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DEMONS OF FATE IN MACEDONIAN FOLK BELIEFS vESNA PETrESKA The belief in fate is widely present in macedonian folk beliefs and folk narrative. it is believed that people’s fate is determined on the third night after their birth. existence in this world begins with birth, while the period until birth is a time of non-existence or an existence of some other kind, which is the opposite of this world and is expressed in the model of opposition this world–that world. The presence of the chthonic , the connections with the previous world and his still non-confirmed status in this world all condition the place of the newborn between two worlds.1 Therefore, in this period the beliefs in the supernatural beings have a new significance, and that is why all subsequent rituals aim to pull the newborn and the mother away from this state of indefiniteness , to save him from the acute danger coming from the chthonic forces, and to bring them into everyday life.2 The presence of the chthonic during the pass into earthly existence has certain consequences over man’s future life. in the macedonian regions, this chthonic power manifests itself through the designation of the fate of the newborn child, that is, through the “narechnitsi”. although people were aware that they were not capable of affecting the fate of the newly born, they persisted nevertheless with sacrifices, prayers or other activities to gain the favor of the demonic beings, which, if in a good mood, could designate a better future for them or their close family (zechevich 1965, pp. 1215–21). The demonic beings3 that designate the destiny at the birth of a child are known in macedonia as narechnitsi, sudienitsi, urechnici or rechenitsi . 222 CHRISTIAN DEMONOLOGy AND POPULAR MyTHOLOGy a characteristic feature of the narechnitsi is their anthropomorphized appearance. They are females—three women, maidens or sisters— who normally cannot be seen, yet certain mediators can communicate with them. in some rare variants (e.g., in the Kumanovo area) their presence is shown by a certain kind of insects, the stratki (spiders).4 They appear in three age categories, young, middle-aged, and old, and they are dressed in white clothes, but in some sources they are dressed in black (svetieva 1991, p. 241). it is believed that the narechnitsi live forever, and their home is somewhere at the end of the world. as for the interrelations between the demons of fate, they always appear together, but they have their own hierarchy among themselves. The youngest one starts the foretelling, then the middle one, but the crucial information is foretold by the third, the oldest narechnitsa. This belief is related to the ancient indo-european tradition of threefold death (Pócs 1999, p. 66). They are believed to be mythological, supernatural beings, who are close to god and act according to his orders; nevertheless, he has no influence over the things foretold by the narechnitsi , and neither do god’s saints. These beliefs show their own syncretic character; that is, they bear witness to the way how the new beliefs have been adjusted to the old pagan concepts. The folk legends suggest that the narechnitsi have nothing to do with god, for he does not set the destiny of anyone, and he cannot influence the decisions of the narechnitsi or change their predictions.5 in one story, a newborn had st. elio (ilija) for a godfather, and he heard when the narechnitsi decided that the child was to die of drowning on his wedding day. even st. elio’s request to god and st. arangiel did not help, so st. elio went to the narechnitsi, who allowed the child to live if the boy’s parents or his bride were willing to offer him some of their own lifetime. The boy’s parents refused to do so, but the bride agreed to give him some years from her own life.6 The place of appearance of the narechnitsi is the home, i.e. the room where the child is, or its immediate neighborhood. The time of their appearance is the third night, about midnight, and they leave when the roosters crow for the second time. The narechnitsi begin their predictions with mutual dialogues, and in some stories they indicate their presence by taking food from the table, or leaving a mark on the child’s body (vrazhinovski 1998, 1, p. 194). They usually write down the des- [18.219.95.244] Project...

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