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.
