Apotropaiczna funkcja ludowych instrumentów muzycznych – przykład wakatu z Beskidu Żywieckiego
The Apotropaic Function of Folk Musical Instruments. Case Study: The Wakat from the Żywiec Beskid

Summary/Abstract: This case study outlines the meaning of sound in folk beliefs and the apotropaic function of musical tools and instruments of different regions of the world. Furthermore, the aim of the article is to show the transformation of significance of an instrument—the wakat—in the broader context of folk beliefs about sound as a power that averts evil influences or bad luck. This apotropaic ability of musical instruments has been present in faiths of communities from different parts of the world since ancient times. Nowadays, in the Polish tradition, it has been almost entirely forgotten, and the purpose of using primarily apotropaic instruments—altered. The author presents the transformations to which the wakat was subject as an example of adapting folk traditions to the circle of musical-magical symbolism. The wakat as a tool was used by people to protect them from evil powers. With the transformation of folk religiousness, its original meaning has blurred, leading to the complete disappearance of not only its former function but also the practice of playing the wakat in the tradition of the region. However, at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, the instrument was yet again incorporated into the folk music tradition.

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