Cursed sites and cursed practices, treasure hunting at haunted places: A case study from Greece
The aim of this paper is to explain why such a widespread practice as treasure hunting is related to narratives of cursed and haunted places. The reasons are many: a) the intermingling of official and folk religious elements in Orthodox Christian tradition that also serves the Greek nationalistic id...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade
2007-01-01
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| Series: | Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU |
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| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2007/0350-08610701171K.pdf |
| Summary: | The aim of this paper is to explain why such a widespread practice as treasure hunting is related to narratives of cursed and haunted places. The reasons are many: a) the intermingling of official and folk religious elements in Orthodox Christian tradition that also serves the Greek nationalistic idea of continuity from Antiquity, b) the existence of evil spirits gives sufficient justification to despair, failure and ill health, by aligning otherness with misfortune, c) such narratives constitute patterns of behaviour, as they offer the terms for comprehensive oral dialogue between notions of good and evil, religious beliefs and skepticism. |
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| ISSN: | 0350-0861 |