Vađenje ognja

A lot of interesting examples have survived regarding Bosnian folk medicine, through ethnological documentation as well as practice of individual stravarke, about the belief of the origin of a disease and cures for it. They’re all based on a traditional belief that there are around 3000 diseases in the world of which only 1000 belong to the domain of official medicine. From that number 700 of them are curable and for the other 300 people are still searching for a cure. 2000 diseases are being cured with religious and magical methods, prayers, herbal medicine, etc.

How do you cure a disease called oganj (ingle)

The word oganj is of an Illyrian origin and signifies fire; among the Bosnian people this word was used to denote a disease which was manifested as acne on a face, usually in small children. Those acne would become small wounds over time and they would leave deep scars on the skin. Among the people, oganj was usually cured by a blacksmith which would perform a ritual called “vađenje ognja”.

In ethnological documents GZM from Sarajevo a similar case was described. A small boy of a village woman got sick, even two official doctors couldn’t help him, she then after being talked into it sought help from Avdo the blacksmith. Suspecting what type of disease it was asked her to bring him some bracket fungi (Polyporaceae), a fungi which grows on beech wood, it is also called fire fungi, a piece of green wool cloth, nine branches of blackberry, peal of rose hip, a few branches of linden and fresh butterfat. When the mother gathered all of it she brought it to Avdo, he took a hammer and a piece of “cold iron” and to his daughter he ordered to hold a piece of fire fungi close to the iron. He placed the iron on the anvil, he whispered something, and when he struck the iron a second time a few sparks flew from it and they set the fungi on fire. Everyone that was present was overjoyed and the blacksmith’s  daughter said: “It’s Oganj, oganj! The child will be cured!” Avod commanded loudly: “Quickly, give me a rag!” and as soon as Zlatka brought it he used it to wrap the head, he started blowing into it until it ignited as well. He placed it then into a metal bowl, branches of linden and peal of rose hip, nine branches of blackberry and finally the green wool cloth.



When it all burned down he gathered the remains into one heap, chopped it up and placed into a glass with the butterfat and mixed it well. He then addressed the lady whose child was sick: -“Take this glass, call an elderly woman, at dusk under an eave, she should use a chicken’s feather to rub this mixture onto your son. Let her wipe it down his face, always from top to bottom, never the other way around. Let her perform this for three nights in a row and I trust in God that he will be cured!”. They rubbed the child with the mixture for a few days as Avdo told them and allegedly after only a few days the wounds healed.

Among the Bosnian people it was believed that there are two versions of oganj, the first one is the “wooden” one and the second an “iron” one. Wooden, it was said is a more complicated ritual, but allegedly better, since it is the real oganj and wounds heal faster when it is being used.

Wooden oganj was performed on a soft wood, usually linden. A small rod was taken and was sharpened on both ends. The tips are then placed into a hard wood and the rod is then fixed. The rod is wrapped in something, usually a leather belt, then from both sides two men stand and with quick movements pull the belt towards themselves, to and fro, so that the rod, i.e. its tips move quickly and due to friction they would catch fire. It was believed if the diseased fell ill from oganj, the tips of the rod would catch fire, otherwise they wouldn’t. If they would catch fire then the coal from the rod would be taken, it would be crushed into dust and mixed with fresh butterfat. The treatment would be undertaken in a similar manner as in the first example.

But, in some areas of BiH people believed and claimed otherwise that the ritual with iron is better and more difficult to perform than the wooden one. However, people who seriously performed these rituals claimed that for the efficiency of the ritual the only relevant thing is the type of oganj that the child has. It was also claimed that the ritual was a real magical skill since if the diseased was not afflicted by oganj the fire will not be lit no matter how hard you would try.

Fear in Bosnian folk medicine

Author: Raif Esmerović

According to definition fear is described as intense and unpleasant negative feeling which a man experiences once he sees or expects danger, whether the danger is real or imaginary. It's an inborn, genetically programmed reaction to threatening or painful stimuli. Fear is a primary emotion, just like happiness, sorrow, surprise, anger and disgust, which means that in different cultures it is expressed the same or in a similar manner, i.e. that the expression of fear is not learned. Fear is not non-functional, just like pain whose goal is to protect the body from further harm, fear with its intense discomfort and exclusion of all other things focuses the body on defence of the thing that causes fear, it places the system in a preparatory state and spurs careful monitoring of the thing which causes the danger. (Wikipedia)


Studying ethnological build from the transition of the nineteenth into the twentieth century makes it easy to conclude that people lacking medical and scientific cognition divided diseases into two types – physical and mental. The most widespread cause of disease, which is the predominant cause of death, was according to people in Bosnia the destructive effect of evil (spellbound) eyes. Right after that came fear. Because of this reason in case a disease occurred people would perform the ritual of extinguishing coal in water, against evil eyes, or lead melting ritual, because of the doubt of fear. If neither method showed successful another solution would be sought such as medicinal herbs, balms, priests prayers and amulets, etc. Often, usually at the end, one would consult a doctor, but only if he is located close to the diseased person’s home. Necessity to seek help initially from the magical-religious domain is the product of an archaic belief according to which the disease was considered as god’s will or punishment, or a result of aggression by evil spirits who would cause terrible pain and other ailments by possessing the human body.

Fear from evil spirits, god’s punishment, evil eyes or mental shock is not only a reflection of the lack of enlightenment of a time but also of its brutality. How much rooted the fear is in the collective consciousness of this people is perhaps best envisaged by a short summary of the history of Bosnia and the Bosnian people, who were since ancient, Illyrian times constantly exposed to historical turmoil, war and occupation by larger states; according to this it is easy to conclude why it was accumulated in such an extent. In the end it created a psychological impression that there is a fear from fear, which is more intense than normal.

Namely, as modern psychology claims, humans are born with only two fears – fear of hunger and noise, while all other phobias are usually acquired during childhood and we fight with them our entire life. Fear from hunger and noise are tightly connected with the survival instinct, and during the process of growing up it is supplemented with new instinctual fears whose primary function is keeping us alive. But, besides this positive existential purpose, fear also has a negative side, when it acts in complete opposition against the human, directly endangering his life.

Circle of fear begins during childhood

It is believed among the folk that the victims of fear are more children than adults, primarily because of their physical and mental vulnerability. For centuries in a conservative society, like the Bosnian one, the children are brought up with fear, i.e. certain mental torture was performed on them in order to literally program them to act according to the hypocritical standards of the patriarchal society in which one traditionally suffocated all desire to be different or individualistic.

That’s why I always say that it is a bit ironic that out of the most beautiful period in a human’s life, which childhood is, we inherit the most trauma, complexes and frustrations, especially from parents, which we than tackle all our lives. Before, as now, the greatest issue in breaking apart this vicious cycle is the shallowness and almost no desire for change. The issue of all societies is the incomprehensible desire for constant imposition with which the human being has contact from day one; they impose religion on us, behaviour patterns, dress code, communication, way of thinking, etc. Of course there should be certain life and everyday norms of behaviour and order, so that we can live next to each other, but there must also be a freedom of choice, since if we don’t have this a human is no longer a human, but a robot. I’m of the opinion that in this imposition, fear has its starting position.



Based on everything that has been written so far we come to a rational conclusion that for a better understanding of the term of fear itself and its influence on our life, but also of each individual, we need to pay more attention to studying this phenomenon in human beings, and the best starting point for such research is found in folk medicine, which unlike the official one, is much more flexible and more open minded, and in a specific way it delves into the intimacy of each individual.

White colour - symbol of sorrow

While mourning a dead family member, women avoided wearing red coloured clothes, white clothes was worn exclusively. Black was never worn since it was considered a sin. Women would, equally, take off all the jewellery and wouldn't wear it for the next 40 days, and some didn't wear jewellery for a year or two. During the time of mourning none of the family members can organize a wedding or goes to one if invited; there is no singing and no joy. During Eid a ram is sacrificed for the soul of the deceased. If the deceased appointed by his will for a ram to be slaughtered, then all the meat needs to be given to the poor, while in other instances only the blood goes for his soul, and the meat can be eaten by the members of the household. There was a custom in Sarajevo that the left side of the sacrifice is distributed to the poor and the right is left to the family. In Jajce on the eve of Eid, halvah and bread were distributed for the "soul of the dead". In Bihać on the eve of both Eid's people would bring halvah and pies in front of the mosque, they would be then distributed to the children "for the soul of the deceased". For the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased it was customary to distribute "čagate" (kefaret) i.e. money wrapped in paper with which a person can provide a meal for themselves.Čagete was distributed during the first seven days after the funeral, seven čageta for seven poorest households in the neighbourhood or for forty days.
Karl Steiner, doctor from Ljubinja, in his work Bosnian folk medicine, notes that Bosniaks do not consider as something horrible, instead every Friday, and often other days, they gladly gather in graveyards for conversation and rest, which the author considers as proof of great respect towards their ancestors. The interesting thing is that the author highlights that there is no sorrowful mood with the gathered people, instead everyone is feeling relaxed and especially with the young. Bosniaks even have a very special custom to make small dents on the gravestones in order to gather rain water for the birds but also leave food for them .
Connecting birds with the dead i.e. graveyards is not a coincidence since the bird besides being a mythological personification in Bosnia of the soul, her symbolism is much greater and leads us to the Illyrian religious belief in which birds which pulled carriages of the sun god, are mentioned, the same god which is born each day in the "east" and dies in the "west". It is obvious that are ancestors considered birds as souls, holly animals, which has a foothold in Bogomil teachings that it is a deadly sin to kill animals and especially birds and to destroy their eggs.
Respect towards the dead is an integral part of Bosnian spiritual tradition since the old days. Passing by graveyards old people still today preserved a habit to utter El-Fatiha for the dead; first for god's messenger Muhammad, then for the deceased and in the end for all of the dead.