Demonology and Folk Healing: the Presence of Strigoi in Traditional Romanian Incantations

The article explores, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the demonological dimension of strigoi in Romanian folk imagination, focusing on the ways in which these entities are integrated into traditional magical-healing practices, especially through incantations (descântece). The study highlights how the figure of the strigoi, a liminal entity situated between life and death, is perceived as a primary source of both physical and spiritual suffering, acting in contexts of individual vulnerability or symbolic rupture between the sacred and the profane. The popular etiology of several ailments associated with the malevolent intervention of strigoi or moroi is examined. Incantations function not only as acts of exorcism, but also as ritual forms of cosmic reordering, involving performative verbal formulas, ritual gestures, and paraphernalia imbued with apotropaic significance.