2009/01/01 by Éva Pócs · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies #Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
paper · doi:10.1057/9780230583535_3
openalex publication_date 2009/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The aim of this chapter is to discuss a few ‘impossibility’ motifs know from incantations, with a particular emphasis on their connections with miracle motifs. Some of these connections were observed during my field work in Gyimes county, Transylvania, between 2002 and 2004, 1 while collecting belief legends, legends and incantations. Motifs relevant in this context accrete around the subjects of vegetable and animal fertility ( birth, the sprouting ofplants, the breeding of animals ) and infertility ( stones, rocks, rocky, infertile soil, infertile animals, people ofstone ). In the context of these subjects I surveyed the material that was available to me regarding incantations in Europe. In the incantations these subject areas are supplemented by an added layer of mythical and cosmological motifs, such as the creation of the world, the birth of Christ, the resurrection, the structure of the universe and its ‘infinitude’. All of this is in turn subordinated to the oppositions of God — Satan, creation — annihilation, created world — chaos and, ultimately, of life and death . These motifs occur most frequently in those incantations and demon-averting verbal charms 2 which are commonly referred to in research as ‘impossibility formulas’. 3 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.