Articles & Features
(Chronological order, Oldest to Newest)
January 6, 2011
NPR
Witches threaten Romanian taxman after new labour law
Self-declared witches in Romania are preparing to curse the country’s rulers publicly for taxing their profession under an amended labour law. Poisonous mandrake plants are due to be hurled into the River Danube and queen witch Bratara Buzea has devised a spell involving cat dung and a dead dog.
October 31, 2017
NPR
What Happened When Romania’s Most Powerful Witch Moved to LA
“The bird is dead, it died instead of you. Now you’re safe.” That’s what Romanian witch Mihaela Minca told her shivering client after sacrificing a bird to supposedly save the possessed woman’s soul. We filmed the exorcism ritual for our documentary Casting Curses and Love Spells with the Most Powerful Witches in Romania, which came out exactly a year ago on Halloween.
October 24, 2018
NPR
In The Land Of Dracula, Witches Work As ‘Life Coaches’ Of The Supernatural
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.
April 2019
Tipping Point Magazine
“I have witchcraft in my blood too.”
“A witch is the symbol of the self directed woman and the feminine power. So, in other words a witch is a woman with power” – says Romanian photographer Virginia Lupu. Gyula Muskovics interviewed her for East Art Mags in Bucharest.
May 2019
The Jerusalem Post
Romania’s witches conquer the internet and social media
“A truly powerful witch can solve problems from a distance,” explains 20-year-old witch Cassandra Buzea.
2019 – 2020
PH Museum
Daughters of magic
Mihaela Minca, is the most powerful witch in Romania. For her kind, being a witch is not a job, but a calling. Mihaela is a witch when she gets up, and also when she goes to sleep. It’s a tradition: her mother and grandmother were already witches.
October 27, 2020
CNN
Photographer explores rituals and traditions of Romania’s modern witches
Mihaela Minca is one of the most famous witches in Romania. She and her coven – all women of the traditionally itinerant Roma minority – live at the margins of European society, in the suburbs of Bucharest. There, they make a living through conducting rituals that help their clients find love, money and adequate punishments for their enemies.
April 10, 2024
Wales Online
Woman becomes witch to protect herself from ghost ex-husband
A woman who married then divorced a ghost has travelled to Romania – to join a coven of powerful witches. Brocarde, 40, recently announced that she is embarking on a career as a paranormal investigator.
She says to understand and harness parts her ”inner magic” she flew to Romania to become a witch for the day. Singer Brocarde joined a coven to learn the secrets of witchcraft and had a spell cast on her to protect her from the devil and her ex – the ghost of a Victorian soldier.
January 3, 2025
DSCENE MAGAZINE
The Story of Mihaela Minca: Europe’s Most Powerful Witch
In a world where ancient traditions often fade into obscurity, Mihaela Minca preserves and continues a rich heritage of mystical practice. Recognized as one of the most powerful witches in Europe, Mihaela comes from the oldest generation of nomadic Roma witches, where magic is not just a practice but a sacred legacy passed down through generations. Together with her four daughters – Ana Buzea, Casandra Buzea, Anda Mihaela, and Kalyandra – she forms a formidable coven dedicated to healing, empowerment, and the preservation of their cultural identity.
