http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3988 2026-04-07T22:19:15Z http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3991 Title: Curses, Incantations, and the Undoing of Spells. The Romanian Priest as Enchanter (Transylvania, 19th Century) Authors: Cosma, Valer Simion Abstract: In this study, I propose an analysis of a small piece of this complex topic, probably one of the most delicate subjects, namely how the Romanian priest might be considered as an enchanter in some specific situations, and the connection between charms and church benedictions, rituals and healing and apotropaic prayers. I intend to approach mainly the Orthodox priest and the Orthodox doctrine and liturgical literature, taking into consideration the church view on charms, charming and witchcraft. Also, I present some cases involving Greek-Catholic priests, to reflect similitudes that exist at the level of “practiced religion”. Description: Cosma, Valer Simion. Curses, Incantations, and the Undoing of Spells. The Romanian Priest as Enchanter (Transylvania, 19th Century). In: Charms and Charming. Studies on Magic in Everyday Life (pp.45-69). Publisher: Inštitut za slovensko narodopisje, Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3990 Title: Usage of the St Basil Prayers in Transylvania by the end of the 19th century Authors: Cosma, Valer Simion Abstract: The Christian Churches provide their ministers and believers with a complex set of prayers, rituals, and practices, intended to solve the various problems that an individual, family, or community may encounter in everyday life. An analysis of these services in their social and cultural contexts reveals fundamental aspects of religious life, as well as their role in explaining and dealing with issues such as diseases, marriage, thefts, and other woes. This paper aims to discuss the use of the Prayers of Saint Basil the Great in dealing with a wide range of problems that can be encountered by a believer. I will focus on the case of a Greek Catholic priest from Blaj (Transylvania) Monastery, who kept a diary about his liturgical activity in the final decades of the 19th century. In the first part of my paper, I intend to examine his records, in order to reveal which were the most required and recommended prayers and rituals, which were the most frequent situations and problems that required the Prayers of Saint Basil the Great, and which were the most frequent combinations of rituals, prayers, and practices either required by the believers, or recommended by the priest himself. Based on the conclusions drawn in the first part, I will discuss the relation between the Prayers of Saint Basil the Great and the complex set of charms and maledictions that, according to folk beliefs and Church tradition, could harm people in various ways and degrees – from a simple disease, or misfortune, to demonic possession and death. Description: Cosma, Valer Simion. Usage of the St Basil Prayers in Transylvania by the end of the 19th century. În: Revista de Etnografie și Folclor, nr. 1-2, 2021, p. 67-83. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://digital-library.ulbsibiu.ro:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3989 Title: Ioan Halmaghi and the “wondrous craft” of the Păscălie. Bibliomancy and the calculation systems of eastern chronology at the end of the eighteenth century Authors: Cosma, Valer Simion Abstract: Along with 19th-century folklore material, church documents from the 18th and 19th centuries emphasize the Păscălia as a book used in bibliomancy. In this study, I aim to explore the originally allowed and designated functions of this writing, and to provide an explanation for why this book was associated with the world of bibliomancy in both folklore and in the offi cially sanctioned culture of the Uniate clergy from Transylvania. Furthermore, by focusing on the specifi c case of the Uniate vicar Ioan Halmaghi, who was educated in Roman-Catholic institutions, I set out to explore the attitude of the elite clergy toward this text, and to highlight how a corpus of pre-modern and un-Western knowledge was simply ejected into the sphere of magic and superstition. Description: Cosma, Valer Simion. Ioan Halmaghi and the “wondrous craft” of the Păscălie. Bibliomancy and the calculation systems of eastern chronology at the end of the eighteenth century. In: Acta Ethnographica Hungarica 63(1), 129–148 (2018). 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z