The Role of Black Magic in Controlling Social Balance in Moldavian Chango Villages
The Role of Black Magic in Controlling Social Balance in Moldavian Chango Villages

Author(s): Peti Lehel
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Modern Age, Culture and social structure
Published by: Historický ústav SAV
Keywords: Moldavia; society; social balance; magic; black magic; Chango villages;
Summary/Abstract: This paper is designed to show some rituals succeeding theft of the Moldavian Chango villages, which have been practiced with the same features presumably since the 19th century. We attempt to explain the social historical causes of the “cultural conservation,” for this reason we try to outline the historical context in which these offensive magic rituals have taken shape. In Moldavia there was no witch-hunt and the reason for this fact is questionable. Perhaps there was not because this method of curing was not known and practiced by the elite, by the Church, or probably because the adequate popular beliefs and institutions, which could have supported it, were lacking. Without the records from the witch-hunts we have hardly any sources about the bygone role of magic. As a result of the socio-economic isolation the waves of modernization were fairly late in this region, therefore many elements of the practice of magic have remained with medieval continuity up to now. Thus we can nevertheless identify the past features from the techniques being practiced today and from their narratives kept in the collective remembrance. Although we have still not analysed the functioning of the system as a whole, we can draw attention to some significant characteristics. This is especially justified, since an intensive modernization of Moldavia is now in progress, which has taken decades in the case of other regions and ethnic groups. Owing to the loss of language being advanced because of assimilation, those narratives from which we could reconstruct the past features of the magic penal system and from which we could interpret its present forms of realization could disappear within a short time.

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