The magic of names

Abstract

The magic of names     

Countless beliefs and magic customs are attached to proper names all over the word. In archaic societies a name is a magic symbol, which gains its magic power from its identity or from its close relations with the person or with the soul. Bearing, knowing, uttering or writing a name activates its magic power. Therefore, an important goal in life is to protect one's name from evil spirits (concealment of names, protective names), to form one's fate by choosing a name (names of desire, ritual changing of names) and to respect the names of spiritual beings to obtain their good will (taboo, euphemism, nicknaming). The mere name has magic power in itself. Because of its symbolic force, it works without context (naming). In addition, names play an important role in magic texts: together with speech acts they create the magic function of the texts. With respect to its global context the magic of names has not been studied yet. If magic text as a text-type can be described by means of its typical content elements and its typical formal-logical features, one of its characteristics is the use of the magic of names.