BOOKISH DEMONOLOGY AND FOLK MAGICAL BELIEFS IN SIBERIA IN THE XII-XVIII CENTURIES
O.D. Zhuravel1,2
1Institute of History SB RAS, 8, A. Nikolaeva str., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
2Novosibirsk State University, 1, Pirogova str., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Keywords: сибирская агиография, народное христианство, одержимость, порча, демонология, судебно-следственные процессы, Siberian hagiography, popular Orthodoxy, possessions, spell, demonology, inquisitorial procedure
Abstract
The article considers the early Siberian literature in the context of popular religious consciousness of Siberians in the XVII-XVIII centuries, which is characterized as popular Orthodoxy with magical practices and beliefs as essential elements. The author focuses on demonological motifs reflecting primarily the phenomenon of possession (demoniac possession, hand-wringing, hiccup). The study showed that these motifs were widely represented in the miracles from the “Tale of the Abalak Icon of the Mother of God”, they can be found in the “Tale of Appearance of Nicholas of Myra” and “Life of Simeon of Verkhoturye”. Literary materials are compared with documentary sources - judicial and investigative materials related to sorcery and spell cases. The author considers bookish demonology of the early Siberian literature as a certain interpretative and polemical strategy aimed against popular magic which was viewed by the ecclesiastic and state law as spiritual crime. The article shows that the literary and church discourse existed along with practice of civilian investigations. The latter actively involved not only the state investigative and administrative bodies but also local population. The religious preaching expressed in written monuments was set by the church against the state prosecution. In so doing, the church combined issues of spiritual enlightenment with urgent tasks of establishing the cult of holy icons and sanctuaries, which was an important part of policy pursued by the Tobolsk Archpriest’s House. The author comes to conclusion that despite different linguistic strategies and mechanisms of struggle against popular magic, representatives of various layers of the Siberian society belonged to the same popular and religious culture, of which magical beliefs were an integral part. The author interprets the phenomenon of posession as a symbolic code which determined the everyday behavior and way of thinking of Siberians irrespective of their social status.
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