U potrazi za mogutom ili o mogućim transformacijama jednog tradicijskog vjerovanja
In Search of a Mogut or on the Possible Transformations of a Traditional Belief

Summary/Abstract: This article explores a popular belief from the Turopolje area in the existence of a supernatural being called mogut. Given the scarcity of recent literature on the subject (a single paper on the belief was published by Drago Chloupek in 1953), field research was conducted in Turopolje in the autumn of 2021. The study found no clear beliefs about moguts who could fly, fight other moguts in the clouds or who transformed into pigs in the forest, but only testimonies of encounters with black-clad large creatures occurring in mysterious circumstances and in liminal places. These elements concerning the mogut are reflected in newly collected stories about encounters with the mračnjak (dark man), the mothman, the železni (an iron man) and other similar creatures. Having in mind that popular beliefs are fluid and changeable depending on the current psychosocial, cultural and political conditions (Fischer 2003: 34), it is suggested that it may be possible that an older belief from Turopolje has undergone several transformations based on community needs and the time period.

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