Feb 10, 2013

Bosnian superstitions

http://magic.bosnianforum.com/


In Bosnia it is believed that children are like angels until they open their mouths, because they are able to utter not only good but also bad words. Even though they lose their graceful features, children still have a clean soul and therefore they are able to foretell various events; if a child often packs its things while playing it is said that it feels that the family will move soon or if it ducks its head and often stares between his legs that it feels that he will soon have a new member of family.

Among the people there is a belief that an even number of children is not a good sign and also if the youngest child resembles one of the parents uncannily. For a child that has curly hair it is believed that it will be temperamental and the child that gets wet before it turns one year old will be prone to diseases all of its life.

A loving Bosnian mother in an attempt to have all of her children love and respect each other often puts the same clothes onto them, a brother's shirt or socks onto the sister or vice versa.

It is believed that the sun wouldn't shine if there were no orphans in the world since Allah created it to warm up the orphans.

When a small child sneezes the mother utters a prophylactic formula against diseases: "Pis mace, zdrava djeca!" (shoo cat, let my children be healthy).

When a small child's teeth grow slowly it is believed that the parents don't want to have any more children.

If the children in a household have similar names then it is believed that there will be more children, a large family.

It is believed if someone stares at a woman who is breast feeding her child or if a drop of milk falls to the ground and she steps on it that she can lose all of her milk. To get her milk back the woman needs to cook trahana (oriental soup) which is three years old and as soon as she eats a few spoons of it she will have milk again.