From Investigations on Verbal Magic in Literature and Folklore

The monograph by A. V. Korovashko is dedicated to the study of spells and incantations based on the material of artistic literature, authentic folklore records, and written sources. The scholar's focus is on the whimsical intertwining of the archaic culture of healers and sorcerers with ancient esoteric practices, Western European occult doctrines, and Russian mystical sectarianism.
The author of the book analyzes the complex interaction of the East Slavic folklore tradition and later artistic constructs, conditioned by the dynamics of individual and collective representations of different historical eras regarding ritual-magical speech and witchcraft.
By drawing on both data from folklore-ethnographic archives and information gleaned from the latest publications, A.V. Korovashko establishes the origins of a number of spell texts that have been actively functioning for more than two centuries in Russian culture.