In one of the cafes of Barnaul, three young ladies in their prime of life were sitting and talking. One of them admitted that all her novels develop according to one scenario - a meeting, a whirlwind romance for a year and parting at the initiative of a man.
A change in the attitude of a man towards her happens suddenly for her - the last gentleman offered to marry him a week ago, and today he said that everything was over, that he was no longer interested in her.
- As if a vicious circle, the strength is no longer to endure. I want to find out why there is no happiness in your personal life? - the woman turned to her friends. A professional psychologist would probably suggest that you sort out your life attitudes. But my friends suggested otherwise: you need to go to the witch-grandmother, not otherwise you were jinxed …
Millions down the drain
The belief that there are otherworldly forces that can be turned to benefit oneself, and another to harm, is inexhaustible in people. Lapel, love spell, damage, evil eye, celibacy crown and other superstitions coexist calmly in a person with higher education and the ability to use modern technology and knowledge.
For example, pensioner Andrey Timofeevich. He is convinced that his ex-wife bewitched him to vodka. They lived quietly and peacefully for many years, raised a daughter and a son, but suddenly he began to be irresistibly drawn to alcohol. This went on for almost ten years. Money began to disappear. She leaves her pay at home, and after a week it is gone - the wife says that she spent it on meat.
But the man did not believe that it was possible to eat a kilogram of meat a day and began to suspect that his wife was taking the money to some satanic sect. His grandmother-sorceress from Rechkunovo prompted this idea - when she slandered him from vodka, and he broke off. The nightmare ended after his wife's divorce and leaving her apartment. Having moved to his son, Andrei Timofeevich stopped drinking. The son is now laughing at his father's belief in witchcraft, but the man is sure - they tried to kill him from the light.
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However, meeting with evil spirits is not the most frequent consequence of superstitions. Much more often the inhabitants of the region, seriously fearing "damage", lose not only time, but also money. And some, especially zealous fighters against witchcraft, achieve the materialization of the collectors on the threshold of their homes. So, in February of this year, a resident of the Altai Territory gave 4 million rubles for the removal of damage.
She learned the coordinates of the magician after watching TV and began to constantly communicate with him on the phone. For each telephone session, the magician made a solid bill. To pay, the woman took out a bank loan for 2 million rubles and borrowed another 2 million rubles from relatives, acquaintances and colleagues. The alarm was sounded by the woman's husband, who, by the interest of the collectors, realized that someone had sent damage to their family. For help, he turned to law enforcement agencies, who figured out and detained the "sorcerer" - a resident of the European part of Russia.
But not always "sorcerers" and "magicians" live far away, sometimes you literally stumble over them in the street. So, in Biysk, a visiting fortuneteller stopped girls on the streets with a request to indicate the route to the station, thereby trying to strike up a conversation with them. After that, she misled her victims, said that damage was imposed on them and offered to help disinterestedly.
Under the pretext of a conspiracy, she asked the girls to take off and give her the gold jewelry, which she wrapped in a sheet of paper, and, showing the girls an empty roll of paper, she promised that the gold would return to them in two or three days. Thus, she deceived 10 women from Biysk for a total of 240 thousand rubles.
Cabinet "magicians"
And in the regional center, you can stumble upon a fortune-teller not only at the station or bazaar. A resident of Barnaul lost her ring and gold earrings on Panfilovtsev Street in the Industrial District. When she was walking with her son to the polyclinic, two young women of characteristic appearance approached her and asked how to get to the pharmacy. Then they found damage on it and offered to get rid of it. The result is predictable.
However, not all "magicians" will be prosecuted. Many work almost legally, queues line up for them, and none of the clients go to the police.
The prices for the services of "wizards" in the region are not the cheapest. So, energy cleaning of premises will cost 3000 rubles. One appointment with the "sorceress" - from 1500 to 2500 rubles. Drawing up a horoscope - 750 rubles per hour of work of an astrologer. An individual amulet against the evil eye or a talisman for good luck - from 1,500 to 3,000 rubles. The most expensive talisman will cost "irredeemable ruble" - it will cost those who want to get rich - 10 thousand rubles.
When fortune-telling, astrological cards and amulets are made as entertainment, a person loses only money from communicating with the wizards. It’s worse when the abuse starts to do real harm. So, doctors categorically warn the inhabitants of the region: to turn to specialists in case of illness, and not to witch-grandmothers - it is not so rare when, after attempts to cure a sick child by a healer, young patients are hospitalized in a state of disrepair.
It is just as foolish to look for stolen cars through the sorcerers. According to Sergei ZORIN, head of the department for disclosure of thefts and thefts of vehicles of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Altai Territory, some victims hide the fact of car thefts and instead of the police go to fortune-tellers or friends. But, as practice shows, fortune-tellers do not bring any benefit, and "good friends" who volunteered to help with the return often turn out to be a link in the criminal chain. “If you have a problem, you should go to professionals, not to fortune-tellers,” says Sergei Zorin.
In general, to guess or not to guess - it is up to each adult to decide independently. But sometimes common sense helps more than astrological predictions and advice from "sorcerers".
Fagim Hazrat Akhmetgaliev, imam of the cathedral mosque of Barnaul:
- In the tradition of Islam, it is believed that sorcerers can exist, but communication with them is strictly forbidden for Muslims. Sorcerers mostly do bad deeds, they destroy rather than create, so a good person will never go to them. And if a believer himself tries to engage in fortune-telling, then he should know that, according to the canons of Islam, forty days after that, all his good deeds will not be accepted and taken into account by the Almighty. Time must pass before the prayers of a person who stumbled in this way will be heard again by Allah. Therefore, a Muslim will never be interested in this. When a person has Faith, he does not need dubious ways to influence his destiny.
Alexander BOCHKAREV, head of the department for ensuring public order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Barnaul, police lieutenant colonel:
- The police occasionally have to work on cases related to street fraud. Apparently, gullible citizens are not transferred here.
Most often, street scammers offer to remove the "evil eye" from a passer-by. Acting with the use of primitive everyday hypnosis, they take possession of citizens' money and valuables. For example, they talk "from damage" to the ring, earrings, chains of the victim. They hide it in a handkerchief that a person gives, whisper something, and then return it.
The victim is fully confident that his jewelry is in the handkerchief. And there is either nothing, or the fraudster managed to replace the gold products with a fake. Now a type of fraud is gaining popularity, in which passers-by are no longer asked about something, but are asked to change a five-thousandth bill. The banknote is counterfeit.
In general, in order not to fall for the bait of fraudsters, citizens should not believe in all kinds of "evil eye", "spoilage" and bypass street fortune-tellers - do not stop and speak to them.
