Authors : Glukhova Natalia, Guseva Elina, Shkalina Galina, Timothy Riese and Sokolova Marina
Abstract: This study shows some elements of an esoteric part of Mari culture, namely the classification and pragmatic characteristics of Mari charms; the description of charm performers and their magical rituals. Mari charms are an integral part of the national spiritual culture, a leading constituent of its magic domain. At the same time, the tradition of practicing magical texts is a living cultural phenomenon which can be observed still today. This research has been carried out with the help of methods and techniques based on the pragmalinguistic approach applied to 580 texts taken from different sources. The greater part of the collected charms consists of the texts gathered during the researcher’s folklore field expeditions to the regions of Mari compact settlements. The analysis revealed six groups of charms with a prevalence of texts for healing and protecting from witchcraft. This study describes the sequence of actions in a strict ritual procedure of charm usage by magical practitioners. It is shown that the core component during the succession of steps is the verbal formula itself. Structurally, Mari charms consist of different parts each of which plays a specific role in the pragmatic function of the text.
Glukhova Natalia, Guseva Elina, Shkalina Galina, Timothy Riese and Sokolova Marina, 2016. An Esoteric Part of Mari Culture. The Social Sciences, 11: 1808-1812.