Illyrian religion

By its natural wealth Bosnia and Herzegovina was always full of forests and numerous water streams, which by itself, in a very logical manner, predetermined the religious system of the Illyrians, this system was entirely dedicated to worshiping natural forces. This is why Tana and Vidasus became symbols, but also personifications of the human environment, and as such they signified the strength of nature and everything that nature offers to mankind. With them, of course, comes an entire pantheon of other gods and goddesses such as Bindu, Tur, Anzotik, or the divine serpent Boa, whose roles in the religious system were not negligible. But, as a starting point for further observation when researching ways of healing by our forefathers the most important are Vidasus, Tana, Tur and Bind.

What we need to stress at the beginning is the fact that thanks to these deities of our forefathers, today we can be proud that we have a durable cult of healing, which has a deep reach in the ancient times. Documented data from the National Museum in Sarajevo present examples of continued ritual practice of visiting streams and washing the diseased, which ends in leaving a piece of clothing or food next to the stream or even throwing a coin inside of it, which is without a doubt a preserved tradition of respecting and seeking help from god Bind, which our forefathers the Illyrians worshiped as a deity of streams. In pagan Bosnia he was offered animal sacrifices, usually of smaller animals such as goats, which was latter exchanged by symbolic gifts. Cult of Bind was especially dominant in the part of Bosnia, which was dominated by Japod's, as well as boarder parts of the Croatia at that time, especially in Lika, where it was practiced until the middle of the previous century. Belief that spring water, especially the one taken before sunrise, medicinal and suitable for healing is another segment of the mentioned cult.
 

Tana and Vidasus

 

Sculptures which depict god Vidasus, sometimes accompanied by Tana, show him encircled by girls dancing or in the form of nymphs, water faeries. Beside the data which confirm that the Bosnian folk were familiar with faeries from ancient times, this information is extremely important for further study about correlation with persons which came into direct contact with faeries and gained healing powers  as well as texts of spells. From Bosnian tradition we know that faeries are skilled in healing with medicinal herbs and spring water in which, according to legends, they would bathe.

What was especially interesting to notice when gathering materials for this research are individual ways of initiation of certain persons into the world of magic and healing and for which it is impossible not to find a direct link with Tan, Vidasus or even a snake, holly totem of our forefathers[1].

                                                             Illyrians

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[1]Bosnian folk believes that spells are a gift from spirits, especially faeries, which is evidenced by numerous testimonies about initiation. A large part of older women in the past that used to work with spells were illiterate and they used to live in villages. Their initiation into supernatural was always based on weird dreams in which young and beautiful girls used to appear, usually three, they would teach the chosen woman healing formulas in the dream. There are different examples. According to sayings of a well-known witch from Velika Kladuša called Ćanka, an unknown man and woman appeared in her dream, clad in white clothes. They pulled her by her large toe and "woke her". Then they told her that they chose her to heal and help people. Another woman received her initiation into the world of magic by a snake bite. Namely, at one time while she was out working in the field she got tired and she laid down to rest. Without realising she fell asleep and when she woke up she felt pain in her lips. As soon as she came home she saw that her lips were swollen and dark. She quickly went to a doctor who determined that she was bitten by a snake. It wouldn't have been a sensational event if she hadn't felt that she "knew" strange things and that suddenly she knew how to perform love magic and cure people of it.

 

Cult of god Tur

In folk religion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is based on Illyrian traditional beliefs, some segments of the Bosnian god Tur were preserved thanks to the cult of basme (magical formulas); in Bosnian mythology it was believed that Tur was a gigantic black bull who held earth on his back. The name Tur itself probably comes from poturiti, onaj koji potura, drži nešto ili pridržava (plant, someone who places under, upholds or holds something) which fully corresponds to the function which is ascribed to this mythological being.Though according to the writings of ethnologists the belief about the gigantic bull who is holding up earth is only found among the Bosnian people, some segments of that cult are present in the magical practice of all three people in our country. We are talking about healing rituals of cattle where women or men who perform these rituals preform a spring ritual of transmission of divine power of Tur in order to gain his blessing or power of healing.

Namely, in folk religion of Bosnia the snail is a miniature representation of the bull Tur since it possesses attributes which symbolise the bull: horns and house on his body which symbolises earth. It is no less interesting to mention that for the ritual of touching, a dark coloured snail is often sought, since the bull Tur was described as being of a black skin or hair, therefore the Bosnian people in the northwest part of Bosnia call him Garonja (black). Significance of touching the snail is the magical connection with earth, in which Tur lives, otherwise in Bosnian mythology is the only culprit for causing earthquakes, and calming Tur, personification of the earth's strength, which is clearly visible in the formula which follows ritual touching of the snails horns: "Ustuk  biče, moje biče jače!" (stand down bull, my strength is bigger than the bull's)

When a woman from the surrounding area of Mostar would gain the power of healing livestock, she would use her index finger of her right hand to touch the horns of a dark snail three times, pulling her finger down his body, backwards, uttering the following spell: "Stu na se! Stu natrag, ne znalo ti se za trag. Stu na se. Od Boga derman a od mog iladž!" (Go back, go back, may your origin be unknown, go back! From God the cure and my labour recovery). As we can see from the examples, touching the horns of the snail is nothing but a magical imitation of touching horns of Tur, whose entire strength rests in them, and using that force to heal, since that is the energy of earth or Grand Mother. It is believed that after such a transfer of power from the snail onto a woman or man, a person can use their acquired powers to cure throughout the entire year.

A diseased animal is brought to a rock which is firmly fixed into the ground, i.e. it never moved from that place, which is alluding to a tombstone, then the woman which is performing the healing ritual uses her index finger to make three circles around the diseased part of the body and utters: "stu natrag!" (an abbreviation of  "come, tread, move"). She then spits on her index finger uttering: "Ptuj, u živac, u kamen, stu natrag!" she repeats this three times.

Right index finger in folk medicine is the finger of healing and is brought into connection with the finger of Hazrat Alija, who is always depicted with a raised index finger as a symbol of god's wisdom but also blessing. This is no coincidence since Hazrat Fatima and her husband Hazrat Ali in folk medicine, especially in Iran and Turkey, are regarded as a couple who have ascribed mystic properties to them, among which are healing properties. In north-western part of Bosnia, in Velika Kladuša and Cazin, right index finger is represented in the prayer to the new moon which is pointed towards the moon after uttering five short (smaller) surah, then a spell is uttered with which one aims to renew vitality and beauty of the body.

According to traditional belief for this magical transmission one would chose the period from the beginning of May until the middle of the month which is no coincidence, namely, it was a custom in the past to slaughter a bull (once people used to say: "We'll slaughter a bull for the first of the May!"), which was a symbol in the former Yugoslav republic of labour day, however, that practice of slaughtering animals, i.e. sacrificing a bull on our territory is an ancient practice and stems directly from Illyrians. All of this of course has its roots on the cult of Tur and mother earth or goddess Grand Mother.

Actually, today's holiday St. George's day, which is observed on May 6^th among the Bosnian orthodox Christians, is not a Christian holiday at all, nor any other, it has been taken over from paganism. In this data we can find an answer as to why Bosnian people, former members of the Church of Bosnia before the advent of Christianity, were pagans, therefore it is normal and logical to conclude that they, like other people, did not fully renounce their old religion. Instead they continued under the veil of Christianity and later Islam to celebrate the holidays of their pagan forefathers. That's why among the Bosnian folk some so called "Christian" holidays[1] were marked (observed) but not in a religious but magical way i.e. the original pagan way, during which destiny was foretold, spells uttered and livestock protected from evil spirits and diseases.

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[1] Of course, irony is that this argument was one of the main claims of the hegemonic and militant policy of Serbia against the Bosniaks, as if they were Serbs which converted to Islam?! The question, of how is it possible that Serbs during the 500 year rule of the Ottoman empire haven't converted to Islam, is interesting, and the alleged "Serbs" in BiH have converted?! Were the "Serbs" in BiH worst off than those in Serbia? And in the end there is the question how come did one and the same people chose two different historical paths and renounced their "holly orthodoxy" in favour of some wild Ottomans?! A criminal organisation such as SANU (The Serbian Academy of Science and Arts) will never give the right answers to these questions since they would seriously threaten the foundation of their carefully constructed Nazi policy with which the Serbian political structure has been inspired for decades and whose catastrophic consequences we felt during the nineties of the previous century, when the aggression on BiH started along with systematic ethnic cleansing. An even greater irony of all of this is that those Serbs claim that Bosniaks have been islamicized which means that they have killed their own people and executed genocide. Actually, Bosniaks for the Serbian people are islamicized Serbs only when the Serbs want to perform some hegemonic plan, but this aggression actually showed and proved that they don't believe this claim about the Bosniaks. Since logically, if they thought it to be true they wouldn't kill "their own people".

Oral charms

In the culture of a people a lot of attention is devoted to linguistics and all forms of literary expression such as lyric and epic poetry and drama, where symbolism and meaning of words get their strongest expression. Not at all insignificant a part of that concept encompasses so called magical prose based on a rhetoric form, which we come across in all those segments which are tied to concepts of sorcery, spells, curses, blessing or invocations. To better fathom in the meaning of the poetic expression among the Bosnian folk we need to pay attention to a forgotten form of love expression between loved ones - ašikovanje (from the Turkish word ašk - love). In a conversation between two lovers stress was placed on ingenuity, imagination when choosing words as well as their rhyme, which has the effect to stimulate a certain dose of excitement and elation, for example, a boy utters to a girl:

When I see you in a tarboosh, I go swoosh, when I see you in a sleeveless coat, like a quad in a coat, when I see you in a hijab, I go to an Imam in a mosque.

Kad te vidim u fesiću, čini mi se poletiću, kad te vidim u ječermi, k’o kadija u mešćemi (sudu), kad te vidim u šamiji, kajno hodžu u džamiji.

This modus operandi is recognisable in the domain of love magic, to which girls were inclined to for ages in Bosnia in order to achieve a marriage covenant, through repetition of magical formulas which usually followed some simple actions. Namely, with the help of love formulas the girls (love basma) tried to "call" their beloved to come under their window so they can lead long conversations i.e. in order to ašikovati. Besides, by the repetition  of the formulas they wanted to make themselves even prettier, more attractive and desirable and in that manner influence the success of the relationship, with the emphasis on getting married. An interesting article published in Novi Behar, from 1939 speaks about this.

When a boy frequently goes under a girl's window, his friends usually tease him with that familiar utterance: "Have the bean's cracked?" With this joke they're trying to signal to him that it is not love that is drawing him near to her, but that the woman used a love spell. Boys, of course don't believe in this much and when someone mentions bajanje (oral charms) they reject it as a joke but it really exists.

Bajanje is an old folk skill which is popular among women, especially girls. It has the purpose to acquire and realize those wishes which cannot be realized in a natural way. If a girl is interested in a boy, and he doesn't reciprocate or even if she is being avoided by a boy she is in a relationship with, she then practices bajanje in order to stimulate feelings of love and desire. Even married women abandoned by their husbands or disregarded by them are looking for help in bajanje. If a woman or a girl is skilled in this type of magic, then success will follow. A boy, pushed by an unknown force will start feeling sudden desire towards the girl and will be ready to marry her, and a husband will return to his wife which he previously abandoned or will change his behaviour to become more caring and gentle, firmly believing that he is doing it on his own accord.

Before there was a much larger number of girls or women which were skilled in bajanje. For a girl, which was versed in this knowledge, this was a winning combination, since she could utter magical formulas and stay completely discrete. All other girls, which were not aware of this magical knowledge needed to seek help from those women which they thought would be discrete. And moreover, they needed to entrust them with their most intimate desires, which was probably not pleasant. Therefore these girls were helped by cousins, as the most reliable persons, and there were cases when mothers themselves performed bajanje for their daughters.

 As in the past so too today, though to a lesser extent, there are women that believe in bajanje and who still practice it. They are mostly provocative women spoiled and capricious, or single daughters which want men to please them and fulfil all their wishes. There are those to whom this is the only way to win over a man and get married. It is said among the people that they never rest and always practice bajanje even when they go to sleep and when they wake up, when they perform house work and when they rest, it is even believed that they repeat magical formulas in their sleep.

Women are extremely prone to believing in the power of bajanje, while men are suspicious, though they are wary not to become victims of such magical practice. Young men though see a potential witch in every girl. Therefore, if a woman offers a cake to a man as customary, as a sing of love, he will accept it out of courtesy, but he will not eat it. Such cakes are usually given to children or to a friend, since it is believed that bajanje has an effect on the person whose name was mentioned during the incantation of the formula.

Qur'an strictly condemns bajanje. That's why god fearing and wholesome girls take care not to practice that sin, and those that perform bajanje hide it as the greatest secret. If it is found out, namely, that a girl invokes spells, a heavy taint will fall on her and she will be considered faulty, this stigma cannot be cured over time, no matter if she uses spells on her own or with the help of another woman. Therefore it is understandable that it is difficult to find even the smallest discoveries regarding this skill. Secrets of bajanje are told and entrusted only to those that are closest and most reliable. Others can only find out about it if an old lady decides to mention it before she dies. (Novi Behar, 1939)

Probably because of that traditional norm among the Bosnian people there are two dominant types of magical expression based on the usage of basma in love magic and basma for exorcism i.e. healing.

 

Basma

In oral magic according to classic division there are two forms of formula - basma and bajalica. Basma is a shorter form, usually with one or two verses, which has to be repeated several times while bajalica is a longer textual form. Though more rare there are bajalice with more than twenty verses. Though some anthropologists are prone of connecting basma with basna, I wouldn't agree with such a claim. It is obvious that the idea for this comparison was based on the similarity of the words, we are literally talking about the change of letter M into N or vice versa, but when we analyse the meaning of basna i.e. that it is in its formulation "a short story in prose or verse whose main characters are animals", then we come to a conclusion that basna has no connection to basma.

But, there is a very interesting Persian word which mentioned in certain love formulas and it is baht or luck, destiny. Namely, in any form, love or exorcist, with the purpose of healing, basma has a task to influence on the present state or destiny and change i.e. allow luck in love (marriage) to a boy or girl or recovery to a diseased. All these actions are actually a desire to magically try and influence the future, in order for it to be positive, therefore it is logical to connect the origin of the word basma with the word bahat and not bring it in connection with basna. Similarly, we shouldn't forget to mention the folk name for a fortune teller or witch - bahornica or bahorica, whose root comes from the word baht. In the end doesn't surprise if we recall that even the concept of magic practice i.e. čaranje (from čare - mesmerize, fascinate), come from the Persian language.

Magical whisper

On the other hand, bajalica, in English language the term magical whisper would most closely be associated with the meaning of the word bajalica, which is uttered by whispering like a basma, as a word this doesn't exist among the Bosnian people and instead of bajati we say "naučiti" i.e. utter ("ona uči ono svoje"(she utters her things) - uttering secret magical words, or when one advises a diseased to go to a woman which hears magical formula: "idi kod nje neka ti nauči, ona zna dobro učiti na vodu" ("go to her so she can utter her words, she can utter well with water[1]"). Probably that's why the term bajati among the people is not interpreted as an act of uttering magical formulas but gossip, lying, which is confirmed by the statement "neko o tebi baje! “(someone is throwing spells at you) - "someone is telling lies about you[2]!". Women that use magical formulas (baju) are not called bajarke instead they are called stravarke, stravaruše or even just "baba" ("idi kod te babe pa neka ti nauči"), which is a Bogomil heritage about the function which was performed by Baba, wife of the priest Did. During the middle ages up until the advent of the Ottomans, when the Bogomil faith was the dominant religion in BiH, cult of healing with medicinal herbs and water was emphatically present both in the domain of the Bogomil priests which were called Didovi and their wives Babe. While Didovi were in charge of transmission of religious ideas and solving everyday disputes, Babe dealt with healing using herbs, water and magical words. It is known that they used bajanje from nežita, a disease which is manifested through pain in the body and that the name nežit itself is actually of Bogomil origin. Similarly, in certain parts of BiH bajalice are called bogomolje or shortened mole which certainly comes from the name bogumil.

Bajanje is an extremely interesting form of oral magic, connection of poetry and magical symbolism, whose genesis dates from the period of paganism. As ancient invocations and celebrations of god's were exchanged for prayers from the Bible and Qur'an in monotheism, magical formulas intended for chasing away evil spirits suffered a similar faith, i.e. their content remained pretty much the same with small additions of some Christian elements such as mention of saints by name, Jesus Christ, Virgin Marry, cross or even the ending of the most appreciated verse from the Qur'an, surah El-Fatiha "Veledalin amin", invitation to "božiji emer" i.e. God's command, "božija hazma", beginning of certain chapters of the Qur'an such as Elif lam mim, which received its shortened form such as Elzalif, etc. In certain formulas the daughter of god's messenger Muhammad is asked for help, Hazrat Fatima. This practice was taken over from the Ottomans, in whose cult a dominant place was taken by Hazrat Fatima with the emphasis on the power of her hands i.e. her hand: "This is not my hand, this is the hand of Hazrat Fatima!" The word bajanje itself, usually present in the Balkans, probably comes from the area of south Caucasus primarily because of the word bayati which in Azerbaijan signifies an ancient form of folk poetry or better say folk wisdom represented through verses.     

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[1] Today we come across an interesting statement which describes someone's success in some sphere of their life: -"ide mu k'o da mu je naučeno na vodu!" - "he's successful as if someone threw a spell on him!"

[2] In the north-western part of Bosnia it is believed that when someone's tongue itches that he is the target of someone's bad mouthing, then that person, in order to stop the negative propaganda, spits into fire three times and utters: "Ko baje u guzicu staje!" - "May the one that badmouths me go up the ass!" after which it is believed that the badmouthing will stop.

Words - keys of destiny

Bosnian folk firmly believe in the power of magical formulas (basme), which is perhaps best witnessed by the belief which claims that the entire earth rests on  a basma, which is a direct connection between Tur and magical formula, and the "dark earth", i.e. surface of the earth rests on the words from surah Ihlas. This is why these two segments are inseparable and as such a perfect connection of paganism and monotheism. Namely, before uttering any basma, as the old and wise Bosnian women suggest, one must initially utter surah Ihlas a few times, in order to summon god's strength, and only then one can utter a magical formula.

In parts of south-western Bosnia, still today one can hear how allegedly, there is a mysterious magical formula of extreme power, which if discovered and uttered by a man would allow him to rule over the world. This belief entails the question: isn't Tur (who holds earth on his back) in Bosnian mythology also the ruler of earth? Legends say that when Tur shakes his ears an earthquake takes place, and on the day when he shakes his head it will be the end of days. Such a mythological concept is not formed by accident it is based on the belief that a man can rule over Tur, the one that symbolises the strength of the earth but also destiny of the human race; only if man can comprehend the greatest magical formula of all - magical words which are the keys of destiny and also rulers of the underworld forces.

Connection of magical words and Tur can perhaps best be surmised by this example. Namely, according to folk belief from Cazin and Velika Kladuša earth is connected by human speech, which can be confirmed by this example; when a person stutters and cannot pronounce a certain word his interlocutor should stomp his foot on the ground and "free his speech" so he can end the sentence or word. Or a girl at the end of a magical formula places her palms on the surface of the earth and talks to her with these words: "Dark earth, by god mother, help me..." Analysing such a beginning of the formula, which follows physical contact with the earth, it is easy to conclude that behind the term "dark earth" none other than Tur is hidden or Garonja (black) and in the rest of the formula the goddess of earth i.e. Grand Mother.

All in all, this magical representation is not an isolated case but one of many examples from our tradition which perfectly testifies about the segments of a very important cult of earth, primarily agriculture and animal husbandry, whose strength is personified in the form of the gigantic bull Tur. With his horns he is undoubtedly the symbol of pagan Bosnia, and one could conclude the male principle of the Grand Mother. Besides, analysing the indigenous beliefs we can conclude and understand religious-magical concept of our forefathers which, as we see it, believed that one could appease heavenly forces by mystical formulas and in the end rule over them. Such a fact makes this investigative work, which constructively reveals the importance of magical formulas and their mythological background in folk medicine, even more exciting and informative.

 

Nine demons of disease

Usage of exorcist formulas (Greek  exorkiza - beseech, exorkismos - incantation), in folk rituals of healing it is very old has its source in paganism. Namely, in ancient times it was firmly believed that diseases of the body are caused by evil demons with their activity, through spellbound eyes, aggression or entering the human body, therefore the idea that magical formulas can force a demon to leave the human body and return physical and mental balance to a person, was created. In the beginning only shamans and wizards practiced these rituals, and later the practice was taken over by priests and certain persons from the people, which claimed that they were contacted by higher forces with a certain task.

For a large part of magical formulas, especially exorcist ones, it is suggested that they be repeated nine times, especially if one is looking for a stronger effort in dissolving the disease. In folk medicine of BiH there are a lot of such examples, like the one that a person can have the ritual of lead melting repeated nine times, where during every individual ritual the lead will be molten and poured into the water nine times. Of course, every time a magical formula for chasing away evil will be repeated. Nine is the final number, after that the diseased will be either cured or the disease will be considered to be chronic. It is interesting to mention that number nine often appears as a symbol of the demon of disease, which is demonstrated through various examples of belief that there are nine types of stomach illnesses ("from nine hands"), nine spells and diseases, nine son's of the demon mother Sijerma, nine winds, etc. In accordance with this it is necessary to perform a detailed study of the symbology of the number nine, in order to understand its meaning and role in magical rituals of healing.      

In mythological tradition on life, i.e. tree of life, nine demons keep assaulting it; they're sometimes leaders of large armies of evil beings. As nine is the number of the Grand Mother, giver of life, it is very evident that these demons represent a type of a divine opposition which has the function of endangering order of life at all times. What is interesting is that these demons are always female and as such can represent an alter ego of the Grand Mother herself. In modern psychoanalysis demons which attack pregnant women and their children could be placed under the concept of postnatal depression or, better to say, psychosis. Let's not forget to point out that among the Bosnian folk there is a belief that there are "nine types of mothers" but only one of them is good - the one that is taking care of her child.

All those traditional prophylactic beliefs and rituals about pregnant women and her newborn among the Bosnian folk are an inheritance of ancient pagan beliefs based on an epic conflict of dark and light forces. From the ancient Babylonian myths, Mesopotamia or Egypt the story of the creation of the world was always mentioned, when from the allegorical conflict of Good and Evil and ensuing chaos, law and order are created, and with that the necessary conditions appear for life on earth. Evil was always presented in the form of a woman or a hermaphrodite and that mythological idea will dominate all stages of human history and it will receive its culmination with the advent of monotheism, which will spark unheard of killing of women under the ludicrous accusation that they are - witches.

But, through observation of the role of female demons in folklore and mythological beliefs we can see that such a socially acceptable concept of their role is the result of a certain historical aversion. It is, primarily, based on an unchangeable attitude that a woman is the master of life, which in a patriarchal society directly endangers the superiority of men, and that the decision of child birth will depend on her decision and behaviour. That's why monotheism wants to gain complete control over the woman and her body, in order to ensure its survival, and women are traditionally encouraged to give birth, and they are constantly suggested that they are created to serve men. That forced submission of the woman towards man is actually the result of fear and feeling of inferiority which men have towards women because of their natural ability for creation and control of life, which men don't have.

In a worse position were women which didn't give birth, they were usually considered to be evil beings or witches. Namely, one can notice hatred of the community towards women which were infertile or old, which didn't have reproductive powers, and as such they were, allegedly, filled with hatred towards children[1], which is best illustrated by numerous stories where the evil witch eats children. Bosnian traditions were no exception in which witches[2] were portrayed in a similar fashion.

In Bosnian mythology witches have eight forms; as Otrovnica she poisons people's blood, in the form of Krvopilica she would rink people's blood at night, Strava causes cramps in children, Kuga - spreads, while clad in white, the disease pestilence from one place to the other, Činilica - causes mental diseases, when she is in the form of More she attacks people at night, sitting on their chest, stopping their breathing, when a diseased gets a high fever and starts hallucinating, then he was probably attacked by Tvora, and if he is unlucky in love and is always fighting with others, he became the victim of Mraza.

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[1] Although Kron was represented in Greek mythology as the father who eats his own children, it never had any serious influence in creating a mythological representation about an evil male demon which kills children, such case would always be considered to be an isolated case, and often, was brought into connection with the animalistic disposition in humans, comparing such act with the killing of the cubs by some male animals.

[2] In mythological stories two female demons are mentioned, Sijerma and Resma, for which legends claim that they are "king's wives and the biggest witches", which have certain similarities with Umm al Sibyan and El Hamma, female Jinn from Islamic mythology, which are also considered princesses of the Jinn world but witches as well. Their role is to attack pregnant women and small children, especially boys. It is believed that Sijermi is actually the daughter of the Bosnian king Herceg Stjepan, a Bogomil, which was a witch and which knew lycanthropy, which she used to slaughter sheep to local inhabitants in the form of a wolf.

"When Pope Pius II took the seat of St. Peter in the Vatican, he to tried to uproot the Bogomil, to destroy their sanctuary, which they found in the land of king Herceg Stjepan. In 1460 he sent his cardinal legate to Herceg Stjepan, to forbid him from receiving the followers of the heretic Bogomil church in his land, but he didn't succeed with his plan. Political events in Bosnia and Herzegovina diverted attention from religious questions because of the increasing danger which threatened Christianity in the form of the Ottomans, and Herceg Stjepan die as a Bogomil" (Epigraphic hyphens from Bosnia and Herzegovina, GZM, nr. 1889/01, pp. 65, 01/01/1889)       

Bogomil demon of disease

One of the grand authorities of Bogomil religion is a priest called Jeremiah (Jeremija), for which many historians presumed that he could have been the famed Bogomil preiest, founder of Bogomilsm. But, what is certain is that Jeremiah was indeed a Bogomil, and this was confirmed to us by Atanasij, a Jerusalem monk. Without a doubt, we are talking about a very interesting historical person, an extraordinary mind and the biggest religious authority in this part of Europe and we could easily call him the Balkan Zarathustra. Jeremiah is credited with authorship over a number of popular, but forbidden works, but today it is obvious that many of those books had other Bogomil authors. In Russia all those books were called by a collective name "Bulgarian basma (spell)" and they were extremely popular among the folk, which can also be discerned from the inscriptions of the Belarus translation by Iohannes Damascenus from the 16^th century, in which the translator complains: "We haven't even translated the tenth honourable book of our teachers, because of the laziness and neglect of our nobility; and additionally the so called teachers of our century are entertained by Bulgarian basma, Bulgarian magical formulas, or better to say, old wives foolery, they read these things and laud them".

That the Bogomil religion left a deep trace in Bosnian tradition is evident from numerous examples, and some can be found through this analysis. By investigating available data about Jeremiah and his books I discovered another Bogomil belief in Bosnia about the demons of disease. Namely, the Bulgarian folk believed in a type of dangerous witches, or better to say, female demons which attack humans in various ways. They were called Tresavice. According to the writing of Jeremiah they were daughters of Irud and they were seven in number. Among the Russians, which latter took this belief, those demons were 12 in total.

In the Russian version of Jeremiah's exorcist formula (basma) this text is mentioned: "There is a stone pillar in the red sea (in the original basma: Mount Sinai), apostle Sisinij sits on the pillar and observes how the sea has been agitated and how it rises up to the sky and twelve long haired women are coming out of it (in the original: seven). Those women said: We are Tresavice, daughters of the king Irod". Holly Sisinij asked them: "cursed devils, why did you come here?" They replied: "We came to torture the human kind; whomever interests us we will follow and torture him: who oversleeps the morning prayer, doesn't pray to God, doesn't respect holidays and eats and drinks early in the morning, he is our favourite! Holly Sisinij prayed to god: God, God! Save the human race from these damned devils. Christ sent him two angels, Sihail and Anos and four evangelists. They started beating the Tresavice with four iron rods, causing them three thousand wounds a day." In the rest of the basma the tortured demons revealed their names and ways in which they torture people: Treseja, Ognjeja, Ledeja, Gnjeteja, Ginuša, Gluheja, Lomeja, Puhnjeja, Žuteja, Krkuša, Gledeja and Neveja.

 

But, in contrast to Russian, Bosnian folk medicine mentions a total of seven female demons: Mraza, Tvora, Otrovnica, Činilica, Krvopilica, Strava and Mora, of which, each in their own way tortures a man. However, only a few exorcist formulas were kept about a few demons such as the ones against Mora or Strava, while for others, for now, I didn't manage to find any valid data.

Nežit or poganica

Nežit is also another type of dangerous demon of disease against which the Bogomil priest Jeremiah revealed exorcist formulas through which he emphasizes the dualistic battle of good and evil, with the goal of releasing the human body i.e. healing. One of those formulas reads:  

Nežit went from the dry sea, while Jesus went from the sky, they met and Jesus told him: "where are you going, Nežit? Nežit replied: "Sir, I'm going into a human's head, to drink his brain, brake his jaw, bite his teeth, bend his neck and deafen his ears, blind his eyes, stuff his nose, spill his blood. Jesus told him: "go back, Nežit, into a desolate valley and desert, find a deer head and move into it, etc."

(This is an original text of exorcist formulas against Nežit as written by Bogomil Jeremiah).

After the basma has been uttered one would continue with the religious prayers[1] until all the negative effects of this demon has disappeared. As we can see from the above text of the basma, the meeting between Jesus and Nežit is described, where the demon reveals ways in which he will torture humans, while Jesus discourages him and tells him to inhabit a deer's head, etc. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in all places where Bogumils lived, the belief in Nežit has been preserved, over time Nežit was beginning to be called poganica, we will discuss this later.

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[1] It is easy to discern from the name "Bulgarian basma" why it was regarded in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a very powerful formula, for which it was claimed that it "travelled throughout the entire world" and that even planet Earth is standing on top of it. All these beliefs are actually inheritance from all those things which Jeremiah preached and wrote about. Similarly, the practice of healing with basma is an integral part of folk medicine which is based on the teachings of Bogomils, which is in a way testified by the complete lack of the usage of the term bajalica or bajanje. This is why the term basma itself could be translated as a Bogomil prayer or Bogomil formula. And in the end, no less important to mention that Bogomil priests uttered religious prayers in the healing rituals, which completely coincides with the traditional practice of healing formulas in BiH as well as in the terms "uči", "učiti", which are used to utter formulas (prouči basmu/utter a basma), but also prayers (prouči sure/utter a surah).

Nežit or Poganica - demon disease

According to etymology the name nežit and poganica have an interesting origin. Nežit is a term which comes from the term "neither alive nor dead", because of the state the person is in which is afflicted by this disease, while poganica comes from the term pogan(sordid) or unclean, or even pagan, i.e. we could look for the origin of poganica in the demons function from the ancient times, which the demon actually represents, namely an evil spirit which in some ancient time in the religious history of our region, represented one of the numerous dieties.

Undeniably the belief in nežit was present in each territory where at some period during the middle ages Bogomils lived or even if their religion was present in that area. Therefore, for example, in Herzegovina and a part of Dalmatia, it was believed that this disease appears mostly through unexpected pain in human limbs, while there is no visible wound. If the diseased feels weakness and dizziness, the diagnosis is, without a doubt, poganica.

Folk belief from all parts of BiH coincide in the belief that poganica manifests in a mysterious and secret way, usually as a manifestation of spellbound eyes, evil gaze, black magic or by a person accidentally "stepping" on it. During one of the enumerated extreme cases an evil spirit of disease enters into a human and "through blood" attacks the person, or better to say, "travels" through the body, which is identical to folk description of how poganica can appear on any place on the body. That's why, similarly, it is believed that poganica originates from a hematoma, place where "blood has gathered".

According to some specific symptoms, poganica can even be characterized as an imaginary illness, since it is demonstrated by a weird, even phantom pain, which suddenly and unexpectedly appears. But, in order to remove the veil of mysticism, we need to studiously fathom in all it represents in folk medicine, how it is detected and cured. According to the symptoms which follow poganica has the most congruence with rheumatism (Rheumatismus) and gout (Greek, ostealgia), since it is manifested in acute pain, usually in the bones of the arms and legs, neck but also the head.  

Specificity of nežit or poganica is that the disease changes its names if it is felt in the upper part of the body, especially shoulders and neck, since then it is called by stravarke, Sijerma. Its character is that it often attacks the human eye (herpes corneae) and then it receives its third name Metalja.

What is interesting to mention is the fact that poganica is sometimes used to name diseases for which people cannot find an obvious and visible cause. In Bosnia, since the old days, it is claimed that one disease, if treated on time, carries with it another, often more dangerous, disease. A classic example can be found, in the traditional fear that individual wounds on the child's body won't become inflamed and result in two inflammations, or more often, that a hematoma (uboj) doesn't transform into a poganica. This archaic belief is the product of mythological belief of pagan Bosnia when the belief that wounds on human bodies, especially ones that have blood oozing out of them, attract evil spirits of disease and stimulate them to attack the diseased through them.   

 

 

 

Two angels of the afterlife

As Antun Hangi wrote in his anthological edition about the tradition and life of Bosnian people after funeral, when the gathered people leave the cemetery, i.e. move 40 steps from the grave, Suvaldžije or Suradžije come to the deceased to prepare suval for him, i.e. ask him about his earthly life. When Suradžije come the deceased comes to life, but not in the form that he lived on earth, he is in some hypnotic state, from which he will answer all the questions that will be posed to him. According to Bosnian mythology, Suvaldžije are two angels which are called Munkir and Nekir. They're in charge of asking certain questions based on which the decision if the soul will go to heaven or hell will be made. First questions to which the deceased will answer are: "Who is your God?". He will reply: "My God is Allah". Then comes the second question: "What is qibla to you?" - "Qibla is my Mecca". "Who is God's messenger?" - "God's messenger is Muhammad". The questioning doesn't end, then comes the second round of mysterious questions about which people know nothing about. But we can presume that they are tied to the character and good deeds. If the deceased was a good Muslim, i.e. if he was a true believer and if he followed the rules of the religion and abided by them, he will then answer positively and quickly to all questions. The result in the end will be that Suvaldžija will take his soul to heaven. After his soul has been taken to heaven, his grave will be widened so that his body doesn't suffer, since the body of the just will not see judgment day. If the deceased was not a real Muslim and he hasn't died in god's grace and the real fate which was revealed by Muhammad, he cannot then reply to all the questions, and his soul will be taken by Suvaldžija and thrown into hell, which the deceased earned with his inadequate life and character.

Bosnia exists over 2700 years

Map of the Bosnian country of the 7th century BC, published under the Culture presentation of Europe, publication of French National library in Atlas "Europe throughout the centuries" which raised a lot of interest both among the Bosniaks as well as this part of the Europe. In the top left corner of this map it is written "altere eisenzeit 700-450 v.Ch." Inscriptions themselves are of a Duch language, old German - though today these two languages Ducj and Deutsch, are well distinguished because of the modernisation of the German language. Territory of Bosnia is marked by the inscription "BOSNISCHE" and encompasses geographical area from the Adriatic sea until the depths of the inland of the territory that today makes up Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and parts of Montenegro. If we compare this map with the map of discovered tombstones, they fully coincide. Another thing is very important, namely, in the neighbourhood there are inscriptions Illyici, Hallstatty, Kullur. Map that proves that Bosnia exists over 2700 years or 27 centuries is a historical proof of the age of the Bosnian people but also its Illyrian descent. This is why all those lies which were marked to us by so called historians about some sort of affiliation to Slavs or in general any type of historical connection loses all sense. But, this is a very important data for further study of the ancient history of Bosnia and its peoples.




see images: Bosanski teritorij na karti o periodu iz 7. vijeka prije nove ere! Bosnia exists over 2700 years!

Zduhači or Stuhe

The wealth of Bosnian mythology is certainly reflected in numerous names for various beings from the folklore such as guzenzuba, previdi, more, leptirice, plakavac, div, buka, kučibaba, kamenica... Though Bosnia and Herzegovina is a relatively small country often a few names signify one mythological being such as bird-child soul called Plačo, Plakavac, Buka, Meknjača, or for example name for a witch: leptirica, naletnica, sihirbaza, guzenzuba, etc.

Certain mythological beings are tied to geographically small areas such as kamenica and are therefore relatively unknown or there is only mention of them in folk stories. Such is the case with divovi (giants) which among the Bosnian people exist solely in folk tales and stories (Folk short stories, author Munib Maglajić, Esma Smailbegović, Svjetlost, 1978) where cannibals are described while in folklore there is no mention of any memorable giants or a belief about them. 

 

But, when we talk about stuhe or zduhači it is very interesting to mention the data that in BiH, where we come across a widespread belief in stuhe or zduhače, together with border territories of Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia, we can find tombstones. This information is very important since it leads to a conclusion that stuhe or zduhači were probably guardians of tombstones, which was modified after the Middle ages into the belief that stuhe are guardians of a place. In the parts of Bosnia where there are no findings of tombstones there is no mention of stuhe nor mention of a local zduhač, no matter the religious affiliation.

Karanđoloz, psoglav, kučibaba

Three demonic beings which were used to scare people are karanđoloz, kučibaba and psoglav. Karanđoloz is a dark demon from the Turkish folklore about which there is a belief in Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is believed that he wears an iron shirt and that he smells horribly. Karanđoloz has a habit of jumping on one's back at an intersection in order to be carried around. He is a nocturnal being and appears only then.

Kučibaba

Among the Bosnian Catholics and Orthodox there is a belief in a grandma with a hook, which is called kučibaba or grandma kukača. This mythological being was used to scare little children to prevent them from approaching a well or the bank of a river since they could be caught by the grandma with her hook and they could be pulled towards her.

Psoglav

Psoglav (doghead) is a mythological being of Bosnian Orthodox which stems from Russia. It is described as a human being with legs of a horse and the head of a dog. It has teeth of steel and an eye on the middle of the forehead. It is used to scare disobedient children.

Aždaha

Another mythological being about which there are a lot of stories and beliefs in Bosnia is Aždaha which is described by people to be fat and round as a stump, it can devour a goat, has no wings and can be heard when an hour away. "Wherever it comes it will create havoc or evil". According to mythology aždaha which devoured the sun was called Sap. A long time ago there were three suns in the sky and the aždahe which lived in the lake ate two and cut into the third one. People shot cannons at them in vain. Then a gypsy came and said: "Don't do it like that, slaughter a hundred sheep, skin them, fill them with plaster and throw them into the lake in order for aždaha to come out." When they threw plaster the aždahe thought it was a sheep, they ate them and died.

Malo odmora za dušu... pa idemo dalje :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8I96qZO-CI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvn4K16BkyM

Bosanski teritorij na karti o periodu iz 7. vijeka prije nove ere! Bosnia exists over 2700 years!

Karta Bosanskog tla iz 7 vijeka prije pojave Ise – Isusa Hrista, objavljena je u okviru kulturološkog predstavljanja Evrope, izdanje Francuske Nacionalne biblioteke u Atlasu “EVROPA KROZ VIJEKOVE”. Na vrhu lijevo, ove karte, stoji “ALTERE EISENZEIT 700 – 450 v. Chr.” Sami natpisi su starog Duch jezika, staronjemačkog – mada se danas ova dva jezika, Duch i Deutsch, dobro razlikuju radi pretrpljene modernizacije Njemačkog jezika. Teritorija Bosne označena je natpisom “BOSNISCHE” i zahvata geografsko područje od Jadranskog mora pa do u dubinu kopna dijelova današnjih drzava Bosne, Hrvatske, Srbije i dijelove teritorije Crne gore. Ako ovu kartu usporedimo sa kartom lokacija otkrivenih stećaka, one se potpuno podudaraju. Još je nešto veoma interesantno. U susjedstvu se pojavljuju natpisi Illyici, Hallstatty, Kullur.

U vrijeme kad povampirene snage, kako vanjskog neprijatelja tako i unutrašnjih izdajnika, nastoje da realizuju, na lažima strpljivo ispredanu, historiju Bosne zapjenjenih mučkova raznoraznih akademskih znanja, a posebno uljuljkanih lažohistoričara, u lice im bacamo ovaj dokument. Dokaz i izazov.

Kartu koja dokazuje da Bosna živi preko 2700 godina ili 27 vijekova. Pileći mozgovi skloni prepisivačinama domaćih zadataka i izvrtanjima napisanih nagađanja prema ćeifu naručioca, kitili su se oreolima znanstvenika ili neprikosnovenih akademskih veličina. Ogledalo istine pokazuje i dokazuje njihov karakter i suštinu.

Ko je rođen, živio i živi na Bosanskom tlu? Doseljenici, varvari, lažovi, krivotvorci, krivokletnici – ili Bosanski narod! Iako genetika dokazuje da se Bosanski čovjek razlikuje od izmišljenih nadrinaroda, laži i zataškavanja imaju za cilj sakriti istinu. Bez obzira čime se laz služila, ona je nemoćna pred istinom.

Lahko je ubijediti neuka Balkanca da je “sir nastao od snijega”, ali je teško sakriti tu laž od onih koji se drže prirodnih zakona i logički postavljaju pitanja ne mireći se sa tabu temama. Zakon materije i energije izrečen riječima “sve to što jeste, što je bilo kada bilo, ili što će bilo kada biti – nije nastalo iz ništa. Niti to što jeste, može da se pretvori u ništa”, zasvrbi žednog znanja i prirodno logičnog objašnjenja.

Bosna, geografski smještena kao raskrsnica puteva ali poprište borbe različitih kultura, ideologija, vjera, ekonomskih i vojnih sila, kroz svoju dugu historiju paljena, pljačkana, osvajana ali nikad porobljena, pretrpila je ogromne i neprocjenjive materijalne, kulturne i historijske štete. Iz nje su nosili historijsku i kulturnu baštinu šakom i kapom, osvajači, prijatelji i komšije. Iza sebe su ostavljali krvavu zemlju, pustoš i laž.

Upravo na tim lažima, vjekovima je pisana historijska priča, prema željama i apetitima naručilaca. a kako to vjernici kažu da zadovolje svoju dušu, “Bog je bio uvijek na strani istine i pravde”, tako su i dokazi o Bosni strpljivo poput stećaka čekali svoje vrijeme istine.

Istina o Bosni tek se počinje obznanjivati. Fascinantna i neprikosnovena. Počev od revolucionarnog otkrića Bosanskih piramida do obznanjivanja karte o postojanju “termina i teritorije” Bosne. Ono što je posebno interesantno, ova karta objavljena je u zemlji koja se nije pokazala baš kao veliki prijatelj Bosne i Bosanaca, ali je nemoćna da prikrije istinu kako zbog same sebe, tako i zbog drugih oko sebe.

Senad Sprečić