Verbal Magic In Contemporary Women’s Narratives About Nightmare Experiences In Estonia

Verbal magic is still used in contemporary Estonia to ward off nightmare attacks, especially by women sharing personal experience narratives. Although long, elaborate charms have become rare, modern verbal magic against nightmares is more diverse than in older tradition. New international trends have influenced contemporary practice, but key elements from older folklore persist, often combined with protective objects and rituals from both traditional and new sources.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The focus of this article is on the contemporary use of verbal magic in situations interpreted in personal experience narratives as nightmare (old hag) attacks whereby the emphasis is on women’s perspective. First, the author gives a general overview of the outputs of protective verbal magic in contemporary Estonian material to situate more specific verbal magic used for warding off the supernatural attacker during the nightmare experiences. The author concludes that the topic of nightmare attacks as well as verbal magic against them is still relevant in modern folklore. Although elaborated long charms are rare, contemporary verbal magic against nightmare in general is even more heterogenous as in older tradition. Expectably, new international trends of verbal magic have influenced contemporary tradition but some key elements from older tradition are still present, combined with protective objects and rituals from older folklore as well as diverse new sources.