January 6 In History: Magic Queen Bratara Buzea Bewitches Romanian Officials For The Witch Tax

JAKARTA - On January 6, 2011, a magician in Romania prepared to give a curse of magic on the leader of the country. The condemnation was displayed in public. The witches were angry that the Romanian government taxed her profession under the amended Manpower Act.

Quoting the BBC, Wednesday, January 6, the poisonous mandrake plant was thrown into the Danube River as part of a ritual. Witch queen Bratara Buzea has devised a spell involving cat litter and a dead dog.

By then a 16 percent income tax and health and pension payments had been imposed for witches in Romania. The threat of curse in Romania is not taken lightly in a country with a long superstitious tradition.

Even Romanian President Traian Basescu and his aides are known to wear purple on certain days in an attempt to ward off evil spells. At that time, car valet officers and driving instructors were also taxed for the first time.

The various professions that were thought to be associated with spells, such as magicians, fortune tellers, and embalmers were not previously registered in the labor code. They are therefore not taxed.

But they have now been classified as self-employed, as part of a cash-strapped government push to raise more income and crack down on tax evasion. Magicians and astrologers are usually paid in cash and a relatively small amount per consultation.

The Witch Queen Buzea, who was imprisoned in 1977 for practicing witchcraft under the Ceausescu regime, warns that her curse always works. "We hurt the people who hurt us," said Buzea.

"They want to take the country out of this crisis using us? They have to get us out of the crisis because they got us into it," said Buzea.

But a magician saw the advantage of the new law. "It means that our magic is recognized and I can open my own practice," said Mihaela Minca.

Witchcraft, widely regarded in Europe as a superstition, fascinates some Romanians. Accusations of witchcraft have appeared in politics, the legal system and other areas of public life.

In 2019, Mihaela Minca said she connected online with nine magicians from across Europe and the United States (US). Their goal: to curse members of the Romanian parliament who witches deem corrupt.

Broadcast online, this group performs magic with their foreign partners. The action was to punish "those who don't do their jobs, those who have bad intentions," said Minca.

He said those who were targeted by magic would lose their important positions and suffer health problems. The non-profit anti-corruption organization Transparency International says Romania is one of the most corrupt countries in the European Union.

The European Commission has kept the country's justice system under special scrutiny since joining the bloc in 2007.