Ancient fertility rituals

In ethnographic notes from the beginning of the twentieth century one can find descriptions of rituals which spurred fertility, which are, as one can notice, completely lost in the first half of the previous century; this proves that the Illyrian cult of fertility managed to preserve itself among our people, a cult which was based on pagan beliefs. Role of men and women is pronounced in them, i.e. the things which were called in the ancient witchcraft/paganism High priest or high priestess, which blessed nature and called upon its forces via sexual relation.

With the advent of monotheism though the pagan religion or better to say the religion of nature, was repressed, this has not necessarily represented the end of it since the pagan rituals were an integral part of agriculture, i.e. cult of fertility, without which people couldn't live. That's why a resistance towards the forced religion arose and a special, parallel form of the religion was created, which we today known as "folk religion" based on pagan beliefs and customs, whose age dates from the earliest days of our people, therefore the ethnologists and anthropologists themselves cannot fathom their origin and symbology.



The worst evil that could take place with the advent of monotheism, primarily Christianity and Islam, is violent distancing of man from nature. But, this was the only way that church, despite the forceful christening and demonising of all things pagan, could significantly suppress the religion of nature, or more precisely - marginalise it. However, even in such a crippled form, without freedom or religious equality of men and women, the cult of fertility managed to prosper. The substratum of the former High priest and priestess was located in marriage, i.e. the husband and wife could without any judgement continue to practice their ritual incitement of fertility and preservation of life itself, in the privacy of their home.

Horns of god Vidasus

Paganism is based on the belief that men and women have equal rights and that the first and oldest deity in human history was the Grand Mother, the one that gave life to all things, the one whose traces can be found in the neolith period. Man and woman also signify two sexes without whom life in nature is impossible and whose bodily connection is nothing short of nature's blessing. That's why the symbols of paganism were always symbols of sexuality and fertility, especially the horns, snake, staff, circle, etc.

The most reliable traces of the Illyrian cult of fertility are evident in certain parts of Bosnian love magic, closely tied to stimulating fertility, where one can clearly notice a focus on individual forces of creation. It is noticeable that in magical practice nudity during rituals is emphasized especially if the woman or girl is taking the "horns" of the house with her hands, i.e. roof, and repeats a magical formula. While uttering the curse she firmly holds the roof, or even shakes it, desiring to attract the attention of none other than god Vidasus himself.

Horns are, as it is known, an ancient symbol of fertility and power but also the ancient characteristic of the moon goddess. According to the occult definition the roof represents a heavenly part of the house, as does the trunk of the tree (beam or "horns" of the roof are made out of tree), while the home threshold is closely tied to the earth, its function is to signify a border between the external and internal world, through which one enters and exits, and that's why in folk religion of BiH it denotes a vagina - "it's not good for a girl to sit on the threshold since she will have difficulty giving birth", etc. In this short analysis we cannot ignore a very important piece of information which relates to the description of Vidasus, god of fertility and nature, whose status symbols were large horns on the head, and the ritual holding of the "horns" is explained by this fact. Nudity, is similarly, one of the key sequences in the pagan ritual of fertility, where there is no false morality, instead the beauty and sexuality of the human body is celebrated. In the preserved relief depictions naked girls are dancing around god Vidasus (faeries, nymphs) with long, unbraided hair.  

There are more preserved data which confirm the thesis that we are talking about Vidasus and rituals dedicated to him. Namely, in order to subjugate a man to her will, usually a husband, a woman looks at him through her hand, discreetly, and repeats the following formula, which has a pronounced sexual tone, three times: "Place your horns between my legs!". This ritual is nothing else but an imitation of seduction of Vidasus by his companion goddess Tana, probably from some rituals dedicated to the renewal of the cycle of fertility. One could conclude that love magic is based on mimicry of ancient forces of nature or allusion of their heavenly power, all with the goal of connection and harmony with the eternal circle of fertility and life. Proof of this are the beginning of all magical formulas which are always based on the allusion "as I.so that."

Grand Mother

The power of vagina itself was divided by whether the woman was a virgin, sexually active, married or divorced, widowed i.e. one that didn't practice sex. Since the old days, certain apotropaic power was ascribed to women for which it was believed that weren't sexually active such as widows or divorced women. In case that children are dying in a family, a pregnant woman would seek to collect rags from nine widows and sow a shirt using the rags. With the shirt she would ensure protection against death. Similarly, the best stravarka which cures evil was thought to be the one which is divorced, probably because of the allusion that she had stopped sexual connection with the man. After giving birth, the next 40 days, she was forbidden to have sexual relations, which can be connected with the taboo of the Grand Mother, since it is believed that during that period she is in the grave with one foot (concept of earth i.e. Grand Mother) and in the phase of recovery and regeneration and that she shouldn't expose herself to energy which is produced by coitus. But, after that, the woman becomes the barer of sexual power which is used to continue reproduction. In spurring reproduction, the woman is called on the vagina through a magical formula, for example, while planting beans she would repeat: Shrubs as bushes, may you boil as a turnip, may you be as sweet as my vagina! A married woman i.e. a sexually active woman, accumulates a lot of fertility energy and uses it to a maximum extent to all things which precede the creation of the foetus. The term vagina is often used in love magic, when women place or wipe sugar cubes on their vagina and place them in their husband's coffee. In Bosnian magic it is claimed about a woman that she possesses two types of blood; the first has the power to enchant a certain man and the second to curb his temper and wrath. A strong force is hidden in menstrual blood and its magic is based on the number 40. From certain information givers, of older age, I heard that women would try and go have a bath before their husbands after sex, and only after her did the husband go. As soon as they would shower, they would pour the dirty water from the tub and she would turn it upside down, uttering a magical formula. When the husband would arrive to have a bath he would turn the tub and would be "struck" by the spell with which the woman wanted to dominate him. Similarly, in the desire to firmly bind her husband to herself the wife would place nine sugar cubes underneath the matrass in the middle where their genitals are placed when they're lying. On each sugar cube she dropped three drops of blood and uttered a magical formula. That night her task is to make love to her husband and to place those sugar cubes during the following days into his coffee or some other drink. Besides the mentioned utilising energy which is created due to sexual act is very famous in other forms of Bosnian magic, especially the one which we call white magic. When she wants to avert her husband from alcohol the wife would take a fistful of dirt underneath a bridge, she would wrap it into a rag and place underneath the marital bed. She needs to make love to him and in the morning take the dirt underneath the bed and feed him the dirt in the following few days slowly or mix it into his drinks. If the husband is being prepared to go on an important trip then he is making love with his wife and in the end he says: As this coitus is sweet to you, woman, so too shall we be followed by sweet luck! Then he would take off his coat and cover her vagina uttering: Here is an old coat and I will go with luck on my trip! Then the woman would lightly thrust the penis into the anus three times. Sperm which is a result of a sexual act, especially one mixed with vaginal juices, represents a sexual sacrament whose power is great that if it were absorbed by a rag it can later be used in individual magical rituals.

Cult of god Tur

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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