MESA Banner
Plant Magic in Polish-Tatar Practices: Notes on an Absence
Abstract
The paper reflects on the current state of knowledge on the use of plants in Polish-Tatar magic practices. As scholar Michał Łyszczarz points out, the knowledge on this topic is scarce, even though the Podlasie region where the Tatars settled in the seventeenth century abounds in primeval forests and vast meadows, whose resources were used in local folk magic practices. Memories of magical practices were suppressed under communism. Plants were primarily used in curative magic, or contact magic (in the latter case, plants could derive their magic power from a contact with the grave of Ewlija Kontuś, a shepherd who became Tatar saint). In turn, Tatar talismanic magic revolved around the formulae derived from Quaranic literature. The paper will frame the problematic of plant magic within a larger continuum of Tatar artefacts and practices which blend Islamic aniconism with local materials and regional contexts. Special attention will be accorded to the intermedial, and cosmological, operativity of Tatar talismans which include protective prayer scrolls (hramotka, nuska, daławar) and muhir decorative boards, as well as timber mosques. Bibliography Drozd, Andrzej, Marek M. Dziekan, Tadeusz Majda. 2000. Piśmiennictwo i muhiry Tatarów [Tatar Literature and Muhirs]. Res Publica Multiethnica: Warsaw. Dziekan, Marek M. 2011. “History and Culture of Polish Tatars.” In: Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe: Widening the European Discourse on Islam, edited by Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska, Uniwersytet Warszawski Instytut Orientalistyczny: Warsaw Łyszczarz, Michał. 2021. Siufkacze i fałdżeje. Tatarska magia ludowa [Sorcerers. Tatar Folk Magic]. Muzułmański Związek Religijny RP, Najwyższe Kolegium Muzułmańskie: Białystok. Slavs and Tatars. 2011. Friendship of Nations: Polish Shi'ite Showbiz. Book Works and Sharjah Art Foundation in association with Raster, Warsaw.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
None