Casting Curses and Love Spells with the Most Powerful Witches in Romania

[Verin]

I just watched a very interesting short documentary about witches in Romania. I did enjoy it a lot, even though, it's, alas, really short.

 

[Phagos]

I've seen this before. I found it very interesting and confusing. For me anyway lol I moved away from Christianity and into witchcraft and then seeing people who practice both. It was the first time I had come across this.

[citoyenne]

I watched this some time ago when google's algorithms found me out. The main thing I found interesting about it was the government's recognition and use of witchcraft. And that proceeds from magical practices are non-taxable (at the time of filming and if the witches get their way, still are..) Whodathunk.

 

When I think about it I guess it is also interesting how in some old world countries witchcraft is still embraced by the general public and going to a witch for help is not that out of the ordinary, while in other countries being a witch is the epitome of evil incarnate. Then in the new world, there's been fighting for recognition of paganism as an actual (group of) religion and that the US military is starting to recognize it for its soldiers.

 

The documentary itself was rather uninformative, however the main points for me was the social dynamics of this group of witches and their further communities.

[Verin]

@citoyenne, the government thing was the most impressive to me, too. Yes, the documentary is too short to really provide detailed and profound information, but it I was surprised to see how in this society witchcraft is a part of everyday life.

[Duchess]

I asked my husband, who is Romanian, what he thought. (I really wanted to know if the subtitles were lining up. According to the husband, a lot of movies with Gypsies will subtitle one thing, while the actors say something completely different, and often hilarious). He said he wasn’t sure what to think about the video itself (especially the “most powerful witch in Romania” thing), but the ritualism was very close to what he remembered growing up, and most of the video holds true.

[citoyenne]

I think that there's a certain amount of bravado in that "most powerful" statement. Them witches got swagger, you've got to impress your clients if there's a witch on every street corner.

 

That being said maybe it's also not the most powerful in terms of magical skill/ability, but perhaps as the gov'ts witches (if I remember correctly, it's been a while and I don't want to re-watch it) they have a certain amount of power in other senses of the term, political, social standing or otherwise.

[Duchess]

To me it smacks more of the same kind of swagger as the “Hollywood Psychics” we have. There could be genuine power there, but it works better as a way of increasing how much you can charge. 

[Roanna]

I think that there's a certain amount of bravado in that "most powerful" statement. Them witches got swagger, you've got to impress your clients if there's a witch on every street corner.

 

 

 

This does ring true. A witch who is not advertising herself probably doesn't have the need for a public ego but I would imagine that if you are selling witchcraft as a marketable skill then it does make sense to put an advertising pitch out there. As someone who doesn't cast for money I don't feel the need to convince others of my 'power' but if I was a cottage industry relying on the income from my craft then I'd certainly big myself up a bit.