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Many superstition of Russians are staples of everyday life, and some are even considered common social etiquette despite being rooted in superstition. The influence of these traditions and superstitions varies, and their perceived importance depends on factors such as region and age.
Russia lacks some of the superstitions Westerners find commonplace. Most Russians are not particularly concerned with the number 13,[ citation needed ] opening umbrellas indoors[ citation needed ] or walking under ladders.[ citation needed ] Archaically though, the number 13 might have been considered a "devil's number". This is because it could only be divided by itself, contrasted with a widely used number 12 for counting. [11]
Communion or hold conversations with demons. Sorcerers primarily used black magic to summon devils. The goals of summoning devils include attaining wealth, fame, approval of superiors, sex, or harming another person. Those that rejected Christianity and sought the Devil felt that the Devil was as strong as God and impious spells were more powerful than prayer. [12]
The term "unclean force" (Нечистая сила) refers to devils [13] and all demons and potentially harmful spirits [13] [14] in the Russian pantheon. Although the beings of the unclean force resided primarily in the spirit realm (тот свет), they were able to manifest themselves in this world in many forms, the most well known included the domovoi, leshy, kikimora, vodianoi, and rusalka. [15] Also counted among the unclean force are sorcerers, witches, the undead, and the "unclean dead", including suicides, those who died of drunkenness, victims of accidents and violent deaths, unbaptized infants, and vampires. Likewise, strangers and people of other religions were viewed as possessing the unclean force. [16]
Among these spirits, the domovoi was considered the least dangerous. [15] If angered, the domovoi would act as a poltergeist. [13] Other spirits, like the rusalka, were more malevolent. She was said to lure men to their watery deaths. [17] Among the places where the unclean force was strongest against the Russian peasant were the crossroads, the threshold and the bathhouse.
Related to the unclean force was the superstitious belief in "spoiling" (порча). [18] One aligned with the unclean force could spoil another through the use of the evil eye or by means of magic. The spoiled person would be inflicted with such maladies and misfortunes as sickness, mental illness, deformity, loss of livelihood, and death. [19] One type of spoiling was a form of hysteria called klikushestvo (кликушество). It caused the bewitched person to shriek, curse, and fall to the floor when in the presence of religious objects or displays. [13]
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