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Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire: a Case Study 195

Celia Sánchez Natalías Thanks to the “Greek Magical Papyri” (hereafter PGM, with its
University of Zaragoza, Spain editor specified when necessary) – true treatises of ancient magic
–, we know a fair amount about the manufacture of this kind of
poppet. Apart from some brief instructions (such as PGM XXIV b,
Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire: 1–15; PGM CXV, 1–6; etc.), the most complete recipe is a love spell
a Case Study from the Fountain of Anna Perenna of attraction which prescribes (PGM IV, 296–334): “take some wax
or some clay [...] and mold two figures, male and female. Arm the
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine an interesting male one like Ares, brandishing a sword in his left and striking the
case of aggressive magic dated to the IV century AD and discovered female’s neck on her right side. Put the female doll’s hands behind
in the Roman sanctuary of the goddess Anna Perenna. The poppet
represents a man trapped in the coils of a snake, who was addition- her back and make her kneel” (English translation by Ogden 20092:
ally attached to a defixio and enclosed in a series of three miniature number 239: 247). Then, and after inscribing several magical words
leaden cinerary urns. The ensemble was finally deposited within over the woman’s body, the recipe continues: “take thirteen bronze
the cistern of the fountain, where the victim was consecrated to the needles and insert one of them into the brain [...] two more into
goddess and her nymphs.
her eyes, one into her mouth, two below her rib cage, one into her
Key words: magical poppets, Anna Perenna, defixio hands, two into her vulva and anus, and two into the soles of her
feet, while on each occasion saying once “I pierce the (insert name
1. Introduction of the part) of (insert her name), so that she may think of no one,
except me alone (insert your name)”. Take a lead tablet, inscribe the
Since the publication of Christopher Faraone’s article in Classical same spell on it, and say it through. Bind the tablet to the figures
Antiquity (1991), the number of magical poppets discovered in the [...] while saying [...] “Abrasax, constrain her”. Lay it as the sun
Latin West has doubled. Currently we know of 35 figurines, which sets, besides the grave of one untimely dead or dead by violence,
form a limited but meaningful ensemble. The use of poppets, at- and lay flowers of the season there with it...” (English translation
tested from the V century BCE onwards, is closely linked to the by Ogden 20092: number 239: 248).
use of curse tablets (defixiones). Both types of objects belong to the
category of aggressive magic and were used to achieve purposes This recipe, preserved in the so-called great magical papyrus, now
otherwise unattainable through “normal” or “legal” methods, since in Paris, is dated to the IV century AD and describes a complicated
“…they were intended to influence, by supernatural means, the ac- Graeco-Egyptian praxis, all of whose components are perfectly de-
tions or welfare of persons or animals against their will” (Jordan fined. This constitutes the most precise recipe for making a magical
1985: 151). poppet within the corpus of the PGM, and it has a striking parallel
in a poppet from Egypt (on which see the interpretation of Ritner
Within this framework, the main difference between the poppet 20084: 112–113 and Ogden 20092: number 240; Louvre Museum,
and the “typical” defixio is simply one of shape (Ogden 20092: 245): Inv. number 27145). With these instructions provided by the PGM
while the former is an anthropomorphic representation of the victim in mind, we can now turn to the find from Rome, which dates from
him- or herself, the defixio, usually but not always a lead tabella a similar period.
(on the different media employed, see Vallarino 2010 and Sánchez
Natalías 2011), constrains the victim merely through the engraving
of his or her name. From the III century AD onwards, however, we 2. A case study from the fountain of Anna Perenna
also find drawings of bound victims on the tablets, whose function The fountain, discovered in 1999 by Marina Piranomonte and her
was exactly the same as that of poppets (Faraone 1991: 25). team, is a Roman sanctuary consecrated to the ancient goddess
Anna Perenna and her nymphs (vid. Piranomonte 2010 and 2012).
196 Celia Sánchez Natalías Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire: a Case Study 197

Located in the modern Piazza Euclide (Rome), between the 2nd In my view, however, there are compelling reasons for thinking
and the 3rd milestone along the Via Flaminia (the Tiberian Fasti that they were intended to represent miniature cinerary urns, for
Vaticani, however, placed the fountain near to the 1st milestone; there are clear typological similarities between them and a series
for this controversy, see Piranomonte 2010: 192–193), the sanctuary full-sized cinerary urns (see Cochet 2000: 183–185, fig. 184–187 for
was in use, at least, from the IV century BCE until the VI century urns with flat lids; and 186, fig. 188–189 for conical lids). Moreover,
AD. Typologically, the fountain was a krene, i.e. a revetment foun- we can find allusions to the use of lead cinerary urns in the magical
tain with a concealed cistern to the rear. This cistern preserved an papyri. One recipe, for example, to prevent a woman from being
extraordinary ritual deposit comprising 549 coins, 74 oil-lamps, 22 possessed by another man, recommends to model a crocodile and
curse tablets, 10 sets of containers made of lead or clay, a bucket, then put it into a ... εις <σ>ορίον (vid. PGM XIII, 322 [Preisendanz’s
seven pine cones, egg shells, twigs and small wooden plaques (Pi- edition]), that is, a small lead cinerary urn. The same recipe requires
ranomonte 2012).  the practitioner to write the prescribed formula on the urn. Both
details seem to offer a broad parallel to the procedure in our case,
2.1 The container’s contents even though the aims of the praxeis are quite different. I would
therefore suggest that the containers from the Fountain of Anna
Upon its discovery, the artefact discussed here appeared to be a Perenna should be understood as small cinerary urns whose function
single small container with a sealed lid (measurements: 7.5 [height] was precisely the same as that of the coffins from the Kerameikos,
x 6.5 [lid Ø] cm). When opened, however, the archaeologists uncov- namely to bury symbolically the victim (Sánchez Natalías 2011:
ered a wonderful ensemble consisting of three lead cylinders nested 88–89). 
within each other, like “Russian dolls” (middle container: 7 x 5.5cm;
smallest: 6.2 x 4.8 cm. [height x Ø]; see figure 1, upper image). The 2.2 The inscription
smallest of these contained an elaborate but tiny magical poppet.
Both it and the outer container were closed by means of a flat lid As already mentioned, the second ritual objective of these containers
and sealed with resins, to prevent them from being opened (and was to provide a surface on which an indication of the target of the
luckily protected the ensemble). In addition, the resin preserved curse could be written. It has been argued that in ancient magi-
some fingerprints that, when analyzed by the Roman police, were cal practice writing was considered a powerful technique whereby
determined to belong to a young man or a woman (Polakova and anything mentioned (the victim, his/her actions, possessions, life
Rapinesi 2002: 43). and destiny) was inextricably fixed to the medium and thus con-
strained by the spell (Piccaluga 2010: 15–16). And this is the case
From my point of view, these containers deliberately fulfilled two
with the innermost of the containers we are analyzing, where an
ritual objectives at once: first, to serve as a vessel for the poppet
inscription of two columns surrounds a standing figure. The editor
representing the victim; second, to provide a surface on which one
has read the text, written in IV AD Roman late-antique minuscule,
could write a curse. Concerning the first purpose, M. Piranomonte
as follows (Blänsdorf 2010: 232–233; see figure 1, middle image):
has rightly pointed out (Piranomonte 2010: 207), that there is an
obvious parallel in the IV century BCE tombs in the Kerameikos ne- I col. II col.
cropolis at Athens, where several inscribed lead ‘coffins’ containing Sete standing Decen
poppets were found (see Ogden 20092: number 237). Nevertheless, Mnu figure tias
she interprets our containers, constructed some 700–800 years later, S
as ink-wells or containers for cosmetics or medicines (Piranomonte Θ
2012: 167–171).
198 Celia Sánchez Natalías Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire: a Case Study 199

Although I have some doubts about this transcription and am


currently working on a new reading of the text (which requires a
longer technical discussion), for the time being, we will follow the
editio princeps for practical reasons. Thus, let us begin with the
first column. The editor states: “...the letters SETE are [...] the
name of the Egyptian god Seth, in the vocative. Below it we read
MNU, an approximation to one of the ritual names of the deceased
Mnevis-bull, identified with Osiris. Below that again we find [...]
the letter S [...] and [...] an uncertain letter. I think these are to
be taken together and interpreted as a Greek abbreviation of Seth
(ΣΗΘ)” (Blänsdorf 2010: 218). Regarding the second column, Blän-
sdorf interprets the inscription as the female cognomen Decentia,
a name which is already attested on another container discovered
in the sanctuary (specifically, Inv. number 475564). The epigraph
ends with a series of five charâkteres, magical signs usually cre-
ated ex professo to reinforce the power of the text, since they were
considered sacred (Gordon 2011). Between the two columns there
is a drawing of a standing male figure, represented with marked
pectorals or, perhaps, wearing a cuirass. According to the editor,
the figure is crowned or wears a helmet, and thus it represents the
Egyptian deity Seth (Blänsdorf 2012: 623).

2.3 The poppet

In the innermost of the containers of this ensemble, there was


placed a small poppet (with measurements 7.5 x 3.2 cm; see figure
1, bottom image) facing head down, just as the PGM recommends
(vid. PGM CXXIV, 23–26 [Betz’s edition]), which metaphorically
prevents the victim’s escape. This deliberate positioning, used here
to confine the target, is reminiscent of some burial practices used
to restrain restless dead, who, sometimes, were buried in decubito
prono (that is, face down), in order to block the spirit’s possible
passage out of the tomb (Alfayé 2009: 210).
Figure 1. Upper image: ensemble of containers from Anna Perenna,
Inv. number 475549. With regards to the media employed, the poppet was made mainly
Middle image: drawing of the inscription placed in the innermost
of the containers.
of wax. On this point, it is worth noting that before the discovery
Bottom image: magical poppet of a man being gulped down by of this site, in the Latin West we only knew about the use of wax
a snake, Inv. number 475550. Courtesy of Archivio Fotografico. poppets from the textual record, namely from recipes found in the
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma. PGM (such as IV, 296; CXXIV, 10–11, etc. [Betz’s edition]) as well as
scattered references in some classical authors, such as Ovid (Amores
200 Celia Sánchez Natalías Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire: a Case Study 201

III, 7, 29–30), who explained to his puella his sexual impotence while Acknowledgements
wondering: “...did a witch bind my name with red wax and drive
fine needles through the middle of my liver?” (English translation University of Zaragoza; Research Group: “Los contextos de las
by Ogden 20092: number 99). prácticas mágicas en el Occidente del Imperio Romano” [ref.
number: HAR2011-26428]). I would like to thank Prof. Francisco
The poppet, a unicum among the magical figurines of the Latin Marco Simón and Prof. Richard Gordon for their comments, Dott.
West, represents a man in the very act of being gulped down by a ssa Marina Piranomonte for the photographs, and Mr. Benjamin
snake which is coiling itself around his body. It seems likely that Jerue for his help with the English.
this scenario is a plastic (three-dimensional) version of some images
depicted on some of the roughly contemporary Roman tablets found
in a ‘columbarium’ (or mausoleum) outside the Porta S. Sebastiano References
(specifically, the SV number 16–18, 34 and 43). In this period, as Alfayé, Silvia. 2009. Sit tibi terra gravis: Magical-religious practices against
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ences can be recognized in Graeco-Roman magic, as would be the vida y la muerte en las sociedades antiguas, eds. Francisco Marco Simón,
case with the objects under consideration. Thus, following Gordon’s Francisco Pina Polo, José Remesal Rodríguez. Barcelona: Universitat de
suggestion, the poppet from the sanctuary of Anna Perenna was Barcelona, pp. 181–215.
likely inspired by the well known icon of Osiris’s mummy rolled up Blänsdorf, Jürgen. 2010. The texts from the Fons Annae Perennae. In
in the coils of a snake, since in his words “…in Egypt, this signified Magical Practice in the Latin West, Papers from the International Confer-
Osiris the deity in the Underworld watched over by the snake (dwɜt= ence held at the University of Zaragoza 30 Sept–1 Oct 2005, RGRW 168,
Eternity), with the connotation “rebirth” […but outside Egypt] once eds. Richard Gordon, Francisco Marco Simón. Leiden: Brill, pp. 215–244.
the snake became a sign of daimonic power, [it] was later appropri- —— 2012. Contenitore magico iscritto. In Terme di Diocleziano. La colle-
ated to signify the bound victims of a curse” (per litt. to the author zione epigrafica, eds. Rosana Friggeri, Maria Grazia Granino Cecere, Gian
13/10/2014). In fact, interesting iconographical parallels are found Luca Gregori. Milano: Electa.
on several magical gems (such as Michel 2001: number 9 and 10, Cochet, André. 2000. Le plomb en Gaule Romaine. Techniques de fabrication
and above all Mastrocinque 2014: number 73 and 166-verso, where et produits. Montagnac: Mergoil.
the mummy is engulfed by the snake in the same way as the poppet Faraone, Christopher A. 1991. Binding and Burying the Forces of Evil: the
from Anna Perenna). Defensive Use of “Voodoo-Dolls” in Ancient Greece. Classical Antiquity 2:
165–220.
For the sake of necessitas (i. e. the inevitableness), and in a new
case of what has recently been termed as “transferred death ritual” Gordon, Richard L. 2002. Shaping the Text: Innovation and Authority
(Marco Simón 2009), poppet and snake were fastened together by in Graeco-Egyptian Malign Magic. In Kykeon. Studies in honour of H. S.
means of a bronze tablet transfixed by two small iron nails. This Versnel, RGRW 142, eds. Herman F. J. Horstmanshoff, Henk W. Singor,
Folkert T. Van Straten, Johan H. M. Strubbe. Leiden: Brill, pp. 69–111.
sheet was itself engraved with a depiction of a male figure wearing
a cuirass and greaves, who could be identified as the victim of the —— 2011. Signa nova et inaudita: The Theory and Practice of Invented
spell. Some chârakteres and the Greek letter theta surround the Signs (charaktêres) in Graeco-Egyptian Magical Texts. MHNH (Studia
Mystica, Magica et Mathematica ab Amicis, Sodalibus et Discipulis Iosephp
image of the target, whose feet and head were nailed to the pop-
Ludovico Calvo Oblata) 11: 15–44.
pet itself with the aforementioned nails. This performance was,
doubtless, aimed to secure the complete paralysis of the victim, Jordan, David R. 1985. A Survey of Greek Defixiones not included in the
who, enclosed in a triple cinerary urn, was consecrated to Anna Special Corpora (SGD). Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 26: 151–197.
Perenna and her nymphs. Marco Simón, Francisco. 2009. Tradite manibus: la muerte transferida en
los rituales mágicos. In Formae Mortis: el tránsito entre la vida y la muerte
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en las sociedades antiguas, eds. Francisco Marco Simón, Francisco Pina Konrad J. Kuhn
Polo and José Remesal Rodríguez. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Seminar for Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology, University of Basel,
pp. 165–180. Switzerland
Mastrocinque, Attilio. 2014. Les intailles magiques du Départment des
monnaies médailles et antiques. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Relics from the ‘Lost Valley’ –
Michel, Simone. 2001. Die magischen Gemmen im Britischen Museum. Discourses on the Magic of Masks
London: The British Museum Press.
Ogden, Daniel. 20092. Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Ro- Abstract: The paper shows how ‘the magic of the mask’ is an im-
man World. A Sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press. portant and dynamic narrative strengthening the vitality of rituals
PGM = Betz, Hans D. 19922. The Greek Magical Papyri in translation. and the attention of the public. In the example of the Tschäggättä,
Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. carnival masks from the Lötschental region in the Canton of Valais
in Switzerland, the paper points to the importance of scientific in-
PGM = Preisendanz, Karl. 19742. Papyri Graecae Magicae. Stuttgart: terpretations for popular discourses on the magic of masks, but also
Teubner. for the formulation of local discourses on the valley and for tourist
and self-representative images today. Masks as ‘relics from the old
Piccaluga, Giulia. 2010. Tecnica grafica e liturgia magica nelle tabellae days’ are highly valued objects for fragile community identities in
defixionum. Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni 76/1: 13–20. an alpine region.
Piranomonte, Marina. 2010. Religion and Magic at Rome: the Fountain
Key words: carnival masks, discourses on magic, interpretations of
of Anna Perenna. In Magical Practice in the Latin West, Papers from the
folklore studies, popular narratives, Valley of Lötschen, Switzerland,
International Conference held at the University of Zaragoza 30 Sept–1 Oct 1900–2014.
2005, RGRW 168, eds. Richard Gordon, Francisco Marco Simón. Leiden:
Brill, pp. 191–213.
—— 2012. Anna Perenna. Un contesto magico straordinario. In Contesti
Magici. Contextos Mágicos. Atti del Convegno Internazionale. Roma, Pa- Wooden masks exert a profound fascination with their often seem-
lazzo Massimo. 4–6 novembre 2009, eds. Francisco Marco Simón, Marina ingly archaic appearance. Also the discipline of folklore studies has
Piranomonte. Roma: De Luca Editori d’Arte, pp. 161–174. surrendered to this fascination. Academic interest in wooden masks
Polakova, Jarmila, and Rapinesi, Ida Anna. 2002. I materiali magici. In can be seen through the process of their documentation by scholars
Il santuario della musica el il bosco sacro di Anna Perenna, ed. Marina of folklore and ethnography from an early point. It can even be said
Piranomonte. Roma: Electa, pp. 38–52. that the focus on wooden masks is approximately as old as the disci-
Ritner, Robert K. 20084. The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Prac- pline itself. According to this early understanding, masks from the
tice. Chicago: The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. Alps were regarded as typical objects of an anonymous folk culture
Sánchez Natalías, Celia. 2011. Escribiendo una defixio: los textos de mal- of rural areas and have been scientifically documented by the early
dición a través de sus soportes. Acta Classica 47: 79–93. folklore studies. It was the desire for relics of an ‘original state’ of
SV= Wünsch, Richard. 1898. Sethianische Verfluchungstafeln aus Rom. culture, but also for comparability with ethnographic objects from
Leipzig: Teubner. distant parts of the world, that shaped scientific ideas. How strong
this desire is still today can be seen in the perpetuated highlighting
Vallarino, Giulio. 2010. Una tipologia di oggetti magici iscritti: una proppo-
of the supposed ancient past of the masks, and in the perpetuated
sta di classificazione. In Scrittura e Magia. Un repertorio di oggetti iscritti
della magia greco-romana, Col. Opuscula Epigraphica, vol. 12, ed. Gabriella discourses of the magic in the mask-rituals. The magic of rituals
Bevilacqua. Roma: Quasar, pp. 21–82. is thus a permanent trope in narratives on wooden masks, both in
local stories as well as in scientific interpretations.
THE RITUAL YEAR 10

Magic in Rituals and Rituals in Magic

Edited by
Tatiana Minniyakhmetova and Kamila Velkoborská

Innsbruck – Tartu 2015


THE RITUAL YEAR 10 Contents
Magic in Rituals and Rituals in Magic
The Yearbook of the SIEF (Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et
de Folklore) Working Group on the Ritual Year
General Editor: Emily Lyle
Editors for this Issue: Tatiana Minniyakhmetova, Kamila Velkoborská Foreword 13

Language Editors: Jenny Butler, Molly Carter, Cozette Griffin-Kremer,


John Helsloot, Billy Mag Fhloinn, Emily Lyle, Thomas McKean, Neill The Ritual Year and Magical Features
Martin, Elisabeth Warner
Lyle Emily (Edinburgh, Scotland) 19
Layout: Liisa Vesik The Cosmic Connections of the Eight Key
Front Cover Photo: Yuri Lisovskiy “Four Houses – Four Seasons” Points in the Indo-European Ritual Year
Front Cover Design: Andres Kuperjanov
Gunnell Terry (Reykjavik, Iceland) 28
Advisory Board: Maria Teresa Agozzino, Marion Bowman, Jenny Butler, The Background and Nature of the Annual and
Molly Carter, Kinga Gáspár, Evy Håland, Aado Lintrop, Neill Martin, Lina Occasional Rituals of the Ásatrúarfélag in Iceland
Midholm, Tatiana Minniyakhmetova, David Stanley, Elizabeth Warner
Håland Evy Johanne (Bergen, Norway; Athens, Greece) 41
ISSN 2228-1347 Magical Ceremonies during the Ritual Year
ISBN (paper) 978-9949-544-54-7 of the Greek Farmer

The Yearbook was established in 2011 by merging former periodicals dedi- Mihaylova Katya (Sofia, Bulgaria) 61
cated to the study of the Ritual Year: 9 volumes in 2005–2014. The Fortune-Telling Customs of Andrzejki
and Katarzynki in the Polish Ritual Year
Innsbruck, Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.
Gierek Bożena (Kraków, Poland) 70
Publication is supported by the authors and the project IRG 225, Estonian
Rituals of the Easter Period in Poland
Folklore Institute.
Multari Anna (Messina, Italy) 83
Coptic Magic and Its Phases
Lielbārdis Aigars (Riga, Latvia) 91
Catholic Saints in the Latvian Calendar
Testa Alessandro (Pardubice, Czech Republic) 100
The Re-Enchantment of Europe: “Traditional”
Carnivals and the Belief in Propitiatory Magic
(Two Ethnographic Cases from Italy and Czechia)
© Authors Mifsud Chircop Marlene (Msida, Malta) 110
SIEF Working Group on the Ritual Year Good Friday Processions on Contemporary Malta
Griffin-Kremer Cozette (Rambouillet, France) 121 Shutova Nadezhda (Izhevsk, Russia) 213
Doing Things Rightways and Three Times. Ritual as a Means of Organizing
From Maying Practices to Standard Procedures the Traditional Udmurt Sacred Space
(The late 19th – early 20th century)
Mag Fhloinn Billy (Limerick, Ireland) 130
Sacrificial Magic and the Twofold Division of Khudyaev Andrey (Arkhangelsk, Russia) 220
the Irish Ritual Year Magic Ritual and its Spatial Structure
in Archaic Cultures of the North
Symbolism of Fire, Food, Ritual Objects and Verebélyi Kincső (Budapest, Hungary) 230
Magical Spaces Das Haus als geistiges Kraftfeld
Sedakova Irina (Moscow, Russia) 141
Magico-Religious Symbolism of a Candle in Innovations in Traditions
the Slavic Calendar Rituals
Gareis Iris (Frankfurt on Main, Germany) 239
Minniyakhmetova Tatiana (Innsbruck, Austria) 152 Politics and Magic in the Ritual Year:
Ritual Fire in the Annual Cycle of Case Studies from Pre-Columbian Peru to the Present
Udmurt Calendar Customs
Rancane Aida (Riga, Latvia) 248
Wilk Urszula (Warsaw, Poland) 162 Motifs of Sacrifice in the Context of the Present-Day
The Valencian Festival of Las Fallas Search for Spiritual Experience in Latvia:
as an Example of Symbolic Violence Traditions and Innovations
Ek-Nilsson Katarina (Uppsala, Sweden) 171 Urboniene Skaidre (Vilnius, Lithuania) 258
Folk Belief and Rituals about Bread in Sweden. The Destruction of Religious Monuments in Lithuania
Some Interpretations and Comparisons in Soviet Times: Stories, Magic and Beliefs
with Today’s Hipster Culture
Ramšak Mojca (Ljubljana, Slovenia) 177 Divination, Fortune-telling
The Magic of Wine Marketing:
Invented Rituals of Slovene Wine Queens Voigt Vilmos (Budapest, Hungary) 269
Rebus – Charms – Evil Forces – Magic
Rychkov Sergey (Kazan, Russia) 187
Magic of a Toast Tuczay Christa Agnes (Vienna, Austria) 275
Necromancy from Antiquity to Medieval and
Sánchez Natalías Celia (Zaragoza, Spain) 194 Modern Times
Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire:
a Case Study from the Fountain of Anna Perenna Šaknys Žilvytis (Vilnius, Lithuania) 286
Magic or Entertainment?
Kuhn Konrad (Basel, Switzerland) 203 Marriage Divination and the Ritual Year in Lithuania
Relics from the ‘Lost Valley’ –
Discourses on the Magic of Masks Klimova Ksenia (Moscow, Russia) 294
Fortune Telling in the Modern Greek Ritual Year
Vlaskina Nina (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) 303 Velkoborská Kamila (Pilsen, Czech Republic) 384
The Types of Divination Used by the Don Cossacks: Magic as practised by the Brotherhood of Wolves
Highlighting Areas of Distribution (Czech Republic)
Malita Joanna (Kraków, Poland) 394
Astral Objects, Plants and Magic in Healing Strategies Magic in Everyday Life of Polish Wiccans

Kõiva Mare, Kuperjanov Andres (Tartu, Estonia) 313 Reasoning of Supernatural: Theory and Practice
The Moon, Astronomic Objects and Symbolic Rites
in Healing Strategies Savickaitė Eglė (Kaunas, Lithuania) 405
Tchoekha Oksana (Moscow, Russia) 323 Reasoning Supernatural Experiences:
Lunar Magic in the Modern Greek Folk Tradition Rationalism and Intuition

Mishev Georgi (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) 335 Fournier Laurent Sébastien (Nantes, France) 414
Where Do You Come From, Ash? – I Come From The Magic of Traditional Games:
a Pure Place. Magical Healing Practices from From Anthropological Theory to
the Region of the Thracian Cult Center of Starosel, Contemporary Case Studies
Plovdiv region, Bulgaria Zanki Josip (Zadar, Croatia) 422
Ippolitova Aleksandra (Moscow, Russia) 346 Embodiment and Gender: Constructing Balkan
Circumscription Ritual in Russian Herbals Masculinities
of the 17th–early 20th Centuries
Sorcerers, Witches and Magic Practices
Sidneva Svetlana (Moscow, Russia) 356
The Magic Herbs in the Modern Greek and Baiduzh Marina (Tyumen, Russia) 433
Italian Calendar Customs Constructing the Image of Witch in Contemporary
Russian Mythological Beliefs and Magical Practices
Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism,
Paganism and Neo-Paganism, Betea Raluca (Berlin, Germany) 444
Cults and Wicca in the Old and New Traditions Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals.
A Case-study on the Romanian Villages
Zoric Snjezana (Seoul, Republic of Korea) 367 in Transylvania (18th–19th Centuries)
The Magic of Performance in Korean Shamanic Dillinger Johannes (Oxford, Great Britain) 453
Ritual – gut Treasure and Drache. Ritual and Economy
Fehlmann Meret (Zurich, Switzerland) 376 in the Early Modern Period
“The Earth’s Unseen Powers of Growth Sivilova Yana (Sofia, Bulgaria) 460
Need to be Nourished” – on Images of Seasonal Magic versus Rational Reasoning in Anecdotal Tale
Pagan Rituals in Popular Culture
Magic and Rituals in Family Tradition Analysing Magic in Rituals and New Field Researches

Paukštytė–Šaknienė Rasa (Vilnius, Lithuania) 471 Krasheninnikova Yulia (Syktyvkar, Russia) 547
Ritual Year of Godparents and Godchildren Magic Beliefs and Practices of Holy Thursday
in Contemporary Society in Lithuania in the Modern Tradition of the Peasant
Stolyarova Guzel (Kazan, Russia), 479 Population of the Russian North
Danilova Olga (Yoshkar-Ola, Russia) (based on materials of the XXI century)
Magic in the Traditional Culture of the Iagafova Ekaterina, Bondareva Valeria (Samara, Russia) 557
Russian Population in the Mari Region Traditional Festive Rituals in Modern
Mykytenko Oksana (Kiev, Ukraine) 487 Chuvash Culture
Padlock and Key as Attributes of the Wedding Koval-Fuchylo Iryna (Kyiv, Ukraine) 568
Ceremony: Traditional Symbolism and Contemporary Ukrainian Calendar Cry: the Magical Value
Magic (on the Material of the Slavic Tradition) and Functional Features of the Tradition
Rychkova Nadezhda (Kazan, Russia) 497 Graden Dorothy Clark (Valparaiso, USA) 579
Magic as Communication in Family Rituals Archaic Magic as Background to Artistic
of Russians in Tatarstan Inspiration and Interpretation

Beyond the Threshold and Magic Value The Authors 583

Pócs Éva (Budapest, Hungary) 507


The Living and the Dead at the Time of the Winter SIEF Working Group on the Ritual Year
Solstice in Central Eastern European Beliefs
Inaugural Meeting 589
Stahl Irina (Bucharest, Romania) 519
The Nine Miraculous Graves: The Conferences 589
Seeking Help from Beyond The Publications 590
Neubauer-Petzoldt Ruth (Erlangen, Germany) 532 Conference Memories 592
The Year of Magical Thinking – Rituals and Magical
Thinking in Autobiographical Literature of Mourning

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