“Your Father Came from the Clouds”: Love, Sex, and Marriage with Spirits in Balkan Folk Magic

Sexuality, courtship, love, and even marriage between folkloric beings and humans is an enduring motif in Balkan folk tales and oral lineages of magic. From thunderous dragons who seduce and rear children with witches to the fairies and devils that spirit away eligible bachelors, these stories not only serve as sites of meaning-making for the understanding of particular lustful spirits, they also embody protocols surrounding desires and their dangers in the liminal landscapes of the  spirit world. This lecture will cover various historical examples of love and marriage between spirits and humans, drawing on both oral and literary sources, to paint portraits of the individuals and their ethereal spouses, successful versus unsuccessful unions, protocols for divorce and separation, and the nature of the children born of these encounters. From long-term spousal contracts, with the spirit becoming a respected and feared member of the village community, to brief and infrequent sojourns…