Soul and death in Bosnian tradition

Death which represents the end of life, is probably the main "culprit" why the belief in supernatural appeared among the human civilizations. Inexplicable fear from that strange condition and generally panic from disappearing caused among the people on the entire globe frustrations and eternal questions from the earliest times - why are we born and why do we die? Though we don't know the answer to this question even today, yet we as a civilization tried to fill the world with things in order to introduce some order and thereby give a certain sense to everything we do.

This is why humans invent religion, its unrestrained imagination creates a large number of imaginary beings which surround him, and despite numerous human characteristics, still they have some exaltation which separates them from the world of humans. Throughout centuries religion experiences its constant trend, upgrades, adjusts to human advancement and finally in ancient Iran it receives its present nature through dualism of Persians Manesa and the prophet Zarathustra, on whose principles monotheism is born - direction which tries to convince us in the absurd i.e. how it is possible that in the universe there are two principles - good and evil, but that only one principle is important and the second one is less important?! Because of such an erroneous religious idea in Bosnia and Herzegovina around the tenth century, and probably even sooner, a revolutionary religious direction started to spread fast which seriously impairs the rigid Christian doctrine, it propagates that through the world, but also the universe, two equally important deities rule between which exists man and his primary spiritual mission to clean his soul from sins, and after death to return it to heaven. Such a claim is pretty rational, if we take into consideration the definition that according to the principles of quant physics all matter is actually condensed energy and that this is the reason why all of us are beings of energy or beings of light, what leads us into traditional belied in the spirit and soul, which every human possesses.

But, in order to die we must be born, feel life for at least a moment, in order for our spirit and soul to achieve a balance, since without this alignment with two universal principles, or with two deities of our forefathers Bogomils, we cannot enter the adventure called death. Folk wisdom claims that the spirit is the representative of the god of evil and the soul, pure and holly, it represents the god of good inside of us. While the spirit has the possibility to, usually at night while the man is sleeping, go out of the body and travel the world and also perform some weird, often bad things and bring us into various temptations, the soul is firmly fixed for the human body and there is no possibility of exiting it until death.

Spirit

Spirit and soul as two abstract terms are actually a basic framework of the entire spiritual thread which spans through the human race since its beginning. In Bosnian mythological beliefs it is an extremely dominant idea of similar, almost identical, representation of a few supernatural aspects of man himself. Namely, when we analyse some segments of traditional representations about the human spirit and soul, which are often not differentiated in folk tales which causes confusion, wild nature is clearly evident which according to mythological notion represents the essence of every man. While in classic European mythology the spirit, but also the soul, is represented by a see-through white silhouette, which in a human form hover through the air or suddenly appear and disappear, in Bosnian representation the spirit mostly resembles an energy ball whose shape has an astonishing similarity with a mouse. Certain mythological tradition describe the appearance of the soul as "fruit of the apple tree" i.e. such a description actually associates us with a light ball which exits a hole (mouth) and moves with fast steps towards the surface, emitting sounds similar to a mouse squeak. With such a comparison one receives an impression that the energy is restless and nervous, i.e. unrestrained, which it proves by exiting the human body.

A mouse was not chosen accidentally for the totem animal since it is used for the description of other supernatural events, closely tied to humans themselves. Some of the examples are as follows:

- Mouse in the folk tale about Noah's ark is an extremely negative character who wanted to let water in by trying to create a hole in the ark, and destroy the entire world. He would probably succeed if he wasn't prevented by the snake. Actually, the mouse is the incarnation of evil, a demon which wants to destroy mankind.

- snijet, which in mythology in Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered to be a dragon seed after intercourse with a woman, it is described as a small hairy creature, which resembles a mole or mouse, which runs and squeaks, even climbing walls in fear of a human hand touching it, or even worse, getting killed by a broom from one of the present women.

- in exotic séances of Bosnian dervishes and Imam's, in the ritual known as "skupljanje daire", the final sign of a successful performance, usually curing a mentally ill person, is the hanged or dead mouse on a nearby bridge. This is a signal that the Jinn use to show that the Jinn attacker has been punished by the severest punishment.

Ubiquitous Bogomil tradition

The human spirit is very restless. When a man is sleeping the spirit exits the body and walks away. The man dreams where the spirit goes, and when it returns into the body, the sudden energy surge wakes the man up. The spirit in Bosnian mythology is described as an etheric apparition which squeals. As for the soul, so as for the human spirit a bridge represents a very strong barrier and prevents it from further movement, namely, as soon as the spirit comes across a bridge during his nightly travels, he cannot cross it, it gets restless starts squealing and screaming. If someone would catch that mouse, the sleeper whose spirit is represented by the mouse would die immediately.

In Bosnian mythological representation a bridge is a notion of a place with high energy, which besides connecting two shores in the material level, on the spiritual it has the meaning of a spiritual portal through which the soul passes or perishes on its journey.

According to belief from south-eastern part of Bosnia a child's spirit is especially restless, like the child itself, it is restless and always in the mood for movement and games. Aware of this older women still today warn young mothers when moving a sleeping child from one place to another or if waking it to do it carefully, calling him by his name and pulling it lightly by the nose. If the child is a heavy sleeper they would imitate the sound of a mouse (cccc) in order to draw attention to the wandering spirit, this would force him back into the body. Otherwise, if the child would awake and the spirit hasn't returned, they would risk the child would fall ill mentally and physically.

Also for an adult the same rule applies, it should not awake suddenly, since its spirit is far away, traveling across the world. Apparently such a person could physically attack, start kicking the person that is awaking him at such an unpleasant moment. In that case it is necessary for such a person to be taken to the place where he is sleeping, for it to lie there again, and stay there until it awakes. If this is not done, the person could have some mental issues all its life.

As it is narrated among the Bosnian folk, according to the Bogomil principles, the human spirit belongs to the god of evil and the soul to the god of good. This is why it is believed that witches and wizards have to sell their souls to Iblis or some other ranked Jinn, in order to engage in magical practice and rule the unseen forces. They perform this with a ritual, usually by bringing the holly book Qur'an inside the bathroom and urinating or defecating on it. This is why the soul was purposefully exchanged for a certain power, the soul is trapped and no longer belongs to the human.

After such a situation and the disturbance of the equilibrium of good and evil, the human spirit in the body of the witch or wizard becomes extremely powerful but also evil and is capable of making various evil deeds. While the witch is sleeping, the spirit exits her, and the body gets a blue hue and becomes cold, almost as if she died, which is the consequence of a trapped soul. Her mouth gaps open and become black. It is considered that a spirit of a common man is capable of doing bad things during its nightly travels, such as attacking someone along the way, but this spirit like the witches spirit avoids crossing over all bridges which it encounters.

Similar belief exits in Iranian - Arabic occultism where it is claimed that every human possesses its astral doppelganger. Haamzad or Qarin is the name for the Jinn which follows the man at all times and tries to influence negatively his conscious and his behaviour. Qarin is the only Jinn which cannot be destroyed with exorcism or in any other way.

Soul tied to Halal

Soul is the holder of human destiny. In BiH it is believed that Allah in the first 40 days of inception in the mother's womb determines what the destiny and life of the child i.e. future man, shall be. This is why it is considered that only when the soul enters the embryo it can develop into a fetus and begin its formation. When a man is terminally ill his family and neighbours come to say goodbye - halale (forgive), in order to ease his death throes. Forgiveness is a very important segment of Islamic tradition, which shows mercy but also ensures an easier passing of the soul from the body. Namely, it is believed that the diseased dies in great pain and agony if someone who he has hurt won't forgive him. His parents, if alive, need to say their indulgences and by that comfort the diseased in his last moments.

How necessary halal is for the tranquillity of the soul is best described by a folk song. Sister in law while dying curses the bride Alibegovic. Time came for the bride to die, but she cannot separate from her soul which is why she asked to be carried to the tomb of her sister in law:

When they were close to the tomb,

From the tomb a small voice came:

Don't bring hither the cursed,

Until she has suffered enough!

They took her to the mountains, the mountains didn't want to take her, they took her to the water, the water threw her out. They brought her again to the sister in law. As soon as she forgave her, she immediately separated from the soul. How important halal (forgiveness) for the Bosnian people is, is testified by the custom that the person wronged by another says: "I shall die but I will not halaliti (forgive)!"

Bosnian people believe that the one who dies in the eve of Friday or during Eid is freed of all his sins, since then, it is believed, only the noble people die. Harbingers of death are numerous. In Velika Kladuša it is believed that when an old man starts to be dirty, no longer takes care of personal hygiene, or his favourite drink or food o longer tastes good that death is close by. Similarly, people give a lot of meaning to interpretation of dreams since through them one can foretell someone's imminent death. In dreams taking out a tooth and feeling pain, is a sign of death in the house, if the pain is not felt death will take place to other relatives. It is not considered favourable to plough or dig in dreams, and generally overturn earth, or see that the ground has cracked, at some location, since it foretells death in the family. Similar meaning is represented by a sunken foundation of the house or fallen beams from the roof. Such dreams are often disregarded or not shared for fear of them coming true. Usually as a counter measure it is said: "Dream is a lie and god is the truth" or, even, "Hey, let it be, thank Allah!"

Azrail

According to traditional belief the soul and body during a human's lifetime create a whole. If the soul leaves the body forever - death occurs. The body will decompose over time and disappear, it is believed that the soul is eternal and immortal. The soul cannot disappear, but over time it changes its habitat and goes to an unknown world which is called Ahiret or another world.

The soul doesn't leave the body on its own, Azrail intervenes, who in Bosnian mythology described as a skinny man with long arms and wings. Instead of nails he has claws, like a bird, which he uses to rip the soul or take it out of the body.

General belief is that the soul leaves the body slowly, since it is wrapped around every joint 99 times, it exits through the nose and mouth. Only with a man who has been hanged the soul does not exit in this manner, instead it exits through the rectum and this is why it gets dirty which makes it difficult for it to go to the next world.

The soul leaves the body from the legs towards the head. This belief has a rational interpretation since the feet and hands go blue to the deceased. On its way from the body the soul can be disturbed and confused if there is a noise and weeping inside the house that's why a general rule is that there should be peace and quiet around the deceased. Otherwise the dying shall die painfully and for a long time. It is believed that sinful people die with difficulty and suffer mightily before death. To ease the final moments the person is descended from the bed onto the ground, on a strewn carpet, while his shoes and socks should be taken off so he doesn't die with his socks on, in that case he would lose his religion. Rings are mandatorily taken off from a female in order to ease the passing of the soul.

When Azrail rips the soul from the human he carries it to the seventh heavenly floor and gives it to Allah, where it stays until judgement day. According to another belief, angel Azrail takes the soul from the body and there his job end. Separated from the soul, the soul stays there, close, for a certain period. It can follow what is going on with its body, but without any emotions since exiting the body it became free of any feelings, in the house, on the way to the cemetery and in the grave itself.

Are you a Muslim?

When a girl or boy would die one would place a stalk of nacre (ruta graveolens) above their heads. According to the custom one places an herb of a distinct smell next to the deceased in order to chase the Jinn away. One would usually use nacre, whose bouquets often adorned the grave of a girl or a boy. Nacre is according to this an herb dedicated to the cult of the dead in Bosnian tradition.

As soon as a person would die one would make "dead man's paste" and would distribute it across the neighbourhood. Necessity to follow his departure into the other world with good deeds, in order to ease it, was pronounced before and during the funeral. That's why next to the head of the deceased one would place a bowl of flour, or wheat, with a few tallow candles stuck inside of it. On the next day the candles and the flour were given to the poor.

According to folk knowledge, the deceased should be buried as soon as possible. Depending on the case the funeral should be done the same day, and if death occurred at midnight or during the evening - then the next day. If the person died suddenly in his bed, and he wasn't lowered to the floor prior to that, to die there, then it is done once he has died. His head is tied with a bandana and his eyelids are squeezed, so he can have a nice face. The deceased is placed so that his body is straight, it used to be a habit to tie the thumbs on the legs in order for the body to keep that position, while a heavy object was placed on the stomach, such as a knife, or a piece of earth, out of fear that the dead body wouldn't bloat, since that was explained as him "prikazati" i.e. - becoming a lampir. This is the reason why the house cat was locked away until the funeral has passed, out of fear that the cat will cross the deceased' body.

Deceased is covered with a white sheet and positioned so that his right cheek is turned in the direction of the holly city Mecca. One of the inhabitants, using a straight stick, takes a measure of the deceased, which is called "unčija" or "ulčija" in order to know the length of ćefin, the cloth of the dead, and digging of the grave. When the deceased is taken from the house, to the outside then care is taken that a part of him doesn't get stuck by a door or wall, since if that happens, it is believed, that his spirit will come back to the house and will disturb the inhabitants.

Bosnian folk believe that the soul can return home up to 40 days after the funeral. That's why lights or candles were turned on in the room where he lie, for the entire period, among the more affluent families, while the poor families would practice this ritual for seven or three nights. Place where the deceased was bathed was passed with fire, so that the Jinn and devils don't gather, and the room in which he lie was sprayed with water or was washed "so that the soul doesn't return". If the room was swept after the body was taken out, then the broom would be thrown far from the house.

After the body of the deceased is washed and all present men and women forgive him, halaliti, the body is taken to the grave where it is buried with a prayer. It is believed that when the Imam leaves the graveyard, since he has uttered all the necessary verses and prayers, the soul stays in the community of the dead. An interesting belief is that during the Imam's question of the deceased: "Are you a Muslim?" - the deceased in the grave lifts his entire body on the small finger of his right hand and answers readily: "I am a Muslim!" He does so that he is received by the dead. It is evident that the soul, according to belief, can resurrect the body so that it can lift itself up

Bridge for souls

Such belief confirms the belief that when the deceased is buried he is visited in the grave by angels, judges, Azrail and Džibrail. They question the deceased about his good deeds and sins, and if he is sinful they hit him and bury him into the ground. Folk claim that they can bury him up to 77 meters into the ground. In some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina it is believed that the worst case scenario for the deceased is to be buried in the eve of Tuesday and Saturday, since then he will be visited by scary Jinn called suhaladžije, which beat the deceased until they break and shatter all his bones.

Road from this earthly world leads to heaven across a bridge called sirat bridge, which is according to belief "thinner than a hair, sharper than a sword, longer than thousand kilometres". Underneath the bridge is a scary chasm - hell. There a large and powerful hell fire for which it is claimed among the Bosnian people that it is so hot and strong that no earthly fire can compare to it "since our fire is washed by 99 waters". Apparently, when out of "spite" only one spark from hell fire would jump out the entire world would burn. That fire heats up a cauldron which contains a black mass "tar like", which is boiling and when sinners fal in it they are turning like bean beads in a boiling pot.

The soul of the deceased slowly crosses the bridge (thousand kilometres). That road could be cut shorter and the road could be crossed sooner if for Eid he would sacrifice his best, most healthy ram. The soul of the ram -kurban, will carry him across the bridge "like a horse", it is believed.

Depending on the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Sandžak, the people have their beliefs on the movement of the soul. One part of the belief claims that the soul of the deceased leaves the earth after seven days, graveyards and the house and across the siratbridge carrying the good and bad deeds tries to reach the blissful, eternal life. It is believed that the man, while crossing the sirat bridge, carries the good deeds in his right hand or right shoulder, and the bad deeds on his left shoulder or left hand which he is hiding behind his back, that's why he is walking sideways so that the judge (Allah) has a harder time seeing the sins. Similarly, it is believed that the head needs to be raised high, and eyes looking at the sky. So that the soul doesn't see where it is walking when crossing the bridge. Out of many other beliefs a very interesting one is that if the deceased had sexual intercourse with someone else's wife during his lifetime, her menstrual blood will drip into his mouth and he will fall into hell. A similar punishment will be given to the one who has denounced a woman, broke up a wedding or killed someone.

Love - road towards heaven

Among the Bosnian people, especially in the south-western part of BiH, there is a custom that every family have their own graves, which are usually placed in the vicinity of the house. There is documented proof that there was a custom of burying the dead in the woods, yards or underneath bushes. In old graves one could usually see, especially around Sarajevo, a planted tree above the grave, so that often, the graveyard resembled a forest. This practice was familiar in the entire country. Reason for this was the desire to ensure good deeds to the dead, namely, if one would plant a cherry tree the fruit would be eaten by birds so called "bird's alms", which should ease the soul of the dead. But, there is probably a deeper tradition behind this practice, Illyrian one, dedicated to the cult of the deity of nature and fertility, Tana and Vidasus, therefore the act of planting a tree next to the deceased would have the role of gift for the ancient gods, such as, for example, the practice of leaving gifts at the spring to god Bindu with the goal of seeking amelioration. For people who spread hatred and quarrels it is said that they are the "firewood of hell", they're used to light a fire on which souls such as theirs will burn. The notion, that the largest sin which dooms someone to hell is if someone separates two people which love one another (i.e. husband and wife), was created based on the belief above. That sin is characterised among the people to be so large that it cannot be annulled even if the man builds nine mosques with his money and his own hands. Again, it is believed, Allah will not forgive his sin. Recount of a touching folk song:

Hazrat Fatima was walking,

Across heaven and hell,

She opened the doors of heaven,

She didn't see her dear mother,

She opened the doors of hell.

-"what are you doing there, mother dearest?"

-ask me not my dear daughter,

I committed a great sin,

I broke off a reel of a graft,

I muddied clear water;

I started a quarrel between a boy and a girl,

Allah would've forgave me everything,

Only not those two."

How much love is considered to be the most noble and to Allah the most dearest occurrence, with which an individual can gain many deeds and open the doors of heaven for himself, is evidenced by the belief which claims that the person who introduces two people, which fall in love and get married, earned so much good deeds with God that he is free of the obligation to pray and go to the mosque his entire life.

Hell

While crossing the Sirat bridge it is determined if the soul will receive punishment or reward. Out of the great weight of sins the unlucky will soon fall off the bridge into boiling tar. Souls which are good and noble, and with that have many good deeds, will easily cross the bridge and reach heaven. However, this belief is not the only among the Bosnian folk, we also come across different beliefs. As people claim the soul of the dead rests in the grave or on the seventh floor of the heavens, until judgement day. On that day everything will be levelled, hills and meadows will disappear and everything will be destroyed. The honourable Qur'an mentions this in the Surat Ez-Zilaz (Earthquake):

When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake, And the earth discharges its burdens, And man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" -That Day, it will report its news, Because your Lord has commanded it. That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.

To the dead ancestors one usually says prayers in the eve of Monday and Friday. The things one prayed and forgave, would be given (handed) to the dead in the next world. According to folk belief the thing one prayed is rolling down a large hill into the valley, like haystack carried by wind, where souls of the dead eagerly watch and wait if they will receive hedija from their loved ones. According to this description we get the idea of how people imagines the afterlife to be, at least the one which is reserved of sinful souls, which somewhat corresponds with the notion of hell which is located in a deep abyss. In the folk perception souls are trapped inside a space surrounded by tall mountains and hills, from which there is no escape. In that space they are treated as prisoners, which is after all confirmed by the belief of delivering the prayer.

That's why we need to conclude that in Bosnian traditions afterlife, especially hell, does not start and finish by the fall into the fire, instead through hell there are various scenes of torture and abuse of sinful souls. People claim that, for example, a woman which had an abortion or in some other way killed its child will be doomed to run madly after a small bird trying to unsuccessfully catch it. Bird as the personification of the soul is present in Bosnian mythology through the mysterious bird Meknjača or bird Plačo.

All evil which a person did during his life will come to the fore in the afterlife, where evil deeds are emphasized to the degree where they become absolute, so that the soul directly and brutally faces its sins. Suffering of sinful souls, according to Bosnian folk, stop only five times a day, while the Imam is uttering the Azzan (call to prayer). That's why farmers in the past would stop their field work when they would hear Azzan, because the living also need rest at that moment, empathising with the sorrows of those which serve them in hell and at the same time that short period should be moments of reflection and warning that they shouldn't sin and be bad people.

Bogomil doctrine on the migration of the soul

Furthermore traditional beliefs of our ancestors have a very strong impact on the century long spiritual reflections therefore we shouldn't disregard if we wish to get an overall impression.

Remnants of the old Illyrian-Bogomil beliefs are still present in tradition of Bosnian people therefore we come across folk notions which are complete opposites of what the Islamic tradition teaches. According to sayings of the older population souls of people that committed grievous sins during their lifetime, tortured and killed innocent, will not end up in hell but will be reborn in a body of an animal, usually domestic, such as a horse, cow, pig. in order to serve people and to amend their evils. The worst punishment, it is believed, is to be born in the body of a swine, since it is considered to be, because of its filth and tendency to eat its young, a demonic animal. That's why the human soul rarely frees itself of that damned form.

This belief of our people has spawned some humane habits towards animals, especially towards dogs, which is proven by some written records. In the past people from Sarajevo were prone to feeding stray dogs out of fear that some of them might harbour human souls. Still today it is considered to be a good dead to feed a bitch that just had puppies, Antun Hangi also wrote about this in his work on the life of Bosniaks. Belief that the human soul is inside animals, especially domestic, is evidenced by traditional warning statement: "An animal doesn't know how to forgive!" This suggested that humans should treat animals correctly and with care "since you never know which one of them is harbouring a human soul

White colour - symbol of sorrow

While mourning a dead family member, women avoided wearing red coloured clothes, white clothes was worn exclusively. Black was never worn since it was considered a sin. Women would, equally, take off all the jewellery and wouldn't wear it for the next 40 days, and some didn't wear jewellery for a year or two. During the time of mourning none of the family members can organize a wedding or goes to one if invited; there is no singing and no joy. During Eid a ram is sacrificed for the soul of the deceased. If the deceased appointed by his will for a ram to be slaughtered, then all the meat needs to be given to the poor, while in other instances only the blood goes for his soul, and the meat can be eaten by the members of the household. There was a custom in Sarajevo that the left side of the sacrifice is distributed to the poor and the right is left to the family. In Jajce on the eve of Eid, halvah and bread were distributed for the "soul of the dead". In Bihać on the eve of both Eid's people would bring halvah and pies in front of the mosque, they would be then distributed to the children "for the soul of the deceased". For the forgiveness of the sins of the deceased it was customary to distribute "čagate" (kefaret) i.e. money wrapped in paper with which a person can provide a meal for themselves. Čagete was distributed during the first seven days after the funeral, seven čageta for seven poorest households in the neighbourhood or for forty days.

Karl Steiner, doctor from Ljubinja, in his work Bosnian folk medicine, notes that Bosniaks do not consider as something horrible, instead every Friday, and often other days, they gladly gather in graveyards for conversation and rest, which the author considers as proof of great respect towards their ancestors. The interesting thing is that the author highlights that there is no sorrowful mood with the gathered people, instead everyone is feeling relaxed and especially with the young. Bosniaks even have a very special custom to make small dents on the gravestones in order to gather rain water for the birds but also leave food for them . Connecting birds with the dead i.e. graveyards is not a coincidence since the bird besides being a mythological personification in Bosnia of the soul, her symbolism is much greater and leads us to the Illyrian religious belief in which birds which pulled carriages of the sun god, are mentioned, the same god which is born each day in the "east" and dies in the "west". It is obvious that are ancestors considered birds as souls, holly animals, which has a foothold in Bogomil teachings that it is a deadly sin to kill animals and especially birds and to destroy their eggs.

Respect towards the dead is an integral part of Bosnian spiritual tradition since the old days. Passing by graveyards old people still today preserved a habit to utter El-Fatiha for the dead; first for god's messenger Muhammad, then for the deceased and in the end for all of the dead.