E-mail: oxana-fais@yandex.ru Tel.: +7 (499) 954-93-43
32a, Leninskii av., Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation
PhD in History, Senior Researcher, Center for European Studies, N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences
The article is written in accordance with the plan of the research work of O. D. Fais-Leutskaja at the N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences.
In this article, the author outlines the current state of beliefs and practices relating to the evil eye and hexes in the conservative culture of Sicily, which often preserves archaic and magical thinking. She analyzes and compares the fairly well-known ancient elements of magical culture that have attracted scholars up to the 1970s as well as other components she herself has uncovered. In addition, the author tracks magical beliefs and practices in various strata of Sicilian society, since socially marked cultural differences mark the more recent stratification of society. The study reveals not only the preservation of ancient ideas and practices in Sicily that are related to the evil eye and hexes, but also the homogenization of these phenomena. It notes the dominance of a predominantly local complex of myths and rituals that reject innovation and borrowing and it confirms the widespread belief in these forms of malicious influence. It also takes note of the possibility of preventing and “healing” them, as well as the belief in the existence of protective means against them (gestures, verbal formulas, objects) and in those who may render assistance (witches) to their victims
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