Bewitched

Word which does not exist in any dictionary, and my Sarajevan informants did not understand it. They suggested it was supposed to be nagaziti (na sihir or jinns), which means to be bewitched, or alternatively nagrajisati, which mean to get into trouble or fare badly. It is believed that a person may be „bewitched“ by what most informants referred to as „something“, or more rarely as a „devilish brew“, which may attach itself to breadcrumbs, nails, blood, wood chips, or rubbish which has been left outdoors by humans. This stuff is believed to be used by sorcerers when making sihir. This devilish brew containing malevolent spirits may thus be transferred deliberately by sorcerers to people who are thereby „poisoned“. Again, a person is most vulnerable to such attacks at akšam (sunset). If going out after sunset he or she should always say bismillah as he or she may unknowingly step over rubbish of the type described, left by humans on the ground where „agents of the devil“ gather. The best protection, however, is to wear a zapis.