The Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages

Disregarding coincidences is equivalent to discarding messages unread. • There are many ways to cast a spell and many styles of spell-casting. A saint is someone who, having died, does not entirely depart this mortal coil but remains accessible in order to provide assistance and produce miracles for the living. By the fourth century, he had been given the name Longinus and identified with the centurion who testified that “in truth, this man was the son of God” (Mark 15:39). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend.