Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals 445

Raluca Betea magical charms regarding the stealing of the yield (mana, in Ro-
Romanian Cultural Institute in Berlin, Germany manian) from cows represent the most frequent subject (Pavelescu
1998: 57). Snatching the milk of animals was considered “a serious
crime in an agricultural society” (ed. Golden 2006, vol. 3: 766). Be-
Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals. lief in the capacity of witches to thieve milk represented a general
A Case-study on the Romanian Villages and widespread theme, a kind of harm associated with system of
in Transylvania (18th–19th Centuries) village sorcery throughout Europe (ed. Golden 2006, vol. 3: 766).
But this study, due to the vast amount of folkloric material, will
Abstract. This paper examines the magical beliefs related to dep-
rivation of animals’ milk in the Romanian villages of Transylvania, focus only on the connection of different magical beliefs with the
relying mainly on folklore texts and on visual representations. The ritual year, namely the spells and the gestures accomplished by the
first part focuses on the connection of different practices with the milk-stealing witches during certain festivals. Even so, to cover so
ritual year, namely the spells and the gestures undertaken by the much ground in one paper demands a highly schematic approach.
milk-stealing witches during certain festivals. The second part
analyses the iconography of the sinners accused of stealing the milk At certain times of the year magic is known to be overwhelming:
of cows, included in Last Judgement compositions. These paintings
special dates of the year are associated not only to individuals
certify the frequency and the predominance of the beliefs associated
with milk-theft. witches, but also to harmful magic connected to groups of witches
(ed. Golden 2006, vol. 2: 383, vol. 3: 760–761, vol. 4: 1178–1179).
Key words: milk theft, magical beliefs, rural sorcery, Transylvania, Romanian folklore presents rich descriptions regarding magical
folklore, iconography of Hell
activities related to certain festive occasions. Among the many
bewitchments thought to happen during various holidays the milk
spells play an important role, being mentioned very often. In the
The aim of the present paper is to analyse the magical beliefs case of Transylvania, the sources mentioned above accentuate the
and practices related to milk theft in the Romanian villages of fact that the milk witches were considered to be very dangerous
Transylvania, during the 18th and 19th centuries. In researching and active on St. John’s Day, St. George’s Day and St. Andrew’s
these beliefs, I have relied mainly on folklore texts and on visual Day, being accused of taking away the animals’ yield and bringing
representations. If the documentation of folklore offers important it to their own cows (Taloş 2001: 167, 138; Gorovei 1915: 176–177,
details regarding the magical actions, the iconography certifies 311; Kádár 2005: 95).
the frequency and the predominance of the beliefs associated with The analysis that I have undertaken on the folklore texts led me to
snatching milk. the conclusion that St. George’s Day was the feast when bewitch-
The reports, legends and popular stories collected by ethnographers ments related to milk theft were the most frequently practiced. An
at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century explanation of this frequency could be related to the fact that dur-
attest to a great diversity of magical beliefs related to milk theft. ing this period the cattle were taken to depasture and the seasonal
In Romanian magical folklore, a very important role is occupied transhumance of sheep began. The Romanian literature dedicated
by the narratives which describe the procedures performed by the to the study of the ritual year presents this day as the most impor-
milk-stealing witches, the actions that aimed to cure their damage tant spring holiday, when according to popular beliefs all charms
and also the magical methods practiced by the villagers to keep can be made. The folklorists Ioan Toşa and Simona Munteanu have
the animals safe or to prevent the milk theft. For example, the reached the conclusion that at the end of the 19th century, the
ethnologist Gheorghe Pavelescu, analysing the popular beliefs in belief that mana was stolen during this celebration was present
magic from the Apuseni region, has reached the conclusion that the in all the Romanian villages (Toşa & Munteanu 2003: 108, 116).
446 Raluca Betea Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals 447

For example, a belief states the fact that, during this festival, the
milk sorceress took the water from the river which was crossed by
sheep flocks. The woman was accused of giving this water to her
sheep that aimed at increasing their milk. Other rites were more
complex, implying a combination of practices, spells and the touch-
ing of the animals. It was said that on St. George’s Eve, witches are
walking naked in their neighbours’ stables. Meanwhile they were
saying the name of cows and a spell in which it is mentioned that
the animals will only be left with whey and hair, while the witch
will get their milk and butter. The woman cut with scissors the hair
from the tail and udder, afterwards throwing it in the fire (Toşa &
Munteanu 2003: 115–116).
The scholar Eva Pócs mentions that “The correspondence between
milk magic and rain magic is most clearly shown through the wide
spread beliefs in and rituals of dew picking in central and mainly
southeastern Europe” (ed. Golden 2006, vol. 3: 765). Furthermore,
she points out that “Throughout the region “picking dew” was a
widespread method for taking milk from a neighbour’s cow or grain
from his fields on St. John’s Day, St. George’s Day, or on other impor-
tant agricultural festivals’ (ed. Golden 2006, vol. 2: 528). Regarding
the case of Transylvania, the folk narratives present many magical
methods of this kind. The rite was taking place either during the
night or just before dawn, being performed by naked women. It
implied the use of different objects, such as a strainer or a piece of
textile, which were pulled over the grass with the aim of collecting Figure 1. Second part of the eighteenth century, wall painting. The
the dew. Sometimes, the witches said the following words: Cum se village church of Dobricu Lăpuşului. Photo by Raluca Betea.
adună roua de pe câmp aşa se adună mana de la toate vacile numai
la vaca mea “As in this manner the dew is picked from the grass,
likewise the milk yield is collected from all the cows bringing it only of burning incense upon cows (Papahagi 1925: 160). Oral tradition
to my cow” (Toşa & Munteanu 2003: 115–116). The witch took the attests to one of the most frequent activity: the villagers greased
water from the strainer and gave it to her own animal to drink. In the houses with garlic, the doors and windows of the shelters, and
other cases the collected drops of water were putted into a wooden other objects. This procedure stopped the witches entering shelters
milking bucket (Toşa & Munteanu 2003: 115–116). and touching the animals (Papahagi 1925: 160; Gorovei 1915: 5–6,
112). Among other components, protective magic also involved
During the same festivals, not only the bewitchment practices the custom of hanging branches of briar on gates or on the doors
were thought to be very great in amount and potency, but also the of shelters with the aim of impeding the witches’ access (Kádár
counter-sorcery rites. In order to protect their animals from this type 2005: 95; Gorovei 1915: 311). Another interesting action is related
of maleficium, the villages’ inhabitants engaged in a wide variety of with St. Andrew’s Eve, when Romanian women circled the cows in
magical practices. Some ethnographic reports present the practice the direction of the sun, at the same time spreading poppy seeds
448 Raluca Betea Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals 449

If the folklore collected during the 19th and 20th centuries provides
us with important information about milk theft beliefs in Transyl-
vanian villages, another source – namely the iconography – will
help me to present a more detailed image of this research subject.
The iconographic programs of the Romanian village churches to be
found in this region are characterized – especially during the 18th
century and the first half of the 19th – by a widespread presence
of the Last Judgment theme. The quantitative analysis of the sins
painted in Hell highlights the depiction of the damned which are
guilty of practicing sorcery. The inclusion of sorcery is very relevant,
taking into consideration the fact that sinners accused of this trans-
gression are only exceptionally painted among the damned serving
their eternal punishment in traditional Byzantine compositions of
the Last Judgment. Furthermore, the depiction of sorcery among
the sins is not a very common practice in Post-Byzantine composi-
tions of the Last Judgment, a higher frequency of this representa-
tion being noticed only in the regions of Galicia, Transcarpathia,
Partium, Transylvania and Oltenia.
Up to now, the iconographic analysis I have made on the 18th and
19th century compositions of Hell in Transylvania points out the
depiction of 39 representations of the damned performing sorcery.
This iconographic study points out that there are several kinds of
representations associated with sorcery: the most frequent are those
women who steal the milk of cows (18 representations), the depic-
tion of the sorceress/sorcerer (13 representations), the enchantress/
enchanter (3 images), the voluntarily childless women who practice
magic (3 images), the revenant (1 depiction) and the fortune teller
(1 image). These images offer insight into discourse concerning
sorcery at village level, providing important information regarding
the local practices related to magic. As it may be observed from the
outlined statistics, the representations depicting persons who are
Figure 2. End of the eighteenth century, the painter Ţiple Popa (?), guilty of snatching cows’ milk prevail. The painters from Transylva-
wall painting. The village church of Corund. Photo by Raluca Betea. nia incorporated in the scene of Hell those sins which were popular
and relevant for the rural communities. But the analysis of these
(Gorovei 1915: 349). A further practice implied the gathering of the images will also address briefly gender issues, by engaging with the
men, who divided themselves in two groups. From two hills, during problem of the gendering of sorcery. Of the 39 representations that
the whole night, the villagers were screaming various threats at have been identified, most images (34, that are 87.18%) represent
each other in order to discourage the witches from taking the milk women, and only five of them are men (12.82%). It has to be noted
away (Kádár 2005: 95). that none of the men is depicted as a milk stealer. This aspect is very
450 Raluca Betea Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals 451

interesting taking into consideration the fact that the Romanian the torment with the transgression. Furthermore, it is most inter-
folk narrations often present men accused of bewitching animals. esting to notice in these paintings the presence of the same objects,
animals and actions which are to be found in the folk narratives.
The majority of those women blamed for stealing the milk of cows
Accompanying the witches, these characteristics play an important
are designated through inscriptions which state this fact, as for
role in the identification process performed by the viewers.
example “the one who takes the milk of cows” (care ia laptele vac-
ilor), “who takes the milk yield” (care e mana). In the main, milk These visual representations played an important part in the moral-
sorceresses are depicted receiving punishment individually. But izing discourse of the church which made use of the believers’ fear of
there is one exception: in the church of Almaş-Sălişte the sorcer- Hell to preserve them from sin (Minois 1998: 98). Especially during
esses, enchanters and women accused of milk theft are painted in the 18th century when the majority of the paintings were produced,
a group, together with the robbers and those blamed of sexual sins the visual discourse initiated by the Eastern rite Churches from
(Pop-Curşeu 2003: 466). Transylvania was determined to produce a negative image of sor-
cery, which was considered a great sin, leading to eternal damna-
The majority of the milk stealers are painted with a vessel on their
tion. But in order to reveal the whole religious discourse related to
head. An interesting representation is the one in the wooden church
the sin of sorcery, which was made known by means of the visual
of Dobricu Lăpuşului (Figure 1). The woman who deprives cows
images and to understand all its aspects, I now propose to examine
of their yield is depicted wearing a milk bucket on her head while
briefly the religious texts.
a devil is sitting on this vessel. This sinner receives also another
torture: a snake bites her chest. These two manners of depiction The lack of studies dedicated to the written discourse of the Roma-
are not singular in the Post-Byzantine iconography. They are to nian Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches makes it difficult to
be found in the Carpathian Rus’ iconography beginning with an reach firm conclusions. The analysis I have made points out that,
earlier period (Himka 2009: 66, 104–106, 122–123). Besides these in comparison with the visual discourse, until the beginning of the
manners of representations mentioned above, the painters from 19th century the written discourse of the Church proved to be quite
Transylvania developed three peculiar designs. Some of these tolerant. The issues of magical beliefs, sorcery and their condem-
women are accompanied by demons that squeeze their breast milk nation were rarely mentioned in the religious texts, revealing the
in a pail (Cehei, Corund, Orţâţa, Ulciug) (Figure 2). In the case of fact that during this period, the condemnation of sorcery was not
the wooden church of Rotăreşti, the sorceress’ hands are enchained a subject of organized propaganda. Only with the beginning of the
on the chest while a milking bucket hangs from her neck (Dudaş 19th century an increased number of religious texts record a critique
1999: 34). In two cases the sinners are attacked by cows: in the against those practicing magic (Muşlea 1972: 403; Brătescu 1988:
church of Poienile Izei two cows butt the body of the sinner, while 306, 309; Şincai 1964: 34, 36).
at Bicaz the woman is strangled with the help of the same animal.
The study I made in this paper led me to more conclusions. As the
Up to now I haven’t observed these types of depictions in other geo-
analysis of both the folklore and the iconography has shown that,
graphical regions. That is why they could be considered elements
in the region of Transylvania during the 18th and 19th centuries,
of innovation which singularize the iconography of sorcery to be
the magical beliefs related with milk theft were the most important
found in the regions of Transylvania.
and frequent, this being a typical misdeed in village communities.
The many depictions which present persons who stole the cows’ The spells and the gestures used by the milk-stealing witches show
milk wearing a bucket on their heads, emptying the milk container a great diversity, implying not only individual but also collective
and sometimes attacked by cows, or accompanied by demons who actions, from touching, symbolic actions like mimicking milking and
squeeze their breast milk in a vessel, are directly associated with the usage of different objects. The analysis I made proved the fact
the sin committed. So in this respect there is a tendency to match
452 Raluca Betea

that different motifs – the cow, the wooden bucket, milking – were Johannes Dillinger
present not only in the oral tradition, but also in the visual discourse. Department of the Humanities History, Oxford Brookes University, GB

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THE RITUAL YEAR 10

Magic in Rituals and Rituals in Magic

Edited by
Tatiana Minniyakhmetova and Kamila Velkoborská

Innsbruck – Tartu 2015

THE RITUAL YEAR 10 Contents
Magic in Rituals and Rituals in Magic
The Yearbook of the SIEF (Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et
de Folklore) Working Group on the Ritual Year
General Editor: Emily Lyle
Editors for this Issue: Tatiana Minniyakhmetova, Kamila Velkoborská Foreword 13

Language Editors: Jenny Butler, Molly Carter, Cozette Griffin-Kremer,

John Helsloot, Billy Mag Fhloinn, Emily Lyle, Thomas McKean, Neill The Ritual Year and Magical Features
Martin, Elisabeth Warner
Lyle Emily (Edinburgh, Scotland) 19
Layout: Liisa Vesik The Cosmic Connections of the Eight Key
Front Cover Photo: Yuri Lisovskiy “Four Houses – Four Seasons” Points in the Indo-European Ritual Year
Front Cover Design: Andres Kuperjanov
Gunnell Terry (Reykjavik, Iceland) 28
Advisory Board: Maria Teresa Agozzino, Marion Bowman, Jenny Butler, The Background and Nature of the Annual and
Molly Carter, Kinga Gáspár, Evy Håland, Aado Lintrop, Neill Martin, Lina Occasional Rituals of the Ásatrúarfélag in Iceland
Midholm, Tatiana Minniyakhmetova, David Stanley, Elizabeth Warner
Håland Evy Johanne (Bergen, Norway; Athens, Greece) 41
ISSN 2228-1347 Magical Ceremonies during the Ritual Year
ISBN (paper) 978-9949-544-54-7 of the Greek Farmer

The Yearbook was established in 2011 by merging former periodicals dedi- Mihaylova Katya (Sofia, Bulgaria) 61
cated to the study of the Ritual Year: 9 volumes in 2005–2014. The Fortune-Telling Customs of Andrzejki
and Katarzynki in the Polish Ritual Year
Innsbruck, Tartu: ELM Scholarly Press.
Gierek Bożena (Kraków, Poland) 70
Publication is supported by the authors and the project IRG 225, Estonian
Rituals of the Easter Period in Poland
Folklore Institute.
Multari Anna (Messina, Italy) 83
Coptic Magic and Its Phases
Lielbārdis Aigars (Riga, Latvia) 91
Catholic Saints in the Latvian Calendar
Testa Alessandro (Pardubice, Czech Republic) 100
The Re-Enchantment of Europe: “Traditional”
Carnivals and the Belief in Propitiatory Magic
(Two Ethnographic Cases from Italy and Czechia)
© Authors Mifsud Chircop Marlene (Msida, Malta) 110
SIEF Working Group on the Ritual Year Good Friday Processions on Contemporary Malta
Griffin-Kremer Cozette (Rambouillet, France) 121 Shutova Nadezhda (Izhevsk, Russia) 213
Doing Things Rightways and Three Times. Ritual as a Means of Organizing
From Maying Practices to Standard Procedures the Traditional Udmurt Sacred Space
(The late 19th – early 20th century)
Mag Fhloinn Billy (Limerick, Ireland) 130
Sacrificial Magic and the Twofold Division of Khudyaev Andrey (Arkhangelsk, Russia) 220
the Irish Ritual Year Magic Ritual and its Spatial Structure
in Archaic Cultures of the North
Symbolism of Fire, Food, Ritual Objects and Verebélyi Kincső (Budapest, Hungary) 230
Magical Spaces Das Haus als geistiges Kraftfeld
Sedakova Irina (Moscow, Russia) 141
Magico-Religious Symbolism of a Candle in Innovations in Traditions
the Slavic Calendar Rituals
Gareis Iris (Frankfurt on Main, Germany) 239
Minniyakhmetova Tatiana (Innsbruck, Austria) 152 Politics and Magic in the Ritual Year:
Ritual Fire in the Annual Cycle of Case Studies from Pre-Columbian Peru to the Present
Udmurt Calendar Customs
Rancane Aida (Riga, Latvia) 248
Wilk Urszula (Warsaw, Poland) 162 Motifs of Sacrifice in the Context of the Present-Day
The Valencian Festival of Las Fallas Search for Spiritual Experience in Latvia:
as an Example of Symbolic Violence Traditions and Innovations
Ek-Nilsson Katarina (Uppsala, Sweden) 171 Urboniene Skaidre (Vilnius, Lithuania) 258
Folk Belief and Rituals about Bread in Sweden. The Destruction of Religious Monuments in Lithuania
Some Interpretations and Comparisons in Soviet Times: Stories, Magic and Beliefs
with Today’s Hipster Culture
Ramšak Mojca (Ljubljana, Slovenia) 177 Divination, Fortune-telling
The Magic of Wine Marketing:
Invented Rituals of Slovene Wine Queens Voigt Vilmos (Budapest, Hungary) 269
Rebus – Charms – Evil Forces – Magic
Rychkov Sergey (Kazan, Russia) 187
Magic of a Toast Tuczay Christa Agnes (Vienna, Austria) 275
Necromancy from Antiquity to Medieval and
Sánchez Natalías Celia (Zaragoza, Spain) 194 Modern Times
Magical Poppets in the Western Roman Empire:
a Case Study from the Fountain of Anna Perenna Šaknys Žilvytis (Vilnius, Lithuania) 286
Magic or Entertainment?
Kuhn Konrad (Basel, Switzerland) 203 Marriage Divination and the Ritual Year in Lithuania
Relics from the ‘Lost Valley’ –
Discourses on the Magic of Masks Klimova Ksenia (Moscow, Russia) 294
Fortune Telling in the Modern Greek Ritual Year
Vlaskina Nina (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) 303 Velkoborská Kamila (Pilsen, Czech Republic) 384
The Types of Divination Used by the Don Cossacks: Magic as practised by the Brotherhood of Wolves
Highlighting Areas of Distribution (Czech Republic)
Malita Joanna (Kraków, Poland) 394
Astral Objects, Plants and Magic in Healing Strategies Magic in Everyday Life of Polish Wiccans

Kõiva Mare, Kuperjanov Andres (Tartu, Estonia) 313 Reasoning of Supernatural: Theory and Practice
The Moon, Astronomic Objects and Symbolic Rites
in Healing Strategies Savickaitė Eglė (Kaunas, Lithuania) 405
Tchoekha Oksana (Moscow, Russia) 323 Reasoning Supernatural Experiences:
Lunar Magic in the Modern Greek Folk Tradition Rationalism and Intuition

Mishev Georgi (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) 335 Fournier Laurent Sébastien (Nantes, France) 414
Where Do You Come From, Ash? – I Come From The Magic of Traditional Games:
a Pure Place. Magical Healing Practices from From Anthropological Theory to
the Region of the Thracian Cult Center of Starosel, Contemporary Case Studies
Plovdiv region, Bulgaria Zanki Josip (Zadar, Croatia) 422
Ippolitova Aleksandra (Moscow, Russia) 346 Embodiment and Gender: Constructing Balkan
Circumscription Ritual in Russian Herbals Masculinities
of the 17th–early 20th Centuries
Sorcerers, Witches and Magic Practices
Sidneva Svetlana (Moscow, Russia) 356
The Magic Herbs in the Modern Greek and Baiduzh Marina (Tyumen, Russia) 433
Italian Calendar Customs Constructing the Image of Witch in Contemporary
Russian Mythological Beliefs and Magical Practices
Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism,
Paganism and Neo-Paganism, Betea Raluca (Berlin, Germany) 444
Cults and Wicca in the Old and New Traditions Magical Beliefs for Stealing the Milk of Animals.
A Case-study on the Romanian Villages
Zoric Snjezana (Seoul, Republic of Korea) 367 in Transylvania (18th–19th Centuries)
The Magic of Performance in Korean Shamanic Dillinger Johannes (Oxford, Great Britain) 453
Ritual – gut Treasure and Drache. Ritual and Economy
Fehlmann Meret (Zurich, Switzerland) 376 in the Early Modern Period
“The Earth’s Unseen Powers of Growth Sivilova Yana (Sofia, Bulgaria) 460
Need to be Nourished” – on Images of Seasonal Magic versus Rational Reasoning in Anecdotal Tale
Pagan Rituals in Popular Culture
Magic and Rituals in Family Tradition Analysing Magic in Rituals and New Field Researches

Paukštytė–Šaknienė Rasa (Vilnius, Lithuania) 471 Krasheninnikova Yulia (Syktyvkar, Russia) 547
Ritual Year of Godparents and Godchildren Magic Beliefs and Practices of Holy Thursday
in Contemporary Society in Lithuania in the Modern Tradition of the Peasant
Stolyarova Guzel (Kazan, Russia), 479 Population of the Russian North
Danilova Olga (Yoshkar-Ola, Russia) (based on materials of the XXI century)
Magic in the Traditional Culture of the Iagafova Ekaterina, Bondareva Valeria (Samara, Russia) 557
Russian Population in the Mari Region Traditional Festive Rituals in Modern
Mykytenko Oksana (Kiev, Ukraine) 487 Chuvash Culture
Padlock and Key as Attributes of the Wedding Koval-Fuchylo Iryna (Kyiv, Ukraine) 568
Ceremony: Traditional Symbolism and Contemporary Ukrainian Calendar Cry: the Magical Value
Magic (on the Material of the Slavic Tradition) and Functional Features of the Tradition
Rychkova Nadezhda (Kazan, Russia) 497 Graden Dorothy Clark (Valparaiso, USA) 579
Magic as Communication in Family Rituals Archaic Magic as Background to Artistic
of Russians in Tatarstan Inspiration and Interpretation

Beyond the Threshold and Magic Value The Authors 583

Pócs Éva (Budapest, Hungary) 507

The Living and the Dead at the Time of the Winter SIEF Working Group on the Ritual Year
Solstice in Central Eastern European Beliefs
Inaugural Meeting 589
Stahl Irina (Bucharest, Romania) 519
The Nine Miraculous Graves: The Conferences 589
Seeking Help from Beyond The Publications 590
Neubauer-Petzoldt Ruth (Erlangen, Germany) 532 Conference Memories 592
The Year of Magical Thinking – Rituals and Magical
Thinking in Autobiographical Literature of Mourning