#Mogoșoaia Village

[suetravelblog]

Mogoșoaia Palace Bucharest Romania

Mogoșoaia Palace Bucharest Romania

Former Mogosoaia Kitchen Yesterday, I toured Mogoșoaia Palace, a Romanian cultural landmark complete with lush gardens and a lake. It was a half-day tour with a small group – the guide, a driver, a German family – mother, father, son, and me. There’s a vast amount of Romanian history associated with this fascinating palace, more than I’ve covered in this post. I’ve learned to book half-day tours…

[npr]

The witch lives in the suburbs of the Romanian capital, Bucharest, in a busy village with a Renaissance palace.

There's a poster of her outside her house in Mogoșoaia: "The most powerful witch from Europe," the poster reads, "Mihaela Minca."

"Welcome, welcome!" she says, emerging through a beaded curtain at the front entrance. She's in a floor-length, black dress with bright flowers. Her hair, also black, is pulled back in a baby-blue headscarf.

"I can solve any kind of problem — with love, success, anything," she insists, leading us to a dining room with gold-painted chairs that resemble thrones. "I am a witch who gets results."

Minca, 42, says she's been practicing magic since she was 7. Both her mother and grandmother were witches. In the U.S., witches are usually only spotlighted on Halloween. But in Romania, witches have year-round work. A 2014 survey showed that two-thirds of people "believe in demons, curses, enchantments and spirits" and that one in five believe witches have powers.

"It's not up to me to convince people to believe in magic," she says. "My tarot cards tell me when I can help someone and when I can't. Sometimes people need to go to a doctor or a priest. Some people aren't affected by magic at all."

In The Land Of Dracula, Witches Work As 'Life Coaches' Of The Supernatural

Photo: Joanna Kakissis for NPR Caption: Magic "is beautiful and dangerous — it is a fight between good and evil," says third-generation witch Mihaela Minca.