Forme ale ghicitoriei în spațiul rural românesc. Analiză misionar-ortodoxă
Divination Practices and Occult Fortune-Telling Manifestations in Rural Romania. An Orthodox Missionary Perspective and Analysis

Summary/Abstract: Since the earliest civilizations, divination practices and occult fortune-telling manifestations have been an enduring component of worldwide culture. This disturbing phenomenon continues to proliferate today, gaining lots of appreciation, contaminating the values of traditional religion. The Romanian peasant subsists in a comprehensive perception, on the threshold between physical existence and spiritual consciousness. As a consequence of economic insecurity and social uncertainty, many inhabitants of the rural areas choose to preserve pagan beliefs and magic rituals, hoping to obtain knowledge about future events. It is certain that many occult expressions become normative for the believers and acquire a more important role than the religious cult itself. The present study targets to identify the most prominent forms of future prediction, favoured and accepted by the provincial population. It will be demonstrated that deception is almost always involved, leading to trickery and extortion of the simple-minded. Orthodox mission is consistently positioned against the occult, conservating the reasoning of the Great Fathers of Orthodoxy and many other Church scholars that counteredthe malpractice of divination.

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