Witches' Zoopsychonavigations and the Astral Broom in the Worlds of Croatian Legends as (Possible) Aspects of Shamanistic Techniques of Ecstasy (and Trance)Vještičje zoopsihonavigacije i astralna metla u svjetovima hrvatskih predaja kao (mogući) aspekti šamanističke tehnike ekstaze (i transa)

Croatian legends describe witches' zoopsychonavigations—journeys undertaken in a lethargic, trance-like state—that may parallel shamanistic techniques of ecstasy. The concept of zoopsychonavigation marks a boundary where shamanistic ecstatic experiences and witches' lethargy permeate each other. Additional parallels between witchcraft and shamanism include the mytheme of mutual agon between shamans and between witches, distinctive birth features such as birth in a caul, the axis mundi topos of mythic mountains and trees (comparing the shamanistic tree to the fairies' tree), the use of hallucinogenic plants, and light-enhanced hypostases of witches' bodies, echoing Eliade's characterization of the shaman as a master over fire.

Study at a glance

Abstract

I shall attempt to interpret witches' zoopsychonavigations in the worlds of Croatian legends as (possible) aspects of shamanistic techniques of ecstasy (and trance), in the framework of which I shall be trying to designate the concept of zoopsychonavigation as the border of permeation between shamanistic ecstatic experiences and the witches' experience of lethargy.In addition to the above concept of zoopsychonavigation, I establish equally possible contacts between witchcraft and shamanism on the basis of the mythem about the mutual agon between shamans as well as between witches, the distinctive features of their birth (for example, their birth in a caul), the axis mundi topos – the mythic geography of mountains and trees (the parallelism between the shamanistic tree and the fairies’ tree), the use of hallucinogenic plants that have been noted in the practices mentioned, as well as the light-enhanced hypostases of the witches' bodies in the context of Eliade's attribution of the shaman as "a master over fire".