Cult of the dead among the Bosnian people

The Bosnian people are probably the only people on the Balkans which managed to maintain the burial custom of burying dead family members in the vicinity of the home. Even though there are mutual graveyards, usually owned by one family or village, the practice of burying ancestors in yards was not lost until the end of the last century. The remnants of that tradition probably stem from a Neolithic era of Old Europe and they are still present today in yards of many old houses.

Namely, in the Neolithic period the family members, especially women and children, were buried inside the house or between houses in the settlement which is a practice spawned by matriarchy. Such codex of behaviour is closely connected with the cult of fertility and worship of the Grand Mother which had patronage over the house and family. Burying ancestors close to the home had a social-magical background which nurtured the cult of the dead, respect of ancestors, and celebration of new life.

Among the Bosnian people we cannot find classic fear from death or graveyards, which is found among the neighbouring people, which is also recorded by certain historians such as Dr. Carl Steiner. They record in the supplement of "Bosnian folk medicine" that each Friday, but also during other days of the week, Bosniaks of differing age gather on graveyards in order to talk and rest. Reports especially stress that during such encounters among the people there are no external signs of sadness and depression, yet the people enjoy resting in the shade of a linden tree, acacia and other trees and enjoy the smell of lilac and the song of birds. The younger population spend time there and enjoy making jokes.

 

 

Bird - the symbol of the cult of dead

 

Special attention at graveyards is paid to the birds by the Bosnian people, trying to create favourable conditions for building a nest. Following that intent they would create holes on the tombstones so called nišan, which would be used to gather rain water and where they would leave food for birds. In the same way, the custom of planting trees next to graves was also widespread in order to feed the birds and in such a way to help the soul of the deceased.

Why was such attention paid to birds is best understood if we analyse those segments of Bosnian mythology that deals with religious-magical role of birds. In the mythic consciousness of the people, the bird is a symbol of the soul which is mentioned in the legend about the mysterious night bird Plačo or Meknjača which, according to folk belief, personifies a soul of a deceased child and whose voice announces death. And in the legend about the large celestial bird the connection to the cult of dead is evident because of the ritualistic practice which is widespread among the Bosnian people which used to burn the peel of the fruit in order to use smoke to feed the cursed bird. It, without a doubt, has a mediator role between humans and God since she is sentenced never to land on earth until judgement day. Feeding the large celestial bird with smoke the people are doing a good deed and in such a way symbolically they get rid of their sins in order for the soul to fly more easily to god since it is fee of its sins.

We cannot forget to mention gold winged utva, mysterious half woman half bird, which can be directly connected to the cult of marsh birds among the Illyrians, which drag the heavenly chariot of the sun god. The solar cult if inseparable from the cult of the dead since the sun represents a symbol of death and new life, which is born from the darkness and brings life to the entire world.  

 

     

Urok

It is interesting to point out that the Illyrians as a nation were prone to superstition, healing and magic, and that's why their mages were well known across the Roman empire. Based on that fact it is easy to presume why even today on the Balkans there are numerous magical beliefs, but also practice, which has nothing to do with monotheism but exclusively with ancient cults of the Illyrian tribes. One of the best examples is the belief in the evil power of spellbound eyes or urok.

Urok is an Illyrian word which means to spellbind or fascinate. The Illyrians, like all Mediterranean people were prone to belief in the negative power of the urok, evil demon of disease and bad luck which attacks humans, animals and even dead objects. Unlike other demons urok is closely associated to humans and lives inside them or next to them.  

Urok has an effect (attack) motivates hate, jealousy, wonderment or excessive love of one person towards another. Caused by some of these emphasized emotions urok attacks a human, directly through human eyes and speech, causing various diseases and states such as a headache, increased temperature, sleepiness, fatigue . If its attack is directed towards small children then the urok can cause death in a short period.

Urok is a demon which can, according to Bosnian belief, make a happy man unhappy, a healthy man unhealthy, etc. The Illyrian used various prophylactic items to shield themselves from this demon, carrying amulets shaped like a snake, circle, various shells, etc. Red colour had a special power, according to belief, which protected the Illyrians from disease, especially the one caused by the effect of urok. All diseases created by the effects of urok were cured by tribal shamans and experienced older wives with the help of magical rituals and by uttering formulas. If someone would get sick in the middle of urok then they would take some dirt from a footprint of a person for which it is believed that has spurred a demon and they would then mix the dirt with water which would be used to sprinkle and wash the diseased person.  

Stars - human souls

Since the Illyrian times the stars are guardians of life or better said they are human souls. According to Bosnian belief each human gets a star once he/she is born which will shine until he/she dies, the star then falls from the sky. The Illyrians were scared of staring at the sky since they could glimpse their own star and die, if the star happened to fall at that moment.

 

Still today among the Bosnian people there is a belief of connectedness between a man and his star by way of his forehead, between his eyebrows to be more exact, so called third eye, which was protected in the old days by wearing a hat or a bandana. Evil is always trying to harm humans in that particular area in order to disturb his life energy and undermine his whole fate and life. That's why in the past there was a custom that each morning and evening males put on a hat and females a bandana over that area, "in order to protect the star" and they would utter:

 

Sabah huzi hurmet, okolo mi kuvet,

šejtanu nalet, Muhammedu salavet.

 

This formula is repeated three times.

 

 

 

 

 

Black sky dragon

A dragon is one of the original representatives of Bosnian mythology whose cult was widespread among our Illyrian ancestors shaped in the belief of a black sky dragon who devours the sun or moon during an eclipse. That's why an eclipse inspired hysterical fear from end of the world, and the Illyrian's tried to save themselves banging on various metal buckets creating a dreadful noise in order to scare and chase away the dragon. The black sky dragon among the Illyrian tribes was considered a god of evil and the belief was upheld until modern times through various stories and legends.

The belief of our ancestors was preserved among the Bosnian people and that's why even today among the elderly we can hear statements that claim that the eclipse is nothing else but a dragon devouring the sun. That's why the elderly regularly warn people not to go anywhere during an eclipse, they should sit down and wait for it to pass. Since a dragon is described as a large snake in Bosnian mythology we can see open hostility of the sun and the snake. Namely, according to a belief from Central Bosnia when someone kills a snake the sun stops in the sky and utters "May your hands be golden!", and if someone comes across a snake and doesn't kill it the sun curses him with words "May your hands shrivel!".

 

 

An old Bosnian legend reveals that three sun's used to be in the sky, until a dragon ate two of them and the third was saved by a swallow, which took it high into the sky. That's why a swallow and a dragon (snake) are mortal enemies. As another legend mentions, the swallow saved mankind from a snake which went to god with a wish to feast on humans. As soon as the swallow heard that, she managed to trick the snake into stretching out her tongue and as soon as she did that, the swallow struck her tongue with her beak and split it into two parts, the snake went to god, and she wasn't able to speak clearly which infuriated god who determined that the snake shall feast on frogs and mice.

Among the Bosnian folk there are numerous beliefs and legends about snakes (dragon) as a confirmation how much this animal represents a totem to our ancestors, it had a dominant role in the spiritual consciousness of the Bosnian folk throughout history. Regardless of numerous legends the snake is after all considered as a saviour of mankind which is best illustrated by the legend of Noah's ark and the mouse.  

.