Incantations, Traditional Medicine and Rituals in Areal Aspect: Belarus and the Russian Northwest

Abstract

The article examines some folklore and ethnographic phenomena through the prism of their geographical distribution in the European part of Eastern Slavia. Among them there are: one of the plots of the incantations against erysipelas (“There was Christ / the Virgin Mary, carried / had three roses, the third / all three died / withered / fell, etc.”), the motif of the mythological center in the incantations against snake bite, diseases called “wings” in which a person experiences unpleasant and painful sensations in the shoulder blades, and the practice of their treatment, as well as Trinity memorial rituals of graves “plowing” (sweeping) with greenery. They are all united by the fact that these phenomena are known in Belarus and in the west of European Russia, from where they spread to the Russian Northwest. These phenomena have different origins. The plot of incantations against erysipelas is found in German, Polish and Baltic traditions; the name of the disease krilishchcha unites the Belarusian tradition with the northwestern Russian and Latvian; the motif of the mythological center in incantations against snake bites is most likely of East Slavic origin, and the practice of Trinity memorial “plowing” of graves was probably initially limited to the Novgorod-Pskov-Smolensk area. The article is provided with 4 maps.

Received: 16.05.2024.
Revised: 23.08.2024.
Accepted: 24.09.2024.

Citation
Agapkina T. A. Incantations, Traditional Medicine and Rituals in Areal Aspect: Belarus and the Russian Northwest // Slavic Almanac. 2024. No 3–4. P. 160–178 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2024.3-4.07