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According to definition fear is described as intense and unpleasant negative feeling which a man experiences once he sees or expects danger, whether the danger is real or imaginary. It's an inborn, genetically programmed reaction to threatening or painful stimuli. Fear is a primary emotion, just like happiness, sorrow, surprise, anger and disgust, which means that in different cultures it is expressed the same or in a similar manner, i.e. that the expression of fear is not learned. Fear is not non-functional, just like pain whose goal is to protect the body from further harm, fear with its intense discomfort and exclusion of all other things focuses the body on defence of the thing that causes fear, it places the system in a preparatory state and spurs careful monitoring of the thing which causes the danger. (Wikipedia) Studying ethnological build from the transition of the nineteenth into the twentieth century makes it easy to conclude that people lacking medical and scientific...

It was once believed that a person will fall ill if an animal jumps in front of him from a bush unexpectedly or if something else surprises him in a different manner. Repercussions of such a shock have an equally detrimental effect for both the psyche and body. Through some empirical, but also magical experiences, the Bosnian people have always believed that due to huge shock the human body literally shrinks, or better yet – contorts, which is also mentioned in other cultures where such unnatural deformities were cured with the help of massages whose main purpose was to relax the body and return it to its original form. But, the effect of shock have a much more complex effect on the human body and mind, which is according to folk wisdom best manifested by the claim that due to sudden fear certain organs in the body can move, such as the heart or the gizzard. Both organs are prone to movement during such a sudden bodily convulsion, when a person literally loses its breath, which then fu...

Fear i.e. fright can be caused by numerous factors such as a dog’s bark, lightning strike, fire, water, bad news and other factors. Often it is the culprit for numerous life difficulties and failures since it makes a person insecure and prone to withdrawal, underestimation of oneself. If for example a child gets scared during the first months of its life can often be the main reason why a child has difficulties making its first steps or walking in general. Fright can appear anywhere or at any time, but there are specific situations when we are directly exposed to it, as in case of some danger. If a person feels drowsy during the day and suffers from insomnia at night, is irritable, prone to depression and anxiety, then it is often believed that he is a victim of a suffered shock. There are some alarming signs that fear is excessively present in a human and those are nightmares. Stravarke reveal that if a person dreams of a horse or some other animal that attacks him, is a certain sign ...

Fear manifests itself in two ways inside the human body – through the bowels and nerves. As doctor Leopold Gluck has noted the first form appears primarily in children in form of uncontrollable jolting of the body while they're sleeping, which is declared in a milder form, also appearance of epilepsy, which is of course a more difficult form of disease. Among the adults, fear is manifested as an acute insanity or a strong headache, weakness in the limbs, especially trembling in the legs and dark circles around the eyes. Similarly frequent night mares are accompanying symptoms of fear. When the fear is accumulated in the bowels then the diseased suffers from a chronic diarrhoea, due to which he weakens. In addition to that, it is still considered today that grown people which get diarrhoea due to fatty food or generally suffer from what is in general medicine classified as an irritable bowls syndrome were in childhood subject to physical or mental abuse due to which they suffered a...

Fight against fear is not simple and often requires a lot of patience. This is best evidenced by stravarke whose work experience is full of various cases. Stravarka Emina Hadžihasanović told the following story to a journalist of a Sarajevo magazine: -I was melting lead to a man, he was imprisoned by četniks (name for Serbian paramilitary army which committed the most war crimes in BiH), he was imprisoned in a concentration camp and was tortured, also a grenade exploded in his building. He was ready to die. He couldn’t walk normally any more. He wasn’t able to go alone anywhere, so he took his child with him everywhere he went. He couldn’t even go to the toilet without the child taking him there. He was a butcher by trade, a good man. He asked doctors for help but they couldn’t help him, his medical results were good but he couldn’t walk straight. I have molten 77 lead pieces for him and he recovered. He is now working in a butcher shop on Ilidža. Obviously the issue of great fear ...

Besides lead melting and „odsjecanje skrate“ stravarke also know other methods of curing fear, such as " uvarivanje strahe“ or knife cutting. This last method is very rare and it is difficult to find a stravarka which practices it. Now deceased Fatima Dizdarević, was known for this method during the end of the previous century, she had learned it from her mother in law. Stravarka takes a knife with a black handle (sheath) and as she touches the frightened, which is lying on the floor or the bed facing the ceiling, she follows the text of the esoteric basma. As in all other variations of curing with the help of magical formulas in this one too, the stravarka starts by nami body parts, starting from the head: I’m not cutting you N nor your body, but I’m cutting the head of the black fear, I’m cutting its throat, shoulders left and right hand, fingers from the smallest to the largest, I’m opening its chest, cutting the heart and taking out the intestines, cutting its stomach and br...

In folk medicine in BiH women often heal issues with the stomach, they're called želudarice, and as with fear, like stravarke, they claim that one can „die due to dislocated stomach!“. Most of them resonate that the stomach should be positioned inside the body in line with the bellybutton. Due to some unfavourable occurrences, such as lifting a heavy load, falling from heights, undertaking long dietary trends, sleeping on one’s hands or holding the hands above the head, in women after birth or similar things, there can be some negative implications on the work and position of the stomach. Sometimes the cause can be a stronger cold, when due to aggressive coughing, the stomach “jumps out” of its place. Symptoms are heartburn, vomiting and loss of body mass. Influence of shock, stress and generally fear is also a frequent cause for stomach dislocation. When one confirms, through observation, that “fear has attacked the stomach”, one should have a mellow and soft approach towards the ...

Utilization of amulets and talismans in curing traumatic conditions is perhaps one of the most fascinating segments in folk medicine in BiH. Since the old days, the amulets were brought to the level of almost universal panacea in curing all forms of mental but also certain physical ailments. Beneficial power of one or more prayers mixed into the content of the amulet or talisman, which replaced pagan bajalice (spell) and oaths, is based on the same principle of directing wishes or pleas for freeing the body from the negative influence of some entity, which found a home in the host due to a transgression of a certain taboo. Namely, according to Islamic mythology when Allah created Adam and Eve, he had to place an invisible curtain between them and the Jinn (demons), so that the monstrous appearance of the Jinn wouldn’t frighten them and awaken shudders every day. Similarly, he made it so that people will be more or less protected from evil spirits, and he ordained them to sleep and rest...

In folk medicine in BiH all mental illnesses were called džanbola (from the Turkish word „can/džan“ – soul), and it would come through as a result of the detrimental activity of evil spirits – Jinn. Among the most difficult ailments were considered the ones caused by direct contact with demons („ naletio na džinsko kolo – he came across a circle of Jinn“, „ udario ga džinski vjetar – he got struck by demonic winds“ etc.), for example when a diseased would fall victim to specific mental states such as hysteria, paranoia, schizophrenia, epilepsy, etc. According to Bosnian Imam/healers and stravarke a man can get seriously ill from fear, black magic, namet , nagaža , ograme , zgranila , letame (so called “ džinski šamar -demonic slap” pareza facialis – Bell’s palsy) and spells. However, from all of the above, spells are considered to be the most widespread disease. Fear from the destructive power of a spellbound gaze is deeply embedded in the collective consciousness of many cultures in...

Among the Bosnian people, but also the entire Balkans, the belief in spellbound eyes is an inheritance of our Illyrian forefathers. Namely, the name urok (spell) itself is Illyrian and meant – „ to fascinate “, „ bewitch “. According to the Roman historian Pliny, the Illyrian tribes were extremely prone to believing in the evil power of spellbound eyes and they fought against them, by (among other things) carrying red colour (thread) wrapped around the arm. It is not necessary to emphasize how much the Romans were scared of the Illyrians, not just because of their fighting spirit, but also because of their mystical powers which these ascribed to them. Namely, they thought that most Illyrians have spellbound eyes with which they could kill a man. Though everyone is exposed to the destructive influence of evil eyes, animals and inanimate objects, the most vulnerable group are the children and young girls prior to marriage. Their naivety, youth and beauty are the main stimulants for activ...

Spells can be divided according to intensity – there are weak and strong spells. From the first the diseased person has transient symptoms such as yawning, headache, sudden passing of cold throughout the body. They usually influence the mood and appetite in children. Strong spells have a longer lasting and more pronounced activity; they can even cause death in smaller children while in adults they create “holes” in the aura, when we see a constant loss of energy, which is manifested in everyday life by sudden tiredness. In Islamic tradition a gaze of evil eyes is called strijelica (arrow), which is a suitable term. Spellbound or shot through person can be recognised by brown spots on the face, usually forehead, since evil, according to stravarke “ always attacks the star ”. The only place on the human body which has immunity from spells is the backside according to folk belief. As soon as we are found in company of a person who is known to cast spells i.e. malicious, and if they laud u...

Arabs, Persians and other Muslims believe that there are two types or two directions from which spells come – the first one is from humans and the other from Jinn. In folk tradition there is a belief about three types of spells: zazor , začud or učud and prostril . Zazor is a spell created out of jealousy and envy, začud comes out of great wonderment and admiration towards someone or something and prostril is the most dangerous type of spell since a child can easily die from it, if one doesn't react on time. In Cazin and Velika Kladuša when people say that someone is ill due to „ svitskog sepa “ or „ svitske djece “ they actually want to say that he is a victim of evil eyes. Among Bosnian people there is a belief that more people have gone underground (died) due to consequences of spells than due to all diseases combined. Similarly, a common belief is that spells are often child diseases. Because of this understanding it is customary among Bosnian people to place the money, given t...

Spells are supernatural and mysterious phenomena which attacks all living and dead things. It is claimed among the folk that people, animals, plants, items and even some celestial bodies such as the moon can fall under the influence of the evil eye. Old Bosnian women have a custom of saying, when they first see the new moon: “Mašanla, look at the new moon!” because of the comparison of the new moon, just “born”, to a small child, innocent and helpless, especially when faced with something as powerful and destructive as a spell. In opposition to the gentle and unprotected new moon is the sun, which although known as a classic symbol of light and life, in Bosnian tradition it was always considered evil “ until the winter passes ”. Namely, according to folk (agrarian) calendar in BiH, the year was once divided in only two parts, summer and winter, each lasting 6 months, which is residue of druidic beliefs since the time when Celts mixed with the Illyrians in the Balkans. Old Bosnian women...

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