Witchcraft In Eastern Serbia: Where Magic Rules

The Serbs are notoriously superstitious, and nowhere is this fear of the supernatural more tangible than the mysterious east. Vlach magic is alive and well out east, despite the Serbian media’s best attempts to paint it as backwards and violent. Witchcraft may be a dirty word, but dismiss it at your peril.

The Vlachs

An ethnic minority of Romanian descent, the Vlachs are the driving force behind magic in eastern Serbia. The traditions of the Vlachs actually predate Christianity, although the majority of them accepted the Eastern Orthodox religion over time. Like many in this region they suffered greatly under the Ottoman Empire, and fled to Austria-Hungary in huge numbers. Many remained in this part of the world however, and those that did set up shop in the eastern part of Serbia. There are thought to be around 35,000 Vlachs living in Serbia today.
Eastern Serbia is one of the most underdeveloped regions of the country, and one of the poorest in all of Europe. It actually prospered during the socialist years due to the abundance of coal mines, but the post-Yugoslav years haven’t been kind to Bor, Zaječar and the rest. The region has been losing its young to the cities to the north, and the future doesn’t look particularly optimistic for this working class part of Serbia.

An apartment building at the town of Smederevo in Eastern Serbia

Orthodox Magic

Eastern Serbia was once a mining hub, but is now largely neglected

The media’s witch hunt

Despite the desire of Vlach society to keep to itself, the Serbian media hasn’t been shy about trying to demonise the community. In 2007, a man by the name of Nikola Radosavljević murdered nine people in the village of Jabukovac, claiming to be under the control of Vlach magic. He was soon arrested and taken to the mental hospital in Niš, where he was found to be suffering from acute paranoid psychosis.
Despite this diagnosis, large portions of the media was happier to run with the Vlach magic angle, pointing the finger squarely at a community that had been minding its own business for centuries. The Vlachs and their traditions have been branded as dangerous by much of the Serbian media, and any chance to denounce them as evil is likely to be taken.

The future of telling the future

Like many old traditions in the Balkans, the culture is faced with an uncertain future. More and more young people are leaving these isolated villages in search of a better life in the urban centres, foregoing the history of the village in favour of Belgrade, Niš, Kragujevac and the rest. Vlach magic is a word-of-mouth culture, and who will continue the tradition if there is no one around to listen?
The likelihood is that Vlach magic will become a thing of the past by the end of the 21st century, although this isn’t the first time that someone has predicted a bleak future on the subject. The only way to know for sure is to get on the bus to Kucevo, and see what the Vlachs themselves have to say.

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