Holly bull of Bosnian forefathers

Tur is not a Slavic but a Latin word – Taurus, and a lot of similarity is seen in certain Illyrian names such as Teut or Trit, forms such as Tritan or Tritatron, and even Tana or Medauros. It is interesting to note that in the Bosnian language Tur is used for the part of pants, long johns or even pantaloons which connects tights, actually the hem between the legs, which connects them into a whole. Similarly the word Tur can be seen as an abbreviation from the terms poturiti or podturiti i.e. underlay something in order to keep a load or mass from falling. Tur (taxonomically and Latin: Bos primigenius) is an extinct genus of a wild bovine, which lived in Europe, Asia and North Africa, it is a forefather of today’s cattle. The last European exemplar lived until 1627. Tur was from the old days an important animal for the survival of mankind; that’s why the drawings and descriptions of it are present even inscriptions “Comments on the Gaelic wars (Commentarii de bello, Gallico) from Julius Cesar. His character became the status symbol of numerous European states and cities: Alba-lulia, Kaunas, Romania, Moldavia, Turka, province Mecklenburg and Swiss canton Uri, which was named after him. Tur was larger than cattle today which is familiar to us. It was 160-180 cm tall (males) and 150 (females), 2.8 meters long without the tail, the tail was 0,8 meters long. Tur’s had pronounced sexual differences, besides the basic biological differences in the built of sexual organs, they differentiated themselves by colour and size, females were shorter and smaller (smaller backbone) than males. Males were black-brown, and females red-brown, both had light, almost white, horns with black tops. Tur was abundant in almost entire Europe. Their habitat were usually steppe, taiga, wet swampy forests and river valleys. These bovines lived in herds, except a few older bulls which lived alone, until the mating season when they would join the herd. In the herd which had a few dozen units, there was a dominant male, and during the mating period there were fights over the females. mating took place during the end of summer, and calf’s were born during the end of spring. Tur usually fed off of grass, but also fruit, leaves and softer branches. Unlike most cattle today which are in essence day animals, Tur was active at dusk and night. According to the research of the paleontological museum of the University in Oslo, the first exemplars appeared on the area of today’s India before two million years BC, from where they migrated to the Middle East and other parts of Asia. They reached Europe around the year 250 00.

Illyrian cult of Tur

In the religion of our Illyrian forefathers Tur was one of the main segments of the ancient cult of fertility whose influence was retained until today among the Bosnian people. Aleksandar Stipčević, Alojz Benac authors of the book “Cult symbols among the Illyrians: structure and contributions of systematization” (1981) mention the following:

In farming cultures of the earlier iron age, in which the role of a woman, especially in terms of land cultivation is of the utmost importance for the life of the community, the cult of the bull as a principle of fertility represents a dominant component of the entire belief of people at the time. Bull, i.e. bovine, becomes an animal tied to the fertility of earth as the plough farming developed and the role of a woman in ploughing and farming in general lead to incorporation of the symbol of the bull as the principle of fertility in the basic of the religious cosmos of the matriarchal society. iconographicaly reduced to the horns, the bovine quickly became the symbol of the moon because of the similarity of the horns with the new moon. And the moon, as we mentioned earlier, is closely tied to the fertility of nature itself. Hence, the role of the woman in farming work, help of the bovine in the work, similarity of the bovine horns with the new moon, correspondence of the moon phases with the length of menstrual cycles of women, all of this gave an extremely important role to the bovine in the symbolic system of farming cultures from the earlier iron age onward.
With the weakening of matriarchy and its substitution by patriarchy in the metal age didn’t lead to the disappearance of the bull as the principle of fertility. In Greek and Roman religion the bull plays a large role as a sacrificial animal tied to the cult of fertility.

Tur in the folk calendar

Studying the description of living habits of Tur, especially the one about fertility, I immediately noticed a connection with the folk (agronomical) calendar of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is divided in only two seasons – summer and winter – and in which there is a very interesting segment, which was unclear to me from the very beginning, as a student of BiH ethnology. Namely, it is no coincidence that the Bosnian folk calendar begins when summer ends i.e. in the middle of autumn, when mating season of Tur began, and ends in spring, time when new members of the species are born. That we are talking about such a phenomenon is well demonstrated by the belief in three occurrences called Stablići, Kablići and Štapići, each lasts three days, which sums up to nine days, a lunar number and represents a stap, long wooden bowl in which one “pounded” milk and made butterfat, štap or mećajica i.e. an item which was used to “pound” and kabao – wooden vessel for storage of milk. All three names are closely tied to cattle and signified a very important thing, namely, when a cow brings a calf to this world she becomes lactic, in her udders milk is building up which is used to feed the calf but also members of the family which own the cow. That’s why it is clear that this belief stems from the distant past and is directly tied to the Illyrian cult of fertility and Tur.

Further, Stipčević mentions another interesting part which is directly tied to Tur: “In Donja Dolina, near Sanski Most, during excavations in villages a skull of the bull forefather has been found (Bos primigenius) which was, as Ć. Truhelka believes fastened to façade of the house and had a function of bucrania.”

As an inevitable symbol and bearer of fertility, among our forefathers Illyrians, the bull had a central role in celebration of the harvest, when at the beginning of August the bull was slaughtered in the name of the goddess Grand Mother. In that ceremonial segment of sacrificial offering, Celtic-Persian influence is dominant, through celebration of the pagan circle of the year with the ancient myth about the solar god of fertility Mithra, which the Romans inherited from the Persians. Goths which were at one time mixed with the Illyrians and enriched not only genetically but also culturally-religiously the habit of ancient Bosnians, they saw in Tur much more than an ordinary animal, because of his priceless importance in land tillage, and also the cult of fertility, he was identified with the land, as its guardian and ruler.

Identification with the fertile land, which brings food and maintains the community, its physical strength and endurance and striking look of the horns, elevated Tur in the pantheon to the level of divine being in Bosnian mythology. He becomes a gigantic bull which is holding the entire earth on his back. In that way he rules over the destiny of humans, but also everything else. With that he receives the label of Tur land keeper. But, everything is not only left on the mythological representation and iconography which is evident in certain ethnological records which record the ancient practice of dedicating prayers to this heavenly being, which hasn’t been interrupted with the advent of Christianity and Islam to the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the book “Syncretic elements in Islam in BiH” M. Hadžijahić states an interesting part in which he describes the religious practice: “From a poor elderly lady, Puhalovka Alijaginica which lived in Čebedžije in Sarajevo, I managed to record this: On Wednesday afternoon prayer is performed and one bows down to: Ognju and Ognjevu Piru, Tur, Hadži Dedi, Hadži Kasapi, Sitoj Nefisi, Vejsil Karanij, his mother and father…” Under the name Oganj and Ognjev Pir is hidden the god of sun (Oganj name for fire) and his son, from mythological notion that the sun is “born” and “dies”, but for this text the name Tur is the most interesting, as we see, he did not disappear from the religious consciousness of the Bosnian people until the middle of the twentieth century, and after that he was mentioned solely as a mythological being which is holding the earth. In the book the author mentions another perfect example about the preservation of the Illyrian religion in Bosnia. Namely, in the village Turovo underneath Jahorina each year a celebration of Vida was held i.e. Ilyrian god Vidasus, which was converted into a saint with the advent of Christianity in Bosnia, and from then on he is worshipped as holly Vid. Tur and Vidasus, with this toponym and somewhat shortened name, actually best represent how well entrenched the Illyrian religion is amongst the Bosnian people.



Illyrian crest has the sign of a half-moon as a symbol of the horn of Tur.          

Tur - sveti bik naših predaka

Tur nikako nije slavenska već latinska riječ - taurus,  i velike sličnosti se sa njom mogu pronaći u pojedinim ilirskim imenima poput Teuta ili Trita, oblicima Tritan ili Tritatron, pa čak i Tana ili Medauros. Interesantno je navesti kako se u bosanskom jeziku tur naziva onaj dio hlača, dugih gaća ili čak dimija koji spaja nogavice, zapravo njihov porub između nogu, koji ih spaja u jednu cjelinu. Isto tako riječ tur se može posmatrati i kao skraćenica od pojmova poturiti ili podturiti tojest podmetnuti nešto kako bi se zadržao neki teret ili masa da ne padne ili da se ne obruši. Pretpovijesni crtež Tura iz pećine Lascaux Tur (taksinomski i latinski: Bos primigenius) izumrla je vrsta iz roda divljeg goveda, koje je živjelo u Europi, Aziji i Sjevernoj Africi, predak je današnjeg domaćeg goveda. Posljednji europski primjerak živio je do 1627.godine. Tur je od prapovijesti bio značajna životinja za opstanak ljudi; tako da njegove crteže i opise nailazimo od prapovijesnih špilja do spisa „Komentari o Galskom ratu (Commentarii de bello, Gallico) Julija Cezara. Njegov lik postao je simbol mnogih europskih država i gradova: Alba-lulia, Kaunasa, Rumunjske, Moldove, Turka, pokrajine Mecklenburg i švicarskog kantona Uri, koji je dobio naziv po njemu. Tur je bio nešto većih dimenzija nego današnje domaće govedo koje poznajemo. Bio je visok 160-180 cm (mužjaci), i oko 150 cm ženke, dug oko 2,8 m bez repa, koji je imao 0,8 m. Turevi su imali istaknute spolne razlike, osim osnovnih bioloških razlika u građi spolnih organa, razlikovali su se po boji i po veličini, ženske su bile kraće i niže (nešto nižeg hrbata) od mužjaka. Mužjaci su bili crnosmeđi, a ženske crvenosmeđe, i jedni i drugi imali su svjetle, skoro bijele, rogove sa crnim vrhovima. Turevi su bili rasprostranjeni u skoro cijeloj Europi. Njihova staništa bile su uglavnom stepe, tajge, vlažne močvarne šume i rječne doline. Ova goveda su živjela u krdima, osim ponekog starijeg bika, koji su živjeli sami, da bi se u vrijeme parenja pridružili krdima. U krdu, koje je brojalo nekoliko desetina jedinka, postojao je dominantni mužjak, pa je za vrijeme parenja dolazilo do borbi oko ženke. parenje se odvijalo krajem ljeta, a telad su na svijet dolazila krajem proljeća. Tur se najviše hranio travom, ali i voćem, lišćem i mekšim grančicama. Za razliku od većine današnjih vrsta goveda koji su u pravili dnevne životinje, Tur je bio aktivan u sumrak i noću. Prema istraživanju Paleontološkog muzeja sveučilišta u Oslu, prvi primjerci primjerci pojavili su se na prostoru današnje Indije prije oko dva miliona godina p.n.e., odakle su migrirala na Srednji istok i druge dijelove Azije. Do Europe su stigli oko 250 000 godine. (Wikipedija) Ilirski kult Tura U religiji naših ilirskih predaka Tur je bio jedan od glavnih segmenata drevnog kulta plodnosti čiji se uticaj očuvao sve do današnjih dana među bosanskim narodom. Aleksandar Stipčevič, Alojz Benac autori knjige „Kultni simboli kod Ilira: građa i prilozi sistematizacije“ (1981) navode sljedeće: „U zemljoradničkim kulturama mlađeg željeznog doba, u kojima je uloga žene, posebno u obradi zemlje, od najvećeg značaja za život zajednice, kult bika kao princip plodnosti predstavlja dominantnu komponentu cjelokupnog vjerovanja tadašnjeg čovjeka. Bik, odnosno govedo, postaje sa razvitkom plužne zemljoradnje životinja najuže povezana sa plodnošću zemlje, a uloga žene u oranju i u zemljoradnji općenito dovela je do ugrađivanja simbola bika kao principa plodnosti u osnove religioznog kozmosa matrijarhalnog društva. Ikonografski svedeno na same rogove, govedo je brzo postalo simbolom Mjeseca zbog sličnosti tih rogova sa mladim Mjesecom. A Mjesec, kao što smo već ranije spomenuli, najuže je povezan sa plodnošću cijele prirode. Dakle, uloga žene u poljoprivrednim radovima, pomoć goveda u tim radovima, sličnost goveđih rogova sa mladim Mjesecom, podudarnost Mjesečevih mijena sa trajanjem menstrualnog ciklusa u žene  sve je to dalo govedu izvanredno važnu ulogu u simboličnom sustavu zemljoradničkih kultura od mlađeg željeznog doba dalje. Slabljenjem matrijarhata i njegovo zamjenjivanje patrijarhatom u metalnom dobu nije dovelo do išćeznuća bika kao principa plodnosti. U grčkoj i rimskoj religiji bik igra veliku ulogu kao žrtvena životinja u vezi s kultom plodnosti.“ Tur u narodnom kalendaru Proučavajući opis životnih aktivnosti Tura, posebno onaj o plodnosti, odmah sam uočio povezanost sa narodnim (agronomskim) kalendarom Bosne i Hercegovine, koji se dijeli na samo dva godišnja doba – ljeto i zimu- i u kojem postoji jedan izuzetno zanimljiv segment, koji mi je kao proučavaocu etnologije BiH, bio nejasan od samog početka. Naime, nije nimalo slučajno da bosanski narodni kalendar počinje krajem ljeta odnosno sredinom jeseni, kada je započinjalo parenje Tura, i završava u proljeće, u vrijeme rađanja novih pripadnika ove vrste. A da je upravo riječ o tome sasvim uvjerljivo demonstrira vjerovanje u tri pojave pod nazivima Stablići, Kablići i Štapići, od koji svaki traje po tri dana, što čini zajedno broj devet, inače lunarni broj, i sami po sebi predstavljaju stap, duguljasta drvena posuda u kojoj se „udaralo“ mlijeko i pravilo maslo, štap ili mećajica odnosno predmet sa kojim se mlijeko „udaralo“ te kabao – drvena posuda za čuvanje mlijeka. Sva tri naziva usko su povezana sa govedima i označavala su jednu jako bitnu stvar, naime, kada krava donese na svijet mladunče ona postaje ponovo mliječna, u njenom vimenu buja mlijeko kojim se hrani tele ali i pripadnici familije kojoj ona pripada. Zbog toga sasvim je jasno da ovo vjerovanje potječe iz daleke prošlosti i direktno je vezano uz ilirski kult plodnosti i Tura. U nastavku Stipčević navodi još jedan zanimljiv dio koji je direktno vezan za Tura: „U Donjoj Dolini, kod Sanskog Mosta, otkrivena je, prilikom iskopavanja tomošnjih naselja, lubanja prabika (Bos primigenius), koja je – kako misli Ć.Truhelka, bila pričvršćena na pročelje kuće i imala je funkciju bukranija.“ Kao neosporni simbol i nosioc plodnosti bik je kod naših predaka Ilira imao i centralnu ulogu u proslavljanju svečanosti žetve, kada se početkom mjeseca augusta klao u čast boginje Velike Majke. U tom ceremonijalnom segmentu prinošenja ritualne žrtve dominantan je keltsko-perzijski uticaj kroz slavljenje paganističkog kruga godine povezanog s drevnim mitom o solarnom bogu plodnosti Mitri, kojeg su Rimljani preuzeli od Perzijanaca. Goti, koji su se u jednom dijelu povijesti pomiješali sa Ilirima i tako obogatili ne samo genetski već i kulturno-religijski habit antičkih Bošnjaka, u Turu su vidjeli mnogo više nego običnu životinju, on je zbog svoje neprocjenjive važnosti u obradi zemlje, a samim time i kultu plodnosti, poistovjećen sa njom, kao njen vladar i čuvar. Ilustracija Tura u knjizi Sigismunda von Herbersteina iz 1556. s latinskim tekstom Urus sum, polonis Tur, germanis Aurox: ignari Bisontis nomen dederant. Identifikacijom sa plodnim tlom, koje donosi hranu i održava zajednicu, kao i zbog svoje fizičke snage i izdržljivosti te upadljivog izgleda rogova, Tur je u bosanskoj mitologiji podignut na panteon božanskog stvorenja. On postaje divovski bik koji drži cijelu zemaljsku kuglu na svojim leđima. I na taj način vlada nad ljudskom sudbinom, ali i svega drugog živog svijeta. Time on dobija i epitet Tur zemljodržac. No, da sve nije ostalo samo na mitološkoj predstavi i ikonografiji pokazuju i pojedini etnološki zapisi koji bilježe drevnu praksu upućivanja molitvi ovom božanskom stvorenju, koja se nije prekinula niti nakon dolaska kršćanstva i islama na područje Bosne i Hercegovine. U knjizi „Sinkretistički elementi u islamu BiH“ M.Hadžijahić navodi jedan zanimljiv dio u kojem se opisuje ta religijska praksa: „Tada sam od jedne siromašne starice, Puhalovke Alijaginice, koja je stanovala u Čebedžijama u Sarajevu, doslovce zabilježio ovo: „Srijedom se klanja podne (muslimanska molitva u podne) i pokloni se: Ognju i Ognjevu Piru, Turu, Hadži Dedi, Hadži Kasapi, Sitoj Nefisi, Vejsil Karaniju, njegovu ocu i materi..“ Vjerovatno se pod nazivima Oganj i Ognjev Pir krije bog Sunce (oganj je naziv za vatru) i njegov sin, iz mitološke predodžbe kako se Sunce „rađa“ i „umire“, no za ovaj tekst je najzanimljiviji pojam Tur, koji kako vidimo, nije nestao iz religijske svijesti bosanskog naroda sve do polovine dvadesetog vijeka, a nakon toga se o njemu pričalo isključivo kao o mitološkom stvorenju koje na sebi drži Zemlju. U knjizi autor navodi još jedan savršen primjer o očuvanoj ilirskoj religiji u Bosni. Naime, U selu Turovo ispod Jahorine održavala se i proslavljala svake godine proslava Vida odnosno ilirskog boga Vidasusa, koji je dolaskom kršćanstva u Bosnu preobraćen u  sveca, i od tada se štuje kao sveti Vid. Tur i Vidasus, ovim toponimom i donekle skraćenim nazivom, zapravo na najbolji mogući način prezentiraju koliko je ilirska religija čvrsto ukomponirana u bosanskom narodu. Ilirski grb ima znak polumjeseca kao simbola rogova Tura

Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People

Cult of the snake

In order to write credibly and in detail about the cult of fertility of the Bosnian people, it is necessary to start from the beginning which goes back to the ancient times and speaks about our famous forefathers the Illyrians, and one of their most important deities - snake. Namely, Illyrian cult of the snake as a primary symbol of fertility in folk religion of the Bosnian people, is not only noticeable in the belief about the home snake - protector of the family, i.e. totem of the head of the family, usually a male, i.e. father, but also her sacred meaning.  The snake cult, on which the genesis of the grandfather of our forefathers is based on, has an even wider meaning and significance. In archetypal beliefs the snake is probably the personification of life force and without a doubt a personification of the spirit of the nature which encourages fertility and creates life. Remnants of the once extremely widespread cult of the snake among the Bosnian people are demonstrated in numerous beliefs. Some of them have been preserved and documented and are a type of reminder of our ancient past.

To represent all the beliefs of our people about the snake itself more credibly, and to bring them in connection with the Illyrian cult of fertility, it is necessary to cite what has been written down by Augustin Krstić in his work "Urežnjaci from folk healing of Bosnia and Herzegovina":

Snake skin as a cure

Though not many, in Bosnia, I stumbled across some female (rarely male) hands which had "punctuated" snake tattoos. When asked: why are the snakes punctuated? - I didn't receive equal or similar answers. Usually I have been told, that it should be like that (They often say: "It's a custom since the old days"). These three answers are perhaps the meaning of those snakes: "Brings good luck - Defends from spells - Won't be bitten by a snake". People spoke timidly about the tattooed snakes and snake skin, only in some villages I heard accusation about some women because "they carry snake skins".

Snake skin as medicine is usually taken in powdered form by folk, mixed with almost anything, while I barely came across a few cases of it being worn around the waist as a means of some help.

Snake skins are gathered in paramljeće (spring), when snakes change their skin! They are found in thorns, fences, etc. since snakes then move through something tight, in order to get rid of the old skin.

"Crush the skin" and drink in milk - and a nursing lady will get her milk. It is a cure for those women, which nurse children but which don't have milk of their own.

Crush the skin and rub your hands and feet with it, cure for those with sweaty palms and feet!

Women which can't get pregnant need to drink marigold herb, teucrium herb and a bit of the crushed skin, and she will get pregnant! She will achieve the same effect if she carries the skin around her waist.

A woman carrying snake skin around her waist will marry the person that she wants! With a lot of discretion I received some data on carrying "snake waist", such women are called in the village snake woman or girl woman.

To kill a snake which bit you and crush her head, place it over the wound will draw out the poison!

Through the mentioned data it is evident that the ancient beliefs about the snake have been preserved, a symbol of fertility, the snake also had the role of deity which enabled a girl to get married, start a family i.e. give birth and feed her children. The act of tattooing the snake among women has the same purpose since it is familiar through the history of religion that various people usually tattooed symbols of gods, their protectors, with the goal of achieving a more intimate relationship with them with the purpose of getting benefits which is evident by the statements of the snake defending from spells and snake bites. We should certainly take into consideration that the text originated in the first half of the twentieth century, which by itself creates a large continuity and testifies about traditional conservation of Illyrian traditions and beliefs among our people.

Snake - keeper of worlds

It is impossible to assume that the cult of fertility could exist without the snake which proves that numerous examples where it is represented as a kind of life carrier, since it takes care of the preservation of the human race which can be confirmed through a few examples from the Bosnian tradition (1). According to the legend which can be heard today from the older population in the northwest part of Bosnia during the time of the flood the mouse drilled a hole at the bottom of Noah's ark, bringing everyone in danger from water penetrating inside the ship. The snake was the only one that noticed it and quickly threw itself onto the mouse, swallowed him and curled above the hole in order to stop the penetration of the water in the ship.

Primeval connection of the snake, divine totem of the Illyrians, and the Bosnian people themselves was never interrupted, despite bloody and painful parts of our history. Even with the advent of the Bogomils, whose religion was dominant in the middle ages in Bosnia, there was a special reverence towards the snake and unlike other directions of the Bogomil faith, the character of Satan was not seen in the snake. Sin which got Adam and Eve ejected from heaven was not caused by the snake, but a sexual act of the first people, according to monotheistic belief.



According to a Bogomil legend, when god drove out people from heaven, he gave them various diseases, from which we still suffer. But God, in his vast mercy created an herb for each disease, so that humans can cure themselves when sick. Numerous legends speak of this, about a mysterious doctor called Lokuman or Lacmanin, about whom we don't know much, not even his nationality, nor religion, nor where he comes from. There is a possibility that we're talking about a man, doctor or mystic, from western Europe primarily because in the past the Bosnian people called all those people wearing a tight suit a Lacmanin, and later that same name was used to denote Germans. As legends say, on one occasion Lokuman accompanied by a villager headed to the mountains. When they came to the area with the thickest forest, he took out a wand and whistled with it, and immediately a multitude of snakes appeared around him. He picked out one of them, caught her, whistled and all other snakes dispersed. Lokuman slew the snake, he punctured the snakes body with a stick and cooked it over a fire. Since he cooked her, Lokuman ate the snake and said to his follower to bury the grill in the ground. But, since this all was strange and interesting to him, before burying the stick he licked it to see how the snake tastes. When they headed towards the mountain, the Lokuman's follower could understand all the plants around him, without realising how it happened. One plant said: "My name is so and so, and I'm a cure for such and such disease, another said a similar thing, etc." When one of the plants: "My name is comfrey (Symphytum officinale) and I'm a cure for hernia!", the follower laughed and the Lokuman asked him: "why are you laughing?" - "No reason!", - "Did you eat some of the snake?" - "No!" - "Open your mouth so I can check". The follower opened his mouth and the Lokuman spat in them immediately, and immediately the plants stopped speaking.

(1) There is a thesis that the Greeks, neighbours of the Illyrians, took a good deal of the religious beliefs tied to the snake and add them to Asclepius, god of medicine, which is depicted as a man with cane around which a snake is wrapped.
Because of such information, the Illyrian snake cult doesn't end with this example, there is other documented information which point to the conclusion that among the Bosnian people, the snake always had divine, supernatural abilities to influence people's lives.

Illyrian legends

Mythological involvement of the snake in the cult of fertility is evident through ancient Illyrian legends, with whose analysis we can discern in greater detail the connection of the snake with other elements of this cult, especially wheat. In the book "Ancient pledged monuments on the locality of BiH" (1977), author Enver Imamović mentions an interesting piece of information about the connection of wheat and a female deity: "For example, in Herodotus we find data about a female deity among Paionians which are identified with the Greek Artemisia. Illyrian women sacrifice wheat straw to her". Artemisia is known as the goddess of hunting, nature and animals, all things that Illyrians ascribed to the goddess Tana. With this data we are closer to the conclusion that Tana is behind the Great Mother, often times depicted on reliefs and monuments alongside god Vidasus. Wheat plays a pronounced role in the cult of fertility and the act of offering of wheat to the goddess has the goal of securing her grace and successful harvest. Dominant symbol of the one that gives life, first deity in human history, for the Illyrians wheat represented the biggest sanctity but also ancient sin.

During the time of the Roman's i.e. Roman occupation there was a father with seven sons and one daughter in Illirika. At one opportunity the sons out of boredom and wanton took the bread out of the house, placed it on a larger stone and used it for target practice with spears. The father was unaware of their actions, but hearing their laughter he decided to see what was going on. At the same time, while the father was exiting the house, the spear of one of the sons hit the bread, and to everyone's surprise, blood started to flow out of it. Seeing this the father yelled at his boys, asking what they have done, because now they caused the wrath of gods, which will punish them surely. Punishment is ruthless since god's sentence sons to banishment and they have to leave the home, parting on all four sides of the globe, and the only ones left are the father and his daughter. Soon the father died out of great sorrow for his sons. The girl wept and mourned since she was the only one left in the house. The god's decided to turn her into a huge snake which will guard treasure in a deep cave and each year, during spring, she would go out onto the daylight, to have a chance to meet a hero, whose courage will be so great that he will kiss her between the eyes. If he performs this feat he will receive the treasure and the girl as his wife.

Besides being interesting, the legend reveals some historical facts such as sons leaving the home for such a long time that their father didn't live to see them return. Namely, after a long Illyrian uprising against the Romans, the occupying forces decided to send Illyrian men to the boarders of the Roman empire where they would serve the army for twenty or thirty years, after which they will be allowed to return home, if they survive. Sorrow and loneliness of the girl and her transformation into a snake, symbol of fertility, similarly speak of girls which couldn't get married and achieve motherhood because of the lack of men. But, more than that, the appearance of the snake in spring hints to awakening of fertility in nature, regeneration of the eternal cycle of new birth, and throughout the entire content of the myth, we have a few crucial elements which mutually agree and complement each other: young men, whose sexual power is represented by a spear - phallus, and bread the symbol of the Grand Mother, i.e. virgin, which is being penetrated by a spear, act of defloration. We shouldn't leave out the meaning of number 9 (seven sons, father and daughter) which is the number of the Grand Mother, with which this legend represents one of the oldest Illyrian legends which remained in the collective conscience of our people. Also, bread placed on the stone and punctured with a spear could represent a type of sacrifice to Illyrian gods before the men leave for war.

In another Illyrian legend there is talk of a time of wellbeing, when the people lived in times of plentiful food; the people developed hubris and became ungrateful. In their arrogance they made shoes out of bread which angered the gods and they punished them with a period of hunger and poverty.

In this legend also we notice historical sequences about a period of peace i.e. wellbeing and a period of war (hunger), which are always connected with god's of fertility, which is understandable if we take into consideration the fact that survivability of people depended on their fertility from the beginning of times. That's why in traditional Bosnian belief we come across numerous taboos tied to bread;

it's a large sin to trample bread crumbs;

bread shouldn't be turned upside down on the table;

you shouldn't walk down the street and eat bread.

Hearth as the centre of a household and a place where bread was baked is holly and it is forbidden to thread on it, i.e. undertake blasphemy.

Not even rain was allowed to fall on the hearth that's why the dormers was closed every night, otherwise an owl could fly inside the house, personification of death in ancient beliefs of our people. Namely, if an owl enters the house through a dormer, the entire family will die.

One even swears on bread, namely, if it so happens that a person is talking while eating and holding bread in his hand he would utter: "It was like that, I swear by this nimet (bread)!"

Infertility, polygamy and abuse

According to traditional understanding a woman has two main tasks; to do house chores well as well as chores in the field and give birth to children. If she is not up to the challenge which are expected of her, especially in the segment of fertility, she is sure to be exposed to public judgment and other repercussions. Without a doubt societies attitude towards infertile women is absolutely inhumane and every sterile woman was treated like a second class citizen - persona non grata. During a periods of crisis in our history such women were regarded as unworthy of life since resources are wasted on her which are more needed for the existence of "fertile" members of the society. Luckily such a stance did not last long since the collective conscious awoke slowly transformed under the influence of improved living conditions.

As Antun Hangi wrote in his anthological work about the life and customs if Bosnian people, a woman not giving birth to children is not dear to her husband, though she was once dear to him. He considers her to be a tree without fruit, rose without petals, therefore she needs to be cut down. Groomsman says to the bride:

Gaze upon those yellow oranges,
If the tree didn't bear fruit each year,
My brother would've cut it down.
Gaze upon the yellow lemon,
If the tree didn't bear fruit each year,
My brother would've cut it down.
Gaze upon the flush roses,
If the rose didn't bloom each year,
My brother would've cut it down.

Ali-bey has a wonderful wife, which he loves dearly. A year has almost passed, and she bares no children. This angers and saddens him. One day he goes to the village to visit his estate and commands his brother, wife's groomsman, to cut her down:

By god my brother Muhammad!
I'm going on my Timar,
when the young bride arrives,
bring her into the haz yard,
then cut her down,
when I don't have the heart,
let her not be my bride then!

In order to avoid the murder of a fertile woman the husband would decide to marry another wife, in order to ensure an heir, which is why polygamy was widespread in the past and was exempt from public judgement, especially if the first wife was infertile. Researching documented data on the subject, but also leaning on the statements of informants which were of an older age, average age 70-90 years, it is evident that military and political conditions influenced the behaviour of people and their social consciousness besides the pure desire for offspring. After WWII famine and scarcity came and once again changed the outlook on life of the entire community. But, what is fascinating is the resilience of people and their desire to survive. In such imposed circumstances polygamy had its practical purpose, besides the deficit of sexually mature men, since it fit perfectly in the sustainability of the family. Namely, since there was no industry at that time the entire existence was reliant on agriculture, another woman took care of the children, elderly or diseased members of the family as well as cooking and the first woman had a task to do all chores outside of the home. Such labour and obligation division had a practical purpose, however such relations were often inharmonious and full of conflict from the inside.

Ilirike

History of polygamy is a long one in Bosnia and it was recorded among our forefathers the Illyrians which is written in the work by Salmedin Mesihović "Ilirike":

For men from getskih and tračkih peoples, Strabon mentions that they had more than a few wives. (Strab Geo. VIII. 3,4-5, Steph) The presence of polygamy was confirmed in the ruling house of king Agron, which alongside his wife Teuta, which was his first and most influential wife, also had another wife called Triteuta, mother of Pines. It is possible that Agron took Triteuta for his wife, since he did not have any male offspring with Teuta. It is interesting to note that Teuta, and not the biological mother Triteuta or Skerdilaida, was the one who was the custodian of the successor to the Illyrian throne after Agron's death. With this we not only see that polygamy was not rare among the Illyrian people, but in fact that it was pronounced, probably more among the clan-based aristocrats, leaders of the brotherhood and royal family.

Though in the magazine Behar, 2001 issue, it is mentioned that "having multiple wives" was accepted in the strict part of the Bosnian krajina (border), from Cazin - Pecigrad - Velika Kladusa, however this does not reflect the real situation in the field since such phenomenon was documented in areas such as Jajce but also other parts of BiH, not only among the Bosniaks but also Bosnian orthodox and to a lesser extent Catholic.

In the ethnological work GZM called "traditions of private and family life", subheading "traditions tied to birth", the following is mentioned: "We're mentioning one example in an Orthodox family in the village Lubovo (Jajce). D.S. lived with a woman 30 years of age. He didn't have children with her. A few years ago he arranged with his wife to bring and marry another woman, a widow, from the same village. The village didn't object to this proposal. But, due to disagreements between these two women, the husband divorced the first woman and married the second."

But, it would be wrong to conclude that man married other women because their wives were infertile, polygamy evidently had connections with improper social norms i.e. a certain man was shown as being rich, capable of supporting two wives, but what is most important - it glorified his libido and ego. However, such marriages often failed and ended in extremely disturbed family relations and brought one wife in unfavourable position and often her children. One of such examples was mentioned in the Yearbook of the faculty of law in Sarajevo (1955) where a statement of a banished wife from Velika Kladuša is cited: "I lived with his second wife for 6 years, and two years ago she threw me out of the house and now I'm living with his aunt. I lived with him for 15 years. We have 3 children. I don't want to part from him nor my children, since with him I earned all my assets.(2)"

Though polygamy is an old marital tradition spread throughout many parts of the world it is interesting that in the past it often originated during difficult living conditions, or as a consequence of war, when a man had to take care of a few women and children that came about from such relationships. Deficit of male population in a certain area or region was a key issue in the area of northwest Bosnia, where the border between Islam and Christianity lasted the longest. With the death of a large number of adult males there was unquestionably a decline of population and polygamy should be analysed using this data as a social phenomenon which is not close to the wider European tradition. Due to tragic historical events, after the fall of Ottoman empire, especially WWI and WWII the need for polygamy was continued and its advent was recorded up until the middle of the twentieth century.

Balkan and primitivism

 

We can also read in the yearbook various court confessions of women who were targets of physical and mental abuse by their husbands, which is best presented by an extremely difficult position of women in Cazin krajina (border) in the 19th and 20th century.

"He beats her in certain moments when he should be extremely kind and gentle towards her. One man beat his wife while she was lying sick in bed (29/49), and another person, seven days after birth (119/48). This is what is stated in one appeal: "He tortured me in various ways, locked me all day inside the house without food, and when he arrived, he would beat me with a rubber until I would faint." (8/48) There were cases where husbands would rip out their wife's hair when angry (Velika Kladuša, 110/49). One cannot believe the ways in which husbands torture their wives. There was one person that beat his wife, tied her hands, and when in bed he would stand on her hands and he would slap her in the face. After that he would throw her out of the house barefoot into the snow (Velika Kladuša, 95/51).(3)

Of course, we should stress that the phenomenon of torturing women is not only characteristic for BiH but for the entire Balkans where the social trend of marginalizing women was pronounced for ages, this was deeply intertwined with physical and mental torture, which often ended in murders. It is unthinkable that today, in the 21st century, we have the same issues of the previous generations which is the result of primitivism which is, unfortunately characteristic for the Balkan. Though we're talking about a relatively small geographical area or Europe it abounds in pretty much unhealthy family and relations as well as nationalism, which is mostly thanks to Serbia and the Serbian people which suffers from a deep historical frustration and complex (4). Desire for hegemony and endangering surrounding peoples actually always produced negative effects to the consciousness of neighbouring peoples which couldn't develop internal social and family relations, unlike many European people, since they were under a constant threat from hegemony in all its forms (5). EU has a great task in trying to civilise that barbaric people and force it to face their catastrophic historical mistakes, and crimes, which would definitely have a positive effect on other people in the region, that would help in creating democracy and advancement of the society as a whole.

NOTE

(2) Patriarchal, and conservative society such as Bosnia, imposed the fact that the father should be the leader of the household, and that his wife is behind him, i.e. the mother, they lead the family in an authoritative way which was void of any possibility of choice. As the mother/mother in law was a victim of such a system, she acted the same way towards her daughter in law on purpose or not, and with this she consciously or unconsciously encourages and justifies mistreatment from her son. Mothers of daughters in law threatened their daughters that they have to be hard working and obedient and that if "your husband starts to hate you, so will God!" They threatened that they won't be able to return to their house, since "you chose your own husband and now deal with the consequences!" or they would say a fairly familiar phrase at that time: "My daughter, suffer, I also suffered!".
Of course, there were different parents which didn't allow their daughters to be tortured by their husbands in the husbands home; there were families which were harmonious and such things were rare. Because of the disastrous position of women in this part of our country in central part of Bosnia, especially Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica, Banja Luka, people used to say "we wouldn't give our cat, let alone our daughter to get married in Cazinska krajina (Cazin boarder).

(3) Source of this aggressive behaviour should be sought in historical misfortunes and issues which were constantly present in this area, Dr. Husein Dzanic wrote about this in his work "Medicine and healing practices of Muslims in Mala Kladuša":
To go through all the things that the Bosnian's of Cazin have gone through and stay unschated is not a small matter. All things which were ours meant that it was owned by others for both kingdoms. Disease and hunger were an everyday occurrence for inhabitants of Cazin. The people remember, and Bašagić wrote down in 1900 :"On June 23rd 1790 general Walisch with numerous troops, good machines and cannons besieged Cetin from all sides, which was defended by a 120 year old captain Ali Bey Beširević with a thousand fellows. All inhabitants of Cetinje, beside the old captain and 124 of his fellows (which escaped to Mala Kladuša) found a hero's death in the battle for their hearth. Cetin burned for four days, until all things wooden burnt down." Daily attacks on villages around Kladuša, plundering and banditry left soot, dead and wounded to be a burden for the living. Continuous healing of the wounded helped people forge a wealth of experience.
Johan Weickard Valvasor in 1689 writes: "During the peace even our people go to Turkey (i.e. Cazin krajina/boarder) taking and plundering everything they can." Since he's writing about his own people, he's not saying that they're stealing, raping and killing "everything" they find, and behind such campaigns there are countless martyrs buried alongside the road and a lot of work for hospitals which helped the wounded.
After 1790, when Mala Kladuša was inhabited by victims from Drežnik, Cetingrad, Sadikovac, Tatarvaroš and other villages Kardun and Lika, one could hear groans from brushwood huts from the wounded and mutilated women and children, elderly and young people alike. There a refuge from the slaughter was found by once numerous families Keikić, Mujić, Galijašević, Murtić, Ćehić, Džanić, Kajtazović, Hasić.
They left their houses on Kardun and Lika, their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers who simply disappeared unless suffocated in caves by straw. Lapašić, though a servant of Austrain authorities, said about the crimes against Muslims: "But as the Christened Turks were tortured by Christian inhabitants in Lika, they killed most of them, they also tormented the poor Vrangradce (people from Vrnograč), not just the Christian and Orthodox people from borderlands but also military officers." They forced them to crush the tombstones of their deceased and to build roads with them so that all trace of "Turks" will be lost.
Inhabitants of Mala Kladuša brought the weak, wounded and the sick, as well as the experience in healing. Healing knowledge was transferred from one generation to the next from the grandfathers mouth to the grandchild and that's how today we still know how to bandage a festering wound, how to fix a broken hand or leg, how to make a cure for fever.

(4) During the war in BiH from 1992-1995 a mass torture was performed over the civil society, women, children, elderly but also male civilians. Around 80% of rapes took place in concentration camps. The main goal of systematic mass rape in Bosnia was a war strategy to accelerate deportation of non-Serb national groups from certain areas, as a strategy accepted by Bosnian Serbs and Serbian politicians. Rape of Bosnian women should be looked at through different goggles: since the attack on Bosnian women was one form of aggression. The most severe form of torture was sexual abuse. There is clear evidence that rape and other forms of sexual violence were not results of armed conflicts or a form of revenge of the brave armed forces, but a well-planned and systematic policy in the context of operation>ethnic cleansing>. Rape was one form of aggression. In December 1992 the Mission for finding proof from the EU, found out that 20 000 women were raped by the army of the Bosnian Serbs. In their third report the UN commission for human rights 10.02.1993 special correspondent on the situation of human rights on the territory of ex-Yugoslavia concluded with the help of medical and psychiatric experts: >That rape was used as a slow instrument of ethnical cleansing, most of the raped women were Bosnian Muslim women from BiH which were raped by Serbian forces> i.e. that rape must be considered as systematic and ordered action and important element of Serbian war strategy. Through medical centre for rape and sexual abuse under the name >Medica> in Zenica from 1993-1997 over 35 000 women passed. These numbers were mentioned to show the number and methodicalness of rape of Bosnian women and girls. All studies show that rape was not an aggressive manifestation of sexuality, but a sexual manifestation of aggression. In case of BiH it was the roughest form of aggression, which was only a substitute for genocide. In large wars in Europe it was known that victors would abuse the situation and would trample their victims, but there was never a systematically organized sexual terror. First time in history, rape of women, which was planned and organised during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was pronounced a war crime and a crime against humanity. ( http://www.accts.org.ba/sekcija%20z.html)

(5) It is interesting that this area, especially BiH, is historically prone to occupation and hegemony, starting from the Roman Empire, which occupied our Illyrian forefathers, all the way to the advent of the Slavs, Ottomans, Austro-Hungary and in the end Yugoslavia.

Historical adversities of Illyrian-Bosnian people

In this short reference on the history of polygamy among the Bosnian people we can conclude that numerous historical and environmental opportunities had influence on its appearance and that it often appeared at times of certain crises, more as a practical option for preserving the family, then a status symbol of economic power of a certain male. It is interesting to note that contrary to popular belief, Islam as the religion determinant of Bosniaks had the least amount of influence on polygamy which is not the case among the Arabic people. Actually, after the occupiers (ottomans) left, Islam never fully developed in Bosnia in the traditional and cultural conscience of its people unlike for example among the Arabs, Turks or Iranians, primarily because as a European nation we were completely different from the people through which this religion reached us. A similar thing happened with Christianity which the Bosnian people rejected in its enforced form, and instead embraced a Bogomil religion. Constant resistance towards everything which came from the outside is obviously a product of historical resistance of Illyrians towards the Roman empire, which largely destroyed the Illyrian people in its entirety, and left a constant need for resistance in the collective consciousness of this people.

The issue of traditional family violence is also less connected to polygamy, and it stems from the patriarchal upbringing according to which a man "can fit everything under his hat" - adultery, abuse of his wife and children, without any public scrutiny; the cult of man as a warrior, protector, head of family was largely based on this belief. On the other hand, women were systematically raised to be subservient to men, they had a role of pleasing their husbands sexual needs, taking care of the house, feeding and giving birth to children. Women had to accept this forced role and over time they too became convinced that this role suits them. But, this doesn't mean that they were pleased with this degrading position which is evident by numerous folk statements such as "damned is the one who is born as a woman!", "a woman is even hated by god!", etc. Patriarchy had, without a doubt pronounced hatred towards women in its principles and history has proven this on numerous occasions. Let's remember the medieval inquisition which burned them because they were "witches". Besides, how else would one interpret numerous folk statements such as this one: "it's better to give birth to a dead son, than a live daughter?!"

In Cazin krajina (borderland) the negative attitude towards women was pronounced to the point that even old women said "that even the smallest male child was older than an old lady" i.e. one must show him greater respect then towards an old lady. Another disastrous mistake of patriarchy was purposefully (constantly) accentuated to the daughters from early childhood that they are "foreign", that they will find a husband and leave the home. Actually, the biggest concern of the parents is for their daughter to get married and leave the house, i.e. to get rid of them. The fact is that the highest percentage of marital violence is caused by the parents of the wife which passively observe what is happening, and they even force their daughter to bear with the violence, out of fear that she will return to their home and embarrass the family?!
All of this had a huge impact on the self-consciousness of Bosnian women which has a great challenge in front of her even today, a fight to prove her equality to men.

Plum and gift for the Grand Mother

It is necessary to emphasize that cohabitation relationships in the past often resulted in a real fight between two women, which tried to harm one another in all possible ways and achieve the goal that one of them is physically removed from the house. Inoća i.e. the other wife of the husband could harm her rival via magic without discrediting herself, all the while hiding her animosity and antagonism.

It is known from the narratives of people that revolted women often sought help from local witches so that they can destroy love and fertility in their rivals. One of the more famous rituals which were undertaken by a witch entailed using the underpants of the victim, seven grains of wheat and three beads of beans. After wrapping the beads into the underpants the witch would bring them over a fire and light them a bit and utter a certain formula.

If pregnancy of the rival happens before inoća has undertaken some of the magical options, she wouldn't give up but on the advice of an elderly lady she would go to the graveyard and she would pick one weed each from the top of grave, then from the middle (hands) and in the end from the bottom i.e. above the legs of the deceased. She would bring those three herbs home, she would grind them and place them into the food of her rival discretely, in order to cause a miscarriage. She would also take a handful of dirt from the grave, mix it in some water and discretely rub the edges of clothes of the woman whose destruction she tried to invoke.

Whether she is acting individually or with the help of a local witch, the spells which were prepared at the time were extremely negative, filled with hate and desire for destruction. Even when, despite the undertaken actions, pregnancy was not stopped, inoća didn't give up her plan, she waited for the time when her rival will be in the most vulnerable state and position - during birth and after it. She would try at all costs to get some blood that exited her rival, she used that blood as the main ingredient for preparation of spells of hatred and discord. Similarly, she would often, while feigning care, make her maslenicu (maslenjak) and she would bake it on dried plum branches. According to legends of old Bosnian ladies if the woman that gave birth would eat that maslenica, she would lose weight in a very short period and her face would be pale, since "a woman is easily hit by magic during četeresnica (name for the first 40 days after giving birth".

As the plum is the first fruit that blooms in the spring it is no wonder that it is dedicated to Baba (the one that has "obabila" i.e. gave birth) i.e. Grand Mother, in folk religion of BiH. A large part of ritual practice of young girls and women is shaped by ritual procedure towards the plum, towards which one dedicates various prayer type formulas. From an elderly informant (Zejna Ćerimagić, 79 years of age) I found out that women in the past used to make and leave maslenica at the foot of the plum tree as alms for healthy birth. I am of the opinion that in that ritual, besides the mentioned, is hidden a thanks for the achieved fertility but also the desire for protecting the mother and her child. Ritual was usually needed since spells with baking maslenica on plum branches reveals a dualistic nature of the Grand Mother, her alter ego, which gives gifts but also takes away fertility and birth.

Studying the role of maslenica in the cult of fertility I noticed its pronounced role and some very interesting beliefs about it. In Tešanj it is claimed that maslenica "is the oldest pie in the world" and this claim opens the door for further analysis. Preparation of juhki or jufki (phyllo dough) and the process of spreading the dough was brought by the Ottomans to Bosnia, and generally the Balkans. According to some historical data the method of spreading dough with a roller pin was first seen in Turkey sometime around the 16th century. That's why it is perfectly clear that until the occupators have arrived in BiH, maslenica never existed. However, there remains the question why our elders i.e. women saw in maslenica the perfect offer for the Grand Mother? The answer is probably hidden in the way it is prepared. Traditionally maslenica was made out of, as her name suggests, butterfat, and it could replace bread. We shouldn't forget that the cow (milk, cheese, butter) was dedicated to the Grand Mother. On the table the dough was well oiled with melted butter, once the dough has soaked the oil, it is stretched by hand across the table. It then usually crosses over the edge of the table. Then follows the rearrangement from each side of the table, which is four times, and then another rearrangement follows, this time less, so that it is smaller, when visually we get a shape of an opening i.e. vagina. Laying the pie in the casserole, which is in the shape of a circle or stomach of the pregnant woman, speaks volume of the symbolism.


Maslenjak, maslenica or masnica

In descriptions of other rituals with maslenica we notice its direct connection with fertility and care for children. Namely, during the preparation of meals for a wedding, maslenica is always made and is offered alongside other meals to the newlyweds. After the first marital night and defloration of the bride, the remnants of maslenica would often be snatched away by the inhabitants of the household and guests because of the belief that all those that eat at least one bite of it will not have stomach aches during that year. To a woman that has given birth one usually brings maslenica on that or the next day, and if she gives birth to a daughter, she would ritually turn the maslenica upside down in the casserole before eating it so that she can give birth to a son next time. We shouldn't forget to mention the traditional statement of Bosnian women which are known for the ease of giving birth that they would now "give birth to a child for a maslenica with a grilled chicken!" If the child is having difficulty in making its first steps then the mother would mix dough for maslenica, spread it over the table and take the child by his hands and would lead him slowly across the dough, so that the child can leave footprints on the dough. After that the dough is rearranged and baked and the maslenica is eaten by all the household inhabitants, etc.

Because of the described magical and supernatural clashes caused by spite, envy and often the instinct for survival and existence, a great fear has been developed, especially among the female population, and the need for various taboos which would ensure healthy birth but also peace in the home. Repercussions is best demonstrated in the belief that the most life dangerous sihir (spells) are the ones created during Babine i.e. first 40 days after birth. They are difficult to cure and both the woman and the child can fall seriously ill. Also, still today in rural areas it is claimed that the woman can go mad from the shira (postpartum depression). Battle between the two rivals which live with the same husband, was so widespread that not even new-borns were spared and it used to happen, according to stories of old Bosnian people, since the inoća used to perform dark magic over the stake which was used to tie livestock in the field during grazing, which she would then use to place underneath the child's crib after she has completed certain magical rituals. Children would often die quickly after such spells.

Attacks on sexual strength, as we can conclude, are the basic parts of magical folklore of the Bosnian people. But, men were not spared of magical procedures because of the general belief that the one that rules over someone's sexual power actually rules over them. In the past there existed a somewhat unusual custom of intentional postponing defloration when shirbaza (old lady that practices magic), would heat a sowing needle on the fire and bend it into a circle and give it to the bride. She would place such a needle under her tongue which apparently stopped her husband from achieving an erection. Apparently, such a woman would discretely commend herself that she was still a virgin, with which a certain domination was achieved over the thing which is colloquially called "male strength".

Main reason for child mortality in the early age was considered to be black magic and misfortune. That's why various prophylactic measures were undertaken, out of which the most frequent one was wearing an amulet constructed by an Imam, known for his gift in healing and helping. Tilsumi, shorter or longer citations from the Qur'an, were valued, mixed with mysterious names and symbols, which the Imam, with the desire to cure sterility, would usually make seven, which were according to his instructions burnt, placed in water or under the pillow, etc.

Besides the mentioned, sacrificial rituals were also performed, which are remnants of archaic pagan beliefs that a blood offering can only neutralise the power of evil and postpone death. When someone's children are dying, "they're not kept", to the next child that is born a kurban (offering in the form of a young ram) is slaughtered for him on the first day of Eid, on the place where the wife has given birth. The skin of the ram was usually given to the mosque or was given to a neighbour and the meat was placed in a caldron and was boiled until the bones separated from the meat by itself. Then all the bones, large and small would be gathered and placed in a casserole and so buried in the ground while the meat was shared. Namely, it was allowed to the inhabitants of the household to eat just a piece or two of the meat and the remainder of it had to be distributed. With this one would ensure the life of the new-born child.

Magic, religion and infertility

Describing folk beliefs dedicated to the issue of fertility and magical encouragement of fertility, Rabija Hasanbegović (Folk belief for ensuring fertility in marriage) observes well that Bosnian folk usually ascribe infertility to women, while it is rare to even consider sterility in men. This is of course a product of patriarchy but also an archaic understanding of women as a symbol of fertility. Humanity is taken away from barren women and they are mockingly called jalovica (fruitless), barren, neroduša (childless). Under such social pressure women tried to achieve motherhood obsessively without choosing a method.

Anthropological research, such as this, clearly show us how a longer time period of our history there was no professional medical knowledge and with that no tolerance towards persons, primarily women, which had this issue. Social scrutiny doesn't stop with humiliation of women but the entire family, namely, people believed that infertility in women was god's punishment or a cause of some curse. That's why a woman that couldn't get pregnant should give alms during nine months in the hope that this good deed will be rewarded with motherhood.

In the past there were numerous ways with which women tried to stimulate fertility. In order to get pregnant she would fumigate herself over balsam herb (Tanacetum balsamita) when her period ends, before she has intercourse. Some of them practiced a method of mutual bathing with their husbands in water in which they previously placed nine splinters from the woodpile "so that children fall off of her like splinters.", then red and white turnip and "herb which grows in water and whose leaves are blinking." In certain customs social solidarity is noted with barren women to which fruits were gifted from a fruit grafted in spring, by people who own the fruit tree. According to folk belief, after the consumption of the fruit the woman would, during the same year, stay pregnant, therefore it was a good deed to give fruit to such women who desperately wanted to become mothers. In order become pregnant women would drink coffee with violet seeds, etc.

In the desire to achieve motherhood the women used both religious (their domination) and magical practice. The best example of how women from all three Bosnian constitutional people around Jajce spurred fertility was recorded in the ethnological work called Customs related to birth published by GZM from Sarajevo:

"Barren woman is looking for a cure for her flaw. Recently, she would usually turn to a priest for inscriptions and use divination. In Dobretići one would use this: when a woman lays with her husband, she covers her husband and then herself. She does this for nine Tuesday's. Whenever the husband wakes at night, he should uncover his wife up until the knees. In Lendići: one should take water which "praz" (castrated) a horse pukes from his mouth when it raises its head when he drinks water, place ground hooves of a donkey inside it, and the woman should then drink that water. In Grbavica; barren women wowed to celebrate saint Sisoja (July 19th) or; not to sleep with her husband on the eve of Sunday or holidays; she should bathe on St. George's day before the sun with water "omeljom" (small drops of water which sprinkle from the watermill rudders), fast on young Sundays."

In Nevesinje and its surrounding a barren woman would drink catnip (Nepeta cataria) on an empty stomach, or to gird the herbs. A woman which cannot get pregnant "zapne"easily should fumigate herself over baked coffee beans, in such a way that no one notices it. Desperate women visit places of worship and the woman is advised to unlock a door of a church or a mosque early in the morning. Frequent visits of the Tekke in Blagaj were recorded, as well as rituals of threading through prayer beads, which are located on a tomb. Women guided by an insatiable desire for motherhood go to graves and scrape dust off of tombs and later they drink it mixed in water.

Homeopathic procedures have a lot of influence in ritual beliefs of our people with the goal of achieving fertility and all that which has any connection with fertility is taken as a magical drug. It is good for a barren woman to lay down for a while on a maternity bed, because she can stay pregnant more easily, it is recommended for her to eat a stew which contains boiled eggs of a fertile male animal, such as an ox or rooster, or to place some dried uterus of a rabbit in her stew.

A woman which has recently given birth is ascribed powers of fertility and the apple which she has bitten is given to barren women to eat. As we have seen in a folk song a barren woman is often compared to a fruit tree which bears no fruit and she is looking for a fruitful tree, she bends down its branch and passes underneath it three times uttering: "as you are not barren so I will also not be barren", etc.

Nine padlocks

All these means should spur fertility of females and enable motherhood. Besides this, a woman wanted to be sure that her hard work was not in vain and there were some good indicators which pointed to fertilization, namely, when a woman reaches her "time" (menstruation) more frequently, it was considered that she will soon "get pregnant". But, if the result is missing, despite everything she has undertaken, people often suspected black magic to be afoot.

According to folk belief, the largest percentage of black magic is done in special cases, usually during a higher concentration of people and pronounced emotions, whether we're talking about sorrow or euphoria, i.e. during funerals and marriages. Adversarial sihir (magic) mostly scared those mothers whose child died. It was believed that if during the decent of a dead child into the grave a malicious person yanks the child by its feet, the mother will become sterile. If a woman believed that she couldn't get pregnant because of such a magical procedure, she would do the following: she would dig up the grave, take a rock which was placed under the dead body for it to lay straight, she would scrape some dirt from the bottom of the grave. She would take the dirt home and place it into the water with which she would bathe herself.

Special caution was practiced on the day of the wedding when a malicious person, usually a heartbroken boy or girl, could place an unlocked padlock and key on two opposing sides where the bride and groom shall pass. As soon as the couple would pass between these items, the key would be placed in the padlock, after locking it, following this principle it alluded to a locking of the womb. In the end, the locked padlock would be thrown into the river or buried in a grave, a place which associates with transience and nothingness.

If the newlyweds were victims of such a magic then it would be manifested in such a way that the woman would always lose her child when she gets pregnant, in the second or third month of her pregnancy - "the child is ripped out of the womb and turned into blood". Various counter measures were undertaken against such evil and they were recorded in the area of Velika Kladuša; a woman would take salt, amount which she would use for a stew, she would wrap the salt into paper and would place it under the bed. After that she would make love to her husband. The salt would be taken under the bead and the salt should be used for a stew which both of them should eat.

In the folk song "nine padlocks" it is described that a girl by the name of Fata was in love with Adembeg which was getting married to another girl. Out of spite and pain she cast a spell on the newlyweds making both Adembeg and his wife infertile. When after nine years of marriage the couple didn't get any children the mother talked her son into trying to bribe Fata with jewellery so she can annul magic:

Undue the spell, which you did!
Fata whispered to him:
I will never undo them!
I made nine padlocks,
Passed you through all of them
and threw them into the cold water!

Realising that he has no other choice Adembeg took Fata by her hand and lead her home with the intent of her becoming his wife. In another folk song Dizdar's daughter made a spell on Halil-aga's wife and she couldn't get pregnant, which is why Halil-aga beat her every night.

Džeferbegovica, her sister-in-law, gave her an advice to make a cake and bring a sown shirt and to beg Dizdar's daughter to undo what she had done. When mentioning a woven shirt, she replied:

Undo what I cast!
I made nine spells,
I threw all nine into the fire.

And when they mentioned the cake, she replied that she threw all nine spells into the water. Only when they promised that they will marry her for the brother of Džaferbegovica, she opened colourful coffers and a golden box above the head of Halil-aginca and said:

Go now, Halil-agince
have a son by next year!

In the above mentioned songs from the Bosnian folk we can notice the number nine i.e. symbol of the Grand Mother which is traditionally present in numerous other examples of folklore magic and beliefs.
It was considered that magic didn't always have to have a negative use, but that it can help in stimulating fertility so that a woman can have her desire to achieve motherhood fulfilled. Women sought help from staravarke with this goal in mind, even gypsy's and even Imam's, which would usually create seven inscriptions with which one wanted to influence the fertility of a married couple. Sometimes even the girl herself tried using magical rituals to summon fertility, especially if she is married to a man she doesn't love. When a woman wants marriage without children, on the day of the wedding she would place her hands on her backside in front of the register and utter quietly: "I want to get married, but I don't want children!" and it is believed that she won't have any.

Birth of a child

Biggest influence on the process of birth in the past was living conditions which dictated its trajectory from region to region in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also outside of the country, especially in Sandžak. Until the first half of the twentieth century women, especially in rural areas, gave birth spontaneously, i.e. at the place in which they found themselves in: on a meadow, field, forest, house or some other area. Still today people often tell the story of a woman going to work in the field being in late pregnancy and coming back home carrying a child in one hand and a sheaf of grains in the other.

In those more natural conditions, usually the entire family was preparing itself for the birth and arrival of the new member. The mother in law would be more engaged around everything and would take care of the smallest details. It is important to mention that still today there is fear prior to birth, which is after all a generational i.e. traditional fear from complicated births which in the past used to have a tragic epilogue, which was initially caused by lack of medical staff and knowledge. Although the arrival of a new family member in this world always signified good luck, all that preceded it was always permeated with feelings of worry and fear which was a reason for constant prayers which asked God for a happy resolution. The mother in law would usually go to some local stravarka for her to utter the 36th chapter (Surah Jasin) of the Qur'an onto three sugar cubes, she would then place one by one into a glass of water and would offer it to the daughter in law to drink during the birth. For the birth the sugar which was used during the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad was also kept, the so called Mawlid sugar, this sugar would be poured in a cup of water which was then drunk by the woman in labour.

When a pregnant woman notices that her labour time is soon approaching, she wouldn't leave the house, and no one enters the house either. If it happens, that someone enters the house accidentally while the woman is giving birth, then she has a more difficult birth and the more people know about it, the birth is more difficult, allegedly, she needs to suffer all sins from all people that are familiar with her situation. While she is giving birth, but also after it, one would always strive to keep tongs close to her so that they can guard and protect her from attacks by hostile beings. When she is moving, entering or exiting the house, or even crosses from one room to the other, she should use the tongs as a cane on which she leans, because of the belief that when the tongs are clinking, nothing can harm the child. According to Bosnian mythology the Jinn, devils and witches are scared of tongs and its sound and they start running hysterically as far as they can. Out of this reason people had a habit of forging miniature tongs, which were sown onto the child's hat, "so that hale (evil beings) won't harm him".

Women would give birth standing up, with legs extremely spread apart, holding onto a wall or some other object. They often gave birth on the floor in the house, lying on her back or on the side with knees bent, if the woman was physically weaker. If the child was bigger or with a bigger head, then the woman would give birth squatting or kneeling. If the woman had a lot of difficulties in giving birth it was believed that the mother could curse him easily, "it is sufficient for her to have a deeper sigh because of him", alluding to all the pain, and even risking her life to bring him to this world. Before that,  she would drink a spoon of oil and would pace around the room to better prepare her body for the exertion which awaits it. Usually the mother in law or some other older woman is with her, a woman which had experience in giving birth, which massages her and places a warm tile on her back. The pregnant woman would unfold her hair before birth if she had a braid, she would take a rolling pin into her hands which she would use as an auxiliary prop for support, if she gives birth squatting down. Though it is considered that the husbands were never present during births, Antun Hangi, citing folk belief gives us a different conclusion. He writes that it is good if the woman is reporting her feelings to the husband as she is giving birth since it will lessen her pain, sine she is sharing it with him. Similarly, if the husband is not present, it is not a sin for her to talk about her pain with her grandma or someone else who is present during birth.

In case the birth takes longer than expected, various magical procedures were undertaken with the goal to ease the procedure for the woman mentally, and also to offer her certain support but also stimulation. She would be given water which was previously poured down the cover of the Qur'an into the glass, all doors were open on the house and even in the mosque. The pregnant woman was also offered water in which the hand of Hazrat Fatima (Hypericum perforatum) was submerged, this was often brought back from Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). On the chest of the pregnant woman a vessel with water would be placed and then the plant, i.e. its root would be submerged, which swells up after some time, since the root takes up water, and in such a way "opens up" i.e. spreads. As soon as this would happen the pregnant woman would be sprinkled with the rest of the water over her entire body, they would then let down her hair, down her back. If the birth ended successfully the plant was given as gift so that its roots are wrapped in silk, golden or silver threads. In the absence of such a root the ritual of taking apart tespih (prayer beads) was practiced above the vessel with water which was then drunk by the pregnant woman. When the birth has finished, the thread which held the prayer beads together would be used to tie the child's belly button.

According to the belief of the Bosnian folk, for the child to even get the opportunity to exit the mother's stomach, all bones inside the woman's body need to separate themselves, besides the one's in the chin, which after birth, during the period of 40 days, again join together. Birth was always considered as beneficial for the woman and her health "since it cleanses her from everything" due to which her entire body is regenerated and this is why it is considered that women have a longer life span than men. We need to mention that the woman is compared to planet earth, among the folk, this is especially evident in the belief that the earth cleans itself through natural disasters or wars every 40 years.

Our folklore is extremely rich with various magical beliefs connected to birth, which best presents how much attention has been given to that important event. It is believed among the folk that if the mother gathered strength to tell her child while it was exiting her: "Come on child, be happy and blessed!" that the child would have good luck and health throughout its entire life, but due to great pain and hardship almost none of the women giving birth remember to utter this sentence. As soon as the child exits the midwife cuts it's umbilical cord and ties it, bathes the new born baby and wraps it into a warm blanket. In the past there was a custom of cutting the umbilical cord on a pencil or axe for boys so that he might be good in school or in a craft, for women it was done on a rolling pin so that she may be a skilled and good housewife. Since the belly button is tied to the new born baby, the part which falls off and dries is sown onto his clothes: then it is believed that a perda or curtain is opened to the child, division to the human world. This is of course an interesting belief of our people which has its origin in the Islamic mythology. Namely, when Allah banished first people from heaven, according to legends, he had to place an invisible curtain (perda) between the human and Jinn world, since their heart could not bear to see the horrible forms of the demons and people would literally die out of fear.

Precisely in the belief of sowing the dried umbilical cord skin to the child's clothes is hidden the answer of why the new born and the mother are subject to various spiritual dangers during the first 40 days. Namely, as I have written previously, pregnancy is called among the folk "another state", during which the woman takes on some supernatural abilities, since the act of creating a new life is in and of itself magical and divine. Pregnant woman is, also according to folklore, "with one foot in the grave", or better yet, a pregnant woman is considered to be a person which connects heaven and earth, light and darkness. She is not a common person but someone which represents a certain medium for supernatural forces. Among the folk, for example, it is believed that rain will fall if the pregnant woman throws the stretcher into the river, etc. We shouldn't foget to mention another example from the spiritual science which states that the Jinn are trying to be born in human form through women i.e. trying to materialise themselves, which is why, allegedly, mentally challenged children are being born, which is proof that a symbiosis of man and demons is not possible in some normal frameworks.

Similarly, while the child is in its mother's womb, it is invisible to our material world, and obviously more connected to the spiritual one. Proof of this can be sought in the belief of the Bosnian people that Allah determines the child's entire destiny in its first 40 days from its conception in the stomach. Leaving the security of his mother's womb the child arrives in the human world, material one which causes anger and wrath among the supernatural beings which then try in various ways to attack both him and his mother. And all this in the first 40 days, until the mother's, and obviously the child's, transformation isn't completed which then breaks all ties with the previous state.    

That's why the practice of using amulets which were written by an Imam was widespread, these amulets were placed under the child's pillow or were hung on the crib. But what is more interesting is the collective need of the community to fend off evil and disease from a new life. Namely, women weren't the only ones that participated in the defence of a new life by undertaking some defensive rituals, men were also active. Traditional custom of our people is that during the first visit to the child, especially if we are talking about men, is to give money as gift, it is said "place money on his forehead", i.e. "on the star", and which would consider himself extremely lucky and this money would be used to pay an amulet which was commissioned by an Imam. Along with an amulet caring mothers usually placed some additions such as rue leaves (Ruta graveolens), root of Elecampane (Inula), horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), yew (Taxus), etc. Also, all metal items such as scissors, nails, knife had a prophylactic function because of the belief that Jinn and devils run away from metal and they were part of an apotropaic arsenal.

Cheating evil destiny

Frano Murgić in his ethnological work "Visoko in Bosnia - Folk life and customs" mentions high birth rate which was frequent in the previous centuries among the Bosnian folk, mostly in rural areas. But, reason for this was hidden mostly in the average life span which was at that time between 50-60 years and extremely long and cold winters, when temperatures dropped to -27 degrees centigrade, which caused frequent deaths among the people, especially children, from hypothermia and fever. Besides, the author notes that every month or two there was a registered case of a child dying.

"People which have one wife, used to have up to twenty children, those that had two wives, were known to have up to 25 children. There are women, which gave birth up to three children at once, and in short time they give birth to two at a time. There are around 10 women which never gave birth. There are those which when their husbands died, gave birth to her second husband's children. Halil Vranac  thought that there was nothing else but infertility which caused women not giving birth".

This quote is important because of some data, from the fact that polygamy wasn't present just in some areas of BiH, as some authors are trying to show, but that its radius encircled a much larger area, and that it was alongside high birth rate a classic phenomenon for less inhabited areas while its intensity was lost in urban areas. Also, it is again confirmed through the statement of the quoted Halil Vranac that the Bosnian people had the least understanding for infertility.

In accordance with what is written it is pretty clear that sterility and fear of children dying were very pronounced in the past and as such they caused the emergence of various prophylactic rituals and measures with one very clear goal - trap misfortune, which could be hiding a family curse, as it was believed by folk, spellbound eyes, black magic or even unlucky predestination of a woman to give birth to dead children. Antun Hangi also touches this topic mentioning that there is a certain category of pregnant women on which the supernatural influence is stronger and they are more prone to giving birth to dead babies.

-"There are women which give birth to dead children. This happens, when a woman has sweet blood, and ghosts, witches and other apparitions torture her and so suffocate the child inside of her. For her child to survive while it is still in the womb she must take off a horse shoe from a dead horse. She needs to get a black smith to forge a hoop in the middle of the night and she should girdle the hoop and wear it until her child is born, when it is born, she needs to bend the hoop and place it under the child's head. Similarly it is good for such a woman to go at night in front of a mosque and from a stretcher which carry dead people, to take out a nail. Out of the nail she needs to have someone forge at night a few hoops and she should carry them with her until she gives birth, when she gives birth, she should sow them to the child's hat, so that spirits and witches don't suffocate the child.

If children die and the mother cannot nurse them, she should take nine rags from nine widows, she should sow a shirt to the child, and it will not die. Similarly it is good for such a mother or someone else to find some wool from a sheep that a wolf slaughtered. She should wash that wool, comb it and then on gargaše (a contraption for tidying up wool) to tidy it up so that it looks like silk. Once she has tidied up the wool in such a manner, she should knit a string like the waist of the child and she should girdle the child with it. Who comes late there is no luck for him that's why it should be started as soon as the child is born, since if she misses only one dekiku, minute, it will be of no use".

In Vinac next to Jajce there is a custom that to the couple whose children keep on dying after birth, call another woman to breastfeed their new born in order to fool the misfortune. This woman will also cut the child's umbilical cord and fix it and that's why she is called eba, short version of ebejka, grandma. If male children were dying other forms of magical activity was undertaken with the intention of stopping the misfortune. To a new born son one would give his father's name or even the holly name Mohammed, and it used to happen that parents would go to the extreme of actually hiding from all the neighbours that they had a baby boy. They would clothe the boy as a girl and they would teach him to act as one, and these habits used to stay with children their entire lives.

Magical and physical causes of sterility

Infertility could have been caused by the actions of the individual himself. Namely, in folk medicine in BiH it is still today considered that one of the causes of sterility could come from the so called "dislocated stomach". We're talking about a disease which equally affects both men and women and it would usually come about as the result of difficult manual labour while among the population today, according to stravarke, the stomach "shifts" usually due to stress and worry. Among men the disease was mostly manifested by poor sperm motility, which was often accompanied by strong belly pain which spread towards the stomach, the belly is always bloated, the person has dark circles around the eyes, has a feeling of suffocation, etc. In women a "dislocated stomach" can affect the womb and ovaries, causes frequent inflammations and thus prevents conception.

There are a few methods of curing; the diseased person is massaged, drinks various teas and women which cannot get pregnant along with these procedures also "bind" themselves around the waist, i.e. underneath the stomach. Method of tying a cloth underneath the stomach, around the hips or placing a coffee cup upside down on the belly button, and a cloth over it, which was previously around the hips, would return the stomach to its place and cure this issue. According to folk belief, proper diet had a crucial effect on fertility because of the belief that unlike a skinny and undeveloped woman, a woman which has pronounced curves, especially hips and back side, represents an ideal type for procreation - "such a woman is full of children!"

Abortion and pregnancy

As soon as girls get married they tell fortunes whether they will achieve motherhood and how many children they will have. One of the ways which is familiar to us from the north-western part of Bosnia is that a woman needs to look for a rosehip bush in the autumn. She will locate a wool ball next to the fruits. In it, allegedly, must be a white worm. Whether alive or dead he is necessary for divination. The woman must secretly pass it through her right sleeve and place it in a glass of water. She will give the water to her husband to drink without telling him what she had done. As soon as he drinks the water she will look to see if the husband swallowed the worm or if he stayed at the bottom of the glass. If she sees the worm at the bottom she will only have one child with the man if he swallowed it she will have multiple children.

Desire for a child was traditionally pronounced from the marriage ceremony and until recently the primary goal of a young couple was thought to be quick realization of parenthood, no matter the material status- In the last decade, and especially since the military aggression by Serbia and Montenegro on BiH with the beginning of 1992, such a trend disappeared due to a difficult economic situation which dominates the country and larger migration of the young to the countries of the EU or USA.

But, it would be wrong to conclude that all pregnancies in the past were wanted, especially if in the family there was already a lot of children or the pregnancy was a result of an extra-marital relationship. It often happened that due to a couple of previous births, but also difficult manual labour, complications and miscarriage happened. It was considered as a great sin to provoke a miscarriage (abortion) on purpose, since it was considered to be sacrilege. Older women traditionally scared younger women with stories of abortion being a huge sin and that every woman which dares to perform this act, will have to eat that offspring in the second world. However, that propaganda didn't have a profound effect on the thinking pattern of many Bosnian women since most of them resorted to various methods to interrupt their pregnancy. One of the most widespread ways is insertion of the root Christmas rose (Helleborus), otherwise a poisonous plant, into the womb, or even root of marsh mallow (Althaea officinalis L) and in the lack of the above, especially during winter times, a spindle was used. 

From the more familiar ways was the practice of drinking a bitter potion out of boiled (unroasted) coffee beans. In certain parts of BiH, such as Rogatica and Žepe, women placed a spicy clove in the coffee. With the intent of causing complications a pregnant woman would fumigate herself with hot lye, breathing in steam for longer time which would force her to vomit. While vomiting her stomach muscles would contract forcefully and would cause uterine contractions, which could lead to miscarriage. Among the more familiar ways of causing miscarriages was lifting heavy things, sitting in cold places or bathing with cold water.

Folk name for pregnancy is "other state" which clearly stresses that the woman during that period is in a totally different physical and mental state, and so is subject to other norms of behaviour and living. Similarly, this name implicates that the pregnant woman is in a special state when certain elements of the cult of fertility come to the fore. At that period the woman takes on some of the religious-magical features of the Grand Mother, which is demonstrated by certain widespread beliefs such as a person eating a food next to a pregnant woman must offer her food if she desires it. The punishment is reflected in an eye sore.

Such an aspect supports numerous beliefs and taboos but also purposeful mystification of the entire process which lasts from the disclosure of pregnancy until the 40 days after birth have passed. Namely, codex of patriarchal moral resulted in pregnancy being hidden from inhabitants of a household, as long as possible, especially male members "because of shame". That's why usually the news was first told to the mother in law, which would then discretely transfer the news to the husband and then other members of the family. Another reason for discretion was contained in the fear of the pregnant woman of spellbound eyes or enemies spells. Envy of a barren woman was always suspect, and all things which she could undertake to hurt the pregnant woman. Older women, usually mother in law or grandma, suggested to the pregnant woman to protect the stomach, i.e. cover it with an apron or some other clothing item, in order to ensure herself from eventual evil but also to warm the child.

Under the pressure of various rules and taboos the pregnant women was subject to a special regime which determined all of her activities for the entire duration of pregnancy, and even a shorter period after birth. Analysing them it is easy to notice a pronounced care and even fear of the unknown called new life, which is in its certain segments still today a mystery for modern medicine.

Divination about the future child

Antun Hangi wrote that among the Bosnian people it is considered that the child while in the stomach gains most of the physical but also character features of the person which the pregnant woman fancies the most. If the pregnant woman thinks of someone during the time of the lunation or full moon then it is very likely that the child will have a lot of similarities with that person. When the mother gazes at someone while the child "comes alive" in the womb, the child will resemble that person the most.

If the pregnant woman loves to eat bitter oranges (Citrus aurantium), oranges and quinces, it is believed that she will give birth to a beautiful child. Also, the child will be pretty if the pregnant woman looks at her reflection in the mirror while the child is moving for the first time.

-"When the child comes alive, and moves a lot inside the mother, he will be restless or a jolly fellow and he can't wait to come into the world to perform marifete, kunstove, umjetnosti (art). If the child is calm inside the mother and barely moves, it will be calm and introvert, he will be a weakling."

Further in the text Antun Hangi states an interesting belief of the Bosnian folk about snakes, which coincides with the Illyrian belief about the snake - symbol of fertility and also protector of life. Namely, the author writes: "When the woman gets pregnant, and a fox or snake crosses her path, the child will be happy and have a long life. If a rabbit crosses her path, the child will be unlucky, selfish and a bum and there won't be any use for him. If a rabbit crosses her path the woman shouldn't proceed so that she doesn't cross his path, she should return home immediately so that she may have luck. A pregnant woman needs to watch not to eat or drink from a chipped dishes, since the woman which drinks or eats from chipped dishes will give birth to a child which will have a rabbit lip. Also she should take care not to make fun of someone, since her child will be šišijasto, crooked eyed. When a pregnant woman is eating, she needs to take care that her hands are completely clean, since the woman which eats with hands covered with flour, her child will have dandruff."

Among the Bosnian people there are a lot of superstitions tied to what a pregnant woman should follow if she wants to give birth to a normal and healthy child. All these rules begin with the words "it is wrong" or "it's not good" and the most interesting ones have been published in Gračanica (Gračanica herald: magazine for cultural history of Gračanica and its surrounding, Volume 14, 2002) in the text written by Fikret Ahmetbošić "Some national customs and beliefs in Sokol, Doborovci and Džakule.

-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to kill a snake, her child will have bad breath.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to stare into an open flame - the child will have a red face.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to eat fish - the child will be restless.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to sit on a washboard - the baby will be misshapen.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to cross over a vine or a rope - the child will suffocate during birth.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to go back - she will have a difficult labour.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to de-feather an animal - the child will have a skin disease.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman eat a fruit which was bitten into - the child will have crusts on the body.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to carry eggs in her lap - the child will be slobbery.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to pour water onto water - the child will get a hernia.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to pull over a knife - the child will have a rabbits lip (cut lip).
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to eat chicken stomachs, the child will have big lips.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to sit on a doorstep - the labour will be difficult.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to eat walnuts - the child will have lichen.
-It's wrong for a pregnant woman to look at a dead man - the child will be yellow.
-It's not good if a cat passes through the pregnant woman's legs - the child will be hairy.