Fortune-telling herbs

Description

The presented herbs (Romani drab) is a prop used for larcenous magic. The item was made from a piece of unidentified plant. It resembles a fragment of a dried, woody stem of a large cactus, from which the thorns have been removed. The item was obtained as a gift during one research expedition to Bulgaria, in which the staff of the District Museum in Tarnów – Adam Bartosz and Paweł Lechowski – participated. The expedition was organised by the Museum of the Romani Culture (Czech Muzeum romské kultury) in the Bohemian Brno. The prop on display was used for larcenous magic. Its owner, a Romanian from the group of Bulgarian Gypsies, kept it in her apron pocket and explained that it was meant for “love affairs”. The researchers failed to determine how to use the prop. However, there is no doubt that it was used to trick someone out of their money by using false magic. District Museum in Tarnów Inventory number: MT-E/4042 1998, Kardam, Bulgaria https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/1352