Contemporary Money Magic: Taboos and Prescriptions (on Latvian Material)

Abstract

In the article, the magic of money in contemporary Latvian urban practices is analyzed. The money magic aims at money making. Field work showed that these practices are popular today among different generations in Latvia. Respondents know well taboos and prescriptions about money and use them in order to make money or to prevent loosing them. The collected material represents that Latvian narratives and practices are very similar to other regions of post-Soviet space. The interviews in Russian and Latvian taken in the frames of field research were supplemented by texts of traditional folklore, gathered on the territory of Latvia in 19^th – 20^th centuries. Examples of Internet folklore also illustrated contemporary situation of money magic in Latvia.