page 162–170 RUS
ÓÄÊ 398.1
A twig across a road: magical means of blocking a path in the context of the Russian road tradition
Korshunkov, Vladimir A.,
Candidate of Historical Sciences,
Vyatka State University, Kirov, Russian Federation,
e-mail:
vla_kor@mail.ru,
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6150-8308
Abstract
This article examines ritual practices of magical path blocking, which were widespread among Russians and other Eurasian ethnic groups in the 19th and 20th centuries. The research reconstructs a complex of beliefs and ritual actions associated with the creation of symbolic barriers. Drawing on ethnographic, folkloric, and dialectological sources, the author examines such actions within the framework of key rites of passage (such as weddings and funerals), as well as in the context of protection against diseases and evil spirits, the search for missing persons, and the identification of individuals accused of sorcery or witchcraft. The study positions these rituals as one of the elements of the road tradition in Russia — a system of stable behavioral stereotypes associated with travel on foot or by horse-drawn transport. Until the first half of the 20th century, the road tradition constituted a significant aspect of everyday life in Russia. This area of scientific knowledge obviously intersects with ethnography, anthropology, and cultural studies. Symbolic path obstruction had different forms. The article examines such varieties as “cutting off a road”, “closing a road”, “chopping the cholera”, “throwing the crosses”, etc. These actions were typically accompanied by the recitation of incantations. The article considers such rituals as performative expressions of cultural meanings rooted in the collective worldview. Analysis reveals that such rituals were grounded in the universal principle of demarcating “one's own” and “other's” space.
Keywords: ethnography of Russians, ethnography of peoples of Russia, 19th century Russia, road tradition, magical practices, folk religiosity, everyday life history.
© Korshunkov V.A., 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Received 24.03.2025
Accepted 18.12.2025
Article is published: 15.03.2026
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