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.

Kahvendisanje in Bosnia

Historically coffee stems from the kingdom of Kaffa in Ethiopia, from where it gained its name. In one of the oldest legends about coffee a certain shepherd Khalid is mentioned who after watching how sprightly his goats were after they have eaten the fruits from the bush of coffee, he decided to consume them himself.  Since he noticed a similar effect he spread the news to all his people in the tribe about a magical plant and its fruit and the others also started consuming it. 

 

 

 

 

The biggest merit for the popularity of coffee and its overall acceptance in the world is owed to the Arabs. They called it gahva which could be translated as "potable juice" and that name came from the Turks into Bosnia. In Arabia coffee was initially used as a remedy which is witnessed by Rhazes, an Arabian philosopher from the ninths century, who wrote that coffee cured sciatica. A few centuries later a few other medical merits were added to coffee and it was claimed that it strengthened the organism, had a positive effect on skin, that it cleans the skin and refreshes it.

 

 

Kahvendisanje

 

About coffee and its role in the traditional life through social but also economic aspects of Bosnia and Herzegovina we could write dozens of chapters or even a whole book. In the life of the Bosnian folk, drinking of coffee is an everyday ritual which carries in itself a strong social effect; over coffee people socialise, meet, bring mutual conclusions or business decisions but also rest and enjoy. The term "bake coffee/make coffee" clearly states that the Bosnian folk have their own, original way of preparing homemade Bosnian coffee. The preparation itself is a tradition connected to the entire ceremony which clearly alludes to the desire to enjoy or kahvendisanjem, in this beverage that invites people across the globe for socialisation, discussions and rest.

 

-"Let's go for coffee" or "Come over for coffee", is usually an invitation for a meeting and chat. We could say that coffee in Bosnia has a connecting role, bringing them closer to each other, nurturing friendship and love. It always calls for a dialogue. A pack of coffee and sugar is always brought over when one visits an elder person or someone who is dear to us. With that small gesture of affection we show respect towards an older person or a dear friend. Coffee is also one of the symbols of Ramadan since all of those who fast drink coffee first after their fast. Usually the coffee is drank first and only then one has dinner or iftar. Sehur is also ended with coffee drinking, a meal consumed before dawn, before fast.

 

 

About the popularity of this hot refreshing oriental beverage and attention which is dedicated by Bosnian people to the entire ceremony of preparation and drinking is best described by the description of the kitchen utensils used for making coffee. Therefore let us begin from the vessels which was in the past one of the irreplaceable vessels for coffee preparation - namely ibrik (ewer), about which Tvrtko Kanaet in his book Podveležje I podveležci writes the following: "It's a larger dish used to heat the water for coffee. The lower part is called dib and it is very protruded. It has a handle and a lid. There are large ones, which can carry 2 to 3 litres, especially among the richer households. It is always close to the fire. It contains hot water just for the preparation of coffee. Instead of water it is also used to heat up milk which is added to coffee. The coffee isn't "made" in the ibrik, but in a Džezva or Dževzi (coffee pot). It's cylindrical, near the bottom its wider and on top it has a bracket with a groove, which is used to pour coffee, and a handle which is bent at the end or expanded and beautified with ornaments.  Along with the coffee pot, in which one "prepares" or "makes" coffee there is also a šerbetnjak of coffee, after the first cups have been filled. The size is measured by the number of cups which a coffee pot contains. Cup holders can be found in a small number i.e. zarfovi made out of copper decorated with ornaments. There is also a coffee grinder, coffee and sugar box with a lid. As a rule the grinder and boxes are decorated, even with the simplest ornaments. We should also add a round, cylindrical coffee maker (dolaf)."

Until the advent of the grinder the baked coffee beans were beaten (or crushed) exclusively in a dibek. It is interesting to note that in Bosnia and Herzegovina the coffee is "baked" not "cooked", and that same verb in its entirety was used by the Turks. Only since 1878 since the Austrian occupation the term "cook coffee" can be heard. Today the term "pristaviti kahvu (put on coffee)" is also established.

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation of Bosnian coffee

 

 

Raw coffee is usually baked in a casserole inside an oven at 200 degrees until the beans attain their characteristic brown colour. After that the casserole with the beans is taken out and left to cool.  In order for the coffee to be as tasty as possible, the beans are ground in a hand grinder just before the preparation i.e. when one wants to drink coffee. In the ibrik (pot) the water is placed to boil which must not be brought to a boiling point, it must be removed from fire as soon as the first bubbles appear, which is a last phase before it boils. In the coffee pot one puts ground coffee and places it on fire, stirring so it doesn't burn. As soon as its recognizable fragrance is felt one pours water in the coffee pot and is stirred until it boils.

After the coffee is removed from fire a small amount of water is poured in the coffee pot "a few drops", for the sediment (or teljiva from the Turkish word telva) to lower to the bottom. Then it is poured into coffee cups which usually has a cube of sugar next to it or a Turkish delight. For a better sense and enjoyment of the aroma before drinking coffee one drinks a glass of water "to clear one's throat".

Coffee isn't traditionally drunk quickly, but slowly, to enjoy in it or kahvendiše. Older Bosnian people had a custom to place a dried carnation in the beans of coffee (Caryophyllus aromaticus Thunb.) and ground together in order for the beverage to have a stronger aroma and smell. For the Bosnian folk coffee is first of all a symbol of welcome and hospitality as evidenced by the traditional way of serving coffee during which, for the inhabitants of the household there is always an extra cup ready if an unexpected guest arrives (musafir). For every person which unexpectedly arrives while the inhabitants are drinking coffee it is said that they come "sa nafakom" i.e. with luck. With this we can conclude that coffee among the Bosnian people is a symbol of luck.

 

 

 

 

The magic of coffee

 

 

As we already mentioned coffee in Bosnia is prepared in a special way, specific to this country, and this description isn't only mentioned as a way of introduction to the preparation methods, but it is a necessary information in order to present the ancient ritual which is still today practiced by many Bosnian people in order to calm the tensions in marriage and in the family.

When there is tension in a marriage for some time among the partners followed by smaller or larger disputes, the woman undertakes the ritual of annulling negative energy. An empty džezva is heated on the stove and then removed and covered with a small saucer and left like that for three minutes. Coffee is then prepared in the above described way in it, and both partners drink this coffee. In the same way, it is believed that each džezva that is in the house needs to be covered in order to stop the entrance of negative energy inside a house or family.

And according to the belief of Bosnian witches coffee has magical powers which can purify each home from the negative energy and return the harmony. It is sufficient to at least once a month throw some ground coffee and sugar onto a heated stove and leave it for a few minutes to spread its fragrance around the house. After half an hour one can open the window in order for the negative energy to leave the house along with the fragrance.

 

 

 

Coffee and folk belief

 

Among the Bosnian there are dozens of superstitions about coffee, and these are just some of them:

You shouldn't pour coffee over your hand (on the right side) - your stomach will ache.

If the baked coffee beans crackle in the box, it is believed that guests will arrive soon.

When the coffee oozes out of the coffee pot on the stove - it is believed that there will be a material gain.       

It is said for a woman that drinks hot coffee that she isn't afraid of her husband.

A woman which likes to drink the sediment from coffee will marry a rich man.

If the woman often makes the coffee in such a way that it oozes on the stove is a sign that her husband loves her a lot.

To dream of coffee - worrying, if you dream of drinking coffee with others - you will worry for no reason.

When the foam forms a circle then the one who gets that cup can await some sort of gain, etc.


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