means ‘skewer’ or ‘small sword’. Therefore, we could say about the terms darb silah
or darb al-shish that they mean ‘hit of the weapons’. Thus, these terms reveal, through
the heritage of culture and bodily performance, the military history and memory of
the community of tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Prizren, Kosovo. As the leader of the community,
called ‘shaykh’ (from the Arabic word (‫خيش‬‎ (shayḫ), told me in 2016, through those
practices the community or tariqa remembered its military past when they were soldiers and missionaries of the Ottoman army.
Paulo Pinto informs us that there are various ceremonies and that the darb alshish ceremony is usually not performed by the shaykhs themselves, but mainly by their
students as it is used, on one hand, as a challenge from the dervishes – at higher levels
of teaching within the tariqa, and, on the other hand, as an act of miracle that publicly displays the dervishes’ exceptional teaching skills (Pinto, 2016: 202).The miraculous
character of the darb al-shish ceremony is understood by the dervishes involved in it
as a result of the action of the blessing of God (Baraka) on their bodies (Pinto, 2016:
201-202).
The ritual darb al-shish, which consists of body piercing with sharp objects, is the
most recognisable feature of tariqa Rifā῾iyya in the Balkan region, and particularly in
the Prizren area. They perform it in the context of celebrations dedicated to the arrival
of the spring and the birth of ‘Alī ibn Abi Ṭālib at 22 of March annually (Duijzings,
2000: 108). This ceremony is also locally referred to as Ijra (Mason, 2015) and has often
been referenced by international media (APTV, 1998; see also Biach, 2014 and Hopkins,
2015). For example, the ceremony has attracted several photographers and directors
who have done a great work with producing ethnographic documentaries73 and photographs (Mason, 2015).
As soon as the shaykh of the tariqa Rifā’iyya gave the percussions to the dervishes blessing them, he gave the rhythm by tapping the cymbals in such a way that the
strong part of the rhythm fell exactly on the name of the Lord Ahmad al-Rifāī and the
name of the Prophet Muhammad as they were sung by women from the balcony of the
73 Regarding the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Prizren, in 2016, Darragh Mason created a short ethnographic documentary with
the title The Rufa’i Sufis of Kosovo. In addition, there have been two ethnographic documentaries dedicated to the tariqa
Rifā῾iyya in the region of Macedonia. The first one is the 1955 short black and white ethnographic documentary from the
‘Vardar film Productions – Skopje’ with the title Dervishes (Malinkov, 2013), the second ethnographic documentary is the
Belgian ethnographic documentary produced in 2000 with the title Lex amoureux de Dieu.
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tekke. After a while, the shaykh gave the cymbals to one of his sons and turned to the
mihrab from where he got three zarfs – three small needles. He put the first needle in
his mouth and slowly licked it from side to side. Then he took a step forward and stood
in front of a 10-year-old child. The child kissed the hand of the shaykh three times,
opened his mouth, and, with a very fast movement, the shaykh passed the needle into
the child’s mouth, pierced the right cheek near the lip, and then sent the child quickly
back to his place. Then he licked the second needle, and while holding it in his mouth,
he looked at the children in front of him. The shaykh’s eyes quickly went from right to
left until his eyes fell on a child on his right who stared back, and as soon as the shaykh
nodded his head, the child ran and stood in front of him. The shaykh pierced the child
with the needle in just the same way as the previous one. Then the shaykh of the tariqa
Rifā’iyya turned and got from the mihrab one of the big zarfs and he called his son to
come to him. He licked the zarf and passed it by piercing the right cheek of the boy,
this time more slowly, without his son displaying the slightest trace of pain. The shaykh
then choose among the dervishes who swayed from left to right without whirling who
to pierce next. As I was told by the shaykh in 2016: ‘I only pick the best dervishes, as I
judge at that moment’. On that day the shaykh pierced only four adults, and right after
completing the process, he took back the cymbals. After a while, he called in the same
order in front of him all the children that he had pierced and removed one by one the
zarfs (the nails), pulling them sharply and pressing the flesh with his fingers at the point
of the hole to allow for very little bleeding. At the same time, he moved his lips as if to
say a wish, and in the end, he spat in their faces to give them the Baraka.74
Ger Duijzings (2000) stresses that the impact of the ceremony involving about
eighty dervishes is very large and states: ‘The monotonous sound and entrancing
rhythm of the songs, which last for several hours, are also very much a physical experience for the audience.’
The scholar describes how during the main part of the Sultani – Nevruz ceremony, the dervishes move their bodies forward and backwards based on the accelerating
rhythm of the hymns and the singing, shouting loudly and breathing deeply at the same
time, following the rhythm of the music. In this way they enter into deep ecstasy (Duijzings, 2000: 108). In his descriptions, Duijzings separates the ceremony into two parts.
At first, the shaykh pierces the dervishes, and after that, the highest rank dervishes
perform blows to their own bodies. Duijzings also mentions how the shaykh first pierces
the children and then the adults, as gradually the intensity of the ceremony increases
from the pace set by the cymbals and the percussion. As the intensity and the voices
of the dervishes become more forceful, there is a series of four ‘virtuoso’ dervishes, as
Duijzings calls them, who will pierce their own throats and cheeks (Ibid., 108–109).
The same researcher also describes another practice during the ceremony, in which
74
From my fieldwork in Kosovo in March 2018.
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the shaykh passes a sword from his lips, while licking it, and finally puts its tip on the
abdomen of a dervish lying down on the floor. With the help of others, a young child
climbs on top of the sword that touches the dervish’s stomach in order to balance his
weight on the sword without hurting the underlying dervish (Ibid., 109). Finally, Duijzings (2000) explains that the ceremony ends when the shaykh himself pierces his cheeks
on both sides with a long sword.
The above two practices of using a sword in the ritual have not been applied in recent years, as explained by the Shaykh’s son. In fact, during a tariqa tekke tour in March
of 2016, the Shaykh’s son told me:
We do not puncture our bodies only with needles (the zarfs), but also with swords.
It would be very interesting for you to see my grandfather pierce his cheeks with
a sword. He would pass a whole sword from cheek to cheek, or put it on his abdomen to be pushed against it forcefully. This isn’t done often nowadays. I have
heard stories from my father about my grandfather’s father, who would put the
tip of the sword that hangs in the centre of the mihrab into the niche of his eye,
and nothing would happen to him.
Writing about the ceremony, Paulo Pinto (2012) explains that the puncturing process is an elaborate form of testing that presents increasing difficulty, depending on the
puncture point of the human body. Pinto reports that on a scale of difficulty, the cheeks
are first, then the tongue, neck, shoulders, and, finally, the stomach. The last level, that
of the abdomen, is divided between ‘easy’ and ‘difficult’ points. The most vulnerable
points are the lateral parts of the abdomen – left and right, whereas the high-risk points
are located in the middle of the abdomen, around the navel, as there is a very high risk
of vital organs being injured there. Furthermore, the degree of difficulty also depends
on the piercing instrument – whether it is a small zarf, or the normal zarfs used for
adults, or even if it is a sword (Ibid., 64).
Pinto (2012) also gives us very interesting religious information. Although the ritual does not originate from the Kosovo and Albania regions, but from Syria, we can identify many common features between the two regions. He mentions that at some point
in the ceremony the rhythm and the music become quite intense, as when Shahāda’s
confession of faith is proclaimed. It is very important to refer to the degree of difficulty
of a perforation done in accordance with the hierarchical position of the dervish in the
tariqa.
The first performances described by Pinto involved the use of iron skewers (rahmaniyat) to pierce the cheeks or to stab the chest or belly. When the more advanced of
the committed ones volunteered, the instrument was changed to an iron skewer (shish).
Then, a devotee (murīd) went to Shaykh Mahmud and kissed his hand asking for permission to endure an ordeal in order to prove his faith in God. The shaykh consented
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to the request by placing his hand over the head of the believer. Then the devotee went
to the centre of the room and invoked the names of Muhammad, Ali, Abd al-Qader
Jeilani and Ahmed al-Rifa‘i, and recited the opening verse of the Qur’an, the fatiha, and
the shahada (Muslim profession of faith). At this point the shaykh pointed to one shish
hanging on the wall, revealing which ordeal the committed one would endure. The
devotee lifted his shirt. Then a devotee from a higher rank in the mystical path (jawish)
took the shish and pushed it into the murid’s abdomen with a sharp rapid movement,
piercing through his body with the shish, which came out of his back without shedding
any blood (Pinto, 2012: 64).
T he darb al-shish ritual and the feeling of pain
From the earliest recordings of Western travellers and orientalists used by Vladimiros Mirmiroglou (1940) in his work ‘Dervishes’ it is evident that the members of
tariqa Rifā῾iyya do not feel pain during the al-shish ceremony (Μιρμίρογλου, 1940:
285–289). The researcher quotes from the work of Baron Carra de Vaux:
Scene Five: ‘During this scene, the physical exhaustion and painful struggle of
the dervishes transforms itself into an ecstatic state. In this delirious state, they
come to a point of enduring any kind of pain. While further down is noted that
any dervish for whom the hot iron trial may not be enough, rushes towards the
swords / machetes hanging from the altar, grabbing the swords violently and
piercing their hands, sides and chests intensely without revealing the slightest
sign of pain or distress’ (Μιρμίρογλου, 1940: 287).
Regarding the issue of absence of pain in the ritual performers, Mirmiroglou also
refers to Théophile Gautier who describes two similar cases of dervishes not experiencing bodily pain. Distinctively, in the first case a dervish who is being pierced by
the shaykh shows no signs of pain. In the second case, it is emphasised that under no
circumstances would the dervishes avoid the piercing test, but instead, they pursue it
and accomplish it more than willingly. The above claim is typically attributed to the
following extract:
The elder fellows deliver a sharp metal stick to the Imam (Sheikh) who pierces
the cheeks of a pious young Dervish with that sharp hot iron, without the former
displaying the slightest sign of pain. Two other fanatics rush to the middle of the
room, naked from the waist up (Μιρμίρογλου, 1940: 288), and, then they started dancing a violent, disorderly dance with the knives. Only difference was that
instead of avoiding the knives’ hits, they rushed towards them aiming at getting
hurt (Ibid., 288).
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Margaret Hasluck emphasises that the structure of the ritual with the many hymn
repetitions, constant alternations of physical movements and stances achieves mental
and spiritual excitement during the ceremony – emotions that make the feeling of pain
unrecognisable by the subjects, the members of tariqa Rifā῾iyya at the moment of their
piercing with sharp objects (Norris, 2006: 74). Ger Duijzings quotes the testimony of an
elder dervish of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya from Prizren who states: ‘While we pierce, we do
not bleed and we do not feel pain because He (Allah) is protecting us’ (Duijzings, 2000:
108).
In an interview to a journalist, the Shaykh’s son of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya speaks about
the feeling of pain:
We have been doing this whole ritual with full conscience since the Ottoman period. The only thing we do not feel is pain, he says adding that, it’s a nice feeling.
I feel spiritually stronger, I feel no pain, you can even see that I have little blood
on my cheek (Hopkins, 2015).
The same is reported in an earlier interview by the father of a shaykh, who died in
2004, and who was the spiritual leader of the tariqa Rifāiyya in Prizren. He too claimed
he had no pain at all from the piercing with nails, zarfs.
All dervishes who take part in the ritual do not feel pain and do not bleed (APTV,
1998).
In an interview I had with the shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in March of 2016, in
Prizren, he explained to me as a Sufi member that they were not afraid to pierce their
bodies, and, at the same time, they did not hurt. The shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya ruled
out the existence of negative emotions, such as that of anxiety and stress during the
ceremony. Characteristically he told me:
This whole process of piercing the body is clearly what the dervishes do for themselves, for what they believe, and especially for God Himself. In none of the cases
is the ceremony aimed at providing a mere spectacle or pursuing publicity. This
story began with the intent and purpose of convincing and demonstrating that
we, the Sufi, are not afraid but confident of God, proving it through various practices that you shall witness in the Nevruz ceremony tomorrow.
He continued with exhortation saying:
There is never anxiety, confusion or stress before or during the ceremony; there is
no room for the above when the dervish is a good and faithful Muslim.
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R ole and significance of the ritual. Concluding remarks
Ger Duijzings views Prizren’s ceremony as a ritual with a strong dramatic character, used as a demonstration of authentic faith. In March of 1989, after the darb al-shish
ceremony, a dervish stated: ‘Through the ritual we show that our faith is strong and
authentic (Duijzings, 2000: 108–109). From ethnographic records, we understand that
the darb al-shish ritual of piercing the bodies of dervishes plays a central role in their
worshiping practice and is of great importance for the community itself and the subjects of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Prizren. In a former television interview with the shaykh’s
father of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya, he explained:
All this is because the dervishes are celebrating. The Sultan Nevrus has been celebrated before Islam was celebrated, then after the advent of Islam, and up until
today (APTV, 1998).
From the presentation of the above ethnographic material, it is evident that the human body occupies a dominant position during the ceremony. From the ethnographic
records we learn that the body’s involvement not only includes the piercing with zarfs,
but also the many movements and alternations of the dervishes’ body postures throughout the ritual. In a conversation I had with the shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya, I asked
him to explain to me the extensive participation of the human body in the ceremonies
of this tariqa. The shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya replied:
The whole ceremony is like a forest or a sea of waves. Things that don’t move have
no soul. What do you prefer? Staying on the coast, or swimming in the sea? See
the pack of cigarettes and the ashtray; they shake when I want them to; they have
no soul. The trees in the forest dance as if they are listening to a dhikr. As the
trees swirl from the air, so do the dervishes – I whirl, and the other one, on the
other side, does the same.
In an interview I had with the Shaykh in 2018, he commented on the body: ‘What
is the human body after birth? The body is a vessel. It is empty after the birth of man.
You must fill it with wisdom’ (Biach, 2015).
Pinto explains that a ritual containing such extreme difficulties as a person piercing
their own body with sharp objects reproduces a rather concentrated experience of the
theological, dogmatic and functional teachings of tariqa. Paulo Pinto’s dervish needs to
mobilise the appropriate theoretical, as well as physical practices to ensure a successful
outcome both for oneself and for the rest of the tariqa (Pinto, 2012: 64). The above is
expressed in the words of a dervish with whom Pinto conducted an interview during
his on-site research:
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
I felt the pressure of the skewer on my skin and, after it, the coldness of the
iron passing through my body. Then, I felt alive! It was love, God’s love filling
my heart. I could feel God in my heart, and I was sure that I was close to him
(Ibid., 66).
Pinto mentions that the increasing difficulty in physical experience of the piercing
of the believer’s body allows the incorporation of concepts secret to him, such as that
of love, the fundamental teaching of the Sufi. The concept of incorporation in Paulo
Pinto’s works is based on the theoretical model of Thomas Csordas.75 The latter focuses
on the believer’s body76 and views it as an experiential arena of himself, where abstract
embedded experiences are objectified within a religious context, in this case in a Catholic healing system, transforming the ‘sufferer’ into a ‘holy self’ (Pinto, 2016: 199).77 According to Pinto, the body becomes the field of a dramatic expression of the Islamic
secrets of the particular tariqa (Pinto, 2012: 66). Two dervishes from Pinto’s research in
Syria report:
[The performance] proved to me who I really am. It makes me feel my connection
to God and shows everybody how I (nafsi) was purified and blessed by Him. This
feeling accompanies me in my life and makes me behave correctly, always keeping me on the straight path (Pinto, 2012: 66). Every time I do the darb al-shish, I
feel my faith in God growing stronger. I feel God’s love in my heart all the time …
Sometimes I feel in my body (jismi) the necessity to show my love to God, to see
what I feel. So, I perform karamat to myself, not to the others … If God lights the
passion (ashaq) in my heart, it is his will that I show it (Pinto, 2016: 206).
The intense drama and incorporation of the teachings of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in
Prizren appear throughout the ceremony, as displayed above, especially at the point
before and after the perforation of the believers’ bodies with zarfs. In fact, before the
perforation, the shaykh slowly licks the ritual utensils and while the devotees remove
the nails from their cheeks, they spit on their students’ faces transmitting the Baraka.
Another act that links the integration of secret teachings with their expression in a
dramatic way during the ceremony is the dancing movements of the dervishes. Rebecca
Stein reports that dance is a very important instrument of symbolic representation of
the supernatural world and of the narrative of religious teachings (Stein and Stein, 2016:
72). Throughout the ceremony the members of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Prizren would
75 Moving away from psychological models, Thomas Csordas proposed a closer ethnographic scrutiny of religious
experience in his analysis of ritual healing among Catholic Charismatics in the United States (Csordas, 1997: 1–5; Pinto,
2016: 199). See also, Csordas connects experience and its expression as a continuum that can be explored through
ethnography, for, in his words, ‘we can identify how emotion is objectified and taken up from experience into language
(Csordas, 1997: 282).
76 About the term embodiment in anthropology see Csodras, 1994.
77 See also Csodras, 1997.
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swing forward and backwards, first from the left and then from the right side, while the
movement of their bodies forms in the air, as a dervish explained to me, the first letter
of the Arabic alphabet, ‘‫ – ’ا‬an important symbol for the mystic Islam communities and
that specific tariqa (Schimmel, 1990). Related to the above secret teachings was the narrative of a dervish in his fifties, who, in March of 2016, at the end of the ritual, explained
to me that the concept of love was important as it relieved the feeling of pain and led to
the overcoming of negative emotions:
With this ceremony I am always close to God, I feel loved that way. I am not
afraid during the ceremony because I feel love for God; I trust him. You cannot
perform this ceremony if you have hatred for someone in you.
Corresponding to the above is the narrative of the shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya,
which is presented in a short ethnographic documentary (Mason, 2016b): ‘Through the
ceremony, the community is close to God’. The members of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Prizren, perceive the darb al-shish ceremony as proof of authentic faith, as witnessed by
Paulo Pinto and Ger Duijzings. A very important element of Pinto’s field of research in
Syria is that the dervishes involved in the ceremony do not see it as a ritual with features
of self-sacrifice and self-punishment, nor as a form of denial of the human body, which
must suffer to be purified. On the contrary, the ceremony demonstrates the control and
discipline achieved by the dervishes through the mediation of bodily feats (Pinto, 2012:
66). At the respective ceremony of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Prizren, there is no element
of bodily self-punishment; the feeling of joy prevails throughout the ceremony, a fact
pointed out by the shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya and his father, describing the ritual as
a way of celebrating.
According to Pinto, anthropologists have already recognised the central role played
by ritual and religious experience in the construction of symbolic concepts and values
(Ibid., 62). In his ethnographic record, the darb al-shish ritual is a key element in the
identity formation of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya community. The most important point in Pinto’s argument is that the darb al-shish ceremony in Syria serves as a tool for empowering
the community through religious experience (Ibid., 69; Pinto, 2016: 208). This is fully
in line with the words of the shaykh of the tariqa Rifā῾iyya in Kosovo during my field
research there:
The reason we perform the ceremony is very much related to our tradition and
history. Not only do we have it, but also, we want to revive this particular tradition. The ceremony is our identity and with it the community gets stronger. The
ceremony is the power of our community; we become stronger every time. Once
the missionaries went from place to place, now anyone comes at their own will.78
78
From my fieldwork research in Prizren in March 2018.
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
This is a special practice, as it seems that through painful physical rituals, the body
of the participant becomes a field of expression of secret religious beliefs. With the specific practices of piercing, the subject removes the feeling of pain, thus increasing the
sense of power, which becomes a cohesive element of the community itself and an institution of identity formation, identifying the body of the subject with the body of the
community, which are harmoniously and jointly strengthened. While for the observer
the above ceremony seems like a heinous act or a violent performance, for the participants the trauma is not experienced as trauma, but as a miracle (karāmāt). It functions
as proof of real faith, which overcomes the fear of trauma by depositing the body and
the existence through the mystic in the omnipotence of God and the trust of the community, and in the guidance of each sheikh, who works out the harmony during the
performance of the rituals. This is how the pre-eminent reciprocal relationship takes
place. The mystic leaves himself to God, and God reaffirms his omnipotence as a miracle (karāmāt) and a blessing (baraka).
R eferences:
Μιρμίρογλου, Β. (1940) Οι Δερβίσσαι. Αθήνα: Εκάτη.
APTV (1998). KOSOVO: DERVISHES MARK SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY. Available at:
http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ecf2a7f8704876ffd596376b9b3501ac
(accessed 25 November 2018).
Bell, C. (1997) Ritual. Perspectives and Dimensions. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Biach, M. (2014) Die heulenden Derwische im Kosovo Nevruz.: Vice. Available at:
https://www.vice.com/de_at/article/9bmy4p/derwische-kosovo-nevruz (accessed
25 November 2018).
Biegmann, N. (2007a) God’s Lovers a Sufi Community in Macedonia. New York: Routledge.
Biegmann, N. (2007b) Loving God in Macedonia. ISIM Review 17. Leiden: ISIM.
Csodras, J. T. (1994) Embodiment and Experience: The Existential Ground of Culture
and Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Csodras, J. T. (1997) Language, Charisma and Creativity. The Ritual Life of a Religious
Movement. California: University of California Press.
Duijzings, G. (2000) Religion and the Politics of Identity in Kosovo. London: C. Hurst.
Glucklich, A. (2001) Sacred Pain Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Hoffman, J. V. (2009) Sufism, Mystics and Saints in Modern Egypt. South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press.
Hopkins, V. (2015) Kosovo: Sufi Mystics Piercing 200-years Tradition. In: Aljazeera
Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/03/kosovo-su-
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fi-mystics-piercing-200-year-tradition-150325112816684.html (accessed 25 November 2018).
Mason, D. (2016a) Rite of Spring.: Darragh Mason Field. Available at: https://www.darraghmasonfield.com/index/G0000zSHicXA5HhE (accessed 15 November 2018).
Mason, D. (2016b, February 4). The Rufa’i Sufis of Kosovo. [DarraghMasonField]
Available at: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=93a49_CcKgg (accessed 25 November 2018).
Malinkov, D. (2013) Dervishi – (Dervishes) – Dokumentarets – Atso Petrovski (1955).
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSoEAPY4CaM (accessed 25 November 2018).
Norris, T. Η. (2006) Popular Sufism in Eastern Europe Sufi Brotherhoods and the Dialogue with Christianity and Heterodoxy. New York: Routledge.
Pinto, G. P. (2009) Creativity and Stability in the Making of Sufi Tradition the Tariqa
Qadirriyya in Aleppo, Syria. In: C. Raudvere and L. Stenberg (eds). Sufism Today
Heritage and Tradition in the Global Community. New York: I. B. Tauris, pp. 117135.
Pinto, G. P. (2012) The Sufi Ritual of the Darb al-Shish and the Ethnography of Religious Experience. In: B. Dupret, T. Pierret, P. G. Pinto and K. Spellman-Poot (eds).
Ethnographies of Islam: Ritual Performance and Everyday Practices, Vol. 3. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press, pp. 62-70.
Pinto, G. P. (2016) Mystical Bodies/Unruly Bodies: Experience, Empowerment and Subjectification in Syrian Sufism. Social Compass 63(2): 197–212.
Salamone, A. F. (2004) Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals. New York:
Routledge.
Schimmel, A. (1990) Calligraphy and Islamic Culture. New York: I. B. Tauris.
Stein, R. and Stein, P. (2016) The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft. London: Routledge.
Xygalatas, D. (2014) Trial by Fire from Fire-Walking to the Ice-Bucket Challenge, Ritual
Pain and Suffering Forge Intense Social Bonds. In: AEON. Available at: https://
aeon.co/essays/how-extreme-rituals-forge-intense-social-bonds (accessed 5 April
2019).
Ioannis Mylonelis, PhD candidate, in the Department of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). He is also a researcher in the Research Committee at
the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, currently working on a project about Islam in
Thrace. He received his MA degree from the same university, after conducting fieldwork
in the region of Kosovo and completing his thesis ‘Balkans and Mystical Traditions in
Islam. The Case of Rifā῾iyya’. His main research interests are focused on Islam in the
Balkans, Islamic mysticism, rituals, religious minorities, Islam and anthropology, and
Ibadism.
E-mail: imyloneli@gmail.com, myloneli@theo.auth.gr
159
T HE CONCEPT OF GOOD AND EVIL
IN JEWISH FOLKLORE AND MYSTICISM
Vladimir Janev
Abstract: The ethical concept in Jewish folklore and mysticism reflects its heritage from
the ancient Middle – Eastern civilisations (Egypt, Syria, Babylon). There are examples
of certain myths which were created before the existence of Judaism, and which were
eventually somehow ‘adopted’ and preserved (as Jewish myths) until today. In time,
these myths changed along with the historical processes of modernity and secularism
in Judaism. Another relevant topic in Jewish mysticism was the lack of women theologians until the second half of the XX century. In fact, in traditional Judaism women
were not allowed to study theology and mysticism.
Keywords: Judaism, ethics, folklore, mysticism, tradition
I ntroduction
The Jewish religious tradition has a complex character, including characters and
terminology that are not typical of the Christian theological norms. One of the more
interesting (and controversial) characters in Jewish folklore is Lilith (Adam’s first wife).
Etymologically, the term ‫‘ תיליל‬Lilith’ – comes from the Hebrew word ‫‘ הליל‬layla’ –
night.79
T he roots of the myth
The earliest mention of a she-demon whose name is similar to that of Lilith is found
in the Sumerian king list, which dates from around 2400 BC. It states that the father of
the great hero Gilgamesh was a Lillu-demon. The Lillu was one of four demons belonging to a vampire or incubi-succubae class. The other three were Lilitu (Lilith), a she-demon; Ardat Lili (or Lilith’s handmaid), who visited men by night and bore them ghostly
children; and Irdu Lili, who must have been her male counterpart and used to visit
women and beget children by them. Originally these were storm-demons, but because
of a mistaken etymology, they came to be regarded as night-demons (Patai, 1964: 295).
Lilith’s epithet was ‘the beautiful maiden’, but she was believed to have been a harlot
and a vampire who, once she chose a lover, would never let him go, without ever giving
him real satisfaction. She was unable to bear children and had no milk in her breasts.
79
Lilith meaning and etymology. Available at: http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Lilith.html#.
VO8kjvmG_qs (accessed 13 June 2020).
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According to the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh and the Huluppu Tree (dating from around
2000 BC.), Lilith (Lillake) built her house in the midst of the Huluppu (willow) tree,
which had been planted on the bank of the Euphrates in the days of creation. A dragon
set up its nest at the base of the tree, and the Zu-bird placed his young in its crown. Gilgamesh slayed the dragon with his huge bronze axe, whereupon the Zu-bird fled with
his young to the mountain, and Lilith, terror-stricken, tore down her house and escaped
to the desert (Ibid., 295).
Although Lilith is mentioned only in one place in the Bible (Isaiah 34:14), her character remained present in the oral tradition of Judaism, interwoven with a sense of fear
among the Jewish population of the past. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the book
of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 34, verses 14 and 15: ‘And martens shall meet cats, and a
satyr shall call his friend, but there the Lilith rests and has found for herself a resting
place’.80
I nterpretations of the Garden of Eden
Evidently, Lilith was a well-known she-demon in eighth century B. C. Israel, whose
name only had to be mentioned to conjure up the beliefs held about her. That she is said
to have found a place of rest in the desert seems to tie in with the episode recorded in the
Sumerian Gilgamesh, in which fragment, after Lilith fled into the desert, she evidently
found repose there (Patai, 1964: 296).
According to James Edward Hanauer, at first Adam was male and female in one
body, man on one side, woman on the other. In due time the female part separated from
the male and became a perfect woman; Adam remaining a perfect man; and the couple
mated. But they were not happy, as the female refused to submit to the male, saying
they were made of the same dust, and he had no right to order her about. So, she was
turned out of Paradise, and, consorting with Satan, became the mother of devils. She
was called El – Karineh by the Arabs, and Lilith by the Jews in general; El – Brusha by
the Sephardim, or Spanish Jews (Hanauer, 1907: 8–9). She is the deadly enemy of all
women, especially those who have recently become mothers. These must be carefully nursed and watched, and, together with their newborn babies, fenced round with
charms and holy amulets, and heads of garlic, lumps of alum, blue beads, and so forth,
lest the Lilith strangle them in her jealous fury, or frighten the mother into madness.
European doctors, who pretend to know everything, do not know the dreadful dangers
to which they expose women in childbed when they forbid other women to visit and
amuse them (Ibid., 9).
In the context of the Bible quote, Lilith’s mythical character was portrayed as a
woman with the body of a snake, or a woman with wings. Michelangelo portrayed
80 The complete Jewish Bible with Rashi commentary, Yeshayahu – Isaiah – Chapter 34. Available at: http://www.
chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15965/jewish/Chapter-34.htm#showrashi=true (accessed 21 October 2020).
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Lilith as half a woman – half a snake, wrapped around a tree of knowledge. This picture
is on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. Interestingly, Michelangelo’s portrayal of
Lilith changed the ‘official’ version of the episode with the apple, but the church authorities did not intervene in the painting of the picture.
When God created man, he applied a special ‘procedure’ that is not mentioned in
the context of the creation of other living beings: Genesis 2: 7 – ‘And the Lord God created man from dust and breathed into him the face of the spirit of life; and man became
a living soul’.81
Therefore, God exalts man above animals by giving him ‘the spirit of life.’ We could
‘translate’ this term as reason, or compare it to the concept of logos from ancient Greek
philosophy. What is interesting in the context of the creation of man is that when God
created Eve, there was no ‘procedure’ for the ‘spirit of life.’ In the verses of Genesis 2:
23 – ‘And man said, ‘This time, it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one
shall be called ishah (woman) because this one was taken from ish (man)’ (Ibid., 9).
There is an example of an anagram in the Hebrew text because within the word ‫שי ה‬
ishah (woman), there is a ‫ שי‬ish (man). This is further evidence that all Bible writers
(hundreds or thousands) were men, without exception.
In the same verse (Genesis 2: 23), rabbi Chaim Miller recognises a hidden reference
to Lilith. According to him, Eve is a synonym for Chesed (a sefirot), which carries the
meaning of charity, grace, compassion), and Lilith is a synonym for Gevurah (a sefirot,
which carries the meaning of justice, might, restraint, severity, anger, punishment). In
this explanation, the image of Lilith (verses ‘the bones of my bones’) is portrayed like a
demonic figure, as opposed to Eve (verses ‘the flesh of my flesh’). Because the Torah is a
book of Chesed, Lilith is not directly mentioned in the text.82
According to the oldest Jewish tradition, Lilith was Adam’s first wife who left heaven. That is why God cursed Lilith, killing one hundred of her children every day. According to cabbalistic beliefs, Lilith was created before Eve, but as Adam’s wife she was
grossly rejected and abandoned. Her children were the huge Lilin, who had the faces of
men, bodies like snakes, and wings. It was believed that Lilith was condemned to live in
an abyss, at the bottom of the ocean, where she would go out at night and seduce men,
thus taking away their peace of mind forever. Lilith symbolises hatred towards families,
married couples, and children.
There is an ancient Jewish tradition to place an amulet around the necks of male
newborn babies, with the names of the three angels (Senoy, Sanseoy and Semangellof)
written on it, in order to protect them from Lilith until the baby is circumcised. The
angels’ very names – Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof – are seen as safeguards against
81 Chabad.org, The complete Jewish Bible with Rashi commentary, Bereishit – Genesis – Chapter 2. Available at https://
www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8166/showrashi/true/jewish/Chapter-2.htm (accessed 21 October 2020).
82 Torah in Ten: Bereishit, by Chaim Miller. Available at: https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/video_cdo/aid/1319993/
jewish/Torah-in-Ten-Bereishit.htm (accessed 21 October 2020).
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Lilith’s actions. The amulets contain a written text featuring the names of the angels as
well as graphic motifs of their images. There is also a threatening vocal motif included,
emanating from the onomatopoeic sound of the names said together, which resembles
sounds found in nature, like the hiss of a snake or the crackle of fire. The sound warns
Lilith and gives her pause, making it clear that she should not approach the mother and
her newborn children. The repetition of these sounds (sen-san-sen-sem) enhances the
whip-like, whispering, threatening effect.83
Another Jewish tradition mentions not cutting the hair of baby boys until they are
three years old, believing that this would deceive Lilith, who would consider the child
a girl. Lilith’s ancient mythological figure was a nocturnal female demon, described in
the Talmud as a winged demon with a woman’s face and long hair. The Talmud refers
to the verse from the First Book of Moses (Genesis) 5: 3: ‘And Adam lived one hundred
and thirty years, and he begot in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth’.84
This led to the theory that after being expelled from paradise, Adam separated
from Eve for 130 years. During these 130 years, children were born, who were not ‘according to Adam’s likeness.’ These were spirits and demons, who were the sons and
daughters of Adam and some female demons.
K abbalistic interpretation
According to another ancient Jewish legend found in apocryphal Jewish works,
such as the Alphabet of Ben Sira (this anonymous work was written between the 8th and
10th centuries), Lilith was described as Adam’s first wife, created from mud and silt before the creation of Eve. The Alphabet of Ben Sira also says that Lilith refused to submit
to Adam and left him. The Zohar says too that Adam’s wife, before the creation of Eve,
was the demon Lilith. According to the Kabbalah, this event largely determined the origin of evil in human society. The Kabbalistic interpretation presents Lilith as the wife
of the demon Samael. Together, they represent the negative male and female sides of the
Sitra Ahra, or the Other Side. They are the evil mirror image of God and the Shekhinah.
So intertwined are they with each other, that they are compared to the way Adam and
Eve were created male and female at the same time, back-to-back (Schwarz, 2004: 139).
It seems that every reader of the Alphabet of Ben Sira during the Middle Ages was
puzzled by one question: Why did the angels leave Lilith alone? They were ordered by
God to bring her back to Adam, and for an unstated reason they were convinced by her
speech not to do so. However, this does not just present an unclear narrative point: in
the story, as stated in this version, one might easily come to the conclusion that these
83 Who are you, Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof? The story of the three angels charged with safeguarding newborn
babies and their mothers. Available at: https://blog.nli.org.il/en/djm_sen-san-sem/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
84 Chabad.org, The complete Jewish Bible with Rashi commentary, Bereishit – Genesis – Chapter 5. Available at https://
www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8169/showrashi/true (accessed 21 October 2020).
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three exalted angels were bribed by Lilith with the promise that she would never harm
babies protected by them or by their names on amulets – and this might very well have
been the author’s point. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the editor of the later
version, the one which became known in Europe, changed this part of the story (Dan,
1980: 21–22). When describing the encounter between Lilith and the angels in the Red
Sea, he wrote: ‘They tried to take her back, but she refused. They asked her: ‘Why don’t
you want to go back?’ She told them: ‘I know that I was created for the sole purpose of
making babies ill from their day of birth until the eighth day, when I have permission,
and after eight days I have no permission. And if it is a female, [this is so] for twelve
days!’ They said to her: ‘If you do not come back, we shall drown you in the sea.’ She
answered: ‘I cannot return because of what is said in the Torah – ‘Her former husband,
who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled,’ that is,
when he was the last to sleep with her. And the Great Demon has already slept with me.’
The author goes on to describe the agreement between Lilith and the angels (Ibid., 22).
It is quite obvious that the editor of this version was confronted with the difficulty
concerning the behaviour of the angels, and supplied a halakhic reason for why Lilith
could not return to her former husband. For this reason, he added a new hero to the
story, the Great Demon (ha-Shed ha-Gadol), whose sole function is to serve as a pretext
for Lilith’s being unable to return to Adam, since she was defiled by somebody else.
The ‘Great Demon’ is a new term, unknown in previous Hebrew sources, but it is quite
natural that he could not remain unnamed for long. Jewish tradition usually named the
archdemons, as it did the archangels. There was only one possible name for this ‘Great
Demon’ added to the text of Pseudo-Ben Sira by the later editor, and that name was
Samael. It is impossible to decide exactly when and where Samael was identified with
the ‘Great Demon,’ and whether Rabbi Isaac ha-Kohen had any part in that process. But
there can be no doubt that it was Rabbi Isaac who gave the story of Samael and Lilith a
new mythological dimension, uplifting it from the level of narrative gossip, as it was in
the edited version of Pseudo-Ben Sira, and making it a part of cosmic, and even divine,
history (Ibid., 22–23).
Lilith went by a score of names, 17 of which she revealed to Elijah when she was
forced to do so by the Old Testament prophet (Davidson, 1971: 175). According to legend, the prophet Elijah, encountering Lilith, forced her to reveal to him the names she
used in her various disguises when she worked her evil among mortals. They are: Abeco, Abito, Amizo, Batna, Eilo, Ita, Izorpo, Cali, Kea, Cocos, Lilith, Odam, Partasah,
Patrota, Podo, Satrina, Talto. (Ibid., 351–352).
T raditional perspective (Orthodox Judaism)
According to Gershom Scholem, historically and metaphysically speaking, Kabbalism is a male doctrine, a doctrine created by men. The long history of Jewish mysticism
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shows absolutely no trace of female influence. There were no Kabbalistic women. That is
why Kabbalism lacks the element of female emotions, an element that has played a very
important role in the development of non-Jewish mysticism (Šolem, 2004: 44).
The purely masculine nature of Kabbalism could not have been conditioned by the
social position of the Jews, nor by their exclusion from the teachings of the Talmud.
Scholasticism was equally prevalent in men, yet the social status of women in Islam and
medieval Christianity did not prevent them from playing an important role as representatives – if not theorists – of Islamic and Christian mysticism. It would be difficult
to imagine Catholic mysticism without them. The extremely masculine character, for
which Kabbalism paid a high price, was thus associated with the inherent tendency to
emphasise the demonic nature of women and the feminine elements of the universe
(Ibid., 44).
In the context of Kabbalistic symbolism, the woman does not represent the quality
of tenderness, but that of strict judgment. Such symbolism has dominated Kabbalistic
literature since its inception and is undoubtedly an integral part of Kabbalistic theology. The demon, according to Kabbalists, is an outgrowth of the female sphere. However,
such an attitude does not entail the necessary negation or rejection of the female gender;
in fact, Shekhinah’s Kabbalistic doctrine exposes, in terms of orthodox Jewish thought,
the extremely paradoxical idea of the female element in God himself, which poses a
very interesting problem for both psychologists and historians of religion. Shekhinah in
Judaism means staying, in the sense of God’s presence in a certain place. As part of the
rabbinical literature, Shekhinah is considered to be staying in the Tabernacle, as well
as in the Temple in Jerusalem. Shekhinah is also thought to be staying while ten men
pray. Kabbalists opposed any literary publication of the mystical experience, as well as
the tendency to objectify it. These are all traits that are easily linked to the masculine
character of the movement. After all, the history of mystical literature has shown that
women are among the most frequent representatives of mystical autobiographies and
subjectivism in expressing religious experiences (Ibid., 44).
The same unusual mixture of mystical and mythical elements is contained in
Zohar’s interpretation of the nature of evil. Ancient, Christian, and medieval Jewish
mystics have all asked the question: Where does evil come from? For the theosophical
school of Kabbalah (which, in addition to the doubtless similarity of views, was historically connected with Gnosticism in some ways), this question was absolutely fundamental. Considering it, we become more than ever aware of the differences between the
religious and intellectual initiative in thinking. For the intellect, that problem is not а
real problem. One just needs to understand that evil is relative, moreover, that it does
not actually exist. Once we do that, it really ceases to exist, or so the intellect thinks,
while, on the other hand, religious consciousness demands that evil be truly overcome.
This request is based on a deep conviction that evil has real power, and the spirit that is
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aware of that refuses to be satisfied with intellectual feats (no matter how brilliant) in
which the explanation seeks to erase something that, to his knowledge, certainly exists
(Ibid., 215–216).
Old Kabbalist theorists of evil mystics such as Yichak ben Jacob Hakohen of Soria, Moshe ben Shimon of Burgos, Joseph Gikatila, and Moshe de Leon, also hold this
position. The Zohar itself offers several solutions, which have one thing in common –
everyone assumes that the evil is real. By the way, the author of the Zohar often treats
various aspects of evil – metaphysical evil, the imperfect state of all beings, physical evil,
the presence of suffering in the world and moral evil in human nature as a whole, and
sometimes pays special attention to the latter. In the theosophical school of Kabbalah,
the task of reducing the notion of evil to a short formula is so difficult that its representatives, in fact, develop even more theories of evil. Sometimes the existence of evil
is equated with the existence of a metaphysical realm of darkness and temptation that
exists independently of human sinfulness; elsewhere we are again told that man’s sinfulness has actualised a potential evil, that is, it has torn it away from the deity. In fact,
according to the Zohar, moral evil is always either something that has been separated
and isolated, or something that enters into a relationship for which it was not created.
Sin always destroys some strong bond; that destructive separation was also contained in
the original sin by which the fruit was separated from the tree or, as another Kabbalist
says, the ‘tree of life’ separated from the ‘tree of knowledge’ (Ibid., 216).
If man isolates himself in this way – if he strives to preserve his own self, instead of
remaining in the original context of everything created, where he also belongs, the act
of apostasy exceeds the measure by placing him in the magical position of demiurge,
that is, man seeks to take the place of God and unite what God has separated. Thus, evil
creates an unreal world of false contexts, since it has destroyed or devastated the real
one. The root causes of evil, however, are deeper. According to one important teaching
of the Zohar, they are in fact related to one manifestation of God or sefirah. This claim
requires explanation. The totality of the Divine potentials forms a harmonious whole,
and as long as each of them stands in relation to all the others, the whole is holy and
good. This is also true of the quality of incorrigible righteousness, relentlessness, and
judgment in and from God, which is the fundamental cause of evil. God’s wrath is
symbolised by his left hand, while the properties of mercy and love, closely connected
with the first, are called his right hand. One cannot manifest beyond the other. Hence
the quality of strict judgment is the great fire of wrath that burns in God, but it is always
tempered by his grace. When it is abducted by the action of that restraint, when its
immeasurably grown torrent is torn away from the properties of grace, it is completely
separated from God and transformed into radical evil, into hell, and the dark world of
Satan (Ibid., 216–217).
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C ontemporary perspective (Reform Judaism)
It should be noted that Jewish women were not allowed to use their intellectual
potential. Women studied the Bible and the Talmud as much as they were allowed by
men. Within Orthodox Judaism, this gender discrimination still exists. Only with the
advent of the feminist movement in the 1960s, did Lilith acquire her present high status
as a model for independent women.85
Until the 1970s, there were no women – Bible interpreters within Judaism. With
the process of emancipation, the ‘women’s reading of the Bible’ began, and with it came
a complete change in the perception of the myth of Lilith. Her character became an
important feminist symbol in Judaism, representing the first woman to oppose a man,
even at the cost of her leaving the Garden of Eden. In the modern period, the tale of the
put-upon wife who flees to a place of liberation became a celebrated paradigm. Numerous modern Jewish poets and authors, female, and male, wrote accounts of Lilith that
used old stories to express new ideas.86
There is an interpretation that Lilith is the snake that gave the apple to Eve. According to this feminist interpretation, after taking the apple, Eve gained self-awareness
and strong will. Here we will mention the second feminist interpretation, according to
which Eve and Lilith met outside the Garden of Eden and became friends, contrary to
God’s plan. In the beginning, the Lord God formed Adam and Lilith from the dust of
the ground and breathed into their nostrils the breath of life. Created from the same
source, both having been formed from the ground, they were equal in all ways. Adam,
being a man, didn’t like this situation, and he looked for ways to change it. He said,
‘I’ll have my figs now, Lilith,’ ordering her to wait on him, and he tried to leave to her
the daily tasks of life in the garden. But Lilith wasn’t one to take any nonsense; she
picked herself up, uttered God’s holy name, and flew away. ‘Well now, Lord,’ complained
Adam, ‘that uppity woman you sent me has gone and deserted me.’ The Lord, inclined
to be sympathetic, sent his messengers after Lilith, telling her to shape up and return to
Adam or face dire punishment. She, however, preferring anything to living with Adam,
decided to stay where she was. And so, God, after more careful consideration this time,
caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and out of one of his ribs created for him a second
companion, Eve.
For a time, Eve and Adam had a good thing going. Adam was happy now, and Eve,
though she occasionally sensed capacities within herself that remained undeveloped,
was basically satisfied with the role of Adam’s wife and helper. The only thing that really
disturbed her was the excluding closeness of the relationship between Adam and God.
Adam and God just seemed to have more in common, both being men, and Adam came
85 Lilith, Jewish Women’s Archive. Available at: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/lilith (accessed 21 October 2020).
86 Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness, Rabbi Jill Hammer. Available at: https://rabbijillhammer.com/2013/11/25/lilithlady-flying-in-darkness/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
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to identify with God more and more. After a while, that made God a bit uncomfortable
too, and he started going over in his mind whether he may not have made a mistake
letting Adam talk him into banishing Lilith and creating Eve, seeing the power that
gave Adam.
Meanwhile Lilith, all alone, attempted from time to time to re-join the human
community in the garden. After her first fruitless attempt to breach its walls, Adam
worked hard to build them stronger, even getting Eve to help him. He told her fearsome
stories of the demon Lilith who threatened women in childbirth and stole children from
their cradles in the middle of the night. The second time Lilith came, she stormed the
garden’s main gate, and a great battle ensued between her and Adam, in which she was
finally defeated. This time, however, before Lilith ran away, Eve got a glimpse of her and
saw she was a woman like herself.
After this encounter, seeds of curiosity and doubt began to grow in Eve’s mind. Was
Lilith indeed just another woman? Adam had said she was a demon. Another woman!
The very idea attracted Eve. She had never seen another creature like herself before. And
how beautiful and strong Lilith looked! How bravely she had fought! Slowly, slowly, Eve
began to think about the limits of her own life within the garden.
One day, after many months of strange and disturbing thoughts, Eve, wandering
around the edge of the garden, noticed a young apple tree she and Adam had planted,
and saw that one of its branches stretched over the garden wall. Spontaneously, she tried
to climb it, and struggling to the top, swung herself over the wall.
She did not wander long on the other side before she met the one, she had come to
find, for Lilith was waiting. At first sight of her, Eve remembered the tales of Adam and
was frightened, but Lilith understood and greeted her kindly. ‘Who are you?’ they asked
each other, ‘What is your story?’ And they sat and spoke together of the past and then
of the future. They talked for many hours, not once, but many times. They taught each
other many things, and told each other stories, and laughed together, and cried, over
and over, till the bond of sisterhood grew between them.
Meanwhile, back in the garden, Adam was puzzled by Eve’s comings and goings,
and disturbed by what he sensed to be her new attitude toward him. He talked to God
about it, and God, having his own problems with Adam and a somewhat broader perspective, was able to help out a little – but he was confused, too. Something had failed to
go according to plan. As in the days of Abraham, he needed counsel from his children.
‘I am who I am,’ thought God, ‘but I must become who I will become.’
And God and Adam were expectant and afraid of the day Eve and Lilith returned
to the garden, bursting with possibilities, ready to rebuild it together.87
In Lynn Gottlieb’s story of Lilith, Lilith is made from the sky and Adam from the
87 The Coming of Lilith’ by Judith Plaskow. Available at: http://jwa.org/media/coming-of-lilith-by-judith-plaskow
(accessed 21 October 2020).
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earth. In her love for Adam, Lilith chooses to forget she came from the sky, and she becomes Eve, settled and happy, but ignorant of her own true nature. In her story, Gottlieb
dramatises the struggle of women to love men while still loving themselves. On the other hand, Jacqueline Lapidus’s brief poem ‘Eden’ imagines a lesbian encounter between
Lilith and Eve. Using the Lilith legend, Lapidus invents an origin story of love between
women. Scholar and author Ohad Ezrachi frequently writes about Lilith as a split-off
sexual component of women, an image created by men fearful of a full relationship. He
encourages men and women to see Lilith and Eve as the same person.88
As an example of this turn of interpretation, the founding of the women’s magazine
‘Lilith’ in 1976 in New York played a key role. The magazine is published four times a
year. In its first issue, there is a very interesting article about a contemporary approach
to this topic. The author is asking:
which Lilith is closer to the spirit of the first account in Genesis, the account that
tells us how God first created human beings — the female who accepts the idea of
equality and fights for it, or the female who has lost sight of the original struggle
and persists in seeking revenge? There is no doubt that the Lilith who claimed her
equal birthright with Adam is closer in spirit to both the original Biblical account
and to Jewish women of today.89
According to rabbi Jill Hammer, Lilith has been transformed into an icon of freedom. The frightening character of Lilith grew, in part, out of repression: repression of
sexuality, repression of the free impulse in women, repression of the question ‘what if I
left it all behind?’ As modern Jews begin to ask questions about sex, freedom, and choice
more directly, Lilith becomes a complex representation of our own desires.90
C onclusion
The special forms of symbolic thought in which the basic attitudes of the Kabbalah
are expressed mean little or nothing to us, although sometimes, even today, it is not
possible to escape their captivating appeal. But the attempt to discover the hidden life
beneath the external forms of reality and to make visible this abyss in which the symbolic nature of all that exists is revealed, such an attempt is as important to us today as it
was to those old mystics. Because as long as we consider that nature and man were created by God’s will, which is a necessary condition for a highly developed religious life,
the search for the hidden life of the transcendent elements of such becoming will always
88 Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness, Rabbi Jill Hammer. Available at: https://rabbijillhammer.com/2013/11/25/lilithlady-flying-in-darkness/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
89 The Lilith question, by Aviva Cantor Zuckoff. Available at: http://lilith.org/articles/the-lilith-question/ (accessed 21
October 2020).
90 Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness, Rabbi Jill Hammer. Available at https://rabbijillhammer.com/2013/11/25/lilith-ladyflying-in-darkness/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
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be one of the most important preoccupations of the human spirit (Šolem, 2006: 45).
R eferences:
Dan, J. (1980) Samael, Lilith and the Concept of Evil in Early Kabbalah. AJS Review 5:
17–40.
Davidson, G. (1971) A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels. New York: The
Free Press.
Hanauer, J. E. (1907) Folklore of the Holy Land. Moslem, Christian and Jewish. London:
Duckworth & co.
Patai, R. (1964) Lilith. The Journal of American Folklore 77(306): 295–314.
Schwarz, H. (2004) Tree of Souls: the Mythology of Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Šolem, G. (2006) Glavni tokovi jevrejskog misticizma. Čačak. Beograd: Gradac, Medijska knjižara Krug.
S itography
Chabad.org. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary, Bereishit – Genesis –
Chapter 2. Available at: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8166/showrashi/
true/jewish/Chapter-2.htm (accessed 21 October 2020).
Chabad.org. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary, Bereishit – Genesis –
Chapter 5. Available at: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8169/showrashi/
true (accessed 21 October 2020).
Chabad.org. The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary, Yeshayahu – Isaiah –
Chapter 34. Available at: http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15965/jewish/Chapter-34.htm#showrashi=true (accessed 21 October 2020).
Lilith, Jewish Women’s Archive. Available at https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/lilith
(accessed 21 October 2020).
Lilith, Lady Flying in Darkness, Rabbi Jill Hammer. Available at: https://rabbijillhammer.com/2013/11/25/lilith-lady-flying-in-darkness/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
Lilith, Meaning and Etymology. Available at: http://www.abarim-publications.com/
Meaning/Lilith.html#.VO8kjvmG_qs (accessed 21 October 2020).
Miller, C. Torah in Ten: Bereishit. Available at: https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/
video_cdo/aid/1319993/jewish/Torah-in-Ten-Bereishit.htm (accessed 21 October
2020).
Plaskow, J. The Coming of Lilith. Available at: http://jwa.org/media/coming-of-lilithby-judith-plaskow (accessed 21 October 2020).
Who are You, Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof? The Story of the Three Angels Charged
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with Safeguarding Newborn Babies and their Mothers. Available at: https://blog.
nli.org.il/en/djm_sen-san-sem/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
Zuckoff, A. C. The Lilith Question. Available at: http://lilith.org/articles/the-lilith-question/ (accessed 21 October 2020).
Vladimir Janev, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Institute of National History in Skopje. The main focus of his research is the history of the Jewish community in Macedonia
and the Balkans, their life, migrations, connections and various aspects of Judaism.
His most recent publications include ‘Evrejskoto obrazovanie vo Makedonija vo posledniot vek od osmanliskoto vladeenje (pomegju tradicijata i sekularizmot) (The Jewish
Education in Macedonia in the Last Century of the Ottoman rule (Between Tradition
and Secularism)’, Makedonika, IX, vol. 21, Skopje, 2019, pp. 49–57, and ‘Bibliskiot lik
na Jakov i negovoto znachenje za judaizmot (The Perception of Jacob in the Bible and
his Significance in Judaism)’, Macedonian Folklore, XXXVII, vol. 71, Skopje, 2016, pp.
173–180.
E-mail: janev_vlatko@yahoo.com
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ENTANGLEMENTS
OF PLACES
AND SPACES
T WILIGHT ZONE: THE TOPOS OF MIRACLES
(ON THE LIFE OF ST. MACARIUS OF ROME)91
Vanya Lozanova-Stancheva
He who follows the sound of the waters
would finally emerge in the light …
ὁ διερχόμενος τῇ ϕωνῇ τῶν ὑδάτων
ἀκολουϑείτω καὶ ἐξελεύσεται εἰς ϕῶς…
The Life of St. Macarius of Rome
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to systematise the source base and to analyse the narrative of a remarkable and enigmatic monument of Early Christian literature – the Life
of St. Macarius of Rome – in the light of the intertextual relationships in its structure
and of the contextualisation of miracles. Attention should be focused on the circumstance that the literary narrative betrays a possible mysterial character with eschatological nuances and psychagogic mythology. A mystic journey to the World Beyond
and the faith in the afterlife should occupy a central place in that circle of notions. The
emphasis is laid on the ancient (i.e., non-biblical and non-Christian, respectively pagan)
traditions in early medieval Christian literature, and especially on the place and functions of the literary (and possibly non-literary) traditions of the Romance of Alexander
the Great. In this context the Life of St. Macarius of Rome is closer to Hellenistic milieu
than the Old Testament. We are attempting to find the correlation between the text
and the preceding ‘hypotext’ as well, i.e., the text or respectively the genre it is based
on, having however transformed it, modified it, re-coded it, elaborated it, etc., so as to
unveil the nature of the intertextual relationships abstracted in the analysis as a product
not only of literary syncretism or mimesis [of literature, not of life] in the Platonic sense
of the notion.
Keywords: The Twilight Zone, The Life of St. Macarius of Rome, The Romance of Alexander the Great, Itineraria, the World Beyond
The Life of St. Macarius of Rome is a text that does not correspond fully to the hagiographical genre. The actual Life is a rather small and inessential part in the entire
91 With the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgaria under the National Scientific Program
‘Cultural and Historical Heritage, National Memory and Social Development’, approved by the RMC № 577 on August 17,
2018.
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narrative: it starts as late as in Chapter 17 out of a total of 24 chapters. There are not
many doubts that it was an adaptation of some earlier ancient text, or possibly texts of
non-Christian character, composed with a very different purpose, interpolations and
genre characteristics (Kazhdan, 1988: 1187). It is a peculiar geography of the World
Beyond, exemplifying the topoi generating miracles in principle (Lozanova, 2016: 7–27).
In 1893, Afanassii Vassiliev published two Moscow manuscripts: Mosq. 3 fol. 106ff.,
th
11 /12th century (BHG No. 1004) and Mosq. 351 fol. 268ff, 15th century (BHG No. 1005)
in his Anecdota graeco-byzantina (Vassiliev, 1893: 135), containing Greek versions of
the enigmatic Life of St. Macarius of Rome. The second of the two manuscripts contain a
later text; it is linguistically simplified, and in terms of details is actually a reduced paraphrase of the first one. The text is known above all in the brief, but chronologically posterior and substantially reduced Latin recension, published in The Vitae Patrum in 1628
by Heribert Rosweyde (Migne, 1849: 415–426), but the original version can apparently
be traced back to ancient sources dated presumably at least to the 3rd–4th century (Ibid.,
415–428). Vassiliev dates the text between the 5th and the 6th century on account of the
absence of traces of Muslim presence in the Middle East, where some of the events in
the Life are situated. The topographic and legendary details of the death of Julian the
Apostate on 26 June 363 A. D. (Büttner-Wobst, 1892: 564, Anm. 8) with the miraculous
intervention of the Christian saints are a kind of tеrminus postquem, although the episode could have been a later interpolation. The earliest preserved manuscript (Vat. Gr.
824; Trumpf, 1970: 23–26)92 is dated to the 11th century, but its actual composing can
be referred to a much earlier period. Its compiler was apparently in a position to follow
earlier prototypes and to incorporate much more ancient sources, including a text rich
in eschatological elements, most probably used also in the Late Antiquity versions of
Romance of Alexander (Pfister, 1911: 458–471; Pfister, 1956; Pfister, 1959: 5–28) in the
descriptions of the journey of the Macedonian king to the World Beyond, all the way
to ‘the land of the blessed.’ The work is a peculiar collage of fragments of other works
that had functioned for a long time in the literary space, which complicates its precise
dating.
The narrative of The Life of St. Macarius of Rome is built of two initially autonomous and genre-specified proto-texts. The main text is thus framed in a peculiar way by
other texts. The formal frame follows in form and details the ancient literary traditions
of the so-called Itineraria, notably Alexandri Magni Iter ad Paradisum and Ὁδοιπορία
ἀπὸ Ἐδὲμ τοῦ παραδείσου – works of (ostensibly) geographic nature that were very close
to the ancient novel as a genre (Klotz, 1906: 97–127; Klotz, 1910: 606–616; Rougé, 1966),
fragments of which are interpolated or at least reflected in it.
92 Cf. Vat. Gr. 2606 fol. 111r, 1–114r, 9 (16th century), as well as Ohr. Inv. 40 (second quarter of the 15th century), a Greek
manuscript from the National Museum in Ohrid, North Macedonia.
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Pic.1. St. Macarius the Roman, 18th century icon from the Skete of St. Anna on Mount Athos
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2019/10/23/206395-saint-macarius-the-roman-of-mesopotamia
The second part is incorporated in the form of a peculiar ‘autobiography’ that saint
Macarius personally shares with his spiritual brothers, the three itinerant monks, and it
is charged with specific hagiographical features, in spite of the strong reminiscences of
clearly differentiable ancient literary and religious traditions of a non-Christian character (Lozanova, 2020). Here the intertextuality is reflected in the blending of the genre
boundaries and their specific functions. The unusual structure and organisation of the
peculiar narrative betray the processes through which the hagiography gradually assumes not only the form of the pagan encomion, but it combines elements of other
genres as well.
Three monks are the central characters of the narrative: the narrator Theophilus
and his companions Sergius and Hyginus, who set off on a strange journey, seized by
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the secular desire to explore the boundaries of the Earth so as to reach the end of the
world (τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς ἀοικήτου) and the place where the sky meets the earth, or leans
against an iron column:
…ἤϑελον ... τὰ ἔτη τῆς ζωῆς μου περιπατεῖν ἕως οὗ ἴδω ποῦ ἀναπέπαυται ὁ
οὐρανός, ἐπειδὴ λέγουιν ὅνι ἐπὶ στύλου σιδήρου ἀναπέπαυται… (Vassiliev, 1893:
135–136).
They left in secret their monastery, identified by Vat. Gr. 2606 as ‘St. Andrew’ – in
Syrian Mesopotamia, between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates (ἐν τῇ Μεσοποταμίᾳ
Συρίας ἀναμέσον τῶν δύο ποταμῶν, τοῦ τε Εὐφράτου καὶ τοῦ Τίγριδος; Trumpf, 1970:
25), and first set off on a traditional pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Then they
continued to Persia, India and the lands far to the east, almost reaching the end of the
world (τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς ἀοικήτου), where St. Macarius lived in a cave ‘twenty miles from
the paradise which Adam and Eve delighted in.’ During their travel they came across
incredible miracles and met strange exotic animals, beasts and monstrous half-human
creatures: androgynes, dog-heads, etc., which unambiguously reminds of certain details of the ancient tradition that can be traced back to Herodotus, and especially the
literary tradition of Romance of Alexander.
On the basis of the preserved texts, it is possible to outline several stable topoi
that intensely generate the miracles in this narrative. The first space, ‘far in the East’,
reached after the travellers passed through Persia, India and the lands of the Ethiopians, is marked by the emergence of the deformed discourse of the Otherness, which
suggests that the three monks approached the crisis and boundary space of the Transition Beyond (Διαβά). They crossed a beautiful place, with tall trees bending under the
weight of delicious fruit that appeased their hunger. Then they entered the lands of the
Cynocephali (dog-headeds) and were quite amazed by their appearance (Chapter V).
Further to the east, after a journey that lasted one hundred and ten days, they reached
the lands of extremely small people, only one cubit high (Chapter VI). The monks were
to meet other similar small people, no more than one cubit high, in the World Beyond
(Chapter XIV). Then they reached the scary mountainous country in which the sun
could barely penetrate. Neither grass, nor trees grew there, but the monks encountered
a large number of serpents, dragons, asps, basilisks, vipers, unicorns and other horned
animals, besides many other death-dealing beasts and poisonous creatures. Divine
supernatural intervention saved them miraculously from all trials (Chapter VII). The
narrative usually places a similar landscape in the World Beyond in the ancient tradition, and accordingly in Romance of Alexander and its medieval versions. The trials and
the difficulties become increasingly insurmountable without the supernatural divine
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intervention upon approaching the Transition (Διαβά).
The anomalous behaviour of the wild animals in it complemented by thick fog,
darkness covering everything, high cliffs and deep valleys indicate the deformed discourse. The mountains and the cliffs are charged with extremely negative connotations
in the text as specific luminal designations. First, a stag guides them through an impenetrable area, then they reach an Arch, guided by a dove. The inscription on its vault
offers a stable formula-instruction with specific intertextual functions (Chapter VIII):
THIS ARCH WAS RAISED BY ALEXANDER, SON OF PHILIP OF MACEDON, WHEN PURSUING DARIUS, KING OF THE PERSIANS. ANYONE
WANTING TO ENTER THIS TERRITORY SHOULD TAKE THE LEFTHAND PATH. THE LAND ON THE RIGHT IS TRACKLESS AND FULL OF
CLIFFS AND NARROW PASSES.
This strange ‘epigraphical’ text informed that the Arch had been built by Alexander
the Great while he was pursuing his Persian enemy (Darius, King of the Persians). Anyone who wished to enter the ‘land of darkness’ had to continue to the left; conversely,
by moving to the right one would encounter only mountains and steep slopes. The narrative thus outlines the boundary between the world Here and Beyond. Obviously, this
topos acquires the image of a kind of crossroads with two perspectives, designated as
‘to the left’ and ‘to the right’ (Lozanova, 2011: 213–238), recalling the discourse of Lactantius about the mystic meaning of the letter Y. In the beginning (Chapter 3) of Book
VI of his work Institutiones divinae (The Divine Institutes), written between 304 and 313
AD, he devotes considerable attention to the two roads introduced by the poets in their
poems and the philosophers in their disputes (quas et poetae in carminibus et philosophi
in disputationibus suis induxerunt). The author reveals the mystic meaning of the letter
Υ as a symbolic description of the ‘crossroads’ and the two roads. The course of human
life resembles the letter Υ, because every person on the threshold of his early youth,
when he reaches the place ‘where the road forks’ (Vergil. Aeneid. 6, 540), has doubts
and hesitates, not knowing which road to choose. If he would meet a guide that would
lead him to better things – e.g., to study philosophy or eloquence, or some worthy arts
through which to turn to the good (evadat ad bonam frugem) – it is said that he would
lead a worthy life. However, if he does not meet a teacher in frugality (frugalitatis), he
would choose the road to the left, which presupposes that he would plunge into idleness, laziness and luxury, which appear to be pleasant for a while in the eyes of someone
who is ignorant of God’s truth, but losing his entire dignity and property, he would live
in misfortune and disgrace. Therefore, those who say that the two roads belong to Heaven and Hell are right, because immortality has been promised to the righteous, whereas
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eternal punishment is intended for the unrighteous. Further on, Lactantius explains
how these roads either elevate a person to Heaven, or bring him down to Hell. They are
correlated accordingly with the sunrise (east) and with the sunset (west), as well as to
the opposition good – evil, light – darkness. A description of the ‘road of life’ follows.
In addition, the content of the inscription on the Arch suggests remarkable reminiscences from the mythological narrative of the ‘geography of the World Beyond,’
which evokes associations with the landscape of the mystic Group B Orphic gold tablets
(according to the classification of Zuntz, 1972) in the instructions on the direction to
be chosen along the way to the World Beyond, combined with magic water sources. The
inscription reads that whoever wished to enter the ‘land of darkness’ had to continue
to the left ‘because all waters of the world came from the left.’ ‘Following the sound of
the waters (springing from the left – author’s note, V.L.-S.), you would come out into
the light in the end’, the instructions in the Life read (Vassiliev, 1893: 142, l. 12 ff.). Conversely, setting off to the right, one would find only mountains, steep slopes and a lake
full of snakes (the second manuscript version of the 15th century Mosq. 351 fol. 268 ff
also adds scorpions; Vassiliev, 1893: 142, l. 20 ff.).
There is not much room for doubts that the episode with the Arch93 of Alexander in
The Life of St. Macarius can be traced to the literary tradition of Romance of Alexander,
although that episode is absent in the earlier versions as α- and β-recensions (β/бета
= 03B2) of its principal text. It appears only in the early medieval ε-recension (ε/epsilon = 03B5), which is dated by specialists at the end of the 6th century (Bergson, 1974;
Merkelbach, 1972: 96, 135, 206). However, that dating coincides with the dating of the
composing of the Life.
The entire part of Pseudo-Callisthenes (II. 23–44), in which there is a description
of the journey of Alexander the Great to the end of the world, through ‘the twilight land’
to ‘the land of the blessed,’ is not included in the А and Val versions that are considered
to be the oldest (the Latin translation of Julius Valerius from the beginning of the 4th
century; Kübler, 1888), believed to be a later interpolation in the original text of Romance of Alexander (Ausfeld, 1907). The episode with Alexander’s Arch in its earliest
versions (Cod. Paris. 1711 or A – the oldest preserved version of the novel to which the
Latin variant of Julius Valerius, compiled around 300 AD, can be traced; the Syrian
version – Syr. – and the one of Archpriest Leo of Naples from the 10th century in Italianised medieval Latin; Pfister, 1941: 273–281; cf. Bergmeister, 1975; see below), directly
traceable to the initial most archaic tradition of the famous compendium of legendary
events, does not determine specifically the direction that the traveller must choose after
93 ἁψῖδα – translates as ‘arch’ and as ‘bridge’ depending on the context and variations of the narrative PseudoCallistenes, 1975: 85–178.
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entering the World Beyond.
The episode is presented in detail, albeit fragmented, in the later versions figuring
in class B and C Greek manuscripts. The situation is also similar in the Byzantine Song
of Alexander (Byz.) and the Armenian version (Arm.) of the Romance, compiled between the 5th and the 6th century, which is close to the ε-recension (ε/epsilon = 03B5), but
adduces some details of the β-recension as well. According to one of the later medieval
revisions of the å-recension, Alexander wrote in Latin and Arabic letters on the Arch
that he erected at the place of the Transition (Διαβά) to ‘the land of the blessed’ that he
had reached the end of the world, passing under that vault (arch) with his entire army
(Konstantinopulos, 1983: 50). The earliest variant of recension C (Ps.-Call. 2. 39) offers
a brief and fragmented narrative, which is absent in the other versions:
Ἐνϑάδε Ἀλέξανδρος εἰσελϑών ἤγειρεν ἁψῖδα, ἐν ᾗ πανστατὶ Διαβάς, ἄκρας
ϑέλων γαίας καταλαβεῖν, ὡς τῇ προνοίᾳ ἔδοξε.
The text of B, L, Byz. and Arm. starts with details complementing that description
and qualifying ‘the land of the blessed’ as a place where the Sun does not shine:
Καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἦλϑεν εἰς τόπους, ὅπου ὁ ἥλιος οὐκ ἔλαμπεν. Ἐκεῖ οὖν
ἐστὶν ἡ καλουμένη μακάρων χώρα…
The advice that Alexander needs to take the road to the right if he wishes to become familiar with the miracles of the World Beyond comes from birds with human
faces and voices in the famous episode with the ‘Water of Life’ (ІІ, 39–41) in the ‘land of
darkness’ of the early medieval variants:
ὃς τὴν ἐπὶ δεξίαν ἀνϑυποστρέψειεν ὁδόν, ϑαυμάσια ὄψεται (Trumpf, 1974: 117,
l. 8– 9).
Although the travelers monks moved in the recommended direction, they encountered horrors and severe trials along their journey, reaching an enormous lake full of so
many snakes that its water was almost invisible.
Crying, weeping and moaning came from the lake, as if from many people. A voice
from above revealed to them that this was the ‘lake of retribution’ and that the voices
and the moaning came from those who had denied God. The lake was apparently part
of the landscape at the entrance to the World Beyond (Lozanova, 2010: 66–148; Lozanova, 2013: 182–202):
…καὶ ἰδοὺ λίμνη παμμεγέϑης μεστὴ ὄφεων ὡς μὴ φαίνεσϑαι τὸ ὕιδωρ αὐτῆς
ἐξ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἰδοὺ ϑρῆνος καὶ ὀλολυγμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολὺς ὡς ἀπὸ πλήϑους
ἀνϑρώπων ἀνήρχετο τῆς λίμνης τοῦ ὕδατος…
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The vision with the horrifying lake (λίμνην μεγάλην), full of snakes and monsters,
evokes surprisingly accurate associations with Aristophanes’ comedy Frogs (v. 137),
strongly influenced by mysterial ideas and images, in which the comic playwright followed the pattern of the Orphic katabasis in a parody form. In the comedy, which was
staged in 405 BC, Dionysus descends to the chthonian world to take out his beloved
tragedian Euripides (Zimmermann, 1998: 166–172). A bottomless lake is among the
first stops along that road (Aristoph. Ranae, v. 137). This is followed by a description
of ‘thousands of snakes and horrific monsters’ (v. 143). And when Dionysus chooses
the recommended road to the kingdom of Hades, just as Heracles had warned him, he
indeed reached the place with the many snakes and monsters (v. 278).
The plain of Lethe – Forgetfulness (τίς εἰς τὸ Λήϑης πεδίον) also appears here for
the first time (v. 186). It is interesting to note the sequence of darkness, horrifying places with mud and stench, snakes and monsters, and the sunlit place of the initiated (οἱ
μεμυημένοι) in the mysteries (καὶ ϑιάσους εὐδαίμονας ἀνδρῶν γυναικῶν), surrounded
by the breath of flutes, the fragrance of myrtle and beautiful light, which is also the goal
of the instructions in the text of The Life of St. Macarius of Rome.
The three monks from the Syrian Mesopotamia also had similar experience! Once
again, at the end of the parodos of the choir of frogs from the scene, a beautiful song
describes ‘the land of the blessed’ and the flowery meadows, where the mystai played
with splendid choirs, led by the blessed Moirai (ὄλβιαι Μοῖραι):
Let’s move on into flowery meadows, [450]
the rose-filled fields, and worship there
the way we always do, with song and dance,
where blessed Fates assemble, too (Aristophan., Ranae,
v. 450: Engl. Translation by Ian Johnston 2015).
The scene could also be deciphered as a fragment of the damaged mosaic in the text
of the tablets from Hipponion (Pugliesi Carrateli, 1974: 91–126; 1Hipponion Graf-Johnston – B10 Riedweg, after the classification of Riedweg, 1998: 395) and Thurii (3 Thurii
1 – A4 Zuntz):
1 Hipponion
1.
But as soon as the soul has left the light of the sun,
2.
Go to the right […] being very careful of all things.
3. ‘Greetings, you who have suffered the painful thing; you have never endured this before.
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4.
You have become a god instead of a mortal. A kid you fell into milk.
5.
Rejoice, rejoice.’ Journey on the right-hand road
6. to holy meadows and groves of Persephe
(Transl in Engl. Graf, Johnston 2007: 9).
There is a discrepancy only in the recommended directions. The instructions on
the Arch of Alexander, according to The Life of St. Macarius of Rome, coordinate only
the texts of Petelia and Rethymno:
2 Petelia – B1
1.
You will find to the left of the house of Hades a spring
2.
and standing by it a white cypress,
3.
Do not even approach this spring!
4.
You will find another, from the Lake of Memory (Mnemosyne),
5.
Cold water pouring forth; there are guards before it.
18 Rethymno 2
1.
He is prached with thirst and almost dying, but grant me to drink
2.
from the ever-flowing spring on the left of the cypress!
Although the text on the tablet from Petelia warns who not to drink from the
spring on the left by the white cypress, it does not reject the recommended direction,
but – conversely – it advises who to continue (consequently, in the same direction), so
as to reach the lake of Mnemosyne (Memory).
Similar to the texts on the Orphic gold tablets, the monks continued ‘further’ and
followed the advice written on the Arch, heading to the left of it, towards ἡ ἀϑάνατος
πηγί, ‘the fountain of immortality’ (Vassiliev, 1893: 147) (‘the ever-flowing spring’:
κράνας αἰειρόω from the texts on the gold Orphic tablets from Eleutherna) and the cave
of St. Macarius, whose name hardly accidentally evokes associations with ‘the land of
the blessed’ at the end of the world.
This is followed by description of other horrifying pictures as well, reminiscent of
Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory) from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy.
The places through which the three monks passed on their journey to the World Beyond, are frequently characterised, similar to the places in Romance of Alexander, with
darkness, dark fog – places where ‘neither the sun shines, nor plants grow’ (ὅπυ οὔτε
ἥλιος ἐπέλαμπεν οὔτε …; or: … οὔτε φῶς γὰρ ἐφαίνετο ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ εἰ μὶ μόνον
ὀμίχλη σκοτεινοτάτη; Vassiliev, 1893: 140–141). The landscape reminds precisely of the
suggested landscape in the gold tablet from Thurii (3 Thurii 1 – A4; 2 Petelia), ‘as soon as
the soul has left the light of the sun’ (Graf and Johnston, 2007: 6–9). The text of The Life
of St. Macarius of Rome allows making unambiguous parallels with Orphic religious
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notions and original sources from the classical antiquity (Lozanova, 2010).
According to Fr. Pfister, one of the most notable researchers of Romance of Alexander (Pfister, 1976), the respective episode in the text of The Life of St. Macarius of Rome
and of Itinerations (Ὁδοιπορία) can be traced back to the tradition about Alexander’s
campaigns, and especially to the episode about his march to ‘the land of the blessed’
(μακάρων χώρα). A. Veselovskij (1886: 305 ff.) also defends such an opinion. Ὁδοιπορία,
similar to Plato’s landscape of Lete’s field and of Geographus Ravenas, describes ‘the
land of transition’ as a dried-up area. The same episode was included in the popular
medieval Latin variant of Romance of Alexander, Historia de preliis (Bergmeister, 1975),
which appeared in the 10th century as its subsequent evolution with numerous secondary interpolations. According to Fr. Pfister (1912: 572–573), the source of that episode
in Historia de preliis must have been some Latin version of The Life of St. Macarius of
Rome (Migne, 1864: 415 ff.). However, the similar description of the same landscape in
The Shepherd of Hermas and in the early Christian apocryphal texts is totally unrelated
to the Romance. This indisputably suggests autonomous sources, independent of the
tradition related to Alexander, re-updated in time between the 4th and the 6th / 7th century at the latest, owing to the literary efforts of early Christian authors, but with roots
traceable to much earlier texts. Therefore, the similarities between the cited texts can
most probably be explained not only with a direct link and mechanical inter-borrowing, but also with possible common mythical-literary original sources, stable for the
entire cultural area of the Eastern Mediterranean, interpreting similar eschatological
notions that are very close, if not identical to the suggested notions in the texts of the
Orphic tablets (Lozanova, 2010).
The figure of the three judges who greet the dead in the World Beyond and determine the direction of their fate in their existence after death (Chapter XII) is also an
archaic motif. However, the Fountain of Life is one of the most remarkable miracles
in this landscape (Chapter XIII) (Lozanova, 2013: 182–202), spreading ‘most beautiful
scent, like that of nectar, combined with the sound of an ancient and heavenly melody’
that ‘was the sound of the Cherubims.’ Here both the stars and the Sun are different
from these in the world of humans, the trees are taller, and their leaves and fruits are
more abundant and sweeter, and the birds sound very differently.
During their long journey to the end of the world the monks covered enormous
distances and during that time they did not take any food, only water, and survived
miraculously with God’s help. They periodically reached plains with beautiful trees or
plants bending under sweet fruits with which they appeased their hunger (Chapters V,
VIII and XIV).
After the monks turned to the left, following the advice from the inscription on
the Arch of Alexander, they travelled for many days before encountering the next obstacle: unbearable smell that nearly took their lives. Only God’s mercy saved them owing
to their ardent prayers (Chapter 9). The Life’s versions only make associations to the
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meeting with the basilisk (an anomalous creature that is a specific marker of the World
Beyond) with its lethal stench. In Chapter VII (Vassiliev, 1893: 140; see Lozanova, 2006:
81–96; Lozanova, 2007: 135–150) it is placed in the ‘zone of darkness’ among the poisonous monsters, e.g., snakes, dragons and echidnae. The figure can be complemented with
a similar text from Historia de preliis (version J3, 13th century), the peculiar medieval
version of Romance of Alexander. It can be traced back to the Latin translation of Romance of Alexander, made by Archpriest Leo of Naples (between 951 and 968/9 A. D.) of
a Byzantine manuscript that he had found in Constantinople, as indicated in its preface.
The translation probably bore the title Nativitas et Victoria Alexandri Magni; a work
bearing the title Historia de preliis Alexandri Magni (The History of Alexander’s Battles)
is a version of that translation (Stoneman, 1996: 601–612; Stoneman, 1999: 238–253).
That group of sources, based on an α–type manuscript, is part of the so-called δ–recension of the Romance, which is not preserved in Greek manuscripts, but has left traces in
Syrian and Ethiopian versions (Cary, 1967: 10–11; Lozanova, 2010: 41–46).
According to that text, Alexander crossed with his army strange rocky and high
mountainous places resembling the landscape of the journey of the three monks from
The Life of St. Macarius, and after certain hesitations about the direction, he set off to
the east through a narrow crevice in a sky-high mountain. Then they encountered a
horrid evil-smelling basilisk (Lozanova, 2006: 81–96; Lozanova, 2007: 135–150) which
poisoned all the air not only with its stench, but also with its gaze; it poisoned the air
within reach. Macedonians and Persians who passed by it fell dead from its gaze. When
the soldiers learned about that danger, they refused to go on. This is followed by the
anecdotal episode about Alexander’s ingenuity with which he defeated the terrifying
basilisk (Pfister, 1978: 163–164). The monks were saved with God’s miraculous aid: He
protected them with His right hand until the danger was gone. Anomalous plants, waters and monsters are an integral part of the sinister landscape of the World Beyond
along the road to the end of the world.
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Pic. 2. St. Macarius: A fresco from the Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos, painted in 1547
by Tzortzis Phouka
https://russianicons.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/confusing-the-saints/
At the end of their strange journey to the World Beyond the monks reached the
place where St. Macarius lived in a cave (Chapter XV) accompanied by his two lions.
He was led there in a miraculous way, being guided by Archangel Raphael – angel of
the spirits of people according to the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit (3:16; 12:12–15),
i.е., a kind of Psychopompos, ‘guide of souls’. Macarius himself undertook the same
journey to the end of the world, passed through the darkness, through the place of torments and the place of punishments, reaching the light, until he finally came to the cave
intended for him (Lozanova, 2020). However, he had a revelation from above that the
road was barred further on with a wall made of iron and another one made of copper.
An Angel of God told him that the end of the world was to the east of Paradise, ‘twenty
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miles from this place to the Paradise which Adam and Eve delighted in. And the Lord
placed a Cherub with a whirling fiery sword in front of the garden (Paradise – author’s
note, V.L.-S.) to guard the tree of life.’ It is not possible to travel from this place to Paradise while still clothed in human flesh. After Macarius narrated his mystic story to
the monks and revealed the reason for inhabiting the cave a little before the end of the
world, he advised them to go back. The travellers obeyed Macarius, parted with him and
returned across the ‘land of darkness’ guided by the hermit’s two lions to ‘Alexander’s
Arch’ and later returned safe and sound to their monastery to tell the story of all the
miracles that they have had seen and heard, about God’s merciful deeds, and the life
and deeds of the most blessed Macarius:
They praised and glorified God for everything they heard, singing hymns to God
the Father Almighty, and his only begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour, and the
life-giving Spirit who enlightens our souls, three persons in one God, who lives
and reigns to be blessed and praised everywhere, now and always, and through
deathless ages of ages.
C onclusion
The text of The Life of St. Macarius of Rome is like ‘topography’ of the worlds in
which miracles are born. In addition to the two basic opposite spaces – the World Here,
world of mortals, and the World Beyond, divided by a mystic Transition (Διαβά), two
mirror spaces also emerge on both sides of the Transition. The miracles and the anomalous phenomena (people, animals, plants, waters, mountains and darkness) indicate
the growing proximity to that Transition / Entrance to the World Beyond. Such indications are also offered by the topography of the space immediately after the Transition,
the ‘twilight zone’ or the ‘land of darkness’ (‘where the Sun does not shine’), ‘the place
of darkness’ where the darkness had encompassed the three monks for seven days and
seven nights,’ i.e., the last space accessible to mortals, from where they can return successfully to the light. However, returning from there is possible only with the help of
a guide, only with the figure of the teacher-exegetes. ‘The land of the blessed’ follows,
which is inaccessible to those that are still clothed in human flesh, but only to the righteous (deceased), i.e., to the initiated. There is no return from there! The mythologem
for that miraculous ‘topography’ intertwined in a number of ancient texts dominated
by the literary tradition of Romance of Alexander can be traced most probably back
to a widespread motif that dates back in time at least to Plato’s dialogue The Republic,
Book X (The Myth of Er) and the texts of the Orphic gold tablets. The compiler of The
Life of St. Macarius of Rome ‘added’ briefly to that tradition the vicissitudes in the life
of Macarius, who initially had no connection whatsoever with Christianity, being an
entirely secular figure. Being externally immersed in the characteristics inherent to the
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Interpretatio Christiana that narrative has preserved the Orphic motif of the ritual purity of the mystes who is the only one who may step into ‘the land of the blessed,’ as well
as the figure of the teacher-exegetes, the figure of the guardian (angel or cherub) at the
Entrance to ‘the land of the blessed’ and Paradise. The miracles are a specific marker of
the anomalousness and deformed discourse of Otherness and of the tension Between
the Worlds, where Magic, Miracles and Mysticism are born…
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Pugliesi Carrateli, G. and Foti, G. (1974) Un sepolcro di Hipponio e un nuovo testo orfico. La Parola del passato 29: 91–126.
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Graf (ed). Ansichten griechischen Rituale. Geburtstagssymposium für Walter Burkert. Stuttgart Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
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(ed). The Novel in the Ancient World. Leiden: Brill, pp. 601-612.
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Trumpf, J. (1970) Zwei Handschriften einer Kurzfassung der griechischen Vita Macarii
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Prof. Vanya Lozanova-Stancheva, DSc., works at the Institute for Balkan Studies and
Centre of Thracology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her research interests are focused on history and theory of ancient culture, and Thracian culture and religion. She
is an author of more than 100 scholarly publications, some of which are: ‘The Mysteries
of the Thracian Kotytia’ (1995); ‘East of Eden: To the Orphic Geography in Interpretatio
Christiana’ (in Bulgarian, 2010); ‘Hellenica: Politic and Culture of Ancient Greece’ (in
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E-mail: lozanova_vanya@yahoo.com
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W ONDER-WORKING OBJECTS AND
MIRACLES IN PERNIK REGION
IN THE PAST AND NOWADAYS
Tanya Matanova
Abstract: Nowadays there are more than 150 Orthodox Christian shrines in Pernik
region built in the past due to the strong religiousness of the local people who donated money and work. Due to the persevering oral history, the research interest of local
historians and folk belief narratives about wonders and wonder-working objects in this
region are kept alive. Since the end of the 20th century many Bulgarians turn to Christian Orthodoxy and/or become more pious, start visiting sacred places in hope for curing illness, becoming parents, etc. Thus, thanks to the subjective perception of what is
defined as a miracle, stories about healing and punishment are recorded. Further, after
having contact with natural objects (trees, springs and caves) some people perceive that
their health improves and start narrating about miraculous healing. The text aims to
give an overview of narratives about miracles connected with the veneration of given
saints (Petka, Nedelya, Cosmas and Damian, Archangel Michael, Therapontos, etc.),
worship of wonder-working or religious objects, such as icons, relics, holly springs, etc.,
in the studied Pernik province. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews, broadcasts
of Bulgarian TV-programmes, and archived fieldwork materials gathered in the period
1990–2020 are content-analysed as well as articles in websites, blogs, books and newspapers.
Keywords: veneration of saints, wonder-working objects, narratives, miraculous healings and punishments
I ntroduction
Pernik province is situated in western Bulgaria and encompasses Pernik, Breznik,
Tran, Radomir, Zemen and Kovachevtsi municipalities. Its territory of 2,390 km2
bounds the geographical and ethnographic districts of Graovo, Znepole, Kraishte and
Mrakata which altogether construct the regions’ rich territorial history. In this area also
exist some natural objects – trees, caves, springs – to which people ascribe miraculous
power.
The sacred geography in the Pernik region unites many settlements in which various saints such as Virgin Mary, Cosmas and Damian, Petka (Paraskevi), Nedelya
(Kyriaki), Nicholas, Archangel Michael, etc., are venerated. There are more than 130
churches and about 50 monasteries nowadays. According to Viktor Banov (2014: 25)
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about 325 holy sites, 25 of which monasteries, functioned in past centuries. Even though
today many of the holy sites are dilapidated and ruined, the beginning of the 21st century marks a revival in the restoration of churches and cloisters (‘St. Nicholas’ monastery
at Peshtera village, ‘St. Petka’ church in Breznik, a. o.).94 Hundreds of narratives about
wonders, connected with miraculous objects in the region are known today because
of the oral tradition preserved within families, religious groups or a settlement as they
have been recorded, archived or published by local historians, ethnographers and folklorists. Additionally, in recent times, new miracle stories have appeared since the end of
the 20th century because many Bulgarians being non-practicing Christians during the
socialist regime, after the fall of the communism in Bulgaria feel free to redirect their
faith (back) to the Orthodox Church and (re)vitalise their religiousness95 through visits
to sacred places and worship of wonderworking objects. This phenomenon is spread all
over the Balkans and as Evgeniya Troeva and Petko Hristov (2017: 7) observe it is commented by scientists as a post-socialist resurrection of religion ‘that has ‘a resurrected
body’ which ‘however is not identical with the old one’ (Tomka, 2011: 8) and is claimed
as ‘one of the formulas to describe the process of democratization in the post-socialist
era’ (Bokova, 1999: 75; Elchinova, 1999: 7). They generalise about the religious revival in
the post-socialist Balkans as a period when houses of worship are built as a consequence
of the ‘the upsurge of religious activity of laypeople (…) directed towards creating material objects of faith rather than gaining religious knowledge’ (Hristov, 2012; Valchinova,
2007: 38; Valchinova, 2012: 73). Another characteristic trait is the increased interest in
‘pilgrimages and a thriving of a number of sacred places in the Balkans. Researchers
have been pointing out that people go on pilgrimages much more often during transition periods and crises caused by economic and social instability and during times of
searching for identity’ (Dorondel, 2002 cit. in Troeva and Hristov, 2017: 7–8).
Stories about cured people exist not only in relation to religious centres but also to
places and natural objects not directly related to Christianity. This means that narratives about miracles are perceived differently depending on the percipients’ ideologies.
Thus, a story about a cure or a punishment of a person could be a coincidence for a
group of people; esotericists speak about the moving of energies (see Lindquist, 2006:
54; Mikaelsson, 2013: 170 cit. in Lubanska, 2016: 77); for religious people such stories
are the result of Gods’ mercy as an answer to solitary or group prayers to church patron
saints (Valchinova, 2002: 56).
The following text does not aim to be exhaustive but to present an overview on
narratives about wonders and miraculous objects – holy icons, springs, etc. – as well
as venerated saints connected with those wonders in the region. For the purpose of the
94 About the evolution of religious life in the region see Valchinova, 1999, and for an overview of the religious landscape
in Petrich district see Periklieva, 2018.
95 More about the religiousness of people since the end of 20th century see Nazarska and Shapkalova, 2009; Valtchinova,
2007.
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study transcriptions of semi-structured interviews gathered in the period 1990–202096,
broadcasts of the Bulgarian TV-programmes ‘Faith and Society’ and ‘No one’s land’ and
articles in websites, blogs, books and newspapers are used.
W onders and miraculous objects
For the aim of the text ‘miracle’ is defined as ‘a category, describing the communication between the human and godly world’ that has appeared at given place and
time and for which is valid ‘the initial construction of the fact of the miracle and the
continuous process of changing of its meaning and introducing of new senses’ (Valchinova, 2002: 54). It is an ‘extraordinary and amazing’, ‘preternatural’ fact incompatible
with natural laws, both sources of which are the ‘folklore’ (folk beliefs) and the ‘church’
(Christian doctrine) (Kselman, 1983; Sigal, 1985 cit. in Valchinova, 2002: 54–57). Respectively, ‘miraculous objects’ are natural phenomena or man-related products to
which people ascribe preternatural abilities and a high degree of sacredness which is a
material symbol of the divine essence (Baeva, 2001: 119). Thus, for believers (irrelevant
of their confession and spirituality) the wonder-working object shows the sacred space
in which the godly is mediated by the saint and as such becomes a place of worship
(Georgieva, 2006: 167).
From religious point of view miracles connected with holy objects could be classified in two main categories: bringing help for healings, for building churches, etc., or
bringing punishment, mainly after desecration of a holy site (see Baeva, 2001; Gergova,
2012: 54–56).
Miraculous objects in the studied region differ also according to the space in which
they appear. Some of the wonders happen inside the churches97, others – outside the
sacred space, even delocalised. Regarding their nature, wonder-working objects (holy
icons and human relics) inside the church, are man-related. Outside the church they are
part of nature (trees, rocks, springs). Thus, we have water as an essential natural element
of Christian practices and rituals. Rising from springs – also under tree roots – it functions as a mediator of godly or supernatural power. In а liquid state, it is also presented
in caves. Patron and other saints’ relics – (present and accessible for devotees just in few
Christian shrines, mainly in town churches and monasteries (see Baeva, 2018) – function as mediators between the saint and the men.
96 Except for personal archives, all materials are archived at the Bulgarian National Centre for Intangible Heritage at
the Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in
the following corpuses: FnAIF (audio archive corpus) and AIF or AIF I (archive corpus with transcriptions of the audio
archive).
97 About the church as a space for miraculous healings see Baeva, 2008.
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C aves, trees, springs, shrines and wonders
Even though in the following text the narratives about wonders and the related to
them wonder-working objects (trees, caves, springs and holy shrines) are presented in
separate categories, in some cases their separation is conditional due to their interconnectedness.
Caves
In Pernik province, there are three cave-churches but only one is famous for the
wonders happening inside it. The ancient rock chapel ‘St. Petka’, located in the small upland of the quarter ‘Barintsi’, not far from the cemetery-church ‘St. Petka’, is emblematic
for the small town of Tran.98
A folk legend related to the saint and the sacred place is kept alive by the local
people. While Saint Petka was persecuted by the Turks, she found a shelter in the cave,
lit fire and baked a round loaf there. When the persecutors came, she escaped from the
cave through a crack and her footstep and hand left prints on the rock, and when her
persecutors came and tried to break off a piece of the bread it turned into stone. Nowadays this loaf is an object of worship on which devotees lay money and light candles.
Another part of the interior is a plank-bed placed at the left side of the entrance where
every devoted Christian with a health problem can stay overnight99 in hope to be cured.
Further, during spring and autumn, drops usually trickle down100 the rock ceiling of the
cave-chapel and are ‘collected in bowls because of the belief these drops are ‘holy water’
and have healing power for eye diseases’ (see Markov, 2014: 70; Valchinova, 1999: 7).
In recent years, dozens of new narratives about miraculous healings have been recorded. According to the custodian of the cave-chapel people ‘come to spend the night
mainly before the day of St. Petka (14th October). They come looking bad and go looking
good, even very good’ (‘No one’s land’, 25th November 2017). Mothers pregnant with
their long-awaited children after praying in the church, come back to thank for the
wonder. Every year there are ‘a dozen women and married couples, staying overnight to
cure infertility’ (Koiva et al., 2018: 126). Sometimes not religious people are also being
cured. A man, ‘who is not a churchgoer walks up to the chapel crying. After he visits
the place, his life changes, he finds a job and is healthy’ (‘No one’s land, 25th November
2017). The thyroid gland problems of another woman disappeared after she volunteered
in the chapel. One of the last stories is about a blind girl who visited the chapel in 2018
and after a prayer to the saint, crawled out through the crack and when she reached the
cross on the top and started seeing (Zapadno.com, 2018).
98 The other two cave-churches are close to Zemen town and to Zelenigrad village.
99 This practice, the so called ‘incubation’, is known since ancient times. In Christian settings it is very often carried out
in the night before the patron’s day (for more information see Georgieva, 2012: 280, a. o.; Gergova, 2015: 38–39, 254–255).
100 About other water-sparkling cave-churches in other countries see Håland, 2005.
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Pic. 1. Part of the interior in the rock chapel ‘St. Petka’, Tran, Bulgaria, 2014. Photo: Ivaylo
Markov, personal archive.
Trees
Since the Middle Ages, in the region ‘centuries-old trees are kept, considered as
‘sacred’ and often they ‘gave the name of the vicinity, called usually Bresto, Bresye (ash),
Dub, Dubye (oak)’ (Velev, 2005: 279).
The church ‘St. John of Rila’ of the Pernik ‘St. Panteleimon’ monastery (dating back
to the 10th century) which is now on the territory of the hospital for lung diseases also
has a miraculous tree. The century-old ash with healing power is located next to the
northern wall of the church: ‘It has cured many people who have touched it or embraced
it with faith and love’101 thanks to the patron saints’ prayers and God’s providence. People say that it has strange formations which look like human organs – a heart, a brain,
a womb, a lung (see Borisova, 2015a; Gergova, 2015: 253). It is believed that the healing
101 See svetimesta.com/Манастири/Пернишки%20манастир%20-%20Св.%20Пантелеймон (accessed 24 April
2020).
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of an ill person happens through a contact with the tree: infertile women touch the
‘womb’, people with motor disorders sit on or contact the ‘limbs’ of the tree (Gergova,
2015: 253).
Pic. 2. An ash tree with human-like organs – Pernik, Bulgaria, 2011. Photo: Yana Gergova,
personal archive.
Healing properties are also ascribed to the water springing from the roots of a century-old oak close to the Chernogorsky monastery ‘Saints Cosmas and Damian’.102 An
old man from the nearby village Gigintsi shares that its water heals eczemas and other
skin diseases: ‘People went there and treated for example a verruca or something else’.103
In comparison to Christians, esotericists believe that the trees’ magic energy will
pour into men and their thinking will clarify after they lean their back on the tree and
put their hands on its bark (Borisova, 2011). In Penkyovsky monastery ‘St. Petka’ there
are centuries-old oaks in the yard: ‘The oak next to the church fence is a tser (oak, lat.
102 These both saint brothers are venerated as saints-healers in the Orthodox world. More about the cult to them and
other saints-healers in Bulgaria see Gergova, 2015.
103 АIF І No 442, а. u. 2, interview with A. L. (born 1930), recorded by T. Matanova, 2008.
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quercus cerris) and the other one is blagun (oak, lat. quercus frainetto)’ (Ibid.). According to people of Penkyovtsi village, there is a woman from Sofia with ancestors from
this region who goes ‘several times a year to the blagun, leans herself at it and charges
with vital energy’ (Ibid.).
A similar narrative exists about a three-century-old tser close to ‘St. Nicholas’
church in Rani lug village that is worshiped on holidays as a miraculous object. According to a folk belief, local healers have carried out rituals under the tree and healed
persons with skin problems.104
The last example is connected with St. Therapontos, venerated as a local saint who
cured insane and rabid people.105 He is deeply interwoven with the history of Tran town,
since according to a legend ‘the name of the town Tran (thorn) comes from more distant
times when, as the folk belief says, on this place grew a big blackthorn with a healing
spring under its branches used by the local priest Therapontos to heal the believers’.106 St.
Paisios of Chilandar in his Slavonic-Bulgarian History as well as the Bulgarian church
writer Matey Gramatik counts him in the group of saints-martyrs because he was killed
by the Turks. A big tree grew on the place where his blood was shed and people still
visit the place in hope to be cured. Today, a piece of the tree is kept in the ‘St. Petka
Old’ church in Sofia but there is evidence that in earlier times when the tree was in the
church yard, on Sundays and on 27th May (the day of his veneration) ‘rabid’ people were
tied to the tree to stay overnight and to get cured (Valchinova, 1999: 70–72). Nowadays
it is still perceived as a wonder-working object that takes central place in the festivities
on 27th May107 and in 2019 a piece of it was brought for worship in ‘St. Petka’ church in
Tran (Zapadno, 2019a).
Holy springs, shrines and saints
In Pernik province there are numerous springs named izvor (spring) or ayazmo
(holy spring). One of them is the curious spring near Bosnek village, the natural phenomenon ‘Living water’ (Zhivata voda), to which are ascribed (Borisova, 2019):
healing powers and supernatural qualities to recognise who is sinful and does not
repent his mistakes (…). Miracles are not documented but there is a statement
that a seriously ill boy regained his health after he visits the strange place with the
unique spring with its water that disappears and after a certain period appears
again.
104 See bnr.bg/sofia/post/101084746/vekoven-dab-ot-transko-se-bori-za-titlata-evropeisko-darvo-2019 (accessed 24
April 2020).
105 More about the cult to St. Therapontos in Znepole district see Valchinova, 1999: 69–79.
106 See tran.bg/site/page.php?85 (accessed 24 April 2020).
107
See
mitropolia-sofia.org/index.php/novini/925-praznichna-vechernya-s-petohlebie-v-chest-na-sv-terapontii
(accessed 24 April 2020).
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A man from the village mentions that ‘during the socialist years the locals believed
that it was godsend’108 and shares a memory that one day in the 1990s while being close
to the spring, he met an old couple who hardly walked but searched for the ‘Living water’ which cured eye and lung diseases. Geologists explain that the periodical appearing and disappearing of the water is caused by an underground lake with caves on its
ends. When the wind blows from one entrance the water moves to the other and starts
running: ‘After a while the wave flows back and the water stops. It depends on the air
stream in the cave.’109 In the 17th century the Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi mentioned
this spring in his travelogues of calling it the ‘Spring of happiness’ as it made happy
many visitors who were lucky enough to drink from the water and disappointed others
because the water was not running when they were there (Borisova, 2019).110
Only in Graovo district there are more than ‘sixty springs, known as sveta voda
(holy water), to which healing abilities legends ascribe miraculous power’ (Velev, 2005:
279), while in the whole Pernik province there are at least more than hundred. Such
springs spurt very often close to or in settlements such as in Pernik and the villages Arzan, Zabel, Yardzhilovtsi, Sirishtnik, Velinovo, Glavanovtsi, Peshtera and in church and
monastery yards as it is in the churches and chapels in Dalga luka, Klenovik, Vladimir,
Gorochevtsi. Another holy site with an ayazmo is the medieval ‘St. Petka’ monastery
close to Lobosh village which is visited continuously by people from the surrounding
villages due to the springs’ holy water.
Few narratives about cured ocular diseases are recorded in relation to the springs
in the villages Arzan and Peshtera and about the latter local people say that: ‘The ‘Holy
water’ is most effective early in the morning, before sunrise, but the visitor is obliged to
leave a nishan – a piece of cloth, a handkerchief, etc.’111
Two examples of healed kidneys and skin diseases are registered for the healing
spring near Zabel (Tonin, 2017: 188; Iliev, 2014: 99):
Local people worship the healing spring from time immemorial. (…) A woman
from the village shares that several years ago, when her grand-daughter broke
out in a rash covering all of her body and doctors in Sofia could not help her, she
remembered the healing holy water in the village. She went there with the child,
washed it and on the next day all the rash disappeared.
The spring in ‘Sv. Troitsa’ monastery close to Erul village is also believed to be holy
108 АIF I No 397, p. 9, 42, Interview with D. Z. I. (born in 1932), recorded by M. Lyubenova, 2003.
109 АIF I No 397, p. 9.
110 There are also some legends about the ‘Living water’: one about a winged serpent in the spring and another about a
buffalo that lives under the ground. More about them see Borisova, 2019.
111 svetimesta.com/Света-вода/Света%20вода%20-%20с.%20Пещера (accessed 24 April 2020).
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as the one in ‘St. Petka’ in the Penkyovski monastery where according to a local legend
‘the saint was killed on that place by enemies of Christianity and after some time the
holy water appeared’.112
One of the springs which is situated in the village of Dzhinchovtsi is named ‘Saint
Petka’ probably because of the great veneration of the saint in the region (Markov,
2014; Valchinova, 1999). According to a local legend it started running when saint Petka stopped for a rest and being thirsty started looking for water; she dug up the foliage around her and a spring appeared between the trees. It is believed that ‘everyone
who visits it should leave something. If he has nothing, then he can leave a tread of his
clothes. The traditional belief is that in this way every persons’ wish will get fulfilled.
For example, a woman that can’t bear a child, after washing her eyes, becomes pregnant’.113 Thanks to this persisting local memory keeping numerous narratives of cured
persons, this place is worshiped by people from the whole Tran district who go there on
Christian holidays even now (Tonin, 2017: 138).
The contemporary presence of two other ‘St. Petka’ churches, namely those in Tran
and Breznik, proves again the stable cult to the saint in the region, even though ‘nowhere in the hagiography and scientific literature St. Petka is found under the name of
Tran; there is no hagiographic evidence she was passing through Tran region or lived
there’ (Markov, 2014: 67).
The church ‘St. Petka’ in Tran is built on the ruins of a ‘St. Therapontos’ chapel
that existed until the middle of the 16th century (Tonin, 2017: 34–35) and few narratives
about miracles that happened after a contact with a religious wonder-working object
in the church are known since the end of the 20th century. As a consequence, in recent
days worshippers are advised by the klisarka (a female helper in a church) to place their
hands on the metalwork covered hands on one of the St. Petka icons: ‘Many people feel
warmth. How can metal give out heat, if not by wonder? Some people feel vibrations’
(‘Faith and Society’, 12th October 2019).
The newest icon which is brought from Jassy in Romania and has part of the saints’
shroud built-in is also worshipped as miraculous. One of the wonders connected with it
is about ‘a cured woman who entered the church held by her sister and daughter because
of her weakness. She laid her face on the icon, prayed and cried and then stood upright
and went without the help of her relatives to the other icons and then left the church’
(Ibid.).
112 svetimesta.com/Манастири/Пенкьовски%20манастир-Св.%20Петка (accessed 24 April 2020).
113 AIF I No 106, p. 271, interview with S. B. K., born in 1931 in Dzhinchovtsi, recorded by V. Penchev, 1992.
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Pic. 3. St. Petka icon with metalwork covers, Tran, Bulgaria, 2020. Photo: Tanya Matanova,
personal archive.
The old ‘St. Petka’ church in Breznik has its few miracles, registered and remembered during the 20th century. Besides the recent stories about overcoming infertility
and cancer, there is one dating back to the 1960s which is about a woman from Goz village near Breznik who suffered from an incurable disease but recovered after prayers in
the church: ‘She was breast-feeding when she visited the church to pray with the priest.
And she died when she was 90 years old’ (Zapadno, 2019). The next example for a holy
spring is the one in Chernogorsky monastery for which monks of the brotherhood say
that its water has healing capacities not because of any specific physic-chemical properties but due to the beneficial intervention of the holy unmercenaries114 Cosmas and
Damian: ‘the water will not cure anybody automatically. Relieved will be only those
114 Saints who received no payment for their medical services.
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who bear their sorrows patiently and realise that the release comes by God and his
saints’ (Borisova, 2018: 23). Several monastery annalistic notes from the 19th century
point that this holy site was visited after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 and ‘was
worshiped as a great healing place and welcomed worshippers from Breznik, Pernik,
Radomir and many villages’ (Manolova-Nikolova, 2014: 174). There are dozens of registered miracle stories about recoveries from cancer, diabetes and other serious illnesses.
A woman from Varna who suffered diabetes resulting in amputations and with a failing
sight, began drinking water from the holy spring regularly in 2007. Slowly she got better
and a year later she visited the monastery again to express her gratitude to the miraculous saints Cosmas and Damian (see Matanova, 2014: 239–240). Another one is about a
Muslim (R. O.) with a lung cancer, who, being desperate to recover, started drinking the
water from the spring brought to him by a relative and recovered115:
In the beginning of 2008, the man goes to the trouble to go on foot up to the monastery and then back with a full five-liter bottle in his hands. R. O. drank from the
water and did not take any other medicine. All his friends and relatives were very
surprised when he was soon back on his feet and was doing well in the following
years/ for years afterwards.
In May 2015 the brotherhood of the monastery receives a letter from a woman from
Dupnitsa town in which she describes how her arthritic arm and leg got better after she
went to the monastery and prayed in front of the saints-patrons’ icon (Borisova, 2015):
Then I felt that someone touched my back. I was surprised because nobody was
next to me. I turned and did not see anyone. I entered the church. I looked at the
interior with admiration and listened to the service. The latter lasted a long time.
I got tired and sat on one of the chairs on the right so that I could observe the
ritual (the service – T.M.). I closed my eyes with my fingers and felt a hand on
my shoulder that shook me. I opened my eyes and saw nobody. I could not realise
what happened. The explanation came on the next day after I got up in the morning and could move my arm and leg.
The newest wonders are connected with an icon of the Virgin Mary Most-Holy
Queen of All brought in the cloister in 2016. One of them is about a man with a tumour
who, while waiting for his operation, prayed several times in front of the icon. After
some time, he shared his joy for being cured (Borisova, 2017). Another woman from
Sofia tells her story116:
I was alone in the room. We were in the monastery for a children camp during
115 АIF I No 442, а. u. 16, Interview with H. M. (born 1975), recorded by T. Matanova, 2012.
116 AIF No 442, a. u. 18, Interview with H. D., recorded by T. Matanova, 2020.
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winter in the beginning of 2020. The heating in my room didn’t work so I covered
myself with four blankets. As I was muffled up, I saw an orb of light. And you
know that there is no electricity in the monastery. I looked at it and kept silent.
And I was not afraid, but I felt a warmth here (shows with her hand the neck
area – T. M.). I became paralysed with… boon, I don’t know how to describe it
exactly. And then small lights started to play around my shoulders. I could not
believe that this is happening to me, but I remember clearly every moment of that
experience. [Some] days before the camp I had an eye operation and I was wondering what to do, if I should go to the camp, but then I told myself: ‘The children
prayed for me, so I had to go. Finally, I went to the Most-Holy Queen of All.’ After
a while I switched the torch of my phone on and everything disappeared. I turned
it off again, but the phenomenon did not repeat. I connect this experience with
the Virgin Mary Most-Holy Queen of All because I have read many prayers to her
and continue to read them.
In a book laid for visitors to share their impressions of the icon and the monastery
could be found dozens of gratitude words shared by different people. One of them is
written in 2019 by a woman who after praying to the Virgin became a mother. Nevertheless, her child was ill and could not walk. She prayed again for its recovery and her
wish was granted.
Pic. 4. Words of gratitude in the book for impressions laid next to the icon of the Virgin Mary
Most-Holy Queen of All, Chernogorsky monastery, Bulgaria, 2020. Photo: Tanya Matanova,
personal archive.
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Another example of a miraculous place in Pernik province is ‘St. Nedelya’ chapel
(built in 1937) near Vitanovtsi village. It is visited by people from Sofia, Pernik, Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil and even from Northern Bulgarian provinces.117 The first legend is
about a woman who was told in a dream to find it and her ill child would be cured by
the water. There are a few stories about other people cured by the water in a miraculous way. According to one of them a blind girl from Divotino village was cured after
washing her eyes with water from the spring: ‘This girl was born blind. Once a woman
told her mother to go to Vitanovtsi, wash her eyes with the water from the holy site and
then she will be able to see. And she really was cured’ (Lyubenova, 2014: 380). Another
young girl stopped sleep-walking: ‘My brother’s girl was sleep-walking and my mother
brought her to the spring on the holiday of the church (7th July) [And] since then, they
went home and she stopped sleep-walking.’118 There is also a story about a carpenter
who, after his immobility was cured by the water, constructed tables and benches at
the holy site (Ibid., 383). Another example is about a man hit by a truck who could not
drink or eat after the accident but started recovering once he began to drink the spring
water (Ibid., 380).
The last two examples are related to St. Archangel Michael. He is the patron of
Bilinsky monastery where in the beginning of the 19th century the son of the Turkish brigand Kara Feyzi, Ali-beg, who suffered from a kind of psychological disorder,
was brought and stayed there for two months. He recovered after several prayers and
oil-consecrations. His father expressed his gratitude by donating for the extension of
the monastery with another building and gave freedom to the monastery to have divine
services (Yordanov, 1940: 5 cit. in Iliev, 2014: 94). Another example comes from the ‘St.
Archangel Michael’ church in Studena village: ‘Some elder dwellers from the village
come to me and tell me that in earlier times couples being separated or divorced came
together again after someone prayed for them to the church patron’ (private archive).
‘Punishing’ wonders
As already mentioned, cases of punishment could also be seen as а wonder (see also
Baeva, 2001). People are punished or healed in a miraculous way depending on their
faith, religious views and practices, i.e., if they follow or not a given code of conduct
which includes norms of sacred character that are ‘given by God and God is the one
who controls their observation’ (Baeva, 2002: 145). Punishments come very often either
after neglecting some canon laws or rituals, or when holy sites and religious objects are
desecrated.
An example from the distant past of the Chernogorsky monastery is connected
again with the Turkish brigand Kara Feyzi who damaged many churches and monasteries in Breznik district. According to Borisova (2018: 7–8) soon his daughter’s119 legs:
117 See AIF I No 361, p. 39, Interview with B. F. P. (born 1921), recorded by M. Lyubenova, 2002; AIF I No 361, p. 47,
Interview with D. P. I. (born 1944), recorded by M. Lyubenova, 2002.
118 AIF I No 361, p. 236, Interview with I. S. K. (born 1946), recorded by A. Georgieva and M. Lyubenova, 2003.
119 In other sources it is his son who suffers from this disease (Lyubenova, 2016: 181).
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began to wither. As neither folk healers, nor imams, nor European doctors could
help her, her health condition got so bad that she was not able to get up from
her bed. Then in a dream St. Archangel Michael told Kara Feyzi that this was a
punishment for the damaged churches and monasteries. Thus, realising that his
child would not be cured if he did not mend the evils he had done to the Christians, Kara Feyzi came to his senses, incited by his paternal instinct. In order
to appease God and to beg for his child’s healing of God, he began to renew the
damaged Christian shrines. (…) With the help of the population of 26 near villages he began the construction of the monastery buildings which were finished
in 1822. Kara Feyzi himself also gave money. And his daughter visited the monastery and recovered.
A. Moroz (2004: 21–22) finds out in his studies on historic narratives about destroyed churches in Russia that ‘the character of the punishment is similar to the actions and results of the deeds of the blaspheming actor’. Sometimes he gets the same
‘desecration’ as the one he did to the holy object (if he has burnt icons, then he or his
house is burnt), or he loses the organs ‘synonymous’ to what he had blasphemed (if he
has thrown a bell down, then his hands are maimed, or, if he has broken a cross – he
fells and breaks his legs). In the end of the 20th century something similar happens to
three friends who visited the Chernogorsky monastery on the monastery patrons’ day
(AIF I No 442, a. u. 16):
Being drunk one of them decided to dig out and move the stone votive cross
‘Holy Trinity’, situated close to the path leading to the monastery. [Later] on the
same day they had a car accident. Afterwards all of the friends were fine but one
of them – the one who moved the cross – died on the next day.
Other acts of desecration are the destruction or theft of building materials, theft of
icons or other religious objects, books, etc. Such an example is found in the narratives
of an old man of Vitanovtsi village who remembers a story about a ‘young man from a
nearby village (Bogdanov dol) who took bricks from a ruined monastery to his house
and got ill. And after he was told in a dream to bring the rocks back he recovered.’120 A
similar story is recorded about ‘The Assumption’ church in Popovo village that existed
until 1953 before a dam was built and the local residents were driven to resettle in the
town of Pernik. One of the eyewitnesses shares: ‘after we were deported, the person who
struck first at the church was hurt the most. [We] all say: ‘It serves him right!’. [He] first
started to break the bell. [Within] a week after that his child died. And then he died
too.’121
120 AIF I No 361, pp. 31-32, Interview with B. P. (born 1921), recorded by M. Lyubenova, 2002.
121 AIF I No 397, pp. 58-59, Interview with O. A. A. (born 1920), recorded by M. Lyubenova, 2003.
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C onclusion
Considering the presented data, it could be said that more narratives were found
about wonders experienced by Christians than about miraculously healed or punished
non-Christians. Trees, caves and springs are often mentioned in relation to miraculous
healings as a result of God’s interference. New-age followers share seldom narratives
about wonders happening due to ‘an opening up to life-giving forces (…) operating
through energies present in physical objects’ (Lubanska, 2017: 20). Punishing ‘wonders’
appear predominantly after a desecrating act upon religious objects, such as monasteries, temples, votives, icons. The wonders happening inside the church are mainly a
result of prayers to wonder-working icons and those happening outside are due to usage
of the water of holy springs or to contact to centuries-old trees. The latter, as well as the
punishing wonders, are often delocalised. Further, the numerous narratives of wonders
connected with miraculous icons and springs confirm the statement of Nazarska and
Shapkalova (2009: 458) that in contemporary Bulgaria the worship of miraculous icons
is more popular than the veneration of holy relics. Despite that there are saints’ relics
in some of the churches (‘St. Petka’ church in Breznik) and monasteries (Chernogorsky
monastery ‘SS. Cosmas and Damian’) in Pernik province, narratives about miracles
related to them were not found.
In this region springs are believed to have miracle-working waters and narratives
of them are also broadly spread. In several cases their healing abilities are attributed to
the locally venerated saints: Petka, Nedelya, Cosmas and Damian.
Considering the rituality related to the presented objects of worship, it could be
said that the contact with miraculous trees and rocks occurs more often on a personal
level and seldom as a part of a church ritual. Water springs considered and named ‘holy’
are visited just by locals, lay people at different times of the year. Short religious church
rituals are performed by a priest at least once a year on the feast day of the saint patron
of the spring (14th October – St. Petka, 7th July – St. Nedelya) and people of the region
gather, eat and spend time together... The stories about wonders related to miraculous
icons reveal that they occur after a prayer said by a priest in the church but also after the
person searching for help has said personal prayers in front of the icon.
Regarding the topography, wonders and wonder-working objects are predominantly related to the saints Petka, Archangel Michael, Cosmas and Damian, followed by
the Virgin, Saint Nedelya, Saint Nicholas, all of which are central in the church rituals
performed at some of the religious sites. However, more important is that each presented saint is central for the local community, as through ‘their’ saint(s) members could
identify within the community and differ from settlers of other neighbouring villages
(see Lybenova, 2014: 381). Only the cult to St. Petka is territorially more extensive as
there are far more places with holy sites (chapels, churches, monasteries, water springs)
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dedicated to her than to any other saints which again confirms the observations that she
takes an important place in the folk beliefs of the Bulgarians and especially in Pernik region. Thus, we have the main component of the local religion that is the cult to the saints
who have their fixed hagiographic vitas, liturgical texts, chapels and other religious
institutions dedicated to them in which church rituals are performed but also natural
objects as trees and springs around which have developed beliefs and ritual practices
connected with the saint(s) carried out by the lay local people (see Valchinova, 1999: 50).
All these narratives about wonders still persist today, on the one hand, because
they are part of the regional oral history and, on the other hand, because some of them
are interwoven with local religious cults and traditions who being still practiced by
the community contribute for the continuous veneration of the saints in the region.
Seen from a spatial-religious point of view such ‘imagined’ communities (Anderson,
1991) which worship one given saint and include persons who believe or have experienced wonders, could be considered a ‘sacroscape’ (Tweed, 2006), a ‘religioscape’ (Waters, 2003) or a local religious culture, in which people share specific religious belief
and traditions, perform individual or group rituals and visit, respectively worship the
same religious (wonder-working) objects in one region. Such a landscape approach can
be applied more elaborately in future research on sacred sites, miraculous objects and
religious life in the region.
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Tanya Matanova, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She is a
specialist in the field of descendants of interethnic marriages, homeland research. Her
further interests are in the field of pilgrimage studies, migrant cultural heritage, ethnic
entrepreneurship. Tanya Matanova is the author of the books Germans in Bulgaria.
Institutions, Social Networks, Everyday Culture (in Bulgarian and German, Sofia, 2019)
and With Two Homelands, Two Languages, Two Cultures… Descendants of Mixed Marriages – Identity and Ethno-cultural Characteristics (in Bulgarian, Sofia, 2016).
E-mail: tanya.matanova@iefem.bas.bg
209
M YSTIC RELATIONS TO THE HOMELAND
Mila Maeva
Abstract: Migration has become a key issue and challenge for Europe, one which will
dominate the European Union’s policy and the individual member states’ political programs in the coming years. In this respect, the migrations from Bulgaria over the last 30
years have led to the departure of large numbers of Bulgarians and their settling down
in various destinations, both within and outside the EU. The present study is based on
ethnographic material collected over different time periods (2007–2019) from diverse
groups of Bulgarian immigrants living in the UK, USA, Canada, and Norway. The research focus is the mystical relations to the homeland described as a kind of ‘energy’
connecting migrants to Bulgaria. The study describes and analyses the narratives of
different Bulgarian groups, especially first generations abroad, organised according to
their profiles and their beliefs concerning baba Vanga and magical practices associated
with the Bulgarian lands.
Keywords: mysticism, migration, energy, homeland, Bulgarians abroad
T heoretical framework
The relationships between homeland and emigrants are related to the study of the
diaspora and its nationalism. The first discourse is made meaningful by the primordial
attachment to the native land and the awareness of the emotional attachment to it (Tzaneva, 2015: 34). According to A. Smith, in classical diasporic nationalisms the land is
not only historical, accommodating and spacious; it is sacred, and as such is the only
land fit for its people (Smith, 2010: 16). Idealised territorial connections and memories
become some of the main cultural resources along with myths of origin and ethnic
choices, vivid traditions of ethnohistory with their heroes, saints, sages, golden ages,
and ideals of sacrifice and martyrdom in the face of oppression, persecution and exile.
They inspire and mobilise their members for their political goals of liberating, regenerating and rebuilding the community in their homeland (Smith, 2010: 22–23). From the
point of view of diasporic nationalism, the land is something more than a historical and
pleasant homeland; it is the land given to the chosen people by God almighty, a gift of
infinite beauty for a holy people (Ibid., 17).
The second discourse concerns the perception of a real or imaginary ‘homeland’
as an authoritative source of value, identity and loyalty. Discussions among different
theorists regarding the place of the homeland in the imagination of the diaspora are
multifaceted. However, they (Brubaker, 2006; Clifford, 1994, etc.) are unanimous in
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their view that the native land, whether real, constructed or reconstructed, occupies a
place in the diasporic imagination. In some diasporic communities, it is perceived as a
sacred place that attracts the exiles (Payaslian, 2010: 106; Smith, 2003; Tölölyan, 2010:
34). For K. Khayati the contemplation of the homeland as a ‘mythic place of desire in
diasporic imaginations’ easily builds up a bridge between the host land, where that diaspora resides, and their mystical homeland (Khayati, 2008).
Depending on its different interpretations, the homeland plays an important role in
the lives of the diaspora and it becomes part of the ‘emotional geography’ of emigrants.
In this case, the native land is understood as part of a complex relationship. The image
of the homeland is constructed as an element of the emotional geography of those living
abroad, presupposing their engagement with certain cultural places, material culture,
intangible heritage, emotions and sensory encounters with places and objects. Emotional geography also refers to the social and sensory affects and relationships that determine the place of birth in particular, and the homeland in general. Patterns in human
engagement influence places, individuals, and groups. The processes of experiencing
cultural habitus, which ultimately construct cultural identity, are dominant in shaping emotional relationships. Inspired by this, the emotional geography determines the
sensory and affective qualities of the place, as well as shows their hierarchical order (cf.
Kearney, 2009: 211–212).
O bject of the study
The exodus from Bulgaria in the period after 1989 fits into the global migration
flow. As a result of it, more than 1 million Bulgarians have left the country in the last 30
years, settling in various destinations, both within and outside the EU (cf. Nonchev et
al., 2020). Due to the large number of people leaving for short periods of time, I decided
to focus my research attention on the relationship between the homeland and migrating Bulgarian citizens living in several countries in Europe and North America. These
are Bulgarians with different ethnic and religious backgrounds, educational and social
status, following a diverse pattern of migration (political, labor, educational or family),
and residing in several host countries. This study does not focus on migration practices,
such as financial transfers, social, or cultural interactions, as much as on the perception
of Bulgaria as an idealised and sacred location and the relationship that connects those
living abroad to it to their mystic homeland. The aim is to discuss the construction and
functioning of this image and its place in the emotional geography of modern and mobile Bulgarian citizens.
211
R esearch methodology
The study is based on a qualitative study conducted on the basis of a series of fieldwork studies.
To carry out the work, classical ethnographic methods were used, such as in-depth
and semi-structured interviews, observations, case studies and autobiographical stories
of the interlocutors living abroad or returning home for short periods. As the study focuses on transnational practices, it is based on multi-sited field ethnographic research.
It presupposes not only the movement of migrants between many places, but also the
formation of socio-cultural life through the interaction between and across different
places (Marcus, 1995; Parsons and Arnold, 2017: 397). This is a series of studies that were
conducted both in Bulgaria (over the 2007–2020 period) and in the settlement destinations of Bulgarian citizens – Turkey (2001–2019), Great Britain (2007–2013), Norway
(2015), France (2010), USA and Canada (2019).122 The research aim is to cover Bulgarian
citizens of different profiles and destinations. 123 Despite their many differences, they
are united by the fact that they are first or first and a half generation of migrants, which
predetermines their still strong ties and emotional commitment to the homeland, state,
land, language, culture, as well as their families, relatives and friends.
E migrants and the homeland
Working among Bulgarian citizens living and working abroad, and reviewing my
field materials, I came across various kinds of information about the perception of the
homeland. The connection of migrants with Bulgaria is multifaceted. The narratives of
those living abroad clearly show the different levels of its perception and the ambidextrous relationship with it on a political, economic, social, and cultural level. My interest
in this case is focused on understanding Bulgaria as a sacred place. Often, even the
emigrants themselves do not talk directly about their mystical ties with the homeland.
However, in the narratives of those living abroad, the idea of ‘the stone that weighs only
when placed in its right place’ appears. The stories of the interlocutors contain a clear
distinction between the territory as a geographical concept, the state and the social organisation, each of which is loaded with different symbolic and cultural meanings. The
narratives clearly define the line between the negative attitude towards the state, which
is often defined as a ‘stepmother’, and the homeland, which in turn is perceived in an
idealised discourse (cf. Brubaker, 2005; Khayati, 2008). According to one of the interlocutors: ‘It’s not good anywhere. It is better in Bulgaria!’ (AIMIR №3321 / 19.02.2004: 137).
122 The study in the United States and Canada was conducted within the project ‘Policy Building towards Bulgarians
Abroad’ (2017–2020), funded by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria.
123 In the text, ‘Bulgarians’ and ‘Bulgarian citizens’ are used interchangeably with ‘Bulgarians’; however, fieldwork
research was conducted among Bulgrian citizens regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.
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In the narratives, the native land is largely figured out as a tourist destination where
emigrants spend their vacations. It is recognised in the context of the holiday and it is
understood as a beautiful birthplace with fresh air and sun, with ‘real’ and delicious
food: ‘Only those who have not visited have not fallen in love with the mountains and
the food ...’ (AIEFSEM №1113-III: 94).
The homeland is perceived by emigrants as a ‘perfect place’, which, however, exists
only in their imagination. It is no coincidence that it is perceived in a mystical context
and is associated with the image of a calm and orderly place, where the interlocutors
feel comfortable:
I don’t know, perhaps a lot of people won’t think that way, but I think it’s best to
be where you grew up, where you have learned to love. Wherever one goes, a person feels better to return (to Bulgaria) (AIMIR №3321 / 19.02.2004: 63).
My friend lives in the United States. She is already a citizen there, isn’t she, and
whenever she can, every other year or every year, whenever she can, she comes
here on vacation for a month or two. She told me: ‘Don’t dream of anywhere else.
Bulgaria is Bulgaria! You will not see anything better than Bulgaria. Look at this
calm! If I went out with the children, who knows what might happen!’ (AIMIR
№3321 / 19.02.2004: 129).
The homeland is perceived as an integrity (the ideal combination of nature, air,
water and food) and tranquility (cf. Eliade, 1987: 153), predetermined, according to the
emigrant narratives, by the ‘mystical power’ of the earth. Often in their stories, Bulgarians living abroad describe the homeland as a place with a strong spiritual energy: ‘There
is a lot of energy in Bulgaria’ (AIEFSEM №1114-III: 47). This strong energy power of the
homeland determines its strong connection with those Bulgarians living abroad:
We have a very strong attachment to this land, not so much to history as to the
earth. Some energy attachment to the earth. We want to be there, we feel at ease
there, we feel at home there. This is our place (AIEFSEM №1113-III: 7).
This connection to the earth is directly linked to the perception of people’s belonging to a particular land (cf. Smith, 2003, 2010). Energy and emotional attachment
to the homeland is also determined by the feeling of home, which is perceived ‘as an
emotional landscape reflecting identity’ (Morris and Thomas, 2007: 21). There, according to S. Ahmed, the ‘sensory world of everyday experience’ is synthesised (1999: 341;
cf. Brah, 1996). Therefore, emigration itself is perceived not only as a detachment from
the homeland, but also as a kind of disorientation in the global space (cf. Morley and
Robins, 1995: 87) and moving away from its ‘energy’:
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The first few years were very chaotic for me, at least for me. I didn’t have much
time. It weighed on me on holidays that I was not with my family, that we were far
away, but sometime after the third or fourth year I started getting very nostalgic,
and this is natural, and many people said that then they started to miss Bulgaria.
You get used to this feeling. You don’t get used to the feeling when you land in
Bulgaria. I don’t know how others feel, but I have friends who feel like me. Every
time when I land in Bulgaria, I cry. And when I leave Bulgaria, I cry again. I can’t
explain exactly why I’m crying. I cry. That’s where I belong, that’s where your energy is. You are detached everywhere else. They say that your home is where your
heart is. Elsewhere… when you live abroad, your heart is always in two places.
One is always at home. Just. You can be very happy, very settled in terms of standard of living, family, happiness (AIEFSEM № 1113-III: 47).
For the emigrants, the short time of return home is perceived as a period of ‘energy
recharging’, which will give them strength to keep going in the next year. According to
one of the interlocutors, returning to Bulgaria in the summer gives her strength to live
in England. During her stay in Bulgaria the interlocutor absorbs the homeland air, the
sun, and the atmosphere, which give her the strength to deal with life abroad.
E lements of the mystical power of the homeland
In the analysis of the mystical power of the native land, several important elements
can be differentiated. In the stories of the interlocutors, each of thesе elements is presented as significant in itself in shaping the overall image of Bulgaria. Firstly, the interlocutors set nature as an important element determining their connection with the
motherland:
Unfortunately, last year when I returned I didn’t have the opportunity because it
was very cold. I would go with such pleasure to all the places that I know are energetically strong, energetically recharging. Our mountains are great places, our
sea is a great place because of all these things. So I will gather stones (AIEFSEM
№ 1113-III: 9).
The emigrants spoke about the homeland as a place charged with a certain ‘force’
that has a beneficial influence on the people who were born there and who inhabit it:
For me, Bulgaria is the most beautiful place in the world. I think we belong to
this place and I feel it is where the water, the food and the herbs are best for us.
We, humans, are like animals and plants, we feel best on our own territory! (cf.
Maeva, 2005: 99; Maeva, 2017: 70).
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According to the narratives, the mystical forces of the homeland are embedded and
are to be found in various significant Bulgarian natural and cultural landmarks, such
as the Rila Monastery, the Seven Rila Lakes, Perperikon, Veliko Tarnovo, etc.124 But
the homeland powers also have local dimensions, connecting the emigrants with their
native towns or villages.
On the other hand, this mystical energy is also ‘portable’. For the Bulgarians living
abroad, the homeland energy permeates a number of objects. It is no coincidence that
they take these objects abroad to give them an honorable place in their new homes.
Food, herbs, icons, books and even magnets carry the energy of the place of birth (cf.
Maeva, 2018). The ‘heat’, ‘smell’ and ‘taste’ of the native land is transferred with them to
the host country (cf. Kearney, 2009). As one of the emigrants explains, she brings stones
from Bulgaria to the United States because:
I see that I need this energy here in America. And that’s why I like stones. Each
stone has its own energy value. The stones draw from the light of the sun, from
the water, from all the natural forces and energies. They close them in themselves
and transmit them to us because we are open through our matter (AIEFSEM
№1113-III: 8).
The energy connection with the homeland is greatly enhanced by the strong emotional attachment of immigrants to family, relatives, and friends, who have remained
there and who occupy a leading place in their value system (cf. Kearney, 2009: 210;
Tzaneva, 2013: 235). They provide ‘energy connection’ and emotional coherence. One of
the interlocutors said:
Because here it is not like in Bulgaria. Here you don’t have the freedom to spend
time with family, time with friends, because the distances are huge. And because
of this you shrink, you reduce your contacts, you reduce your friendships, you reduce your time with the people closest to you. I haven’t seen my family since last
Christmas, my husband’s family, my grandmothers. And I need to be recharged
by these people, to be charged with the positivism of these people (AIEFEM
№1113-III: 8).
F unctions of the mystical connection of emigrants with the homeland
The emigrant narratives talked about certain functions of the mystical relations
with the homeland. They can have practical and emotional purposes. In the first place,
124 According to W. Safran (2005), ethno-religious diasporas see homelands as sacred, since they are the depositories
of their religion as well as their ethno-national culture. They are places with a strong religious element in their national
identity and the location of sacred monuments, such as monasteries and historic churches, places where saints lived, were
martyred and were buried, and places where important religious texts were written (Safran, 2005: 42).
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the energy of the native land performs a healing function. The mystical connections
with the homeland and the visits ‘there’ are some of the main factors for the healing of
the sick. The emigrant narratives tell that the native land is healing.
An example of the healing fuction of the homeland I observed during my field work
in the village of Boyno, Kardzhali region. I attended there a Mawlid (a Muslim prayer)
for health of an emigrant. It was organised by the relatives of a sick man in Turkey, who
had left the country during the so called ‘Big excursion’ in 1989. This sick resident of
Bursa had sent funds to relatives in Bulgaria to organise a prayer for his recovery. According to the story of the participants in the Mawlid, the prayer and the sacrifice conducted in the birthplace of the patient would have a healing effect on him even though
he was in a hospital in Turkey at the time of the rite.
Another emigrant narrative talked about a case of black magic. The interlocutor
shared their sad experience with a magic spell for divorce and illness cast by a relative.
In order to break the black magic spell, the emigrant was returning from Canada to
Bulgaria every month to visit a local healer (bayachka). Interestingly, in order to achieve
a stronger effect from the magical powers, the interlocutor also sought the help of a local
Indian shaman.
Last but not least, the function of the mystical connection with the earth maintains
the memory and the connection with the ancestors and the deceased relatives in Bulgaria. The interlocutors spoke of their connections with previous generations. One of
the emigrants who had returned to Bulgaria country talked about a conversation with
his son: ‘I will work in Bulgaria, where I was born. Even your mother is buried here. I
will not go anywhere else just because of her’ (AIMIR №3321 / 19.02.2004: 209). This is
the reason why some of the older interviewed emigrants share their vision of returning
home. They say they dream of spending the last years of their lives in Bulgaria and being
buried here, sharing the experience of others who have been returned to the country
‘in an urn’. All this shows the immediate and personal affections that bring memories,
become symbols and ‘contribute to the sanctity of’ our ‘land and its soil, which gives us
both sustenance and final rest’ (Smith, 2009: 95).
The search for and comprehension of the mystical connections of the emigrants
with the homeland forms the emotional-spatial connection between them (cf. Kearney,
2009: 212; Pustin, 1987: 33–34). Perceived in this way, the birthplace continues to occupy an important place in the value system of those living abroad and it is associated with
a sense of belonging. The emigrants shared about their ‘spiritual ties’ with Bulgaria:
We are connected by a silver thread, i.e., the soul with the avatar is connected
to a silver thread so that it can return. It goes; it comes back; it’s the same with
sleepwalkers. The silver thread connects my spirit to Bulgaria. I’m hooked there.
It may be thousands of miles away, but it pulls me, it pulls us all. It cannot be any
other way (AIEFEM № 1113-III: 16).
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This undoubtedly affects their identity and predetermines their awareness as ‘Bulgarians’:
I believe a lot in Vanga. They say that there are many like Vanga today. They say
that Bulgaria is a very valuable source of energy and it brings us together. We,
the Bulgarians, are like ants scattered around the world that will one day gather
(AIEFEM № 1113-III: 7).
Through their construction, emotional relationships with the homeland contribute
to the creation of the individual geography of immigrants, in which the homeland continues to occupy a significant place (cf. Davidson and Milligan, 2004). Thus, the native
land and its energy are placed at the center of the emigrant world (according to Eliade,
1987: 42–47).
T he mystical transnational ties with the homeland
Although the researchers’ attention is focused primarily on the study of diasporic
communities, the fieldwork materials show that the idea of mystical ties with the homeland also exists among transnational migrants. The comprehension of these relations
with the native land is to a large extent connected to the strengthening of the mystical teachings and practices among the people living abroad. The broadening of the
migrants’ horizons contributes to the growth of mystical quests, which often lead to
a departure from traditional Orthodoxy. Thus, a visit to an Orthodox Church in the
host country is associated more with the practice of lighting candles and with prayers
than with spiritual development and growth, or hope for the afterlife. In this sense, the
role of the spiritual dimension of the new country should also be noted. We should not
overlook the fact that this mysticism is considered to be a characteristic of the East and
it is not by chance that Bulgaria is perceived in this manner (cf. Miner, 1958; Said, 1978).
Therefore, it is not surprising that in Bulgarian centers abroad, yoga practices are now
offered along with folk dance classes. In this connection, various Bulgarian books play a
role, such as ‘The Mistress of the Lord’ (Stopankata na Gospod) by Rosemary de Meo125,
which occupies a prominent place in the libraries of the expatriate centers and schools.
In the case of Bulgarians living abroad, relations with the homeland are not so
much sacred as mystical. These relationships are primarily emotional and symbolic.
They construct the emotional geography of immigrants, expressed in social and sensory relationships and perceptions (cf. Davidson and Millinan 2004; Kearney, 2009: 211).
Through the mystical connections the image of the native land is constructed as a space
125 According the author the book ‘The Mistress of God’ ‘is a Bulgarian popular novel on a real case and a book of
the Bulgarian folk faith. It describes personal and family Bulgarian sacraments, alive to this day, and the tale of their
discovery. The description of the sacraments allows every Bulgarian who reads them, to perform them alone or in his/
her own family, as long as he/she loves and respects his/her roots... and feels the need to do so’ (https://cutt.ly/AkXU0gv).
About the scholary analysis of the book see Mishev.
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
perfect for the Bulgarians.
This, in turn, contributes to the strengthening of the identity of migrants. In contrast to the concept of ‘deterritoralization’ by John Tomlinson (1999: 141) and David
Morley and Kevin Robins (1995: 87), in emigrant narratives globalisation does not lead
to ‘a dissolution between culture and place’, or, to use the term they coined, to ‘deterritorialization’. For Bulgarians living and working abroad, the homeland still continues
to play an important role in building and maintaining their identity. The energetic and
mystical connections with Bulgaria, visible in the emigrant narratives, show that places
continue to support the identity (according to Smith, 2009) of the Bulgarians living
abroad.
It should also be emphasised that mystical relationships are largely characteristic of
the first and first and a half generation of emigrants. They are understood as primordial,
defined by the strong, primordial ties between the individual and the native land. On
the other hand, by helping construct the identity of emigrants, these relationships contribute to their mobilisation and integration as subgroups by becoming their symbolic
and tangible support in the global world.
C onclusion
Studies of various narratives from Europe and North America show that the return
to the mystical is becoming part of the contemporary trends observed among immigrant communities. The processes of globalisation and high mobility in postmodern
societies not only do not contribute to the severance of relations that migrants maintain
with their homeland, but they actually strengthen them. Regardless of their transnational life, emigrants continue to seek, maintain and make sense of ties with the homeland by adding to them a mystical discourse.
These esoteric relations with Bulgaria exist as two separate concepts among Bulgarians abroad. On the one hand, they present the idea of the mystical earth, which is
charged with a certain ‘energy’. On the other hand, these relations are also constructed
of various elements, such as nature in general, natural and cultural objects, objects or
food, relationships, etc., which in turn are also charged with a similar mystical power.
All of them, undoubtedly contribute to building a certain ‘myth of the homeland’ as
an ‘energy’ place that charges and recharges its descendants with positive energy, regardless of their place of residence. These views of the homeland complement the myth
about it, which forms the basis for the construction of a static image of Bulgaria that
exists in the emigrant imagination and which is hardly influenced by the actual current
state of the country. Last but not least, it should be borne in mind that the myth of the
homeland undoubtedly affects the identification of Bulgarians living abroad and contributes to their self-determination. It is the comprehension of the mystical power of
Bulgaria that strengthens their sense of belonging and contributes to the maintenance
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of their national consciousness as ‘Bulgarians’.
A rchival materials
AIEFSEM № 574-III. ‘Ethnocultural identity of the Bulgarian Turks in the Republic of
Turkey’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №969-III. ‘Bulgarian Emigration to Great Britain’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №970-III. ‘Bulgarian Emigration to Great Britain’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №979-III. ‘Bulgarian Emigration to Great Britain’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №983-III. ‘Bulgarian emigration to Great Britain’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №984-III. ‘Bulgarian Emigration to Great Britain’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №985-III. ‘Bulgarian Emigration to Great Britain’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №994-III. ‘Bulgarian emigration to Norway, Oslo’ (collected by M. Maeva).
AIEFSEM №1113-III. ‘The Bulgarian Community in the USA’ (collected by M. Maeva
and other).
AIEFSEM №1114-III. ‘The Bulgarian Community in Canada’ (collected by M. Maeva
and other).
AIMIR №3321/19.02.2004. ‘The Impact of Islam on the Social Construction, Reproduced in the Everyday life of the Bulgarian Muslims (Gender Aspects)’ (collected
by M. Maeva and R. Naydenova).
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Mila Maeva, PhD, Associate Professor, graduated in Ethnology from Sofia University
‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ in 2002 and in 2005 she obtained PhD in Ethnography from
Ethnographic Institute and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her first book
‘Bulgarian Turks-Emigrants in Turkey (Culture and Identity)’ is published in 2006. Her
second book (2017) refers to Bulgarians in the UK. She specialised in the Ege University,
Turkey (2003), in the University of Warwick (2007), in the University of Manchester
(2010–2011), United Kingdom, and Pittsburgh University, USA (2009). She is an author
of numerous articles on culture and identity of Muslim (especially Turkish) population
in Bulgaria and Turkey and on Bulgarian migration waves to the UK, France and Norway. Her research interests are focused on migration, disasters and religious transformations. Academia edu: MilaMaeva ORCHID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1708-2631
E-mail: mila.maeva@iefem.bas.bg.
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U RBAN MYTHOLOGY. A DISCUSSION
OF ISLAMIC URBAN AESTHETHICS,
ARCHITECTURE AND MYTHOLOGY
Ana Negoiţa
Abstract: References about some mythological cities of Islam could be found in
the Qur’anic text focused on moral aspects, especially about the human audacity to
build in the real world that city promised by Allah to his fervent followers. Allusions
regarding these cities can be extracted from a whole series of local legends which have
generated a massive awareness even in the farthest parts of the Islamic empire during
the Middle ages.
These literary descriptions confirm the existence of a specific model of representation of the urban space during the first eras of Islamic history. Examples uncovered in
this study select from a whole series of legends those elements which have been the
background for the Islamic vision of the ideal city. The legends mentioned here are renowned (geographically and chronologically) among all the regions of the Islamic empire, they have been modified and continuously rearticulated in accordance with the
local traditions.
There is a constant nucleus, semantically staged in the formula of a binomial ‘City –
Paradise’ (the caliphal city represented as a reflection of the Paradise). This specific
typology has been used in the planimetry of the palatine cities. The most famous examples of such a medieval capital town which have been extensively influenced by the
mythological cities are: The Round city of the Caliph al Mansur, during the 8th century and Madinat al Zahra, the residence of Caliph Abd Al-Rahman III (Cordoba) during
the 10th century.
Keywords: Islam, urban mythology, Dar al-Salam, Paradise, The Round City
I ntroduction. The first stages of Islamic urbanism.
Templates and sources
The first phases of the genesis of the new religion took place in the oases of Western
Arabia. The urban civilisation of medieval Islam has emerged from the urban centres
of the first half of the 7th century, such as: Medina (622) Basra (ca. 637), Kufa (ca. 638)
(today, both in southern Iraq) and Fustat (642 – the first urban nucleus of Cairo).
The inception of the urbanism in the Islamic spaces is directly linked with the formation of the first garrison cities – the amsar, this hypothesis is supported by the fact
that the military troops of Muslim conquerors organised these settlements following
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the model established by the Prophet in Medina (622). These urban structures, which
initially had a small number of inhabitants consisting exclusively of members of the
army and their families, experienced, shortly after the establishment, an exponential
increase in both the number of inhabitants (rural populations in the area showed almost constant tendency to integrate for security reasons), as well as an unprecedented development of the actual urban planning. Becoming regional capitals of the new
conquered lands, led by governors, the amsars developed their own urban typology;
according to the behavioural norms recommended by the religious perceptions. The
daily life in these new cities have integrated those buildings which allowed the practice
of rituals, trade, crafts, etc.
The social life in the Islamic city during the Middle Ages was centered around two
main architectural structures: mosque – market, these two institutions were constantly
present in each urban centre. The ubiquity of the mosque-market binomial, as a fundamental element of the urban planimetry, to which a series of other institution-buildings
(as: hammam, caliphate palace) are attached, has generated a stereotypical model of
urban analysis.
The definition of the Islamic city, in the medieval period, was staged using a series
of elements with common features, such as:
a. identification of this binomial, in restricted or extended models.
b. the irregular, disordered character, in contradiction with the Greek and Roman urban templates (Kennedy, 2005).
T he ‘operative’ model of Islamic urbanism. Typologies and functions of the
city recounted by the literary sources
Abu Hamid al-Garnati, an Arab scholar of Andalusian origin (1080–1169) combines the type of traditional exegesis, classically used by Qur’anic schools, with personal reflections and a whole series of elements from philosophical views. Thus, the
image of the ideal city as shown in his writings has a deep symbolic character, the urban
planning being a reflection of a supra-natural hierarchy. The ‘operative’ model used to
decipher the symbolism of urban structures focuses on two levels of interpretation: the
functions of the city and the synthetic way of representing urban space. The first level
shown by the function that the urban centre has according to the community, must
answer a simple question: ‘For what purpose is the urban space used?’ The second level
responds to: ‘How does the social relationship between the population and the urban
space work? How is the space represented in relation with the needs of society?’ This
methodology follows an internal logic which defines the urban phenomenology: a sys-
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tem focused on connecting architectural and social elements. The urban functions and
spaces represent the two essential levels according to which the principles of Islamic urban reality are defined. The relationship between the urban space and the social urban
life defines the ‘Muslim habitat’ of that period. The analysis of the urban phenomenon
is a necessary requirement to define the Islamic civilisation, especially when this is done
from the perspective of the history of urbanism. The term ‘urban phenomenology’ primarily defines this indissoluble relationship between planning and society. The city is
defined neither by the architectural structure itself, nor by the society alone seen in its
extended characteristics (seen as a chain of mutual actions between different groups).
It is efficiently expounded only by analysing the result of the interaction between these
two structures, the result of which represents the essence of urban phenomenology. The
way in which the city plan is generated by the social dynamics, the ratio between the
monument – building and the population, the interaction between the different types
of spaces created inside the town, shows in the urban planning the functioning modules
of the city. Mikel de Epalza (1993) introduces the term ‘humanised spaces’ referring to
the function conferred by the human element to the urban space by classifying urban
spaces into three areas:
a. urban spaces – internal to the enclosure or interdependent to it;
b. peri-urban spaces directly related to the structure of the city of madina or
oases – qarya;
c. inter-urban spaces – non-residential spaces, spaces of relationship between different urban points of functions (spaces between buildings, so called interstitials)
(see Benisson and Gascoigne, 2007).
An aspect with major influence on urban planning comes from the cosmogonic
image of the Islamic world: but al-Islam. This representation symbolically recommended that the city both in its micro-elements and as a macro-structure, to be oriented towards the centre of the Muslim world – Mecca. The trend is strictly observed in the first
centuries, then, due to the needs of adaptation to the environment or local conditions,
the urban planimetry will derogate from this norm, it will be mandatory and strictly
implemented for the religious edifices: the mosques.
The public-private relationship within the Islamic city is often defined by the positive-negative binomial; negative – meaning the public spaces as: mosques, markets,
communication arteries, peri-urban or inter-urban areas in which any member of the
community has unlimited access; positive – is delimiting the intimate area in different degrees: family houses and neighbourhoods formed by private residences. The
analysis of residential neighbourhoods allows us to investigate a series of spaces with
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ambiguous status: the actual area of the house was closed to the community, instead,
the access arteries had a preferential status, in between. Islam shows a whole series of
these pseudo-public/pseudo-private spaces inside the neighbourhoods (mosques, public
baths (hammams), grocery stores, barbershops, etc., they were used only by community
members subscribed to a certain neighbourhood). One of the most ambiguous categories of spaces, contradictory described by archaeological and literary references, are the
‘entertainment spaces’, generally located in areas called tahta-s-sur (beyond the walls),
mentioned by A. Petersen (1996); these are seen as an extension of small areas specific
inside the city, either public or private: the inner courtyard space, the hammams, etc.
These extra-wall spaces differ in size, by the fact that they include multiple functions,
can vary from oratorical functions taken over for public holidays to sport activities,
etc. They have different typologies, adapted to the practice of certain activities (artistic,
sports as the favourite practice in different areas: hunting, polo – exclusively practiced
by the aristocracy, etc.)
As we have mentioned, the main feature of the Islamic city is its irregular character;
in fact, the Islamic urban model is the result of an uncontrolled growth process without an apparent supervision of the authorities. The disordered character usually comes
from the establishment of the urban infrastructure: streets, main or secondary arteries,
unprecedented frequency of so-called cul-de-sac.
Such a model is represented by the triad: al-qasr – madina – suburbs. This one does
not bring to the fore buildings or connecting spaces seen as elements of urban synthesis,
but it identifies zonal urban cells able to show those elements which define the urban
structure: qasr (seat of the governor of the region, known as Dar al-Imara), which concentrates the administrative-political power within the city. In Damascus it is located
in the North-West area being at the same level as the city, in Homs, in the Southeast,
in Aleppo and Jerusalem, it is placed near the city’s first fortified structure, occupying
an area that exploited the natural height of the land; and in Cairo this elevation is due
to the direct intervention of the human factor. The al-qasr represented a micro-nucleus
encompassing the essential buildings of the city’s religious and social activities (the administrative ones, the governor’s suite – the silah-jana, the hammam, the mosque, the
fairs).
Ibn Arabi’s conception of the Muslim city has a central nucleus related to the
mosque and the fair, a series of residential areas connected by alleys of different sizes,
thus creating the image of an ‘introverted city’. We realise that the intuition of the philosopher of the 12th century, agrees with the scientific image of the city analysed from
a strictly urbanistic view. The introvert character of the Islamic city is probably one of
the most debated aspects related to the social meaning of the buildings and the way of
interaction between the urban elements and the human space. We can unequivocally associate this labyrinthine structure with the concept of intimacy (introvert) that
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shaped the city. The Muslim city shows a self-centred perspective, thus defining a space
in which the relationship between community and urban structure forms an entity with
its own logic. Some researchers explain the labyrinthine character, defined by ‘urban
Arabesque’ as a solution that Islam applied to fully adapt to local socio-geographical
environmental conditions. This is visible through the obvious reluctance to major human intervention on the environment in urban planning. Thus, the planimetry had to
adapt to each local geographical framework, the emphasis being on the character and
efficiency of this adaptation and less on the general logic of the urban planning. This
trait combined with the tendency towards preserving the tribal character and the compliance with a whole series of juridical-religious norms, respected by the whole community, created a raw of tensions and challenges for the urban planimetry:
a. adaptation to environmental conditions;
b. tribal character;
c. ritual elements – which broke the urban logic as it is understood by the influence of the Western tradition of Greco-Roman urbanism.
Researchers, such as W. Marcais (1991) and R. Lewcock (2003), remind us not forget that the first urban centres of the Islamic world, the amsars, or cities such as Mecca
and Medina were models of spatial organisation integrated into the norms stipulated
by Shariʻah. Thus, when we speak of Islamic urban planning these examples should
function as elements of comparison.
L iterary sources used as model for urban planning
The main sources used to describe the urban centres of the mentioned period come
from the literary field, whether we refer to purely literary creations (lyric or moralising
stories), literary-scientific works (geographical compendiums, descriptions, topographies, etc.) or travel journals (a genre blooming in the 10th century, favoured by the
practice of pilgrimage).
A few years after the establishment of the armed forces, as strictly the literary
sources indicate, the amsars had already crystallised a social hierarchy considered to be
typical for the Islamic society. Some preferences for settling in certain centres, by each
Islamic dynasty, can be easily noticed: Umayyads – Damascus, Aleppo – in the Syrian –
Palestinian area; Abbasids – Baghdad, Samarra – in today’s Iraq; Fatimids – Cairo – in
Egypt. These preferences generated urban typologies adapted to the socio-geographical
characteristics of the mentioned regions.
The Umayyads settled in the former Roman-Byzantine regions, so the conquered
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cities underwent fundamental changes in their urban planning. Even in the early stages
of the conquests a new vision of spatial organisation will be superimposed, proving
well-defined habits that normalise the behaviour of the Islamic Community.
The Abbasids, on the other hand, following a current of thought that promoted the
recovery of the purity of Islam from its period of formation – the period of the Prophet,
preferred typologies and urban models of ancient – oriental inspiration; the old urban
centres of Mesopotamia were often taken as models and implemented in situ (example:
The Round City of Al Mansur – 762, the first urban nucleus of Baghdad) (Lassner, 1970:
159–163).
Regarding the urban centres that appeared in the 7th century, immediately after the
establishment of the Medina model, few details are preserved, but the social life, some
descriptions of the buildings or even moments related to their formation are shown in
the works of historians and geographers from later periods. An impressive source of
information and details are common in a literary source known as fadaʻil al – buldan
(evocation of places). This literary genre, widespread in the Islamic world, (contaminated
the West under its influence) encompasses a series of data, facts, narratives, most often
of legendary origin regarding the time of formation and the atmosphere of important
cities of that time. Fadaʻil al-buldan is a literary genre that generated a real fashion, in
which the author’s interest was focused on highlighting and exaggerating certain characteristics of some places or inhabitants (most often the authors’ birthplaces) presented
in contrast with other regions and communities. Two famous and well preserved fadaʻil
al-buldan are: fadaʻil al-quds (praise of Jerusalem) and fadaʻil al-sham (merits of Syria).
The importance of literary sources in highlighting and characterising the urban
typologies of the Islamic world, is widely offered by three chroniclers of: Syrian geographer al-Muqaddasi (ca. 945–1000), Persian traveler Naser-e Khosraw (ca. 1075) and
another Andalusian traveler Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217). All these three sources provide
descriptions of urban life both from the places of origin of the authors and from the
places they visited. They refer to travel journals, mainly presenting the pilgrimages of
the authors to Mecca. This methodology of comparison (see Gwendolyn, 2002; Levi
and Stela, 2009; Meri, 2002) using literary descriptions, between urban typology and
aesthetic archetypes is used in order to stage the fact that the establishment of the urban
prototype in the case of Muslim civilisation involves two phases of evolution:
a. they had to ideally respect a symbolic order of the (divine) hierarchy translated
into the community;
b. after the process of Islamisation the sedimentation of the archetype occurred
as a derivation of some perceptions mentioned in the Qur’anic text. For example,
the description of paradise inspired by ideal models of community and rendered
in urban structures by the ancient Eastern civilisations was integrated in the ur227
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ban planning. Ideally, this can be noticed by analysing the symbolic elements
of the urban structure, and very little if we refer to an analysis in which the discourse focuses on the aspect of the notion of urban planning, as it appears in the
modern terminology.
On that very Day some faces shall be radiant with joy, / well-pleased with their
striving.
(That means: they will be overjoyed to see the best results in the Hereafter of their
endeavours and deeds in the world; they will be satisfied to see that they had, in
fact, made a profitable bargain in that they had adopted a life of faith, virtue and
piety, by sacrificing the desires of the flesh, undergone hardships in carrying out
their obligations, endured afflictions in obeying the divine commands, incurred
losses and suffered deprivation of benefits and pleasures while trying to avoid
sins and acts of disobedience) / They will be in a lofty Garden / wherein they shall
hear no vain talk (This thing has been mentioned at several places in the Qur’an
as a major blessing of Paradise) / In it there shall be a flowing spring/and couches raised high, / and goblets laid out, / and cushions arrayed in rows, / and rich
carpets levelled out. / Do (these unbelievers) not observe the camels: how they
were created? / And the sky: how it was raised high? / And the mountains: how
they were fixed? / And the earth: how it was spread out? (Surah Al-Ghashiyah 88:
1–26, quoted: 8-9, translation by Sayed, Razwy and Abdulah, 2009).
Starting from these Qur’anic clues, the exegetical schools-built directions of analysis in which the image of the city was seen both symbolically and planimetrically as
being forced to conform to this initial model: ‘fortress – worldly paradise’.
One of the best-known scholars of the 12th century, whose major interest was in
identifying equivalences between the Qur’anic text and the urban shape, using the first
interpretations in this field, discussing how the stipulated perceptions are reflected in
the urban community, is Abu Hamid al-Garnati. The image of the fantastic fortress
Imran, of the Adite people represented in the description of the Qur’anic paradise, is
established as one of the fundamental elements to which the exegesis about the evolution of the urban archetype made constant references. This aspect of the symbolic
relation to legendary or fantastic cities of the Islamic world will be widely debated. We
can recall the symbolic significance of the Islamic city as a cosmogonic projection of
paradise in the mundane we have to mention a unique case of this in the history of
Islamic urbanism in Dar al-Salam (The Place of Peace) –– the first nucleus of Baghdad
erected in 145/762 at the behest of Caliph al-Mansur. The model that inspired architects
and astronomers, apparently has its roots in some typical cities of the Ancient Orient,
cities with strong symbolic meanings implemented in the planimetry (with preference
for perfect geometric shapes such as the circle or square, able to express the restoration
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of the cosmic order); and direct stipulated in the Qur’anic text.
He will place you in the Garden of Paradise, where golden castles are built with
gold overlapping floors, with flowers, pearls and other floors all of precious stones
[...] but already I have built from this world, a Garden of Paradise like the one you
said, and I don’t need it after I die... (as cited in Rubiera, 1997: 67).
In the description of the Mesopotamian paradise is not presented as a garden but
in the form of a city, an urban phenomenon. Scholars of the Ancient East believe that
the description is directly related to the presence of a famous city during that period,
Eridu, the Sumerian city considered to be the oldest urban settlement in Mesopotamia
(approx. 5400 BC), recognised as the centre of worship with a strong regional influence.
This city contained the first central temple building, around which revolved the ‘world’.
Eridu was an actual place where the sacral was highlighted but still accessible, in contrast with the biblical Eden considered to be a ‘utopian’ place without any counterpart
in real life (the main icon – a typical correspondence – recognised as the ‘heavenly city
of Jerusalem’ as the equivalent of Paradise only occurred later). According to J. Lindsay
(2005) this specific mythological tradition in the oriental mentality had a defining influence in shaping the symbolic image of the Islamic city.
The general planimetry of palaces and aulic buildings or bastions of Islam has its
roots in local legends whose genesis is difficult to identify. There are series of cities
which departed from this mythological substrate whose origin is in literature, as evidenced by the existence of different ruins or toponymy. Cities described by poets reflect
the aesthetic of urban thinking. Their main function in this case is to manifest beauty
which brings when the eye interacts with the city itself. Often, cities such as Baghdad,
Samara, Cordoba, Madinat al-Zahra can be decrypted under many levels of interpretation: planimetric, social, economic, artistic, etc. A literary trend which follows a common tendency of the Middle Ages to imbue reality with symbolic and mythological
elements, and so, to restructure the aesthetic reality by highlighting it. ‘The city of poets’
has its own planimetry, and this is the effect of ascertaining the process of ‘building a
town on the intellectual level’ (imaginary) using the senses to describe it (in the literary
productions).
Imran – The Fortress with Columns is mentioned in the Qur’anic text as being
related to the references of ‘the People of Aad’. The fascination that this city has created
within the literary world has generated series of imaginary descriptions, additions that
poets brought to the sacred text, based on the summary elements mentioned in the
Qur’anic text.
Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with Aad? / Erum of the pillars. / The like
of which was never created in the land. / And Thamood—those who carved the
rocks in the valley. /And Pharaoh of the Stakes. / Those who committed excesses
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in the lands.’…And enter among My [righteous] servants / And enter My Paradise (Surah Al-Fajr 89: 1–30, quoted: 6–11; 29–30).
Throughout the centuries the literary sources described a conceptual city using a
literary representation subordinated to a purely aesthetic criteria and this type of discourse was later immortalised in 1001 Nights.
Imran, the city with columns appeared to Moses too, where he specified that
on its construction Saddad order that 1000 princes of this people of giants, who
formed part of the stock of Hud, to go out and look for a place with plenty of
water. So, they did, and with 1000 people and its army from Yemen they arrived
at the mountain of Aden and saw there a plain with many fountains and good climate as king Saddad had asked. They loved that place so they ordered architects
and builders to define a city square of 40 parasang around that place, with each
side of 10 parasang. They dug foundations until the water came out and brought
stone from Yemen until they reached the ground level. Then they built a wall of
red gold bricks with a height of 500 bends and 20 cords wide. Saddad sent his
agents to all mines in the world to remove every single pieces of gold, ‘do not allow anyone in any part the slightest piece of gold’, they even took the gold hidden
in secret treasures. Later, they built 300 000 palaces within the city and in each
of these were 1000 columns in emerald and gold, each column length was 100
cubits. Above each column lay slabs built of gold and silver specially designed for
gold al-qazars with gold rooms and on several floors with inscriptions made of
precious stones and pearls. Along the main streets of the city they made rivers of
gold, with banks of precious stones, pearls and emerald in different colours and
they planted trees with golden branches, leaves and fruits of emerald, pearls and
other jewels. The city had four gates, each with a height of 100 cubits long and 20
wides, decorated with precious stones and pearls, the city was completely paved
with pearls. All around they built 100 000 guard towers with heights between 500
to 110 cubits minted in precious stones and pearls on each side, on each corner
were raised gold towers for the guardians. The city construction lasted 500 years
and when it was finished, they went to all corners of the world in search of carpets
and rugs, silk quilts and other precious objects to adorn the palaces and houses
of Imran. The city with Columns. They also brought pots, fountains, chandeliers,
tables, cups, amphoras, pitchers and all kinds of utensils needed, made of gold;
to gather all this and furniture throughout the city they needed 10 years. Then
they brought all sorts of dishes, drinks, desserts, perfumes, candles with different flavours, amber and camphor. When all this was over, Saddad walked in the
city accompanied by 1,000 slaves in luxurious dresses and other servants, after
he left the city, in his place, he put his son Mursid Ibn Saddat to rule as deputy of
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the kingdom. Mursid Ibn Saddat was his first born and the most intelligent of all
children, a good politician and popular among courtiers. When he crossed the
city, he loved beauty and the perfection that he saw and said: ‘I did only what Hud
had promised me to achieve after my death, I made it in life.’ But when he wanted
to enter the city, Allah sent an angel who cried a sea, killing everyone from the
city, instantly all of them fell down crashing (as cited in Rubiera, 1998: 45–46).
The city is described using a poetic image, a literary landscape abundant in details
that almost allow us to reconstruct it. The focus is on the aesthetic character, in a very
specific manner of that period, using a certain literary – narrative stylistic in order
to represent the idea of beauty which then was synonymous with luxury, exuberance,
glamour, features that are to be found constantly in the aesthetic conception of Muslim
architecture. The senses that are involved are predominantly visual and olfactory, which
clearly substantiate the preference of the high class of Islamic civilisation for brightness
and the appreciation of perfumes.
Following the footprints of his lost camel he arrived near the mountain Aden
and he saw the wall of Imran: The City with Columns. Looking at the city he
saw glowing the red gold bricks and high watchtowers made of gold decorated
with precious stones, and the city grew in his eyes, so immense that he could not
see where it begun and where it ended, he was so amazed. As he approached his
amazement and fear grew and he said to himself: ‘It is like the Garden of Paradise promised to the humble and virtuous in this life.’ He turned to one of the
gates, dismounted from the camel and went inside the city: ‘From where have you
come?’. ‘From a city of gold, so immense that we cannot see neither the beginning
nor the end, a city with golden palaces with rivers and streets of precious stones.
It looks like the garden of Paradise which Allah has promised his servants, as
it shown in the Qur’an.’ Mu`awiya replied and said, ‘Surely, you saw this city in
your dream’. ‘I was really awake,’ said `Abd Allah, ‘so I took a handful of gems,
and took the bag with emeralds and stones as never before seen. Among them
were found camel dung mixed with musk and amber, saffron, camphor who lost
their scent but regained it when heated and sprayed their odours in all directions.
Mu`awiya was amazed about all this and said, ‘Indeed you saw a miracle’. Then
he sent for Al-Ahbar Ka`b, Lord guard him well and he was welcomed, sat down
and the ruler asked: ‘O Abu Ishaq, you know something about a city of gold?’
Al-Ahbar Ka`b said: ‘Yes, prince of believers’. Allah said to Moses – peace be
upon him – about how it was to be built, about the history and how the builders
died, and also said to the Prophet Muhammad – God bless him and give him
the glory: ‘Don`t you see what your Lord did with Imran the city with columns
of the people of Aad, a city unlike any other in the world?’ that Allah hid it from
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the eyes of men, and only one man from this nation could enter its gates, he will
be called ’Abd Allah Ibn Al-Annsari Qulab and he began to describe the city (as
cited in Mathers and Mardrus, 1990: 541–542).
The legend of the City with Columns known in medieval times spread in an unprecedented way throughout the all lands of the empire. In the capitals’ famous translation centres were created a number of local adaptations of this legend, involving modifications and additions related to the translator and poet’s imagination. One of the
most notable references about this fantastic city in the Andalusian area is Nafh Al-Tib of
Al-Maqqari (Abu Abbas Al-Maqqari, 1591–1632). Authors have shown a special interest
to collect texts and legends from Andalucía and Maghreb, texts where they developed
their own interpretations and additions. Through his literary collections, historians
could highlight how certain specific topics survived folk poetry or stories of western areas of the Muslim empire, analyse texts foreground and identify how the author brought
local flavour Andalusian and Maghreb space are knowing for some ‘literary techniques’
thus exposing he repertoire of common aesthetic and taste specific for these regions.
For example, the description of paradise (inspired by ideal models of community
and exposed in urban structures especially by the ancient oriental civilisation) was part
of the synthesis in organising the urban planimetry. Focusing on an ideal plan, the
latter can be easily observed in a symbolic analysis of the urban structure and is very
seldom noticed if we focus our discourse on aspects of urban planning as in the modern sense. Based on these clues different schools developed areas of exegetical analysis
in which the city’s image was seen both in terms of symbolism and planimetry, thus,
the images of the cities are reflecting a ‘mundane paradise’. In this case, of the city of
Madinat Al-Zahra built by Caliph Abd Al-Rahman III al-Nasir in the middle of the 10th
century, we find an atmosphere literally inspired by the decorative murals described by
poets as being specific to Iram’s city. So, the legendary city of Iram was a direct model
used to build and decorate Madinat Al-Zahra.
These people had the audacity to create in real life what God promised to the righteous, the punishment of the hereafter drew this boldness, as shown in the text, the city
remained inaccessible to people. An important trend of Islamic thought is to prohibit
imitation of things that belong or are strictly attributes of deity in the real world; and
this is considered more than a simple act of courage, it is regarded as blasphemous.
Is it they who allocate the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have allocated their
livelihood in this life, and We elevated some of them in rank above others, that
some of them would take others in service. But your Lord’s mercy is better than
what they amass / Were it not that humanity would become a single community
We would have provided those who disbelieve in the Most Gracious with roofs
of silver to their houses, and stairways by which they ascend / And doors to their
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houses, and furnishings on which they recline / And decorations. Yet all that is
nothing but the stuff of this life. Yet the Hereafter, with your Lord, is for the righteous (Surah 43, Decorations, al-Zukhruf: 32–35).
C onclusions
The use of the literary sources in order to describe certain models of the Islamic
cities, especially in the first stages of the Islamic urbanism brings in focus another essential aspect of the Muslim urban societies during Middle Age. This aspect hints at the
conflict between the sedentary mentality and the nomadic mentality, an aspect which
unquestionably shaped the Islamic city in its first stages.
This socio-psychological feature of the Muslim society, during the medieval period, and the whole series of changes, recasting and adjustments caused over the urban
planning were firstly analysed by Ibn Jaldún (social scientist and historian who has been
described as the father of the modern disciplines of historiography, sociology, economics, and demography) in the middle of the 14th century. One of the most comprehensive
views of this problematic was analysed by Jose Ortega y Gasset, who considers that
in Ibn Jaldun’s work we can find the secret of modern tensions between the desire for
freedom and the sedentary desire, through rules of coexistence applied to urban spaces.
Human society has its beginnings in free spaces (in the field) as a nomadic society, there is a minimum of cooperation and a maximum of struggle. The ‘nomadic’ human society has made sustained efforts in what we call the process of city
formation. However, the reverse phenomenon is not valid. Citizens can no longer
accept and can no longer adapt to life in freedom (Gasset, 1934: 14–15).
The philosopher mentions that the process that led to the destruction of urban
civilisation during the Middle Ages is cyclical that applies successively to all human
formations organised in this way, a process that has certain characteristics according
to the historical context. At the same time, he claims that urban civilisation suffers a
process of immersion in wealth, luxury, abundance, superficiality, which in time causes
the loss of vigour, the power of struggle being destablished by corruption; the hedonism
of urban life contradicts the freedom of nomadic life, political domination being much
easier to establish in the case of the former, precisely because it gives up the natural
way of existence, which according to the philosopher, is the nomadic. The ‘city cycle’ in
Gasset’s vision, borrowed and developed from Ibn Jaldun’s conceptions, was consumed
according to the following rhythm: born in freedom, it developed in inter-social struggles and will end up in the city stabilised as a planimetric and social structure under the
domination of political power and norms. This tension between the free space and the
city defines human history. The masculine character, the fighter, the conqueror, more
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B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
precisely the nomad, ends up as a citizen of the city, where all these qualities are virtualised, he suffers a phenomenon of passing into passivity, being an easy prey for other
nomadic peoples, for other cycles of nomadism. Thus, the history depicts a repetitive
process of invasions and oppressions. Ibn Jaldun follows this process over three generations, 120 years, he analyses the creation, evolution and moment of decay of the state
institutions, saying that ‘empires have a life: they grow, they become mature and then
aging (so, the decline begins)’.
Ibn Jaldun represents a special case in the history of Muslim theoretical thought
regarding the evolution of nomadic and urban societies. In fact, what we now analyse as
social studies applied to urban societies, in his case, they were organically integrated in
the description of the state, the dynastic structures of the mentioned areas; we cannot
ignore the modernity of these observations. Probably their boldness and accuracy made
Gasset to attentively study and quote the work of the Maghreb author.
According to the philosopher, when choosing a place, it must be considered if there
is a river or wells with pure and abundant water. If the city settles on a land where water sources are contaminated, residents will often face various diseases. The wind or
air must also be taken into account; the chosen place must be clean. Its surroundings
should have good meadows and places that can be worked in good conditions for growing cereals and other cultures needed for feeding the people. The location needs to be
near a mountain or a forest that gives wood for construction and firewood. In order to
defend itself, the city must rise above a steep mountain peak, or on a peninsula almost
surrounded by water, or on the bank of a river connected only by a retractable bridge or
stone. It would be best to occupy a high hill that is difficult to reach and around which to
be tribes or groups with a fighting spirit able to group quickly in case of an unforeseen
night attack. To keep it safe from surprising attacks, all houses in the city will be protected by a surrounding wall and may also be shelters even for those living outside the
city. Through all this, the city can be defended without the need for an army.
The arts are perfect only if there is a large and sedentary civilisation. The art of
architecture is the first of these and the oldest art of sedentary civilisations. It is
the science of how houses and cities must be built to serve as shelter and protection. This is because man has a natural predisposition to think about the effect of
things. Thus, it is inevitable that the reflections will consider what is the best solution to prevent the damage caused by heat and cold. Using houses that have walls
and roofs to interpose between us and environmental conditions. Moreover, the
conditions under which the constructions must be carried out differ from city to
city. Each city pursues a natural process involving the technical knowledge of the
inhabitants that corresponds to the climate and various other conditions that the
inhabitants manifested in connection with its degree of well-being or poverty.
Architecture is also needed when the rulers of a dynasty decide to build large cit234
P ART III • MAGICAL ENTANGLEMENTS OF PLACES AND SPACES
ies or impressive monuments. They use all their resources to plan well, especially
if tall buildings are built where the technique must be perfect, so that the art of
architecture reaches its maximum form of perfection. Architecture is the art that
satisfies all these needs, the architects who do this job are not all the same. There
are some of them skilled and intelligent, as well as inferior or mediocre (Gasset,
1934: 12).
Perhaps the most complete mental model used to define the Islamic city is the one
introduced by A. Hourani in the 1970s or later by S. Kostof (2006), when the researcher started to decode the question: ‘How was the Islamic city formed?’; its sociological
origin and less the architectural repertoire. The answer highlights several phases of the
consolidation process of urban planning depending on social needs, but also on the
natural evolution of space in the context of the newly formed community.
First of all there was a fortress (al-qasr-alcazar), which at first located in a natural
strategic place; second, there could be a pseudo-city or a neighbourhood, a group of
people sitting around it; third was a central urban complex that included mosques, central fairs; fourthly, there were residential districts that had the following characteristics:
differentiation according to ethnic and religious criteria, the autonomy of each of them,
or a group of inhabitants; and lastly, there were the suburbs of these neighbourhoods, or
even outer areas where immigrants recently arrived settled in the area and where they
carried out various occupations.
The urban structure thus described, clearly highlights the implementation of a
dynamic model, allowing the analysis of the urban planning, both depending on the
characteristics of the spaces and their role in the planimetric synthesis. A trend developed by historians of architecture from Eastern areas, such as Saleh Al-Hathloul (1996),
which proposes a mental model of the Islamic city starting from a symbolic morphology, thus bringing as a method of study, which can be called the ‘urban symbolism’. It
tries to relate the planimetric model to symbolic archetypes of the cosmological representation of the world in the Islamic space. In the centre of the Muslim city, the ideal of
order represented by the caliph was placed in a well-established point near the mosque,
thus creating a centre of spiritual nucleus inside the city. The way that the members
of the Muslim community moved inside the city, generates a certain planimetry, everything around them takes over this dynamic. This movement establishes the market
line, a space that contains several public buildings, thus restoring the centre where the
material (commercial) exchanges took place. The outer walls surrounding the city, in a
shape that symbolised that of the cosmos. And finally, the location of the gates reminds
of the cardinal points. The hypothesis able to deconstruct and study this model, comes
mainly from experimental understanding of some big cities of Islam, for example Cairo.
The Muslim city as it is portrayed in the development of new archetypes has four
main functions that manifested themselves in the physical form of its planimetry, de235
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
scribed by Al-Sayyad (2005):
a. the administrative apparatus represented by the palace or citadel (al-qasr);
b. the centre of religious and intellectual life: mosques and madrasas;
c. economic function: market, bazaar, etc.;
d. residential function, individual neighbourhoods or groups of neighbourhoods.
To this first model are added a series of other elements shaped by the spatial and
social characterisation of the city, a series of physical qualities specific to Islamic urban
communities: segregation between commercial and purely residential areas, segregation of neighbourhoods according to the ethnic component of the inhabitants, a specific
type of hierarchy within the commercial spaces with the tendency to maintain the areas
where valuable goods were traded near the mosque, the rest of the structure is developing on the horizontal axis around this core buildings.
R eferences:
Al-Hathoul, S. (1996) The Arab-Muslim City: Tradition, Continuity and Change in the
Physical Environment. Riyadh: Dar Al Sahan.
Al-Sayyad, N. (2005) Cities and Caliphs. On the Genesis of Arab Muslim Urbanism. London: GreenWood Press.
Benisson, A. K. and A. L. Gascoigne (eds.) (2007) Cities in the Pre-Modern Islamic
World. The Urban Impact of Religion, State and Society. London: Routledge.
Epalza, M. De (1993) Fray Anselm Turmeda (‘Abdallah al-Taryuman) y su polémica islamo-cristiana: edición, traducción y estudio de la tuhfa. Madrid: Libros Hyperion,
pp. 112-119.
Gasset, J. O. (1934) Ibn Jaladun Reveals the Secret to Us. The Spectator 167(6): 11–17.
Gwendolyn, L. (2002) Citta perdute della Mespotamia, La storia, la vita quotidiana,
lo splendore e il declino di una grande civilita ancora oggi poco conosciuta. Roma:
Newton & Compton.
Kennedy, H. (2005) Storia della piu grande dinastia islamica. Ascesa e declino della corte
dei califfi. Roma: Newton & Compton.
Kostof, S. (2006) The Design of Cities, Places. London: Routledge.
Lassner, J. (1970) The Topography of Baghdad in the Early Middle Ages: Text and Studies.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Levi, C. S. and L. Stela (eds.) (2009) Islamic Central Asia and Anthology of Historical
236
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Sources, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Lewcock, R. (2003) Architects, Craftsmen and Builders: Materials and Techniques. Architecture of Islamic World. 2nd edition. London: Thames & Hudson.
Marcais, W. (1991) La ciudad islamica. Ponencias y comunicaciones del Simposio International sobre la evolucion de la ciudad islamica. Zaragoza: Institucion Fernando
el Catolico, pp. 208-219.
Mathers, E.P. and J.C. Mardrus (eds.) (1990) The Book of the Thousand nights and One
Night. New York: Routledge, pp. 530-556.
Petersen, A. (1996) Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. New York: Routledge.
Rubiera, J. M. (1998) La Arquitectura en la literatura arabe, Madrid: Libros Hiperion.
Sayed, A. A., H. Razwy (eds.) and Y. A. Abdullah (translator) (2009) Qur’an. London:
Hackett Publishing.
Ana Negoiță, PhD, is an Associate Lector at University of Bucharest, Centre for Excellency in Visual Studies in Romania. She is an art curator and art historian, contributor for the Institute for Political Studies and International Relationships of the
Romanian Academy, specialised in Islamic Studies. Her research interests are focused
on Islamic urbanism and architecture. Ana Negoiță is an author of more than 30 scholarly publications and art catalogues, some of which are: ‘The Mudejar City. Elements
of Islamo-Christian Synthesis within Urban Planning’ (2014); ‘The Dynamic Spaces.
Traditional Commercial Spaces in Early Islam’ (2015); ‘Art in Public Spaces. Forum’ (in
Romanian, 2016); ‘Perhaps. The Truth Depends on a Walk around a Lake’ (in Romanian, 2017); ‘Rebellion and Differences in art. Kader Attia’ (in Romanian, 2017); ‘The
Symbolic Relation between the Centre and the Border in the Islamic Cities during the
Middle Age’ (in Romanian, 2019).
E-mail: anamnegoita@gmail.com
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P art IV
MAGIC IN
THE PAST
AND MODERN
ERA
T O RECEIVE INFORMATION FROM THE DEAD
Valeria Fol
Abstract: The paper makes a comparative analysis of the retrieval of information from
the dead through the magical rite described in the Odyssey and in the adventurous love
novel An Ethiopian story (Aethiopica – Ethiopian Story or Theagenes and Chariclea)
by Heliodorus. In Odyssey (Hom. Od. 10. 504–541 Fuchs), the sorceress Circe teaches
Odysseus how to go to the entrance of the kingdom of Hades and Persephone, and what
ritual actions to perform in order to learn from the Teiresias how to return home. In
Aethiopica (The Ethiopian Story or Theagenes and Chariclea), Heliodorus (6. 13–14) recounts the ritual acts performed by the sorceress to summon his dead son back from the
world of the Beyond in order to ask him if his brother is alive and well. The similarities
and differences in the two rites are discussed. The comparison between two written
sources with almost a thousand years of difference between them allows one to observe
an inherited magical practice, and the change of attitude towards it in the value system.
Keywords: miracles, Odyssey, Kingdom of Hades, Ethiopian story
I ntroduction
In today’s world, anyone can communicate in real-time with sound and images
with relatives, friends, colleagues and enemies who are on the other side of the globe. At
the same time, many people believe that in a dream, or through a magical rite they can
receive a sign, a prediction, information from a person who has passed into the Otherworld. This plot is present in modern fantasy movies, novels and video games. Both
in antiquity and today, this faith is part of the collective consciousness. The irrational
folklore belief in the possibility of establishing contact with the dead has its deep roots
in the epos and in works of art as early as the Antiquity. Necromancy – the search for
knowledge from the dead, such as sleeping in necropolises and even reviving the dead –
are common ritual practices in the Mediterranean world also during the Late Antiquity.
Going to the World of the Beyond to obtain an oracle is a privilege of some gods
and heroes, but mortals can also establish contact with the souls of the dead if they, the
mortals, possess special knowledge. The attitude to magical ritualism is different during
distant in time periods. A comparison of the description of the rite of receiving an oracle from the dead in the archaic and the late Roman periods shows the changes in the
value system formed by traditional beliefs, religion and social status of the individual,
family, community and society (Ogden, 2001).
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O dysseus in the realm of shadows
In the eleventh song of the Odyssey (Hom. Od. 11), Odysseus learns from the sorceress Circe that in order to reach home on the island of Ithaca, he must descend into
the dark home of Hades and ask the soul of Tiresias about the road and what will be his
fate. Circe’s special skills are determined by the fact that she is the daughter of Helios,
who shines for the mortals, and of the Oceanid nymph Perse. Circa is the sister of the
evil and insidious wizard Aeëtes (Hom. Od. 10. 135–139). Following the sorceress’s instructions (Hom. Od. 10. 504–541), Odysseus goes to the realm of shadows.
She also reveals to him the special rite he has to perform in order for the soul of
Tiresias to come to him (Hom. Od. 10. 516–540). When Odysseus and his companions
reach the World of the Beyond, he must dig an approximately elbow-length square
ditch. Around the ditch he has to make a libation to the dead – first with milk and honey, then with wine and finally with water. Then he needs to sprinkle the ditch with barley flour. After performing these actions, Odysseus must make a request to the shadows,
promising that when he arrives in Ithaca, he will offer the fattest barren cow along with
valuables as a sacrifice to them. Separately, Odysseus must promise to sacrifice the best
black ram in his flock to Tiresias. Once Odysseus has made these promises, he must
sacrifice a ram and a sheep over the pit. The sacrificial animals must face Erebus (the
darkness that lies beneath the earth but above the kingdom of Hades), and Odysseus
must turn his head to the ocean. Then swarms of souls will rush towards him. While
he is officiating, his companions must offer a bloody sacrifice dedicated to Hades and
Persephone. Odysseus must use his double-edged sword to guard the pit with the blood
of the sacrificial animals from the other shadows until Tiresias arrives to reveal to him
the path, how to travel, and the fate that awaits him. Arriving at the border between the
worlds, Odysseus executes everything he learned from Circe (Hom. Od. 11. 22–34). The
soul of the prophet Tiresias approaches, telling him to put his sword with silver nails
back in his scabbard in order to drink the blood of the sacrificial animals and then
learn of his fate. After drinking the black blood, the soothsayer tells Odysseus in detail
how the journey will go, what obstacles he will encounter on his way and how to overcome them. An important detail is Tiresias explanation that whoever Odysseus allows
to drink from the blood would reveal to him everything he asked for, and whoever he
did not allow would silently return (Hom. Od. 11. 147–148). A logical question emerges,
why the blind prophet from Thebes was asked by the sorceress Circe to predict the fate
of Odysseus, since anyone who drank black blood could do so. It should be noted that
Odysseus’ success is due to the help of the supernatural, divine forces, and in this text –
the sorceress helps him go to the World of the Beyond, – it is logical that the prediction
is also made by a prophet with a divine gift, which he had possessed during his lifetime
(in detail in Bogdanov, 1971).
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P ART IV • MAGIC IN THE PAST AND MODERN ERA
T he ones in love, and the sorceress
One of the favourite readings during the Antiquity, the Middle Ages and especially
during the Renaissance is the adventurous love novel The Ethiopian story (Aethiopica)
by Heliodorus, written between the middle of the 3rd and the end of the 4th century.
This novel full of adventure and love contains an episode of necromancy, which in many
details repeats the rite described in the Odyssey (Heliod. Aeth. 6. 11–15). This is not
surprising, since Heliodorus, like any author of the era, knows the epos well (Nikolova
1982: 5–6). In search of Theagenes – Chariclea’s beloved – she and Calasirides – the former Egyptian priest of Isis in Memphis – meet an old woman, an Egyptian.
She tells them that she could accompany them to the village the next day because
she has to perform some nightly sacrifices. She officiates on the third night after the full
moon. The old woman digs a pit and lights a fire on both sides, placing the body of her
dead son, from whom she will ask for a prophecy, between them. Afterwards, she makes
consecutive libations with honey, milk and wine with clay cups, which she takes from a
tripod. They are followed by throwing a dough figure of a man decorated with dill and
laurel into the pit. With a sword in her hand, the old woman calls the moon for a long
time in a language unknown to Chariclea. The old woman cuts her hand with a laurel
branch and sprinkles the stake with her blood. She also performs various other spells,
as it is said in the text, but it is not specified which ones. Then she leans over the dead
man, whispers something in his ear, shakes him and, according to the author, forces
him to stand up through an enchantment. Only then does the old woman begin to ask
her questions. The ‘awakened’ dead man resists, does not want to answer his mother’s
questions, is indignant, but she continues to whisper some words, with a sword in her
hand jumps towards the stake and towards him, and finally forces him to fulfil her wish.
The dead man rebukes her for sinning against human nature, using illicit means
to force him to stand up and even speak, and for preventing him from reuniting with
the other souls. He finally answers her question. He tells her that her other son will not
return alive and even she will die. He accuses her of revealing the mysteries to a priest
and even to a woman.
The old woman realises that the foreigners have seen her and runs between the
warriors killed in the battle to chase Chariclea and Calasirides to kill them, but she
strings herself on a spear in the groin and dies. An important detail in the story is the
explanation that Calasirides gives to Chariclea that for the priests the very sight of what
the old woman did is not pious and can only be accepted in case of inevitability. Priests,
he says, receive prophecies through lawful sacrifices with prayers.
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R esemblances and differences
Odyssey
The Ethiopian story
Topos of the
rite
At the border between the
world of the living and Hades’
kingdom
On the battlefield
Time
Unspecified
Third night after full moon
Odysseus, basileus and hero of
the Trojan war
An Egyptian old woman, described as a witch. From Calasirides’ words we understand that
what she does is unacceptable for
the priestly caste
Taught by the sorceress Circa,
daughter of Helios
Traditional Egyptian knowledge
Ritual pit
A square pit, carved with a
sword
A pit with an unspecified form,
unknown how it was carved
Ritual stake
none
Two fires, one on each side of the
pit
Sword
Sword, whose handle is attached with silver nails
The type of sword is unspecified
Vessels
Unspecified
Small clay vessels with liquids for
libations
Tripod
no
yes
Libation liquid
Milk, honey, wine, water. The
libation is done in the pit
Milk, honey, wine. The libation is
done in the pit
Offerings
Barley flour, used to sprinkle
the pit
no
Human sacrifice
no
Substitute of human sacrifice – a
human dough figurine decorated
with dill and laurel; the figurine is
thrown into the pit;
Substitute of human sacrifice –
blood from the hand of the witch
Officiant of
the rite
Education of
the necromancer
Ritual attributes
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P ART IV • MAGIC IN THE PAST AND MODERN ERA
Sacrif icia l
animas
The seeking oracle – a ram and
a sheep over the sacrificial pit to
call the souls of the dead;
His companions – a bloody sacrifice to Hades and Persephone
no
a
Promises sacrifices to:
the souls of the dead:
barren cow and valuables;
to Tiresias – a black
ram
no
Behaviour of
the necromancer
Prays;
Protects the blood from souls,
except that of Tiresias
Forces the dead to make a prediction;
She whispers secret words in his
ear;
She drips her own blood into the
stake
Behav iour
of the dead
towards the
necromancer
They come voluntarily;
They drink the blood of the sacrificial animal to make a prediction
Resistance
Ritual
tions
Giving
promise
ac-
C onclusion
Helios plays an important role in both the Odyssey and the Ethiopian Story. In the
Odyssey, Odysseus is trained by the daughter of Helios in the knowledge of going to
the kingdom of Hades and receiving a prophecy – in necromancy. The ancient novel
Ethiopian Story also traces a connection with the sun god Apollo-Helios, who leads the
characters Hariclea and Theagenes through the tribulations from Greece to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia in ancient times was considered ‘the land of the sun, the birthplace of true
wisdom and spiritual elevation’ (Nikolova, 1982: 9).
Both in Homer’s epos and during the Late Antiquity, man rises with sunrise and
falls asleep with the last rays of the sun. His activity is inextricably linked with the solar
course in the sky. Тhe annual solar cycle also infuses with meaning the duration of human life. These connections are developed ritually and mythologically. The connection
with the knowledge pertaining to the World of the Beyond is subconsciously connected
ever since the Antiquity with the daily sunrise and sunset, and with the annual cycle of
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the sun. The real facts about necromancy in the Odyssey are conveyed with the devices
of mythological narrative.
The Ethiopian Story reveals the epic structure of the narrative; the meanings of the
mythological notions and symbols are still recognizable, but the attitude towards them
is condemnable from a religious point of view. The comparison between the two written
sources with almost a thousand-year difference in their writing allows us to observe an
inherited magical practice and the change of the attitude towards it in the value system.
Epos in general is the boundary between folklore narratives and the beginning of
deliberately written down and composed texts, which is why in the Odyssey communication with Tiresias constitute part of the plot regarding the character’s difficult return
home. The values of the society described by Homer and the ideology hidden in these
values do not condemn the magical rite, and it (the rite) and the necromancer are not
burdened with a negative connotation.
In the Ethiopian Story, summoning a dead person to reveal the future is a moralizing technique by the author to outline a negative attitude toward the magical rite. In
both descriptions of necromancy, the folklore antiquity of the rite can be noticed, but it
is perceived differently in the two different epochs, with almost a thousand years passing between them.
In the epic tradition, Helios moves above the world of gods and mortals, he ‘sees
everything and hears everything from everywhere’ (Hom. Od. 11. 109). That is why
his descendants and priests and priestesses know the way and how the door to the Beyond opens. This knowledge was profaned and stigmatised in the Late Antiquity. The
threat of Helios that he will go to shine in Hades (Hom. Od. 12. 356–365), if Zeus does
not punish Odysseus’ comrades, who feasted with meat from his (Helios’) sacred cows,
means that the end of the world will come. The world of the dead is space without light.
Light and darkness have become ever since the antiquity synonymous with the binary
oppositions of knowledge – ignorance, initiation into faith and lack of initiation into it,
with a moral, ethical and social landmark.
Plato (Plat. Resp. VII. 514A–521B) compares the darkness of the cave with lack of
initiation, with ignorance. Proclus (Procl. Rem publ. 12. 287–96) adds that the initiated
know about the kingdom not illuminated by light. And if for the ancient people light is
life, and knowledge, then the idea of darkness is moisture, death, danger, but also the
feminine principle (Cole 2004, 8). Probably that is why in Southeast Europe it is mainly
women who master the magical ritualism of contact with the world of the Beyond. In
Indo-European languages, the synonymy of light and white is traceable (Gamkrelidze
and Ivanov, 1995: 66–67, 169). The literary vision that marks the border with the world
of the Beyond is white, a symbolic door through which the sun sets (Fol, 2007: 99–103;
Fol, 2007a; Nagy, 1992, 223–239, 257–258, 262) and a rectangular sacrificial pit. In both
texts discussed above, the border between the worlds is the place where the person who
knows how to perform the rite receives information from the dead.
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R eferences:
Bogranov, B. (1971) Mit i deystvitelnost v Omirovata ‘Odiseya’ (Myth and Reality in
Homer’s Odyssey). In: Omir (1971). Odiseya. Prevod ot starogratski G. Batakliev.
Sofia: Narodna kultura, pp. 7-28.
Cole, S. G. (2004) Landscapes, Gender and Ritual Space: The Ancient Greek Experience.
Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.
Gamkrelidze, T. V., Ivanov, V. V. (1995) Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans. A
Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture.
Part I. The Text, Berlin – New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Fol, V. (2007) Skalni toposi na vyara v Yugoiztochna Evropa I v Mala Aziya prez drevnostta (Rock Topoi of Faith in the Eastern Mediterranean and in Asia Minor
during Antiquity). Institut po trakologiya – Balgarska academiya na naukite. Sofia
(= Studia Thracica 10).
Fol, V. (2007a) The Solar Doors – a Gate to the Beyond. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Thracilogy, Komotini – Alexandrupolis 18-23 September 2005.
Athens: National Hellenic Research Foundation, Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity, pp. 169-175.
Heliodor (1982) Etiopska pesen ili Teagen i Herakleya. Prevod of starogratski G. Batakliev (Heliodorus (1982) Ethiopian Story or Theagenes and Hariklea. Translation
from Ancient Greek to the Bulgarian by G. Batakliev). Sofia: Narodna kultura.
Nagy, G. (1992) Greek Mythology and Poetics. Ithaca and London: Cornell University
Press.
Nikolova, A. (1982) ‘Etiopska povest’ prez vekovete (Ethiopian Story through the Centuries). In: Heiodor (1982) Etiopska pesen ili Teagen I Herakleya. Prevod ot starogratski G. Batakliev. Sofia: Narodna kultura, pp. 5-9.
Ogden, D. (2001) Greek and Roman Necromancy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Omir (1971). Odiseya. Prevod ot starogratski G. Batakliev (Homer (1971) The Odyssey.
Translation from Ancient Greek to the Bulgarian by G. Batakliev). Sofia: Narodna
kultura.
Valeria Fol is a Professor in Ancient history and Thracology, doctor of history with a
habilitation in theory and history of culture (Antiquity) and PhD in history of art at
Institute for Balkan Studies with Centre of Thracology ‘Prof. Alexander Fol’ – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Valeria Fol’s research field includes history of the Antiquity,
culture and religion of the European Southeast (Greece and Thrace) and the Mediterranean, Thracology, succession and continuity in European culture between Antiquity
and the following historical era. Author of more than 240 scholarly publications, some
of which are: Fol, V. 2020. Thracian Secret Societies. Sofia, 2020; Fol, V. 2019. Angry Deities and Heroes: Example from Thrace. Études balkaniques. Mirabilia: Miraculous and
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Magical LV/1: 24–31. Academia.edu: ValeriaFol.
Email: valeriafol@gmail.com; valeria.fol@balkanstudies.bg
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(ON THE LEGENDARY HERITAGE
OF HETERODOX ISLAM IN
NORTHEASTERN BULGARIA)
Veneta Yankova
Abstract: This article presents some legendary narratives recorded during field studies
around the utraquistic (dual, binary ritual), Muslim and Christian, sacred places in the
region of Shumen and Targovishte (Northeastern Bulgaria). The analysis looks at their
common motifs, characters, and functions. An attempt has been made to discover some
relics of the verbal heritage of heterodox Muslims in the Bulgarian lands and its existence in time. A connection has been established with a network of objects of heterodox
Islam on Bulgarian territory, whose traces in the local memory are to be found only
through toponymy and anthroponymy. On the other hand, the utraquistic sanctuaries
in Bulgaria are regarded here as places of shared memory between Christians and Muslims. From an ethnological point of view, this text problematises the issues of religious
tolerance in the relations between the two religious groups in the local communities.
Keywords: sacred places, miracles, heterodox Islam, Northeastern Bulgaria
The cultural and religious heritage of Heterodox / unorthodox Islam126 is an important part of the polygenetic Balkan cultures (Birge, 1937; Norris, 1993; Trimingham,
1971). The increased interest of Bulgarian science in this field since the end of the last
century has led to a number of valuable scientific investigations, which outline the ways
and forms of penetration of Islamic mysticism and its missionaries in the Balkans. It
also lays out the processes of its dissemination and adaptation to the local cultural-religious background and the heritage of the various dervish brotherhoods / Sufi tariqas
(missionaries) in architecture, art, folklore, local beliefs, etc. (Alexiev, 2005; Georgieva,
1991; Gramatikova, 2011; Mutafova, 2000; Mikov, 2005; etc.). Many settlements on Bulgarian land still retain traces of unorthodox Islam – extinct, transformed, and incorporated into the local cultural context.
The cult sites presented in this study stand out mainly because of their local character, limited access, and increasingly attenuating functions. According to their general
characteristics, they can be defined as utraquistic127 (dual religious: Muslim and Chris126 Many experts use the terms heterodox / unorthodox Islam to refer to the religious views and practices of Bektashi
and Kazalbashi, followers of Shiism – a major current in Islam, which emerged in the seventh century as an opposition to
the other major current – Sunnism. On the art of Heterodox Muslims in Bulgaria, see Mikov, 2005.
127 The term utraquism is used to refer to double religious practices (sanctuaire mixte), and utraquistic is associated
with cult sites (Mutafova, 2000; Popovic, 1994: 355–371).
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tian) in the villages of Izbul and Struyno or as Muslim in the village of Chernokaptsi.
Today followers of unorthodox Islam live in these settlements as a result of the migration movements of the last century and the changed demographic situation. They
are called by the local people kăzălbashi, kızılbaşlar (red-headed) and aliani, while the
interviewed Muslims identify themselves as Sunnis.
These topoi can be defined as sacred because despite their limited function as objects of religious worship, they still remain places of worship and personal communication with the superhuman. They do not cease to give rise to legends, toponymic traditions, and memorials, and they fit in with the everyday manifestations of the so-called
‘utilitarian sacrality’ (Ivanova, 2000).
The role of each of the sacred topoi in the appearance of new legends and tales of
miracles will be outlined below. We look at the processes of transformation of the miraculous into narratives and make an attempt to hypothetically reconstruct relics from
the legendary heritage of heterodox Muslims in Northeastern Bulgaria. For the purposes of this research, a case study method is applied, which includes interviews with
respondents (Muslims and Christians), conducted with different intensity in the period
from 2002 to 2017. The materials resulting from it are stored in the personal archive of
the author. As the analysed material is limited, this has led to refraining from more general conclusions and summaries, and using it instead as a prerequisite for assumptions
about the manifestations of the sacred and the interrelations divine – profane, as well as
for outlining research perspectives.
T he tomb of Balli Baba near Struyno, Shumen district
On the outskirts of the village of Dere köy, Shumen district, there is a well-known
cult site called türbe128, recognised by local Muslims as belonging to their own religion,
but visited by both Muslims and Christians. There, evidence can be found of more intense worship up until the 1950s, when cult life declined but did not stop completely.
Today, the sacred place is mainly locally relevant.129
An essential aspect of the cult of the holy place are the numerous legends of the
miracle worker, called Ballı baba (baba / boba – wandering preacher, Islamic missionary), and the miracles (keramat) performed by him. These prove to ordinary people that
his abilities are given to him from high above (Yankova, 2009). His name originates
from a story, in which he is said to have turned tar transported by merchants into honey
(bal).130 He was a stranger looking for a place to settle. He chose it after throwing a stone,
128 Tekke – a large religious center of a Dervish Order; türbe – the tomb of a holy man.
129 Field work in the summer of 2007. Respondents: Аhmed Chakar, born in 1930; Мehmed Aliev, born in 1938;
Zyuleyha Redzsebova, born in 1944; Меhmed Ibryamov, born in 1943; Sinan Myumyun, born in 1968, etc.
130 The etymology of the name Balım sultan is similar (Birge, 1937: 56; Mikov, 2005: 15). A tradition containing the
motif of turning wine into honey has also been recorded in connection to Bali Efendi. His türbe is located in Knyazhevo,
Sofia (Stoykov, 1891: 138).
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or, according to another version of the story, after fencing the land with a belt. The stone
was huge and the traces of the new-comer’s three fingers could be seen on it. The water
collected in its recesses is considered to be healing, as is the soil from the tomb. Beliefs
about Ballı baba being ‘a headless warrior’131 were also recorded during the fieldwork.
This is in line with the Islamic war tradition related to the martyrdom of faith.
In legendary narratives, Ballı baba is portrayed as a local cultural hero, benefactor
and patron. He makes water spring in arid places and thus provides vital living conditions for the whole area. He acts much like a demiurge to the visited villages and their
population, blessing them or cursing them and defining the qualities of their inhabitants. He protects the village from natural disasters and especially from hail, knows
the language of animals and can speak to them, foresees events, punishes those who
mistrust him, transfers part of his power to the wrestlers (pehlivans), etc. It is said that
when Ballı baba died, he disappeared and miraculously pointed to where his tomb will
be built. The locals are convinced that he is invisibly present in and around his burial
place and cite material testimonies of heard or experienced events.
Legends associate Ballı baba with popular ideas in the Islamic world related to the
evliya, a holy man approaching God (Lozanova, 2001). They reflect the conviction that
he is sent by God on a mission among humans to do them good. In appearance he is no
different from ordinary people and is usually presented as a beggar. But the evliya has
typical characteristics, such as the ability to move quickly through space and to be in
several places at the same time. The story of Ballı baba contains motifs that refer to the
legendary tradition of heterodox Muslims, most notably the legend of Demir baba (also
known as a water patron132), popular in the Balkans. In some cases, the storytellers directly associate the local evliya with Demir baba: he is ‘the brother of Demir baba’, ‘like
Demir baba’, etc. Some recurring motifs are ‘the persecution of a holy man’; ‘holy footprints’; ‘enclosure / measurement of a sacred area’, etc. Demir baba is known as a giant
and a wrestler, and stone-throwing is part of the competition events traditionally held
at Demir baba tekke, Ak Yazılı baba tekke and Kazıl baba tekke in Dimotika (Teodorov
and Gergova, 2006: 47–49, 52–53). A revealing detail in the narratives about Ballı baba is
the recollection of a large grave and ‘bronze shoes’ stored in the tomb, while similar elements are to be found in the narratives about Demir baba (Mikov, 2005, image № 127).
This reaffirms the belief that the stories about Ballı baba are based on the local versions
of the legend of Demir baba. In doing so, the narrative processes unlock close ‘memories’ that relate the righteous man from Struyno to other similar cult sites and legendary
characters, such as the tomb of Kız Ana near Momino village, Targovishte district.
To the parallels with the unorthodox Islamic tradition, one should also add the
motif of the ‘knowledge of the language of animals’, which is also found in the narra131 Kefalophoros, carrying his severed head.
132 His tomb is near the village of Sveshtari, Razgrad district.
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tives about the miracle worker of the village of Struyno. The ‘calves do not suck’ motif is
also found in the vilayet of Hadji Bektash Veli (Aleksiev, 2005: 112–113) and in the legends about Ak Yazılı baba (Erolova, 2017). The legend of the village of Struyno reveals
the ‘three brothers’ motif. The three brothers settled in the villages of Zvegor and Struyno, and in the town of Shumen; while the builders of the tomb, as well as the warriors
are the same in number. A similar story is known about Topuz baba, Alvan baba, and
Veled baba from Yablanovo, who set up settlements after throwing arrows (Mutafova,
2003). There are analogous stories in the Central Rodopi mountains about the three
brothers Jenihan baba, Osman baba, and Sarı / Demir baba (Grigorov, 1998: 554–559;
Karamihova, 2002).
Ballı baba’s legends are vital and people tend to constantly reproduce them. Particularly indicative of the cumulative nature of the legend is the story told by Ahmed
Hasan Chakar (born in the 1930s in the village of Struyno) about Ballı baba and his
two brothers. It connects elements from fairy tales and local legends with the Islamic
military tradition. Thus, a relatively comprehensive narrative is formed. Its plot is based
invariably on the ‘three brothers’ motif and the sacral topography of the area.
The vitality of Ballı baba noted in the legends is largely connected to the local landscape peculiarities – topography, climate, water resources. The land of Struyno village
is covered with sacred topoi: Türbe korusu (Sacred forest, Türbe forest, Ballı baba forest)
is the forest surrounding Ballı baba’s Stone. Local Christians call it Teke (tekke); they
translate it as ‘sacred forest’ and believe that it is forbidden to cut wood there. Not far
from the sacred site is located Türbe / Tekke pınar (Türbe’s well), which is believed to
have been created by a miracle: water sprang after Ballı baba hit the earth with his stick.
According to another version of the story, he threw a second stone there and left it as a
gift to the village. It is important to point out that this abandoned well used to be the
main source of water for all the surrounding villages, and its water was even considered
healing. It is also referred to in a legend about Ballı baba, who appeared at that site as a
bestower of power and a patron of wrestlers. In this way, the sacred topography of the
place and its vicinity is outlined. The toponymy is evidence of the miracle worker’s activity, and as such, it in turn diffuses the legend.
The sacred nature of the objects associated with the miracle worker prevents attacks on them. These types of narratives are numerous and their chronotype is located
between the legendary, the ancestral memory, and the biographical-specifics. Such is
the case with the miller brothers from the village of Makariopol / Makariopolsko, who
stole money from the tomb. However, the thief suddenly became numb and his speech
came back only after he had returned what he had stolen. During my fieldwork, I recorded stories which presented Ballı baba’s tomb mainly as a mystical place. These stories
tell about treasure hunters and their dreams, but also about their real experiences and
unfolded plots from the ‘mythology of gold’ (cf. I. Marazov). In them, the tomb guard
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appears as a white-bearded old man in white clothing, pointing at the hidden gold. It is
evident that the narrative incorporates Islamic and pre-Islamic demonological notions
about guardian spirits. For their part, the stories and their narration mark the spaces of
the transcendental and delineate its boundaries with the human world.
Thus, the preserved legendary material about the patron saint of Struyno reflects
the non-canonical notions of holiness, a characteristic feature of heterodox Islam. It can
even be assumed that at a certain point there were many more legends about Ballı baba
originating from this sacred place. Built on familiar narrative models, they contain opportunities for reproduction and update over time.
T he tomb of Mehmed baba near Chernokaptsi, Omurtag District
Mehmed baba’s region and Mehmed baba’s tomb are located west of the present-day
village of Chernokaptsi (Karabaşköy), Omurtag district, in the ethnographic region of
Gerlovo. Early information on the existence of the settlement is contained in an Ottoman Register from 1573 (Georgieva and Penkov, 1996: 44–45). Today, in the village
live mostly Muslims who identify as Sunnis.133 However, in the recorded local legends,
we can find relics of beliefs and perceptions specific to the followers of heterodox Islam
(Yankova and Mestanov, 2018).
According to the local legend, Mehmed baba lived many years ago. He was a holy
man possessing supernatural powers, and people expressed their respect for him by
calling him ‘baba’. He did not differ from ordinary people and was engaged in farming
and cattle-breeding. Some names of places in the rural area are still associated with his
life and work. He lived in the Bakacık area, which once served as a ‘watchtower’. He
grew grain in the Harman area, and the locals reportedly saw his cow grazing with the
village herd. Mehmed baba had two brothers: Sarı baba and Baba Hacı. According to
another version, they were called Sarı baba and Demir baba. Baba Hacı chose the village of Gorno Kozarevo and Sarı baba chose the area of Osman pazarı yolu çifliği. It is
believed that their souls still roam there and guard the locals.
The legend portrays Mehmed baba as a miracle worker:
Mehmed baba was a great man. One day after the Friday prayer, people told him
to build a fence so that their animals would not enter his property. And in the
morning what they saw was that Mehmed baba had enclosed his property with
a stone wall all by himself, and he then disappeared and became invisible. He is
believed to have moved to another world.
Even today this area is called Taş avlu (Stone fence). It is also said that here Mehmed
baba built a stone building in which he welcomed his guests; passengers with horses
133 Field work in 2017. Respondent: Rasim Rasimov Hyuseinov, born in 1951.
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and cows rested there; and sometimes people stayed there overnight. Mehmed baba’s
tomb has two graves: ‘One is for Mehmed baba’s wandering soul, because he is believed
not to have died, but to have simply passed into another world. The second grave is said
to have been made as a türbe (tomb)’. There are now two large fountains in the Türbe
area, called Mehmed baba’s Fountains. According to the locals, only one can be dated
to Mehmed baba’s time, while the other one was built later. Until recently, the prayer for
rain performed by the people from the village was held at the türbe, which indicates the
specific sacred status of the place.
Local oral history preserves legends of Mehmed baba’s posthumous existence. Elderly people say that they have sometimes seen him wander with a lantern in his hand.
According to another version, people noticed him near the oldest, no longer existing
mosque in this region, built in Ottoman times.
The locals also tell other legends about saints, but without associating them specifically with Mehmed baba:
There was a neighbourhood around our village at that time. One day a beggar
went there and begged for food. Many people gave him nothing, only an elderly
woman gave him a bowl of soup. After he ate the soup, he left. The woman went
to pick up the bowl and saw that the beggar had filled the bowl with gold to show
his gratitude. Then he cursed this neighbourhood, ‘Let this neighbourhood sink!’
And, so it happened (Respondent: Rasim Rasimov Hyuseinov, born in 1951).
It is known that there was an older settlement, and its disappearance is explained
with the curse of a beggar, probably a holy man.
In the recorded legends, there are remnants of beliefs and ideas associated with
Heterodox Islam, such as the particularly popular notion of the evliyas’ brothers (Mutafova, 2003: 333–334). The names of Mehmed baba’s brothers may be related to the
patrons of the sacred places in the Balkans. Such are the tomb of Demir baba near
Sveshtari, Razgrad district, and that of Sarı baba near Momchilovtsi village, in the region of Smolyan (Ivanova, 2001), Hacı dede is the father of Demir baba (Gramatikova,
1998: 408). These remnants include the following: information about the forty settler
families in Karabaşköy (40 is a symbolic number for Heterodox Muslims) (Birge, 1937:
137, 147–148); a recollection of a watchtower, which existed in the past and is still alive
in the settlements’ traditions; and the status of the gözçü (observer) in the hierarchy of
the Bektashi order (Gramatikova, 1998: 417), etc.
The story of Mehmed baba’s stone building can be regarded as a legendary testimony to the existence of a religious centre of Heterodox Islam in the area at focus here.
Historical information concerning the spread of the doctrine in Gerlovo is found in the
so-called ‘Book of Demir baba’s life’ (Kılıç and Bülbül, 2011: 10–46). Presumably, the
researchers suggest, the ‘resting place of travellers’ associated with the dervish Mehmed
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baba from the Order of the Bektashi was built in the 16th – 17th c. (Gramatikova, 2011:
226, 455). Other authors locate it near the village of Chernokaptsi (Cafer and Salim,
2017: 333). It can be assumed that the legendary evidence preserved to this day refers to
this period in the history of the settlement.
It is possible to assume that behind the image of the beggar in the recorded legends
is Mehmed baba himself – a prototype of stories, which are insufficiently preserved, but
still widespread. The fact that Sunni Muslims spread these legends today is a clear testimony to the reduced doctrinal differences (between Sunni and non-Orthodox Islam)
implicated in the perception of the holy man as the patron saint of the whole region, and
as an integral part of its legendary past.
T he tombs near the village of Izbul, Shumen District
These sacred sites are located to the north of the village of Izbul (Shumen district) at
the foot of Voivodsko plateau in the area of Tekke, nowadays called Chiflika (Yankova,
2007). Musa baba/ Ali baba’s tomb (türbe), which is also a shrine of St. Iliya according
to the local Christians, is located within the confines of Chiflika, and it is currently
owned by the Bagryanovs / Bagryanovi family.134 Probably as early as the second half
of the sixteenth century (recorded in an Ottoman document of 1573135), a cult place of
heterodox Islam – tekke – existed and was identified as a localizing and distinguishing
element within the realm of the toponym Tekkye-i Kozluca. Allatlı baba’s tomb, or the
chapel of St. Ivan, is located about a kilometre northeast of Musa boba’s tomb, near the
area where the village was originally located. The visits to the two tombs were more
frequent up until the 1970s, but today they are increasingly rare, and mostly individual
or in small groups. Now Christians and Muslims live in the village, but there are no
followers of unorthodox Islam among them.
There are Christian and Muslim versions of the legends about the origin of the two
tombs. The popularity of the Christian legend is due to it being written and distributed
through publications in the second half of the twentieth century, reflecting stereotypical
ideological and narrative models (Marinov, 1943). The story is related to the legendary
time of ‘mass Islamisation’ and the death of two brothers, Iliya and Ivan, one of whom
accepted Islam, while the other remained Christian. According to another legend, two
of the 12 brothers who ‘fought for their faith and spread Christianity’ were killed at that
place (Ibid., 172). Over the last fifty years there have been multiple narratives as a result
of the archaeological discoveries in the area. These narratives are related to the Thracian
deity-healer Asclepius; the kavkhan Izbul and the water supply of Pliska; the difficult
passage of monks from the monastery in Chernoglavtsi to the monastery in the village
134 Field work in 2002–2004. Respondents: Atanas Atanasov, born in 1931; Ahmed Ahmedov (Gadzsala), born in 1936;
Оsman Imamoglu, born in 1913; Tasin Ismail, born in 1931; Harfan Osman, born in 1932, etc.
135 National library, Oriental section, f. 20, 261 / 3 а.
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of Izbul; Ilitsa – a feudal lord in Dobrudzha, etc. They affirm the role of sacred topoi as
sources of narratives that produce and disseminate new stories, linking them to historical events and personalities.
The Muslim legend of the holy places is oral, unwritten, rather fragmentary and
almost extinct. According to it, Musa and Isa were brothers who participated in а war.
They rode chestnut horses, and the place where they were killed and buried was called
Al atlı baba (‘the baba with the red horse’). Alternatively, Alatlı boba was a military
commander who was killed and buried here. Wild pear trees (alat, ahlat) were planted
next to his tomb, hence the name of the tomb – Alatlı baba. According to a third Muslim version, which was told to me by a Christian, two brothers, Ali (a Pasha) and Veli,
settled in the area of today’s Chiflik. Here they did noble deeds and were proclaimed
‘saints’. In the writings of V. Marinov in the 1940s, the Christianisation of Muslim legends may be noticed from the clear traces of unorthodox beliefs. In this case, the same
legend tells the story of twelve brothers who correspond to the image of the twelve
Shi’ite imams struggling to expand their religious areas (Birge, 1937: 145–147). The importance of kinship among the holy people has already been discussed in the Book of
Demir baba’s life (Venedikova, 1999). The motif of St. Iliya’s pen and inkpot can be
regarded as a legendary echo from the local memory of a dervish monastery and the
literary and educational activities in it (Marinov, 1943: 172).
The narratives about the tombs recorded during the fieldwork reflect notions of the
evliya in his functions as a guardian spirit and a wonderful helper and protector of the
family (Lozanova, 2001: 153–173). According to the local Muslims, evliyas are invisible,
and they have the power to do both good and evil to people. They say that an evliya appeared as a small man with a green belt in front of the woman who owned Chiflika, and
he then quickly disappeared. And, so, the 85-year-old Emine Ahmed believes she is an
evliya’s granddaughter (see Yankova, 2007: 44–49).
Apart from the verbal signs, the sacred nature of the holy places is outlined by the
typical for the rural area landmarks, such as water / a water source, a tree / a forest, and
a stone / earth. An important element that attracts both Christian and Muslim visitors
is the water and the healing practices related to it. As early as in the 1940s, V. Marinov
noted that the soil from the stone grave in Musa baba’s tomb was used as a cure (Marinov, 1943: 172). The local people say that there is a healing well near the tombs and a
tree that cures fever.
And so, although with limited functionality, today the sacred places near the village of Izbul continue to be an inexhaustible source of legends. Having long lost their
vital connection with their immediate bearers, the Alevis, this legend has been transformed significantly in the last 70-80 years under the influence of dominant ideological
imperatives and social and demographic changes in the region. It abounds in additional elements and connotations in line with what is happening in the cultural context.
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However, the local people’s belief that ‘there is some force that protects’ is persistently
preserved.
C onclusion
Despite being empirically limited, this study is sufficient to suggest the preservation of verbal relics and notions related to the successively constructed ‘brotherhood
network’ (Clayer, 1998) spreading Heterodox Islam and the evidence of it in Northeastern Bulgaria. Sacred sites are found to function as centres that, despite the transformations of time, maintain separate manifestations of the cult with different intensity,
different degrees of compactness, and under different forms (religious practices, beliefs,
narratives, etc.). In this respect, the fundamental role of the regional sacred centre is
noticeable – the sanctuary of Demir baba in the village of Sveshtari, Isperih region and
the popular tradition connected to it are understood as a narrative model of a local legend. But the reconstruction of the legendary fund of unorthodox Muslims is extremely
difficult due to its insufficient preservation and the social, cultural, political, and demographic transformations experienced since the middle of the last century. Moreover, it
is likely doomed to disappear due to the diminishing number of narrators of the local
legend – the ‘guardians of memory’. Along with this, however, there is another indicative trend: the legendary tradition of the religious community is ‘learned’ and passed
on by the villagers – Sunnis and Christians alike, to allow its continuous revival as an
inseparable part of the common oral history of the village and the legendary past of the
whole area.
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/ Saint’s Biography of Demir Baba) Ankara: Grafiker Yayınları.
Lozanova, G. (2001) Mestni svetii (evlii) u balgaroezichnite myusyulmani v Rodopite:
ponyatie i razkaz (Local Bulgarian Muslim ‘Evlii’ in the Rhodopes: Idea and Fables.
I). In: A. Zhelyazkova and J. Nielsen (eds). Еtnologiya na sufitskite ordeni: Teoriya i praktika. Dokladi ot balgaro-brtianski seminar za sufitskite ordeni19–23 may
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Маrinov, V. (1943) Pliskovsko (Аbobsko) pole (Pliskovsko (Aboba) Field). Sofia: S. М.
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XX century). Bektashi and Kazalbashi / Alevis). Sofia: BAS.
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(Ed). Еtnologiyata na granitsata na dva veka. Veliko Tarnovo: Publishing House
‘Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodiy, pp. 249-266.
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i Mogilets (The Cult to the Saints in the Villages of Yablanovo, Malko Selo and
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Тeodorov, Е. And D. Gergova (2006) Prabalgarski i trakiyski sledi (Proto-Bulgarian and
Thracian Traces). Sofia: Iztok – Zapad.
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Rituals Described in the Life of Demir Baba). In: G. Lozanova and L. Mikov (eds).
Sadbata na myusyulmanskite obshtnosti na Balkanite. Т. 4. Islyam i kultura. Sofia:
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Yankova, V. (2007) Тoposi, pamet, identichnosti. (Kam folklora na myusyulmanite i hristiyanite v Shumensko) (Topoi, Memory, Identities. To the Folklore of Muslims and
Christians in the Shumen Region). Veliko Tarnovo: Faber, pp. 59-84.
Yankova, V. (2009) Kultat kam Balli baba vav vsekidnevieto na horata v Shumensko.
(The Cult of Balla Baba in the Everyday Life of the People in the Shumen Region).
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pp. 127-150.
Yankova, V. and S. Mestanov (2018) Тoponimi i toponimichni predaniya ot selo Chernokaptsi (Karabaşköy), Оmurtagsko (Toponyms and Village of Chernokaptsi (Karabaşköy). In: V. Yankova and M. Salim (eds). Pо patya na Evliya Chelebi,
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Veneta Yankova, DSc. (IEFSEM – BAS), is an Associate Professor of Folkloristics at
the University of Shumen and a lecturer in Bulgarian language and culture at ELTE
University, Budapest. Scope of research: historical memory, cultural heritage abroad,
Turkish studies, Balkan cultures, traditions of ethnic communities. Books: Between the
Oral and the Written Word: the Folklore and the Popular Saint’s Life (1997); Ethnocultural Interactions (2005); Topoi, Memory, Identities (2007); The Bulgarians in Hungary:
Cultural Memory and Heritage (2014); The Masquerade – We and the Others (2017);
Historical Memory and Images of the Past (2019). Academia.edu: Veneta Yankova
ORCHID: http://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-2635-9885.
E-mail: veneta_yankova@abv.bg
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T HE NEW SPIRITUALISM IN BULGARIAN SOCIETY
AFTER THE POLITICAL CHANGES IN 1989
Plamena Stoyanova
Abstract: After the political changes in 1989, Bulgaria experienced the power of its
newly found freedom in various aspects of its social life. One of the main propaganda
points of the Communist Regime had been atheism – the power of science and the
human spirit. Everything mystical, along with the official Orthodox religion, had been
neglected and even forbidden. After the fall of Communism, religion slowly regained
its position in Bulgarian society. However, with the rebirth of the forgotten faith, new
mystical beliefs came into life. In fact, they have always been there, hidden, but popular
among regular Bulgarians. After 1989, with no more governmental censorship, people
with supernatural abilities (like those insisting they could see the future or heal the
sick) found their stage and fed the hunger for the mystical and for miracles in Bulgarian society. This paper will try to explore the new beliefs among the Bulgarians during
the transition period, and to answer the following questions – what were people looking for and where were they finding it – in the Orthodox faith, in the psychics, or in
spirituality?
Keywords: Baba Vanga, poltergeist, Kiki, Kashpirovsky, Tsarichina dupka
I ntroduction
At the end of 1989 Bulgaria became one of the Eastern European countries to overturn its Communist regime. Its long-term leader, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from
his position and soon people were flooding the streets of the big cities, protesting the
old regime and celebrating their newfound freedom. Along with the change of political power, the well-organised old system of censorship was destroyed. This exposed a
hunger for certain topics that could not be discussed before in the previously government-controlled media. Politics, corruption, political satire, religion, even sexuality
were openly discussed for the first time in various popular publications. Some of those
wildly popular topics that were set free from the restrictions of censorships were mysticism and spirituality. The interest towards them has always been strong in Bulgaria, and
the free media soon realised that subjects like those could be quite profitable. Moreover,
with the first signs of the looming economic crisis and the financial struggle during the
transition period the desire for miracles among the people became even more intense.
But what kind of psychic topics or phenomena attracted the interest and occupied the
minds of the Bulgarians of that time and why? What did they find in those psychics
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and which of them remained popular in the post-socialist Bulgarian society? To answer
these questions, thе paper will use Bulgarian publications from the 1990’s until today.
Available movies, books, television TV shows, and social media pages will also be used
to help analyse the topic.
There were three popular types of psychic phenomena that grabbed people’s attention during the transition period: prophets and healers, poltergeists and aliens, and
mystical excavations. Some of these are still famous today, while others remain in the
1990s, and are only remembered by those who are truly interested in mysterious topics.
However, in this paper, we will discuss those phenomena that were a real sensation at
the time and whose fame has not faded away with time.
P rophets and healers
V anga
The well-known and almost sacred names among the prophets and healers in Bulgaria are baba Vanga, Dyado Vlaycho136, and Slava Sevrukova.137 It is hard to say which
one of them was the most unique phenomenon since each of them had their specific
role, gifts, and spiritual powers. They lived approximately at the same time in the 20th
century and are still loved and recognised by many. However, the most famous among
them, not only in Bulgaria but abroad as well, is Baba Vanga, often called by the popular
sensational media in Bulgaria ‘the Nostradamus of the Balkans’. She is well known for
her predictions about the assassination of Indira Gandi in 1984 and the sinking of the
Kursk submarine in 2000, for which, she predicted, ‘the whole world will be mourning’.
Another popular Vanga prediction was the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001, which she described as ‘iron Birds’ destroying the twins’ (The Sun, 2020).
Millions were convinced of her abilities to see the past and the present and to predict
the future with the help of information from unknown spirits or from dead people.
Today, even children in Bulgaria know who Vanga was. She has been the object of many
research projects, books138, movies, and discussions in Bulgaria throughout the years.
However, years after her death in 1996, her fame crossed the borders of the Balkans and
today the prophetess remains an icon in post-Soviet Russian speaking countries and a
136 Diado Vlaycho (1894–1981) was a Bulgarian prophet. There is a popular belief that he was more gifted than Vanga.
He predicted the death of Georgi Dimitrov – the political leader of Bulgaria until 1949, and for that he was sent to the
Concentration Camp Belene for 6 years (1949–1955). He refused to collaborate with the socialist authorities and to collect
payments for his predictions from visitors. One recent publication about him is the book by Borisova, 2020.
137 Slava Sevrukova (1902–1991) was a Bulgarian prophetess who was well known for her abilities to predict the future
and for her contributions to science. For more than 30 years she worked with Assoc. Prof Hristo Lozenski. Together
they conducted psychotronic sessions (research on the power of thought), published by him after her death (Sevrukova,
Lozenski, 1991).
138 See Kostadinova, 1997, 2011; Stoyanova, 1989.
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favourite topic of books on spiritualism and television TV shows. In 2013 a biographical
series named ‘Vangelia’ was released in Russia. The movie was a Russian production,
filmed mainly in Bulgaria with the participation of Russian and Bulgarian actors. It
became quite popular in the Russian speaking countries, not only because it was well
done, but mainly because people already knew who Vanga was. In fact, the movie is
just one of the many movies and documentaries in Russian dedicated to the prophetess.
Pic. 1. A screenshot from the movie ‘Vangelia’. Photo: Kino1Tv
Vangeliya Pandeva Gushterova (maiden name Dimitrova) was born in 1911, in
Strumitza, today in the Republic of North Macedonia. As a child her vision was seriously damaged during a storm and she subsequently became blind. Later, as a young
woman, she started to display paranormal abilities. At the time of the Second World
War, she was already well known as someone who could tell where a lost animal could
be found, or if a specific person would come back home safely. As time passed, her ability to predict the future grew stronger. According to a legend, on 8 April 1942, Vangelia
was visited by the Bulgarian tsar Boris III.139 That same year she married a Bulgarian
soldier and they moved to Petrich, Bulgaria, where she became well known not only
throughout Bulgaria, but also abroad. Her fame was so widespread that even the atheist
socialist regime in Bulgaria was forced to tolerate the interest towards her. In 1966 the
Bulgarian authorities provided Vanga with security and other logistics for her meetings
with people. Visitors had to pay a fee to meet the prophetess. She was close to some
high-ranking socialist officials, like Ludmila Zhivkova, the daughter of the socialist
leader Todor Zhivkov, and the minister of culture in the late 1970s, as well as art celebrities as painter Svetlin Rusev, the national rhythmic gymnastics team coach Neshka
139 In the movie ‘Vangelia’ instead of the Bulgarian King Boris III, Adolf Hitler was presented as Vanga’s powerful visitor.
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Robeva, the iconic actress Nevena Kokanova, and others.
In 1976 a movie titled ‘Phenomenon’ (Fenomen, 1976), directed by Nevena Tosheva
and dedicated to Vanga, was ready to be released to the Bulgarian public. However, the
documentary was accused of being a ‘non-socialist movie’ and censorship did not allow
it to reach the movie theatres. A few decades later the movie was broadcast several times
on National Bulgarian Television, most recently in the rubric titled, The patent shoes of
the Bulgarian documentary cinema (Lachenite obuvki na Bulgarskoto dokumentalno
kino) (Bnt.bg, 2016). Surprisingly, an interesting part of the documentary is the discussion among professors, doctors, and other scientists, about the scientific legitimacy of
Vanga’s abilities. Those were the same people who went on to accuse the documentary
of being ‘non-socialist’ and eventually banned it at the end of the 1970s. Their discussion was held entirely in the spirit of late socialism in Bulgaria. Following are some of
the most interesting statements of the censorship group members.
The Vanga Phenomenon was not created thanks to her personal abilities, but
mostly by the superstitious beliefs of the people.
How is it actually possible for such kind of national psychosis to take place in a
normal country following the Marxist-Leninist ideology? A psychosis that is so
widespread that we must have a discussion about it, involving so many intelligent
and educated people, wandering if there is really something unusual and real in
Vanga’s abilities! This is a question of extreme importance for the whole ideological, atheist and comprehensive propaganda of the progressive tendencies of our
society and therefore it should be well clarified (Fenomen, 1976).
Even though there were a few voices in defence of the prophetess, describing her
as at least an interesting sociological phenomenon, the movie was not approved by the
censorship and it remained unknown for a number of years. It is interesting to mention
that at the same time so many scientists, doctors, engineers, and ideologists of the communist regime were describing Vanga as just a woman ‘of no big importance’, she was
officially earning more than 109,000 leva per year for the Bulgarian government. This
means that she was visited by 9000 people every year, or 45 people per day (Ibid.). Many
of them were coming to her summer house in the Rupite area, hoping to have a chance
to consult her about their personal struggles.
Overwhelmed by the constant questions and pain of the people who were visiting
her, Vanga sometimes showed her harsh temperament by being too direct, impatient,
and even rude. Every visitor had to bring a small amount of sugar for their visit. According to the prophetess, the sugar had the ability to absorb information from the owner
and to tell their story. Many people were grateful for Vanga’s help. Others were not quite
satisfied, insisting that they had not received any useful information from her. Never262
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theless, her fame grew, while the official position of the authorities remained sceptical.
After the political changes in 1989 the government censorship stopped being a factor
and Vanga’s fame grew exponentially. By that time, she was already old and very ill, but
her name kept attracting more and more followers. While the critical economic situation following the fall of communism was spreading through the country, her words
were endlessly repeated as a sort of a prayer and a symbol of hope. She was in the centre
of every big prediction about the future of Bulgaria, the destiny of Europe, Russia, and
the whole world. The papers, and especially the newly-fledged yellow press in Bulgaria,
were hungry for news about her and constantly published so much material that at the
end it was hard to distinguish between her real words and the sensational fabrications.
She became an icon, and the cult of Vanga – the prophetesses of the Rupite – was born.
It was fed by the interest of the people, by the newspapers, by the movies and TV shows
dedicated to her. Today, 24 years after the prophetess’ death, every TV show with her
name in its title, both in Bulgaria and in Russia, has a guaranteed audience and assured
high ratings. Nevertheless, her description as a phenomenon remains controversial –
both her positive perception as a healer and almost a saint, and her negative perception
as someone suspected of manipulating dark powers (sorcerers and witches) (Valtchinova, 2009: 118). For example, the fame of the prophetess was not well received by the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
After the political changes in 1989 and the rejection of socialist atheism, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was trying to regain its position as a spiritual leader in Bulgarian society. The church’s efforts in this direction were achieving some success, and people were slowly starting to return to the old religion. However, this process was not an
easy one since the Church had to regain her religious flock by competing with a number
of other spiritual options and churches suddenly made available, such as the teachings
of Deunov140, Protestantism, Mormon churches, eastern religions, etc. The interest towards mystics, prophets, and other spiritual phenomena were in a way also an obstacle
for the church; moreover, they were in strong contradiction to Christian philosophy.
Every prediction or speech in someone else’s voice, as Vanga used to do occasionally,
could be easily explained by the Orthodox church as cases of possession of a demonic
spirit. Even though Vanga has never been officially called a witch by the church, she has
been constantly accused of sorcery.
…the so-called ‘phenomenon Vanga’ is even more dangerous and disturbing then
the teachings of Deunov, because Vanga and her followers have always acted and
continue to act under the guise of the Church… Vanga pretended to be a pious
Orthodox Christian, and her followers hurried to proclaim her a prophetess and
a saint of God… but no prophet of God has dared to try to summon the spirits of
140 Petar Deunov (1864–1944) known also as Beinsa Douno was a Bulgarian philosopher and spiritual teacher who
developed a form of Esoteric Christianity known as the Universal White Brotherhood.
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the dead, which is pure witchcraft, and Vanga has done this hundreds of times in
her life (Plovdivski, 2011).
These are words of the Metropolitan of Plovdiv, Nikolay, from 2011, published on
the official Internet page of the Bulgarian Patriarchy (bg-patriarshia.bg). Actually, they
contain some truth in them. For example, Vanga was reportedly a truly devoted Christian. With all the money she had saved in the course of her life and with the support of
the ‘Vanga Foundation’ (fondacia-vanga.com) she built the church of St. Petka in her
favourite place, Rupite, not far from her summer house.
Pic. 2. The church, built by Vanga. Rupite – Bulgaria, 2006. Photo: fondacia-vanga.com
Despite the controversial attitude towards the Prophetess, in 1994 the temple was
solemnly consecrated by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. However, at that time the
work on the building had not yet been completed. The frescoes of the temple were about
to be painted by Svetlin Rusev, who ended up painting Vanga’s image both outside and
inside the church. And while most people did not see a problem with the paintings,
this led to a strong disagreement between the Orthodox church and the artist, since
according to the Orthodox cannon, only saints can be painted on the walls of religious
temples. The church described the artistic decision of Svetlin Rusev as unacceptable.
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It is true that the idea to build a temple in Rupite is a really good one – this was
necessary and important… But the way it was done was wrong – to break with
tradition is not an act of free thought, but of self-expression, desire for power and
refusal to understand (Polimenova, 2005).
This is how the defenders of the church were trying to express their disagreement
with the artistic approach of Svetlin Rusev.
Pic. 3. Book cover with the painting of Vanga by Svetlin Rusev. Vanga’s Church – Rupite – Bulgaria. Photo: (Kostadinova, 2011).
However, we have to point out that the Church was not united in her position on
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Vanga. After all, the suggestion to canonise the prophetess actually came from an Orthodox priest, while at the same time, another priest wrote his entire Master’s thesis
in theology on the topic ‘Peter Deunov and Vanga – prophets and forerunners of the
antichrist’ (Visarion, 2011). Hieromonk Visarion called Vanga a ‘modern sorceress’ and
explained the desire of many people to see her as a saint with:
the planted atheistic upbringing. Our people were kept in spiritual ignorance in
the years when a phenomenon like Vanga appeared. Forgetting the true criteria
of holiness and spirituality, people can easily be deceived (Pravoslavie.com, 2011).
The attitude towards Vanga in Russia – a country where the influence and popularity of the prophetess is even stronger, is similar. The Russian church describes her
as someone who ‘communicates with demonic forces’ (Pitanov, 1998), but people are
still fascinated by her magnetism. Today, in the context of the world crises caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic, her name is once again earning some good ratings for TV
shows discussing whether she had predicted the pandemic or not. Here are some of the
most striking titles : ‘Vanga has warned us! (Vanga nas preduprezdala)’ (NTV–Moldova, 2020), ‘Vanga’s relative on the end of the pandemic (Rodstvenik providicy o konce
pandemii)’ (Perviy kanal, 2020). At the same time the YouTube channel is full of amateur videos with different perspectives on her predictions and the pandemic.
Pic.4. Screenshot of the article in mirror.co.uk, 2020. Photo: mirror.co.uk
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In 2020 Vanga’s fame went beyond the boundaries of Eastern Europe. In October
2020 the US president Donald Trump was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19.
Back then, the British tabloid Mirror published the following article: Blind mystic Baba
Vanga predicted Donald Trump’s coronavirus plight, claim fans (Mirror, 2020). According to the article, the ‘mysterious illness will leave the president deaf’(Ibid.). The ‘news’
quickly spread around the world and made the prophetess famous among people who
had not heard about her before. Most of the publications included a brief excerpt from
Vanga’s biography and a short retrospection of her most famous predictions. However,
some of the tabloids were critical about her words, and the Sun, for example, mentioned
a Washington Post investigation from 2012 which had uncovered ‘that many of the
predictions attributed to the mystic actually have their origins in viral Russian social
media posts (The Sun, 2020). ‘It seems like the world is going crazy due to the health
pandemic we’re facing’ – begins another article, which discusses, ‘Vanga’s prediction’
about Trump’s death’ (Dankanator, 2020). To add to this explanation, it is indeed true
that in times of turbulence, the hunger for spiritualism is higher, and speculations about
miracles and predictions are quite common and widespread. An interesting example of
this phenomenon is the recent comeback of a real post-soviet star, the long forgotten
psychic Kashpirovsky.
K ashpirovsky
In March 2020, during the first big worldwide COVID-19 lockdown, a ‘Free Europe’
article was published under the title: ‘Your immune system will explode’. Kashpirovsky
has taken on the Coronavirus’ (Imunnata vi sistema shte exploadira. Kashpirovski se zae
s koronavirusa) (Svobodna Evropa, 2020). It was one of the many news outlets announcing Kashpirovsky’s big return. At that time his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.
com/user/akashpirovskiy) was being followed by thousands around the world and it
looked like the fame of the psychic was surging once again. On 25 March 2020, as the
number of COVID-19 death cases in Russia was rising, his monologue ‘Coronavirus. Its
Pluses and Minuses’ had almost half a million views (Radioree.org, 2020). The news of
Kashpirovsky’s return spread quickly not only in Russia and Bulgaria, but also across
the whole post-soviet world. However, who was actually the person who had ‘returned’,
and why was he so recognisable after all these years?
Anatoly Kashpirovsky was born in 1939 in the USSR. He graduated from the Vinnitsky Medical Institute in 1962 and worked for 25 years as a psychiatrist in a psychiatric hospital. He became famous at the end of the 1980s by performing mass healings
in front of large audiences in person and via television. Among other things, he was
well known for removing the pain during medical surgeries via hypnosis. In March of
1988 everything was being prepared for quite an ordinary surgery in Moscow, except
one detail – the blue screens in the room. Those screens were the only ‘anaesthesia’ the
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patient was going to be given during the surgery – hypnosis via television. Kashpirovsky
was not in the room; he was not even in the country. Miraculously, everything went
well, and the patient insisted that she did not feel any pain during the three-hour-long
surgery. A few more surgeries like that followed and the TV era of Kashpirovsky was
set in motion. The TV screen helped Anatoly to become literally a Soviet pop star. He
started going on tours and conducting mass healing sessions, during which he was able
to fill whole stadiums (Briality, 2017). During his TV sessions many families would sit
in front of the screen with the hope to be healed. Even the sceptics were watching the
show, just to prove to themselves that those sessions did not affect them (Ibid.). I will not
discuss the question of whether those TV shows were healing hypnosis sessions, but we
could say for sure that the psychosis or public hysteria on that topic was more than real.
The TV shows with Kashpirovsky were shown on the official TV channels in Post-Soviet
countries, including Bulgaria, mostly during prime time. They were watched even by
children. As a result, many people stopped using local anaesthesia during their visits to
the dentist, and some children stopped suffering from enuresis. However, many people
who believed in miracles stopped taking their regular medications, which later led to
terrible consequences. Also, some of the grownups and children who were heavily hypnotised later had problems with hysteria and anxiety (Ibid.).
Pic. 5. Anatoly Kashpirovsky in Prague, 1992. Photo: interviewmg.ru
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At the end of 1994 TV hypnotherapy was banned in the USSR by Boris Yeltsin.
By that time Kashpirovsky already had a new important role. In 1993 he was elected
as a Deputy of the Russian Duma. However, his political career was not so successful
and he eventually emigrated to the United States. By the time he left the country the
attitude of the people had already changed. Various negative rumours were spreading.
One of the strongest accusations was that the woman from the famous first televised
surgery had actually experienced unbelievable pain. Soon ‘the magician turned into an
evil charlatan’ (Briality, 2017). However, the truth probably lies somewhere in between.
Kashpirovsky was not a magician at all, but he used the well-known today positive affirmation approach, which can make a difference when it comes to health. He probably
was not a charlatan either, but ‘a great showman who managed to turn his face and voice
into a trade mark’ (Ibid.). He appeared at the end of the 1980s, at a time when people
desperately needed a miracle. Then in the middle of the 1990s he disappeared up until
2010, when he tried once again to return to the big stage. However, ten years ago he did
not manage to become an interesting topic for the media. Then in 2020 COVID-19 happened and he suddenly became popular again, managing an active YouTube channel,
an official internet page (kashpirovskiy.com), and forthcoming meetings with followers
in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and other cities in 2021. As one of the Ukrainian media
outlets commented on his return:
Everything around us was falling apart at the end of the 1980s. In times like
these, people tend to easily believe in everything. This is how we can explain
the trust Kashpirovsky inspired in some otherwise intelligent and educated people. Today, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are once again confused,
scared, and hoping for a miracle. And in this situation, guess who has returned?
(ICTV, 2020).
Pic. 6. Screenshot of Anatoly Kashpirovsky electronic site, 2020. Photo: kashpirovskiy.com
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It seems the reasons for Vanga’s and Kashpirovsky’s fame were very similar. And,
here we could mention one interesting detail. Already quite famous, Kashpirovsky, out
of personal curiosity, arranged to visit Bulgaria and meet baba Vanga in person. He had
no questions to ask of the prophetess, so when introduced to her, he simply asked her
how she was doing. Vanga was surprised and shared that nobody ever came to her with
that kind of question, but mostly with their own pain and struggles (TPK ‘Inter’, 2011).
It is unclear if she recognised Kashpirovsky as a man with special powers. However, he
wasn’t the only popular psychic of the post-soviet aria whose fame has reached Bulgaria.
The other recognisable name of the 1990s in Eastern Europe was
D zhuna
Dzhuna was a well-known Russian healer, astrologist, painter, and a very popular
public figure in the Soviet Union and later in the Russian Federation. Some called her
‘the secret healer of the Kremlin’ and ‘the female version of Rasputin’ (Independent,
2015). She was claimed to have foreseen the Chernobyl disaster and the end of the Soviet era. Dzhuna’s fame reached Bulgaria after the political changes in 1989 when she
became really popular thanks to her book Racete si slusham (I am listening my hands),
published in 1990 (Dzhuna, 1990).
Eugenia Yuvashevna (Dzhuna) was born in 1949, in the village of Umria, Soviet
Union, in a family of Assyrian origin – her father was an immigrant from Iran. Later,
she moved to Tbilisi where she met her future husband, Victor Daviashvili, who held a
high position in the Central Committee of the Communist party and who thus had a
close connection to the party leaders Zurab Pataridze and Eduard Shevardnadze.
Pic. 7. Dzhuna and Boris Yeltsin, Moscow – Russia, 1994. Photo: Zdravey.com
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The official version of the story claims the party authorities knew about Dzhuna’s
talent to heal with her hands (aeternamemoria.ru, 2015) and they therefore recommended that she be sent to Moscow, where, according to her own words, she did heal work on
the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. In the capital, her unusual abilities were examined
by several scientific institutes and laboratories and were recognised as phenomenal. Her
fame and the support of important people in the government helped Dzhuna to organise the Academy of Alternative Sciences in Moscow, in 1990, where she started teaching
others how to heal people with bioenergy. A few years later, she was even awarded the
Order of the Peoples’ Friendship by the Leader of the country at that time, Boris Yeltcin
(1991–1999). This was, actually, one of many awards given to Dzhuna, who reportedly
loved honours. She could often be seen dressed in a military uniform, or as an Assyrian
queen. She even arranged the rank of general lieutenant for her 26-year-old son, Vaho,
an act that speaks a lot about the spirit of the 1990s. By that time, she was already a
real star, whose fame was spread even further through her friendship with a number of
Russian celebrities, as well as with some world-famous artists, like Frederiko Felini and
Robert de Niro (Ibid.).
Just like Vanga, Dzhuna was already well known before the fall of the communist
regime. In 1980 her fame even reached the USA after an article about her appeared in
the Chicago Tribune: Soviet Health Healer. Ex-waitress works her magic on the Russian
elite (Gallaher, 1980). According to rumours, Dzhuna might have been the first Soviet
millionaire in the 80’s. However, just like with Vanga, Dzhuna’s fame and influence
spread even more after the political changes at the end of the decade. There are a few
more similarities between the two phenomena. For example, their work was followed
strictly by the Bulgarian National security and the Soviet KGB, and they were both ‘examined’ by scientists trying to find scientific explanations of their abilities. They both
were also very religious. However, Dzhuna presented herself as a healer and preferred
to be taken seriously – more like an unusual scientist than as a prophetess. She was also
quite a charming woman whose eccentric choice of clothes added even more to her
mystical image. Dzhuna had a bohemian character and loved to have plenty of guests
in her home. Her apartment on the famous Arbat street became one of the most desired
places for visits, not only for healing procedures, but also as one of Moscow’s prominent bohemian gathering places at the time. Her charisma attracted all kinds of people
around her, even high-level representatives of the Russian Orthodox church. For example, in the early 1980s she was visited by the current Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox
Church, Cyril Moskovki (2009-) (Balueva, 2018) and by his mentor and predecessor
Patriarch Pimen (1971–1990).
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Pic. 8. Dzhuna and the future Patriarch Cyril. Moscow – Russia, 1990s. Photo: Balueva, 2018.
Pimen had a positive attitude towards Dzhuna. He believed that her gift was helping those in need (Ibid.). At that time, she was already appointed as a head of the Congress of the International Association of Alternative and Traditional Medicine. Later,
she was even presented with an award – the Order of the Jerusalem Temple, and with a
diploma allowing her to teach her healing techniques to others. However, the attitude of
the orthodox priests towards Dzhuna was not uniform. Unlike Vanga, she did not have
the ability to speak with dead people, but, nevertheless, just like the Bulgarian prophetess, Dzhuna was constantly accused of witchcraft by many. Here is one of the public
answers of the Archpriest Valery Karanaev to the question: What is the Church attitude
to the activities of Dzhuna Davitashvili?
The church rules strictly prescribe to Christians to refrain from turning to healers, psychics, sorcerers, fortune tellers and other people involved in communication with the other world... Dzhuna’s influence on people is of a demonic nature.
A profound study by theologians, psychologists, and doctors has proven that psychics have extremely negative effect on the persons whose souls are exposed to a
demonic influence (Karanaev, 2016).
The predictions of Dzhuna were often the result of her knowledge of Astrology.
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That was something intriguing for the Bulgarian fans of the mystical psychic. Astrology became really popular in the 1990s when every newspaper started publishing daily
or weekly horoscopes. Publishers were translating the books of the popular American
astrologist Linda Gudman and the sales appeared to be quite lucrative (see Gudman,
1990). Dzhuna was one of the first popular figures to use astrology in her practice. However, she did not manage to predict the death of her only son in a car accident, nor to
help him in the hospital while he was in critical condition. After that the healer announced that she had lost her strength. She refused to work and even to meet her old
friends. She died in 2015 leaving many unanswered questions about her health condition in the last years of her life and about her inheritance (NTV, 2016). ‘A Russian
astrologist and psychic healer to Leonid Brezhnev, who once claimed she had the power
to prolong life by 100 years, has died, aged 65’ wrote the ‘Independent’ at that time (Independent, 2015). The truth was that, according to Dzhuna’s own words, her life ended
several years earlier with the death of her only child (NTV, 2016). In the same year the
healer died, a TV series about her life, named ‘Dzhuna’, was released to the public. It
was one of many movies, along with documentaries, and interviews that were produced
about her. She was, in a way, a celebrity icon in her lifetime, and she remains a mystical
figure to this day.
P oltergeists and aliens
K iki
‘Be aware, poltergeist!’ (Micheva, 1990) is the title of the published diary of a young
11-year-old girl named Daniela Micheva. In the first Bulgarian book about that kind
of phenomena, Daniela shares her experience with the poltergeist Kiki, who, according to Kiki himself, was an alien sent to earth for scientific purposes. The story began
one January night in 1990, when Daniela and her grandmother, who was visiting for
the girl’s birthday, were going to bed. Soon it became clear that nobody was going to
sleep that night because some invisible force was repeatedly taking Daniela’s socks off.
The event caused real panic in the whole family and the child became hysterical. The
parents were forced to call an ambulance, and the doctor who came became one of the
first witnesses of how Kiki was taking off Daniela’s socks and pajamas, throwing clothes
around and causing chaos throughout the apartment. The doctor tried to calm the girl
down and to explain that such phenomena did exist, that they did not have a proper
explanation, but that they would not hurt her (Ibid., 1990: 3–4). However, it took time
for Daniela and her family to accept the fact that Kiki was real, that he was going to stay,
and that he had no intention of hurting anybody. Meanwhile, the poltergeist was having
fun demonstrating flying clothes, chairs, and other objects and furniture around the
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family’s apartment. He was disturbing the child’s sleep by knocking on the walls and
the furniture at all times during the day or night. The news about the inexplicable phenomenon spread fast and in the very next days the family was visited by journalists, a
priest, curious people who had heard about it, and even a psychic from the Laboratory
of Bioenergetic Treatment in Daniela’s home town of Plovdiv. Soon the child’s mother
realised that if the poltergeist was politely asked to calm down, sometimes he would listen. Eventually, the family found a way to communicate with Kiki by using his knocks –
one knock meant ‘no’, two meant ‘yes’. That is how Kiki approved the name given to
him by Daniela and how he started answering questions. Here are excerpts from some
conversations with the poltergeist taken from Daniela’s diary:
–
Kiki do you see us? – Yes.
–
Do we see you? – No.
–
We cannot see you because we are imperfect, is that so? – Yes.
–
Does your civilisation want to establish a closer contact with us? – Yes.
–
And can you do it at our level of development? – No.
–
Are we the reason why you can’t? – Yes
–
Do you eat on your planet? – Yes
–
Is your food like ours? – No.
–
Do you chew it? – No.
–
Do you drink liquids on your planet? – Yes.
–
Do you have water? – Yes and No…
–
Are you a biological creature? – Yes.
–
Do you have a bone system? – Yes.
–
Do you have a nerve system? – Yes.
–
Do you have a blood system? – Yes.
–
Do you have an excretory system? – Yes…
–
Do you have a sense of?
–
Heath? – Yes.
–
Cold? – Yes.
–
Taste? – Yes.
–
Smell – Yes…
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–
How long have you been on the planet Earth in human years? – 11 (he knocked 11 times)
–
Perhaps since the birth of Daniela? – Yes.
–
Have you always been here since then? – Yes.
–
Why have you appeared only now? Were you waiting for Daniela to become more mature? – Yes.
–
How long you will stay with us?
–
One year? – No….
–
More than 10 years? – Yes.
–
Will you be with us forever? – Yes. (Micheva, 1990: 14)
While the family was learning how to communicate with their new guest, the story
of Daniela became a real sensation among journalists, scientists, and psychics. However, the most interesting part of the story was that Kiki became a superstar for the
children of Bulgaria. This happened thanks to Daniela’s diary, which was published
in multiple issues of the teenager’s newspaper ‘Club 15’. The poltergeist’s fame grew so
much that children would wait impatiently every week for new stories with Kiki and
would then discuss them at school. Eventually, the newspaper’s publishing house decided to publish Daniela’s diary of the first 4 months with Kiki in a book, which reached a
circulation of 50,000.
The interviews for newspapers, national radio stations, the national television, and
many magazines, created huge interest in Daniela. For some people she was a miracle,
while for others, just a psychologically unstable girl. Soon Daniela’s family home was
occupied and their telephone was ringing non-stop. Among those who wanted contact
with the child were people who were searching for help with various health problems.
At first, Kiki was giving correct answers to their health-related questions. However, he
made it clear that that was not something he would like to continue doing. The poltergeist has his own opinions and preferences. For example, he had no wish to communicate with some of the journalists or certain scientists. The heavy cases of people with
serious health issues put a lot of pressure on Daniela and made her sad and occasionally
depressed, which prompted the family to leave Plovdiv. Kiki followed Daniela wherever
she went and continued to be naughty sometimes – sometimes loud and sometimes
nice, insisting on communicating with the child and with other members of the family.
Actually, most of the questions in the book were asked by Daniela’s mother, who had to
do a bit of research for some of them. The whole family had to participate in conversations with Kiki, or else the poltergeist would not let them sleep.
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Pic. 9. Daniela Micheva, 1990, Photo: Ibid. 2.
One of the people who helped Daniela deal with the stress of the situation was a
psychic named Momera Pencheva (Zdravenews.blogspot.com, 2011), who could heal
through bioenergy. Today she is called ‘Vanga’s heiress’ (Ibid.). Back then, she was one
the few people, apart from Daniela and her family, who could feel Kiki’s presence, and
the poltergeist had a positive attitude towards her. It was through Momera that in 1990
Daniela and Kiki had their first public meeting with people in Stara Zagora, where Kiki
was asked questions and gave his answers via knocks (Micheva, 1990: 65). The meeting
had enormous success and it could have been followed by many more, as was the case
with Kashpirovski and Dzhuna, for example. However, Daniela was only 11 years old
and her parents chose to protect her from the pressures of public attention. A few years
later, the family emigrated to America. According to rumours, thanks to Kiki, Daniela
travelled around the world, sponsored by various foundations for gifted children (Blitz.
bg, 2006). She even had the chance to meet Neel Armstrong in the USA (Ibid.). In 2015,
the Bulgarian tabloids announced that Daniela had returned to Bulgaria – Parviyat
balgarski poltergaust se zavarna (the first Bulgarian poltergeist has returned) (Sanovnik.
bg, 2015). The 37-year-old Daniela once again visited Momera Pencheva and confessed
to her that Kiki was not communicating so often any more (Ibid.). Researchers of pol-
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tergeist phenomena, like Hristo Nanev141, claim that this is a normal development after
so many years. According to Nanev, the poltergeists have a limited amount of energy on
Earth. As their energy decreases, the poltergeists communicate less and less until they
finally disappear for good (Blitz.bg, 2013).
The word poltergeist comes from German and it means ‘a noisy ghost’ or ‘a noisy
spirit’. Kiki fits this description perfectly. He was invisible, noisy, and naughty; and even
though he described himself as an alien, nobody knew if that was true for sure. According to Vanga, who was asked about the unusual and uninvited guest, he looked like a
bird and had webbed feet (Sanovnik.bg, 2015). In one of the recorded conversations,
Kiki confessed that he too knew Vanga:
–
Kiki, do you know baba Vanga? – Yes.
–
She says that she speaks with aliens from the planet Vam Fim. Is that true? – Yes.
–
Is there such a planet? – Yes.
–
Is it the third planet from the planet Earth? – Yes.
–
Is that the planet between Mars and Jupiter? – Secret.
–
Vanga says they often take her to their ‘Earth’. Is that true? –Yes.
–
She says that the ‘Earth’ looks as if it’s full of stars. Is that true? – Yes.
–
Do they have houses there? – No.
–
Vanga says that this planet is very well organised. Is that true? – Yes.
–
Vanga says that they do not allow her to ask questions or reveal too much. Is that true? – Yes.
–
Because they are also forbidden from saying too much, aren’t they? – Yes.
–
Is it true that there is a mountain on the planet Earth with the
sculptures of two very important men from their planet? – Yes.
–
Vanga says that we will have a connection with you in
200 years. Is that true? – Yes (Micheva, 1990: 41).
Kiki was not the only poltergeist in Bulgaria, but he was definitely the most famous at that time. After the family stopped to collaborate with the media142 and especially after the emigration of Daniela, people started to forget about it, occasionally
remembering it whenever new information about other poltergeists appeared. Kiki was
141 His book ‘Predskazaniyata na Kiki’ (1991) became bestseller on the Bulgarian book market.
142 The reason for this was the misuse of Kiki’s name and the words attributed to him not only in tabloids but in some
newspapers as well.
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remembered as a naughty, but funny ghost, unlike many others that came in the news.
However, the Church described this kind of phenomenon as impure spirits or demonic
forces (Nova, 2011). Interestingly, in the beginning, Daniela’s parents tried to get rid
of the poltergeist by inviting a priest to their house. That did not go well since Kiki
became very angry after the religious ritual, breaking a chair and forcing the priest to
run down the stairs stuttering: ‘Dear God! What is happening in this house!’ (Micheva, 1990: 5–6). The story of the poltergeist was only one of many phenomena stories in
the 1990s. The ‘spirit from the bottle had been set free’ and the last 10 years of the 20th
century became ‘crowded’ by paranormal events, prophetesses, poltergeists, magical
healers, psychics, etc. It is interesting to note that the spirituality was not popular only
among desperate and easily manipulated people, but among all kinds of regular people
in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe as a whole. Vanga, Dzhuna, Kashpirovksy, Kiki and
Daniela were all examined by scientists. Kashpirovsky’s seances appeared during prime
on several televisions in Eastern Europe. Vanga was popular not only among Bulgarian
celebrities, but was also visited by leading politicians of her time. Dzhuna became famous for healing high level politicians in the Kremlin. And, during that same decade
of the 1990s, the Bulgarian military started an excavation in search of a treasure, or of
a mystical hermaphrodite protohuman. The year was 1990, and the excavation, which
was officially named operation Sun Ray, became known as Tsarichina dupka.
M ystical Excavations
T sarichina dupka
It may sound strange, but everything started with a dream, the dream of Dimitar
Kekemenov, an elevator technician from the village of Tsarichina. According to Dimitar’s story, he had dreamed that he had been chosen to reveal the location of king Samuel’s143 treasure. Kekemenov decided to share his vision with the secretary of the newly
founded association ‘Phenomenon’, Stamen Stamenov144, who later became a famous
Bulgarian ufologist (Tilkova-Alena, 2018). Stamenov was a physician, and as a graduate
of the aviation school in Dolna Mitropolia he was also well connected in the Bulgarian
Army. He used his connections to reach the high level general and present to him his
idea to search for the treasure. As a result, the Headquarters, under the orders of general Radnyu Minchev, approved the start of a secret excavation in the small village of
143 Tsar Samuel was a Bulgarian ruler (998–1014), the first of the Comitopuli dynasty. For many years, together with his
three brothers, he successfully defended the Bulgarian lands against the Byzantine Imperor Vasiliy II (896–1025), known
as ‘The killer of Bulgarians’. In 1014 Vasiliy II defeated the troops of Tsar Samuel in the battle of Belasitsa (29 July 1014)
and then blinded the captured Bulgarian army. Soon after the return of his blinded soldiers, Tsar Samuel died.
144 See Stamenov, 2003.
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Tsarichina, just outside of the capital of Sofia. However, after the team was gathered,
including three psychics who were supposed to help with the search, it appeared that the
treasure they were searching for was not gold, but something else. The leading psychic
of the group, Elisaveta Loginova, became an intermediary between the military part of
the team and, as she named them, The Teachers- an unknown alien civilisation (Nova.
bg, 2019a). According to Loginova, they would help the team make an unusual discovery that would explain the present, the past, and the future of the planet (Ibid.). Following Loginova’s instructions, allegedly received by her from the Teachers, the digging in
Tsarichina started. The work was supposed to be done using a professional digging machine, but due to unexplained electric problems on the site, it had to be done by soldiers
using small controlled explosions. Information about the digging place and the number
of explosions to be used was decided by the Teachers. That is how in two years the excavation had managed to create a 100-meter-deep tunnel in the rocky ground. The tunnel
had the form of a spiral and, according to Loginova, it had already been there, but had
been filled with rocks, as if it were a sealed door to a desired treasure. Even the sceptical
members of the team and the journalists later covering the story admitted that the tunnel was unusual and amazing in a way. Another interesting detail of the work was that
during the digging, contrary to all logic and protocol, no props were used, but there was
never an accident and nobody was ever hurt (Ibid.). However, after a disturbing dream
of one of the team’s psychics, who insisted that baba Vanga had predicted the death of
everyone except Loginova and her husband, the work stopped and the team decided to
consult the famous prophetess. Vanga assured them that nobody would be hurt, and to
the request to describe what they were searching for, she responded:
O oo, az vizhdam be, Lyube, edna zhalta maymuna, ni mazh, ni zhena. Eto
ya, eto ya, vizhdam ya! E sto vi e tova be Lubche, tazi zhuta maymuna?! Lele,
Bozhke… (Oooo, I see it, Lube, a yellow monkey, neither a male, nor a female.
Here it is, I see it! But why do you need this yellow monkey? Oh, dear God!’
(Loginova, 2018: 82)
After that, the goal of the excavation was clear – the team was searching for the
skeleton of the first human on earth – a discovery that would change the scientific
idea of human evolution. At least that was the interpretation of the information of the
Teachers. During Loginovas contact with the aliens one of the ways of transmitting
information was in the form of an unknown writing script. She was writing on several
notebooks without knowing what kind of information that was. According to her, these
notes were the result of the transmissions. They were taken by the army, together with
the rest of the carefully kept documentation of the excavation’s everyday activities, and
later disappeared. Nobody knew how to read those writings, but according to Vanga,
one day Loginova herself will be able do it (Ibid.).
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Pic. 10. Part of Loginova’s written notes of transmissions from the Teachers, 1990s. Photo:
Loginova, 2018: 102.
After the consultations with Vanga the excavation work continued. In her book
‘Tzarichina – sadboven кontakt’ (Tsarichina-Fateful contact) (Loginova, 2018), Elisaveta describes many unusual events during the secret excavation and repeatedly points
out that the project was fully supported by the Army Headquarters. However, during
the difficult transition period in Bulgaria everything was changing very fast and the
new Minister of Defence, Dimitar Ludzhev (1991–1992), who at the time was trying to
reform the army, decided to cut all unnecessary expenses. That is how he learned about
the secret excavation. Being a sceptic, he decided to stop the financing of the Tsarichina
project. However, not long after that he was asked by the powerful members of the Presidency to delay his decision and to meet Loginova. Himself a scientist and still sceptical,
Ludzhev proposed to show Loginova’s notes to the best experts in Bulgaria to try and
identify the mysterious writing system used in them. However, that did not lead to the
desired outcome. Nobody knew what kind of writing that was, and most of the scientists agreed that it looked like a mix of ancient writing systems. After another arranged
meeting with Loginova, this time at the Presidency, the whole team of scientists was
invited to visit Israel with the hope that someone there would be able to find a solution.
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However, the meetings there had no results either (Nova.bg, 2019a).
Meanwhile in Bulgaria, a young team of journalists decided to start the first evening Bulgarian newspaper, called ‘Noshten trud’. They wanted to bring a new approach
to journalism in Bulgaria by using mystery and scandal to attract their audience. In
the beginning of 1992 one of the journalists of this new tabloid was searching for a
leading news. His name was Dimitar Statkov. Through his sources in the prosecution,
he learned that something secret was happening around Tsarichina, and that the Bulgarian army was involved. His first attempt to learn more was met with threats from
the soldiers guarding the site. To their surprise, only two hours later Statkov returned
with a photographer with a hidden camera. The pictures that were secretly taken on
that day provided them with enough material for the first of many articles to follow
about the secret project, published on the pages of ‘Noshten Trud’. A year and a half after the start of the secret excavations, the Tsarichina project became scandalous public
news. Thanks to Dupkata (The hole), as the press and society mockingly started to call
the Tsarichina project, ‘Noshten trud’ quickly reached a circulation of 100, 000 (Ibid.).
Despite the public’s fascination with the topic, the news of public money being spent
on some mysterious excavations at a time of economic hardship, made people critical
and angry about it. The lack of any results for the two years of work and the mounting
public pressure finally put an end to the project. The closing order was signed by the
next minister of Defence, Alexander Staliyski (1992). The tunnel was filled with cement
and sealed. After that, many of the leading figures in the failed experiment tried to distance themselves from the scandal and put the blame on Loginova. Initially hailed as
an ‘amazing phenomenon’, she was now being described as a ‘crazy woman’. Two years
after the end of the excavations and still working at the Ministry of Defence, she was
still trying to decode her own writings. In 1994 she finally quit her job.
I nstead of conclusion
Perhaps this could be the end of this story. However, the name Tsarichina continues to hold a mystical power that keeps it in the public eye through numerous publications, movies and interviews on the topic, even to this day. Recently Dimitar Ludzhev
confessed: ‘Tsarichina is a mystery, yes, but the biggest mystery is how those generals
who were involved in all this could really believe in it. And they weren’t the only ones…
There were people in the presidency who also believed in this story. Now that is the real
mystery!’ (Nova.bg, 2019a). However, if Tsarichina has such a strong fascinating power
to this day, maybe it is not so surprising, after all, that so many ‘serious people’ were
enchanted by the idea in the beginning of the 1990s. We have to remember that the excavation happened in the so-called ‘transition period’ when people not only believed in
miracles, but they were actively looking for them. The lifting of the socialist censorship
just gave them the freedom to express their true desires and fears. That doesn’t mean
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that those beliefs had not existed before. Tsarichina was not the first and only mystical
excavation about which Vanga was consulted and which was patronised by high level
authorities in Bulgaria. In 1981 Vanga described to her niece a mystical place in the
Strandzha mountain. This led to excavations, whose members witnessed some unexplained phenomena (Nova. Bg., 2019b). Vanga herself was a respected authority way
before the political changes of 1989. After that, she just became a controversial icon –
either a saint or a witch, but either way iconic. Today her summer house in Rupite (currently a Vanga museum) and the church built by her are not only tourist destinations,
but also places of worship. Dzhuna also gained her fame before the fall of communism,
in the early 1980s, and she managed to use it successfully when the political changes
happened. Her destiny was similar to that of Vanga – to be adored and praised by some,
and denounced by others, just like Kashpirovsky, Kiki, and Loginova. This attitude is
an authentic expression of human nature. In the 1990s people needed to satiate their
hunger for long forbidden needs and to alleviate their fear from the chaos of the transition. This is how the desire for information about the esoteric, occultism, contacts with
space civilisations, etc. led to the enormous circulation of tabloids like ‘Psycho’. And
that is why ‘the mediums, the psychics, the clairvoyants became so numerous that they
became more than the ‘not-gifted’ (Tilkova-Alena, 2018). At the end, we have to add that
this whole ‘mystical revolution’ was happening under the disapproving observation of
the Bulgarian Orthodox church, which back then, just as today, was trying to regain her
leading role in the hearts and lives of the Bulgarian people.
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(Who was Dzhuna Davitashvili: The Life and Death of a Psychic). Available at:
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Anatoli Kashpirovski – ofitsial’n’iy sayt. Available at: kashpirovskiy.com (accessed 12
November 2020).
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com/user/akashpirovskiy (accessed 13 November 2020).
Balueva, A. (2018) Foto s istoriyey. Dzhuna i budushchiy patriarkh Kirill v 1981 godu
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Blitz.bg (2006) Poltargaysat Kiki izbyaga v Amerika (Poltergeist Kiki Fled to America).
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Kiki has Passed Away). Available at: https://cutt.ly/bjFh1H3 (accessed 27 October
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2020).
Bnt.bg (2016) Lachenite obuvki na Bulgarskoto dokumentalno kino (The Patent Shoes
of the Bulgarian Documentary Cinema). Available at: https://bnt.bg/bg/a/filmat-fenomen (accessed 11 November 2020).
Borisova, Y. (2020) Chudoto Dyado Vlaycho, sadba, retsepti i prorochestva (The Miracle
of Grandfather Vlaycho – Destiny, Recipes and Prophecies). Sofia: Millenium.
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Plamena Stoyanova, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and
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E-mail: plamena.stoyanova@iefem.bas.bg
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AND POST-YUGOSLAV QUEST FOR A MIRACLE
Sanja Lazarević Radak
Abstract: After the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY),
in Serbia and other post-Yugoslav societies emerged а strong and obsessive need for
the research of the biography of Yugoslav lifelong president Josip Broz Tito. Numerous
articles, books, biographies and essays about Tito, lost their previous ideological and
political significance, while discourse on his personality broke beyond the boundaries of political history. Contemporary discursive, practical and ritual use of Josip Broz
Tito’s ‘real’ biography is shifting between a mere historical memory and a critique of
daily and political life during the transition. Enriched with ‘mystery’, narratives about
Yugoslav past become a compensation for a sense of dissatisfaction, distrust in institutions and a general sense of failure in numerous political, economic and cultural plans
of post-Yugoslav societies. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the quest for a miracle
in contemporary Serbian yellow press by identifying three key figures (archetypes) that
initiate a discourse of Yugoslav hero, father and trickster.
Keywords: nostalgia, miracle, Josip Broz Tito, newspapers, discourse
Nostalgia for ‘better’ and ‘fairer’ time is present throughout the former Eastern
Bloc, as well as in post-Yugoslav societies that once were non-aligned. Although, in public discourse in the late 1980s and 1990s this country was declared ‘dictatorship’, and
even ‘totalitarian’, nowadays, memories of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
take the form of a myth of Golden age (Žirarde, 2000: 12). The crises of Yugoslav socialism and narratives about the dissolution of SFRY are often interpreted as the results
of misjudgements, failures and mistakes that resulted in sacrificing the once beloved
homeland. The opposite interpretations that evaluate Yugoslav past as a result of illusion, naivety and even conspiracy are still present in public discourse of post-Yugoslav
countries, although they have lost previous popularity. Similar to yugonostalgia, they
rely on the history of memory, imagination, political myths, and are away from objective, fact-based history (Velikonja, 2010: 30). Yugonostalgia is present in everyday life,
in the ruptures of historical discourse; it takes advantage of the economic and social
discontent of the former Yugoslav citizens and it functions as a critical framework for
the interpretation of numerous problems that post-Yugoslav societies are facing (Palmberger, 2008: 355–370). In yugonostalgic frame, Josip Broz Tito, remains one of the most
significant figures while (re)imagining his biography reflects social needs and dissatisfaction (Kuljić, 2009: 253–257).
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In a broader context of the Balkans, nostalgia for the ‘better’ past has been widespread since the late 1990’s. In 1990’s Turkey, commodification of Kemal Ataturk’s image was noticeable in numerous statues, portraits, in restaurants and bars, night clubs,
veterinarian stations, on T-shirts, mugs, еtc. becoming a popular souvenir or birthday
gift. The interest in Ataturk reflected the dissatisfaction with new Turkish politicians
and leaders (Özyürek, 2004: 374–391). In neighboring countries that once were considered a part of the Eastern Bloc, the situation was similar. According to Public Opinion
Barometer of Soros Foundation (2006) 53% of Romanians considered communism to
be ‘a good idea’, while according to Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy 41%
of Romanians would have voted for Ceausescu, if he had run for a president (Dragomir,
2009: 7–28). Although Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, placing flowers in
front of Todor Zivkov’s monument and giving speeches at the ceremony of 100th anniversary of his birth, testify to the renewed interest in the past that once was interpreted
as the age of totalitarianism (Reuters, 2011). In the past twenty years in Serbia, numerous political leaders were perceived as bad imitators of Josip Broz Tito:
Now the people are wondering, who will replace Tito’, were the verses of the song
written at the time of Slobodan Miloševic. Almost three decades later, Serbs seem
to have received an adequate replacement for Tito, just as a coffee substitute was
sold in Serbian stores at the time of the sanctions (Petrović, 2016).
Flexibly structured elements of the yugonostalgic discourse are the results of creativity that enables memories of Yugoslavia to intertwine with those on Tito. In different political and media contexts Tito’s biography is present in archetypal forms, three
of which are the most notable – hero / rebel; trickster and strict father (Nabokova,
2017: 271–284). The representations and narratives about Tito’s life that can be found in
post-Yugoslav journalism and other popular writing forms rely upon ruptures in Tito’s
official biography. In the period of transition Yugoslavia and Josip Broz Tito cease to be
the final bearers of a set of stereotypes, representations and archetypes, becoming a part
of political folklore, non-manifest form of resistance and the ground for projection of
political, social and economic needs of the post-Yugoslav societies.
In this frame, Josip Broz Tito and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are
becoming a part of a discourse, while narratives they evoke, provide a sense of security, protection, political and geo-symbolic importance. Therefore, they also function as
mutually interchangeable figures – when one is present, the other one can be latent and
vice versa. Their meanings are complementary because they are mutually supportive,
they act as a whole affirming the order in which the president was one with the state
(Balandije, 1997: 10). This image becomes a model and enables contemporary tensions
to be eased by remembering ‘better’ and ‘safer’ times (Boym, 2002: 99).
Newspaper discourse, blog content, forums, street art, Facebook posts and anec-
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dotes imply a call for the help and the miraculous power of the former leader. Miraculous depends upon the set of ordered relations in question (Daglas, 1979: 31). Human
actions, thoughts, wishes and ritual performances as a part of a moral system are concerned with the harmony or disharmony of the order (Bowie, 2011: 127–137). The narratives about miraculous intervention, about the breakup of Yugoslavia and supernatural
traits of its president, serve as emotional comfort for their former citizens. This is how
Tito’s official biography has been transformed into a story about a man with unclear
origin, connections with the outside world and even with the Universe. By becoming
ambivalent, like father, protector, or morally questionable trickster, he remains in contact with a world that is beyond the comprehension of the citizens of Serbia and other
post-Yugoslav countries.
T heoretical-methodological framework
In his study Media and Affective Mythologies, Darren Kelsey argues that political
myths navigate psychologically discursive practices, historical, social, archetypal and
ideological resources. Drawing on critical discourse analysis and broadly understood
theory on the archetypes of the collective unconscious, Kelsey assumes the reciprocity
of mythology, discourse and ideology (2017: 41). Myths and great narratives are inseparable from language and media. They are the elements of a complex network in which
representations, discourses and memories repeat. Unlike the classical notion of archetype that implies the general symbolism of mankind and particularly intense emotional
reactions, for contemporary research, archetypes function as patterns that structure
typical emotional responses (Samuels, 2002: 63). The power of archetype can be explained with its ability to summarise the experience, but unlike the stereotype, it is enriched with unquestionability and a deep moral justification. It arises along the culturally conditioned chronological vertical that allows certain actions, images, and typical
responses to be legitimised by a value system imposed during the socialisation. Despite
the postmodern relativisations of social roles, these typical psychological responses survive because they rely upon social rewards and favouritism (Lakoff, 2003: 70). Among
anthropologists and sociologists, this paradigm has made it possible to identify various, related figures from the very beginning of political life – from Palaeolithic to the
Modern time; to interpret contemporary phenomena such as Brexit, and to analyse the
media reports about the migrants (Horvath, 2013: 11).
Political studies exploring the use of archetypal images in political campaigns have
made it possible to single out five key characters of political leaders – trickster, rebel,
technocrat, messiah, and outsider (Djakeli, 2013: 25–31). Drawing on the assumption
that newspaper discourse is one of the most immediate and reliable sources for the
study of everyday life, newspaper articles and stories are considered a part of folklore
and a distinct genre given the intertextuality and freedom of the author to include their
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own commentary in the report (Lakić, 2009: 91–108). Discourse is understood as a
non-manifest and non-transparent subject of speech, while its analysis is understood as
a research of both manifest (obvious) and latent (hidden) meanings of what is written
(Foucault, 2007: 8). Given the limited scope of this paper, only newspaper articles from
Serbia as one of the post-Yugoslav states, were analysed. Insight into the texts published
in other post-Yugoslav societies reveal similar themes and similar nostalgic engagement
with the discourse on the common, Yugoslav past, its influence, significance, and ‘miraculous’ biography of its lifelong president (Žanić, 2018: 84).
H ero and Rebel
The end of World War II and the national liberation struggle resulted in the creation of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. The war brought a large number
of victims among young people, so the cult of the victim became – along with others, a
constituent element on which the ideology of Yugoslav society was based. In SFRY, for
the first time, Day of Youth was celebrated on May 25th, 1945 as Tito’s birthday, gradually becoming a national holiday. Celebrating Day of Youth as the presumed birthday
of its president, forming institutions of pioneers, youth organisations, youth actions,
rhetorical and narrative investment in youth becomes the ground upon which it was
possible to strengthen the image of a father – leader (Kuligowski, 2012: 47–60). The
most important symbol of Day of Youth was a relay carried by thousands of young people starting from Tito’s birth town, to be carried through towns and cities of Yugoslavia.
The ceremony would culminate in the Stadium of Yugoslav Army in Belgrade, where
Tito would receive a relay as a birthday present. Young people were preparing for the
event for months while the richly crafted relay was carried through Yugoslavia for more
than six weeks. The public discourse presents Yugoslavia as the result of the actions of
young people, while its ideological frame of puer aethernus, enables multiplying similar
representations of its history, foreign policy and dominant ideology. Despite the fact
that Tito’s biography and autobiographies were abandoned as early as the mid-1980’s as
mere ‘lies and fabrications’, they were used fifteen years later for the purpose of re-imagining the Yugoslav ‘creator’ and ‘hero’. The hyperbolisation of his intelligence, wisdom,
diplomatic and political skills, ceased to be the subject of criticism and ridicule, becoming a part of ‘the mystery of Yugoslavia.’
Although both trickster and father are heroic archetypal images, Tito’s Yugoslav
version of biography resembles a rebellious one, which makes his heroism a separate
element. Tito’s biography and its use in public discourse during the 1950’s and 1960’s reveal an image of a hero. Photographs, texts, stories from World War II, indicate wisdom
rather than willingness to sacrifice his own life for the greater good. The fact that Tito
would rather be named ‘The son of the nations’, instead of their father, suggests the role
he has been aspiring to. The meaning of the ‘sons of the nation’ connotes the symbols of
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freedom and liberation, investment in the future and breaking with tradition that could
be considered obsolete and outdated. This is how he has been dealing with the ‘fathers’
in psychological terms, representing himself as a hero who changes and transforms
the existing order. Called ‘old man’, by his comrades, though presented as a ‘Son of the
Nations’ in the public, Josip Broz Tito secured a double reputation – the creator and
the heir, the present and the future. School textbooks, newspaper discourse and official
biography represent Tito as a hero. These include the ability to organise an illegal and
victorious army; the ability to resist, think through, create contacts, change identity and
use talents almost impossible to trace. Everything about Tito remains mysterious and
unclear – from the circumstances of his birth, his origin, youth, political and ideological activities, to the circumstances of his death. It is precisely the ruptures, illogicalities,
and the impossibility of completing the ‘puzzle’ of his biography that contribute to the
image of heroic, supernatural, miraculous, and ambivalent.
P ersonality cult, imaginary enemy and new forms of glorification
Since the dissolution of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia almost thirty years ago, memories of the socialist past and the common state have undergone vast
transformation in each of the republics (Pavasović Trošt, 2020: 1–12). Until it became
a symbolic framework for criticism of everyday life, the personality cult of Josip Broz
Tito went through numerous transformations conditioned by social needs. As Todor
Kuljić points out, the image of Josip Broz Tito went from ‘glorification of the son of the
nation’, to demonisation and imagining the ‘slaughterer from Kumrovec’ (Kuljić, 2005:
457). After World War II, socialist Yugoslavia and its president Josip Broz Tito were
represented as paradigmatic rebels. His image relied upon resistance to the Axis, the socalled ‘historical no’ addressed to Stalin and opting for non-alignment. Ambivalence,
identity changes, ontologically questionable ability to be at multiple places at the same
time, skilful political and economic balance between the two blocs, nurturing good
relations with both capitalist and postcolonial countries, are just some of the traits that
allow us to withdraw parallels between Tito’s biography and stories of numerous cultural heroes and myths around the world (Velikonja, 2011: 85–93).
The creation of miracles began in the first years after World War II. Narratives on
Tito’s childhood, usually in school magazines, follow the structure of a heroic myth.
Stories follow seemingly irrelevant and bizarre details from Tito’s childhood and youth
(Adrić, et al. 2003: 183). In the article My childhood was difficult, Tito recalls that at the
age of fifteen, he left his poor family and village: ‘So at the age of fifteen, Tito left his
native Kumrovec to make a living’ (Zmaj, 1968: 65). The boy was disappointed in the
world, although retaining supernatural traits, he endured the quest: ‘The boy became a
man’ (Ibid., 67).
The hero archetype is associated with the process of overcoming obstacles that lead
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to certain goals. At the age of fifteen he embarks on a journey. In the myths, these
goals are most often aimed at finding value, which is a manifest part of the narrative.
On this heroic journey, he encounters numerous challenges that, to the delight of the
public confirm fearlessness, moral righteousness, and intelligence (Bevk, 1966: 17). By
mobilising energy, will and power, coping with the various tasks of life, the hero creates
his unique path, and determines the direction in which the society will move. Finally, a
hero-rebel discourse is established:
Instead of fairy tales about princes and princesses, as a child, Joža Broz was listening to the rebellious legends and songs about peasant king Matija Gubac, about
the hard and fair peasant justice, for which the blood flowed in streams through
the gentle hills of Zagorje (Zmaj, 1968: 36).
These qualities continue in youth, completing the image of the hero:
When the invaders divided and quarrel the Yugoslav peoples, when it seemed
that they would remove them from the earth, he – Tito, called for an uprising, a
relentless fight until expelling the invaders, until the final victory, true freedom
and justice (Ibid., 37).
He creates miracles, and thus, Yugoslavia:
The legend about Tito and his country trampled by all kinds of invaders, tormented by turbulent past is well known around the world. Now Yugoslavia welcomes freedom. Factories sprang up in the fields, shepherds got used to work
with machines, people studied and worked to become a part of the working class
and masters of their craft. Today it is known all over the world – Yugoslavia is a
revolution; Yugoslavia is Tito; Yugoslavia is the country of free people, economic
and cultural progress; Yugoslavia, means socialism (Ibid., 37).
The years preceding the breakup of Yugoslavia brought about the criticism of outdated ideology and poor administration represented by an aged father. In psychological
terms, this is a clichéd and symbolic murder of the father that soon will be stigmatised
as a dictator and a tyrant (Frojd, 1969: 115). In the narrative, the death of a hero occurs when the individual/society faces its own imperfections. Public discourse conveys
this as myth breaking, disillusionment, sobering, waking up and the moment of truth
(Živković, 2012). However, the myth remains latent. This moment occurred in Yugoslav
societies parallel with the culmination of the economic crisis in the late 1980s. The crisis was the result of economic and social pressures, as well as the result of changes in
the constellation of international relations (the disappearance of the bloc division) that
ended in the (re)creation of ethno-nationalistic myths. At this moment, the hero transformed into an enemy, while his previous image was exposed to stigmatisation. The
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concept of inevitable Yugoslav end and the erroneousness of socialist politics appeared
in the mid-1980s and culminated in the 1990s.
A couple of years later, Yugoslavia fell apart, and the alleged discovery of ‘misconceptions and lies’, in which public discourse includes Tito’s biography, became a part
of the folklore. The myth gained legitimacy as the ‘voice of the people’ and some of its
elements survive to this day (Čolović, 1997: 15). Less often, they are transferred in newspaper articles following a similar structure:
Today we have exposed everything, or maybe not everything, we have seen that
we have been deceived with as a nation, that with believing in Yugoslavia and its
leader, we have been forced to work against our interests – to disintegrate Yugoslavia, to destroy our own people (Nedeljnik, 2017).
In the early 1990s, in the Yugoslav republics that would soon become post-Yugoslav
societies, emerged theories about the destruction of ethnic identity, projects related to
‘genetic destruction of the race’ and secret projects against particular nations. Each Yugoslav / post-Yugoslav republic/country had its own version of these folklore formulas
(Živković, 2012: 160).
Discovering the ‘accurate’ elements of Tito’s biography has an ambivalent form.
The image of a hedonist that at first had the negative connotation of wastefulness and
consumerism at the expense of the working class, will be transformed into an image of a
cosmopolitan, traveller and a politician who enjoyed the respect of numerous statesmen
all over the world. Until this transformation took place, his political engagement was
perceived as a mere enjoyment financed by Yugoslav citizens:
Broz was a typical hedonist and bon vivant. Pharaohs, emperors, kings, did not
live in such splendour and enjoyed such spectacles. As an adventurer and traveller, with the magnificent ship ‘Galeb’ and with an unprecedented camaraderie,
he travelled the oceans and seas, continents, and the world’s largest metropolises,
ostensibly all in a peace mission. He was spending people’s goods and fed on the
sweat of the workers. As a dandy, he was wearing the most expensive clothes,
enjoying precious things like jewellery and golden rings. He drove in luxury cars
and swam on yachts (Wordpress, 2019).
Through the web of mythical language, the Yugoslav hero went through three key
phases of the rite of passage – separation, initiation, reintegration, and each time, the
narratives were enriched with new meanings. After a decade, the narratives about Yugoslavia and Tito regained a positive connotation. In the article Hero, A greatest son of
the people, Spy, Criminal, Mason: Who was actually Josip Broz Tito, we are rediscovering his heroic qualities:
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Everyone will say that Josip Broz Tito was a phenomenon and a unique historical
figure who exists to the present day in the collective consciousness of the people
and as a ‘supernatural being’ about whom stories are told more than three decades after his death and more than twenty years after Yugoslavia disappeared.
Whether we love him or hate him, his cult is refusing to die, or at least we refuse
to bury it (Politika, 2016).
But potential hatred becomes, if not love, then sympathy. It multiplies endlessly
through the newspaper discourse, while ‘ordinary people’ and witnesses of Tito’s miraculous decades, speak of justice, equality, and freedom:
Life was great during Tito’s time. The salaries were nice, and we went to the sea
regularly. I’ve been everywhere, from Ljubljana to Trieste. Life was normal, worthy of a human being. Unfortunately, that’s gone (Mojnovisad, 2019).
Memories of the ‘ideal society’ also include interpersonal, international and political relations, as well as social institutions:
Sick benefit could be used without major problems and systematic medical examinations were mandatory and conducted in all companies (Kurir, 2017).
The unstable historical discourse that ranges from glorification to stigmatisation,
and then to the memories of ‘Tito’s time’, enables imagining the former hero, father
and the son of the nation in a collusion with the supernatural. Tito’s diplomatic talent
and heroism have no rational origin. Exaggerated and altered memories of the Yugoslav
past evoke the magical and otherworldly elements involved in the creation of Tito’s
biography:
In 1956, Josip Broz Tito received a dagger known as ‘kiss’ with an ivory handle
and a carved figure of a deity decorated with rubies as a gift from the President
of Indonesia, Ahmed Sukarno. This gift is specific not only because it was expensive, but also because it is believed to have mystical powers. Those who made
this powerful weapon, also performed ancient rituals in order to endow the blade
with mystical powers, and for that reason it was considered that the dagger was
inhabited by evil or good spirits. According to the legend, the dagger could kill
at its own will, as well as could stand up when the owner called him. The dagger
was a symbol of heroism, power, and authority. According to some beliefs, the
blades of this dagger were considered almost alive, or at least they were under the
influence of supernatural forces (Telegraf, 2018).
Other assumptions bring Tito into connection with Christ himself, while his supernaturalness is interpreted by hereditary predispositions:
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By blood, and by his father Franjo, he was a descendant of Jesus Christ, similar
to heirs of dynasties Nemanjić, Branković, Karađorđević… Starting with Christ,
they all belong to the tribe of Benjamites, with light red hair and blue eyes. The
members of the Priory of Zion are the descendants of Sarah, the daughter of Jesus
whom he had with Mary Magdalene (Dnevno, 2014).
This ‘divine origin’, which implies divine qualities and supernatural powers, came
to the fore in the early 2000s when Tito was imagined as a trickster – an ambivalent
politician who, thanks to suspicious contacts and risky actions, built Yugoslavia and at
least temporarily provided a comfortable life for its citizens.
Y ugoslav trickster
The destabilised image of a country of freedom, peace and social security clashed
with the everyday life of the devastated society of the 1990s (Bolčić, 1994: 139–146).
Ten years after the breakup of Yugoslavia, post-Yugoslav societies entered the transition, rapid social changes, transformation of the economy and met new forms of living.
Trickster is a widespread figure that can be found in folklore around the world – in
fables, mythologies and fairy tales which occupies a significant place in popular culture. Tricksters communicate with the human and the divine, they are capable of transformation, disappearance, and reappearance (Lazarević Radak, 2020: 189–204). Their
adventures include escapes, crossing dangerous borders, changing identities. They use
deception and are known for their ability to camouflage. It allows them to change their
physical appearance and to avoid becoming a prey. They are able to change the situation, by reversing each subject, regardless of its prestigious position. Tricksters are born
from a hybrid relationship, so they combine divine and human qualities. Among the
most common traits are those associated with hedonism, sensuality, and fertility. Its
hybrid nature seeks for hedonism and luxury, while his sensuality is the result of both
holiness and profanity (Bassil-Morozow, 2017: 84–96). Trickster is a favourite of deities
or a sacralised figure, which introduces an ambivalent gift into the cultural text – debt.
Borrowing goods from the gods, he undermines his own project. His life ends in a series of transformations. The trickster disappears, and being ambivalent, his finality can
never be certain (Hynes, 1997: 17):
The various skills attributed to Tito are surrounded with mystery. Proponents
of conspiracy theories claimed that real Tito was a spy who stole the identity of
Josip Broz; It might be that Tito actually was corporal of the Austro-Hungarian
army who died during the First World War. Others think that he was of a noble
origin (RTS, 2019).
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His tricksterism is present in the ability of transformation that remains inexplicable and calls into question its very existence. It is associated with the ambivalence (impossibility of the final classification on the side of Good / Evil). Speculations about his
origin connote the ambivalence and hybridity – one of the parents is usually of ‘aristocratic’ origin, a holder of a noble title, an influential statesman, or Jesus Christ himself,
while the other parent comes from the ‘people’. The ability to turn the situation to his
own advantage is recognised in the famous ‘historical no’ addressed to Stalin. The benefit he derives from this act is another one in a series of liminal possibilities – placing the
country between East and West he managed to use the advantages of both sides. This
benefit or a ‘gift’ remains short-term because in the late 1980s the newspaper discourse
concluded that the war in the SFRY was a consequence of over-indebtedness in both
the East and the West, and a proof of the unsustainability of the Yugoslav project. His
numerous wives, alleged dozens of mistresses, short and long-term relationships, and
numerous descendants became the subject of thousands of headlines (Luftika, 2018).
Journalists and popular writers identify his hedonism in the allegedly excessive enjoyment in food which inspired publishing ‘Tito’s’ recipes and cookbooks.
He changed seventeen pseudonyms and fifteen dates of birth. He himself was fuelling the mystery. Some authors claimed that he was an American, British, and even a
German; some believed NKVD appointed him as the head of the Yugoslav Communist
Party, while others evidenced, he was installed by Freemasons. He was proclaimed a
Polish, a Russian, a Jew, and even a woman. The mystery of who was actually Josip Broz
Tito – former president of Yugoslavia and the creator of the Non-Aligned Movement,
has been going on since World War II, when the New York Times announced that Soviet Colonel Lebed was hiding behind Tito’s pseudonym. In the text from the internal
bulletin of The National Security Agency NSA, based on the phonetic analysis of his
speech, it was concluded that Josip Broz used Serbo-Croatian with a foreign accent,
while his mother tongue was Russian or Polish. It is also claimed that ‘the greatest son
of our peoples’ is actually a completely different person, much younger than Josip Broz,
born in 1892. Tito’s alleged Polish accent fits somewhat with earlier claims that the
lifelong president of SFRY is in fact a child of a Polish countess Maria and her servant –
Franz Ambrose, who met the real Josip Broz from Kumrovec in the garrison of the
Austro-Hungarian army in Pest (Kurir, 2013).
In Yugoslavia, Tito’s diplomatic skills and courage to oppose Stalin were discussed
in the context of anti-authoritarianism and the liberal tradition. Since the 1990s, in
Serbia and other post-Yugoslav countries, journalists point out Tito’s miraculous ability
to escape Stalin’s allegedly numerous assassination attempts. Thus, it is not uncommon
for the avoidance of assassination to be interpreted as supernatural. According to these
assumptions, his jewellery repelled the assassins:
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Gold and diamonds are the easiest to program, Tito wore them with white gloves
on his fists, and those who received them (from Tito) wear them on their fingers…
Jewellery programming is an old technique and has been used since Babylon, it
achieves obedience. Remember that jewellery is always given when the emperor
visits another emperor or a king. The one who has a more skilled magician, wins
(Dnevno, 2014).
Even his death remains questionable due to the nature of the trickster. Tricksters
usually disappear, and their finality can never be certain:
At the funeral of Josip Broz Tito, the whole nation and more than seven hundred
guests from all over the world were deceived! In the coffin that was transported
from the Federal Assembly to the House of Flowers, on May 8, 1980, instead of
the body of the marshal, there was a sandbag covered with a flag (Kurir, 2019).
The ability to be at several places at the same time, to retain multiple forms and
identities, that lack official explanation, enables continuous publication, renewal, and
reproduction of seemingly different narratives (Baba, 2004: 128).
T he figure of a strict father and a power over his children
John Lakoff, noticed that one of the most influential political archetypes is a figure
of a strict and just father. The imagological repository of numerous politicians all over
the world rely upon the assumption that charisma, the use of metaphors, archetypes,
stereotypes, and representations play a more significant role in political life than the
so-called rational choice (Lakoff, 2004: 7). In-depth analysis starts from the assumption
that the father archetype represents totality of opposites, which is the reason for its ambiguity. As an image, the father is dynamic so he can take the form of a hero, magician,
or a magical animal that retains a suggestive-dominant influence on the individual
(child) or the society (Jung, 1971: 99). Its key features remain related to persuasiveness
and activity, while its invisibility is reflected by other symbols and psychological images
(Hark, 1997: 24). Therefore, he can be like a godfather, an invisible principle that governs family / state and can be unyielding like any ruler. Nevertheless, his actions have
justifications, whether, at a given political moment they are visible and manifest or not.
Since he has supernatural qualities or is in a collusion with the supernatural, he usually
knows better than his ‘children’, which, as yugonostalgic mythopoetics confirm, finds
legitimacy in the fact that symbolically understood as children (sons) destroyed the
state whose value, obviously, only the father knew. The metaphor of the state / nation as
a family, on which the notion of the statesman-father is based, is one of the most common and strongest, and the pater familias within it becomes an absolute monarch and
a source of legitimacy in the use of paternalistic symbolism as a source of popularity.
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Thus, on a general political level that affirms the close and limited syntaxes of political myth, ‘homelands’ become the countries in which individuals are born and raised;
the ‘sons of the nation’ are dying for freedom, the ‘fathers of the nation’ are building
post-colonial nation-states, their ‘children’ are becoming metaphors for the future. In
numerous societies, there are ‘older brothers’, ‘leaders of the people’, and their rights are
legitimised by the assumptions about personification and embodiment. Leaders-fathers
are usually the main actors in revolutions, and the emergence of these political leaders is conditioned by social crises and transformations. Mahatma Gandhi, or ‘Bapu’,
Sukarno, Sun Yat-sen, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Nelson Mandela, Peter
the Great, and Stalin are just some of the statesmen who have been called the fathers of
the nation. Comrades called Tito stari which suggests the position of a ‘father’ when,
among his associates, he was named an old Man.145
John Lakoff outlines that, in the political context, the figure of the strict father, otherwise present in many mythologies, comes from the assumption that, in a dangerous
world outside the state, and a metaphorically understood family circle, there is a clearly
polarised good / bad, and that the moral duty of the father is to: 1. Protect the family from danger; 2. Teach the child to distinguish between good and bad or to protect
him regardless of the child’s will (Lakoff, 2016: 7). Obedience is expected from a child
because a strict father is a moral authority, so learning obedience implies discipline
in order to preserve the interests of the child himself. In the past decade, newspaper
discourse has emphasised the importance of socialisation – in terms of an upbringing
(political) at the time when Josip Broz Tito was the ‘son and father of the peoples.’
Growing up in ‘Tito’s time’ meant growing up in a system which ideological basis was: anti-fascism – with the deepest respect for the victims of the Holocaust, from
Auschwitz to Jasenovac; anti-Stalinism; social justice – with a deep sense of solidarity;
non-alignment – with the moral right to speak critically of both East and West (Govoreći bosanski, 2012).
Tito was no longer a political figure whose decisions depend on a complex set of
international circumstances, but the father who directly provides the individual and
the society with material goods creating their everyday life. His wonder, his supernaturalness, gained new strength. Political successes from the past, which individuals
were allegedly unaware of, take on a hint of the inexplicable:
The Yugoslav passport was respected worldwide. We were safe. One could fall
asleep in the middle of the meadow and no one would harm him. Now, it seems
that we are not safe in our own apartments. Public health and education were
free. We drank healthy water and ate healthy food; We didn’t have to think about
how we are going to survive. We had a higher standard. I remember, I wore the
145 In Serbo-Croatian slang, the old man (stari) means father.
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original ‘Levis’ jeans, which I brought from Trieste. My parents were teachers,
although their salaries were not high, we went to the sea for three weeks every
year; my memory of this golden period is still alive. My father got an apartment.
We travelled during both winter and summer holidays, and we were spending as
if it would be like that for a thousand years (Alo, 2016).
The newspaper discourse that marked the beginning of the SARS CoV-19 pandemic in Serbia strengthened the image of Tito – father. Dissatisfied with the measures introduced by the government during the pandemic, citizens began comparing post-Yugoslav decades with Yugoslav ‘Golden age’. Since the state of emergency in Serbia was
declared (17 March 2020) memories of the smallpox epidemic, vaccination, patient care
and hospital equipment in 1972 were evoked and compared with poor organisation and
insufficient equipment of the health care system in Serbia in 2020. The alleged prevention of the catastrophe that Europe could face in 1972 was emphasised in the public
discourse, while the numerous Tito’s talents and skills were highlighted. It was pointed
out that people had confidence in the state and institutions. That trust, journalists claim
was long lost:
People were not allowed to comment on Josip Broz’ decisions. Without a warning
and the right to choose, measures were immediately implemented, so you break
them if you dare. Or you are crazy to risk punishment (Danas, 2020).
This representation of the father statesman has a dual function. At the time of the
self-isolation measures introduced in Serbia during March 2020. Josip Broz Tito was
presented as a statesman that introduced measures in a more radical form, but in order
to protect the citizens. Introducing this figure to the public discourse provides a sense of
imaginary security. Remembering a strict father allows one to evoke the time of security and symbolic childhood. This memory reveals ambivalence and it flirts with conservatism that survives alongside with liberal and nostalgic memories. Tito was once again
represented as a father that opposes a children’s self-destructive disobedience:
At the end, without evil intentions, I must remember the epidemic of smallpox
that struck us in 1972. The state reacted efficiently, there was no state of emergency, life functioned normally. The epidemic was overcome in two months, there
were (officially) about 190 infected and 40 dead, and an incredible 18 million
inhabitants of the former Yugoslavia were vaccinated! Yes, I forgot something
else – the president Josip Broz Tito did NOT ONCE appear on the television and
never addressed the public on the occasion of the epidemic, everything was left
to the experts (Ibid., 2020).
This image of the past enables a latent critical discourse that establishes the op-
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position: past – present / good – bad. Tito’s invisibility remains in the service of both
‘heating up the mystery’, and creating the image of a strict father – a statesman, the
protector of the people. Doctors who participated in stopping the pandemic also join
this discourse:
Back then, people believed in the healthcare system, they trusted doctors and
authorities – and that’s the essential difference; ‘Now they don’t trust anyone because they have been cheated and played for fools for 30 years, so they don’t trust
doctors, authorities or health authorities, and, unfortunately, that skepticism is
often justified’; one of the main weapons in defeating smallpox was the principle
which is universally applicable. ‘The most important is that one has to stick to the
truth, respect the citizens and do not deceive them,’ concludes Dr. Radovanovic
(BBC, Aleksandar Miladinović, 2020).
Archetypes are above ideological polarisations. In the political realm, the need for
a father – protector remains equally present among conservatives, liberals and democrats (Lakoff, 2003: 70). The two versions of the parental model are closely related to the
problems related to control, crime, ecology, minority rights, social programs, and even
the introduction of emergency measures.
C onclusion
The prolonged process of transition for post-Yugoslav societies conditioned the
search for elements of the supernatural and the miraculous, the exoticisation of Yugoslavia, and the introduction of elements of mostly positive memories. Post-Yugoslav
period did not bring the expected economic improvement, nor did it bring the influence
of the post-Yugoslav states in the course of world politics. The conflict between expectations, invested emotions and losses in the wars and in the overall process of transition
from socialism to capitalist models of economy, brought disappointments to the majority of the inhabitants of the post-Yugoslav states. They have contributed to the creation of
new, numerous problems, the most significant of which is the impossibility of positive
emotional investment in the future. The various forms that the discourse about Josip
Broz Tito takes, allows us to single out the three most important figures: the hero, the
father, and the trickster. All three figures imply the miraculous, the mysterious, the
inexplicable, and in this context, they both imply the miraculous emergence and disappearance of Yugoslavia. They remain interconnected exposing strong connections
between heroism, transformation, domination, and procreation. Everything related to
the Yugoslav history, but also its economy, everyday life and international influence
remains miraculous. Thus, the rethought history of Yugoslavia provides compensations
for the everyday dissatisfactions of the inhabitants of post-Yugoslav societies. The process of transition, but also the painful dissolution of the country, became part of the
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series of psychological and cultural traumas for the former Yugoslav inhabitants. The
search for a miracle, at least one that they could remember/imagine, can be regarded a
psychological mechanism for coping with disappointments in societies that, like myths
about the Yugoslav era, remain on the border – between democracy and non-democracy; past and future, Europe and not Europe; the imagined East and the imagined
(invented) West.
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http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/drustvo/3509627/tito-cega-se-secamo.html/
(accessed 27 April 2020).
Reuters (2011) Nenov, S. Nostalgic Bulgarians mark communist’s ruler’s birthday
Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-communism/nostalgic-bulgarians-mark-communist-rulers-birthday-idUSTRE78657020110907/ (accessed 17 August 2020).
Slobodna Evropa (2012) Kemal Kurspahić Govoreći bosanski: heroj ili diktator?
(Talking Bosinan: Hero or a Dictator). Available at: https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/
govoreci-bosanski-heroj-ili-diktator/24592487.html (accessed 28 April 2020).
Worldpress (2014) Tito je za Srbe bio balkanski Hitler (Tito was Balkan Hitler for
Serbs). Available at: https://zlj13051967.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/vatikanlondonhitlerpavelic-i-tito-protiv-srba// (accessed 22 April 2020).
Zabavnik (2014) Misterija Titovog bodeža sa neobjašnjivim moćima: tvrde da je
oštrica bila pod uticajem natprirodnih sila (The Mystery of Tito’s Dagger with Inexplicable Powers: They Claim the Blade was Under the Influence of Supernatural Forces).
Available at: https://www.telegraf.rs/zanimljivosti/zabavnik/2929807-misterija-titovog-bodeza-sa-neobjasnjivim-mocima-tvrde-da-je-secivo-pod-uticajem-natprirodnih-sila-foto/ (accessed 22 April 2020).
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Sanja Lazarević Radak, PhD, graduated in Ethnology and Anthropology and obtained
MA in Socio-cultural anthropology. Since she received her PhD in Interdisciplinary
anthropology from University of Belgrade, she has been working at the Institute for
Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts as a Senior Research Fellow
at the project ‘Danube and the Balkans: cultural and historical heritage’. Currently she
is a Senior researcher at Institute for Political Studies in Belgrade. She is the author of
books: ‘On the Border of Orient: The Representations of Serbia in English and American Travelogues between two World Wars’ (in Serbian, 2011); ‘Discovering the Balkans’
(in Serbian, 2013); ‘The invisible Balkans: a contribution to the History of Postcolonial
Geographies (in Serbian, 2014); ‘Film and Political Context: Reflections on Yugoslav and
Serbian film’ (in Serbian, 2016); ‘Yugoslav Cinema and the Crisis of Socialism’ (in Serbian, 2019). She is co-editor of scientific magazines, editor-in-chief of editorial books, and
the author of numerous articles published in international journals.
E-mail: sanjalazarevic7@gmail.com
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P ATRON SAINTS FOR RUSSIAN PROFESSIONS:
A MODERN POINT OF VIEW
Victoria Legkikh
Abstract: Holy patronage has always had a special place in Russian Orthodoxy. A modern prayer book offers prayers that cover almost all occasions, and in each case, there
is a specific saint who can help in the situation. Most often, such cases of patronage are
based on the facts of the saint’s life, or vita. For example, people pray to St. Nicholas
because they want to get married. This is because, in the miracle about the three girls,
he helped poor girls get married. However, in some cases, a substitution of concepts
may arise. For example, the same St. Nicholas became the patron of the Russian people,
which is proclaimed in Russian hymnography and folklore. But the most interesting
cases occur when holy protection is completely rethought. For example, St. Barbara
became the patron saint of miners and even of missile troops. Modern patronage sometimes takes absurd forms. (For example, St. Vaclav is the patron saint of barmen and
St. Alypius of the Caves is the patron saint of hairdressers and imagists). This paper
analyses some popular cases of modern patronage and its representation in the modern
media.
Keywords: saint patronage, patron saints, patrons of professionals, religion in the media
Holy patronage has always had a special place in Russian Orthodoxy. The most important holy patrons are Jesus Christ and Theotokos. In addition, every baptised person
receives a guardian angel and a patron saint, based on the name he or she receives. From
its roots in Byzantine religious practice, Russian people have received Christian names
since the 11th century (Tupikov, 1903: 4). A Christian name is supposed a holy patron,
so the tradition of patronage has a long history. According to Patriarch Alexios the Second, the holy patron with the same name gives not only patronage but also similarity of
character and spiritual force. Joining the identity of the person’s name with the name of
one or another holy saint supposes that they have a certain commonality in character,
life path, vocation, inclinations, just as musical works written in one key reveal signs
of implicit kinship. It is a great spiritual joy, support, and consolation for Christians to
have a heavenly defender with the same name, whose vital feats we can imitate. It is this
consideration that guides the Church, parents, and spiritual perceivers in the choice of
names. The invisible and gracious help of the namesake saint gives a person the spiritual
strength needed to perform charitable acts (Schegoleva, 2014: 5).
But holy patronage spread wider. Among the oldest examples of patronage are holy
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doctors. Saints Cosmas and Damian have been revered in Byzantine spirituality since
the 5th century (Assemani, 1719: 439) because they were doctors during their lives and
continued healing after their deaths (Deubner, 1907: 132–134). In the East Slavic zagovory of the 18th and 19th centuries as well, they are often mentioned as holy patrons
(Toporkov, 2010; Toporkov and Turilov, 2002).
The so-called ‘folk Orthodoxy’ was always connected with magic if we understand
it as a special type of communication (Novik, 1993).146 But the term ‘folk Orthodoxy’
means more, Panchenko (1998: 35) called it the ‘historical form of development of the
folk consciousness’. We can see it also in some officially published editions. A modern
prayer book offers prayers that cover almost every occasion. Often, ‘prayers for every
need’ are preceded by quotations from the Gospel:
‘And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith’147 (Matthew
21:22).
• ‘Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours’ (Mark 11:24).
• ‘If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you’ (John 15:7).
• ‘In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever
you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have
asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be
full’ (John 16: 23–24).
• If we were to open a typical prayer book, besides the usual sections we
would see prayers for every need and occasion with recommendations for
which saint to pray to. Prayers for every need are known in both Byzantine
and Slavic manuscript traditions. Alexander Almazov (1901: 2) talks about
the plurality of formulas of ‘apocryphal’ prayers in the Byzantine manuscript tradition.
• In another work on Slavic manuscripts, Almazov divided traditional
prayers for every need into five categories: 1) prayers which ‘sanctify and
purify’ objects connected with worship; 2) prayers which ‘sanctify and
purify’ objects of everyday life; 3) sanctuary prayers and prayers for the
successful completion and prosperous course of any enterprise; 4) prayers
aimed to console and relieve a person who is in some uncomfortable and
painful position; 5) prayers to prevent the harmful effects of forces and
146 The definition of folk Orthodoxy as a special type of communication was given by Novik in a work devoted to magic
of a special ethnos. More definitions are discussed in the book by Panchenko given as a reference.
147 All quotations are taken from the Standard English Version (The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles).
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natural phenomena (Almazov, 1896: 4). He also supposes that prayers for
accomplishing the most common occupations have been known for a long
time, but prayers for more private occupations appeared in praying books
relatively late (15th–16th centuries) (Ibid., 7–8). There are prayers to look for
treasure, to collect grapes, before studying and so forth (Ibid., 7).
• The aim of this article is to analyse the modern vision of holy patronage
in the specific area of the professions in the popular understanding. For
sources, mostly Russian-speaking Internet sites have been used. The Internet was chosen because it has the least censorship; positions are often
expressed freely. Another advantage of Internet site is its wide use in Russian-speaking areas. Besides the Russian Internet sites, sometimes I also
take for comparison Russian-speaking sources from outside the territory
of modern Russia (for example, Ukrainian and Lithuanian websites). The
first items in an Internet search for ‘orthodox’ were sites of bookstores and
icon stores and ‘Orthodox’ popular media. In addition, I have used some
popular newspapers148 and material from interviews of people from the
Russian Orthodox Church in the last wave of emigration to Munich. This
approach has the advantage of covering most of the Russian-speaking area.
Since the aim of this article is to show major tendencies and not local practices, I tried to search in different areas to identify what was common in
practices and sources. I also used Wikipedia as a source. It has almost no
censorship, and it is one of the most popular sources of quick knowledge
around the world. This functional method seemed to be the most suitable
approach to this kind of material. This article does not pretend to solve any
problems. Rather, it offers some considerations about the modern experience of saint patronage on the Russian-speaking Internet.
When we open the section in a modern prayer book (Molitvoslov) for private
use149, we find specific prayers for every situation. For example, in one prayer
book found on an internet site, besides the usual prayers for the granting of faith,
health, etc., there are very specific prayers:
• Prayers for the fertility of the earth, before sowing and during harvest;
• Prayers for patronage in commerce;
• Prayers for the patronage of blacksmiths and artisans;
148 These sources were mainly low level or so-called yellow press, since in that kind of media there is less censorship and
less literary knowledge of the subject.
149 Since I do not have an aim to compare Molitvoslov printed in different regions, I chose the site Pravoslavnij molitvoslov
rf. It is one of the biggest sources of this type, and it says it represents Russian tradition in general.
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• Prayers for the patronage of flax growers;
• Prayers for the protection of singers and for help in spiritual singing and
reading;
• Prayers for the protection of shepherds and herds and for the preservation
of livestock from disease and death;
• Prayers for the patronage of beekeepers, before the exhibition of bees in
fairs;
• Prayers for the patronage of fishermen and hunters;
• Prayers for success in fishing;
• Prayers for the patronage of gardeners;
• Prayers for the deliverance of fields, gardens and orchards from pests;
• Prayers for the abundance of the fruits of the earth and the gift of abundant bread;
• Prayers for the discovery of water sources;
• Prayers for recovering what was stolen;
• Prayers for the harvest of cucumbers (Pravoslavnij molitvoslov, 2020).
Normally in modern prayers, one is supposed to pray to a special saint in each
case. Such cases of patronage are usually based on the facts of the saint’s vita.
For example, people pray to St. Nicholas for marriage because of the miracle of
the three poor girls whom he helped to be married by giving them three golden
balls (Voznesenskiy and Gusev, 2003: 44–45). People can also pray to St Nicholas
to be saved from sinking, which is related to several other miracles of his life. In
the modern book, Святые покровители искусства (The Patron Saints of Art)
there are nine canons to different saints (St. Roman the Melodist, St. Lucas, St.
Andrew of Crete, St. John Damascene, St. John Chrysostom, SS. Florus and Laurus, martyrs, St. Andrew Rublev, St. Aliphios of Pechera150) (see Igonina, 2014).
In the annotation of the book, it is written that the stories of the saints’ lives give
practical direction since they are addressed to creative people who would like to
find heavenly patrons who are close to them because of their occupation. So, analysing the choice of saints, we see that they are spiritual poets, writers, musicians,
and painters. It is supposed that people choose somebody with a similar profession to receive heavenly help in their creativity. Magical rituals can be minimised
because all that is needed is a prayer to a special saint:
150 The order is given according to the context of the book.
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If you want a child, you must pray to St. David of Garedzhia, you can do it by your
own words, he is not known, so people do not pray to him and suffer. But if you
pray to him you receive it.
This advice was given a 55-year-old woman (originally from Moscow) in a Russian
church in Munich in 2009. In addition, the prayer can relate to special acts: ‘You get up
in the morning and go without breakfast to that church, but you should go bare feet up
and down, then you will receive a child’. This advice on how to pray to a famous Greek
icon ‘Maria Tsampica’, was given by a 50-year-old woman (originally from Moscow) in
a Russian church in Germany in 2008.
Choosing a saint to be one’s patron for a special situation usually derives from
some facts of his or her life, and especially miracles, which help to identify the saint’s
‘specialisation’. On the website mentioned above, the prayers to the saints are preceded
by a brief explanation. It suggests praying to St. Joseph the Betrothed during an attack
by robbers, as Joseph suffered an attack from robbers during his flight with the Virgin
Mary and the Divine Infant to Egypt (Pravoslavnij molitvoslov, 2020). Another important moment is the day on which a saint is commemorated151. This practice of connecting
a saint’s commemoration day with that saint’s patronage in prayer books (Molytvoslov)
in the 19th century.152 For example, it is proposed to pray to SS. Zosima and Sabbatios
of Solovky for beekeepers, especially before they exhibit the bees at a fair, since they are
considered the patrons of beekeepers. This choice is explained by the fact that beehives
should be prepared for winter by the day of commemoration of St. Sabbatios on 27
September (Pravoslavnij molitvoslov, 2020). The second explanation is that SS. Zosima
and Sabbatios taught beekeeping to other monks (Pravoslavnij molitvoslov 2020). This
kind of folk knowledge first appeared in print in the 1830s, according to the theologist
Vasily Chernov (2017).
Brochures such as ‘Which saint you have to pray to in different needs’ begin to
flood the Orthodox literature market in Russia. Their compilers took information from
anywhere, filling in the gaps on their own if necessary. In the 19th century, most of the
prayers addressed to certain saints were also composed.
In the 1990s, during a wave of interest in church life,
‘practical Orthodoxy’ arose.In the church community, there was a (completely
unjustified) consensus on the status of pre-revolutionary publications. They were
a priori considered trustworthy, and therefore their content was reproduced and
copied without hesitation even by reputable publishers. During this period, the
genre of ‘thematic prayer books’ was widely spread – for travellers, for the mili151 Alexander Panchenko even supposed that the image of a saint was closely connected with a feast devoted to him
(Panchenko, 1998: 241).
152 See numerous Molitvoslov of the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.
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tary, for women etc. (Secret firmy, 2017).
These days, it is possible to find a book with a saint for every need. In many Orthodox bookshops are books such as ‘Prayers for Every Need’, ‘Prayers of an Orthodox Businessman’ (Molitva, 2004), ‘Orthodox Healer’ (Devyatova, Makarevskiy, 2014), ‘Prayer
Cover of An Orthodox Family’ (Molitvennay, 2016), ‘About Love and Soul Salvation.
300 Tips and Rare Prayers for an Orthodox Woman’ (Timchenko, 2016), ‘A Prayer Book
of an Orthodox Warrior’ (Molitvoslov, 2015) and many more.
Sometimes there is no explanation for the patronage. On the same site it is proposed to pray to St. Constantine and Elena about the harvest of cucumbers because of
‘popular belief’. Another saint to whom one is supposed to pray for the harvest of cucumbers is blessed Isidore of Rostov. As an explanation, there is only a general remark:
Many miracles of holy fool Isidore of Rostov, the wonderworker of Russia, both during
his life and after his death, have marked the holiness of the saint.
It should be noted that prayers ‘for every need’ are most often not composed specifically, and a prayer book offers a general prayer to the chosen saints, connected with
a specific request. Often one is directed to follow special rituals. As many Internet sites
recommend,
It is not enough to pray, one has to prepare himself’.153 For example, there are
several recommendations when you are praying to find work, to confess one’s
sins, to learn the prayer by heart, to be in silence, to have a strong belief, not to
tell your wishes to other people, to pray several times a day and especially before
an interview (see Ezomirek, 2005).
As we can see, Christian prayer is easily combined with superstitions154 (not to tell
anybody, to learn by heart, to pray before the interview). Here, it is promised that the
prayer will be effective.
Lately, an idea has arisen that every profession should have its own patron saint. A
holy patron for a profession is seen as one of the oldest traditions in Christianity (Ikona.
ru 2015). The idea of patronage is common throughout Europe: it is known also in other
Christian confessions (see, for example, Catholic and Protestant Websites such as Catholic link, 2015; Catholic Saints. Info, 2018; Katholische Kirche in Deutschland, 2016,
Kirchenweb, 2019).155 There is even an article in Wikipedia proposing an alphabetic list
of holy patrons (see Wikipedia, List of patron saints by occupation and activity156).
153 Recommendations of preparations you can find in many Orthodox and not Orthodox sites.
154 I use the definition of the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary from Cambridge University Press 2008:
‘belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is connected with old ideas about magic, etc.’
155 The Catholic and Protestant beliefs are not the topic of this article, so several sites are given just for a common
picture.
156 Even if Wikipedia has lists of almost everything, it is a popular and interesting source with almost no censorship. I
do not say that this list is from a trusted source; I just mention that it is from Wikipedia.
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Patronage for professions also became an important concept in Orthodoxy. Some
sites even give a table of holy patrons in Catholic and Orthodox traditions for different
countries (see Table 1).157
Table 1.
Profession
Patron Saint
Tradition
Drivers of ambulance
Arch. Michael
Catholicism
Air Force (Argentina)
Our Lady of Loretto
Catholicism
Navy (Russia)
Andrew the First-called Apostle
Orthodoxy
Navy (USA)
Brendan the Mariner
Catholicism
Military services
George the Victorious
Maurice
Nicholas of Myra
Orthodoxy
Airborne troops
Arch. Michael
Catholicism
Airborne troops (Russia)
Prophet Elijah
Orthodoxy
This example shows an attempt to make only an alphabetic list of holy patrons but
to compare them in different traditions.
The list of patron saints is even placed on the Website of icons (see Christianskaja
semja, 2020), so one can find an icon to help with professional problems. Some shops
invite people to buy an icon for every occupation, pretending that they are following an
old Orthodox tradition. In a catalogue in the section called ‘how to choose an icon’ is
this explanation ‘Traditionally, icons are divided into miraculous icons, helping icons,
healing icons, holy patrons of professions, personalised icons and festal icons’ (see
Christianskaja semja, 2020).
Prayers to the icons help believers not only in illnesses and sorrows but also for
your work. A representative of any profession can buy an icon of the patron saint of
his occupation, so they can turn to him in a difficult moment and ask for advice before
making important decisions. Our appeal to holy helpers in different needs is never unfruitful. Through their prayers, they assist in labour, illnesses and sorrows, material,
and spiritual needs, and help to withstand slander and divination (see Sima-land, 2020).
Normally it is recommended that people always have a small icon of their patron
with them, ‘in a pocket, purse, bag or glove compartment of a car. The main thing is that
157 Quoted from The Kurufin Castle: http://kurufin.ru/html/Saints/saints-profession.html
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it is not kept near the money!’ (see Sima-land, 2020).
According to one Orthodox website:
the church specifically blesses to consider one or another saint as a patron in
the work. Now it is usually announced by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.< ...> But there is no list or ‘schedule’ with a frequency to appoint a patron
saint for a profession (narrow specialisations or entire branches (see Pravoslavie
v Priirtysje, 2013).
The same website proposes, where a profession does not have a patron saint, to read
the lives of different saints and to find a saint whose deeds relate to a chosen profession.
For example, there is no official holy patron for the Internet, but because of discussions, Internet users chose for themselves John the Evangelist, or John Chrysostom
(Pravoslavie v Priirtyshje, 2013).158
It is also suggested that people choose a local saint. ‘For example, there was a great
martyr in your land who healed people with herbs, and you are a doctor, then, pray to
him’ (Pravoslavie v Priirtyshje, 2013). Normally, Orthodox websites admit that there
are no strict rules for praying in different situations, but many of them still emphasise
that ‘there are opinions and experiences of people who received help after praying to a
certain Holy Icon, since in one case one saint helps, and in another case, it is better to
turn to another saint’ (Mamino lukoshko). Holy professional intercession has not been
considered a pagan ritual for a long time, and it is also commented on by the Press Secretary of the Yekaterinburg Diocese, Boris Kossinsij:159
The main patroness of all working people is the Mother of God. The next in the
sacred hierarchy is Saint Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Christ since he was
himself a carpenter and he is considered the holy patron of any artisan. There
are saints who are patron saints of certain professions. For example, St. Luke
saves doctors from trouble; St. Matthew helps bankers; St. Joseph helps engineers
(Komsomolskaya Pravda, 2008).
It is possible to have several holy patrons for one profession, and sometimes the
same saint is recognised in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. For example, the
holy patrons of lawyers are Catholic St. Ivo Helory of Kermartin (1253–1303, province
of Brittany) and all-Christian St. Nicholas of Myra (Palata advocatov). In both cases,
158 But if we check English-speaking sites, we will see a holy patron of the Internet. It is St. Isidore of Seville, who tried
to record everything ever known: ‘The patron saint of the internet is widely considered to be Saint Isidore of Seville, a
Bishop and scholar, who was nominated for the role by the late Pope John Paul II, although the Vatican has yet to make
it official. Saint Isidore, who was born around 536 AD, wrote a 20-book opus Etymologies, also known as the Origins, in
which he tried to record everything that was known. As the 19th-century historian Montalembert put it, Isidore was ‘the
last scholar of the ancient world’ (See, for example, The patron saint of the internet).
159 Since the Press Secretary of the Yekaterinburg Diocese is that as a Press Secretary representing more or less official
position of the Russian Orthodox church, I find this quotation relevant.
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this comes from the details of their vitae. St. Ivo studied law and served as a lawyer
and church official; then he was a parish priest and spiritual judge. And in one of his
most famous miracles, St. Nicholas of Myra (circa 270. Patara–343, Myra) appeared
in a dream to Constantine and Ablabius demanding the release of three innocent men.
In another miracle, he stopped an executioner’s sword, saving three innocents and demanding a fair trial. In Russia, St. Yaroslav the Wise, who was canonised in 2004 by
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, also is considered the holy patron of lawyers, since
the ‘Russian Truth’ was created in his time. During his canonisation, it was stated
that ‘according to the established tradition, the holy noble prince Yaroslav the Wise is
considered the heavenly patron of statesmen, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, builders of
churches, librarians, scientists, teachers, and students’ (Sedmiza, 2004).
According to a preliminary analysis, the patron saints of the professions can be
divided into seven groups:
1) The first group comprises saints who already had a suitable profession during
their lives, such as the Apostle Peter (a fisherman) and SS. Cosmas and Damian (doctors). It has also been a tradition to emphasise some moments of the saint’s life, but in
modern society these moments became fundamental. Let us take Rev. Euphrosynus of
Palestine as an example. St. Euphrosynus was a cook in a monastery. He was humble
and patient and he never complained. Once a presbyter of the monastery dreamed that
he was in paradise and contemplated with fear and joy its indescribable beauty. There
he saw the monk of his monastery, the cook Euphrosynus. Surprised at this meeting,
the presbyter asked Euphrosynus how he ended up here. The saint answered him that
he was in paradise by the great mercy of God. He again asked if Euphrosynus had the
power to give him something of the beauties surrounding them. Rev. Euphrosynus invited the priest to choose what he wanted, and he pointed to the beautiful apples growing in the Garden of Eden. The reverend plucked three apples, wrapped them in a scarf
and handed them to his interlocutor. In the morning the presbyter found the apples.
The miracles stress the meekness and the humility of St. Euphrosynus, but in the modern consciousness, his occupation comes to the fore (See, for example, Lucchesi, 1999:
176).160 The book ‘Fasting in a Greek Way’ finishes the short retelling of his vita this
way: ‘Rev. Euphrosynus suffered for the Lord and was awarded a crown from God. Saint
Euphrosynus is a true cook, patron of all Orthodox cooks. His commemoration is on
the 11 (24) of September’ (Nikiforova, 1994: 5). Obviously, St. Euphrosynus is perceived
as a holy patron of all cooks and of the restaurant business in general. Sometimes even
his appellation (Rev. Euphrosynus of Palestine) is changed to St. Euphrosynus the Cook
(Icona mir, 2014).
2) The second group are patron saints whose patronage is based on their name. For
example, St. George is the patron saint of agriculturist and shepherds since his name
160 The vita of St. Eufrosin officially includes this miracle. I give one of the existing sources but there are more.
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γεωργός means an agriculturist or farmer. This tradition has long been part of Byzantine spirituality (Loseva, 2005: 665–692).
3) The third group are patron saints with a long but not exactly understandable
tradition of patronage. For example, St. Antipas was known in Greek Synaxarions as a
helper for dental disease, for example, in the Synaxarion of the Constantinople church
of the 10th century Syn C P. Col. 595-598 (Bugayevskiy et al., 2001: 542). This patronage
was also included in Russian tradition, for example, in the Apostle of 1417 (RSL, Fadeev
56, 267 v.) it is written: ‘благодать от Бога имат цѣлити болезнь зубную’ (He has a
grace from God to heal dental disease).
4) The fourth group are saints, whose image is combined with pagan gods. For example, the image of St. Blaise, the patron saint of livestock, is combined in the Russian
tradition with Veles (Bugayevskiy et al., 2005: 102–104).
4) The fifth group are saints, whose image is partially combined with a day of their
commemoration. For example, St. Mary Magdalene is known as Maria of berries because of her commemoration day (the 22nd of July according to the Julian calendar or
the 4th of August according to the Gregorian calendar).
5) The sixth group are saints whose patronage is based on their miracles. For example, the most beloved in Russia St. Nicholas is the patron saint of the travellers and sailors since some miracles of him relate to water rescue (Voznesenskiy and Gusev, 2003:
162–167).
6) The sixth group comprises saints whose patronage is based on some marginal
facts, which are not taken from the official vita. For example, Saint Vaclav the Czech was
a prince who confessed Christianity and was killed by his brother (or, more precisely, by
murderers sent by his brother) when he went to the church. He became the patron saint
of the Czechs based on the tradition of princely veneration. The 28th of September, the
day of St. Vaclav’s commemoration, became the day of Independence for the Czech Republic. It is recommended that people pray to him to be strengthened in their faith, for
the welfare of the state and for people in military service. These functions are because
of his role as a holy prince – the patron of the Czech Republic. However, St. Vaclav also
became the patron saint of distilleries both in the Czech Republic and in Russia161, because it is believed that he was collecting grapes for making wine for the Eucharist.162 In
addition, in one popular Russian newspaper St. Vaclav also is nominated as the patron
saint of barmen, since they relate to wine production (Komsomolskaya Pravda, 2006).
7) The seventh group are the cases when holy protection is completely rethought.
One recent case of reinterpretation involves the saint and great martyr Barbara of Heliopolis. St. Barbara was imprisoned by her father for her Christian faith, and then she
was tortured. She was a highly venerated saint, which is confirmed by Studion Typikon,
161 This information is based on interviews with some Czechs (middle age, high education), who confirmed that they
know him as the patron saint of the alcohol distilleries.
162 This fact is not a part of his classical vita.
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where we see a solemn service with ‘God the Lord’ for her commemoration (Lukashevich, 2002: 562). St. Barbara was considered a healer since she was miraculously healed
after torture, and people pray to her when they are despondent or to be shielded from
sudden death. In Russia, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II in 2002, St. Barbara
became the patroness of miners. This patronage also is partially based on her vita, since
St. Barbara was hidden from her father in parting grief. Omens and prohibitions for
this day look rather mysterious in many Russian-speaking former republics of the Soviet Union: women should sew and embroider, but it is forbidden to do housework and
spinning. It was also forbidden to wash, to whiten and to knead clay (See, for example,
Kasprishin, 2019; Podrobnosti, 2018; Sputnicnews, 2019) and Russian sources underlined that it is a sin to be lazy (Khmeleva, 2019).
Besides the usual patronage, St. Barbara was chosen as the patroness saint of some
military forces. This patronage is probably connected to the moment when, after her
death, her father was killed by lightning. According to Wikipedia, St. Barbara is the
patron saint of the British Royal Navy, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps of the British
Army, the Irish Army of the Artillery Corps, the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery
(RAAF Armourers), the Canadian Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians (EOD),
the Canadian Air Force Armourers, the Royal Canadian Artillery, the Canadian Military Field Engineers, the Royal Canadian Navy Weapons Engineering Technicians, the
New Zealand Army (RNZN Gunners Branch, RNZA, Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, RNZAF Armourers), the United States Army and Marine Corps Field and
Air Defense Artillery, the Marine Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians, the
Spanish military artillerymen, the Artillery Corps of the Greek Army and the Cypriot
National Guard (Wikipedia. Saint Barbara). St. Barbara’s patronage of the artillery is
quoted in many official websites of military organisations, including the International
Society of Explosives Engineers (Bockey, 2016). The patronage of St. Barbara for military forces was already known in the 19th century. British artillerymen celebrated her
feast together with miners and called her their patroness (Mansfield, 2016: 82).
St. Barbara was particularly venerated in Catholic Germany, where she is also seen
as the patron saint of miners, colliers, and German artillery troops (Reservistenverband, 2016). The Bundeswehr’s first celebration of St. Barbara took place on December
4, 1956, at the artillery school in Idar-Oberstein. Gradually the tradition spread to all
artillery battalions (Reservistenverband, 2016). Moreover, during the Second World
War, she was chosen as the patron saint of the Panzer tanks. Sketches of her image and
poetry devoted to her patronage of the tanks can be seen in the instructions for the
Panzer tanks (Pantherfibel, 1944: 32).163
St. Barbara also became the holy patroness for Russian rocket troops. This hap163 Pantherfibel is a Wehrmacht armoured units crew manual, which contains the nomination of St. Barbara as the
patron saint.
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pened only because of the coincidence of the dates. The Strategic Missile Forces were
formed in the USSR on the 17th of December in 1959, the commemoration day of St.
Barbara according to the Gregorian calendar. In 1995 the president of Russia made the
17th of December the day of the rocket warrior, and the patriarch presented an icon of St.
Barbara to the Main headquarters of the rocket forces in Vlasiha (Ivanova, 2019). The
coincidence with the commemoration of St. Barbara (the 4th of December according to
the Julian calendar) made St. Barbara the holy patroness of the missile forces.164
So, we can see how her patronage, originally based on the vita of the saint, gradually gets further and further from that life, and even became the opposite to it (St. Barbara
was a martyr and she did not kill anybody).
Rethinking leads to an almost anecdotal professional patronage. The idea that every profession has its patron brings to the situation, that professions that are not considered particularly Christian (such as television staff or loan sharks) also have their
own holy helper. This path can lead to a completely absurd situation. For example, on
one Russian-speaking Ukrainian website, among the list of holy patrons for different
professions, we even find holy patrons for assassins. For this role St. Vladimir, St. Gontran and St. Nicholas of Myra have been chosen. The creator of the list confesses that
the reason for this patronage is unknown but confirms that killers should pray to these
saints (Podrobnosti, 2003).
As an example of an extensive list with explanations, I chose Komsomolskaya Pravda (2013).165 All the descriptions are written in colloquial language with some archaic
elements, and they are accompanied by the image of the saint. Here is the list of holy
patrons.
• Patron of dentists and their patients is Antipas of Pergamon;
• Patrons of windsurfers and swimmers are St. Barlaam of Keret and St. Basil of Ryazan;
• Patrons of prisoners are St. Mamant of Caesarea and Alexy (Nechaev);
• Patron of diggers and cavers is John of Egypt, the hermit;
• Protectors of beekeepers and honey sellers are SS. Rev. Sabbatius and Abbot Zosima of Solovetsk;
• Patron of pensioners, beneficiaries, tourists and old maids is St. Nicholas
the Wonderworker;
• Patron of doctors is St. Luke, the Archbishop of Voyno-Yasenetsk;
164 This was of course a political decision of Patriarch, but I find it interesting and worthy to be mentioned since it can
turn a development of the image.
165 The choice of Komsomolskaya Pravda is explained above: it is a popular newspaper with the least censorship. The
choice of exactly this newspaper is due to its interest in this topic (several articles) and particularly colloquial language.
Besides, as noted above, it is one of the most extensive lists with an attempt of maximal closeness to modern realities.
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• Patron of hunters and disinfectors is St. Trifon, the martyr;
• Patron of phytotherapists is Agapit Pechersky;
• Patron of the tax collectors is St. Matthew;
• Patron of cardiologists and patients suffering from heart diseases is Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch;
• Patron of the owners of garages and the Shell Oil company is John the
Blessed, the holy fool of Moscow;
• Patron of barmen and workers of the alcoholic beverage sector is St. Prince
Vaclav the Czech;
• Patron of hairdressers and makeup artists is Rev. Alypius of the Caves
(Pechersky);
• Patron of writers is St. Dimitrios of Rostov;
• Patron of the shoe industry is Rev. Ignatius of Yaroslavl;
• Patron of motorists, truckers and traffic police is St. Christopher;
• Patron of plumbers is Rev. Abraham of Rostov;
• Patron of lawyers, judges, prosecutors, librarians, scientists, teachers and
students is Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise;
• Patrons of real estate and realtors are Rev. Alexander Kushtsky and Euthymius Syanzhemsky;
The most interesting feature in this selection is an attempt to adapt the retelling of
saints’ lives to modern life in an extensive manner. Besides the spoken language, there
is an adaptation to modern realities. Sometimes these adaptations are not only far removed from the saint’s life, they contradict it. Here are some examples:
1) The patron saint of motorists, truckers, and traffic police St. Christopher. He
lived as a hermit near the rapids of a river and helped travellers to cross it. One day a boy
came to him and asked him for help to cross the river. St. Christopher, whose name was
still Offero, took the child in his arms and went through the stream. It turned out that
the boy was Jesus Christ himself. He baptised Offero, giving him the name Christopher.
Here we see a retelling of the legend from Legenda Aurea, which was written in
Latin around 1260 by Jacobus de Voragine. The legend was popular in the Western tradition, but it was not included in the classical vita. The original name of Christophoros
before baptism according to the vita was Reprev, so it is changed here too. In this short
story, there is also no mention of the most unusual detail of his veneration in the Eastern tradition: his dog’s head, which we can see in many icons. The tradition of seeing
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St. Christopher as the patron saint of travellers is also better known in the West. In the
Russian tradition, he was probably venerated as a saviour during epidemics. This can be
supposed because many churches devoted to him were constructed after the epidemics
in Novgorod in 1533 and Moscow in 1577 (Antonova and Mneva, 1963: 235–236).
2) The patron saint of hairdressers and makeup artists is Rev. Alypius of the Caves
(Pechersky). Born around 1114, he was an icon painter. He healed a leper, anointing
him with his paintbrushes. In comparison with modern make-up artists, he did not
take money, and if he was forced to take it from someone, he distributed it to the poor.
Here there is a retelling of the well-known miracle of St. Alypius. The strange thing
is only the idea that a monk and iconographer is chosen as a patron of imagists, a profession that is not considered to be closely connected to the church.
3) St. Antipas of Pergamon, the patron saint of dentists. Antipas was a follower of
John the Theologian, and he preached Christianity among the pagans. The ruler of Pergamum ordered Antipas to be thrown into a red-hot copper bull, in which he prayed for
those who suffered from toothache. Why Antipas is remembered for toothaches is not
clear, since the story is strange and confused ... However, the saint helps!
As has been stated above, there is a long tradition, but this story gives us a new
mysterious fact: During his martyrdom St. Antipas prayed to heal dental disease. From
his vita, it is known only that he prayed all the time during his martyrdom and he died
with the Name of God on his lips.
Descriptions of the patronage of St. Alexander Kushtsky and St. Euthymius of
Syanzhem are provided with a remark: Unfortunately, no icon of them remains, but
the patriarchy says that you can pray to them even without an icon, just by addressing
them. Thus, here we are dealing not only with a rethinking of patronage but also with
the ritualism that directs us to pray only in front of an icon.
C onclusion
In conclusion, we can say that seeing saints as patrons of professions has become
very popular in the Orthodox tradition. Drawing on folk traditions, the idea that every
saint is ‘specialised’ in his help not only became popular but now also receives official
approval from the church. In addition, the idea has developed that every profession has
a patron saint. Lists of patron saints can be found on the websites of Orthodox shops,
and there are books for some ‘Orthodox professionals’ with prayers devoted to a holy
patron. Since this is a movement in development, there is no uniformity across professions, and different sources may give different information. A choice of a holy patron is
normally based either on his vita or the calendar date of his commemoration. But since
it is difficult to find a saint for every profession using only those criteria, some cases
undergo a complete rethinking that can lead to an absurd situation, such as having an
iconographer as the helper of hairdressers.
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Victoria Legkikh, PhD, was an Assistant Professor of the Institute of Slavic Studies of
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E-mail vlegkikh@gmx.de
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P art V
CULTURAL AND
ART DIMENSIONS
OF THE MAGIC
T HE EMPTY NIGHT RITUAL
IN THE LIFE OF MODERN KASHUBIANS
Maša Guštin and Natalia Wyszogrodzka-Liberadzka
Abstract: Empty Night (Pustô noc) is the Kashubian name for the ritual that takes place
on the last night before the funeral of a deceased person when people gather in the dead
man’s house to pray. After praying the rosary, they stay to chant special religious songs
and watch over them until the morning. According to folk beliefs of the Kashubian
region, the deceased stays permanently in the vicinity of his household until the funeral. When farewelled improperly, a person can return in the form of a demon/ghoul
(wieszczi, òpi). Therefore, a prayer for the dead secures the peace of the living. The most
common explanation for a modern man, who is not so keen on believing in supernatural/magical aspects of life, is that the repetition and monotony of singing bring relief to the participants of an Empty Night Ritual. The ritual, being gradually forgotten in
modern times, has been recorded on the pages of belles-lettres and ethnographic books,
depicted in documentary films and theatrical events. Additional material was collected
from interviews with participants and eyewitnesses of such events.
Keywords: Empty night, Kashubian custom, death rites, Kashubian demonology
Kashubia (Kaszëbë, Polish: Kaszuby) is an area in the historic Eastern Pomerania
region of Northwestern Poland. Located west of Gdańsk (inclusive of all but the easternmost district) it is inhabited by the Kashubian ethnic group. Kashubian is a West
Slavic language belonging to the Lechitic group of languages of Northern Poland and is
thought to be a variation of the original Pomeranian language. Kashubians enjoy legal
protection in Poland as an ethnic minority. This is one of the most diverse regions in
Poland when culture is concerned (Borzyszkowski, 2005).
Pustô noc (Empty Night) is an unusual and still vivid, although gradually overlooked custom in the Kashubian village. It is the last night before the funeral which
takes place in the house of the deceased. The ritual is becoming increasingly rare, however occasionally, at the request of the family or of the deceased themselves (in their
will), the funeral company brings the coffin with the deceased to their house so that the
Empty Night can take place (Kozłowska, 2017). The ritual is only intended for adults,
never for children (Treder, 2002: 137). Its name probably derives from the emptiness
that remains after the death of a community member (Młyńska, 2011a), which means
their absence in the common prayers. The guests begin the ritual by saying the rosary
and then pray for the deceased. Afterwards, they stay in the house of mourning, singing
special Empty Night songs led by the singer/orant or a group of singers. The family of the
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deceased usually prepares abundant refreshments (App. 1: Kotłowska, Wyszogrodzki)
for the participants of the ritual.
The main idea of the Empty Night is to say goodbye to the deceased, but it also
has an integrating function, strengthening the bonds within the local community. The
practical aim of the meeting is to reduce the fear of death or to activate relevant intra-group mechanisms so that fear does not significantly disturb their mental health.
Therefore, the main intention of the participants in the ritual is to give the family of the
deceased time to come to terms with the painful phenomenon of death. In his documentary Kaszuby (the Kashubia), the President of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association at that time, Józef Borzyszkowski, emphasises that it is a ‘farewell to the deceased
by the whole community’ (Niedbalska, 1991).
H istorical background
The belief in the participation of the deceased in rituals in their honour derives
from pagan eschatology and, interestingly, records or archaeological material indicate
not only ritual feasting but also dances of various types. Kajkowski (2017: 186) points
out there was a Celtic belief that on certain nights the dead come to the surface and
dance with the living participants of the ritual, while in Romania when the funeral
procession was to cross a bridge, two men took the corpse out of the coffin and danced
with it. Dances and carouses during empty night rituals are confirmed by numerous
ethnographic sources collected in Slavic lands, not only in northern Poland but also in
Ukraine (Ibid.). Death was an opportunity to protect the living with ceremonial rituals
which, apart from religious ones, also had magical purposes.
One of the most important and well-established rituals of this type, undoubtedly
originating from the pre-Christian times, is the Kashubian Pustô noc (Empty Night),
which entails watching and singing over the deceased in their house. People from the
entire village were invited, often following the will of the deceased. The soul of the deceased would see the neighbours and thus their presence around the coffin was a kind
of neighbourly duty (App. 1: Kotłowska, Treder, Klimczyk).
The beginning of this practice dates back to primitive, pre-Christian cultures. Various rituals were supposed to help the soul ‘cross the great divide’, and singing was one
of them. Until the Second Vatican Council (11 October 1962 – 8 December 1965), in
Catholic churches chants were sung in Latin, which can explain the need for additional
prayer in the native language at home. Bartosz Izbicki suggests the probable influence of
the activities of the Jesuit Order on ‘folk’ religious songs, emphasising at the same time
the specificity of the performance of the Empty Night songs:
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To this day, the manner in which the ancient chants of the Catholic Church are
performed is the subject of heated polemics among musicologists (...). And here
in Poland, we have a deeply-rooted tradition of chants which can be heard at
Empty Nights, where people sing with long phrases, where wailing used to this
day appears – it seems to me that this is the key to the sacredness of the songs
(Szczerbic, 2014).
Many elements from pre-Christian times have been preserved in Kashubian beliefs
(such as Gwiazdor (starman), Gwiżdże (carollers), Dyngus Day in Jastre (Easter), etc.)
and they are still functioning today. In the Kashubian tradition, the concept of the soul
is closer to that of the old, pre-Christian one, remaining in a spiritual and physical relationship with the living, which requires performing certain perimortem practices. Such
beliefs and actions towards the deceased are, in fact, quite universal and can be found
in Gabon, Rhodesia, Kenya, as well as in medieval Denmark and England or Ireland as
well as Greece and North Macedonia (Kozłowska, 2017). In Kashubia, as compared with
the rest of the country, they have survived for an exceptionally long time, which is related to the cultural isolation of the region from the rest of the Slavdom, and the resistance
to Germanisation, which manifested itself in its own traditions. Kashubians survived as
a large group, in an extensive cluster, where they were not subjected to the assessment by
people of different origin – Germans or incomers from other regions of Poland.
F rom death to funeral... and beyond
Funeral has always been one of the most important events for the family and the
neighbourhood community in Kashubia, apart from baptism and wedding. Three days
before the funeral, family and neighbours would gather in the house of the deceased,
or nowadays in the church or a specially prepared room in the funeral home, to say the
rosary. On the last evening, the prayers and chants continue beyond midnight or until
the morning (Borzyszkowski, 2016: 199). The tendency to shorten the empty night ritual was observed by Piotr Chamier: ‘Gradually, the prayers were shortened. First until
midnight, and now until 10:00 p.m., and to some people it still seems too long’ (Kurier
Bytowski, 2018 and Patrycja Kotłowska (App. 1: Kotłowska).
Shortly after the death, the eyes of the deceased were closed (Treder, 2002: 135),
as it was believed that the eyesight of the deceased could kill. Then all the clocks in the
house were stopped until the time of the funeral, which symbolised the end of life. As
the greatest authority on Kashubian perimortem spirituality and customs, Father Jan
Perszon explains in a documentary Ze śmiercią na Ty (With Death by name) (Karczewska, 2014), that the minute a member of the household dies, the clock stops so that
silence prevails and the body and soul – if the death occurred at home – are left in
peace, as Kashubians believe that the soul stays close to the body between death and fu-
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neral. Additionally, it is a symbolic gesture for visitors to the house of mourning which
informs them of the time at which the deceased died. The stopping of the clock is perceived as the stopping of the heart and it appears in the empty night songs, such as
Zegar bije, wspominaj na ostatnie rzeczy (The Clock Beats, Remember the Last Things)
(Perszon, 2017: 504).
People would open windows, thereby releasing the soul of the deceased, and they
would cover mirrors. The mirror was one of the symbolic forms of the line separating
the living from the spirits, and thus the reflection of the deceased could cause another
death (Kowalski, 1998: 289, 630). The windows in the room where the deceased rested
were also covered, which, apart from its magical dimension, was also purely practical –
it slowed down the process of decomposition (App. 1: Jancen).
Currently, people not connected with the funeral industry rarely come into contact
with corpses, even if they experience the moment of death of someone from their family. They often do not want to say goodbye to a family member in the pre-burial chapel to
avoid remembering the sight of the deceased in the coffin. Such behaviour is hardly surprising, as contemporary culture and customs make death a taboo, but for the people
of Kashubia, death is still an event belonging to life, somehow ‘normal’ and ‘ordinary’,
for, as the proverb says: Chto sa rodzy, muszi umrzeć (Those who were born must die)
(Perszon, 2017: 33). Wencel (2010) agrees:
The Empty Night ritual presented death as an integral part of human fate, gave
hope for eternity, taught respect for the experiences of the deceased, united the
past with the present and brought the community together. Maybe I was an unusual child, but after visiting my neighbours saying goodbye to someone close to
me I did not have nightmares.
Referring to the ethnologist Adam Fischer, Perszon recalls that there was a ‘mortal
plank’ in every village, which remained in the house of mourning after the funeral and
was moved to another house when one of the neighbours died, to lay the deceased on it
(Pryczkowski, 2017), which is confirmed by the experience of witnesses (App. 1: Wyszogrodzki, Klimczyk) and ethnographic research (Kukier, 1968: 272). Teresa Romańska
also witnessed this custom: ‘Not long after that, old Antolka died. (...) The deceased was
placed in the best room, for the time being on a plank, because we had to wait for the
carpenter to make a coffin’ (Szczerbic, 2014).
Three to four decades ago, it was perfectly normal for the deceased to be taken
care of by the members of the household. The ritual ablutions to which the corpse was
subjected washed away the traces of life from the deceased and helped in the rebirth on
the other side (Kowalski, 1998: 626). Genowefa Galeńska explains that while performing the rituals one should talk to the deceased as if he were alive: ‘now give me your left
hand...’ (Karczewska, 2014), adding that the washcloths used to clean the body had to
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be burned.
After washing the body, it was dressed in czëchło / żgło (a traditional long, white
garment) (Młyńska, 2011a), or – in the case of children – communion and – in the case
of adults – wedding, or other ceremonial clothing, which is still carefully kept especially
for this occasion (Karczewska, 2014). A rosary, a prayer book or a coin, a snuff-box, a
bottle of vodka and, in the case of children, favourite toys, were put in the hands of the
deceased, especially if there was a suspicion that after death he / she might become an
òpi (opji, upi, wupij), i.e. a phantom, in order to protect the living from his/hers influence, ‘before they buried him, they put a piece of net or cloth from his clothes or a cross
chaplet under his tongue’ (Ziółkowski 1986: 13).
In the documentary Keeping Up with the Kashubians166 (Paczkowska, 2015) crowds
of people arrive, eat, say goodbye to the deceased, pray and sing. As the film’s director
Karolina Paczkowska recalls: ‘the most interesting thing I have managed to capture is
the Empty Night Ritual, which takes place in the house of the deceased, where the coffin
is displayed, the vigil is held, the last coffee is had, and people are singing all night long’
(Słomczyński, 2017).
In Puck, the members of the community were informed about the death of a villager by an old woman walking from house to house, carrying a white walnut or hazelnut
walking stick, sometimes wrapped with a black pall (Młyńska, 2011a). In Bytów County, death was announced by carrying a wooden stick (klëka) around the village. Nowadays, people are invited to the Empty Night, both formally and informally, by hanging
an announcement of death and related rituals, which is hung on an information board
by the church and cemetery and made available on the Internet.
The rosary is usually said during the three nights preceding the funeral and this
is part of the ritual which is still practised in Kashubia today. ‘Besides singing, I also
recite the rosary for the dead. It only takes will, it isn’t difficult’ assures Zofia Chamier
Gliszczyńska, one of the keepers of this tradition (Kurier Bytowski, 2018). In the room
where the deceased lay (or in the neighbouring room) a table was set up for singers, and
benches and chairs for the rest of those who came to the ceremony (Szczerbic, 2014). The
ritual began with the prayers ‘Our Father’, ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Eternal Rest’ (Perszon, 2017:
193), then the rosary was recited, and then solemn, throat singing filled the whole house
and sometimes the neighbourhood (App. 1: Ulenberg), as participants of the Empty
Nights express the belief that a sung prayer is of much greater value (Perszon, 2017:
195–196). The orants lead the way using special songbooks ‘for empty nights’, often old
and falling apart (App 1: Wyszogrodzki) notebooks passed from generation to generation or nowadays, photocopied pages. As noted, among others, by Perszon (2017: 25):
166 It is worth noting that this is another documentary about Kashubia, which has been made in recent years. The
authors are usually young filmmakers, fascinated by Kashubia, who want to capture the unique culture of the region.
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Prayer books and psalm books play an important role in Kashubian rituals connected with death. Printed in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the ritual books are still in use today. They are mainly used by the leaders of perimortem
spirituality, i.e. persons who give a ritual and substantive character to the services
during the agony, rosary meetings, ‘empty nights’ and funeral ceremonies.
Rosary prayers and signing of pious songs for the deceased is not a phenomenon
occurring solely in Kashubia. In her account, Teresa Romańska, who participated in a
project entitled, Puste noce w Płotowie (Empty Nights in Płotów), names such places as
Niegocin, Turze, Jabłonowo (Kurier Bytowski, 2018), and mentions the towns of Krempa and Brochów (Sczerbic, 2014). Kajkowski (2017: 192), confirms that ‘there are many
records from the territory of Poland according to which funeral traditions consisting
in singing, intemperate drinking and playing during the funeral service and night-time
wake by the side of the deceased were present in the folk beliefs’.
Singers – ‘leaders’ of songs and prayers, which can contain up to 50 verses, were
people whose authority was unquestioned in the local communities. The Kashubian
funeral rite is the art of prayer during the wake by the side of the deceased, which continues uninterruptedly until the present day, that depends on the involvement of those
people. As Perszon (2017: 200) clearly emphasises:
‘Empty Night’ is a sui generis religious service (...) because the songs are not performed on other occasions. In addition, folk piety knows no similar night-time
vigils held outside a church. The strength of this tradition seems to confirm the
thesis that it is a custom deriving from pre-Christian times.
During the Empty Nights, those gathered, led by one of the orants, usually the oldest one, sing religious songs which ensure that the deceased will find peace in the afterlife. However, the needs of the living would not be forgotten: ‘on the empty nights, the
signers are plied with vodka, sausages, cake and coffee’ (Kukier, 1968: 278), ‘the singers
were treated to tea, coffee and cabbage stew’ (Pryczkowski, 2017), ‘there were sweets,
there was a little cake, because, obviously, the singing went on for many hours’ (Karczewska, 2014). According to the witnesses, however, the traditional coffee and kuch (cake)
‘would often take a much more lavish form’ (App. 2: Damps, Wyszogrodzki). Apart
from that, there was vodka on the table ‘so they could wet their whistles’ (Perszon, 2017:
198). These practices obviously angered the clergy and resulted in incidents that would
be talked about for many years (App. 1: Szydlarska). There was even a common saying
that on the Empty Night the singers ‘drank their way through the skin of the deceased’
or even ‘stretched it out’ (App. 1: Jancen).
Clergymen were no less hostile towards the second element of the rite, which was
once very important for the rural communities – the present (men) would walk up to
the deceased (Odyniec, 1985: 61) to check whether the body was not developing the fea330
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tures of a vjesci, or opji, namely a wraith. During his ethnographic studies conducted
among the Kashubians of Bytów County, Kukier witnessed such practices (1968: 272):
The people who gathered at the night-time wake closely watch the appearance of
the deceased to see whether the body is not showing the features of a vjesci or opji
(...) vivid, ruddy colour of the face, slightly opened eyes, changes in the position
of the deceased in the coffin, corpse not stiffening and so on.
Vjesci is a specific demonic creature, occurring mainly in the folk tales in the area
of Pomerania (Baranowski, 1981: 63). Bestiariusz Słowiański (Slavic Bestiary) says that
vjesci would ‘leave its grave, climb up the church tower and scream out the names of
its loved ones in a terrifying voice. Those who hear the call will die that very same
night’ (Vargas and Zych, 2015: 194). Vjesci is described in a similar way in the book
entitled Niemcy na Kaszubach w XIX wieku (Germans in Kashubia in the 19th century)
(Młyńska, 2016) and in the novella entitled Prawda (The Truth) from the anthology
Złota Przędza (The Golden Thread), in which we read:
A corpse that maintains a vivid colour of the body, the hands of which are not
stiff but so limber that they can be bent, is known as a strzyga, strzygoń or a
wraith. Here, in Pomerania, they also call him/it a vjesci or a wupij (Ziółkowski,
1986: 13).
Jadwiga Klimczyk emphasises that vjesci should not be confused with an opji/wupij
as they are two different creatures and opji is much more dangerous (App. 1: Klimczyk).
This information can also be found in Bedeker Kaszubski (Kashubian bedeker), but,
contrary to Bestiariusz Słowiański – it is an opji that climbs the bell tower and is able to
drag the whole village, not only the relatives (Ostrowska and Trojanowska, 1974: 458).
As Genowefa Galenska (Karczewska, 2014) says, three crosses are poured out of
the wax from the blessed candle (no other candle has such an effect), which are then
placed under the armpits and arranged on the chest of the deceased because otherwise
‘people could faint, if the corpse wasn’t secured, they could get sick or an òpi could take
someone away.’ Other remedies against the wraiths include holy water (to sprinkle the
body of the deceased) and consecrated chalk (to draw a chalk outline of the body). This
is also confirmed by Jerzy and Krystyna Walkusz (Ibid.). In the research of Kukier,
there are also coins, brick, fishing nets, a sack of sand or a string with numerous knots
(1968: 273). These and similar apotropaics, as Piotr Kowalski suggests, were intended
to ‘keep the deceased in a confined space and prevent them from harassing the living’
(Kowalski, 1998: 629).
Believing in wraiths was present in the Kashubian culture at least until the mid-19th
century, and an Empty night served, among other things, to observe the body in terms
of its potential transformation. This seems to justify the fact that, until recently, only
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men kept guard by the coffin, in order to be able to react effectively if necessary. However, nowadays, with the disappearance of faith in demonic creatures, women are also
welcome to sing (Appendix 1: all interviewees born in 1979).
Despite many superstitions of pagan origin, the funeral traditions of the Kashubians
were rooted deeply in Christianity. Until the present day, faith remains one of the most
important elements of their culture. For this reason, they did not fear natural death
and understood it as the ‘threshold of eternity’ or ‘return to the homeland’ (Młyńska,
2011b). It was, therefore, socially accepted and people respected both death and the
deceased, which frequently took forms unacceptable for the contemporary people, such
as, for example, kissing the deceased on their mouth while paying respects.
After my father’s death in February 1995, his body was placed in a red brick
morgue by the church. Fifteen minutes before the funeral, one of my father’s
brothers, a farmer from Kashubia, walked up to the open coffin and gave the
corpse a firm kiss on the mouth. (...) Uncle was saying goodbye to his brother
who in his opinion had not ceased to exist but just set off on the distant journey
(Wencel, 2010).
After the Empty Night ended and the coffin was closed, it would be carried outside,
where the final farewell to the farm took place. The funeral carriage was pulled first by
an ox, then a horse. These days, the coffin is placed in a hearse of a funeral company.
The funeral procession consisted of family members, neighbours, friends (in the past,
all villagers). It was believed that ‘because the soul walked right behind the corpse, the
coffin should move slowly and people should walk at a certain distance from the carriage’ (Treder, 2002: 145).
At the final part of the funeral, after the service and prayers during the placement
of the coffin in the grave, the priest threw a lump of earth and sprinkled holy water. The
Kashubians believe that the soul finally leaves the body for good at this very moment.
The participants of the funeral also throw lumps of earth onto the coffin, seeing it as a
farewell and reconciliation with the deceased. Perszon mentions a belief that the closest family should not stand too close to the edge of the pit as the person closest to the
deceased could ‘follow them’. After the funeral, the so-called porters usually go to the
nearest tavern to drink vodka, bought by the people organising the funeral, in order to
‘cleanse themselves’ of the corpse with alcohol (Perszon, 2017: 212–213).
Demonic phenomena are often associated with the belief that something terrible
may happen to the body after death – that it may come alive again, but its life will no
longer be human, and the deceased will come back as vjesci or opji. One of the methods
of treating the deceased suspected to be at risk of becoming a wraith was to dig up the
body and sever the head, preferably with a sharp-edged spade. After the decapitation,
the head would be placed between the legs of the wraith so that it would be unable to
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reach for it and rise from the grave. The existence of such practices was confirmed by
the words of Genowefa Galeńska, Wacław Gański and Brunon Zalewski (Karczewska,
2014). People who were more superstitious would collect the blood of the alleged opji
into rags or dishes, and later feed it to the sick in order to cure them or protect them
from further revenge of wraiths (Kukier, 1986: 276).
Even though the first reports of ethnologists concerning night-time grave digging
in order to decapitate corpses date back to the 19th century, the archaeological material
collected in the area of Kashubia and in a broader area of the Baltic Sea basin (both in
the Slavic territory and in the territory belonging to the Vikings) indicates that such
practices were common at least a thousand years earlier (Kajkowski, 2017: 120–124).
According to Młyńska, the last documented decapitation of a corpse took place in the
middle of the 19th century, however, readers commenting the article disagreed with her
thesis indicating at least two cases after Second World War and even later – a little over
30 years ago:
There are newer reports on attempts (also successful ones – N. W. – L.’s note) to
decapitate corpses (...) one speaks of a man (lelek – a village idiot) who kept on
saying throughout his life that after his death he would become an opji. After he
died, one of his neighbours had a dream about this and decided to remove his
head (Młyńska 2011b, comments section).
T o save from oblivion
Music publishing and cultural events
Cierpiącym Duszom. Pieśni Pustej Nocy (To the Suffering Souls. Songs of the Empty Night) (2015)
Wanting to save this unique tradition from oblivion, the Kashubian-Pomeranian
Association undertook a project entitled: ‘Reconstruction of the Tradition of Empty
Night in Kashubia’ in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
The aim of the initiative was to prepare a musical notation of songs typical for nighttime wake based on a field research conducted among several groups of Empty Night
singers in 2015. As a result, a music album was recorded. It contains selected songs written down during the research and performed in accordance with the established tradition – monophonically by men. The second part of the CD contains songs performed by
a four-voice mixed choir accompanied by organs. It is worth adding that based on the
above-mentioned research, an extensive compendium was also published – a songbook
entitled Pieśni Pustej Nocy (Songs of the Empty Night) containing the lyrics and musical
notation of 90 songs together with an instructional CD. It is currently the largest compendium of Kashubian Empty Night songs.
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Puste Noce – Pieśni, które już się kończą (Empty Nights – Songs which are already
ending) (2014)
Laboratorium Pieśni (Song’s Laboratory) is a female vocal ensemble from the TriCity, created in 2013. The group sings and arranges polyphonic songs: Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian, Bosnian, Polish, Georgian, Scandinavian, etc. The
songs are performed a cappella and accompanied by ethnic instruments, introducing
a new, female arrangement into traditional songs, one that contains space for intuitive voice improvisations. In 2014, the ensemble created a performance entitled Puste
Noce – Pieśni, które już się kończą: a miniature of the rite and a presentation of the most
interesting songs, illustrated by cheironomy, movement and dance. The performance
was created based on field research conducted in Kashubia since 2013. An album under
the same title was also released that same year.
Pusta noc, gdy odchodzisz duszo (Empty Night, when you are leaving, Soul) (2018,
2019)
The play Pusta noc, gdy odchodzisz duszo was presented in 2018 in Gdynia and
Wejherowo, and in 2019 – in Rumia. The originator and the author of the screenplay
was Wojciech Rybakowski, the President of the Misternicy Kaszubscy Association. The
play presents the poems of a Polish-Kashubian author, Jerzy Stachurski, and traditional
Empty Night songs. The uniqueness of the project consists in its unconventional concept, combining words, images, silence and sound as well as darkness and light. Classical elements of a symphonic concert with a choir are juxtaposed with modern elements
of multimedia projections as well as light and sound effects. A website, pustanoc.pl,
and a songbook by Jerzy Stachurski, which can be downloaded as a PDF file, were also
created as part of the project.
Contemporary Literature
Paulina Hendel, Pusta Noc (Empty Night). Poznań, 2017.
Magda, the main protagonist of the first volume of fantasy series about Reapers
fighting Slavic wraiths, is a person who will do anything to protect herself and others
from the otherworldly beings – especially now that her Reaper Uncle has died again
and no one knows how long it will take him to return (and how long this Empty Night’s
time will be). Wraiths, demons and other creatures show the potential hidden in our
native and underestimated culture that is slowly being forgotten. As a result, the novel
was praised by the readers.
Małgorzata Oliwia Sobczak, Czerń (Black). Warsaw, 2020.
A crime novel set in Kartuzy begins with a hunter finding a body with a severed
head, placed between its legs. The idea for the murder was drawn directly from the
Kashubian funeral culture. As the author emphasises, ‘for me, Kashubia is a place of
remarkable atmosphere and I dare say that it’s an utterly magical place’ (Andruszko,
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2020).
While preparing to write this article, we assumed that, among the material presented, there would also be a number of feature films, but in this field, we had to admit
defeat. Admittedly, the Kashubians and the turbulent history of the region began to be
noticed and appreciated also by filmmakers, e.g. in the films Born of the Sea (2009, dir.
Andrzej Kotkowski), Black Thursday, Janek Wiśniewski fell (2011, dir. Antoni Krauze) or
The Butler (2018, dir. Filip Bajon), but none of the films watched, starting with Kaszëbë
(1970, dir. Ryszard Ber) and The Tin Drum (1979, dir. by Volker Schlöndorff), made
any mention of Kashubian funeral customs. Perhaps the reason is that the directors
were not Kashubians, so they were not familiar with the customs described in the article or the customs did not seem to go well with the plot, as in the case of Kaszëbë. On
the other hand, in recent years there have been a number of documentaries depicting
Kashubians, their history, culture and customs, such as the one already mentioned Ze
śmiercią na Ty (2014, dir. Ewelina Karczewska), Empty Nights (2014, dir. Marcin Szczerbic) or the documentary Na psa urok (2016, dir. Ewelina Karczewska and Piotr Zatoń).
An Empty Night in a public space
Perszon stresses that the crisis and transformation related to the rituals in Kashubia
have been present since the 19th century. It was influenced by such factors as industrialisation or the gradual migration of people to cities, which eliminated some forms of
rural piety. The development of funeral companies eliminated family members from
the process of preparing the body for the funeral (Pryczkowski, 2017). Nevertheless,
the Kashubians more and more often refer to this local custom during the funerals of
people most distinguished for the region. A public Pustô noc was organised in 2005, on
the evening preceding the funeral of Pope John Paul II, at the Sanctuary of the Queen
of the Kashubs in Sianowo. In 2010, an Empty Night for the victims of the Smolensk air
disaster was held in Banino’s parish church. In 2013, the activists of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association organised an Empty Night for their long-time president, a tireless
promoter of Kashubian culture, Professor Brunon Synak. In 2016, before the funeral of
the remains of the Cursed Soldiers – Danuta Siedzikówna ‘Inka’ and Feliks Selmanowicz ‘Zagończyk’, precisely on the 70th anniversary of their execution by the communists in the Gdańsk prison, the rosary was said by the coffins in the evening, and after 9
pm the night-time wake accompanied by Empty Night songs began.
The most recent example of a public Empty Night Ritual is the ceremony which
the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association and the inhabitants of Gdańsk held for Paweł
Adamowicz on 18 January 2019. The Mayor of Gdańsk was stabbed during the Grand
Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, on the evening of 13 January, when
he spoke on stage in the Old Town of Gdansk. He died in hospital on the following day.
An Empty Night ceremony was a symbol of solidarity with the family of the Mayor and
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an appreciation that the Kashubians expressed to ‘the most Kashubian’ of the Mayors
of Gdańsk.
Nowadays, the memory of the vjesci, mòrë (incubus) and ghosts is slowly fading
away, as is the interest of young people in the once prestigious occupation of a singer.
According to Piotr Chamier Gliszczyński, ‘None of them are willing to learn songs or
participate in an Empty Night. I think that no one will follow in our footsteps’ (Kurier
Bytowski, 2018). Few Kashubians remember about wraiths, even if the activities related
to protection against them persist, as confirmed by the research of Anna Kwaśniewska,
an ethnologist, on the intangible heritage of Kashubia, which reveals that a significant
percentage of young people cultivate various magical practices to protect against evil
spirits (Kozłowska, 2017). Bishop Marian Przykucki (Kaszuby, 1991) agrees: ‘it appears
that Kashubians are very committed to tradition, not only on the religious level, but
also on the customary one.’ All that remains is to hope that despite Roman Dżedżon’s
statement (Słomczyński, 2019):
This is the result of the centralisation of education and McDonaldisation of culture. Folk beliefs were not studied at schools, perhaps nowadays a little more is
being mentioned about them, but it still is not enough. In the fifties and sixties,
these stories lived in country cottages but there was no one to tell them. Folk beliefs were treated as a ‘lame-o’ and a ‘disgrace’.
Because of the increasing efforts of ethnographers, documentarians, artists and
supporters of the Kashubian region, the ritual of The Empty Night will not disappear
completely into the abyss of history, but will remain, albeit in a changed form, a testimony to the richness of Kashubian folklore. As one of the most prominent Kashubian poets, Alojzy Nagel (Pomierska, 2013: 456), wrote: ‘Nie tak rechło zaspiewają nom Kaszebom na Pusti Noce’ (Not so soon will they sing to us Kashubians on an Empty Night).
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Pic. 1 and 2. Empty Night in private home. The Empty Night ritual in private for Zofia Pyszka,
2001, courtesy of Jadwiga Klimczyk, personal archive.
Pic. 3. Saying the Rosary. The Empty Night ritual for Zofia Pyszka, 2001, courtesy of Jadwiga
Klimczyk, personal archive.
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Pic. 4. The singers at the table. The Empty Night ritual for Zofia Pyszka, 2001, courtesy of Jadwiga Klimczyk, personal archive
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R eferences:
Baranowski, B. (1981) W kręgu upiorów i wilkołaków. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Łódzkie.
Borzyszkowski, J. (2016) Tam, gdze Kaszeb początk. Dzieje i współczesność wsi gminy
Karsin. Inowrocław: TOTEM.
Borzyszkowski (2005) The Kashubs, Pomerania and Gdansk. Available at: www.rastko.
net/rastko-ka/ (accesed 10 October 2020).
Bronk, S. (Ed.) (2015) Pieśni Pustej Nocy. Gdańsk: Zrzeszenie Kaszubsko-Pomorskie.
Kajkowski, K. (2017) Mity, kult i rytuał. O duchowości nadbałtyckich Słowian. Szczecin:
Triglav.
Kukier, R. (1968) Kaszubi bytowscy. Zarys monografii etnograficznej. Gdynia: Wydawnictwo Morskie.
Kowalski, P. (1998) Leksykon. Znaki świata. Warszawa: PWN.
Odyniec, W. (1985) Kaszubskie obrzędy i zwyczaje. Gdańsk: Zrzeszenie Kaszubsko-Pomorskie.
Ostrowska, R. and I. Trojanowska (1974) Bedeker Kaszubski. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo
Morskie.
Perszon, J. (2017) Na brzegu życia i śmierci. Zwyczaje, obrzędy oraz wierzenia pogrzebowe i zaduszkowe na Kaszubach. Gdańsk-Pelplin: Zrzeszenie Kaszubsko-Pomorskie, Bernardinum.
Pomierska, J. (2013) Przysłowia kaszubskie. Gdańsk: Instytut Kaszubski.
Treder, J. (2002) Kaszubi. Wierzenia i twórczość. Ze Słownika Sychty. Gdańsk: Oficyna
Czec.
Ziółkowski, J. (1986) Złota przędza. Opowieści mazurskie i kaszubskie. Warszawa:
Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza.
Zych, P. and Vargas, W. (2015) Bestiariusz słowiański. Rzecz o skrzatach, wodnikach i
rusałkach. Olszanica: BOSZ.
Articles:
Andruszko, J. (2020) Seryjni mordercy nie są zazwyczaj szczególnie inteligentni ani
bystrzy. Booklips, 20 May. Available at: https://cutt.ly/WjSTHtB (accessed 26 May
2020).
Kozłowska, A. (2017) Kaszuby w listopadową noc. Uważaj na zmory! Przekrój, 2 November. Available at: https://cutt.ly/UjST89K (accessed 28 April 2020).
Kurier Bytowski (2018) Puste noce w Płotowie, Kurier Bytowski, 3 December. Available
at: https://cutt.ly/fjSY5PA (accessed 10 March 2020).
Młyńska, A. (2011a) Kaszub śmierci się nie boi. Histmag.org, 2 November. Available at:
https://cutt.ly/ZjSYuOP (accessed 5 May 2020).
Młyńska, A. (2011b) Kaszubskie upiory. Histmag.org, 31 October. Available at: https://
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cutt.ly/TjSYQWW (accessed 5 May 2020).
Młyńska, A. (2016) Łopi porywa do grobu, Magazyn Kaszuby, 5 April. Available at:
https://cutt.ly/WjSYJDR (accessed 25 March 2020).
Słomczyński, T. (2017) Film o Kaszubach. Być muchą na ścianie. Magazyn Kaszubski,
27 May. Available at: www.magazynkaszuby.pl/2017/05/film-o-kaszubach/ (accessed 20 May 2020).
Słomczyński, T. (2019) Ekologia, miłość, seks i rozpusta. Wszędzie duchy! Cykl filmów
o kaszubskich duchach i demonach. Magazyn Kaszubski, 11 October. Available at:
https://cutt.ly/pjSUsCN (accessed 20 May 2020).
Wencel, W. (2010) Pusta noc. Higienizm jest gorszy od faszyzmu. Available at: www.kultura.wiara.pl/doc/452882.Pusta-noc (accessed 4 February 2020).
Documentary:
Kaszubi (1991) reż. Niedbalska, L. Gdańsk: Video Studio Gdańsk, 51:46 min. Available
at: http://archiwumfilmowe.pl/baza-filmowa/filmy/105-kaszubi (accessed 24 April
2020).
Keeping Up with the Kashubians (2015) reż. Paczkowska, K., 25 min. Available at: https://
vimeo.com/148358208 (accessed 25 May 2020).
Pusta noc w tradycji Kaszubskiej (2017) reż., Pryczkowski, E., 37:31 min. Available at:
https://cutt.ly/RjSUUnB (accessed 25 May 2020).
Puste Noce (2014) reż. Szczerbiec M., Warszawa: Mazowiecki Instytut Kultury, 45:00
min. Available with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhtZUI8o07I (accessed 23 April 2020).
Ze śmiercią na Ty (2014), reż. Karczewska E. Kartuzy: Hemoglobina Studios, 29:06 min.
Available at: https://cutt.ly/QjSUmBm (accessed 24 April 2020).
A ppendix 1. Interviews.
Damps Łukasz, born in 1979: I guess I was about 18-25 years old. Leźno and Kamień near Szemud. The body was in another room. Men and women would sit together,
going there (to the deceased), women brought coffee, a bottle was on the table. Mostly
men would sit, women were more often in the kitchen, but then they would sit too.
When you talked about an empty night, my uncle was a singer in the parish and they
invited him to pray that the soul of the deceased would go to heaven. At the same time,
a man could get out of the house and drink vodka with his friends. It was more like a
social meeting, I found it even boring.
Jakubowska Adriana, born in 1979: It was such a long time ago that I don’t remember much. I was about 5 years old, Prokowo. The village, my great-grandfather, a
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body in the house, a mixed company of people, but I don’t remember if there were any
other children.
Jancen Mateusz, born in 1979: The situation took place some 15 years ago, it was
a warm summer, and the room with the man’s body was closed and dark curtains or
blankets hung on all the windows so that the sunlight would not heat the room. In another room there was a table with food and of course there was some alcohol. The rituals
began with praying the rosary and then hymns were sung. Usually there is a person who
leads these prayers and chants. A family attends an Empty Night, the neighbours and
friends of the deceased come as well. As far as I know, there was no division and there
were women and men involved. I also remember that drinking alcohol on an Empty
Night was referred to as naciąganie skóry (skin stretching).
Klimczyk Jadwiga, born in 1941: A vjesci differed from an opji – an opji is even
worse, more dangerous. My father used to say, because there was a wooden footbridge
on Radunia river, that you could see an opji fighting with a vjescithere. And when Stefa
died, she was lying in that one room of theirs, and after the rosary all the closest ones
were sitting around the coffin, and we were singing, and in the end it turned into all
sorts of talking and laughing, and various stories about her, so I would like to be around
my closest ones, families, before my funeral, and I wish everyone would be laughing
and singing. It is worth stressing that nowadays children are not used to the idea of dying. When I was a child, and it was in the 1950s, whoever died in Somonino, everyone
went to pray the rosary, already on the first day, on the second and on the third, Empty
Night’s. We, children, had to go. Nobody asked us whether we wanted to or not. My
parents often wouldn’t go, they sent us instead. There were whole groups of children
and I remember that I was reluctant for a long time, I was simply afraid of seeing those
who had died, because there used to be no such cosmetics, and this person was lying
on a plank covered with white canvas, the family removed it so that you had to see him
or her already on that first day during the rosary. It terrified me. But we were used to
seeing that.
Kotłowska Patrycja, born in 1979: I remember that, as a child, I participated in
an Empty Night – Somonino, Goręczyno, Wygoda, Brodnica Górna. In fact, it lasted
mostly until midnight, then it was just the closest family that stayed. The deceased was
at home – one room was prepared for him or her. In the other room there was a family
and those ‘singers’ who led the prayers / chants. These were intertwined with conversations about the deceased and breaks to eat something (I remember that there was an
abundance of food on the tables). I think I was about 6–7 years old when I participated
in such an Empty Night where you ate and sang in the same room where the deceased
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was lying. I didn’t really understand what this was all about, so I wasn’t afraid, but it
stuck in my mind. In the villages, great attention is paid to these events and you should
participate in them – out of respect for the deceased and the family. If it’s just the rosary
then it’s okay, but an Empty Night, even if it only lasts until midnight, can actually be
a challenge.
Szydlarska Danuta, born in 1949: I remember such a night with my grandfather
Julian at home in 1960. But it wasn’t the whole night, after the rosary a lot of people,
probably men, stayed around and sang. Not all night long, but in the villages, they sang
until dawn and the hosts served coffee and some yeast bun. Unofficially, there was alcohol, to make people sing louder. I once heard from a friend of mine that after one Empty
Night, a coffin with an elderly woman was looked for in the gardens before leaving for
church, because she had been placed there as she was interfering with the dancing, with
which this night ended. They got so drunk before the funeral that they were looking for
a coffin in the bushes.
Treder Adam, born in 1979: I experienced three Empty Nights as a teenager, in
Przyjaźń, near Żukowo. Everything used to happen at home. There was a morgue in the
village, but this would have been considered a sort of insult at the time. The night before
the funeral they sang and said the rosary (several times) until the morning. Men and
women together. I know that it is still often organised in a similar way – as long as the
conditions permit – that is a house in the countryside, a homestead.
Ulenberg Teresa, born in 1965: At my father-in-law’s, men would come after the
rosary and on that last night they would sing from twelve o’clock till 5 o’clock in the
morning. I don’t really know what these hymns are like, because they’re of a special
kind, but my brother-in-law knows it, because he’s a singer there in Sianowo, and when
the Pope (died), they sang for him too. My neighbour also has all these hymns in his
book, he used to be a singer too, this tradition has always been followed here, there was
an Empty Night for my grandfather. And for my mother, we watched over her at night,
and then in the morning the singers came. It is rather only men who come, women
only occasionally. Gackowski once said that these singers could be heard five kilometres
upwind and five kilometres with the wind, because, obviously, they liked to drink and
they were very skilled singers. Once the tradition was different, you walked behind the
coffin, and now everyone goes by car. I remember when my grandmother died, I was 8
years old, all the corpses were kept in the house. In Kartuzy, there was a morgue, but it
wasn’t the case in the villages. My dad never wanted it, he always said he didn’t want to
be in any morgue, he wanted to be at home.
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Włodzimierz Wyszogrodzki, born in 1954: We were on Pawełek’s Empty Night
in Leszno. First, there were some general prayers there, then the women were cooking
in the kitchen, we were sitting, drinking coffee and then everyone left, only those men
with the books to sing with arrived, six of them, I think. I saw such a book once again at
Dąbrowski’s, because he also sang like this, and said that it had belonged to his grandfather, it was so wiped out, it was some kind of a hymn book, printed. Pawełek was lying
in one room, still on the plank at the time, maybe they didn’t have a coffin yet. The
women were cooking and the men were drinking vodka, eating and singing. There was
plenty of food.
Maša Guštin, PhD, is a lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the University of Gdańsk (also
lectures at the Department of Film and Audiovisual Culture and Institute of Russian
and Eastern Studies). Research interests include Russian cinematography, cinema of
former Yugoslav countries, culturological topics related with (Post)Yugoslav region,
folklore and pop culture. Author of the book Kino w mieście – miasto w kinie. Petersburska twórczość filmowa w czasie transformacji (A City in the Film – the Cinema in
the City. St. Petersburg’s Film Art during the Transformation; Gdańsk, 2018).
E-mail: masa.gustin@ug.edu.pl
Natalia Wyszogrodzka-Liberadzka, PhD, is a lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the University of Gdańsk. Scientific interests and current research routes vary from the problems of literary generations in Croatia (with particular regard to krugovi generation
and its role in (Post)Yugoslav literature, culture and politics), Slavic mythology and its
representation in modern pop culture, to titonostalgy, yugonostalgy and identity issues
in contemporary Croatian and Slavic culture.
E-mail: natalia.wyszogrodzka-liberadzka@ug.edu.pl
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O N THE QUESTION OF MAGICAL PRACTICES
IN THE CULT OF ANCESTORS
AS A TOOL FOR FORMING COLLECTIVE MEMORY
AMONG ROMANIANS IN UKRAINE
Elena Dyakova
Abstract: Traditional culture includes ideas about the structure of the world, material
and immaterial, metaphysical space, which includes various mental constructs generated by the activity of human consciousness. The material and metaphysical world influence each other, receiving embodiment in tangible and visible forms, which in turn
start the process of comprehension, processing, and as a result, a new embodiment. The
legacy of ancient religious beliefs, echoes of ancestral worship, ritual connection with
the dead and magic as a way of communicating with them, are found today in calendar
rites and rites of passage, in particular, among Romanians in Western Ukraine. The expediency of influencing reality by magic, appealing to ancestors and supernatural forces
can now be called into question by private practitioners of ritual action. Nevertheless,
stable ritual forms continue to be reproduced, having lost the final goal in the form of
receiving benefits. Repeated actions that involve not only members of individual families, but also the majority of unrelated villagers, allow us to speak about coming to the
fore of the social and communicative function of the rite. It is the key to preserving
and maintaining the collective memory of the structure of the world, the memory of
culture, and thus influences the preservation of ethnic characteristics, and partly the
programming of the future.
Keywords: ancestor worship, ritual, memory, Romanians, consciousness, mummers
Field research was conducted from 2014 to 2020 (excluding 2015) among the residents of Krasnoilsk. To make the research complete, such methods as that of observation, interviewing, photo, video and audio recording were applied. The immersion
into the environment was enhanced by staying with different families, as well as by the
author’s direct participation in the local festivals. Social networks on the Internet were
also monitored regarding the articulation of magical practices and the data received
there were analysed at the current stage of research.
Krasnoilsk is an urban-type settlement located in the Carpathians, almost on the
Ukrainian border with Romania. It belongs to the Storozhynetsky district of the Chernovtsi region of Ukraine. The majority of the population there (only 10,324 people according to the 2018 all-Ukrainian population census) consider themselves ethnic Ro-
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manians, which is eloquently evidenced by the fact that within the community they
communicate in Romanian dialect.
The meaning of the ritual components of the festival is difficult to understand and
hardly expressed by locals as most of them get the information from books, newspapers
or the Internet. The key to the survivability of these festivals is that they are regularly
performed and the villagers have a habit, an instinct, as some of them say, to reproduce
certain festive actions in a certain calendar period. The majority of the residents noted
that they do not know the real purpose of performing the ceremonial actions, providing
explanations like ‘the whole village is going to gather’, ‘you can meet all your friends
there’. The article seeks to analyse the preserved survivals of magic practices among the
Romanians of Bukovina, and on the example of the inhabitants of Krasnoilsk in particular, from the point of view of collective memory shaping.
Since magic used to be interpreted not just as a miracle but also as a purposeful
communicative act, the collective nature of magic rites, as well as its inherent long-lasting communicative function, was noted by many scientists; for example, among the
Russian ones here should definitely be mentioned E. Novik (2004) and S. Tokarev (1990).
More than that, its viability and constant modification suggest that definite features of
magic practices are connected by means of collective memory, the information field of
a social group. From this source, people get their idea about the society, their identity,
rules of behaviour. By repeating all mentioned above, members of the group renew and
update their information potential, communicate information about themselves and
the others from person to person, fix it, above all else, in their memory.
One of the basic ideas concerning magic rituals as a socially constructed space of
the past, packed with collective memories of an individual sacred nature, was expressed
by a French sociologist E. Durkheim (1912). He defined the meaning of the magic ritual
as commemorative practice: regular repetition of the past is revived again and again,
building up general information field of the social group.
Today the most distinct echoes of magical practices in the village Krasnoilsk are
represented in the annual calendar rites of the Christmas cycle (Christmas, St. Epiphany, St. Basil’s Day), Easter, the celebration of the first ride to polonina (output of cattle to
summer pasture), the day of the Dead (August, 2nd), as well as in the family rituals (wedding, funeral, birth, baptism). The cycle of twelve holidays after Easter in the Orthodox
Church calendar is widely celebrated and also includes magic elements.
The presence of a magical component in the cultural heritage of Krasnoilsk’s is
undoubtedly obvious. The evidence has been preserved in works of Romanian and
Ukrainian researchers who studied traditional beliefs in Bukovina. The rites that existed
here in the 19th century, which still exist today, were described in detail by L. Dragomir
(Dragomir, 2004: 148–154). Those are the rites of the winter cycle: New Year, Christmas,
ploughshare day (symbolic ploughing), Malanka (St. Basil’s Day, January, 14th), Epiph-
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any, Easter, along with making amulets, divination, weather predictions on St. Peter’s
day (January, 16th ), the celebration of St. Charalampius (February, 10th), the defender
from death and disease of people and livestock, Baba Dokia days (March, 1st to 12th)
and magical actions on the day of Dragobete (February, 24th), omens for the day of the
Forty Saints (March, 9th), omens and magic practices on Saint Alexius’ day (March, 17th)
and the Annunciation (April, 7th). For example, V. Iliut told that during the Baba Dokia
period (March, 1st to 12th), on the first day, the girls would wash up with melted water to
become pretty and nice. According to the weather on St. Peter’s day, one could predict
how soon the winter would end, and on St. Charlamnius it was forbidden to work. Instead, there should have been a generous celebration because, according to the beliefs,
the Saint possessed a special power to control the Death, cholera, plague and other
serious diseases; in addition, he was in charge of health and well-being of the owners
of the household and their livestock. The description of magical practices by Varvara
Iliut confirms the definition of the term ‘magic’ formulated by Russian historian and
ethnographer S. A. Tokarev: ‘Under the concept of magic, or witchcraft, it is common
to understand various superstitious and human actions with the intention to affect a
particular material, object or phenomenon in a supernatural way’ (1990: 404–506).
The magic ritual practices of the late 19th and early 20th century performed by Romanians of Bukovina (at the end of the 19th century) were precisely described in the
works of a Romanian priest and folklorist S. F. Marian, who, in detail, investigated
the magical principles of calendar rites among Bukovina Romanians in his monograph
(Marian, 1898; 1899).
The preservation of rites with magical components that existed at the turn of the
19th and 20th centuries was witnessed by a Professor of Chernivtsi University I. G. Sbieri
(1836–1916). He recorded the first mention of the New Year customs among Bukovina Romanians – walking with Malanka, and also comprehensively studied the most
important components of New Year’s rounds: singing carols, ploughshare day, bugay
(walking with a bull) and bell, symbolic sowing, festive mummery: walking with a
star, the Goat; folk performances of Herod (folk drama featuring the character of King
Herod), Malanka, carols for Epiphany and Easter (Sbiera, 1888: 117).
A generalising and systemically stated work on the rites of Bukovina Romanians in
the early 20th century was published by A. Moysey based on the ethnographic heritage
of Romanian researchers of traditional culture and life of the of Bukovina groups in the
second half of the 19th – early 20th century (Moysey, 2008).
The scientists systematised the entire complex of magic rites, beliefs and omens
that made up a stable core of indigenous archetypal customs, and especially those that
are timed to the most significant events of the agricultural year: winter Christmastide,
spring welcoming, and summer solstice in Bukovina. According to him, the stable existence of magic is the result of human interaction with nature, astronomical, meteoro-
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logical, agronomic, phenological and other observations passing down from generation
to generation, which gradually formed the agricultural calendar – an ‘encyclopaedia
of folk wisdom’ (Kurochkin, 1995: 9). Under the concept of magic, the researcher suggested a set of techniques and rituals performed through miraculous power. Besides,
A. Moses used the concept of mantic for a set of ritual practices (which partly refers to
occult rites) with the aim to predict and simulate the future.
It was the Ukrainian scientist A. Kurochkin who identified magic roots in the New
Year’s rounds of mummers in Ukraine in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The method
of historical and ethnographic reconstruction was widely applied during the 20th century, drawing parallels with ceremonial practices from different cultures. In his dissertation he introduced the typology of forms of New Year rites, based on economic activities,
and defined them as household and matrimonial magic; imitation of housework; parody of relations between men and women within a family; role-play with sexual connotation; humorous and satirical scenes; elements of ritual family dramas (wedding), etc.
(Ibid). A. Kurochkin stated that magic practices in the changing rites had already been
lost and believed that the rounds of mummers of the second half of the 20th and early
21st century were nothing but theatrical scenes, the so-called ‘folk drama’. Asserting the
fact of desacralisation of customs, he believed that even after losing its magic functions,
the rite could still exist for a very long time. Therefore, he considered carolling and New
Year’s rounds of mummers to be a ritual structure, emphasising the evolutional line of
the celebrations from the ritual complex of the culture of primitive hunters. In particular, the magic meaning of ploughing (ploughshare, bull-driving scenes) was to stimulate land’s productive power and fertility before the beginning of the new agricultural
year. As the leading role in the economic activity among the population of mountain
and foothill areas in the Carpathians belonged to the farming, in the New Year cycles’
ritual songs, for example, during rounds, bloguser (symbolic ploughing) or Malanka he
saw the survivals of imitative (homoeopathic) magic, which included the achievement
similar to the method of influence, and also emphasised the link between agricultural
and economic components of the rite Malanka with love and sex.
A. G. Kozholyanko wrote about the loss of certain structural elements of calendar
holidays of the Romanian population in Hertsaevsky, Glubokoe and Storozhynets districts of Ukraine (2014: 17–226). Thus, he noted that despite the leading role of calendar rites in the worldview and beliefs of the ethnic groups on the territory of Ukraine,
there is a gradual disappearance of certain structural elements of calendar holidays
from the memory of the people. The statement can be applied not only to certain rituals and customs of calendar festivals but also to songs and omens, whose bearers are
gradually passing away. In his words: ‘in the context of globalisation, spread of mass
culture, transformation of the national calendar, it is particularly important to preserve
traditional calendar rites, since it is the customs and rites that can be called ‘witnesses
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of the past’ there is an intention to preserve the rites as evidence of the past, that is, as
its memory. Rites, as testimony of the past, reflected the main human aspirations – the
desire to ensure a rich harvest and fertility of livestock, avert evil, foresee the future and
positively influence it. Holidays and rites were the tools that satisfied the spiritual and
aesthetic needs of the society; they manifested people’s beliefs and their feelings’ (Ibid.,
225). Describing the significance of the rites aimed at honouring ancestors and calendar
holidays as a mandatory component, he stresses the importance of maintaining them as
a memory that is the reproduction of rites, noting separately the function of preserving
the memory in calendar holidays.
In the mid-20th century, the social nature of magic was studied by scientists such
as K. Levi-Strauss and B. Malinovsky, who considered magical thinking in terms of the
structure and function of magic. K. Levi-Strauss examined magic as a socio-psychological influence on individuals, and regarded its main function as mediation between
human intellect and the world (Levi-Strauss, 2011: 190).
In the early 20th century, around the time when ethnographers and researches of
the traditions of Bukovina recorded changes and gradual extinction of rites in the contemporary society, E. Durkheim suggested that symbolic division between sacred and
profane world is a determining factor for the social significance of ritual behaviour,
which is closely linked to social solidarity. Rites, in his opinion, are rules that determine
human behaviour in relation to sacred objects. The most important meaning of the
ritual is social, and it suggests the recurring awakening of a sense of higher reality, the
sacral, that is associated with a mystery and connects a person with something that goes
beyond the common space they are able to understand (Durkheim, 2018, 634–639). C.
Levi-Strauss described this transcending space as symbolic and explained this phenomenon by the fact that:
for the human intellect, the universe is always insufficiently significant, and the
mind tends to produce more meanings than objects they can be attributed to.
Torn between these two systems – the system of the signifier and the system of
the signified, with the help of magic thinking a person acquires a third system,
where the hitherto contradictory data would fit in (2011: 190).
Socially significant information, the collective memory of a society, is encoded in
ritual under the form of fixed gestures, postures, movements and transmitted through
imitation-based learning, i.e., regular repetition by all members of the group, and the
close relationship between religious rituals, collective memory, and identity is a characteristic not only of tribal communities, whose examples have formed the basis of many
studies of rituals but also of traditional societies in general. The essential significance
for the community is that they feel, experience and express it together in commonly
shared actions. As for the specific nature of these feelings and actions, according to
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E. Durkheim, this is a secondary question of relatively small importance. In order to
acquire self-awareness, the group does not need to perform exactly the same actions;
they just have to perform any (Durkheim, 1912: 553). Regular meetings contribute to
the formation of a society’s identity and its uniqueness.
Thus, in Krasnoilsk the most popular and long-lasting celebrations are those of
the Christmas cycle. Stratification of traditions has led to the fact that from January,
1st (New Year) to January, 19th (Epiphany), locals stop working and devote this time to
the feast. They celebrate New Year, Christmas Eve, Christmas (January, 7th), St. Basil’s
day (January, 14th) along with the Malanka night. The winter cycle of celebrations ends
with Epiphany (January, 19th). Those who work abroad do their best to come back home
to spend time with their families and fellow villagers. Celebrations involve collective
meetings in the centre of the settlement: the Churchyard during Easter and Epiphany,
the central square in front of the village Council after most of the holidays, the cemetery
during the day of the Dead (August, 2nd), having guests around and paying visits, as well
as ritual rounds of the village. For example, on January, 19th, after the church service
on the occasion of the Epiphany (as it is stated in the calendar), comes the kyrielei ride
(Ukr. Kiraleisa): the priest visits houses with an icon, consecrates the space and the children accompany him claiming Kyrieleisa (from Kyrie eleison (Latin), ‘Lord have mercy’
(Rus)). On Christmas Eve come carollers singing verses wishing wealth and prosperity.
This form of the ritual has survived up to the present. Adults usually visit their friends
and are invited to come in, while children can come to any house they like and are rewarded with money or treats.
The emotional component of the ritual is the key to memorizing it for a long time.
The sensation of what you see makes you want to share it with others. Equally important
is the physical contact between the members of society. Thus, non-verbal ritual contacts
are widely spread among the residents of Krasnoilsk: group dances, tactile greeting, gifts
exchanging, including memorial ones, physical greetings, egg-beating, ritual actions of
mummers (pushing, intense touching with objects, scenes with a sexual connotation,
doctors’ manipulation, attempts to push and grab each other, intimidation, accidental
or non-accidental touch, holding, pulling into cars, imitation sawing, imitation cutting
hair, imitation charging fines and other manifestations of invasion of personal space).
Such a rich visual, audio and tactile exchange is bound to strike the imagination, especially during the Malanka festival. One of the most revered religious holidays, the socalled Generous evening, is celebrated on the night of January, 13th to 14th (Saint Basil’s
Day). In the evening groups of mummers from 5 kuts (districts) walk around the village
during the whole day. Each district should differ from others in costumes and characters to shock the audience. ‘Our Malanka’ is the name given by residents to a group from
their district or yard. ‘Whose Malanka is better?’ – they ask the guests. Costumes and
played out plots are limited to the accepted recurring structure of the ritual, but not to
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the sphere of emotions. Songs, voice imitating sounds, noises, strumming – everything
sounds in the highest tones ever possible. The action violates the usual everyday order,
almost not allowing the villagers to lead a normal life. The unique feature of the feast
is that it expands beyond everyday life and breaks the boundaries of the routine. The
imagination of the locals for making costumes is so variable that even those who are
used to being a part of the feast annually watch it with great interest and excitement.
The group of mummers normally includes horses, Kings, Queens, gaffers, women, Jews,
Gypsies with and without bears and other characters. Every group is accompanied by
musicians. The most striking distinguishing feature of Malanka in Krasnoilsk is processions of bears (character of Malanka) in costumes made of straw. Characters perform
the same actions in each yard. First, a gaffer dances with a woman, and then the Kings
dance with Queens, after that come the horses, the Jews and the Gypsies. The performance culminates in a bear dance to the sounds of Gypsies whistling.
Stories related to a common history stand out among the ritually remembered
events, stressing the connection with previous generations. It is the cyclic ritual re-creation of the events that constitute the common origin of the group and the most significant way to maintain its unity. It is particularly important that the ritual evokes specific
experience of connection with the world of the sacred and forces the group to relive the
events of the sacred past on a highly emotional level. For example, in Malanka there
still can be distinguished such characters as Regi and Regine (Kings and Queens), who
represent the army of a Moldavian ruler Stefan the Great (1429–1504), a remarkable
historical figure, which is still of significant importance for some groups of population
of Bukovina. The Kings and Queens are dressed in folk costumes, defined as Romanian,
with imitation of swords in their hands, wearing crowns on their heads – a helmet made
of a decorated bucket.
‘The nature of ritual’, as Durkheim observes, ‘is solely to appeal to the past and in
some way to bring it back to the present by means of a truly dramatic representation’
(1912: 543). For example, Easter is one of the events when almost all the villagers get
together. L. Dragomir described Easter as an important event for everyone, noting the
connection of the rite with Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Easter eggs are symbolically important. She argues that the tradition of painting eggs red is based on ‘the memory of
the blood Jesus Christ spilt for the redemption of the humans while being punished for
sinning’. The tradition to paint eggs is also associated with magic and superstitions: on
Easter day, girls need to wash up with water, where the red eggs were floating, in order
to be healthy, rosy and clean. When breaking eggs, there is a belief that the one whose
egg is broken first is weaker and he might die soon, or his sins are forgiven. On the way
back home after the service, the majority of the Krasnoilsk population first look into the
barn where cattle and horses stay. After leaving the stables, they go see the dogs. And
only after bypassing all the animals do they step into the house, put the Easter treat
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and exchange greetings: ‘Christ has Risen!’ and ‘Truly risen!’ According to Romanians,
Easter Crasna is such an important holiday that it’s forbidden to work. All the youth in
the village dress up in festive clothes, go to the bell tower, beat painted eggs and gather
in groups. The locals say that on Easter day it’s also forbidden to shoot, walk barefoot,
milk the cows or leave the dogs chained up (Dragomir, 2004).
A key goal of commemorative rituals is to maintain the moral unity and solidarity
of the community. This is partly confirmed by the fact that in Krasnoilsk only a few
people can explain the meaning of the ritual, while persistently emphasising the importance of co-living the tradition together. ‘This is a custom’ – most villagers would
say. ‘What is it?’ ‘Ursu (Rom., bear) it’s the HYMN for us, the people of KRASNOILSK!
We live it! It belongs to us! This is a tradition!!!’ – writes Maria from Krasnoilsk in her
social network live journal (Gakman, 2001). ‘To say that a rite is observed because it is
related to the ancestors is to acknowledge that its authority is based on tradition, an
utterly social phenomenon’ (Durkheim, 1912: 530). ‘The holiday is celebrated as it was
celebrated by the ancestors, because people are connected to them by a highly revered
tradition and because it provides them with a pleasant well-being and moral satisfaction’ (Ibid., 540). The fact of connecting the present with the past can be clearly traced
in Krasnoilsk and is ‘encoded’ in the most repeatable form of rituals and in the residents’ memories. ‘Doric schodo tsigana s wadodem: kolis long Krasnoilskie cigani came
W dressirovki wadmedani I vastavale vistupi and psnak splats about those Yak Tsigan
taming vedmed’ (Gypsies’ characters sometimes would appear with trained bears and
staged performances and the songs tell stories about how Gypsies tamed the bear) – says
Vasily Barboza, one of the members of the Malanka (Barbutca, 2001).
Memory rituals are often associated with specific places and spaces. The most archaic ones are presented in funeral rites. Their connection with memory is evident in
the ritual of commemorating the deceased for certain periods of time after death: on
Sundays during the year, commemoration in the Church, as well as regular visits to the
cemetery. Mass visits to cemeteries are allowed after Epiphany (January, 19th), when all
the villagers go to the cemetery after the service, prepare pomana (a recurring meal in
honour of a deceased) that they give to friends to pass it to relatives of the deceased and
also receive pomana for their family members. On St. Ilia’s day, the village gathers for
a holiday that is popularly called Day of the dead. After the service, villagers also visit
the cemetery, greet the relatives, and the cemetery becomes more a meeting place, a
kind of park for walking, where everyone learns news about each other, rather than a
place of the commemoration of the dead, although this element has undoubtedly been
preserved as well.
As a rule, the space of magical actions is a space outside everyday life, where the
play is taking place. The person and the character are revealed differently in Malanka or
in rounds like ploughshare, but the main thing is still living the ritual. In Malanka the
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authenticity and degree of embodiment of the character, which, however, has a game
task and framework, is important. You do not need to play yourself, but the character,
as it is accepted, expressing its character as much as possible.
‘‘Mummers look funny but very realistic. They are not actors, just the boys next
door who have probably never been to the theatre. They don’t play their roles,
they live them. Bloody cuts are drawn, the sabre is blunt but one cannot deceive their sub-consciousness – you feel the energy of a person and the primitive
fear of the savage attacking and chopping you like cabbage,’’ a witness writes
(Bespalov, 2001).
What memory-preserved traditions express is nothing more than the way society
imagines humans and the world around. This is as much morality, as cosmology, as
much as history. The rite is designed to make it impossible to erase the beliefs from the
memory. In general, it should revive again and again the most essential elements of the
collective consciousness:
Malanka in Krasnoilsk is apolitical but everyone sees their own meaning in it.
In fact, each character of the carnival is a symbol of human vices or virtues. So,
instead of a bear on a chain, they can lead a goat, and instead of a hunter in the
suit, there can be Brezhnev in a doctor’s costume since a representative of the
authorities should be present. Krasnoilsk became a territory beyond time and
space. Everything is mixed up: Putin and bears, doctors and terrorists. Even border police once arrived from neighbouring Romania with a huge cage trailer. The
oxymoron did not want to dissipate, and when Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin got out
of the police car, wearing a suit and with a stack, I was not surprised at anything
anymore (Ibid).
The ritual retains its sacred sense, and therefore its social role, to the extent that the
people who observe it could experience what is happening as being related to reality.
The variability of the rite and the reaction to the change of everyday life, the needs of
society, changing lifestyle brought by the Soviet system, collectivisation, kolkhoz and
the further restructuring in the 1980s led to the fact that Malanka has generated actors
that had references to nature but also reflected the tendency of influence on human life
by the state. Characters from the other world, who used to be crucial to negotiate with,
have been replaced by new images, important to establish a connection with nowadays.
Animals in the calendar rites began to disappear at the beginning of the 20th century, as a consequence of the fact that the peasant life gradually ceased to depend on
the conduct of individual farming. That is, the original magic message of Malanka to
communicate with nature and receive its benefits has changed to interaction with representatives of the state and power. According to A. G. Kozholyanko, Malanka is very
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sensitive to changes in society, and its characters indicate the importance of the latter.
In the second half of the 1980s, after Perestroika, among others there appeared
financial inspectors, measuring and accounting officers, policemen, car inspectors, who appealed to people with requirements to join the collective farm, take
loans, hand over grain and inventory to the collective farm; they also charged
people for work in the collective farm — so-called ‘workdays’. In other words,
collectivization and everyday life on the collective farm were ridiculed. Car inspectors stopped cars and checked documents, simulated technical inspection of
the vehicles, and demanded a bribe for allegedly violating traffic rules. Dressed in
old-fashioned city-style clothes, they would carry a large registration book and a
measuring tool – a ring (Kozholyanko, 2013: 161–162).
In Malanka 2014, there was a character who played V. V. Putin, in Malankas 2014–
2018, OMON and Berkut (mummers in the special police forces) squad members were
represented in large numbers, too. The characters of the devil (mummer) and death
(mummer) disappeared from the procession. The Orthodox Church in the post-Soviet
period began to expand its influence on citizens. The conviction of the priest of the
Church played a crucial role, which underlines the importance of religion for the residents of Krasnoilsk. The need for a variation of the rite and relevance is emphasised by
the audience. For example, Irina Pustynnikova, a journalist who often attends celebrations in the village, notes in her social network LiveJournal:
For a successful (really successful, not for a trick) continuation of the holiday,
people from Krasnoilsk should make it 50-50: half of the traditional elements,
half of something new every year. No, the shepherds don’t necessarily have to go
up the meadow with ostriches, riding Harleys. (…) Automatism is not a synonym
for sincerity. How about horse racing? Local boys are inborn cavaliers. Perhaps,
old costumes demonstration, master classes in folk crafts, or even learning local dances and songs – you always need something new, because if it is just the
opening event, awards, bonfire, walking the villages with the governor and doing
fitness – it is a bit primitive when without some annual highlight (Pustinnikova,
2001).
A Ukrainian Galina Aksenova, who visited the festival, described in her LiveJournal the quintessence of feelings she had experienced during Malanka, which describes
the essence of Malanka:
The celebration is not a ritual with a magic purpose but contains magic – a set of
factors that evoke the memory of ancestors that cannot be remembered, a history
that is not known but can be felt and lived by every single resident of Krasno-
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ilsk through the collective experience: 50 km from Chernivtsi and you get into a
space you are not ready for, no matter how many reports you’ve read. This is Terra
Incognita, the lost world. Ancient traditions are still alive in Krasnoilsk in such
primalness, brightness and beauty that you cannot believe your eyes. (...) The
ancient memory of the genus exists, but it is not heard in ordinary life. And here
you suddenly realise that everything happening is close and familiar to you. Not
only do you admire, but you remember, not only do you wonder, but you learn.
National identity is a complex matter that exists independently from our definitions. Everyone has something from their upbringing. But deep down and at our
core, we are what our earth has made us. Many things do not need to be learned,
because they are already here in the blood. Everything that happens during
Malanka in Krasnoilsk is already in our blood, we have just forgotten about it.
An ancient, powerful, forbidden part of our consciousness has been preserved
here incredibly pure, as in a nature reserve. You can understand a lot about who
we are and why we are. However, this is too beautiful and fantastic version of us.
And about national pride (Aksenova, 2018).
Summarising all mentioned above, it should be noted that the function of magic
in most modern rituals of the village of Krasnoilsk has not been in the first place for
a long time, since the purpose of influencing the immaterial world has largely been
lost. However, their stable persistence and the majority of the population involved in
them allow us to speak about the predominance of the social function of the ritual. The
collective nature of rites with echoes of magical practices, their constant modification,
survivability, emotional impact and connection with real life not only convey and fix
self-vision and that of the society in the memory of the villagers but also transmit this
information through regular repetition. Rituals serve as carriers of collective memory
and a fundamental condition for the memorial socialisation of members of the society,
the preservation of collective identity and the maintenance of the existence of the social
organism together with the impact on the shared experience and energy of co-living the
on-going moment.
R eferences:
Aksenova, G. (2017) S’ezdite na Malanku v Krasno’ilsk! (Go to Malanka in Krasnoilsk!).
Available at: galinaaksyenova.livejournal.com/113950.html (accessed 20 May 2020).
Barbutca, V. (2001) A commentary on the recording in Kamienczanka. Livejournal.com.
Available at: kamienczanka.livejournal.com/197789.html?page=2#comments (accessed 25 May 2020).
Bespalov, М. (2001) A commentary on the recording in sicheslavets. Available at: https://
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sicheslavets.li vejournal.com/397016.html (accessed 25 May 2020).
Dragomir, L. (2004) Crasna. Un colț de eternitate românească din Bucovina. Monografie
etnografică și istorică (Crasna. A Corner of Romanian Eternity in Bucovina. Ethnographic and Historical Monograph). București: Editura Coralia.
Durkheim, E. (1912) Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse: le système totémique
en Australie (Primary Forms of Religious Life: The Totemic System in Australia).
Paris: F. Alcan.
Durkheim, E. (2018) Elementarnye formy religioznoj zhizni (Elementary Forms of Religious Life). Moscow: Delo.
Gakman, М. А. (2001) A Commentary on the Recording in Kamienczanka. Available
at: kamienczanka.livejournal.com/197789.html?page=2#comments (accessed 25
May2020).
Kurochkin, A. (1995) Ukraїns’kі novorіchnі obryadi: Koza і Malanka (Ukrainian New
Year Rites: The Goat and Malanka). Oposhnya: Ukrainian folk studies.
Kozholyanko, А. G. (2013) Bukovins’ka Malanka-Pereberіya: Obryadovіst’ ta simvolіka
(Bukovyna Malanka-Pereberya: Rite and Symbolics). In: Pitannya starodavn’oї ta
seredn’ovіchnoї іstorії, arheologії j etnologії: Zbіrnik naukovih prac 3(35). Chernіvcі:
Prut.
Kozholyanko, A. G. (2014) Kalendarnaya obryadnost’ v Moldove i Bukovine (Calendar
Rites in Moldova and Bukovina). The Rusin 20(26): 217–226.
Levi-Strauss, Cl. (2001) Koldun i ego magiya (The Sorcerer and his Magic) In: Cl. LeviStrauss. Strukturnaya antropologiya (Structural Anthropology). Moscow: Eksmo-press.
Marian, S. F. (1898) Sărbătorile la romani. Studiu etnografic (Festivals of the Romanians. Ethnographic Research). București: Cirnilegile.
Marian, S. F. (1899) Sărbătorile la români, Vol. II: Păresimile (Festivals of the Romanians. Common Beliefs). București: Edițiunea Academiei Române, Institutul de
arte grafice Carol Göbl.
Moysey, А. (2008) Magіya і mantika u narodnomu kalendarі skhіdnoromans’kogo
naselennya Bukovini (Magic and Mantic Practices in the Folk Calendar of the East
Romanian Groups of Bucovina). Chernivtsi: LLC Druk art.
Novik, E. S. (2004) Obryad i fol’klor v sibirskom shamanizme: Opyt sopostavleniya struktur (Ritual and Folklore in Siberian Shamanism: Essay on Comparison of Structures). Moscow: Oriental literature.
Pustinnikova, I. (2001) Кrasnoїl’s’k (Crasna-Ilschi), Malanka-2011. Available at: kamienczanka.livejournal.com/197789.html?page=2#comments (accessed 25 May
2020).
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Sbiera, I. (1888) Colinde, cântece de stea şi urări la nunţi. Din popor luate şi poporului
date (Carols, Christmas Songs and Wedding Wishes). Cernăuţi: Editura Societăţii
pentru cultura şi literatura română în Bucovina.
Tokarev, S. A. (1990) Rannie formy religii (Early Forms of Religion). Moscow: Politizdat.
Elena Dyakova is a Researcher of the Department of Ethnography of the Peoples of
Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova of the Russian Ethnographic Museum (Russia, St. Petersburg) since 2009. Graduated from the Faculty of History of the St. Petersburg State
University (Department of Theory and History of Russian and Western European Art,
2003). Since 2009 she has been conducting fieldwork in Europe (Ukraine, Moldova).
Study interests: festive practices, museum studies, photography as an ethnographic
source.
E-mail: dyiakova.elena@gmail.com
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M AGICAL HEALING THROUGH
GESTURES (PRELIMINARY REMARKS)
Ekaterina Todorova
Abstract: Health, disease, and treatment have been the focus of humanity since the
dawn of human civilisation. Many diseases are banished and cured by magic touch. In
this research, I would like to present to you my preliminary work on the healing process through the touch of both the pagan magician and the Christian priest. Therefore,
first of all, the clarification of the terminology will be included in the structure of the
research. Then I will look at the different types of touches that the healer makes. In
this work, the process of healing by touch will be presented. Touching is a two-way act
because, on the one hand, the healer touches the patient and, on the other hand, the patient himself can touch the healer. In this paper, I will look at examples of magic touch
in the folk and Christian traditions, so it is important to clarify what is meant by the
term magic and gesture (touch) from the outset.
Keywords: magic, gesture, touching, saint, healer
T he terms ‘Magic’ and ‘Gesture’
As R. Mathiesen (1995: 157) shares, ‘The question of how to define magic is an old
and vexed one, and we will not be able to answer it fully here’. The encyclopаedia Bulgarska Mitologia (Popov 2006: 187–189) describes the various types of magic very well.
From a folk point of view, magic is defined as a combination of action (ordinance) and
word (spell, charm) based on the belief in the ability to extricate supernaturally a particular object or phenomenon. The magic is bipolar – positive (white) or negative (black).
It is worth paying attention to the classification of S. Tokarev described in the encyclopaedia Bulgarska Mitologia (2006: 187–188). He distinguishes between 6 types of magic.
The first type he sets aside is contact magic based on immediate contact (wearing an
amulet, kissing a hand, wearing garlic in clothes, etc.). The second type is the so-called
imitative magic, based on the belief that any imitation of a movement or action gives
rise to something similar by analogy (e. g. the ‘peperuda’ custom – ritual for summoning rain in the spring and summer, on specific dates or during periods of drought). The
third type is the initial magic or the magic of the first day (it is referred to, for example,
the rite of worship or polyazvane – divination by the first guest.). The fourth type is
contagious magic, according to which contact with objects or belongings of a person is
equivalent to contact with himself (e. g. when going to a fairy, the patient’s clothes are
worn. Thus, when a spell is cast over the garment, it is believed that treats the patient
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himself). The fifth type of magic is the so-called purifying or prophylactic, the purpose
of which is to drive away evil forces e. g. bathing in the dew of St. George, ‘sveti Georgi’,
or St. John’s Day rites, ‘sv. Ioan’167). The last sixth type is verbal or verbal magic based on
the belief in the power of speech.
Also, according to encyclopaedia Bulgarska Mitologia, the magic is ‘military’, ‘malicious’, ‘amorous’, ‘healing’, ‘economic’, ‘meteorological’. The ‘military’ aims to provide a favourable outcome from hostilities and increase the courage and strength of the
soldiers. The ‘malicious’ magic threatens the life and health of the target object. ‘Love’
magic is widely used in pre-marriage. The ‘healing’ magic is especially widespread.
They aim both to prevent the danger of the disease and to drive away from the disease
itself, or if this is not possible, simply prolong its treatment. The ‘economic’ magic is
about securing a favourable outcome for any agricultural endeavour. The ‘meteorological’ magic, in turn, serves to influence natural forces.
D. Dimitrov (2013: 227–228), reviewing magical practices in Byzantium, states that
several words are used to indicate magical action or thought. One of them is ‘pharmakeia’, indicating the use of life-saving medicines, but also the preparation of potions,
charming herbs, and poisons. One of the most commonly used terms in the Hellenic
and Byzantine world is ‘goeteia’ in the general sense of witchcraft, usually associated
with the use of spells or the possibility of turning one thing into another. The other meaning of this word implies also mystification and hence false sorcery. The word
‘mageia’, adopted in many European languages, has a special status. For the ancient
Greeks this is the doctrine of the Zoroastrians of Media and Persia and implies something alien imported from the East. The word ‘magician’ also has a positive meaning
insofar as it designates an Eastern sage or ruler – in this sense, it is also used in the New
Testament. Another commonly used term is ‘baskania’ – enchantment, spell that comes
from the verb ‘baskaino’ – cast a bad, envious gaze, enchant with a gaze. ‘Baskanion’ is
one of the words for spells and amulets in Medieval Bizantine.
As noted by I. Hristova-Shomova (2016: 201–206) in the Old Bulgarian language,
the most common word for magic is ‘влъшвение’ and related ones ‘влъхвъ’ and
‘влъхвовати’. In the old Bulgarian language, the words ‘врачь, врачевати, врачевание’
are used with the meaning of ‘healing’. Although healing always implies a special set of
knowledge, in early Bulgarian monuments the words from this root are used positively.
Those who practice it are not condemned, but on the contrary, they are usually praised.
Healer saints are usually called ‘врачи’ (St. St. Cosmas and Damian). But sometimes
‘врачь’ can also be used negatively. Later the noun ‘врачение’ was already used in the
meaning of sorcery. In Old Bulgarian, the word ‘чародэи’ is used as a healer, but with a
167 Sveti Georgi (St. George’s) Day –- a holiday-related to the worship of St. George (May 6). He rules over the fields
and herds, their fertility depends on him. On the Day of Yoan Bogoslov (John the Baptist) (June 24) – a holiday to
commemorate the birth of St. John the Baptist. Herbs are picked early in the morning because they are believed to have
the greatest healing power then.
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negative connotation, who with delusional skills deceives the needy and (with the help
of demons) diverts them from the right path of healing. The circle of words meaning
magician, magic must also be indicated by root derivatives ‘вэд’ – ‘znam’ (I know):
the Bulgarian ‘вещица’ and Russian ‘ведьма’. With the establishment of the Christian
religion and with the widespread entry of various heretical movements and teachings,
the theological justification of witchcraft was changing. ‘Magic’ is defined as a ‘satanic
cause’ – surrendering to the devil, allying with him. Sorcery is classified as a particularly serious crime worthy of death penalty because it is considered as directed against
God (Kasabova-Dicheva, 1997: 46).
In this research, the main focus is on gestures, which are a driving factor in the
healing process, and they can be seen as a kind of magic touch. The term gesture can be
used to denote people’s feelings as an expression of internal movements (bodily expression), it can also take into account the meaning of gestures – their communicative, i. e.
nonverbal function as well as their symbolic effectiveness. It is important here to distinguish gestures from movement. Like any sign, the gesture has syntactic and pragmatics,
and the connection between the signifier and the signified has in most cases a conventional character. Therefore, there are movements, not gestures, such as turning the head
in both directions (right-left, left-right), changing legs when numb from sitting for a
long time, scratching when itching, grimacing in pain, horizontal sleeping position.
All these movements are caused by physiological reasons and do not have an additional
symbolic meaning (e. g. sneezing has no symbolic or semiotic function).
T ypes of magical touch. Point of views
The function of gestures in pagan and Christian societies is largely communicative,
but they are also to a great extent symbolic. Let us also take a brief look at existing definitions and classifications of gestures. Jean-Claude Schmidt (2000: 315), who examines
the function and symbolism of gestures in the medieval West, notes that many gestures
are thought to change matter or beings not through the action of some technique but
through an inner power that holds within them. In regard to the terminological division of gestures, Schmidt introduces the use of three terms: ‘gestus’, ‘gestuculacio’, ‘gesta’. The first two are opposed to each other in order (‘gestus’) and disorder (‘gesticulacio’), a slow and solemn church gesture that opposes worldly dance and indiscriminate,
chaotic movements. And while ‘gestus’ is characterised by its ‘horizontal’ dimension
as a factor of social relations (in rituals, in interpersonal communication, and even in
prayer), gestures (in my understanding) have a more ‘vertical’ dimension, by linking
people, and most of all, groups of gesturing people – or more precisely, ‘gesturing’ people – to the invisible forces that escape from their will. In medieval beliefs, these powers
are of a supernatural order. They are positive (if the gestures appear to conform to the
will of God) or negative (if caused by the devil’s influence, such as in the case of demon
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possession). In their form, ‘gesta’ do not have the imposed or voluntary restraint of
‘gestus’ and do not promptly condemn the evaluations that are always attached to the
concept of ‘gesticulacio’ since there is also sacred gesture.
Jacques Le Goff (1998: 411) in turn, also notes some types of ritual and canonical
gestures that exist during the Middle Ages:
The vassal puts his hands into the seigneur’s hands, puts them on the Bible, breaks
a straw or throws a glove as a challenge. Gesture means and expresses a position.
Its role in the liturgical life is even more important. Gestures of Faith: Cross Signs.
Prayer gestures: arms folded, arms raised, arms crossed, arms closed. Repentance
gestures: hitting the chest. Blessing gestures: Laying hands and cross signs. Spell
gestures: incensation. Several gestures define the essence of the sacraments. Worship is also a series of gestures.
E. Bakalova (1989: 4–5), quoting Klaus Vessel and his vocabulary on the realities
of Byzantine art, notes that he formulates 10 different types of gestures: acclamation,
plea for intercession, power, blessing, supplication, conversation, sorrow, triumph, embarrassment, and ‘closed hands’ they are inherited from antiquity and even retain their
basic semantic core unchanged.
Russian scholar O. Yu. Klautova (1993: 259–261), who looks at the gestural system
reflected in ancient Russian literature and iconography (11th–13th centuries), divides the
gestures into two main groups: canonical and non-canonical gestures. Canonical gestures refer to the blessing, the reception of grace, the weeping, the prayer, the kiss, and
the bow. An important point, she notes, is that canonical gestures depend neither on the
genre nor on the plot of the work. Their reflection is limited to certain situations, most
notably ceremonial. Mobility, fussy movement is only characteristic of negative characters, which thus emphasise the labelled immobility of the main characters. Non-canonical gestures, according to Klautova (Ibid., 265), are these gestures that occur in spontaneous behaviour and allow for a more personal touch. In composition, they usually
express a semantic connection between the characters or emphasise the course of the
ritual action. Such gestures are, e.g. pointing and speaking gestures.
Another prominent scholar, historian, and medievalist, Mark Block, shares the following on the connection between the healing power of the sacred and the gestures:
People in the Middle Ages, or at least the vast majority of them, created very
material, or, if we may put it, an extremely prosaic idea, for religious things. And
how else could it be? In their eyes, the fairy-tale world to which Christian rituals
just opened slightly the door and was not separated by an indeterminate abyss
from the one in which they lived; the two universes penetrated; is, then, how can
they not accept that the gesture that touched the other side acted here, on this
earth, as well? (Block, 2012: 130).
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The Bulgarian scholar I. Todorova-Pirgova (2003: 82–86) divides non-verbal ritual
actions into three main groups:
1. The posture of the body, symbolising the semantic orientation of the healing
ritual and the expected effect of its conduct. The posture of the body is a significant
manifestation, especially for the patient, insofar as active ritual actions are more a part
of the ritual role of the healer (respectively the sorcerer).
2. Types of movements that are grouped in two main features. The first is the consistent structuring of movements and the incorporation of simpler ones into more
complex movements, whereby they are perceived as a single movement (e.g., the action
‘censing’, ‘blowing’, ‘licking on the forehead’, etc.). The second feature is related to their
main function in the ritual process and accordingly, they are:
- actions for illustrative purpose – showing what is said in words;
- actions with apotropaic purpose – they ensure the safety and security of the sorceress or other participants in the rite from the action of external forces in whose space
they are located (e.g. the silent delineation of the space where the magic will be done);
- actions that direct the boundary status of the magic rite (cross signs);
- self-healing activities – all kinds of massages, setting bones, surgery, or bandages.
3. The role of gesture and facial expressions. The gesture can be seen as an element
of the ritual movement, but it can also have an independent movement, which also
duplicates or complements the common sense created in the ritual discourse. And the
facial expression is, as a rule, a strict, serious, expressive attachment to the sacrament,
or a certain reaction to something that happens in it. For us in this case, however, is
of interest the magical touch as a healing act, which is carried out mainly through the
participation of the human hand – directly or indirectly. Let’s also not forget to clarify
the meaning of the word ‘touch’. In general, the verb ‘to touch’ in the Dictionary of Bulgarian Language (Rechnik na balgarskiya ezik, RBE) is labelled as ‘touching something,
ordinary, lightly, with arm, shoulder, leg, with your body’.
Dzh. Madzharov (2017: 33; 42) pays attention to the meaning of the ritual gesture.
Аccording to the author, аs a semiotic sign it manifests itself in three main categories –
‘index’, ‘icon’, and ‘symbol’. The ritual gesture is loaded with а significant movement of
the human body and its individual strands, posture, and facial expressions in the scope
of the ritualised action (ritual, rite, custom, holiday, etc.).
R. Mathiesen (1995: 160) describes the extant magical texts as follows:
the written magical texts that have so far been discovered fall largely into three
classes: (1) individual charms, spells, incantations, and magical prayers, including inscriptions on amulets; (2) divinatory texts of several kinds; and (3) herbals
that contain elements of magical herbalism, and other texts of natural magic’.
Because gestures are an extremely diverse group in their structure, there are so
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many different opinions and classifications. Therefore, in this report I will focus only on
those used for therapeutic purposes.
To be able to show the full diversity of touch as part of the healing act, on one hand,
examples of the tales given in the Collections of Folk Tales, Science and Literature (Sbornitsite za narodni umotvoreniya, nauka i knizhnina, SbNU) will be used as illustrative
material. The hagiographical literature is full of miracles, on the other hand, which
can discern the difference between the miracles created by the power of God and that
created by demons and bad wizards. That is why some translated vita of saints from the
14th – 17th centuries, who are part of the Bulgarian medieval hagiography, will be used
as examples in this direction. As mediators between the visible and the invisible world,
both sorcerers and saints play the role of mediators in the healing ritual. In the process
of learning and working with different source literature two main types of ‘magical
touch’ between healer and patient stood out.
In this study, healing gestures were divided into two groups. The first presents the
cases when the healer touches a sick man or woman. In the second, the sick person
touches the healer. I found many examples from folk customs, the Holy Bible, and hagiographic literature. However, this is not the case with the 2nd group where so far, I have
found very few examples, but I hope to continue to research the topic and to be able to
find many examples.
1 . The healer touches a sick man / woman – object, body, clothing
In magical rites, the most common way of healing is for the healer to touch directly
the body of the patient himself or to use some object, which is often of plant origin.
When someone is a victim of an evil eye the sorceress takes the patient out to the yard
and starts rubbing him directly on the forehead with his big finger from his right hand
and starts to mumble to him (SbNU, 4, 1891: 78). In another rite against misfortune the
sorceress as well as rubbing his forehead with his fingertips, and especially touch her
veins over his nose and chatter (SbNU, 3, 1890: 146). The ‘rub’ action itself means moving something along a surface for a long time (RBE). And with the disease ‘metalkya’
(eye disease with redness, tears, irritation, which are exacerbated by the bright light of
the sun or fire) the sorceress straightens her patient, puts the thumb from his right hand
to the upper eyelid of the sick eye, and the thumb from his left hand to his lower. Then
she moves his eyelids and blows in the eye of the patient. As can be seen, in this example
it is very specific to indicate which hand and finger touch the patient, and apparently,
the correct placement of the fingers implies healing.
As far as the Christian tradition of healing is concerned, the New Testament offers
us many examples of touch as a therapeutic act. Jesus Christ purifies a leper man:
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When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A
man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing,
you can make me clean’. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am
willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy (Matthew
8: 1–3).
Also, Jesus touches Peter’s mother-in-law who has a fever:
When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed
with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began
to wait on him. (Matthew 8: 14–15).
Two blind men restored their sight at one touch of God’s hand on their eyes:
When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do
you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched
their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their
sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this”
(Matthew 9: 28–30).
In written Christian culture, many examples can be found of the power of saints
to heal by touch. But let us, for example, restrict ourselves in this respect to the Zhitie na ravnoapostolen Averkiy Yerapolski (Vita of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius
of Hieropolis) (22.10) from Reading Menaion by Stanislav from 14th century (NBKM
1039), where a miraculous touch treatment is described. The episode is the following:
the emperor’s daughter Luciad, who is betrothed to Levkir, is possessed by a demon and
the king sends an ambassador to bring St. Averkiy (Abercius) to him. He tries to reach
out to the saint, but is punished as his hand dries – a vivid proof of the saint’s power not
only to give but also to take away health: у ˜мрети оц у
£ ¬е̃…... як̃о дарь § б Ѓ Ѓ а приде и.˜ и …
на болэще¬˜ руцэ вьз D э кати ¬и̃ ˜ и а̃би¬ исцэлэваху (t. 269).
It is possible, of course, to touch the patient not directly, but using an object or a certain part of the flora or fauna, etc., for achieving his complete healing. For example, in
folk rites in the disease ‘echemichka’ (a stye in the eye) the sorceress takes the patient to
a rose bush, touches the ‘echemichka’ with a prick, and stabs it in the ground (Georgiev,
2013: 52–53). White pimples are smeared several times with ointment and hen feathers
(SbNU, 5, 1889: 123). When a person is burned by fire, a rag from a torn shirt is smeared
with ointment and the wound is applied until it heals (SbNU, 5, 1889: 125). In folklore
healing, spreading is generally the application of a vegetable, animal or vegetable fat,
tar, resin, water, and the like, individually or in combination, to the diseased place by
hand, cotton, or bird feather. On the following holidays: Ignazhden (20 December)168,
168 The day to commemorate the memory of St. Ignatius the Epiphany, celebrated on December 20. Usually, then the
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Bozhik (25 December / 7 January)169, Sv. Haralampi (St. Charalambos)’Haralampy’ (10
February)170, Holy Thursday171, Sv. Kosma and Sv. Damian (SS Cosmas and Damian) (1
July; 1 November), for medicinal purpose a piece or some part of the food is preserved
throughout the year. People would smear honey on the outer door to prevent disease
during an epidemic (Stoyanova, 2013: 313). As can be seen, in both folk and church
medical practice, touching is often practiced by functioning the sore, the wound. When
she charms for wind (i. e. rheumatism), the sorceress breaks the egg on one side, scrapes
the eggshells on one side, pours the yolk, and the protein, and anoints the member of
the sick person. When a baby is sick with ‘pesitsi’ (a newborn diseases. The skin on the
child’s spine feels as if strewn with sand), ashes and oil are rubbed on its back (SbNU,
8, 1892: 150). In the case of ‘sirma’ (suffering with swelling and tenderness of the wrists
from strenuous summer field work) the sorceress takes olive oil and rubs the diseased
hand (SbNU, 8, 1892: 153).
An example in the written Christian culture is the episode of Saint Panteleimon
from Machenie na sveti velikomachenik Panteleimon (Martyrdom of Great Martyr Pantaleon), f. 195б – 214, from Reading Menaion for July – August from 17th century. No.
Hil446, (27.7), who heals a blind man by unction: се ‘м’п омазан∙е сътво рити
‘
(f. 200).
According to French theologian Jean-Claude Larchet (2006: 81), the roots of the unction
should be sought in the canonical gospels, e. g. in the Gospel of Mark 6:13: ‘They drove
out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them’. A guidance
on the oil suing is also found in Epistle of James:
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over
them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered
in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have
sinned, they will be forgiven (5: 14–15).
Another very common variant of healing magic touch is when the healer puts his
hands on the patient’s head or shoulders. To lay hands on someone as a therapeutic
touch means to touch someone and to give them something from yourself, in a word, to
be a carrier of certain divine powers. In the treatment of evil eye in the region of Prilep,
the sorceress puts her right hand on the forehead of the spell and even rubs it (SbNU,
11, 1894: 87).
In the New Testament, this gesture occurs in two semiotic variants: as a sign of
blessing Christ places his hands on children:
And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed
Christmas holidays begin. In Eastern Bulgaria, this day is the first Christmas dinner. The meal is completely lean.
169 Christmas.
170 St. Charalambos is honored as the master of all diseases, and especially of the plague.
171 Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter.
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them (Mark 10:16)
or as a sign of deliverance:
When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set
free from your infirmity.’ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she
straightened up and praised God (Luke 13:12 – 13).
Considering the medieval Bulgarian translation of hagiography, for example, the
Zhitie na prep. Maria (Vita of St. Mary,12.2), No. Dech95 recounts how, after the death
of her father, the woman saint, dressed as a man (Marin), receives the gift of healing impure spirits, demons through the non-verbal gesture of ‘putting hands’: у ˜мрети оц у
£
¬е̃…... як̃о дарь § б Ѓ Ѓ а приде и.˜ и … на болэще¬˜ руцэ вьз D э кати ¬и̃ ˜ и а̃би¬ исцэлэваху
(f. 139).
The magic touch as a therapeutic act is also possible to apply as a stronger act, such
as striking by using an object. Three meanings of the verb ‘strike’ are given in the RBE.
1. I strike once or several times. 2. I touch something else; I’m banging. 3. I strike something that produces sound, noise. When a sick person wanders at night, they strike him
on the mouth with the slipper, and when he starts to wail again, he wakes up alone so
that he does not catch the ‘mora’ – a demon causing diseases in Slavic mythology. It is
often identified as an invisible night spirit, witch or vampire who comes into people’s
dreams, torments them and causes nightmares (SbNU, 1892, 8: 152). When the sorceress from Sofia region fighting against a sore wound (‘kel’ – skin changes without visible
causes and injuries, perhaps without rashes) performs the act alone with the patient. She
takes a small hen’s plumage, stroking the wound lightly and whispering... (SbNU, 1890,
5: 142). When is charming of fright, the following ritual is performed: the old woman
takes a broom and forces the patient to go through the circle? When the patient passes,
the old woman knocks him with a broom on the back and at the same time puts his left
hand on his head and frightens him ... The old woman puts her hand on his heart and,
after that she says her charm, hits him with the broom. This is done three times. For the
third time, the sorceress puts her hand on his belt and looks to place his hand just above
his navel, and after sniffing the fable and striking with the broom, she sniffs (SbNU, 1:
80–81). In this example it can be seen how many times the healer touches the patient at
different places, even in some cases mentioning which hand is acted upon. Broom, on
the other hand, is a reductive symbol-tool, so striking a person with a broom or sweeping it is a kind of black magic... In the healing rite, the use of a broom has as its object
the virtual body–a disease and therefore the healer sweeps the floor around the patient
in a circle (Georgiev, 2013: 42).
Turning to the examples given by medieval hagiographical literature, then again,
the Zhitie of ravnoapostolen Averkii Ieraposlki (Vita of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius of Hieropolis) (22 October) (NBKM 1039) will reveal how a saint heals a young
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man from his anger by striking with his rod: и вьзрэвь на бэсны¬ и ударь жьзломь
вь главы ихь и рече. вь име г Ѓ а ис х Ѓ а живааго б Ѓ га, излэзыте нечистыи дусы §
юношь... юноше же исцэлэвше падоше на ногу с Ѓ т ааго’ а€в еркыя... и сташе юноше
зр D ави и сь умомь (f. 261б). It should be noted that in Christian medical practice, it
is unusual to treat a man possessed by demons by using the rod. Usually, the practice
of treating possessed by evil demons is exorcism through the use of baptismal signs,
prayer reading, the use of oil, and holy water. But an explanation of this can be found
in the biblical symbolism of the rod. It is also used as an instrument of punishment
(Proverbs 23: 13, 29: 15); as sceptre (Isaiah 14: 5) and as a sign of strength (Psalm 2: 9),
for support and management. In this case, the wand is more likely to symbolise the
power of Christianity capable of healing the possessed. Another saint, Reverend Ilarion
Veliki (Hilarion the Great) (4.11) from Zhitie na prep. Ilarion Veliki (Vita of Hilarion the
Great) by Reading Menaion for September – November, a new version from the 15th century, kept at Dragomirna Monastery, Bukovina (No Drag700) as the serpent lord, kills
with his rod by touching a snake: кw ‘вчегь нэ‘кыи ка‘мень колэбаашес, и „ ст Ѓ го очи
‘ къ
себэ’ привла‘чааше. з춑© у б‡ о нэ‘ка© финиковиди©
‘
велик© § сего я„влэ‘ем© видэвь.
‘
и„
же ‘зломь и ‰же въ р©ку † и „мэ‘ше у„би вье©„ (f. 355).
Again, in folklore treatments through threats of physical punishment and hitting
(beating), just as snakes are chased by striking a fishing rod on the land of the ‘Feasts
of Mladentsi’ (Mladentsi is celebrated on March 9th. The Orthodox Church commemorates the martyrs of the 40 martyred Christians from Sevastia. In folk mythology, the
Lord is thought to strike 40 sticks on the earth, from which the serpents awaken and
turn to their other side). ‘Blagovets’ (it is celebrated on March 25th. According to mythology belifes snakes emerge from their den on this day. The snake killed on that day or
its head is considered to be a cure). ‘Jeremiah’ (it is celebrated on May 1st and is associated with the Christian saint Prophet Jeremiah. Folk rituals are related to the belief that
on this day the serpents and the serpent king himself emerge from their earthly beds.
For the protection of snakes, their ritual persecution is carried out), the healer draws a
circle and hits the bitten spot of a snake with a fishing rod (Georgiev, 2013: 54).
So far, we have considered the examples provided by the pagan and Christian environment in the treatment of the patient through the various types of touches (from the
lightest touch to the most physically severe, e.g. beating).
2 . The sick man / woman touches the healer or a part of him (body part,
clothing)
A healing process is a bilateral act. Healing can be caused by touching the healer
himself to the patient, which is a more common treatment, but the patient can also be
healed by touching the healer himself or through his clothing. The sick man in folk
medicine is a passive side, as the healer takes him or carries him to the ritual site, he
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obeys the prohibition to speak, is often asleep, he does not see because he has a covered
face (Ibid., 27).
Christianity gives examples of this in the New Testament, which tells of a woman
suffering from bleeding for 12 years without receiving help from doctors, most likely
pagans, but is healed just by touching of Jesus’ garment:
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up
behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch
his cloak, I will be healed.’ Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he
said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed at that moment
(Matthew 9: 20–22).
A similar example can be found in the full-text of Zhitie na prep. Teodosiy Veliki
(Vita of Theodosius the Great) (11 January) when a woman with breast cancer touches
St. Theodosius the Great’s garment and this one action – touching the holy garment of
the monk brings healing: ... и „ ко ‘кула ко ‘сн©тис... и „ болэзнь уст©‘пи (f. 139б).
C onclusion
The use of magic means certain ritual actions, of symbols, words and gestures to be
used to supernatural powers. In this study, I have tried to show the full complexity and
variety of healing gestures that folklore and Christian texts offer us. Based on the examples offered by the Bulgarian folklore and Orthodox tradition of healing, two types of
‘magic touches’ have been distinguished: the first, and most common, is when the healer touches the sick person, the second represents exactly the opposite, that is, when the
sick touches his healer. Most of the ‘magical touches’ of all kinds are distinguished by
the first type –starting with light touching, lubrication and rubbing, and, up to striking,
while in the second type the focus is just on touching.
S ources:
Bibliya, sirech knigite na Sveshtenoto Pisanie na Vethiya i Noviya Zavet (The Holy Bible)
(1993). Sofia: Sv. Sinod na Balgarskata tsarkva.
SbNU (1989) Sbornik za narodni umirotvoreniya, nauka i knizhnina (Collections of Folk
Tales, Science and Literature), Sofia. Available at: http://macedonia.kroraina.com/
sbnu/sbnu_index.htm#01 (accessed on 26 May 2020).
Zhitie na ravnoapostolen Averkiy Yerapolski (Vita of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius
of Hieropolis) from Reading Menaion by Stanislav from 14th century (NBKM 1039).
Available at: https://cutt.ly/TjSCOfu (f. 258б – 274) (accessed on 26 May 2020).
Zhitie na prep. Ilarion Veliki (Vita of Hilarion the Great) by Reading Menaion for Sep367
B ETWEEN THE WORLDS: MAGIC, MIRACLES, AND MYSTICISM
tember – November, a new version from the 15th century, kept at Dragomirna Monastery, Bukovina, No. Drag700 at: Zograf Electronic Research Library (f. 246б –
276).
Zhitie na prep. Maria (Vita of St. Mary) from the 14th century, kept in Dechani Monastery, No. Dech95. Available at: https://www.decani.org/rs/95-14#!decani_095_001
(f. 138 – 141б) (accessed on 26 May 2020).
Zhitie na prep. Teodosiy Veliki (Vita of Theodosius the Great) by Reading Menaion for
January from 16th century, No. Drag684 at: Zograf Electronic Research Library (f.
109б – 151б).
Machenie na sveti slaven velikomachenik Panteleimon (Martyrdom of Great Martyr
Pantaleon) from Reading Menaion for July – August from 17th century, No. Hil446
at: Library of Hilandar Monastery (f. 195б – 214).
Rechnik na bulgarskia ezik (RBE). Dictionary of Bulgarian Language. Available at:
https://cutt.ly/mjSCHdQ (accessed on 26 May 2020).
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of the Supernatural Character Attributed to Royal Power, Mainly in France and
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Dimitrov, D. (2013) Dvulikiyat Yanus: Magiya i magicheski praktiki vav Vizantiya (The
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prizmata na ezika (God was the Word: Etudes on Christianity Seen through the
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studije. Nis, Beograd: Ars Libri.
Le Goff, J. (1998) Tsivilizatsiyata na srednovekovniya Zapad (The Civilization of the
Medieval West). Sofia: Publishing House ‘AGATA-A’.
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Kasabova-Dicheva, А. (1997) Magyosnitsata – neobhodimoto zlo (The Sorceress – the
Necessary Evil). Bulgarian Ethnology 3-4: 44–59.
Klautova, O. Yu. (1993) Zhest v drevnerusskoy literature i ikonopisi XІ – XІІІ v. K postanovke voprosa (The Gesture in Old Russian Literature and Iconography in the 11th14th centuries. To the Statement of the Problem). TODRL XLVI: 256–269.
Madzharov, Dzh. (2017) Ot izbor na vladetel do detska igra: Promeni pri obredniya zhest
v ungarskata kultura. (From the Choice of Ruler to Children’s Play: Changes in
the Ritual Gesture in Hungarian Culture). Sofia: ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ University
Press.
Mathiesen, R. (1995) Magic in Slavia Orthodoxa: The Written Tradition. In: H. Maguire
(Ed). Byzantine Magic. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection Washington, D.C., pp. 155-178.
Popov, R. (2006). Magiya (Magic). In: Balgarska mitologiya: Entsiklopedichen rechnik.
Sofia: Publishing House ‘Zahari Stoyanov’.
Schmidt, J.-Cl. (2000) Smisalat na zhestovete v srednovekovniya Zapad (The Meaning of
Gestures in the Medieval West). Sofia: Publishing House ‘LIK’.
Stoyanova, P. (2013) Entsiklopediya Balgarska narodna meditsina: Namereniya, rezultati i obshti izvodi. Predgovor kam parvoto izdanie (Encyclopedia of Bulgarian
Folk Medicine: Intentions, Results and General Conclusions. Preface to the 1st Edition). In: M. Georgiev (Ed). Balgarska narodna meditsina: Entsiklopediya. Sofia:
Publishing House ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’, pp. 7-12.
Todorova-Pirgova, I. (2003) Bayaniya i magii. (Spells and Magic). Sofia: Publishing
House ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’.
Ekaterina Todorova, PhD, is an Assistant at Institute for Literature, Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences. She holds a degree in Russian Philology from Sofia University ‘St. Kliment
Ohridski’. Also, she holds a Ph.D. degree on the topic ‘Saints Healers in the Hagiography of the Orthodox World’ at Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies ‘Prof. Ivan Dujčev’,
Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’. Her publications are in the field of Old Russian
and Old Bulgarian literature. She is an author of more than 10 scholarly publications.
She is interested in hagiography, history of medicine as well as non-verbal communication. Ms. Todorova is a member of the European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS).
E-mail: todorova.ekaterina@gmail.com
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S HEEP-GOATS AND SHEPHERDS
RELATIONSHIP IN
ANATOLIA IN RESPECTIVE TO
MAGIC, MYSTICISM AND FESTIVE
Ayse Hilal Tuztaş Horzumlu
Abstract: The article focuses on the relationship between shepherds and sheep-goats
in Anatolia. Archaeological findings ratify the existence of goats and sheep in Anatolian geography for centuries. Throughout centuries brought many various shepherding
types and practices into existence, despite its unknown starting date. The paper intends
to shed some light on this relationship within magic, mysticism, and festive context.
The mysticism part of the relationship touches more on the shepherd’s quest to answer
‘the riddle of life’ question and his spiritual self-improvement rather than the verbal
/ non-verbal communication with an animal. The magic section observes daily life
practices to protect animals from sickness and avoid the ‘evil eye’, which might cause
misfortune and hardship while raising them. The rituals and habits include pinning
ornaments on animals, using amulets and protective objects such as the Paliurus Spina-Christi plant. While the Festive section highlights the events where shepherds exhibit their skills and the bond they establish with their animals.
The data used in the article is based on the personal anthropological fieldwork and analysis of the respective literature. In light of the information collected, the paper aims to
bring a new approach toward the human-animal mutual relations while placing shepherd activities to its core. In contemplating forming a base for future studies might
compare these practices with other parts of the world and gain brand new perspectives
on the human-animal connection.
Keywords: sheep, goat, shepherd, human-animal relationship, Turkey
I ntroduction
The relationship between humans and animals has an extensive history. Tim Ingold (2000) intends to analyse the narrative of this history constructed by humans. His
analysis includes various scientific ways of thinking and ethnographic and anthropological works. Ingold remarks on how societies understand the world differently and
reflect on a human-animal relationship that he explains within two concepts, ‘trust’
and ‘domination’. Trust is seen in the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and defined as a ‘single
cosmic economy of sharing’ (Ingold, 2000: 69). The perception of trust emerges from
the autonomy and dependency relationship, and both humans and animals know that
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they are interdependent. A hunter assumes that an animal proffers itself as prey if he
treats them right. Contrarily, if he hunts more than the need and wastes the food, an animal would not become prey. There are two different reciprocal relationships mentioned
in terms of rights and relations.
Pastoral nomadism is another type of subsistence economy with an unknown appearance date. Anatoly Khazanov suggests that this lifestyle’s historical roots extend as
far as the Neolithic period (1994: 89). The Neolithic period had a transformative effect
on the human-nature-animal relationship. Hunter-gatherer societies have mainly undertaken the responsibility of raising animals and the domestication process; however,
the most substantial change occurred when they started feeding animals, resulting in
the emergence of shepherding as a specialty.
Ingold explains the relationship mentioned above with the ‘domination’ concept.
Shepherd protects animals, but ‘the animals are presumed to lack the capacity to reciprocate’ (2000: 72). In the pastoral nomadic subsistence economy, people dominated animals at their own will and became the sole decree of animal’s survival. He mentions the
paradigm of the human-animal relationship shifting from trust towards the concept of
domination, taking Western scholarly literature into account. Ingold avoids describing
these concepts as good or bad due to moral grounds but remarks on the differences and
suggests a rewrite of the human-animal relationship’s history. By doing this, one focuses on animals’ relationships in a caring and attentive manner and realises the world’s
sharing concept. In this regard, we can learn from hunters and herdsmen who spend
their day-to-day life with animals. This article’s primary goal is to exhibit the relationship between humans and animals in the shepherd’s lives.
The article will assess the relationship between shepherds and sheep/goats in Anatolian geography. It shows the population of sheep and goats in Anatolia on the 2019 data
of TUİK (Turkish Statistical Institute), as 37,276,000 sheep and 11,205,000 goats (TUİK,
2020). Archaeological data suggests that goats and sheep in Anatolia traced back to the
Neolithic period (Arbuckle, 2006; Arbuckle, Öztan and Gülçur, 2009: 129–157). Goats
live more in Turkey’s south around the Taurus Mountains and the rugged terrains,
whereas sheep live more in Eastern Turkey and on the plains. According to Thomas
Barfield, there are ‘key animals’ that enable nomadism in the world. The ‘key animal’
adapts to the regions’ ecological conditions. The best is predominantly present in the
herd and enables the shepherds to associate social, political, and relation to the world
(Barfield, 1993: 9–11). In this regard, sheep and goats are ‘key animals’ of the Anatolian
geography and Near East, Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia. When shepherds evaluated
their relations with the world, what cattle means for the Nuer community in Sudan (Evans-Pritchard, 1940: 16–50) has the same value as sheep-goats in Anatolian geography.
The Taurus Mountains, where nomadic life continues, is said to be the natural habitat of the hair goat. Goat is an animal that endures rocky land conditions where agri-
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cultural activities cannot be carried out, yet they still can contribute to the economy.
Nomadic life is either considered homelessness or lack of opportunity or as a primitive
relic with no place in the modern world. However, as Barfield mentioned, he believes
pastoral nomadism as an ‘ecological and economic niche’ and a lifestyle that offers a
superior living standard than farming (1993: 11–12). Nomadism, as a way of life intertwined with animals, allows an intense observation potential of human-animal interaction; thus, it is crucial. Although nomadic life traditions have significantly been reduced
nowadays in the Anatolian geography, animal husbandry practices remain fundamentally a continuation of nomadic tradition.
F. Berkes, J. Colding, and C. Folke claim that people possess two knowledge methods: ‘scientific ecology’ and ‘traditional ecological knowledge.’ They complement one
another, as they mention traditional ecological knowledge as part of adaptive management. Traditional practices are internalised as social mechanisms learn local notions
and pass it onto future generations through rituals, ceremonies, and social regulations
(Berkes, Colding and Folke, 2000: 1251–1262). This article approaches animal husbandry in Anatolia from a traditional ecological knowledge perspective while focusing on
how ceremonies and festivals mediate internalizing shepherding ability, magic applications to protect animals, and mystical elements attributed to husbandry.
S heep-goats and shepherds relationship in Anatolia
Shepherd practices of Anatolia today embody traces of Turkish nomadic life practices of Central Asia. Divan-ı Lügat’it Türk (Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk) (1972) published by
Mahmud Kashgari, in the 11th century, enlisted some phrases used in animal husbandry even today is an important indicator. Some examples, such as goat being the most
processed motif in petroglyphs of Proto-Turks (Orozobayev, 2019: 430), believing every
animal is their protective ancestor and ‘pir’ of a shepherd (Orozobayev, 2011: 191–202),
usage of animal names in old Turkish calendar years such as Year of the Sheep, Year of
the Snake, Year of the Horse, and various voices used by the shepherd to summon animals (Erginer, 1984: 19; Şahin, 2017: 111–113), show how animal husbandry and shepherd practices passed on from one generation to another. They are thereby revealing
some examples of a mystically conceived relationship between shepherd and animal
and its past.
M ysticism
The relationship can be better assessed if the special meaning attached to the word
in Turkish and the shepherd’s duties and responsibilities are explained briefly. Despite
representing a profession in its simplest form, it has a various range of connotations.
It almost nullifies the work in some idioms and political satire (Gürsoy Naskali, 2011).
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Taking care of animals is a demanding job, but it evokes filthiness, thus a disreputable
profession, so chances of a shepherd getting married are considered low. However, religious and historical texts contradict the general view; rulers and leaders of The Ottoman Empire were called shepherds, a metaphor referring to their management, responsibility, and protectionism in the State, similar to Ingold’s comparison. According to
İlhan Şahin, the word shepherd being used as a substitute for the highest management
level is essential in explaining the meaning and importance of the word (2017: 114–115).
Although the word ‘shepherd’ has lost its reputable position today, the idea of understanding the secret language of animals and nature brings the shepherd closer to
God and attributes mystical features / power to him. In that regard, this profession is
considered as a mean of gaining wisdom. Shepherds reach a higher degree both religiously and personally; and become more mature as they follow animals with patience,
tolerance, and compassion to fulfill their demands, please them and save them from
mistreatment and abuse. One of the sentences I have recorded during my yearlong
anthropological fieldwork with Sarıkecili Yoruks (Sarıkecili Nomads) between years
2009–2011 was: Aman hayvanımız intizar etmesin (Let our animals do not curse on us)
(Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014: 118). Shepherds care how pleased their animals are with them,
as they believe animals possess some right over them. It could be observed easily daily
in the nomadic lifestyle of Sarıkecili. Sarıkecili Yoruks is considered the last pastoral
nomadic society in Turkey, living in the southern part migrating vertically between
Mersin and Konya. Approximately 1000 people and 150 black tents provide mounting
evidence of this relationship. Comparing this bond with the Pre-Islamic Turkish tradition of ‘animal cult,’ the mutual and mystical relationship between man and animal has
existed for a very long time.
The primary task of a shepherd is to ensure the life safety of his herd. Therefore,
the aim is to protect animals from natural disasters, external effects, and other animals. Besides, it should fulfil the basic needs of animals such as food, water, shelter,
and health. The shepherd needs to know the animal well to understand and meet these
demands. His professional skills develop over time based on personal experience and
shared knowledge from elders and other shepherds. During the challenging learning
process, he improves his management skills over the herd and passes his understanding
of the younger generation. In this respect, it is possible to say that shepherding is collective knowledge and contains a cultural wealth.
In nomadic life, everyone is a shepherd regardless of their age. However, one may
specialise in a particular breed or more familiar with an animal’s care than others. In
a mixed herd of sheep and goats, animals will be clustered and gazed at based on their
age and mannerism, observed by an experienced shepherd. Shepherd starts their lifelong learning process at a very young age, structurally similar to a master-apprentice
relationship, under the experienced ones (Kutlu, 1987: 91–94). The beşikten mezara ka-
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dar (from the cradle to the grave) idiom represents this process as the learning begins
with birth. Babies grow hearing animals’ voices, mostly in the nomadic tents, and select
kids, lambs, and camel cubs as their first playmates. Children imitate the sounds and
behaviours of animals initially, but they can establish a deeper connection between the
sound and the condition expressed with it over time. Through this lifelong informal
education, every child will be one day a fully equipped shepherd. They can excel in this
profession as they see and experience more of themselves. Families wishing their kids to
become shepherds would tie the children’s navel cord to an animals’ horn. These beliefs
and practices help strengthen the permanent bond between humans and animals.
Shepherds herding sheep and goats are expected to know the characteristics, dietary preferences, and mannerisms of those animals. They should have profound
knowledge in various subjects such as birth, eating habits, and the herds’ general health
care. They should find suitable grassland and make sure the animals are not undernourished; be a problem solver in unexpected situations. Moreover, they should choose
the location for overnighting carefully, and shepherds should sleep with one eye open
against any danger that might come. Shepherds ought to understand animal sicknesses
and how they can treat and detect illness at very early stages. Time management and
punctuality are also critical. They should develop all their ‘five senses’ and use sticks or
throw small rocks at effectively to change the direction or stop animals, especially goat
herds. Besides all these professional skills, the community expects honesty, reliability,
and truthfulness. As one can conclude, being a shepherd is a demanding profession that
contains so many minor details.
One method shepherd uses the most to control their herd is voice usage, which
could be their own or a whistle, shin, or bell. Shepherd directs animals to move, stop,
drink water, eat salt with his voice, and this command system is called Kişleme / kışlama (animal commands) (Kutlu, 1987: 98; Matsubara, 2012: 32). The herd only obeys the
command when the shepherd himself calls it, and his voice becomes a communication
mean between them. A lost goat can find its herd back by following the voice of the
shepherd. They travel confidently during the migration; a shin played also ensures the
herd feels more peaceful and safer. Sheep is a gentle and meek animal, quickly becomes
enchanted by the shin; thus, the voice helps them relax and act in harmony as one
shepherd conveyed to Şahin (2017: 112). Anatolia fills with tales and stories of how a
shepherd managing his herd with the mesmerizing sound of a shin. The sound of the
bell assists both shepherds and animals in space management. After observing the herd
for some time, the shepherd would select an obedient and docile sheep with leadership
skills and wear bells around the neck. As the herd will follow the leader, the bells’ sound
makes the shepherd know the animals; the sound will also help with the location if an
animal is lost. So, animals follow the shepherds’ voice or the bell’s sound to find their
way back to the herd; this herd management method is still used on the Greek Islands
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(Panapoulos, 2003: 643–650).
Shepherds’ method to supervise the herd is tracking head/leader animals, often
called el koyun-elcik (hand sheep or tiny hand). The shepherd spends more time with
the hand sheep and feeds him with different foods than others, establishing a closer relationship. As the herd follows the leader sheep, it allows the shepherd to manage them
much more manageable. Sheep washing activity, which will later be discussed in the
festivals section, is built upon the same relationship. The deep connection between the
shepherd and the animal affects their characters as well.
Sheep are generally considered meek, gentle, obedient, and angel-like animals,
whereas they define goats as a stubborn, disobedient, rebellious, picky eater, and sometimes devil. Sheep grazes continuously and is a greedy animal; however, a goat is abstinent, content with the amount of food, and is durable enough to travel for hours on
rough terrains. Similar perceptions reveal themselves in the interpretation of dreams;
seeing sheep in a dream means positive, very angelical, while witnessing a goat evokes
negativity and reminds the devil.
Being an excellent observer of nature helps the shepherd protect his herd easily
from natural disasters and external conditions. Despite shepherds follow the weather
forecast from the media these days, in the 1970s and 1980s shepherds would predict
how severe winter conditions would be by the position of stars in the sky around August. Nowadays, the weather predictions are still being made by looking at the number
of fruits on the trees and how leaves fall. Observing the temperament and behaviour of
animals is another way for a shepherd to watch the weather.
Sarıkeçili (Yellowgoat) nomads predict the upcoming weather by judging animals’
behaviours; if partridges crow in the evening hours, it means the next day, it will be
cold and rainy. Ants are wandering calmly if the weather is warm, whereas they move
fast if cold weather is approaching. The traces left by moles can be another indicator if
the path is a straight line; the winter will be mild if the line is wavy, suggesting a rough
winter ahead. Another critical reference point for the weather forecast is the goat. If
they tend to eat fast, it means it will rain soon. If a goat collects all of their kids next to it
at night, be considered a sign of harsh winter, and Yoruks should pick the tents’ location
wisely and consider all the indicators (Erginer, 1984: 109–110; Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014:
100–101).
As Şahin mentions, various legends, epics, and proverbs were formed around being a shepherd and rich culture. One example might be the planet Venus, known as
‘the Cholpon Star’, is called as the Çoban Yıldızı (Star of the Shepherd) (2017: 113). The
shepherd star is a reference point for shepherds who graze their sheep in the evenings,
followed by lost animals. Real-life events are storified and narrated by shepherds. Many
stories encapsulate the relationship that shepherd and animal have, how accurate shepherds are determining the weather, and how important it is to pay attention to animals’
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sensitivity.
The statements of Sarıkeçili Yoruk, Cemal Candan summarise the perception of a
shepherd of an animal:
We do not speak their language, but animals are very knowledgeable as they were
well-informed by God. Some holy people and saints watch over and protect them
continuously. Animals are given this wisdom so people can benefit and experience. Despite how hard animals try to clarify, we humans cannot understand
what is happening (Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014: 101).
The way of reaching this wisdom is explained in many beliefs and practices
throughout history. Shepherds seek to reap this spiritual wealth within the relationship
established with nature and animals. In this profession, which allows people to understand their boundaries and limitations, the shepherd can grasp the secret of life to the
extent that they abandoned their earthly goals; and listen and understand what nature
and animals teach him.
Positive aspects of the relationship between the shepherd and the animal in animal
husbandry practices are classified as mysticism; in contrast, the negative energy, ‘evil
eye’ belief, and effect fall under the magic category.
M agic and prevention methods
The word evil-eye, which means gaze in Turkish (Çıblak, 2004: 105), refers to the
negative effect of some people with destructive power. According to Pertev Naili Boratav, the negative impact of this power might cause disease, disability, or death on
an individual or an animal; a breakage and failure on an object through gaze (1997:
103–104). The evil eye is not unique to Turkish culture, and many cultures deem it as
magic. The practices against an evil eye in Turkey aim to prevent and protect or reduce
the negative impact.
A human might incur an evil eye on animals and cause some sickness; therefore,
specific movements and behaviours which might attract adverse effects are avoided.
Sarıkeçili Yoruks would not share the number of animals in the herd, also never speak
highly of their herd to prevent evil eye is one observation from my fieldwork. They believe people with blue eyes are more likely to look with an evil eye; people with some
knowledge of herding sheep and goats pose a higher threat, so Yoruks are extremely
careful around these people.
Milk is the essence of animal food; therefore, no one may observe the end products’
milking process. If they were to see or take part in the milking process, they should use
sentences that evoke abundance, such as Allah bereket versin, bereketini görün (May
God bless you, see your blessings). The same rule applies while making cheese or yogurt or pressing the cheese into the overalls. If they were to transfer milk to another
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tent, they would put a piece of wood or throw some herbs into the milk, so the colour
white does not draw attention; this way, even if it is seen, an evil eye will not touch the
milk. After sunset, white colour foods (milk, yogurt, butter, sugar, salt, flour) will not
be transferred between tents or taken out of them. They take yeast or breeder used in
yogurt making from selected families and make a symbolic payment for this transaction, all of which is to prevent evil eye. Failure to comply with these habits might cause
broken horns, swollen breasts, and sick animals, leading to decreased productivity and
financial benefits (Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014: 174, 241).
A male goat is very important for the continuation of the generation in a goat herd.
There will be 5-6 male goats on average in a herd. Amulets, wooden ornaments made
of stolen wood, blue beads, örgü kozalar (knitting balls) are among the accessories tied
to male goats and sheep, which attract all the attention, thus preventing animals from
getting affected by the evil eye. Ornament practice is one of the oldest traditions and
has diverse applications in nomadic life. They are decorating the first camel leading caravan during the migration and dressing up the bride or young girl pulling the caravan,
connected to this idea. The ornaments will reduce the evil eye’s impact as they will draw
more than the subject who carries them.
They hang various plants, animal horns, and some objects in specific places both
inside and outside of tents to protect people or animals from the evil eye. The most effective plant against the evil eye is known as Paliurus Spina-Christi in Latin, has various
names in Anatolia, but often referred to as çaltı in Turkish (Gündüz Alptürker, 2020:
709). Humans and animals wear ornaments made of çaltı’ tree, but they also put them
on milk cauldrons, motorcycles and similar vehicles, the slider machine, and even the
peoples’ sacks. Çaltı serves the same purpose as the amulets worn by babies or animals;
has distinct forms such as ram, heart, balbal, and talisman (Ibid., 711; Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014: 242–243).
Pic.1
Pic.2
Pic.3
Sheep are wearing ornaments.
Mersin, Turkey. 23 November
2010.
Photo:
Ayşe Hilal-Tuztaş.
Motorcycle decorated with
çaltı tree. Konya, Turkey. 08
July 2009.
Photo:
Ayşe Hilal-Tuztaş.
Sack with çaltı tree ornament.
Mersin, Turkey, 15 November
2010.
Photo:
Ayşe Hilal-Tuztaş.
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If an animal is affected by an evil eye, despite all the precautions, they pour lead or
practices to break the spell besides traditional treatment methods (Çıblak, 2004: 117–
118). Running leader is a frequently applied custom when the evil eye touches someone.
That person will sit down, and they cover his / her head with a cloth stretched over it;
after liquidising a piece of lead on fire, they pour it into a bowl with water above the
head of the person. As the hot lead touches the water, it makes a sound that determines
the evil eye; the louder the sound, the stronger is the evil eye. A healer or medicine-man
will repeat the process an odd number of times (3, 5, 7, 9) until the lead’s residue is tiny.
They can apply the same ritual to animals, but with a pinch of wool/hair, as animals
would not stand still for that long. They would place the bowl on top of the hair and
estimate if the person affected the animal is a woman or a man, by looking at the shape
of lead in the water.
Another practice is called Kurt ağzı bağlama (tying the wolfs’ mouth) and applied
in various parts of Anatolia, uncommonly these days (Genç and Şimşek Tolacı, 2019:
4). If a sheep or goat cut loose from the herd, the shepherd opens up his pocket knife,
recites some verses of the Qur’an, and says his special prayer; before the knife is closed,
it is believed to protect the animal from an attack of wolves or any misfortune. They will
not open that pocket knife until the lost animal is found, and the knife should be the
property of the same person that prays. A similar practice is used to protect silkworms
from mice in Bilecik, so it is not exclusive to sheep and goats. In Isparta, people mix
flour with water on a pan and make up a boz bulamaç (gray slurry), put into ashtrays
in the house. They consider the ashtray to be the spot where the devil and evil spirits
live; hence this practice eliminates the evil that may bother animals. Ashes of the stove
will also be collected and disposed of someplace, where no one steps (Tuztaş, 2005:
130; Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014: 242). These practices should only be evaluated within the
context of earlier belief systems. The pre-Islamic Turkish principles and tradition reveal
themselves in various shapes and forms, deeply embodied in our current cultural codes,
especially in animal husbandry practices.
F estive, ceremonies and celebrations
Ceremonies and celebrations held in Anatolia offer another opportunity to observe
the relations between the shepherd and herd. In his work on Şavaklı Turkmens, Muhtar
Kutlu lists all livestock-related rituals and festivals: Koç Katımı (Breeding animal joins
the herd), Saya (The face of the sheep / goat). Döl Dökümü (Lamb birth), İlk Sağım (First
milking), Kırkım (Shearing the animal), and Göç / Yayla Kutlamaları (migration/plateau celebrations) (1987: 114–125). These activities are done and celebrated only among
the community and ranked as usual animal husbandry practices that reinforce unity
and solidarity among the shepherds. They shared knowledge, and the younger generation received information transfer at the same time.
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Mating and giving birth of sheep are two other ceremonies that provide knowledge exchange among the shepherd but are not as well-attended as festive. As Gürbüz
Erginer explains, mating is a contraceptive method to avoid births during wintertime.
Protect newborns from cold and lack of feed along the path, taking the five-month and
10-day pregnancy period into account (1984: 84). This practice falls into disuse today as
access to food and medicine is enhanced.
Erman Artun mentions other ceremonies called Annunciation of the Offspring and
Saya Rituals. Hundred days after mating is called ‘sheeps’ face’ and celebrated as ram
comes to life in his mother’s womb, he starts growing hair (2011: 7). Saya is a ritual where
kids and youth walk around the village door-to-door, herald the coming of spring and
the birth of small – big cattle and wish abundance and blessings from God. Kids are
teenagers, wear unusual outfits and accessories, sing some rhymes, collect some food
and pocket money from other neighbors; they play a game with a simple scenario (Boratav, 1997: 215; Çınar, 2013: 269–280; Sinmez and Yiğit, 2014: 19–25).
Nomads consider migration to yayla (high land) as the symbol of fertility, holding
festive-like activities. They used to organise fun events in the 1970s and 1980s upon
the arrival to plateaus. They milk sheep and goats immediately after producing dairy
products such as yogurt, cheese, and butter, which is still a critical ritual today. Nomads
spend the entire winter waiting for spring and reaching fertile highlands again. Modest
and small-scale celebrations are held, so the fertility remains undiminished, not affected by the evil eye, and boosts group unity.
Shearing is another collective activity of shepherds and takes place twice a year.
The first time is called fleece wool and is fixed during the spring, and the second time
is wool shearing and done in late August and early September. They wash animals and
shear them the next day before wool gets dirty, which is the initial reason for holding
festivals. In regions with a colder climate, sheep are sheared only once (Erginer, 1984:
87). Shearing goat takes place at the end of August when the weather gets colder. If the
family is not big enough to finish to shear in one day, they ask for help from neighbour
tents; those who show up have a right to a sacrifice of any animal after shearing is done;
the host cannot object to the selection and has to accept what the guests demands. They
prepare the meat on an iron plate or a stew in the pan and serve it to everyone who arrived; as nomads express it; the day ends with a feast. Flamboyant animals and kids are
sheared as if the hair yanışlı (is dressed) to them. The wool and hair collected were put
into sacks and stored for a rack, tent tie, and haircloth making during winter. Shearing
is one of the shepherding practices that brings nomads to come together (Tuztaş Horzumlu, 2014: 220–222).
Many local celebrations and traditional practices have reached a wider audience
under the festivals’ name in recent years. Thanks to the increasing numbers of nomadic
associations and nomadic festivals, especially in the last 20–30 years, nomadic life’s ma-
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terial cultural elements have been more appreciated and exhibited. Festival programs
now include a re-enactment of migration and asking for a blessing from the brides’ parents; and competitions such as the best shepherds’ outfit, the best goat, the best coach,
the best tent, the best yogurt.
Festive conveys national and smaller group activities to more massive crowds in a
performative enriched way. Beverly Stoelje (1992) defines it as an experience shared by
the group, and explanations reinforce it. Events focusing on social issues aim primarily
to tell about the present, but they inform the past. It is a way of bringing a community
together, enabling people to interact with themselves and society to strengthen their
sense of unity. Regardless of the participants’ different motives, the festival offers a platform where social sharing reinforces group identity and belonging, social prestige is
achieved, and personal performances are displayed (Stoelje, 1992: 261–271).
In various Anatolian cities, it is possible to encounter festivals involving animal
fights, especially ‘camel wrestling’ and ‘bullfighting’. People show great effort to protect
animals from harm during competitions. Success brings in social prestige to the owner.
The most remarkable event of sheep and goat festivals takes place in Hasanpaşa village of Burdur, Ağaşıseyit Village of Denizli district, and many other provinces, called
Yünüm Böğedi and aims to measure the harmony between a shepherd and his herd.
Focus is on animals while animal races, whereas in shepherd festivity, the focus shifts
onto the shepherds’ skills and control over his herd. The structure of shepherd festive
remains the same, but the name varies by region.
Yünüm Böğedi is an expression in Turkish, while yünmek derives from the verb
yunmak which means to wash or to bathe in Turkish; böget means to stop, to prevent,
and to collect. In order words, they build a barrier in front of the water and manage to
wash the sheep before the wool is sheared. This tradition has been going on continuously for 400 years in Hasanpaşa Village of Tefenni District of Burdur Province. It was
turned into a festival in 1998. It is held at the beginning of the end of August or September every year; and is listed on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Turkey.
At the festival, shepherds bring their herds to designated competition zones. In
regard with the rules, a shepherd runs together with the leader sheep and the rest of
his herd towards the water; he also makes it easy for the herd to follow him by running
off the hilly road. Sometimes, a friend or the shepherd kid chases the herd so that they
would move, but physical intervention and sheep whipping are forbidden at this stage.
They hit their stick on the ground to get sheep moving faster. According to the rules, the
shepherd goes into the water first, followed by the leader sheep and the rest of the herd;
if the order is not met; The shepherd is deemed unsuccessful; it would be the same result
if the entire flock is not in the water. The game aims to observe if a shepherd can control
the whole herd and have them follow him. According to the race rules, whose leader
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sheep jumps into the water right after the shepherd wins the competition. If a shepherd
runs fast and leaves a long distance with the leader sheep, it cannot enter the water; as
the entry into water requires skills (Erkan, 2006).
Gülperi Mezkit Saban reports on the competition of wool scouring competition
of 40–50 shepherds in Aşağıseyit Village of Denizli, and how jury members choose the
winner in three stages. In the first lap, they test the physical good and running speed
of sheep; this competition is called ‘Shepherds’ Cortege March.’ In the second run, the
fastest sheep flock going in the water after the shepherd is selected. There are 4–5 flocks
left for the last round, which looks into the flocks’ harmony with the shepherd, fastest
to enter the water and crosses the river wins the competition (2020: 189). This activity
helps shepherds to show their control over their herd. The loyalty, bond, and love are
shown to the shepherd by the leader sheep. The shepherd sets an example to his children
through these experiences.
A work similar to Clifford Geertz’s (1973) assessment of Bali society over ‘cockfighting’ example has not yet been conducted on Turkey’s festive and celebrations.
When judged with his perspective, the shepherd feast should be evaluated in a separate
study with a multi-tiered approach, including these covered in the article.
The animal and shepherd relationship is a more prosperous and more profound
subject than the extent of this article; therefore, it should be examined from fresh perspectives and aspects. Shepherding and its practices will remain an attractive research
question in anthropology and nomadic studies.
C onclusion
The shepherding profession lost value numerically and qualitatively in Anatolian
geography. The rising momentum of industrial animal husbandry sweeps the competition and small producers; imported species replacing domestic animals compel some
local livestock knowledge changes. The young generation does not desire to maintain
the profession of their ancestors, and it becomes difficult to find a shepherd for the
herd. Some regulations and incentives towards livestock breeding helped to increase
the number of animals; however, more support will be beneficial and required for the
sector. It might seem difficult to uplift shepherding to its reputable position in history.
Still, enforcement to promote shepherding is necessary to sustain small producers and
domestic animal breeds’ survival.
This article discusses shepherding’ human-animal interaction aspect, a broader
cultural treasure shaped with the depth of thousands of years of experience. Academical studies will help cover this wealth by compiling data on shepherding practices in
Anatolia; this way, authorities can test the current situation and generate a roadmap
for improvement. Recording shepherds’ activities and the relationship between humans
and animals protect cultural richness and local knowledge and contribute to creating
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a background for further multidisciplinary studies. This endeavour reflects on our historical path, sheds light on producing more environmentally friendly and sustainable
solutions for the future.
It seems Sarıkecili Yoruks are the only group sustaining the nomadic lifestyle, despite thousands of years with a nomadic tradition in Anatolian geography. Nomadic
associations established in recent years desire to keep the sentiment and notion of nomadism alive. Besides these associations’ activities, local celebrations in recent years
have turned into festivals reaching a broader audience; the ‘Fest of Shepherds’ is among
them. The main emphasis here is the necessity to protect the system that is living. Despite the efforts of regenerating some forgotten life practices under the name of festive
and celebration, it is far from reflecting the reality.
The most important message to convey to new generations is that there is no single
truth in life, nor a monotype lifestyle. The human being should know the existence of
different species and should not claim all the resources in nature to themselves. Only
when we realise we are not alone can we work towards the proper use of resources in nature, a fairer society structure, and the ‘trust’ relationship established with other living
creatures, which will increase the welfare of all. This article serves to raise awareness,
which is an important starting point for the short term.
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bandry in Nomadic Civilisation). In: Uluslararası Çoban Mustafa Paşa ve Kocaeli Tarihi-Kültürü Sempozyumu IV Proceedings. Kocaeli Belediyesi, pp. 107-115.
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Tuztaş Horzumlu, A. H. (2014) Konup Göçmek, Yerleşmek ve Yaşamak: Sarıkeçili’lerde Mekan ve Anlatı (Nomadism, Settlement and Everyday Life: Place and Narrative
among Sarıkeçili). PhD Thesis. Yeditepe Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
Ayse Hilal T. Horzumlu, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Anthropology Department at Yeditepe University in İstanbul, Turkey. Her research interests are focused on
mobility and pastoral nomadism, human-animal relationships, rural studies, visual anthropology, and anthropology history in Turkey. Main publications: Camel in Sarıkeçili
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Presenting Nomadic Culture, Association Activities, and Yoruk Festivals, in Journal of
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2019, pp. 409-427 (in Turkish).
E-mail: aysehilal.tuztas@yeditepe.edu.tr
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FIGURES AND
CREATURES
B ELIEFS ABOUT FLYING SERPENTS
IN BELARUSIAN, ESTONIAN AND
RUSSIAN ESTONIAN TRADITIONS
Mare Kõiva and Alena Boganeva172
Abstract: Flying fire serpents are known in almost all regions of the Slavic world, including in the Baltic States, and among the Finno-Ugric peoples. For Belarusians, the
flying serpent is a common character found in modern beliefs and narratives. If we
compare traditional Belarusian beliefs regarding enriching flying serpents with the perception of Russians in Estonia – reflected in records from the period 1920–1940 and
archived in the Estonian Literary Museum – we may find a number of parallels in the
descriptions of 1) the appearance of the demonic character; 2) reciprocal actions of the
enriching snake, or treasure bearer and the man he serves. In addition, Russians in Estonia are able to associate the flying serpent with the Estonian demonological character
kratt. Kratt was one of the most popular mythological characters in Estonia until the
mid-20th century. There were grain, money, fish, and milk bringers in the tradition. Part
of treasure bearers were either made at home, or bought in Riga. Sometimes either a
witch’s or mundane person’s soul acted as a kratt. The names often refer to the fact that
these are fire-tails or spark-tails, yet the majority are zoomorphic (bird, animal, reptile)
or anthropomorphic human-shaped forms. To make them, common everyday items,
often good for nothing, are used.
Keywords: mythological texts, beliefs, flying serpents, mythological enrichment characters
I ntroduction
The goal of this article is to provide a comparative description of mythological texts
about flying serpents or treasure bearers among Belarusians, Estonian Russians and
Estonians within the context of Slavic and Finno-Ugric beliefs. Myths of a fiery flying
serpent can be found across almost all Slavic regions, the Baltics, and among the Finno-Ugric peoples. Similar notions have spread to Europe and beyond, but this time we
are looking at a smaller area in Northern and Eastern Europe.
At the beginning of the 20th century scholars used a mixture of different meth172 This paper is part of the research project ‘Narrative and belief aspects of folklore studies’ of the Department of
Folkloristics of the Estonian Literary Museum (EKM 8-2/20/3, EKKD65), joint Estonian-Belorussian project ’Folklore,
Religiosity, Language. Transcultural and vernacular aspects’, and the European Union through the European Regional
Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies, TK-145).
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odologies –of psychology, religious and critical historical studies, social stratification,
etc. – to explain the legends and narratives about mythical creatures. One suitable way
of describing was and could be, for example, the concept of historical reality, which
provides a favourable opportunity to observe personality-centred influences. One of the
representatives of this direction is Will-Erich Peuckert (1965, 1956: XII). He defined legends as the history of our longing (die Geschichte unseres Verlangens) and highlighted
‘[t]hat each event could have different aspects,’ and ‘there exist several world-explanations that appear ‘valid’; that also a rationalistic and intellectualist worldview might be
just one among several’ [---] (Peuckert, 1965). The second suitable approach is related to
the paradigm of fiction and reality in folk tales (Bausinger, 1987) and the third – to the
concept of the soul and related phenomena like metamorphoses (Norelius, 2018; Paulson, 1958). We set ourselves the goal of deconstructing these legends into sequences,
plots and motifs in order to follow the consistency and details of the information related
to the mythical creature. Placing tradition in a broader frame of reference for interpretations remains the task of the following papers.
The flying serpent is a common character in Belarusian beliefs and mythological
texts, including modern ones, especially in East Belarus, around the Mogilev-Smolensk
border (Boganeva, 2012: 27–31). To this day, there are two manifestations of the fiery
serpent found in Belarusian folklore: a spirit of enrichment and a mythical lover. These
manifestations are often combined. The Russian folklore archive of the Estonian Literary Museum contains a number of tales about the serpent as the spirit of enrichment,
or treasure bearer, but none about the serpent as the mythological lover. The mythical
lover is a devil or a walking dead; in any case, a demonic being who comes to a woman,
forcing her to cohabit. A woman can be saved if she takes, most often on the advice of a
knowledgeable person, certain actions – amulets that allow her to neutralise a demonic
being (Boganeva and Kõiva, 2021). The same pattern is characteristic of the Estonian
tradition (Loorits, 1949; for contemporary versions see Kõiva, 1997).
Regarding the serpent as lover, it should be noted that in general terms we are
talking about the so-called mythical lover, who can be embodied not only in the image
of a flying snake. Natalia Kozlova (2000) in her research on flying snakes mentioned:
‘The theme of ‘Mythical lover’ combines legend and beliefs, in which one way or another
there is a motif of a ‘Mythical creature’ entering (trying to enter) into a love relationship
with a girl (woman).’ The original character in this thematic group, in our opinion, is
the fire serpent. However, the role of a woman’s lover in the legend displayed by the devil, the dead man, the boggie, the brownie, the water spirit. In addition, not all plot forms
within the theme are initially associated with the serpent: some of them appeared at late
evolutionary stages and already in connection with the devil or, revenant.
The motif of the mythical lover is universal for different cultures, and if, for example, in ancient Greek mythology, the connection of a person with a mythical being (God
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or hero) was often regarded as inevitable and even desirable, then for the Eastern Slavs,
contact with a mythological character, especially sexual, usually leads to illness and the
death of a person.
Motifs of the treasure bearer are also very popular in Estonian culture (over two
thousand texts), he was known by several names and his functions and appearance were
different, (the same in Votian, Livonian, and Finnish texts), but there is no love motif.
The perceptions of shooting stars, bolides, and comets among Belarusians and other Slavic peoples, are intertwined with their beliefs about flying (fiery) serpents (see
Avilin, 2015: 172–177; Nosovich, 1870: 213; Zelenin, 1910: 164–166). Falling stars and
comets (formerly known as stars with a tail) have also been associated with the kratt
in Estonia, although this was quite rare (Kõiva, 2007: 178–179); according to Loorits,
comets are well-known among Livonians as ludõks täd’ (a star with a broom) (Loorits,
1928: 38), as well as among Votians (Västrik, 1998).
The main sources of information about flying serpents in Belarusian folklore are
ethnographic publications and modern field materials (Avilin, 2015: 172–177; Boganeva, 2012: 27–31; Bogdanovich, 1895: 73–74; Drevlyansky, 1846: 3–25; Nosovich, 1870:
213; PEZ, 2011: 81–82; Pietkiewicz, 1938: 11; Romanov, 1912: 290; TMKB, 2011: 485–
488). The main source for Estonian and Russian Estonian lore is the folklore archive of
the Estonian Literary Museum, Skriptoorium, and publications (cf Eisen, 1895), while
the main source for Livonian, Votian and Finnish lore are publications (Loorits, 1928;
Votians: Arukask, 1998, Västrik, 1998; Finnish: Jauhiainen, 1998).
Based on the available materials, the best way to create a character profile is by using the following outline for describing demonic characters: terminology (names, designations); appearance; mutual actions of people and characters; acoustic and temporal
characteristics; loci; attributes; counteraction methods; origin (Boganeva and Kõiva,
2021; NDP, 2019: 436–437; Vinogradova, 2000: 60–67). In this paper we concentrate
on the terminology, appearance and mutual actions of people and mythical character.
T erminology
Belarusians mainly use descriptive names, such as ‘flying serpent’ (летучий змей),
but most often they simply call it a ‘serpent’. In the latter case, it is clear from the context
that this is not a real reptile but a mythical fiery serpent that brings riches to or visits
women.
In the North-West of Belarus (particularly in the Dokshitsy district of the Vitebsk
region and in the Myadel district of the Minsk region) there is a mythological character
called ‘Khut’ (Хут). In terms of function, Khut is in many ways similar to the serpent
of enrichment (flying, fiery). Khut and the fiery serpent are also identical in their origin
and preferences: both were born from an egg laid by a three- or seven-year-old rooster
(most often black). In both cases, the egg should be carried in the bosom for one to three
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years for the dangerous enrichment helper to hatch; both of them love to eat fried eggs
and demanded this dish as payment for their services; both could burn down the house
if they suspected that their masters had disrespected them. Liya Solovey notes that Khut
is a polymorphic demon with traits of both Domovoy and Dvorovoy (Solovey, 2011:
503).
Nevertheless, Khut is an independent character of Belarusian folk demonology,
which does not have a particular appearance, and can take the form of both animate
and inanimate objects (Vasilevich, 1994: 80–81).
Another Belarusian ‘relative’ of the fiery serpent and khut — tsmok (цмок) — a
dragon (cf. Russian-Proto-Slavic cмокъ (serpent); Bulgarian cмок (grass snake, deaf adder); Slovenian smòk (dragon); Czech zmok (dragon); Slovak zmok (domovoy); Polish
smok (dragon)). According to Bruckner, smokъ, originally meant ‘one who sucks’, akin
to смокта́ть (to suck) as cited by Fasmer (1987: 303). The creation of the tsmok character was influenced by the Christian legend about the battle of St. George (St. Yuri) with a
terrible dragon that lived in a swamp (sea, lake) and demanded young men and women
as food. In Belarusian folklore Tsmok is a traditional character in magical and heroic
fairy tales about serpent slayers as well as in the verse ‘About St. Yuri (George) and
Tsmok’, which continues to live on in Central and Eastern Polesie. No modern mythological tales about Tsmok have been discovered. However, it can be assumed that this
character simply merged with the character of the fiery serpent. In Belorusskie Pover’ia
(Belorussian Beliefs), Pavel Shpilevsky (pseudonym Drevlyansky) distinguished three
types of Tsmoks, one of which, Tsmok-domovik, is very similar to the fiery serpent that
brings riches (Drevlyansky, 1846: 262–267).
The Belarusian fiery serpent is similar to the Lithuanian aitvaras, a flying spirit that
brings wealth. Among Lithuanian Belarusians in the North-West of Grodno region, it
is known as aitvaras, as well as skalsininkas, kutas, khutas, less often called skutas, sparyzius, paryzius, and damavykas.
Like khut and the fiery serpent, aitvaras-kutas brings riches (grain, money, gold).
Like the fiery serpent, it comes from an egg, loves fried eggs and burns down the house
if it suspects the master of disrespecting it. In short, it possesses many of the traits of
‘domestic evil spirits’, just like its Belarusian counterpart.
Significantly more diverse terminology related to flying (fiery) serpents can be
found in the lore of Estonian Russians. The names of the flying serpents were largely influenced by the close proximity to Estonians and their mythology about flying serpents.
Fyodor Konyaev, a folklore collector who worked with Russian Estonians in the
1930s, notes that Zmey is the name that people only give to a serpent that is usually
referred to as ‘flying’ (ERA, Vene 2, 742). This observation is true not only for Estonian
Russians, but also for Russians from various regions of Russia (Belova, 2012a: 24–26;
Makhracheva, 2012: 19-21; NDP, 2019: 434–459; Petrova, 2012: 23–24; Skulachev, 2012:
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21–23), Belarusians (Boganeva, 2012: 27–30), and Ukrainians (Belova, 2012a: 24–25;
NDP, 2019: 434–459). The Estonian Russians called the flying serpent with the names of
mythical beings: puuk (bearer, tick), nasok173; tont (ghost, bearer), lendva (witch arrow);
kratt (bearer); aldias (protector, spirit) as kratt174; pyvsh/pyuch, põvš, puvchish/puktish,
puksish, puksik (different versions of puuk or ‘bearer’). Loorits outlines that pūķis is also
known in Latvia and Lituania as well as in Western Russian traditions close to the Baltic
Republics. A well-known Western Russian term about puuk or pūķis is pyvsh / pyuch
(Loorits, 1949: 208; cf. Karulis, 1992). Additional terms are täht (star), punane kukk (red
rooster) – both designate the forms of appearance.
There are five almost equally popular names and their variations in the Estonian
language, which could be used to some extent as synonyms kratt, pisuhänd (fire tail,
sparking tail); puuk (bearer, tick); tont (ghost); vedaja, vädaja, vidaja, vitäi, tuluvädaja
(bearer, treasure bearer), they are differentiated by linguistical form, ethymology and
function – grain, dairy, money and fish bearers.
Kratt, rätt, krätt is a mythological treasure bearer; in Estonian-Swedish dialect skratt means ghost; devil. The word kratt is used also: 1. to describe a person: he sits like
a kratt on a treasure chest; oh, a cookie kratt, kratt is eating the cake; 2. about children:
marakratt, poisikratt – little naughty boy, 3. as in kratakas – shabby, poorly dressed; 4.
as kratt – an inverted bench-like object to keep rushlight stock; 5. to describe a place for
sleeping; 6. also krattipidi (rattipidi) ‘by the scruff of the neck’ and krattima ‘to steal’.
Pisuhänd, tulihänd (spark tail or fire tale), in dialects the word pisu means ‘drop,
spark’. Variations in the different dialects are pisuhänd, tulihänd, tulisaba, pisuänn, püsuänd, pisuhänd. The term is widely used, also closer to Lake Peipus, in Eastern Estonia.
Puuk is a loanword from Swedish (puke) and it is a synonym for kratt and pisuhänd,
or a loanword from Low German spōk, spūk (ghost, spook, otherworldly creature).
Tont – treasure bearer, also a vague supernatural being, an evil spirit, a monster, a ghost.
Tont is used in compound words, to mark 1. sub-categories of mythical or symbolical
creatures: forest ghost, barn ghost, old ghost; famine ghost, war ghost; 2. a modest curse
word, usage: to express a negative (less often positive) emotion; 3. the villain, the compulsion, the syndrome, etc. a. (in general, as part of curse formulas, exclamations).
Viherik (whirlwind, kratt, Kihelkonna and Püha area on Saaremaa island) – soul of
a particular person who acts as treasure bearer.
Parallel names in dialects are also: kärp (Jõhvi region), lennus and lendva (flying
arrow; sudden illness or pain); miisu, miitsu and piilu (inviting words), nata (Ridala area, Western Estonia), pell (bearer, also household protector in Mulgimaa area),
puik (Karksi area); päär (former Estonian-Swedish territories) (EKSS, 2009; ETY, 2012;
Skriptoorium).
173 Nasok is ‘the one who carries’, probably derived from the word носить (carry; wear).
174 In Estonian, the letter ‘h’ is used differently in the beginning of the word in oral speech; in many dialects it is not
pronounced and due to this it varies in folk texts, e.g. aldjas-haldjas, algjas-halgjas.
390
P ART VI • MAGICAL FIGURES AND CREATURES
Linguistically, one of the Estonian terms – pisuhänd – refers back to the image of
the fire snake; however, at the same time, neither the snake nor the flying snake is mentioned in the Estonian descriptions, as attention has been drawn to the spark tail or fire
tail, the vision of which is described and by which the creature is identified. In the case
of the artificially created kratt, it has been described that the creature was made from
old household utensils, features a more complex construction and funny appearance
before revival and action. Often, the treasure bearer appears in zoomorphic form as an
animal, bird, or even anthropomorphically, in which case the storyteller may associate
him with a particular person or witch. The archaic description from the Livonians is
associated with the carrying of milk by a witch or with witchcraft (Loorits, 1928: 40).
Votian lemmüs, para, lennos, in some villages kandashka (bearer), is mostly connected with the human, especially with the witch, and there is only scattered data about
a flying serpent (Västrik, 1998). The meaning of lemmüs was originally noidannuoli
(witch arrow). Paul Ariste reconstructed the word as ‘flying, fluttering fire’ (cf. Estonian
lemmed, lembed ‘sparks’, ‘fire particles’, ‘pisu’), which meant a meteor, a sphere of lightning or some thunder connected phenomenon (Ariste, 1943: 309). Västrik proposed
that Finnish, Karelian and Vepsian devil euphemisms could be of the same lineage (cf.
lempo, lembo, lemmes, lemmäs, lemmetär; Västrik, 1998).
Most typical Finnish names are para (maitopara ‘milk para’, voipara ‘butter para’),
also mara. Finnish para comes from Swedish bära (cf. Estonian Swedish päär), and is
the milk-stealer, milk bearer (Jauhiainen, 1998). Closely related to the kratt are legends
about a creature named tuulispask, tuulispea, tuulepööris, tuulevood; viherik. A twister
or whirlwind is a well-known natural phenomenon in Estonia. According to beliefs, its
origin and activity were associated with a witch, who lay lifeless on the ground while his
or her soul went in a whirlwind to cause damage and acquire wealth. To stop him you
need to throw a knife or a sharp tool into the middle of the whirlwind (Eisen, 1919: 30).
Madis Arukask concludes that Votian vihkuri (also vihtsherä, viihkuri, tuulispää)
was associated primarily with negative phenomenon, such as the pahaa võima (‘bad
force’). In general, vihkuri may have come from any bad phenomenon, he is a violator
of haymaking, but it may also have caused illness. This phenomenon was also associated with a specific person, above all a witch. On the other hand, it is believed that the
causative agent is a person who has committed suicide, someone who is unable to find
peace after death and is therefore forced to travel around as a vihkuri (Arukask, 1998).
A ppearance
The East Slavs, including Belarusians and Estonian Russians, commonly describe
the flying serpents as they appear in flight, emphasising their f