Practica „deschiderii cărţii”. Consideraţii generale asupra unei teme neglijate de religie populară
The “opening of the holy book” divination practice. Considerations over a neglected theme of popular religion

Summary/Abstract: Although a practice of respectable age, animated by a large number of participants (both clerics and laics), and displaying a quite ambiguous ritual aspect, the „holy book divination” practice has not yet been seriously analyzed, being considered, in an apriorical manner, a most typical case of imposture. Overcoming this prejudice, our analysis conceptualizes the whole situation for the first time. It sheds light on matters that have to do with the structure, general aspect of the practice, and its historical birth. The most interesting and delicate question however regards the source of the ritual. From the point of view of ethnology, the practice can have a perfectly coherent explanation as a pagan behavior which breaks in Ecclesia. Theologically, the practice can be seen as a pathological development of some Christian dogmas. In the end, the practice appears to be the result of an inevitable process of cooperation between the Church, the demands of the folk, and the pragmatic responses of the local clergy.

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