Academic literature on the topic 'Колдовство'

The article is devoted to the study of traditions of witchcraft (sihr) among the Tatars of the Astrakhan region. Based on ethnographic materials, it was concluded that witchcraft among the Tatars is mainly associated with harmful magic and spells. The study reveals a clear connection between ideas about witchcraft and beliefs in evil spirits. It was found that the traditions of witchcraft among the Lower Volga Tatars are parallel to similar phenomena among other ethnoterritorial groups of Tatars in Russia, in particular, the Middle Volga and Siberian Tatars. The materials on the ethnography of witchcraft among the Tatars of the Astrakhan region are being published for the first time.

Introduction. The article deals with the mythologized characters of the Bashkir mythology ― sikhyrsy (сихырсы, sorcerers). Its aim is to identify and to interpret the characters and their names, as well as other related vocabulary. Data and methods. The research materials include folklore texts and entries of dictionaries of the Bashkir and of other Turkic languages. The main methods employed for the analysis are descriptive and comparative. Results. The main, most common names of Bashkir sorcerers have been established. These are the terms сихырсы and боҙомсо, which come from lexemes sykhyr (сихыр: magic, witchcraft, sorcery) and bozom (боҙом: damage, witchcraft, harm effected with the help of mythologized objects and means). In addition, the article discusses the terms osokso (осоҡсо), arbausy (арбаусы), iamialliauise (әмәлләүсе), etc., characterizing the methods of Bashkir sorcerers’ malicious actions. There are parallels from other Turkic and non-Turkic languages to the terms associated with sorcerers and witchcraft, which indicate the origin of Bashkir terms. Hence, it has been established that some lexical items, as well as the characters they refer to have pan-Altai roots, some are Turkic, some are inter-Turkic, still others are of Bashkir origin; and a number of words are loans. In particular, the term sikhyrsy (сихырсы) itself goes back to Arabic, while the items bozomso (боҙомсо), arbausy (арбаусы), osokso (осоҡсо), and yelpeui (йелпеү) have parallels in many Turkic languages. Interestingly, йелпеү has phonetic variants not only in the Turkic, but also in the Mongolian languages; and боҙомсо and арбаусы have parallels in the Finno-Ugric languages. Also, the article discusses in some detail methods of Bashkir sorcerers’ malicious actions, illustrating them with examples. According to the author, the most common of these are the use of grave earth, “mortuary water”, needles to sew a shroud, raw eggs, dolls, blood of innocence, menstrual blood, as well as witchcraft based on the use of sweat, knots, and special incantations, which, according to the Bashkir ancestors, enhanced the harmfulness of techniques used. Finally, the article deals with cases of witchcraft of medicine men, positive characters of Bashkir mythology, who performed them to punish evil, namely, thieves of cattle and of goods, and rapists. Conclusions. The mythologized characters of sykhyrsy belong to negative characters and the Bashkir language has numerous items for their designation. The sykhyrsy had at their disposal a variety of means and methods to do harm, as well as antidotes to their harmful action. There is terminology for every magical action, the items often having Turkic or Altaic roots, and sometimes borrowed from other languages.

На основе полевого материала, собранного среди закавказских духоборцев, в статье рассматривается «колдовской» дискурс, сформировавшийся в секте за два столетия, прожитые духоборцами в отрыве от русского народа. Противоречие между народной традицией, которую они принесли из мест своего выхода, когда жили среди православных в России, и религиозной доктриной, не допускавшей возможности общения сынов Божьих с нечистой силой, привело к тому, что тема колдовства была вынесена на периферию культурного поля и открыто не обсуждалась. В работе рассматриваются традиционные комплексы фольклорных сюжетов, дожившие в духоборческой среде до наших дней, и обращено внимание на широко известные сюжеты, оказавшиеся неприемлемыми в их сообществе. Хотя среди духоборцев не было людей, реально занимавшихся колдовскими практиками, в статье показаны механизмы «создания» образа колдуна. Потребность в таких людях исчерпывалась желанием односельчан возложить на них ответственность за проблемы и несчастья.

The article analyzes the views of John of Salisbury (1115/1120–1180) on the court life in Medieval Europe. The attention is focused on the concept of temptations that haunt the ruler and his inner circle in everyday life, described by the famous English scholastic in his main treatise — Polycraticus. The author of the article highlights the original interpretation of the witchcraft as a temptation developed by John. From his point of view the magical practices had an exceptional influence on the court life, since they were the lot of the dissolute women who literally poison the sovereigns’ life.

The journal “Political Conceptology” publishes a translation of the seventh and eighth chapters of Stanislav Andreski's book “Witchcraft in the Social Sciences” (Czarnoksiestwo w naukach spolecznych), published in 2002 by Oficyna naukowa (Warszawa).

In the paper, witchcraft beliefs in the modern world are considered within the framework of the ethological and structural-functional approaches, the concepts of “moral panic” and “the image of a limited good”. The author analyzes the ethological foundations and social functions of witchcraft beliefs and demonstrates that the idea of witchcraft turns out to be a function of social relations, communication needs and creative abilities (one might say, a side effect of those universal human needs and abilities). The article consistently demonstrates how, in the hunter-gatherer and early farming communities, witchcraft beliefs and related practices become an important cognitive tool and mechanism of social regulation, and how, as society grows and becomes more complex, those ideas and practices become a symptom of social distress (when persecution begins and whole groups of demonized fellow-countrymen begin to be persecuted). The author shows that the witchcraft belief, which remaining latent in collective consciousness, are getting stronger in situations of social upheaval and economic crises, and the persecution of alleged witches may resume today. Up-to-day cases from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Russia demonstrate such state of affairs.