AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL REFLECTIONS ON MAGIC AND MAGICAL RITUALS AS AN ELEMENT OF THE WORLDVIEW AND SOCIAL PRACTICES OF THE MODERN POPULATION OF TRANSCARPATHIA
Scientific Herald of Uzhhorod University. Series: History April 15, 2026 DOI: 10.24144/2523-4498.1(54).2026.355401 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Population of Transcarpathia, including various ethnographic and ethnic groups |
| Key findings | Argues that magical beliefs in Transcarpathia at the beginning of the 21st century cannot be interpreted as cultural remnants of archaic thinking, since they perform functions necessary for society, such as symbolic stabilization of behavior in conditions of social uncertainty. Empirical materials demonstrate intergenerational transmission and adaptation of ritual forms, with contamination of global and local traditions, and a parallel coexistence of Christian religiosity and magical practices reflecting religious syncretism. |
Abstract
The article is devoted to modern magical practices and demonological beliefs of the population of Transcarpathia. The text has the character of an autobiographical ethnographic essay. In this study, the author acts as an “involved observer”. Based on his own observations and field materials collected over the past few decades, he gives examples of the existence of magical practices and rituals, the spread of demonological beliefs among representatives of various ethnographic and ethnic groups of the region. The text pays attention to the processes of magical contamination and draws attention to the rational, but at the same time religious and mystical-pre-Christian nature of the consciousness of Transcarpathians. The author is interested in the answers to the following questions: the reasons for the active existence of magical practices in the modern, supposedly modernized world; their spread not only among the older generation, but also among the younger Transcarpathians; the reasons for their syncretic religious-magical worldview. The author's empirical observations are considered through the interpretative schemes of representatives of classical (evolutionists, French sociologists, structuralists, functionalists) and modern ethnology/anthropology. As a result, the author concludes that magical beliefs in Transcarpathia at the beginning of the 21st century cannot be interpreted as cultural remnants of archaic thinking, since they perform certain functions that are necessary for the normal life of society. In particular, magical practices perform the function of symbolic stabilization of behavior in conditions of social uncertainty. Empirical materials demonstrate intergenerational transmission and adaptation of ritual forms - contamination of global and local traditions. The parallel coexistence of Christian religiosity and magical practices reflects the model of religious syncretism, which has long been characteristic of Transcarpathians.