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The article writes: “Apotropaic graves of this sort date back to the Early Middle Ages and have also appeared in Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Romania.” So ev

The article writes: “Apotropaic graves of this sort date back to the Early Middle Ages and have also appeared in Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Romania.” So even the 17th-century phenomenon is but a late attestation of a practice found already in the medieval era. It is curious that you claim that such practices could only be a result of de-Christianization. In the Balkans, fears of vampires, incubi, and succubi have always co-existed happily with a Christianity that deeply permeated all levels of society.

paganel 3y ago
The Christian practices here in the Balkans had (maybe still have) a lot of Manichaeism involved in them which people further West might not call that Christian to begin with. It's a very peculiar type of Christianity, that's for sure, and even the local high-placed Christian men are quite hesitant to talk about it. Bogomilism is, of course, its most famous form, but it has circulated in one form or other for many hundreds of years, no matter the official repressions it has faced (ever since the 10th century [1], maybe even earlier). Back to the article, the strzyga and strigoi which are mentioned there are basically Romanian words, and Romanian most probably took them from the Latin strix [2]. In fact a local species of owl is called strigă. And now back to the local Manichaeism present here, a grand-father of a friend of mine (in fact, his corpse) was unearthed at some point after his death (I think it was 7 years) and a spike was put through its (the body's) chest, so that his spirit would stop wandering among the living. Granted, that was happening in a Romanian region a little bit on the more traditional side, you won't find that in Bucharest or Cluj anymore. Also, up until very recently there was a tradition at the church in my parents' village where the most "wealthy" family in the village would have to bring a black rooster on Easter inside the church, let it loose, people would catch it and then give it to one of the poor families, so that that poor family would cook it as an Easter meal. Black roosters are, of course, not that Christian to begin with. As I said, lots and lots of Manichaeism beliefs around these parts of the continent (in many, many folk tales the Devil is on the same level as God), Middle Ages or not, it's quite fascinating. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treatise_Against_the_Bogomils https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treatise_Against_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology) [3] https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strig%C4%83 https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strig%C4%83

paganel 3y ago

The Christian practices here in the Balkans had (maybe still have) a lot of Manichaeism involved in them which people further West might not call that Christian to begin with. It's a very peculiar type of Christianity, that's for sure, and even the local high-placed Christian men are quite hesitant to talk about it. Bogomilism is, of course, its most famous form, but it has circulated in one form or other for many hundreds of years, no matter the official repressions it has faced (ever since the 10th century [1], maybe even earlier). Back to the article, the strzyga and strigoi which are mentioned there are basically Romanian words, and Romanian most probably took them from the Latin strix [2]. In fact a local species of owl is called strigă. And now back to the local Manichaeism present here, a grand-father of a friend of mine (in fact, his corpse) was unearthed at some point after his death (I think it was 7 years) and a spike was put through its (the body's) chest, so that his spirit would stop wandering among the living. Granted, that was happening in a Romanian region a little bit on the more traditional side, you won't find that in Bucharest or Cluj anymore. Also, up until very recently there was a tradition at the church in my parents' village where the most "wealthy" family in the village would have to bring a black rooster on Easter inside the church, let it loose, people would catch it and then give it to one of the poor families, so that that poor family would cook it as an Easter meal. Black roosters are, of course, not that Christian to begin with. As I said, lots and lots of Manichaeism beliefs around these parts of the continent (in many, many folk tales the Devil is on the same level as God), Middle Ages or not, it's quite fascinating. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treatise_Against_the_Bogomils https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treatise_Against_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(mythology) [3] https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strig%C4%83 https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strig%C4%83