The image of a witch in the imagination of the inhabitants of the Northern Priazovya in the 20-21 centuries

Abstract

The aim of the article is to recreate the image of a witch in the imagination of the inhabitants of the Northern Priazovya in the XX - XXI century on the basis of field materials collected during archeographic expeditions in the subregion; coverage of the main aspects of witchcraft practices in the daily life of society. The research methodology is based on a combination of methods of analysis, synthesis and generalization with universal principles of historicism and scientific objectivity, which allowed to analyze the collected materials and reproduce in detail the image of a witch in the imagination of the inhabitants of the Northern Priazovya. The scientific novelty of the paper is that based on the materials of field research conducted in the settlements of the Northern Priazovya in the early XXI century, the image of a witch was reproduced in detail in the minds of the inhabitants of the subregion in the XX - XXI centuries. The attitude of the population to witches, features of interaction and protection from black magic are analyzed. Conclusions. The image of a witch is one of the main in Ukrainian demonology. Mentions of witches are found in most of the interviews collected during expeditions to the Northern Priazovya. Despite decades of Soviet atheism, the processes of urbanization and globalization, the image of the witch is a stable phenomenon of everyday life. During the interview, respondents answered questions about the presence of witches in the village, their negative actions towards others, features of life and appearance, methods of identification and protection. Some respondents denied the existence of witches in the modern world, some described in detail the experience of interacting with them (their own or the experience of familiars and relatives). The main plots of the stories concerned the problems of milk theft, shape-shifting, various mischief, divorce of married couples, specific death, and the transfer of power to heirs.