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 used to hide fresh milk from the sun, covering the vessel with a cloth or lid “since if the sun sees it, it will no longer be!”.
In the north-western part of BiH, from which I draw most of my beliefs about fear and spells, in the past it was said about cows “that it feeds half of the home”, from there stems the folk name for cattle – treasure, therefore there was a great fear that an evil neighbour might hurt the treasure in the stall with black magic and spells. For defence and protection various prophylactic rituals for preservation of cattle were performed by farmers. Most endangered were milk cows with big udders, also cows after giving birth, they would have a red cloth tied to their tail, in order to neutralise any attempt of evil eye. In certain places a wooden spoon was placed around the cows neck or her horn was spun around and a small amulet with a piece of yew tree was placed around it.
Besides cattle spells can affect wild animals. Among the Arabs it is believed that a wolf, tiger and lion can be stopped in the middle of an attack on a human if the human possess evil eye. Allegedly, only donkeys are immune to evil eye as well as a peacock whose tail with its unique mark served the Turks to come up with their nations most famous amulet nazar boncuk or as it is called in Bosnia – blue eye.
Axe on the roof of a house
Traditional fear from spells gave birth to a nice custom of magical ornamentation i.e. decorating doors of farmsteads such as barn, stables, kruzane (houses for storage of corn), corral for sheep and houses. Namely, with a short text in Arabic, holly letter of the Qur’an, people etched tested prophylactic terms such as “Mašallah” or one of Allah’s names.
“On the front side of one, bigger, older house in Sarajevo it is written “Ya Hafiz” (God protector), for protection. This sentence can be found in numerous homes among Bosniaks, especially in beautifully decorated rooms (šikli odaja) of rich people with golden letters on a black basis (background), written and framed.”
Our forefathers the Bogomils placed a wooden axe on the roof of a house for prophylactic reasons, it served as a weapon whose blade will cut all evil which threatens the home.
However, an even more interesting segment of this belief hides in it the fact that the Illyrian Bosnian people dedicated the axe to the Grand Mother, the one which creates life and protects it, whose shape of a half moon or pregnant woman’s stomach perfectly matches the profile of the ancient goddess (1). That’s why it was said until the middle of the twentieth century that one should bring an axe with him wherever he goes, “since you can defend yourself with it but also cut fire wood, cut what you need, etc.” (2)
Another Illyrian belief, the one about stars, has a direct correlation with the evil eye. It is known, namely that the Illyrians believed fatalistically that every human has his own star in the sky which is the symbol of his life. The moment the star “falls” the life of its owner “shuts down”. This is why the Illyrians avoided looking at the starry sky out of fear of seeing their own star, or worse, to cast a spell on it with their gaze and so summon doom in their life.
Note
(1) The position of the axe itself on the roof alludes to its celestial connection to the lunar cycle.
( (2) Motif of an axe as the symbol the Grand Mother can be identified in the following legend, whose origin dates from the time of matriarchy in our region. In Velika Kladuša, there is a legend that during the night of Uštap (Full Moon) on the moon’s surface one can see a gigantic figure of a man with a raised axe. As the legend further reveals that man is a son of one mother which he out of anger tried to kill by raising an axe on her, for punishment God killed him and teleported him on the surface of the moon as a warning to all that one should not raise their hand against their mothers.
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 used to hide fresh milk from the sun, covering the vessel with a cloth or lid “since if the sun sees it, it will no longer be!”.
In the north-western part of BiH, from which I draw most of my beliefs about fear and spells, in the past it was said about cows “that it feeds half of the home”, from there stems the folk name for cattle – treasure, therefore there was a great fear that an evil neighbour might hurt the treasure in the stall with black magic and spells. For defence and protection various prophylactic rituals for preservation of cattle were performed by farmers. Most endangered were milk cows with big udders, also cows after giving birth, they would have a red cloth tied to their tail, in order to neutralise any attempt of evil eye. In certain places a wooden spoon was placed around the cows neck or her horn was spun around and a small amulet with a piece of yew tree was placed around it.
Besides cattle spells can affect wild animals. Among the Arabs it is believed that a wolf, tiger and lion can be stopped in the middle of an attack on a human if the human possess evil eye. Allegedly, only donkeys are immune to evil eye as well as a peacock whose tail with its unique mark served the Turks to come up with their nations most famous amulet nazar boncuk or as it is called in Bosnia – blue eye.
Axe on the roof of a house
Traditional fear from spells gave birth to a nice custom of magical ornamentation i.e. decorating doors of farmsteads such as barn, stables, kruzane (houses for storage of corn), corral for sheep and houses. Namely, with a short text in Arabic, holly letter of the Qur’an, people etched tested prophylactic terms such as “Mašallah” or one of Allah’s names.
“On the front side of one, bigger, older house in Sarajevo it is written “Ya Hafiz” (God protector), for protection. This sentence can be found in numerous homes among Bosniaks, especially in beautifully decorated rooms (šikli odaja) of rich people with golden letters on a black basis (background), written and framed.”
Our forefathers the Bogomils placed a wooden axe on the roof of a house for prophylactic reasons, it served as a weapon whose blade will cut all evil which threatens the home.
However, an even more interesting segment of this belief hides in it the fact that the Illyrian Bosnian people dedicated the axe to the Grand Mother, the one which creates life and protects it, whose shape of a half moon or pregnant woman’s stomach perfectly matches the profile of the ancient goddess (1). That’s why it was said until the middle of the twentieth century that one should bring an axe with him wherever he goes, “since you can defend yourself with it but also cut fire wood, cut what you need, etc.” (2)
Another Illyrian belief, the one about stars, has a direct correlation with the evil eye. It is known, namely that the Illyrians believed fatalistically that every human has his own star in the sky which is the symbol of his life. The moment the star “falls” the life of its owner “shuts down”. This is why the Illyrians avoided looking at the starry sky out of fear of seeing their own star, or worse, to cast a spell on it with their gaze and so summon doom in their life.
Note
(1) The position of the axe itself on the roof alludes to its celestial connection to the lunar cycle.
( (2) Motif of an axe as the symbol the Grand Mother can be identified in the following legend, whose origin dates from the time of matriarchy in our region. In Velika Kladuša, there is a legend that during the night of Uštap (Full Moon) on the moon’s surface one can see a gigantic figure of a man with a raised axe. As the legend further reveals that man is a son of one mother which he out of anger tried to kill by raising an axe on her, for punishment God killed him and teleported him on the surface of the moon as a warning to all that one should not raise their hand against their mothers.