Curing and living with the energy that surrounds us

From its inception until today, man is advancing in all fields and that advancement is in full swing. An exception is made on the plane of the paranormal, i.e. beyond sensory perception, in which man is constantly regressing. Today this ability is possessed only by rare individuals, which can receive some information which didn’t come through one of their five senses. Gradually man lost touch with nature, almost by the same tempo by which he obtained new abilities and skills. Each step in advancement meant giving up one part of the connection with nature and its gradual quenching.

While man was in contact with nature, his soul and consciousness were open towards spiritual energies. During the period when naked and barefoot he wandered nature in search of food, information from higher dimensions were food was located were valuable to him, as well as information about shelter or danger. With the advancement of civilization, he neglected more and more the directions for a harmonized life which came to him from higher dimensions. In such a manner, man became insensitive to very subtle information, which she still receives through his aura, but which he no longer registers, with the exception of rare individuals.

Long time ago in prehistory humans possessed an ability of healing with their hands i.e. fingers and palms. They would hold their hand on the aching spot with the desire to help themselves and so they eased the pain, healed wounds and diseased. We need to emphasise, diseases in prehistoric men were rare. They were usually virus and bacterial infections or bodily injuries, as today in animals. Women gave birth easily, and when someone would get sick, he knew the cause of his disease. Since, man at the time, just like animals lived in harmony with nature. Though with the slow advent of medicine the ancient wisdom of healing was suppressed, it never completely disappeared and people never stopped practicing it. A good part of that knowledge is described by Hindu teaching about Mudra (mudra – in Sanskrit it literally translates as gift of happiness), but similar methods can be found in Buddhism and countries with a rich cultural tradition such as Japan, China, Tibet, Malaysia and Indonesia, in Egyptian culture but also in Bosnia.

Namely in Bosnian occult tradition it is claimed that there are two cardinal spots on every human being which represent a kind of portals through which energy flows and through which every human is connected to the spiritual world. We’re talking about the forehead, actually the middle of the forehead, and the belly button. Ever since our Illyrian forefathers there is a belief that every man in the depths of space possesses his own star i.e. habitat of the soul, to which he is connected through his forehead. While the forehead is connected to the spiritual world, the belly button connects us to the material world, since our inception in the mother’s womb, and has therefore an exceptional influence on our destiny. But, similarly as man is receiving and sending energy from himself, in whose transmission the hands have the largest role to play.

Power of a human hand

As already written, our hands, tips of fingers and our palms, have an outstanding ability to receive and send energy. That’s why we shouldn’t be amazed that we have lines on our palms and that our fingers are adorned by a unique imprint which confirms the primordial thesis that we all are unique beings, whose body is nothing else but a condensed energy, the same energy we call life.

Knowledge about the manipulation with that energy was never completely lost, it is present in numerous segments but people today have difficulty in recognising it and even greater difficulty in understanding it. Ritual movement of hands and feet are an ancient practice in Bosnian occult tradition. The following examples from practice show how knowledgeable were stravarke in the basis of energy’s magic.

Namely, as a stravarke Ajša B. told me once while she is uttering exorcist formulas it will not have a healing effect if the person which is being healed has his legs or arms crossed. Allegedly, the person is blocking itself and prevents the transfer of energy.


It is interesting to mention that people still today, especially older women, are afraid of those guests who enter the house holding their arms crossed behind their back and once they enter the home they cross their hands on their chest. With this, according to experienced stravarke they’re practicing black magic and invoking evil and bad luck to that family. That’s why the housewife should repeat this short formula which will prevent them in their intent and better yet reverse the evil:

What you are thinking and doing,
you shall see it on your body,
if god wills, veledalin amin!

Refusing or stopping the transfer of negative energy in Bosnia was well known in the middle ages, probably in the ancient age, and the proof that our forefathers the Bogomil were acquainted with the rules of energy magic is best presented on the reliefs of individual tombstones – raised right hand, palm facing the observe, while the left hand is behind the back.



Namely, as Bosnian stravarke claim if we turn the palm of the right hand towards a negative person, to observe them through spread fingers of the hand, that person then won’t be able to hurt us with an evil gaze or thoughts. Actually, we are disabling the transfer of negative energy i.e. magical attack.




However, the palm also has incredible healing properties. From experience it is familiar that every man, as soon as he feels pain places his palm immediately on the painful place with the desire to ease the pain. This reaction is instinctive. If a man feels back pain, he won’t think about placing his hand on his back, the hand will go by itself without him thinking about it. That is a reflex similar to the one which makes our eyes blink when something flies towards our face. All people hold their hand on a painful spot, even both hands if the pain is stronger. If the pain is unbearable, people press that place. Often times we can see a diseased unconsciously massaging the painful place on a leg or some other part of the body wanting to use ritual movement to “break” the pain with a massage and energy of the palm.

No one is asking themselves why is this so and if there is some purpose behind this, however I believe that most people would say that they feel better while holding their hand on the painful spot. That’s because people have the ability to heal with the help of lifeenergy, which comes from space, since prehistory, but only rare individuals can use it consciously. We need to mention an important thing which is – every man can cure with his palms, no matter the age, from a small child to an old man. Education level is unimportant, intelligence, social status, neither race, nationality nor religion.

Fingers – energetic tentacles

Since our birth, and probably before that, we use our hands and fingers in order to coordinate them with our brain, which receives our messages through nerve endings on our fingers which we send and in such a manner it harmonizes with energy. In such a way the body is communicating with the mind with the goal of establishing a natural balance. A child in its earliest phase of life experiences first senses and cognition through its fingers which is an inborn human technique of learning. Fingers of a small child are often spread since in such a manner it receives the necessary energy from the world which surrounds it, and while it is sleeping it often sucks on its thumb.

A new-born baby hold their thumb in their mouths while sleeping in order to substitute the energy of the belly button through which they were connected with their mother. Thumb is therefore a symbol of a mother (female – life energy), while the other four fingers, somewhat divided from the thumb, symbolise male energy. In Islamic tradition they are represented through prophet Muhammad, son in law Alija and his sons Hussein and Hassan. Together the five of them represent a holy family presented through a well-known amulet “hand of Hazrat Fatima” or shortened “Fatima’s hand”, for which it was believed that it is universal since it protects from evil and also draws good fortune, business opportunities and helps in love. Besides, the middle finger of the hand signifies our consciousness, index finger our identity and beliefs, ring finger emotions and pinkie subconscious mind.

Finger and magic

Thumb of the right hand in Bosnian magic is called the strongest finger and that’s why it is used in numerous exorcist rituals, for example, when a mother wants to remove the effect of spellbound eyes, she would wet her right thumb with the saliva from her mouth and she would then stroke the child’s forehead uttering this basma: 


Cast a spell, got him hooked, 
with my formula it recedes, 
if god wills, veledalin amin!


At the end of the ritual she touches the heel on her right foot three times with the thumb, with this she is signalling, ritually, the departure of evil.     

Similarly, in love magic a woman which wants to tie her man down with passion and lust will take a sugar cube and a new sowing needle. First she stabs her right thumb with the needle and places a drop of blood on the sugar cube. She then stabs the thumb of her left leg, then the thumb of her left hand and in the end the thumb of her right leg. Each time she places a drop of blood on the sugar cube, the sugar cube will be placed into the husband’s coffee for him to drink. Ritually the process of intersection is actually an allusion to overlapping or crossing of two bodies, two hearts and two souls. The spell is based on the belief in the great love power from the blood of female fingers (thumbs), which can stimulate passion and intimate closeness of partners.

Magical influence of other fingers is not negligible, for example, the pinkie on the right hand is especially lucky when it comes to commerce. According to one famous craftsman from Sarajevo, Ćamil K. it is known that there are customers versed in the secrets of magic and they’re using certain ritual actions in order to lower prices of items. They touch the desired item three times, in secret, with the pinkie of their right hand. If we wet the tip of our middle finger with saliva and with it we stroke our partners lips we will stimulate desire and passion, etc.

Connecting fingers into a circle

Fingers are used individually or all together, as in examples of love magic where one wants to create feelings of closeness and desire for intimacy by looking at the desired person through spread apart fingers. The most important characteristic of fingers are the tips which transfer energy, which can be demonstrated by citing an example from spiritual medicine. Imam or a spiritual healer which wants to transfer beneficial power of the prayer onto water, would submerge the fingers of his right hand into the water and he would then pray. Such water, charged with positive energy is later consumed by the diseased in order to cleanse his body from negative energy.
 

What is especially important to note is that it is necessary to be acquainted with a very simple ritual which can be performed by connecting the tip of one finger with the other. Of course, you should know that in every exercise the fingers are always connected i.e. they touch the tips in order to form a shape of a circle – symbol of life energy, one which is constantly renewing itself.
 

For starters I’ll mention a couple of exercises which you can practice in order to convince yourself that you can help yourself.  For example, when we connect the fingertips of one hand with the other we harmonise energy in ourselves. In such a way we easily achieve calmness of our mind, we strengthen concentration and attention is focused on our heart and breathing. With these simple movements we slowly get the ability to see issues in a new light and find a solution for it. If we connect fingertips of one hand in one cup, and we do the same with the other hand, then we’re consciously creating a blockade which prevents the influence of someone else’s energy towards us.   

Middle finger signifies the head and consciousness. Connecting fingertips of the thumb and index finger we influence our consciousness, we “feed” it with energy and regenerate it. It is an extremely important exercise for students or people exposed to great stress.
 

Pinkie is connected to our subconscious mind but also the afterlife, which is shown by practice of breaking a boys pinkie who died uncircumcised. When we’re emotionally unstable, unlucky, depressed then it is desirable to connect the thumb with the pinkie, especially right thumb with the left pinkie, so that the tips of fingers are touching.
 

Between the thumb and index finger the zone of the stomach is located. Touching that part of the body, folk healers are checking whether people have stomach issues. Old Bosnian women had a custom of pulling one finger at a time while repeating prayer Fatiha, a few times in a row, each finger individually “dragging” it forward. When they finish these movements with both hands, they shake their fingers. With this simple process, which could be called a massage, they favourably influence circulation and metabolism.  

Folk medicine – curing faery disease

According to old Bosnian belief, faeries when angry and vengeful, if someone hurts them on purpose or accidentally, can hit people with their arrows; so called “heavenly arrows”, which cause people to be sick.



When someone has a sudden headache, pain in the leg, arm sleeps poorly and has puncturing pain in the body, it is believed that he has been pierced by faeries. Help is sought from stravarka, which melts lead for the person and utters with a low voice:

Nine faeries flew,
from nine clouds,
from nine mountains,
from nine forests,
from nine seas,
from nine meadows,
from nine crossroads,
from nine streams,
from nine rocks,
from nine rue plants,
they sang along the way,
danced in circles,
their path crossed by Ahmed*,
he angered the faeries.
They hit him with their arrows in the head,
in the heart, in the legs,
they floored him completely,
Ahmed got sick.
Ahmed yelled: “Help me Mujo, help me Halil,
I’m shot by faeries!”
When the faeries heard this,
each of them took out their arrow out of fear,
Ahmed was cured.
Out of nine faeries and arrows,
with my formula and god’s will,
only eight remained on Ahmed,
out of eight only seven remained,
out of seven only six remained,
out of six only five remained,
out of five only four remained,
out of four only three remained,
out of three only two remained,
out of two only one remained,
out of one none remained.
By my hand, formula and lead – good deed,
and from god salvation, peace and cure, amen!

*or however the diseased is called.


Lead is being poured three times: above the head, chest and legs. It is poured until in the molten lead, at the bottom of the vessel with water, one finds nine needles (thorn). In the first pouring above the head one can find one or two needles, then one observes how many will there be above the chest and legs. If there are a total of nine in the end or more the healing is finished. If they’re not located, then the procedure is repeated in three days. After nine or more needles, the diseased is cured. Those needles are thrown down the water or one by one is placed in nine holes in the ground. The diseased washes his face with the water, his arms and legs and drinks some water, the rest is poured on a nacre bush.

Rue – plant which one nurtures better than a child

Sedefil, sedef or sedefat, also known as rue, Latin name Ruta graveolens, is the most famous plant in magical tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its purpose is manifold, it is used to cleanse living space, repel parasites, and is used to clean the human body and spirit from negative thoughts and energy. Rue is a plant whose origins are from the Mediterranean region and it grows well in dry conditions. It naturally has an inclination towards sunlight. In BiH it is used for its peculiar fragrance as well as a fly and mosquito repellent and traditionally one stem is left inside a wardrobe.

Among the Illyrians, Greeks and Romans rue was used for the expulsion of negative energy and for curing various health issues. Remnants of these ancient beliefs are present in folk medicine where, for example, it is claimed that rue successfully cures all heart ailments, etc.

Even Shakespeare uses a peculiar name for sedefil “holly plant of the Sunday” because of the ritual practice that its stem is dipped in water and is used to spray people with water who were believed to be possessed by evil spirits. Curiously, when it comes to this plant, certain Mediterranean cultures it is profusely used in cooking because its leaves are rich in vitamin C. In Bosnia and Croatia, sedefil is added to schnapps, in order to get a cure for better digestion.


Plant against disease and evil

Sedefil is from the family Rutaceae, it is rich in silicic acid, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenol and numerous other substances which are used in pharmacy. With all of these benefits, sedefil is used when one gets poisoned by henbane, it is also a great remedy for bad breath. In natural healing sedefil is used to help the kidneys, bladder, intestines and inside of the ear. It can also be used for eye infections, constipation, sciatica, asthma, headaches, dermatitis and stroke. However, one needs to be careful when using rue and use it in appropriate doses, since if one overdoses a completely opposite effect is achieved. Pregnant women and those women which want to get pregnant should avoid consuming any part of this plant.

Besides its healing properties, rue possesses amazing power against evil, mostly because of its fragrance but also unusual appearance of the leaves which remind us of a human hand, i.e. five fingers. It was reason enough for it to receive a reputation as a plant against evil along the entire Mediterranean coast. That’s why in BiH rue is traditionally grown alongside a house, close to the entrance door, because of the old belief that in such a way, with its vicinity, it protects the home from spells, spirits and magic. A few leaves of this plant were usually placed under the pillow of children as a protection against spellbound eyes. Still today old women before autumn would gather the hard seed of rue and make so called “tespih” (beads) out of 33 beads, by using a needle and a string, they would tie it and place on a wall of a house, so that the beads would bring good luck into the house.


A faery fell asleep on a leaf of rue


In Bosnian mythology rue is a plant dedicated to good faeries. According to folk belief faeries love to sleep on the leaf of this plant because of its specific fragrance. It is probably corroborated by certain women’s love formulas, which are uttered while holding a stem of rue. In one of them, a girl which wants to be noticed wherever she shows up and with that have more suitors, would first bathe in order to wash away all the dirt from herself and then naked and wet, with her hair down, she takes a pre prepared stem of rue and a dish with warm water. First she pours some water in her mouth and holding it in her mouth, in her mind, she repeats the prayer Ihlas nine times. After that she spits the water out of her mouth back into the dish with warm water. Then she places the stem of rue and utters this magical formula:

On the leaf of a rue a fairy fell asleep,
from her it spilt over onto me
gold, silver and silk.
Gold, gilded me,
silver cleansed me
silk wrapped and a fairy blessed me;
to be healthy and happy,
to everyone in the world the best and prettiest,
veledalin amin from God amin!

Bosnian:

Na listu sedefila zaspala vila,
sa nje se na me prosulo
zlato, srebro i svila.
Zlato me pozlatilo,
srebro očistilo,
svila obavila a vila blagosila
da budem zdrava i čila,
najbolja i najljepša svakom ja bila!
Veledalin amin od Boga amin!

After repeating this formula three times the girl blows into the water and washes herself from head to toe with it and lets the water pour down her. With that the ritual would be completed. From the bottom of the bathtub she picks up the stem of rue and after she is dressed she throws it out, somewhere where no human foot goes. Stravarke claim that with this spell cleanses the girl from spellbound eyes, hate and envy, and her kismet or fortune can open up, if it was closed. If she is completely unlucky in love, then it is believed that her “kismet is closed”, and then this ritual must be repeated three Tuesdays in a row and her luck will be opened any time soon and she will find her future husband.


Rue doesn’t just help girls to find luck in love but also to married women, especially ones whose husbands are unfaithful. From the old days in the north-western part of Bosnia there was a custom that a wife whose husband is unfaithful, whenever she washes her bra or panties, she would dry them on a rue bush, and then she would wear them. Allegedly, the plant will put a spell on the underwear with its fragrance which will make the woman attractive and desirable to her husband and he will be dedicated only to her.




Substitute for incense


Another unusual characteristic of rue is that it can be a substitute for incense. Namely, in talisman magic it is advised that instead of incense one should burn a few dry leaves of rue, together with the amulet, and with that smoke the diseased is to be fumigated, a person which is suffering from attacks of spirits or black magic. Along with that, the constructors of amulets after they have finished writing and start folding the amulet in its characteristic triangular or square form, they place a few leaves of dry rue in order to increase the power of their text and in order to ensure immunity from evil to the owner of the amulet. Because of all of the enumerated specifics of this plant it is important to mention the frequent statement of Bosnian stravarke that “rue should be nurtured better than a child because of its usefulness!”.

With dry leaves of rue one should fumigate the entire house or apartment at least once a year, in order to chase away all negativity and spells that the space has “absorbed” over time with visits of guests and family members. Namely, every time we go out into the streets we risk when coming into contact with other people or simply by stepping into unwanted negative elements whose span is varied, from various impurities such as urine, blood, trash all the way to purposefully spilt dirty water on the street, which one used to ritually wash away black magic from himself, and spilt the water for a random passer-by to cross the place and pick up all the evil. When a home is filled with negative energy then one can experience unreasonable friction, unrest, nervousness, there is no peace and money is lost and in the end discord and quarrel appear in a family.
Fumigation is performed in such a manner when a fistful of dried leaves of this plant are thrown on a few hot embers and with the smoke created from combustion goes through the entire house. While the smoke is spread throughout the rooms one needs to utter this spell three times:


Whatever the enemy brought,
rue brought it back to him,
the house goes up the hill,
all evil with this smoke flies away from the house,
the house stayed clean, all evil fell away,
with my formula and god’s will, amin!

Bosnian:

Šta god da je dušman donio,
sedefil mu je nazad odnio,
kuća uz brdo kreće,
svako zlo sa ovim dimom od kuće odlijeće,
kuća čista ostade, svako zlo otpade,
sa mojom basmom a božijim emerom, amin!


After the house has been fumigated the windows and doors can be open so that negative energy can go outside and stay there. Residue from coal and dust, after they have cooled down, are brought to a crossroad and thrown there. with that the ritual of fumigation is done.

Ja zagrizoh šareniku jabuku i poljubih Esmer đuzel djevojku!

U našem narodu postoji mnogo vjerovanja o voću a posebno se rado pamti kako su djevojke darivale voljenim momcima jabuku kao potvrdu svoje ljubavi ili se ona nosila u goste, kao "milošta" tojest znak pažnje. U Velikoj Kladuši se kaže da je veliki sevap dati putniku koji ti prolazi pored kuće jabuku, da se njome osvježi. Isto tako, duša u čovjeku se dovodi u vezu sa ovom voćkom, naime, stari didovi i nene tvrde kako je izgled duše najsličniji jabuci. Mnoštvo je tradicijski vjerovanja o ulozi voća u životu bosanskog naroda, zato ne treba nikako zaboraviti niti predaju da su se hrabri krajišnici pred svaku bitku okupljali ispod stare kruške u srednjovjekovnoj utvrdi Todorovo, nadomak Velike Kladuše, kako bi dogovorili napade i odbranu.


Domaće kao prioritet

Žalosna je činjenica da su rođene desetine generacije djece koja nisu uopće čula za autohtone vrste voća, koje je od uvoznog voća i slađe, zdravije i otpornije od raznih bolesti. Širok je spektar domaćih sorti koje je "komercijalna voćka" gotovo potisnula iz bosansko-hercegovačkih  voćnjaka i sjećanja. Evo nekoliko naziva, na primjer, od jabuke: kolačuše, šarenike, cvjetače, bijele kalačuše, crvene debelokorke, demirke, dunjke, budimke i streknje, petrovače, šeftelije ili šeptelije (bosanke breskve) opjevane u pjesmi "Haj, ja prošetah šefteli sokakom", dunje, ili nazivi za kruške: jeribasme, takiše, karamanke, oskoruše i jerce. Nazivi za šljive su: požegače ili mađarke, crvene ranke, turgulje, bjelice "driskulje", džanrike, piskavice, trnošljive (dunje).

Zahvaljujući voćarima koji ljubav prema domaćim sortama stavljaju ispred komercijale, ponovo se u voćnjake vraćaju one vrste voća kojima su naši preci stoljećima sladili usta i dušu.
Zadivljuje s koliko ljubavi voćari, čuvari tradicije u bosanskom voćarstvu, govore o autohtonim sortama i šta sve čine da "podmlade" voćnjake, od sadnje, preko kalamljenja ili zaštite preostalih stabala jabuke, kruške, šljive... Među poznatijim javnosti je umirovljeni agronom Vahid Beširević iz Gradačca, inače autor knjige " Autohtone jabuke i kruške sa prostora Bosne i Hercegovine", u kojoj je u slici i riječi predstavio 47 sorti jabuka i 54 sorte krušaka.
Ovaj agronom, koji je nastavio stogodišnju tradiciju voćarstva svoje familije, a više od pedeset godina radi na spašavanju i promociji uzgoja starih, osobito autohtonih sorti. Vahid kaže: - Napustio sam moderno voćarstvo u životnim godinama mudrosti, shvativši da stare sorte jabuka, krušaka i drugog voća imaju posebnu vrijednost, otpornije su na bolesti, štetnike, sušu, mraz i druge nepovoljne uvjete. Osim toga, ne traže ogromna ulaganja u gnojidbi, zaštiti i navodnjavanju. Uostalom, ti plodovi imaju svoj oblik, boju, miris i okus, veću energetsku vrijednost i, dakako, nude nam alternativnu rodnost. Mnoge od njih su opjevane u poeziji i sevdalinkama.

Ništa se ne može mjeriti sa bosanskim i domaćim

Na vlastitom imanju Beširević ima oko 150 različitih sorti jabuka i krušaka. Očuvao je više od 70 starih sorti krušaka. Među njima, veli, puno je dobrih, ali posebno izdvaja huseinbegovaču (sinonimi: beglija, istambulska kruška, zvorničanka, osinjača, lijepa kruška, mednik, šerbetlija, građanka).

- Zovu je i lijepa kruška, ali riječima je teško opisati njezinu ljepotu i okus. Meni je to jedna od najboljih i najpoznatijih krušaka na našem području i šire. Hasnagićka je takođe  lijepa kruška, odlične su i hurmenka, čađavka, dolkrohan, kantaruša, jeribasma. Za jeribasmu se veli kako se ona ne jede, ona se pije, jer je puna soka - otkriva ovaj gradačački voćar i dodaje da ne treba spomenuti buzdohanliju, sarajku, takišu, batvu i karamut.

"Pravnik u voćarstvu", Šefket Hrustanović, vlasnik plantaže "Baš bašča" nadomak Breze, koji na iznimno velikoj zemljišnoj površini ima nekoliko hiljada stabala jabuka, veli:

- Domaće sorte su posebna poslastica i rado preporučujem gostima da uberu svojom rukom jabuku šareniku i zapjevaju onu:" Ja zagrizoh šareniku jabuku i poljubih Esmer đuzel djevojku!". Bolan ne bio, ništa se ne može porediti sa bilo kojom domaćom, bosanskom voćkom, kojoj po mirisu, sočnosti i slasti nema ravne na ovom dunjaluku. Recimo, zreloj jabuci senabiji ne može odoljeti ni pčela, ni mrav ni ptica. Ne daju joj sazrijeti koliko je slatka i sočna, kazuje Hajrudin Čeberić, voćar iz Rakovice kod Sarajeva i dodaje kako ima voćnjak u kome su isključivo domaće sorte sa intencijom da se nastavi proširivati svake godine.

Njegov kolega, voćar Suljo Arnaut iz naselja Prnjavor kod Kalesije, nadaleko je poznat kao kalemar koji spašava "staro od uvoznog". Zahvaljujući njemu mnoge sorte su sačuvane za buduće generacije. Zabilježili smo i zanimljivu izjavu voćara Ante Zovka iz okoline Viteza, koji pominje autohtonu jabuku, takozvana "zvijezda" i kaže da o njoj ima legenda "kada je raj bio na Zemlji".

- Legenda kaže da su udubine koje su na njima nastale od prstiju ljudi koji su počinili prvi grijeh. Tako ili drugačije, ali svaka voćka ima svoju priču, kazao je ovaj voćar.

Nit' oženiti nit' udati

Vahid Beširević je ispričao i ovu zanimljivost:

- Na području Dervente, Doboja i okolice, karamut je bio najcjenjenija kruška. Smatralo se da nije nikakav domaćin ako nema barem jedno stablo karamuta. Niti može oženiti sina, niti udati kćer, ako nejma karamuta. Kažu da nejma ljepše i bolje kruškove rakije od te stare sorte kruške. Postoji nekoliko varijeteta kruške takiša od koje se pravi odlični žitki pekmez, a dosta je dobra i za turšije, koje su se nekada u velikim buradima pripremale za zimu.

Being beautiful in the Bosnian way

The first step towards destruction of a nation is destruction of its memory. Destroy its books, culture and history and then find someone to write new books, invent a new history. Such a nation will soon start to forget what it is and what it was.
Arthur Schlesinger


Cult of recognisable Bosnian beauty

It is familiar how the Bosnian people since the ancient times paid a lot of attention to physical beauty, which is certainly an inheritance of our Illyrian forefathers, especially women from the tribe of Japod, which were reputedly the most beautiful. From then on through all the following centuries, among the Bosnian people a cult of beauty was nurtured, which was literally present in traditional life from the earliest age. Describing a process of beautification of a child, Antun Hangi writes, that this process actually reveals a classic and inborn desire of people to look good, which was certainly in one part of our history the main preoccupation of affluent people such as traders, craftsmen or noblemen, while among the majority of the poor people such a custom was not nurtured. The author writes:

As soon as ebejka washed the child and clad it, she strokes its head so that is more beautiful and formed well. As the ebejka is doing, so shall too the young mother, which needs to watch out that her child's forehead doesn't get too big. Bosnian people don't like large foreheads. A child which has a large forehead, is made fun of and is said that his forehead is big as a hangar. In order for a child's head to develop properly, it needs to be wrapped with not one, but two bandages. One goes from the forehead and is tied at the back, it is called connector, the other one goes underneath the beard and is tied at the top of the head, and it is called chin guard. These bandages are tied numerous times so much so that one feels sorry for the poor child, and once the bandages are removed we notice red markings on the head since the blood couldn't move freely in and out of the head. But they're not only striving to beautify the child and make his head of a proper shape, but all parts of the head, namely the forehead, nose, lips, eyes, ears, eyebrows and chin. Though I have to condemn this practice out of health reasons, I will mention how and why they do them. The forehead is usually covered with oil, thick milk or slime so that the child doesn't get wrinkles around the eyes. Folk, especially more common people, hold that people which have wrinkles around the eyes are troublemakers, ready to do all sorts of evil. A girl which would see large wrinkles in a boy wouldn't marry him. People love like that the nose of the child is nice looking and harmonious that's why they squeeze and thin the noses of the children since no one likes a wide nose. The eyes are usually stroked by mothers while nursing the child so that the eyes won't be murky and to turn out to be healthy clear and large since the larger the eyes, the dearer they are to the people. They tighten the ears and place them closer to the head so that they don't become large and loopy. Similarly they gather the lips of the child between the fingers so that they don't become large. They push the chin towards the throat so that it's not protruding like a saddle. The neck of the child is also stroked so that it is not too thick and that the child doesn't get goitre. They place ham-pamuk (cotton wool) on the child's chest so that the chest will get nourished and grow stronger. Similar things are done with the hand and feet of the child. They tighten them with bands like criminals so that the child looks like a little mummy. The lazy stomach is not exempt. It too needs to be tightened and furbished, so that the child is not tubby and a binge eater.


Because of what we've said above we shouldn't be surprised that among the folk there developed a specific skill of analyzing the human body, physiognomy of the face but also certain physical movements and habit, in order to bring a conclusion about the type of person we're dealing with, its strengths and weaknesses. Today, when we analyse this practice it is evident that parents used it the most when choosing a spouse for their son. Since marriage was seen as a very serious matter, which is the case with conservative societies such as Bosnia, it is reasonable that a lot of attention has been paid when choosing a new family member with the intent of securing fertility and unison which always signified certain advancement and widening of the family.

Generally, women paid attention usually to their face and complexion. White face among Bosnian women was a symbol of beauty from the old days and it is no wonder that they traditionally avoided exposure to the sun, especially during spring, in order to retain their white complexion. In Velika Kladuša it was believed that the sun was poisonous until the winter part of the year doesn't pass i.e. until the beginning of May. Still today some grandmas remember hiding their face from the sun when they were young, especially before a fair or a celebration, in order to have a white face when they appear among the people. They were aided by washing their face with whey, it is still believed that whey tightens the face and keeps it fresh and clean. Similar things are claimed about goat milk.

How widespread and deeply ingrained these ideas were in the traditional lives of the Bosnian people is perhaps best shown by numerous love basma (spell), poetic and often rhymed magical words, which were once used by women to attract love and attention of a certain man but also favour of their surroundings. Šerifa Mujagić says of love basma "they are not charms, they are harmless and serve women so that men like them more".

Analysing their content it is easy to notice congruence in stressing those characteristics and status symbols of beauty which the Bosnian people have seen as desirable in women in the past: thin waist, tall, so that she may walk proudly, white complexion and rosy cheeks and lips. We should emphasize that the mentioned proportions were not unique for the entire nation, this type was accentuated in urban areas, while in rural ones preference was given to women capable of physical labour and virility. With this some customs changed. All attributes, or most of them, were main components of love basma:

Die, burst, until you come to me

until you see me thin

tall, white and rosy!

Desire to be attractive but also accepted by others is clearly stressed in this basma:

I flew like the water,

shuddered like the forest

they look at me as if I were a Bey

they respect me as a king

around me my friends

faithful servants like I'm the king,

wherever I go I carry gold,

when I walk I throw gold,

when I speak I pour out honey,

elzalif amin!

How she wanted to appear to others, and especially her beloved man is seen in one part of this love basma:

...cute to the entire world,

dear, loving and beautiful may I be,

mostly to my NN!

Desirable and undesirable girl

 Under the influence of changing living conditions, some social norms changed as well, especially ones closely tied to the appearance and behaviour of women in the Bosnian society. But, some measurements despite this stayed with us to this day. In the past, for example, women with hairy feet were considered to be personification of passion and eroticism, but people never tolerated hair on women's face, especially above the lips, and such women were usually called "masculine" and sometimes witches.

The greatest desire of every Bosnian girl was to get married "on time" and she was aware that this desire greatly depended on her looks but also her behaviour. Many of them, in the past, intending to get married pretended to be different than they actually are, that they are quick and hardworking, among the folk there was the following statement: "While she is still trying to get married in her feet air and in her mouth a cramp (quiet), and when she gets married, in her feet a cramp and in her mouth air".

Of course, though people expected from the bride to know "her place inside the home", people always harboured caution towards quiet people, since the lack of social intelligence was sharply opposed with traditional Bosnian hospitality and sociability. ("Who treats others nicely, God will be nice towards them", "Tongue is man's best but also worst enemy"). But, for a girl or daughter in law it wasn't advisable to be to open and communicative, especially in giving comments, and it was always advised that it is better for a woman to drink some water and hold it in her mouth as long as she can when she wanted to say something bad, so that she doesn't talk as much. "Since she won't get a headache from staying quiet". But in rural areas a temperament and angry girl, though having a nasty temper, she was considered to be hard working and therefore desirable for marriage. ("Angry mare spin the spinner").

Everything that was called sojli in folk description about women or generally some person was a guarantee that such a woman or man was from a good family or genes. Upbringing but also behaviour of parents, especially the mother, was one of the key indicators of how the daughter will turn out. People claimed that in the past if the mother was good, that the girl will be good too. However, there are different opinions which are demonstrated by various folk sayings such as this one: "From a good mare one can get a bad foal, and from a bad mare a good foal". It is considered that from bad parents we often get good children, since in poverty and inharmonious family relationships children mature sooner and understand life more seriously than their peers which are pampered by their parents and which take care of all their needs.
When choosing a future spouse for their son, the parents paid attention to numerous physical but also character features in a girl. Of course, they didn't lose sight of knowledge about material or property condition of her family. But, what is certainly more interesting than the common search for a suitable bride is the folk understanding of the female beauty, which is best witnessed by the following rulebook:    

Hair

Among the folk it was considered that black, so called Illyrian, hair, long and nicely combed, reveals that the owner is of a commendable nature. If she has blond (yellow) hair , she is hard working but angry, just like a person, male or female, with curly hair. Temperamental persons also, according to folk belief, are born on Tuesdays. Short hair which was never desirable among women, no matter how beautiful the woman was, was considered to be not worthy of marrying a son from a better family. Such a woman was derogatorily called "masculine".

Forehead

A woman with a broad forehead was considered to be intelligent, according to folk judgement, wise and from a good family.

Eyebrows

Thin beautiful dark eyebrows represent good genes and upbringing, while connected (merged) eyebrows reveal that the girl is angry and unhappy, and she was undesirable for marriage. Sparse eyebrows are a sign that the girl is good and that she will give birth to male children, and if her eyebrows are thick that she will give birth to female children "since she had better gusto".

Eyes

Black eyes are beautiful, green ugly, they’re often considered to be spellbound, blue indicate a happy and emotional nature while a girl with multicolour i.e. brown eyes indicates a fiery (temperamental) nature, being spoiled and even immorality. A scale was made based on the eye colour; the one with dark eyes is the most desirable for marriage, a girl with brown eyes falls into the middle category while the one with green eyes belongs to the last category. For a girl with green eyes it was claimed that she couldn’t have children. “Girl with black and brown eyes looks once at her boyfriend and twice in front of her, and a girl with green or multicolour eyes twice into her boyfriend and once in front of her.”

Nose

Among the Bosnian folk it was believed about the nose that Allah had the most difficulty in creating it, creating the first people and the greatest sin is to make fun of someone’s nose. Similarly, among the folk you can often hear – the size of the nose the size of pride! For a girl with a bog nose and wide nostrils, the people believed that she wasn’t intelligent enough. A woman which has a thin nose is of a mild nature while the one which has small nose is very angry.

Mouth

Big mouth are ugly and undesirable, and they utter the most stupidity while a small mouth can sing nicely, they’re visually appealing and are a sign that the girl is from a good family. Thin lips reveal a woman which is picky when it comes to food, and she often has a high opinion of herself. They’re usually stubborn. Thick lips, especially in women, are considered to be ugly and it is still abusively said about such a person that it “has a mouth like a mare’s vagina!” Actually, in descriptions, people don’t use the term mouth but gob, which is a term used for an animal’s mouth, especially horse’s mouth. A girl with thick lips is reckless, people say “her gob is like slippers!” But, despite this it was believed if the girl’s lips are thick that she will be fertile i.e. happy with children, while if her lips are thin it reveals an issue in virility, tendency for miscarriage or generally unhappiness.

Teeth

Once rare and small teeth in a girl were considered to be beautiful while large teeth were considered as vulgar. A girl which has a gap between her front teeth was prone to getting fat.

Ears

Small ears are a sign of luck and an indicator that the girl comes from a good family. If they’re connected and large they’re unlucky while protruding ears are a big shame for a girl.

Chin

Round small chin is sojli, while a chin with a line, divided into two is ugly and unlucky.

Face

Round, white and rosy face is beautiful, long shape is undesirable among women “since she ages quickly” as soon as she gives birth. Holes in cheeks, so called smijavica, were considered to be a sign of outstanding beauty, this is why mothers used to press their newborn’s cheeks. Warts on the face were considered to be a sign of bad luck.

Neck

Long and thin neck is beautiful, worthy of jewellery, a short neck was not seen as beautiful.

Chest

Large chest in a woman represented a good breed (genes) and represented an ideal predisposition for her to become a good mother and childbearing woman. Small and firm chest were considered to be beautiful, limp breasts are slushy; wide breasts are sojli while connected are no good.

Hands

Thin long fingers are sojli, short fingers and fat hands are not.

Waist

A thin girl, with a high waist is sojli, and if she is fat she is lazy. If she doesn’t have an inch from the webbing to the armpit, don’t marry her, she is unlucky and not a housewife.

Hips

Large hips are present in a lazy girl “good for cargo”, and middle and round ones are a feature of a skilful and sojli girl.

Legs

Don’t take a flatfooted girl home, she is unlucky. However, we should stress that among the Bosnian people, flatfooted people are considered to be unlucky, and it is a bad omen to meet such a person. A girl tall on her feet, one with long legs, is crazy, the one with fat feet is slow, people usually say about her: “she is dragging them as if she were dragging logs” – while a woman with thin legs is as nimble as a fairy. Because of such a belief, among the Bosnian people, the following saying took root: “don’t run from a thin horned cow nor a thin legged woman!”

It's difficult being a Bosnian daughter-in-law

   According to Mula Rašida Hadži-Pašić from Žepče for a woman to have all the necessary criteria and get the title of a desirable bachelorette, she had to have long hair, dark eyes, stout, round and rosy face, white complexion, thin spread eyebrows, wide and flat forehead, small mouth, small and dense white teeth, long neck, spread chest, medium height, thin in the waist and she mustn't be dus-taban, since she would bring bad luck. Her feet need to be small and on her palm she has to have long lines, this indicates that she is happier and of good breed. Age wise, she needs to be younger than the male by a few years.

Her behaviour needs to be decent and if she is marry, and laughs too much, people would say that she is ludasija - crazy, and if she sings too much she would be called harlakurla or eksik-tahta, that she is silly, or as the jargon of the neighbourhood would state - she has a few screws loose.

In Zavidovići a desirable bachelorette is one which is not dus-taban, since she is unlucky, that her eyebrows are not connected, because of the belief that she is angry and rough, and that she is of a wide forehead - wide mind - and small mouth.

A girl tall and thin has no evlad (birth abilities), smaller and buxom has evlad and gives birth primarily to male children. Woman of a middle built gives birth first to female and then to male children. For a girl which blinks too much, it was believed that she won't have any children. A woman which puts her right leg forward first when walking will get children sooner than the one which doesn't. Chaste girl walks quickly and looks in front of herself, and the one which walks slowly is temerut i.e. lazy. A woman looking around is vižlasta and šarijasta, she would gladly see everything and know everything, and she loves men. A woman which is in awe of everything is called by the folk blentulja i.e. stupid.

Her qualities and flaws were judged by the way she communicates, eats and her height.

Speach

Quiet and shy girl was considered to be smart (submissive), a communicative girl was called šarijasta, brbljača, lapača, laprdljavica. A thin voice is sojli, a rough one is not.

Height

Thin, tall girl was called "škrabulja", "visulja" i.e. unattractive. All clothes look bad on such a girl. On the other hand to a small girl it was said "there is no woman there until lunch time". According to this among the folk it was said that a woman of a middle height is ideal. If she is not too tall and fat nor small and skinny it was said that she was "kalufli".

Food

A girl which would open her mouth too wide, when eating, was considered to be a cotquean and eager and if she munches - stupid.



Nedžad Salković, one of the greats of sevdah, is a classic example of an extremely good looking Bosnian male.





Hanka Paldum, a legend of Bosnian sevdah, besides a beautiful voice, she is the "owner" of extremely good physical looks. She is the true example of those women which get more beautiful as they age.

Ancient fertility rituals

 In ethnographic notes from the beginning of the twentieth century one can find descriptions of rituals which spurred fertility, which are, as one can notice, completely lost in the first half of the previous century; this proves that the Illyrian cult of fertility managed to preserve itself among our people, a cult which was based on pagan beliefs. Role of men and women is pronounced in them, i.e. the things which were called in the ancient witchcraft/paganism High priest or high priestess, which blessed nature and called upon its forces via sexual relation.

With the advent of monotheism though the pagan religion or better to say the religion of nature, was repressed, this has not necessarily represented the end of it since the pagan rituals were an integral part of agriculture, i.e. cult of fertility, without which people couldn't live. That's why a resistance towards the forced religion arose and a special, parallel form of the religion was created, which we today known as "folk religion" based on pagan beliefs and customs, whose age dates from the earliest days of our people, therefore the ethnologists and anthropologists themselves cannot fathom their origin and symbology.



The worst evil that could take place with the advent of monotheism, primarily Christianity and Islam, is violent distancing of man from nature. But, this was the only way that church, despite the forceful christening and demonising of all things pagan, could significantly suppress the religion of nature, or more precisely - marginalise it. However, even in such a crippled form, without freedom or religious equality of men and women, the cult of fertility managed to prosper. The substratum of the former High priest and priestess was located in marriage, i.e. the husband and wife could without any judgement continue to practice their ritual incitement of fertility and preservation of life itself, in the privacy of their home.

Horns of god Vidasus

Paganism is based on the belief that men and women have equal rights and that the first and oldest deity in human history was the Grand Mother, the one that gave life to all things, the one whose traces can be found in the neolith period. Man and woman also signify two sexes without whom life in nature is impossible and whose bodily connection is nothing short of nature's blessing. That's why the symbols of paganism were always symbols of sexuality and fertility, especially the horns, snake, staff, circle, etc.

The most reliable traces of the Illyrian cult of fertility are evident in certain parts of Bosnian love magic, closely tied to stimulating fertility, where one can clearly notice a focus on individual forces of creation. It is noticeable that in magical practice nudity during rituals is emphasized especially if the woman or girl is taking the "horns" of the house with her hands, i.e. roof, and repeats a magical formula. While uttering the curse she firmly holds the roof, or even shakes it, desiring to attract the attention of none other than god Vidasus himself.

Horns are, as it is known, an ancient symbol of fertility and power but also the ancient characteristic of the moon goddess. According to the occult definition the roof represents a heavenly part of the house, as does the trunk of the tree (beam or "horns" of the roof are made out of tree), while the home threshold is closely tied to the earth, its function is to signify a border between the external and internal world, through which one enters and exits, and that's why in folk religion of BiH it denotes a vagina - "it's not good for a girl to sit on the threshold since she will have difficulty giving birth", etc. In this short analysis we cannot ignore a very important piece of information which relates to the description of Vidasus, god of fertility and nature, whose status symbols were large horns on the head, and the ritual holding of the "horns" is explained by this fact. Nudity, is similarly, one of the key sequences in the pagan ritual of fertility, where there is no false morality, instead the beauty and sexuality of the human body is celebrated. In the preserved relief depictions naked girls are dancing around god Vidasus (faeries, nymphs) with long, unbraided hair.  

There are more preserved data which confirm the thesis that we are talking about Vidasus and rituals dedicated to him. Namely, in order to subjugate a man to her will, usually a husband, a woman looks at him through her hand, discreetly, and repeats the following formula, which has a pronounced sexual tone, three times: "Place your horns between my legs!". This ritual is nothing else but an imitation of seduction of Vidasus by his companion goddess Tana, probably from some rituals dedicated to the renewal of the cycle of fertility. One could conclude that love magic is based on mimicry of ancient forces of nature or allusion of their heavenly power, all with the goal of connection and harmony with the eternal circle of fertility and life. Proof of this are the beginning of all magical formulas which are always based on the allusion "as I.so that."

Penis

 The importance of sexuality and fertility in human history, almost to the point of exaggeration, is perhaps best presented by the examples of ancient gods. Greek god Priapus, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, a deity with an extremely large phallus, is the classic symbol of the cult of penis worship which is out of control and sense. Before him the cult of Pan was known, Roman Silvanus or the Illyrian Vidasus, which in its essence celebrates unrestrained sexuality but also emphasises the importance of maintaining uninterrupted continuity of fertility as the basic need of all humanity.


Priapus

In folk religion of BiH the penis was compared to a stick i.e. wood. In certain magical rituals during a friends marriage, a joke was usually done by his friends who would quietly sneak upon the grooms house and uttering a magical formula overturn a wooden stick inside his yard, and according to stories the groom would be unable to achieve an erection.

Bosnian men pay special attention to their penis, probably because the folk name for it is usually "male strength" and sometimes "anguish", because of the traditional obsession of men with their penis. Besides indicating strength, the phallus has pronounced prophylactic characteristics. That we are talking about a great force which will chase away all evil when uttered is demonstrated by the following example from the ritual practice of our stravarke. While pouring molten lead into water stravarka from Velika Kladuša utters:

Fear be gone, you are chased by the father's thing!

With the phrase "father's thing" one alludes to penis. In the exorcist formula from Tešanj the following is mentioned:

A dark dog crosses the water with four legs,
fifth tail,
sixth penis and seventh testicles.
No saddlebag in the testicles
nor a stick in the penis....
nor spells on my child!

Though, according to folk belief, there is no way that someone can cast a spell on the genitalia nor cause a disease since they are parts of the body that no one can see, men have a primal fear from all forms of sexual powerlessness. Based on this we can conclude that identification of men with the penis often crosses all normal forms and often becomes an obsession. In the description of the magical protection of the penis, the man holds his penis while going to the bathroom and utters:

My penis,
you are the boss of the entire castle (estate),
may no one hurt you.

If a man becomes impotent he will undertake all necessary things to bring it back, even if he has to use magical recipes. In Visoko a man wishing to restore his potency would eat roasted sparrows with rice.

In accordance with fertility represents happiness in the narrowest sense, which is then again identified with life itself, sexually functional penis is a source of life happiness and vitality for every man. Looking at him through spread out fingers the man talks to him with a magical formula:

My penis, I'm looking at you through my fingers;
you have small eyes but great powers,
you see in the darkness as you do in light,
please give me luck
and may you never grow tired
and may you always make me happy.

Another interesting thing is that the ritual of looking through the fingers is typical and characteristic of Bosnian love magic, for example when a girl or wife spreads her finger and looks through them at the man she desires or loves, followed by a small love formula. A woman would secretly look through the fingers of her right hand and would repeat this formula three times:

You look at me (the name of the man) lovingly,
string pearls,
give your soul for me,
elzalif amin veledalin amin.

For a man to be generally happy with his penis, besides a good erection one strives for plentiful sperm which in itself guarantees fertility itself. But, besides the fact that sperm is among the folk known as "seed of life", it too has prophylactic powers like the penis, especially ones which need to protect him from spells which women perform against his sexual powers. When a man masturbates and finishes, he would follow the act by this magical formula:

As I had come,
so too may my luck masturbate (walk, go) across the world,
and never let a female put a spell on me.

Trimming or circumcision

 Circumcision of the penis is known as a part of the tradition among the Arabs and Jews and according to certain data, all three messengers of God (Moses, Jesus and Mohammed) were circumcised, which is actually one of the main characteristic of monotheism itself. There are some indications that circumcision was practiced even before these instances, and that it is not an original feature of monotheism. But, no matter, removal of the foreskin of the penis, besides having health benefits for the man, became a part of magical belief which are connected to fertility and summoning good fortune.

From various beliefs the following were most frequent: among the people an uncircumcised penis is called a "mutt's" penis, since in that state it resembles a penis of that particular animal, and is considered to be unclean and dirty as such. Similarly, in Bosnia it was believed that it can be beneficial to get hold of the foreskin of a circumcised čifut (Jew), since they were known as extremely stingy people, and one would always seek to gain something from the stingy people through magical rituals, since the borrowed money or item attracted new luck. When one would get possession of such a foreskin, the following would be uttered: "As this penis is happily circumcised, may my luck be happy!"

According to folk legends, if a child dies uncircumcised, the Imam would break the pinkie finger of his right hand prior to the funeral, since apparently it is not good to bury the child before this act. Why this is so, I have not managed to surmise, though there are indications that it was believed that the boy becomes a Muslim after circumcision. Evidently the pinkie finger represents a substitute for the penis, and the act of breaking a substitute to circumcision, which is a logical conclusion which is grounded in love magic. Namely, when a young man wishes to capture a maiden's heart via magic, he would puncture his pinkie finger and have three drops of blood fall on a sugar cube and place it in her coffee. But, as I succeeded in recording from the person revealing these details, she claimed that if she were a man she would never perform such a ritual since "you are weakening your strength and life", which returns us again to the folk name for the penis - male strength.

After the circumcision the foreskin is dried and thrown to a rooster, so that the boy, once grown, receives the sexual power of the rooster, which stands for a fertile and sexually active animal.




Cernunnos or Vidasus

Vagina

 Fear of vagina or a woman caused mythological traditions of women as a symbol of evil, manifested in the form of various demonic beings, and among the oldest ones recorded is the one about Tiamat. Origin of this irrational fear, should be initially sought in the physiognomy of the female body. Vagina is the name which comes from the eponymous Latin word which literally means "scabbard". Compared to the penis, which is protruded and clearly visible on the body, vagina is withdrawn inside the body and as such was a mystery for the human psyche and an ideal topic for all imaginative notions and fictions. Even its visual identity, primarily because of the pubic hair and clitoris, it created an impression of something mystical and full of danger, which caused fear among some creators of myths as well as extremely unreal notions. Irrational fear from a woman among men never disappeared and violence over women, especially rape, is actually one of the rudiments of that time (along with the phobia) which is contrary to the popular belief that rape is done out of uncontrollable passion and lust. Monotheism and patriarch grew up on that same fear, since all things which happened at the end of the matriarch were aimed against women, ostracized and turned against the most vulnerable members of the society.



Menstrual period is a natural occurrence and with that an authentic manifestation of the forces of nature inside humans, i.e. woman. First menstruation, which denotes a period of fertility, among girls is called menarche and in its beginning it is pretty irregular i.e. unstable which clearly alludes to certain parts of the Bosnian folk calendar. Namely, in the period from February 14th (exactly at noon - highest point of the sun) until March 14th, also until noon, the reign of Veljača (February) lasts, an extremely unstable period of winter, when according to folk belief bura (gale) north and south wind are fighting. Right after it comes the seven day period called Baba (Grandma) which is similarly fickle, unpredictable and often extreme - snow can fall during the day, wind blows and then the sun appears suddenly, etc. Both names Veljača and Baba, perfectly describe the maturing process of a woman, hormonal cycle, pre-menstrual syndrome, which finishes with Did (/Grandpa/ called by our elders Did Grgo) which comes right after Baba, Did is "good natured since inside him resides the harvest of potato!" If we agree that a potato resembles a testicle and that the laying of seeds in the earth is an act of fertilisation, then we can easily come to a conclusion as to why after Did comes a period of nine days, during which, every three days, there is a change of restless and playful beings, i.e. children, which are called by our people Stablići, Kablići and Štapići. In almost all traditional stories of our people there is mention of three sons which are the main actors in the story. Similarly, I think it's not necessary to especially emphasize that nine days represent nine months of pregnancy. It is interesting that the entire cycle extends to February, March and ends at the beginning of April when the unstoppable awakening and proliferation of nature occurs.



Folk calendar is actually a calendar of agriculture and as such follows the natural cycles which manifest through old deities of the Bosnian cult of fertility and with that it is its only authentic example.

Magical power of menstruation

 When a woman has a menstrual cycle, she utters this formula:

My husband,
your penis wants to enter my vagina.
But my red king forbids it,
your penis head is red but so is my king,
and lucky is your red head.
Here I'm giving you my red king for good luck!

Then the husband puts his penis into her bloody vagina and takes it out again, it was believed that then he would be followed by good fortune wherever he might go.

If the trees bare no fruit, then a woman which didn't have any other men, washes her vagina during her menstrual cycle, and waters the trees with the residual water and utters:

Here the flower has come,
to bloom for the whole world!
As I couldn't do without my flower,
so you may not be without your fruit!

Magical power was specifically ascribed to the act of defloration i.e. blood which would then appear from the vagina. When the man would finish with the copulation with a virgin on hard ground, he would utter this formula:

As this earth,
on which we made love is hard,
so shall my luck be hard,
may no one hurt me!

Then if he has to go to court, it is believed, the judge will not be able to condemn him, i.e. determine a sentence.

Grand Mother

 The power of vagina itself was divided by whether the woman was a virgin, sexually active, married or divorced, widowed i.e. one that didn't practice sex. Since the old days, certain apotropaic power was ascribed to women for which it was believed that weren't sexually active such as widows or divorced women. In case that children are dying in a family, a pregnant woman would seek to collect rags from nine widows and sow a shirt using the rags. With the shirt she would ensure protection against death. Similarly, the best stravarka which cures evil was thought to be the one which is divorced, probably because of the allusion that she had stopped sexual connection with the man.

After giving birth, the next 40 days, she was forbidden to have sexual relations, which can be connected with the taboo of the Grand Mother, since it is believed that during that period she is in the grave with one foot (concept of earth i.e. Grand Mother) and in the phase of recovery and regeneration and that she shouldn't expose herself to energy which is produced by coitus. But, after that, the woman becomes the barer of sexual power which is used to continue reproduction. In spurring reproduction, the woman is called on the vagina through a magical formula, for example, while planting beans she would repeat:

Shrubs as bushes,
may you boil as a turnip,
may you be as sweet as my vagina!

A married woman i.e. a sexually active woman, accumulates a lot of fertility energy and uses it to a maximum extent to all things which precede the creation of the foetus. The term vagina is often used in love magic, when women place or wipe sugar cubes on their vagina and place them in their husband's coffee. In Bosnian magic it is claimed about a woman that she possesses two types of blood; the first has the power to enchant a certain man and the second to curb his temper and wrath. A strong force is hidden in menstrual blood and its magic is based on the number 40.

From certain information givers, of older age, I heard that women would try and go have a bath before their husbands after sex, and only after her did the husband go. As soon as they would shower, they would pour the dirty water from the tub and she would turn it upside down, uttering a magical formula. When the husband would arrive to have a bath he would turn the tub and would be "struck" by the spell with which the woman wanted to dominate him. Similarly, in the desire to firmly bind her husband to herself the wife would place nine sugar cubes underneath the matrass in the middle where their genitals are placed when they're lying. On each sugar cube she dropped three drops of blood and uttered a magical formula. That night her task is to make love to her husband and to place those sugar cubes during the following days into his coffee or some other drink.

Besides the mentioned utilising energy which is created due to sexual act is very famous in other forms of Bosnian magic, especially the one which we call white magic. When she wants to avert her husband from alcohol the wife would take a fistful of dirt underneath a bridge, she would wrap it into a rag and place underneath the marital bed. She needs to make love to him and in the morning take the dirt underneath the bed and feed him the dirt in the following few days slowly or mix it into his drinks.

If the husband is being prepared to go on an important trip then he is making love with his wife and in the end he says:

As this coitus is sweet to you, woman,
so too shall we be followed by sweet luck!

Then he would take off his coat and cover her vagina uttering:

Here is an old coat and I will go with luck on my trip!

Then the woman would lightly thrust the penis into the anus three times.

Sperm which is a result of a sexual act, especially one mixed with vaginal juices, represents a sexual sacrament whose power is great that if it were absorbed by a rag it can later be used in individual magical rituals.

Degradation of sexuality

 Nature itself is the greatest altar which exists, which was surely familiar to our ancestors, as well as the fact that respecting natural forces we are returning to ourselves, we are being spiritualised and reset. It's amazing manifestation is observed in the miraculous symbiosis of a man and woman, which as a couple, through rituals of fertility, achieve the effect of harmony and concord with that energy, they blend in it, and in such a manner connect their physical bodies and mental energy even stronger. In many ways this has caused positive reactions and certainly made their marriage even stronger and their family harmonious, since besides sensual pleasure, the couple tried to awaken fertility in their life surroundings, ensure a better harvest, crop yield, and at the same time chase away all evil forces which are in a constant battle against life and forces of good.

This highly social cult destroyed to a greater extent monotheism with its narrowness and disinclination towards any type of tolerance towards things which are different and with violent decadence made people with these remarkable religious-magical practices into persons which from birth had to suppress sexual energy inside of themselves. But, when we analyse in more detail the legend about Adam and Eve, especially from the standpoint of the Bogomils, we come to pretty interesting conclusions which paint a fairly different picture than the one which is being forced on us for centuries by fanatical interpreters of religion. Namely, it is clearly obvious that inborn human curiosity opened the way towards awakening sexuality and so became the synonym for the original sin for which they were expelled from heaven, a place of plenty and fruits into a wild region, where the first mythological people had to create life and fertility (food). Similarly, when we take a look at the other version, the one including a snake, we come to a similar interpretation according to which the snake, ancient symbol of fertility, awakened sexuality in Adam and Eve and the desire for fertility, so that they can gain self-consciousness and control over their lives, and in a way become independent from god. This is why the desire for degradation of a natural and inborn human need for healthy sexuality is unfathomable, this need has been used for practical purposes from the beginning of times; this degradation has resulted in us trying to uncover in the 21st century things which have been discovered by our pagan forefathers in ancient times.

Though it is not an original statement of Aleister Crowley, it is convenient to quote him and his conclusion that suppression of sexual urges is the main reason of perversions of all forms, for aggression and all other anomalies of this modern world. Sexual frustration of the modern man, which was inconceivable for people in ancient times, is the result of systematic destruction of sexual consciousness in monotheism, which subordinated women and made them lower beings, bringing her under the term "birth machine" and to the man forced sex exclusively as the need to create offspring. Everything else, especially enjoyment in the sexual act, was pronounced as undesirable since, as it is known, from the very start monotheism tried to separate man from nature, his primordial cradle.

Hatred towards sex is very pronounced in Christianity where a fantastical and extremely unreasonable theory is promoted where Jesus was conceived in a supernatural way, and not by a sexual act, as well as the unreasonable tendency of the clergy, especially in Catholicism to spend their life in celibacy which is an extreme and unnatural state for any man. What types of deviation has this spurred is best witnessed by mass cases of paedophilia as well as other perversions among the Catholic priests which shocked the entire world. We find something similar in Islam where we have an unreasonable fear of women, her body and generally sexuality. Need to cover a woman with clothes completely, in order to hide everything which makes her a female being, also spurred paedophilia, and in some African countries a very un-Muslim custom of circumcising women, which beside bodily mutilation and traumatic experience makes an asexual person out of the woman.



One of the main roots of the historical fear of women by men, especially forcing the cult of superior men, is in her natural ability to enjoy much longer in the sexual union and that after an orgasm, after only two minutes, a woman can start a new sexual act while the average man needs 15-20 minutes after orgasm to achieve an erection and with that begin a new coitus

Rituals of inciting fertility

 From rare descriptions it is possible to presume that our Illyrian forefathers imagined or represented the Grand Mother. She was embodied in the black earth and her appearance was that of a dark skinned woman, which is not surprising if we take into account certain archaeological research according to which the experts proved that dark skinned people used to live in our lands in ancient history, popularly called Balkan black men. Balkan area itself is important in the total research of European history since, without exaggeration it represents the cradle of the continent itself. There is a great possibility that the Illyrians, due to migration, assimilated the existing religious-magical beliefs and built their cults on top of them, especially the one dedicated to fertility.



Cult of fertility is in principle based on various sexual activities. Use of energy which is produced by sexual arousal, especially before and during orgasm, moves the forces of nature, if they are focused in the desired direction, can call upon all those aspect of happiness necessary for the completion of a goal. Studying the available data I noticed that all those ritual movements and gestures in the Bosnian cult of fertility have a goal of primarily connecting in a more intimate way humans with nature itself, its source, and with that compound spur fertility in both sides. Healthy sexual organ, intimate hygiene, as well as cleanliness of the entire body represented a guarantee that the ritual will produce a positive result and with its state reflect on for example, the cleanliness of grains, i.e. that it will be cockle free. Desire for fertility unquestionably dominated all crude social norms of behaviour, which were more pronounced in rural than in urban areas, and with that they defied the conservative upbringing which was adversely directed towards any form of sexuality which was seen as immoral and demonic activity.

In certain ways the archaic procedures of intimate touching of the male organ with the elements of nature, primarily dirt, trees and seeds, is the primordial connecting of man with that thing which is inborn ever since creation. I am of the opinion that the entire living world recognises itself and communicates through fertility and everything else which it represents in the deeper sense. Fertility rituals are not only important for the maintenance of fertility but also for the wellbeing of the body. It is noticeable in those ritual actions in which the man is talking to his penis, where genuine concern is expressed about that body part, its vitality. Of course, the benefits of such activity are manifold, and among the most important are that the men of that age got to know and develop their sexuality and strengthened his belonging to the community.

Rituals of invoking fertility

 Cult of fertility always belonged to the common folk, farmers and herdsmen, and it can therefore be considered as an integral part of folk magic, whose ritual actions and beliefs intensified a fruitful year, in order to ensure enough food to feed the community. Identical rituals of the cult of fertility across Europe had within themselves a pronounced sexual note, i.e. rituals of fertility moulded in the coitus of a man and woman in nature, usually in a field, in order to bless the earth with such an act and spur it to constant fertility. In northern Europe, in lands with rich, i.e. nurtured, pagan tradition these rituals were performed during spring breaks. Since we are talking about an exceptional and powerful force, sexual energy has numerous benefits in paganism. It is used, among other things, as an offer to spiritual forces, for summoning deities, it is used to raise consciousness and knowledge, achieve inspiration, enable permeation into hidden and mystical phenomena, is used for strengthening props, blessing, healing, etc. It is illustrative to mention a segment of pagan rituals, in order to understand sexual energy a bit better. In ancient rituals the Grand priest would spray the witches with his sperm which are kneeling naked in a circle around him, with which he is actually blessing them. With that he is transferring energy of god Pan onto them, i.e. everything that he represents, with which they became more powerful, vital and immune to evil.



These are some of the examples of the magical rituals in the cult of fertility which were present in our lands for centuries. In them one can note an intimate relationship of man and nature as well as celebration of life through creation. As fertility was more pronounced the power of individuals rose higher, but also their ability to overcome all adversity and everyday issues. Pronounced fertility spurs great power against diseases and bad luck which is evidenced by some of our but also some Arabian beliefs. Namely, in Algeria and Morocco it is believed that a woman which gives birth to twins acquires baraka - power of healing certain diseases, while in our region it was claimed that a woman which gave birth to twins can chase away bad weather if she turns her naked behind towards the clouds.

In intimacy with nature

When corn is being sown the owner of the property touches the earth with his penis and utters: "May my corn be this triangular!". Then he raises his penis towards the sky and utters: "May the corn stalks be this straight, like my penis". It was believed that after such a ritual the corn will give rich yields, a few corn cobs on one stalk. If, however he wishes for the corn to germinate quickly into the ground, he would, after having sex with his wife, utter the following formula: "As the soon is exiting quickly, may the corn equally spring from the ground".

When grain is being sown, then some quicklime is added to the mixture, then the husband performs coitus with his wife, ejaculates into his hand and sprinkle the grain kernels uttering: "God help me! My grain, as this sperm is dripping from my hand, so may you grow nice and healthy from the earth. As the testicles are healthy, may my grain be healthy and beautiful."

In the spring the man would touch with his penis every fruit tree and repeat the same magical formula: "As birth (children) is in my house, so too may all trees bear fruit (or "give fruit)".

When cabbage is being sown the husband comes to the field and utters the following formula: "I sow cabbage and with my penis smooth creases. As many hairs that I have, so many cabbage heads may it be!". Then he urinates a bit on the crease. It was believed that the cabbage was wet after that.

For the quince, plum or apple give fruit three grown men gather with lush pubic hairs, they stand next to the tree, take out their penises and each of them utters the following formula: "Do you hear quince, how many hairs there are around the penis! As far as my penis can sprinkle and throw urine, so may you throw your flowers and fruit!"

When the grains are full of mildew, then the owner goes into the field on a young Friday, takes off his pants and turns his bottom towards the grains and farts, uttering: "grains, I'm not farting on you but on the mildew. As the wind exits me, may mildew exit the grains. As my bottom is clean, may my grain also be clean!"

When the man goes into the field to sow grains, he strips naked, and after three rows of grains it will be clean i.e. without cockle.

Naked and healthy man would go at night outside and run through the grains and utter: "As I'm running here healthy, may my wheat advance quickly and healthy! As there are two eyes in my head as two kernels, may everything be clear in my wheat."

When a woman plans on sowing onions in her garden then her husband mixes the seeds with one hand while holding his testicles with the other and returns them in a circle. After that the woman goes into the garden and plants it so that she plants every seed rhythmically lowering the seed between her legs into the hole in the ground, i.e. crossing her vagina with the seeds. According to folk belief the onion which "sees" the vagina will grow faster and better than the one that didn't see it.


 https://www.scribd.com/doc/305431858/Ancient-Fertility-Rituals-autor-Raif-Esmerovi%C4%87

Great Bosnian mystics

In stories about mystics from the past of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stories about saints (evlija) are especially interesting, the people regarded the stories to be dedicated to people and they made up legends about their powers.  Allegedly, they possessed the ability of astral travel through time, as well as the ability to dematerialise.

When we talk about this, the most interesting characters are yellow Hafiz and Muslihudin Čakrkčija.

If a man would find himself in captivity or exile, saints would help them with their mystical powers to go back to their country. According to legends, yellow Hafiz would suddenly appear at the place where the certain person dwelt and would simply ask of the person to stand on his feet and close his eyes. When he would be allowed to look again, he would see that he is home.

Čakrčija demonstrated his abilities in a similar fashion, but his goal wasn't returning imprisoned or lost persons, but something completely different.

Namely, he wouldn't go to the mosque during the afternoon prayer, instead he receded in his chambers and he would lock himself away. When he would be asked for the reason, he explained that he would transfer himself to Mecca with his powers and he would pray there.

Parts of the legend which speak of their powers of clairvoyance and divination are also interesting. By the way, in the texts which speak of saints, little is written about the kind of attitude the religious followers had, when it came to the saints and their activities, i.e. when the starting point are the principles of Islamic religion.

A certain Ibrahim Bistrigija, from the dervish ranks, is one of those which were known by their prophetic gift. Among other things, he predicted his death. He was once invited to a feast, he promised that he will come but that he will not eat. And so it was. Namely, his dead body was brought before the emperors mosque in Sarajevo, where the guests of the feast had to move because of the rain.

In the records the book called Ilmidžifl is often mentioned, with whose help one can predict, down to a minute, someone's death.

The familiar yellow Hafiz, also, possessed a prophetic gift. There is an interesting event, which somehow represents an anecdote, during which this ability manifested. Once a few jokesters called him to perform a funeral prayer. But, instead of a deceased, they planted a live man. Hafiz tried to reject the call since he knew no good would come out of it. But, he didn't succeed in turning it down. Considering that the Hafiz prayer, like the saints, had special power, the man that they planted in the grave actually died during the prayer.

A similar story exists about a certain Mustafa Ejubović, known as sheikh Jujo. This man was known in Mostar of that time as someone who precisely predicts future events. One day, a wanton young men which didn't believe that sheikh Jujo possesses supernatural abilities, conspired to test him and ridicule him. They invited him to perform a funeral prayer. One of the men laid down in the coffin. Once they lined up to perform the prayer, sheikh Jujo turned around and coldly asked: "Are we saying this prayer for an alive or a dead man?" The men looked at each other confused, but one of them spoke up: "to a dead man".

When the prayer was finished they all moved towards the coffin. The young men were ready to laugh and ridicule sheikh Jujo, but the scene they saw caused everything but laughter. Their friend still laid in the coffin, but this time, dead.

Decades after the death of Mustafa Ejubović, his grave was visited by people which truly believed in mystic powers of that place.

Prophecies of Hasan Kaimija and Gajgus are also interesting. The former predicted a large accident that will strike Sarajevo. Because of unruly behaviour, Kaimija was expelled from the city according to the evaluation of the authorities of that time. Therefore the prophecy could be interpreted as a kind of anger. However, it really happened. In the years that followed, Sarajevo experienced a few different disasters which brought great human and material damage.