Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Raif Esmerovi
Folk medicine of
Bosnia and
Herzegovina healing with
magical formula
Thana
Illyrian religion
By its natural wealth Bosnia and
Herzegovina was always full of forests and
numerous water streams, which by itself, in
a very logical manner, predetermined the
religious system of the Illyrians, this system
was entirely dedicated to worshiping natural
forces. This is why Tana and Vidasus became
symbols, but also personifications of the
human environment, and as such they
signified the strength of nature and
everything that nature offers to mankind.
With them, of course, comes an entire
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See: http://magic.bosnianforum.com/t172-cultof-the-god-bindu
Vidasus or Vidas
Go back, go back,
may your origin be
unknown, go back!
From God the cure
Bosnian:
Stu na se!
Stu natrag,
ne znalo ti se za trag.
Stu na se.
Od Boga derman a od mog ilad!
Oral charms
In the culture of a people a lot of
attention is devoted to linguistics and all
forms of literary expression such as lyric and
epic poetry and drama, where symbolism
and meaning of words get their strongest
expression. Not at all insignificant a part of
that concept encompasses so called magical
prose based on a rhetoric form, which we
come across in all those segments which are
tied to concepts of sorcery, spells, curses,
blessing or invocations. To better fathom in
the meaning of the poetic expression among
the Bosnian folk we need to pay attention to
a forgotten form of love expression
between loved ones - aikovanje (from the
Turkish word ak - love). In a conversation
between two lovers stress was placed on
ingenuity, imagination when choosing words
as well as their rhyme, which has the effect
to stimulate a certain dose of excitement
and elation, for example, a boy utters to a
girl:
Bosnian:
Kad te vidim u fesiu,
ini mi se poletiu,
kad te vidim u jeermi,
k'o kadija u meemi (sudu),
kad te vidim u amiji,
kajno hodu u damiji.
Basma
In oral magic according to classic
division there are two forms of formula basma and bajalica. Basma is a shorter form,
usually with one or two verses, which has to
be repeated several times while bajalica is a
longer textual form. Though more rare there
are bajalice with more than twenty verses.
Though some anthropologists are prone of
connecting basma with basna, I wouldn't
agree with such a claim. It is obvious that
the idea for this comparison was based on
the similarity of the words, we are literally
talking about the change of letter M into N
or vice versa, but when we analyse the
meaning of basna i.e. that it is in its
formulation "a short story in prose or verse
whose main characters are animals", then
we come to a conclusion that basna has no
connection to basma.
Magical whisper
On the other hand, bajalica, in English
language the term magical whisper would
most closely be associated with the meaning
of the word bajalica, which is uttered by
whispering like a basma, as a word this
doesn't exist among the Bosnian people and
instead of bajati we say "nauiti" i.e. utter
("ona ui ono svoje"(she utters her things) uttering secret magical words, or when one
advises a diseased to go to a woman which
hears magical formula: "idi kod nje neka ti
naui, ona zna dobro uiti na vodu" ("go to
her so she can utter her words, she can
utter well with water")3. Probably that's why
the term bajati among the people is not
interpreted as an act of uttering magical
formulas but gossip, lying, which is
confirmed by the statement "neko o tebi
baje! (someone is throwing spells at you) -
Bosnian:
Ovo nije moja ruka,
ovo je ruka
nae majke hazreti Fatime!
The word bajanje itself, usually present
in the Balkans, probably comes from the
area of south Caucasus primarily because of
the word bayati which in Azerbaijan signifies
an ancient form of folk poetry or better say
folk wisdom represented through verses.
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Neit or poganica
Neit is also another type of dangerous
demon of disease against which the Bogomil
priest Jeremiah revealed exorcist formulas
through which he emphasizes the dualistic
battle of good and evil, with the goal of
releasing the human body i.e. healing. One
of those formulas reads:
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Exorcist rituals
Before starting any type of engagement
stravarka wants to get an answer to the
question how long the disease was present.
If the diseased answers that it has been
present for a longer time she will conclude
that the poganica is outdated and that it will
be more difficult to cure14. For the practice
of healing most stravarke choose leaves of
danewort (Sumbuccus ebulus), probably
because in Bosnian mythology it is claimed
that it is one of the oldest plants in the
world and is as such dedicated to the Grand
Mother, protector of all those who perform
healing with magical formulas and herbs15.
Besides danewort, black nightshade
(Solanum nigrum L) is also used, whose folk
name itself (the one that helps) reveals its
magical healing ability. If stravarka cannot
acquire these herbs, she will then use
cabbage leaves. In any case during the
healing process nine leaves of these plants
are always used.
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An informant which participated in one of the exorcist
sances, later claimed that she would never perform such
rituals and bare such torture. Stravarke themselves admit that
exorcism damages and bothers them, both physically and
mentally.
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Because of the belief that poganica runs from the
human body beneath the nails on the toes, one would always
bring a sock of the diseased if he is personally not capable of
arriving.
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Bosnian:
Udarac
Bosnian:
od jedan - nijedan!
u nebeske visine,
u morske dubine,
u neznanu meu;
gdje pas ne laje,
gdje svijea ne gori,
na Kavdag i u Jablan-planinu!
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Another folk name for poganica is very interesting and it
is - bogavica, which undoubtedly stems from the name Bogomil.
Bosnian:
U Sijerme devetero djece,
od devetero - osmero,
Sijerma
od osmero - sedmero,
od sedmero - estero,
od estero - petero,
od petero - etvoro,
od etvoro -troje,
od troje - dvoje,
od dvoje - jedno,
od jedno - nijedno!
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maice
Metalja
Cataract but also other eye related
diseases (Conjunctivitis) were called
poganica i.e. her special name metalja. It is
believed that it returns the way it came. In
the healing ritual a prop is moved three
times over the eye - garlic or small worm
which are found in cow dung (manure),
three times during three days. With clean
hands one cleans a clove of garlic, and with
the sharper part of the clove one moves it
over the cataract from the left to the right,
and from the right to the left. If we are
talking about another disease, the clove is
used near the inside boarders of the eyelid
Bosnian:
Otud ide koko sa devetero pilia,
utijeh nogu.
Skoie na metalju,
svu je razgrabie,
na noktima i na nogama.
Sabah - kau bila je.
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Another representative segment of Bosnian shamanism
is discovered in the use of individual parts of the animal which
constitute a specific prop, as well as an animal totem of the
stravarka. Dog's skull, according to folk belief, can exchange its
presence with which it is pretended that the stravarka is
capable of transferring a part of her power into the skull and
later act through it as a medium. In the past numerous Bosnian
homes owned one or more dog skulls "for healing" and this is
why they were stored inside houses. It was unquestionably
believed that they possess secretly accumulated power of
healing once the stravarka has uttered exorcist formulas, from
her magical pool, a few times. The skull was usually used by
being placed on the diseased place or it was moved down the
body, imitating rhythmical moves which the stravarka makes.
NOTE
A frequent eye disease (herpes corneae) is well known
among the folk. It comes to the cornea in the form of white
bubbles, which decompose quickly in herpes ulcers, and if not
treated frequently, they form into a white speckle (leukoma) or
even causes inflammation of the entire eye (panophtilmitis).
Since the same bubbles appear without any cause, people
denote them as poganica, since they believe as a mysterious
evil force. GZM (Sarajevo, 1900, p.p. 143)
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