Koja je žena vještica? Stereotipne predodžbe o vješticama u hrvatskim tradicijskim vjerovanjima

The results of a recent field research showed that the breaking of taboos or social, moral or religious values, causes women to "become\u27" witches. It all starts with a rumor and gossip about some ugly, unmarried, divorced, promiscuous, old or too pretty women in the village. But they are still not branded as witches until a certain negative incident or misfortunate event occurs. Then those women next-door, who were previously marked as undesirable, are accused for the disaster and the accusers are hence resolved of all responsibility.Nedavna terenska istraživanja pokazuju da se vješticama gotovo uvijek optužuju žene koje su prekršile određene tabue ili ne poštuju društvene, moralne ili vjerske norme. Sve započinje glasinama i govorkanjem o nekim ružnim, neoženjenim, razvedenim, promiskuitetnim, starim ili previše lijepim ženama u selu. No one još uvijek nisu označene vješticama sve dok se u selu ne dogodi neki incident ili teško prihvatljiv događaj. Tada se za nastalu nevolju optužuju upravo žene iz susjedstva koje su već otprije označene nepoželjnima, a optužitelji se na taj način oslobađaju eventualne krivnje

The Supernatural Beings of Belief Legends – Old Fears in a New Context

This paper examines the use of belief legends about witches, werewolves, and fairies at open-air festivals in Croatia today. At such events, traditions based on belief legends are invented with the idea of enriching local tourism not only as a source of income but also as a medium through which they portray their local identity. Additionally, the author argues that the concept of fear plays a significant role in the entire process. Visitors face the fear invoked by supernatural concepts, but within the monitored and controlled festival environment, which this helps them overcome their fears and learn how to control them. Furthermore, the author argues that people are increasingly turning toward learning and knowing about supernatural beings of belief legends because they offer an attractive explanation for the functioning of the current world and afterlife

Koja je žena vještica? Stereotipne predodžbe o vješticama u hrvatskim tradicijskim vjerovanjima

The results of a recent field research showed that the breaking of taboos or social, moral or religious values, causes women to "become\u27" witches. It all starts with a rumor and gossip about some ugly, unmarried, divorced, promiscuous, old or too pretty women in the village. But they are still not branded as witches until a certain negative incident or misfortunate event occurs. Then those women next-door, who were previously marked as undesirable, are accused for the disaster and the accusers are hence resolved of all responsibility.Nedavna terenska istraživanja pokazuju da se vješticama gotovo uvijek optužuju žene koje su prekršile određene tabue ili ne poštuju društvene, moralne ili vjerske norme. Sve započinje glasinama i govorkanjem o nekim ružnim, neoženjenim, razvedenim, promiskuitetnim, starim ili previše lijepim ženama u selu. No one još uvijek nisu označene vješticama sve dok se u selu ne dogodi neki incident ili teško prihvatljiv događaj. Tada se za nastalu nevolju optužuju upravo žene iz susjedstva koje su već otprije označene nepoželjnima, a optužitelji se na taj način oslobađaju eventualne krivnje

“I KNOW ABOUT IT, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO TALK”: TRADITIONAL BELIEFS IN SUPERNATURAL CREATURES IN THE DALMATIAN HINTERLAND

Autor se u tekstu usredotočuje na vlastiti terenski materijal prikupljen tijekom nedavnih istraživanja tradicijskih vjerovanja u nadnaravna bića u unutrašnjosti Dalmacije. Pokušava pronaći pravilnosti koje su oblikovale izjave o vjerovanjima u nadnaravna bića te ih traži u političkim, etničkim i regionalnim datostima koje su utjecale na njegove sugovornike. Takve uzročno-posljedične veze između sugovornika i njegove društveno-političke okoline objašnjava vlastitom peteročlanom podjelom u kojoj ne klasificira vjerovanja ili nadnaravna bića, već sugovornike i njihove izjave o vjerovanju.Recent personal field experience in researching traditional beliefs in supernatural creatures has shown that today, too, stories of and beliefs in fairies, vampires, witches and moras are still relatively present in the Dalmatian hinterland. Such beliefs were customarily in the focus of domestic folkloristic research and were largely studied as verbal utterances of narrators, in which attention was paid to what was said (and how it was said). However, a trend emerged in folkloristics from the 1970s that began to orientate itself to the social context of the narrator and his/her stance towards narrations. Therefore, the author’s own views on the issue of researching the narrator and his/her stance towards the supernatural are offered in this paper, based on recent field research. In that way, the intention has been to contribute to those research studies that emphasise the importance of enquiring into the social context of the narrator, but also to offer an augmentation of domestic (folkloristic) research into belief in supernatural creatures in which that dimension has frequently been overlooked. In other words, domestic papers often mention the fact that we learn about supernatural creatures through kronikate (brief reports), fabulate (stories about a particular event passed on by tradition), and memorate (talking about personal experience in the first person), which indicates that we should concentrate on the form, regularity, manner and type of the narrator’s account. However, since the narrator’s account in interviews always entwines with the context of reality, experience and social structures (of the individual and the group) that give it form, we learn not only about the supernatural creatures through the narration but also about the stance of the narrator towards the supernatural, through which we also arrive at information about the narrator him/herself, his/her environment, lines of thought and aspirations. Therefore, a five-stage division of narrations and narra­tors is offered in this paper, which is based on the way in which the narrations are delivered and the narrator’s stance towards the supernatural that we observe in the specific situation of conversation with the researcher

For revenge, lust, and theft: Magical Practices of 19th-Century Istrians as a Reflection of the Unfavourable Socioeconomic Situation

U radu se analizira rukopis Stjepana Žiže Običaji hrvatskog naroda Istre te rukopis Narodni život Hrvata i Slovenaca u Istri Josipa Ptašinskoga. Oba rukopisa nastala su koncem 19. stoljeća te opisuju magijske radnje istarskih stanovnika s početka stoljeća. Opisane magijske radnje mogu se grupirati na one kojima se ljudi osvećuju, kojima zadovoljavaju požudu, olakšavaju krađu te osiguravaju zdravlje i neranjivost. Sve analizirane magijske radnje podrazumijevale su svetogrđe, brutalnost i suradnju s vragom. Krećući od komentara samih autora rukopisa, koji ističu svoju zabrinutost nad bezbožnim postupcima vršitelja magijskih radnji, u radu se analizira period u kojemu su te radnje prakticirane. Ukazuje se na dramatično socioekonomsko stanje u Istri u prvim desetljećima 19. stoljeća te se raspravlja o magijskim radnjama kao mogućim postupcima pomoću kojih su pojedinci pokušavali premostiti svakodnevne nedaće.This paper analyses the manuscripts of Stjepan Žiža’s Customs of the Croatian People in Istria and Josip Ptašinski’s Folklore of Croats and Slovenes in Istria. Both manuscripts were written in the late 19th century, when the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts launched a call for collecting sources on the folklore of South Slavic peoples. Among the numerous manuscripts received by the Academy, these two are particularly important as their authors paid special attention to the description of “sorcery” performed by the Istrians in the early 19th century. Following the current theoretical literature, this paper treats the acts of “sorcery” as magical practices, since they invoke supernatural forces in order to obtain earthly benefits. These magical practices have been grouped into those aimed at revenge or satisfaction of lust, facilitating theft, and ensuring health or invulnerability. All analysed magical practices include blasphemy, brutality, and collaboration with Satan. Starting from the comments of the manuscript authors, who expressed their worries over the godless acts performed, the paper shows that the period in question coincided with a difficult socioeconomic situation. In an almost apocalyptic climate following the Napoleonic wars, particularly in the period from 1810-1830, the Istrian peninsula was struck by a devastating typhus epidemic and famine owing to unfavourable climatic conditions. Its population was decimated, crimes multiplied, and living expectancy was only 27 years. In such atmosphere, individuals and groups, primarily from the rural areas, resorted to magic in order to ensure health and wealth, or to satisfy their lust, in order to overcome the calamities of their everyday life

In Search of a Mogut or on the Possible Transformations of a Traditional Belief

U radu autor istražuje tradicijsko vjerovanje u nadnaravno biće mogut koje se javlja na području Turopolja. Budući da o tom vjerovanju postoji samo jedan rad koji je 1953. godine objavio Drago Chloupek, autor je proveo nova terenska istraživanja u Turopolju u jesen 2021. godine. Tijekom istraživanja nije pronašao jasna vjerovanja o mogutima koji mogu letjeti, boriti se s drugim mogutima u oblacima ili u šumi pretvoreni u svinje, nego samo svjedočenja o susretu s gorostasima odjevenim u crno koji se javljaju u misterioznim okolnostima i na liminalnim mjestima. Ti elementi koje prepoznajemo i kod moguta zrcale se u novoprikupljenim pričama o susretu s mračnjakom, mothmanom, železnim i drugim sličnim bićima. Svjestan da su tradicijska vjerovanja fluidna i promjenjiva ovisno o aktualnim psihosocijalnim, kulturnim i političkim stanjima (Fischer 2003: 34), autor u radu pokazuje kako je moguće da je jedno starije vjerovanje s područja Turopolja prošlo nekoliko transformacija uvjetovanih potrebama zajednice i vremena u kojima je nastajalo.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

Accounts of the Supernatural - toward Local Foundations of Group Belonging (Summary)

U tekstu autor na osnovi nedavno provedenog intervjua s kazivačima Dalmatinske zagore i Bukovice pokazuje kako pričanje o nadnaravnim bićima poput vila, vukodlaka, vještica i dr. može biti snažan indikator lokalne pripadnosti i političko-etničkih stanja. Afirmirano pričanje o nadnaravnim bićima pokazuje povijesnu, političku i etničku koherentnost lokalnih skupina dok, s druge strane, negiranje, racionaliziranje i autocenzura kazivača upućuje na pripadnike skupina koje žive na etnički i politički slojevitom području nakon Domovinskoga rata.Recent field research of belief in supernatural beings in Dalmatia\u27s hinterland suggests that the research of belief in fairies, witches, moras and werewolves can offer some general insights into local belonging of certain population groups. This paper focuses on two such groups and their attitude toward believing in supernatural beings. The first groups is composed of informants from the Dalmatinska Zagora region who emphasize their own knowledge of the legends about supernatural beings and frequently witness and interpret personal experience and encounters with fairies, moras, witches and werewolves. The accounts attempt to reconstruct collective memories. Each of the informants tries to add something to the initial story, tries to remember additional elements to complete it, in order to underline their belonging to the tradition of their village. The knowledge of information, details, the stressing of one\u27s own involvement in the encounter with supernatural beings makes them qualified members of the local community. On the other hand, a group of informants from Bukovica, although evidently privy to the researched topic, is almost always inclined towards negation, self-censorship and rationalizing when it comes to believing in supernatural beings. Unlike Dalmatinska Zagora, where informants identify the knowledge of and telling stories about supernatural beings as part of their tradition and as a symbol of local belonging, primarily due to the homogeneousness of their group or region, the people from Bukovica, whether ethnic Serbs or Croats, consider these beliefs and stories as something “forbidden” or at least not recommended. In other words, the inhabitants of Bukovica are prone to negation, self-censorship and rationalizing when it comes to supernatural beings because, in their attempts at achieving a peaceful coexistence, they do not want to compromise themselves as backward or primitive Croatian or Serbian returning refugees, thus avoiding the negative image in the eyes of the “intellectual” elite