Traditional Magic or European Occultism? Commercial Fortune-Telling and Magic in Post-Soviet Russia and their Relationship to Russian Tradition

Аннотация

The article examines the vibrant commercial magic and fortune-
telling industry in Russia today. Based on fieldwork in Petersburg
conducted in 2006, supplemented by printed and, in particular, web
material, it seeks to show that, despite the many similarities with its
counterparts in Europe and North America, Russian fortune-telling and
magic are clearly shaped by local traditions. In the context of the article,
tradition is taken to include not just rural folk magic and divination, but
also urban traditions of the late imperial period as well as those resulting
from Soviet policies and practices. It emerges that as far as magic
services are concerned, the range of services offered are those demanded
by the client, largely stemming from folk tradition. By contrast
discourse, approach and ritual often owe much to Western esoteric
literature, and perhaps also to pre-Revolutionary occultism and the
Soviet interest in psychics. In the case of fortune-telling, today’s
professionals (gypsies apart) have adopted more complex and
sophisticated ways of telling the future (tarot and astrology). Old ways of
fortune-telling are so widely known that they must offer something
different to clients. Tradition survives in many ways, sometimes
transmuted, sometimes partial, but it makes the Russian magic and
fortune-telling scene distinctive.