This chapter examines relationships between magic and religion primarily through texts
(verbal charms, benedictions, and exorcisms) and the practices associated with them,
using historical and contemporary data from the Hungarian-language area. The main
purpose of the study is to analyze how religious-magical texts and practices at the
local level can in fact only be fully appreciated within a syncretic interconnectedness.
Observations from the analysis reveal, first, that an understanding of the contemporary
phenomena of folk/popular religion and belief necessitates knowledge of historical
processes. Second, separations between the phenomena of magic and religion are really
only viable from an external (ecclesiastical, elite, research) point of view. Finally,
especially in the case of illnesses, the needs of healing are constantly activated
regardless of historical periods, and believers seek immediate, direct, and effective
solutions within the current dominant religious field (e.g., paganism, Christianity,
Protestantism, Roman Catholicism).
