Circumcision of the penis is known as a part of the tradition among the Arabs and Jews and according to certain data, all three messengers of God (Moses, Jesus and Mohammed) were circumcised, which is actually one of the main characteristic of monotheism itself. There are some indications that circumcision was practiced even before these instances, and that it is not an original feature of monotheism. But, no matter, removal of the foreskin of the penis, besides having health benefits for the man, became a part of magical belief which are connected to fertility and summoning good fortune.
From various beliefs the following were most frequent: among the people an uncircumcised penis is called a "mutt's" penis, since in that state it resembles a penis of that particular animal, and is considered to be unclean and dirty as such. Similarly, in Bosnia it was believed that it can be beneficial to get hold of the foreskin of a circumcised čifut (Jew), since they were known as extremely stingy people, and one would always seek to gain something from the stingy people through magical rituals, since the borrowed money or item attracted new luck. When one would get possession of such a foreskin, the following would be uttered: "As this penis is happily circumcised, may my luck be happy!"
According to folk legends, if a child dies uncircumcised, the Imam would break the pinkie finger of his right hand prior to the funeral, since apparently it is not good to bury the child before this act. Why this is so, I have not managed to surmise, though there are indications that it was believed that the boy becomes a Muslim after circumcision. Evidently the pinkie finger represents a substitute for the penis, and the act of breaking a substitute to circumcision, which is a logical conclusion which is grounded in love magic. Namely, when a young man wishes to capture a maiden's heart via magic, he would puncture his pinkie finger and have three drops of blood fall on a sugar cube and place it in her coffee. But, as I succeeded in recording from the person revealing these details, she claimed that if she were a man she would never perform such a ritual since "you are weakening your strength and life", which returns us again to the folk name for the penis - male strength.
After the circumcision the foreskin is dried and thrown to a rooster, so that the boy, once grown, receives the sexual power of the rooster, which stands for a fertile and sexually active animal.
Cernunnos or Vidasus
