Narodna vjerovanja i običaji iz Velike Kladuše

Svaki kraj i regija ima svoja vjerovanja i običaje koji su najbolji odraz razmišljanja i tradicije tomošnjih ljudi. Svi smo odrasli sa njima i ona nas cio život prate najčešće kao uspomena na djetinjstvo, roditelje ili neke druge pretke. Narodna vjerovanja su bila i svojevrsni obrazac življenja i ponašanja u prošlosti te i zbog toga predstavljaju neprocjenjivu kulturnu baštinu bošnjačkog naroda.   Nafaka i berićet Ko se rodio četvrtkom tome nikad odjeća ne može dugo ostati nepoderana ili neuprljana. U mlijeku od pomužene krave nema berićeta ako ga se malo iz posude ne vrati nazad kravi. To se radi tako da se malo mlijeka ulije u ruku i sa njom se uz kravina leđa potare do glave, da ide uz brdo odnosno u napredak. Na Jurjevo je dobro radi berićeta zaklati kokoš u onoj familiji u kojoj ima ukućan čije ime počinje slovom A. Da je kuća sretna u novcu treba u blizini kuće saditi neven ili, još bolje, u saksiji, u koju ćete staviti tri metalna novčića, ispod korijena nevena i držati je na prozoru. Novac nikad ne valja stavljati na golo mjesto ili površinu da ga ne bi uzmanjkalo. Kad neko slučajno dođe u kuću dok ukućani piju kahvu ili ručaju gostu se kaže da je sa nafakom odnosno da je sretan. Da nova kuća bude sretna i berićetna treba na onom mjestu gdje se misle ulazna vrata zaklati mladog ovna. Nekad prije nego bi se povela krava na stočnu pijacu da se proda, domaćica bi je udarila nekoliko puta grabljama ponavljajući: koliko zubaca toliko kupaca". Da u kući nema nervoze i trzavica treba ugrijati džezvu za kahvu na šporetu, poklopiti je tanjurićem i tako ostaviti tri minute a onda u džezvu staviti mljevene kahve, promješati "da pusti miris" i onda naliti vruće vode. Ta se kahva zove rahatluk kahva. Sretnim se smatra ako prvo dijete u braku bude žensko dok bude li sin neko od roditelja umrijet će prije vremena tojest sin će mu oduzeti bar minutu života od onog suđenog.

O djeci

U Velikoj Kladuši se kaže kako matera ima od devet vrsta. Isto se kaže da je djeci majka od zemlje a majci djeca od srca.

Veliki je sevap pomilovati siroče. Narod kaže da ni Sunce ne bi sijalo na nebu da nema siročadi. Od siročad se insan može najviše ogriješiti.

U prvih 40 dana kad se dijete začne u utrobi Allah mu odredi sudbinu i cio život.

Ne valja da trudnica vadi zube, biće joj dijete katil (lopov).

Kad porodilja ne može da se porodi neko iz familije treba uz Bismilet rukama iznad nje rascijepiti vile.

Vjeruje se ako žena rodi kćer petkom da će ih roditi još pet.

Kad malo dijete kihne kaže se:"pis mace, zdrava djeca!"

Da bi dijete brže prohodalo traži se djevojčica kojoj je otac umro prije njenog rođenja "nije upamtila svog oca" pa se darivala.

Kad djetetu sporo rastu zubi njegovi roditelji ne žele više imati djece.

Kad malo dijete dobije krupu majka mu tri puta provuče mačji rep između usana i krupa će nestati.

Kada se dijete rodi majka mu stavi ekser u bešiku pa mu džini neće moći nauditi.

Dijete će biti plašljivo ako ga mati nakon poroda zamota u dimije.

Dijete ako je kovrčave kose bit će nagle naravi (ljutito).

Dojilja može izgubiti mlijeko u grudima ako joj padne kap mlijeka na pod pa ona ili neko drugi nagazi na nju ili ako je neko gleda dok doji dijete (urok) a ko nije član familije. Ako se to dogodi onda ona treba da tri puta sebi skuha trahane stare tri godine i pojede je pa će joj se mlijeko vratiti nazad.

Ako žena u prvih 40 dana nakon poroda izgubi mlijeko u dojkama, onda ona treba tri puta ponoviti molitvu Ihlas i svaki put reći Allahu akbar između ponavljanja sure. Zatim se nalije u posudu svježeg kravljeg mlijeka i stavi na šporet te čim provre u mlijeko se stavi malo soli ili šećera i dok umače koru kruha u njega, koji jede, žena govori:" kako ovo mlijeko vrilo, tako i u meni mlijeko vrilo". Ovaj ritual ponovi još koji put dok joj se mlijeko potpuno ne vrati.

Nakon suneta dječaku se obavezno mora saliti straha ili zrno.

O ljubavi

Onaj ko rastavi muža i ženu učinio je tako veliki grijeh koji ne može skinuti sa sebe ni kad bi sagradio devet džamija.

Ako pri prvom susretu (upoznavanju) sa momkom djevojka drhti ili se nešto prolije ili razbije tada vjeruje se da će se to dvoje zavoliti i vjenčati.

Kad momak prvi put ide na sastanak sa djevojkom treba je nagaziti nogom (učepiti) da bi uvijek bilo onako kako on kaže.

Ako djevojka ili momak piju kahvu iz okrnjene šoljice stupit će u brak sa udovcem ili udovicom.

Ko sjedi na rubu stola neće se oženiti.

Ko pjeva dok jede imat će psihički nestabilnog bračnog partnera.

Kojoj ženi često vrije kahva dok je kuha to je siguran znak da je njen muž voli.

Za osobe koje su kao djeca voljele pse i mačke vjeruje se da će biti vjerni i zaljubljeni u svoje supružnike.

Falanje

Ne valja falati (gatati) na prazno, jer se odfalano neće ostvariti, ali ni određivati koliko da se da. Za falanje se daje koliko se može i koliko je od srca.

Kad pođeš faladžiji ili faladžinici ne valja govoriti nikom kuda si pošao jer ti se neće ništa ostvariti. Isto vrijedi i kad se pođe hodži ili stravaruši.

Da djevojka sazna voli li je momak ona pred spavanje prouči po sedam puta Fatihu, Ihlas i Rabijesir. Onda preda selam i iziđe napolje te gledajući netremice u najsjajniju zvijezdu na nebu devet puta ponovi:" reci zvijezdo ko me voli, reci zvijezdo je li to onaj koga ja volim?" Potom se vrati u kuću i legne u postelju. Ako te noći usnije lik tog mladića to je pouzdan znak da joj je ljubav uzvraćena.

Uoči Bajrama djevojka pogleda u neku zvijezdu na vedrom nebu i devet puta kaže:" kaži mi zvijezdo ko me voli?" Odmah iza toga ode na spavanje a prije nego li zaspi prouči suru Ihlas. Te noći sanjat će onog ko prema njoj gaji nježne osjećaje.

Ko poljubi tri puta mrtvu majku ona će mu dolaziti na san svaki put kad se bude trebalo desiti nešto loše kao upozorenje.

Kad iz kućne vatre frcaju iskrice biće uskoro svatova.

Ko pri okopavanju kukuruza naiđe na bijeli kukuruz dobiće uskoro pismo.

Da djevojka sazna za koga će se udati uoči Jurjeva ravnomjerno podreže tri lukova pera u bašči i imenuje ih - momak, oženjen i udovac. Ono pero luka koje do sutradan najviše izraste otkriva joj odgovor.

Znak lijepe i duge jeseni su rascvjetale jagode početkom jeseni.

Kad ima kapljica rose po lišću drveća i kad se Sunce visoko digne na nebu, to je znak da će u narodu biti veliki suza - desiće se neka tragedija.

Vjeruje se da će se kijamet zbiti utorkom pa narod misli da hodža utorkom ikindiju uči brže od straha.

Svakih 40 godina se "čisti" Zemlja pa se onda po vjerovanju tada dešava rat ili velika prirodna katastrofa.

Stari ljudi su tvrdili da kad svijetom zavlada ženski džin (od kraja prošlog vijeka) naš (bošnjački) narod će se raseliti po svijetu i da ćemo jedni drugi biti željni da vidimo. Dok je vladao muški džin svijetom bilo je bolje, tvrde stari.

Kad voda za kahvu neće da provre brzo na šporetu kaže se da čeka nekog da dođe u kuću.

Kad pri usipanju pržene kahve u mlin slučajno ostane rasutih zrna po stolu ili podu to je sigurni znak skorašnjih gostiju. Koliko zrna - toliko gostiju.

Kada prilikom pospremanja kašika nakon ručka na sofri ostane slučajno koja znak je smrti u rodbini.

Kad se nekom štuca sitom onda o njemu priča prijatelj a ako se štuca gladnom o toj osobi priča njen hasum (neprijatelj).

Kad se trese posuda na plehu šporeta najavljuje skorašnje goste kao i kad se pokida juhka prilikom razvijanja na sofri.

Kad dvije osobe u razgovoru istovremeno kažu isto nekoj od njih uskoro dolaze gosti.

Kad svraka kreči u dvorištu dolazi gost. Okrene li rep kući dok kreči onda će doći žensko a bude li okrenuta glava onda muško.

Pojavi li se žaba pred ulaznim vratima kuće neko na tu kuću čara i šalje zlo.

Začuje li se ptica Meknjača navečer neko će iz okoline ubrzo umrijeti.

Sa mladim listovima bokvice gatalo se u namjeri da se sazna broj brakova ili čak ocijene iz nekog školskog predmeta. Prije nego bi se iščupao list iz zemlje postavilo bi se pitanje, na primjer, koliko ću se puta oženiti? Odgovor se saznavao brojeći tanke žilice koje su izvirivale iz iščupanog dijela lista.

Koliko neka osoba ima linija ili brazdi po čelu toliko ima mogućnosti da se u životu uda ili oženi.

Sihiri, uroci i basme

Za basmu se vjeruje da hoda po cijelom dunjajluku. U Velikoj Kladuši se kaže da postoji jedna posebno moćna basma na kojoj stoji cio svijet. Kad bi neki čovjek uspio saznati njen tekst i izgovoriti je postao bi vladar cijele zemaljske kugle.

Da momak ludo zavoli djevojku ona mu u kahvu kane tri kapljice krvi iz malog prsta desne ruke i prouči tri puta naopako Kulhuvelahu.

Da bi se neko obenđijo treba mu izvući končić iz odjeće i zapaliti ga učeći tri puta kulhuvelahu naopako.

Čarke djeluju dok se ne mjeni Mjesec ili 40 dana pa se moraju praviti nove. Ima i onih koje se ponavljaju svaki šest mjeseci ili svake godine.

Da se sazna ko ti gradi (pravi) čarke u noći mjesečeve mijene odvuče se zubača na raskršće i okrene se naopako govoreći: " ko mi čarke gradio na zubaču se nasadio", onda se malo odmakne u stranu i čeka ko će doći.

Da ti niko ne može napraviti čarke niti te ureći na vidljivi dio odjeće se zakači špenga, okrenuta glavom na dolje.

Da muž prestane tući i zlostavljati ženu ona treba da poprijeko njega, dok on spava, baci šaku zemlje sa mezara.

Kad se useli u novu kuću sa šakom soli se protrlja kućni prag, da niko ne bi mogao praviti zlo na kuću.

Uroci se sa djece skidaju tako da se sa sedefila otkinu tri, četiri lista i bace u posudu sa vodom. Onda se zapale uz Euzubilet tri šibice i ugase u toj vodi pa se njome umije osoba koja boluje od uroka.

Ako je dijete urečeno pa bez razloga puno plače, majka ga odmah nosi u kupatilo i sebi ulije u usta malo vode. Dok drži vodu u ustima, u mislima prouči Euzubilet, zatim desnu ruku stavi ispod desne noge o pljune u šaku onu vodu iz usta. Rukom tada obriše djetetu lice, niz ruke i noge pa će urok nestati.

Žena dok muze kravu izbjegava bilo kakav razgovor sa drugom osobom u strahu da ne urekne kravu.

Kada bi mlijeko često zagorijevalo na šporetu sumnjalo se u urok. Da bi se on otklonio na pleh šporeta se stavljao fasligan i ćabarske trave posuti šećerom.

Hamajlija protiv sihira je 9 zrna pšenice, komadić gloga i tisovine te malo olova. Sve to se stavi u crvenu tkanini i zašije te nosi stalno uza se.

Prema narodnoj predaji Mujo Hrnjica je uza se nosio hamajliju od devet zrna pšenice koja su ga čuvala od svakog zla. To su saznali njegovi neprijatelji i ukrali mu hamajliju dan prije pogibije.

Kad se pođe na put ulije se u usta malo vode, i u mislima se prouči sura Felek, a onda se ta voda ispljune na desnu stranu. Ako se tako napravi putovanje će biti sretno i bez opasnosti. Muškarci prouče Felek a žene Nas.

O životinjama

Svaka kuća ima svoju zmiju čuvaricu, koja se ne smije ubiti. Ovo je jedno od drevnih vjerovanja naših ilirskih predaka koje se zadržalo u svijesti naroda.

Zmiju je u proljeće prvi put dobro vidjet živu jer to garantira da ćete cijele godine biti puni snage i zdravlja.

Ne valja držati gavrana u ruci jer od toga opada kosa.

Kukavicu nikad ne treba zvati tako već uvijek pjevačica, jer ona po tvrdnji naroda, na naziv kukavica odgovori - "kukala ti majka!"

Da kokoši bolje nose jaja umijesili bi se brabonjci divljeg zeca sa zrnevljem i prosipali pred njih da ih pojedu.

Ne valja držati gavrana u ruci jer od toga opada kosa.

Za sovu se vjeruje da poznaje devet jezika. U prošlosti narod je navečer obavezno zatvarao badžu na krovu zbog straha da u kuću ne uleti sova jer bi tada, navodno, sve živo pomrlo u njoj.

U mlijeku od pomužene krave nema berićeta ako ga se malo iz posude ne vrati nazad kravi. To se radi tako da se malo mlijeka ulije u ruku i sa njom se uz kravina leđa potare do glave, da ide uz brdo odnosno u napredak.

Ostala vjerovanja

Kad nekog stalno boli glava ili ga muči nesanica treba uz Euzubilet oko glave, za suncem, tri puta obnijeti kakve sadake i dati je sirotinji.

Kada nekom jedna kragna košulje viri van iz odjeće, a druga ne, vjeruje se da je ta osoba zaljubljena u nekog.

U Velikoj Kladuši se tvrdi kako nikad nije bilo vodenog ili drvenog prosjaka pošto stari ljudi vele da je ogrijeva i vode oduvijek bilo.

Ne valja spavati sa čarapa na nogama, možeš se razboliti.

Ne valja pisati ili crtati kemijskom olovkom po koži tijela, jer ako se razboliš, nećeš se lako moći izliječiti.

Kad se u kući zateknu tri osobe istog imena mora se napraviti halva.

Nagaziti se može na pasji ili mačji izmet, to se naziva sugreb, od čega se neki dio tijela ospe crvenilom i svrbežom. Liječenje se vrši tako da se oboljelo mjesto potare korom kruha i da psu da pojede.

Kad dijete ima padavicu otac treba nabaviti mladog crnog ovna bez ijedne bijele dlake i otići sa njim i bolesnim djetetom na raskršće. Tu na raskršću treba iznenada da obori dijete na zemlju i stavi mu nož uz vrat kao da će ga zaklati, kako bi ono od straha zadrhtalo, a odmah zatim otac tim nožem zakolje ovna. Meso zaklanog ovna ne smije se jesti nego se raskomada i baci niz rijeku a koža se ostavi da na njoj dijete spava sve dok ne ozdravi.

Ko umre uoči ili na utorak ili subotu biće na onom svijetu odvučen i mučen od strane džina.

U novu kuću se prvo unese sofra, oklagija i kruh te obavezno pijetao, koji treba da prenoći u kući, a sutra se zakolje i podijeli meso u tri kuće.

Hasuma (neprijatelja) uvijek treba pogledati kroz gaće i reći: ne bio ja u tvojim gaćama nego ti u mojim".

Da u kuću 40 dana ne mogu ni džini ni sihiri treba kuću okaditi sa korjenom omana, stručkom ćabarske trave i na vrh prsta mljevene kahve i šećera.

Ne valja raditi ništa po kući ili polju dok hodža uči Ezan, jer samo tada prestanu muke onih u džehenemu.

Jurjevo su stari Kladuščani zvali Mijena, zbog toga što je ono označavalo kraj zime i početak ljeta.

Kome dobro napreduju paprike u bašči taj je lažljiv.

Mrtvima je najbolje učiti uoči ponedjeljka i petka. Što se prouči mora se halaliti. Kad se ide na mezar učiti prouči se Fatiha ( na kraju se doda: "halal proučeno, laka ti crna zemlja i vječni rahmet") i tri puta se preko mezara prebaci po šaka zemlje.

Ko se boji groma i grmljavine treba jesti zagorite koruze.

Ko ima bradavica po rukama treba iz nečije kuće ukrasti soli i protrljati njome po bradavicama pa će uskoro nestati.

Kad grije Sunce a pada kiša treba stati ispod strehe kuće ili uza zid, proučiti Fatihu i Ihlas i pomisliti neku želju.

Kad se po prvi put ugleda mladi Mjesec treba reći " mašallah, vidi mladog Mjeseca!" To se radi zbog toga što se vjeruje kako se mlađak može ureći.

Kad se vidi mladi Mjesec treba gledajući neprestano u njega tri puta proučiti suru Fatihu i zamisliti želju.

Kad se vidi mladi Mjesec žene iziđu napolje i držeći raširene ruke u visino grudi prouče tri puta Amentu bilahi i to namjene na zdravlje svoje djece.

Ko se smije petkom plakat će subotom.

Oko akšama ne valja ništa predomećati iz ruke u ruku.

Prije svakog puta treba proučiti po tri puta suru Fatihu i Ihlas pa puhnuti nizase. Imat ćeš onda sretno i sigurno putovanje.

Pred putovanje dobro je prevrnuti naopako neki komad odjeće na sebi "da budeš od jedne pameti".

Kad pijanac umre sa flašom u rukama ili ostane alkoholnog pića poslije njegove smrti, popije li to piće neki drugi alkoholičar ogadit će mu se i prestat će piti alkohol.

Da bi kosa brže rasla i bila jakog korijena na mladu nedjelju, prije izlaska Sunca, treba uz Euzubilet, odsjeći na tri mjesta po pramen kose i baciti je pod mlado stablo dunje.

Nokte ne valja sjeći u tuđoj kući. Ako se već moraju sjeći onda treba za dozvolu upitat nekog iz te kuće.

Ne valja nokte sjeći u akšam da se ne ograjiše.

Da bi nokti rasli brže treba ih sjeći sajmenim danom a sporije petkom.

Svrbi li te jezik nego te ogovara. Da prestane treba pljunuti tri puta u vatru i svaki put reći:" ko baje u guzicu staje!"

Prije odlaska na veliki put sevap je obići sav svoj posjed.

Veliki sevap je dati pare za kopanje ili uređivanje bunara kao i nasipanje puta.

Kukuruzi se u proljeće siju onda kad se počne oglašavati žaba, jer tad je dovoljno otoplilo.

Trešnja je ptičije drvo čijim se one plodovima najviše vole hraniti. Zato se kaže: "ne diraj ptičiju nafaku jer možeš nastadati!", odnosno ko se penje na trešnju može lako i pasti te se povrijediti.

Kad za vrijeme ručka gost krene svojoj kući, domaćica, čim on iziđe, okrene sofru ili tepsiju vratima, onim dijelom na kom ima hrane, kako bi berićet ostao u kući.

Ne valja vraćati prazan tanjur ili čanu (zdjelu) u kome je neko iz komšiluka donio sir ili mlijeko već se u tanjur stavi bar malo soli, ako nema ništa drugo, jer nju svako ima, a da se njome osoli stoka. To je za sevap.

Kupus se kiseli u danima nakon punog Mjeseca, ali nikako u zadnjoj lunarnoj fazi. Na pod bureta u kojem se stavlja kupus stavi se grančica kupine pa se kupus neće kvariti.

Luk nikada ne valja sijati prije podne već uvijek popodne pa se neće puno kvariti i gnjiti.

Luk u bašči treba kopati "kad Mjesec zastarči", odnosno kad prođe Uštap.

Masirače se siju srijedom. U posudu sa špicama stavi se malo kukuruznog brašna "da budu žute" te malo šećera - "da budu slatke". Kome se odneda u masiračama treba prilikom njihovog sijanja čučnuti a sjeme okrenuti naopako i tako zasijati.

Da bi krompiri bili krupni i jedri siju se četvrtkom. Ako bi neko upitao zašto ih siješ četvrtkom ne smije se reći da bi bili jedri jer onda neće biti. Dobro je ako u sijanju krompira učestvuje i neka debela osoba.

Grah se sije od prvog četvrtka u maju i obavezno prijepodne "da bi se brže kuhao". Neke Kladuščanke dok siju grah govore basmu:" ohmarci k'o ohanjci, kuh'o se k'o repa, bio sladak k'o moja pizda!".

Krastavci sijani utorkom uvijek budu gorki a oni četvrtkom kovrčavi.

Žene najviše vole okopavati bašču pazarnim danom, jer tada im ona najbolje napreduje.

Za onog ko prati svaku praznovjericu narod kaže da će ga svašta pratiti u životu.

Ostala vjerovanja 2

Ne valja zviždati po kući jer se neće izleći pilići pod kvočkom ili se uopće kokoš neće raskvocati (postati kvočka).

Ko čuje oglašavanje djetlića dobiće uskoro dobru vijest.

Domaćice vjeruju da ako zaborave posoliti tijesto za kruh ili jufku da su se negdje osevapile.

Nakon objeda ne valja da gost koji nije prenoćio u kući pomaže oko pospremanja ili pranja suđa, zbog kućnog berićeta.

Kad se sije grah u prvu kućicu ili rupu u zemlji, žmireći se baci pet zrna graha i zatrpa pa te godine divlje životinje, posebno zec, neće jesti mladu stabljiku graha.

"Mrtvačka kina" ili kna nazivaju se u Velikoj Kladuši žute mrlje na prstima koje se iznenada pojave. Narod vjeruje ako se ta mrlja opazi u kući da će neko iz bliže familije uskoro umrijeti a ako se opazi vani ili kada nisi kod kuće onda će umrijeti neko daljni, iz rodbine ili komšiluka.

Ne valja da djeca idu unatrag jer "gone roditelja u džehenem". Zato se stalno galami i upozorava na djecu da to ne čine u igri.

Kad se pojavi Ciganin u dvorištu vjeruje se da maša zaplače ispod peke jer se uplaši da će mu domaćica dati pola kruha. Vjeruje se i to da ukoliko nekom uđe Cigan ili Ciganka u kuću da u njoj neće biti napretka narednih 40 dana.

Kome se nađe slučajno dlaka u ustima vjeruje se kako je meta nečijeg ogovaranja.

Koga zasvrbe stidne dlake, počeše se i kaže:"Kad svrbe dlake biće neke nafake!"

U narodu se vjeruje da nije dobro davat ništa od povrća iz bašče samohranoj osobi (koja nema djece), jer se može odnedati u tom povrću.

Kad mačka ispred kućnih vrata digne nogu i liže se doći će uskoro gost sa štapom.

Zbog kućnog berićeta domaćica uvijek kada nešto daje ili poklanja gostu tu stvar iznosi za njim napolje i onda mu je poklanja.

Za plodnog muškarca se kaže kad bi prebacio svoj kaput preko neke žene ona bi ostala trudna.

Koga zaboli glava utorkom boljet će ga narednih sedam dana.

Ako kiša počne padati utorkom padaće do narednog utorka.

Ostala vjerovanja 3

Prvo dospjelo voće iz voćnjaka se nosilo i darivalo prvim komšijama, radi berićeta.

Ostavi li se slučajno nesmotana odjeća nakon dolaska kući sa puta vjeruje se da će se uskoro opet putovati.

Kad se prvi put te godine jede neko voće ili povrće običaj je reći: "Nova godina u staru guzicu!".

Koga svrbe leđa - dobit će batina.

Koga svrbe pete - daleko će putovati.

Koga svrbi stražnjica - treba da se smiri i odustane od svojih planova jer mu neće izići na dobro.

Ne valja muško udarati metlom jer se neće lako oženiti. Ne valja ga udarati ni oklagijom - postaće papučar.

Ne valja preskakati preko male djece - slabo će rasti.

Malo dijete ne valja golicati po tabanima - mucat će.

Ne valja ležeći jesti, jer tako jedu psi, i od toga čovjeka zaboli stomak.

Kad se nešto kazuje i kihne se usred rečenice vjeruje se da je istina ono što se priča. No, zaboravi li se što se htjelo reći vjeruje se da je bila laž.

Sevap je stati pored bilo kojeg mezarja i proučiti Fatihu za mrtve.

Ne valja imati špicnamet (nadimak) jer svako zlo hoće na tu osobu a posebno bolest.

Insan je devet puta gori od životinje, tojest ima veću pokvarenost i zlo u sebi.

Očeva je kletva devet puta jača od materine jer otac kad kune svoje dijete čini to od srca a mater ne.

Vjetar mora tri dana zamotavati oblake da bi pala kiša.

Kad se neka djevojka uda pa tu večer ili sutra padne kiša narod vjeruje da se cura pokajala što se udala. Ako je vedar i sunčan dan onda je sretna sa mužem.

Pelin ne voli da ga raja gleda pa se uvijek sadi negdje iza kuće, na skrovitom mjestu.

Ko sapinje dugmad na košulji pa mu neko dođe viška imaće dobitak uskoro.

Ko slučajno obuče naopako neki dio odjeće nečem će se obradovati.

Nova se odjeća uvijek prvo oblači sa Euzubiletom na desnu ruku ili nogu kako se u njoj ne bi desila kakva nesreća.

Kad dijete mokri noću u krevet treba naći šupalj kamen kroz koji će se dijete pomokriti a onda se kamen odnese baciti na raskršće.

Ako se malom djetetu pomažu obrazi babinim uhom (Aleuria aurantia) vjeruje se da će cio život imati rumene obraze.

Čuvarkuća na krovu kuće ili štale čuva od groma. Da bi bila sretna treba ukrasti koji list od komšije i presaditi ga u svoju vazu.

U narodu se kaže da je januar najduži mjesec u godini. Dok on traje ne smije se piti hladna voda.

Vjeruje se da mjesec august djeci i starcima uzrokuje probleme sa stomakom i proljeve. Da bi se zaustavio proljev kod djeteta majka pazi kada će putem naići kola koja prevoze snopove pšenice pa se pod njih baci neki dio dječije odjeće, kako bi kola prešla preko njih.

Ne valja van izaći tek oprane kose jer se možeš ozbiljno razboljeti.

Ko se ujutro sretne na putu sa djevojkom koja nosi punu kantu vode ili osobu sa punim vrećicama biće mu sretan dan.

Kad se nekud krene ne valja se vraćati po ono što si zaboravio, neće biti sretan put.

Ako izlazeći van zapneš za kvaku nešto si zaboravio i po to ćeš se vratiti.

Ako dok se mejit iznosi van iz kuće zapnu nosila za vrata ili šta drugo ostaće njegov duh u kući.

Veliki je grijeh ukrasti jaje jer kokoš se svaki put onesvijesti usred velike boli kad treba jaje izići iz nje.

Vjeruje se da će na 40 godina prije kijameta nestati pčela, ovaca i pšenice.

Kad je Allah stvarao prve ljude previše se zanio oblikujući Adema da mu je darovao svu pamet te nije imao šta staviti u glavu Havi. Razmišljajući se šta da učini ugledao je kokoš, koja je upravu tu prolazila, pa se dosjetio da izvadi malo njene pameti i stavi u glavu Have. I od tada se vjeruje da je svako žensko kokošije pameti, jer da je drugačije nijedna žena ne bi, navodno, htjela roditi dijete zbog svih muka koji prate porod. U narodu se isto kaže da je žensko uvijek bezobraznije, bez stida, od muška.

autor priloga: Raif Esmerović

Bosnian mythology is not Slavic but Illyrian!

When we're talking about Bosnian mythology it is important to clarify instantly the following - Bosnian people are speaking a Slavic language, but this doesn't mean that they are Slavic people, since according to that logic the Mexicans would be Spaniards, Brazilians would be Portuguese and for example the Algerians or Moroccans would be French.
 

Thesis about the southern Slavs, which is based exclusively on the Slavic language is as it's historically known, a merit of the European colonial forces, primarily Great Britain and Austro-Hungary, which disintegrated Balkan people in order to manipulate them better, they enforced numerous historically catastrophic thesis, primarily about the affiliation to the Slavs!? To demolish this absurd theory it suffices to take a look at the physiognomy of a Russian, which are of a lighter hair colour and skin as a people, shorter, i.e. they're similar to the Germanic people, comparing such a person with for example an Albanian, Montenegrin or for example a Dalmatian, which are of a darker hair, eyes, usually tall, one could then notice an incredible difference in physiognomy, which is crucial in classifying to which nation does a person belong to. We won't even notice genetic research which proved that there is a dominant Illyrian gene present when compared to all others.

But, one of the strategical interests was stimulating nationalism, in order to place this strategically important part of Europe under their sphere of influence, using the primitivism which was traditionally rooted among the Balkan people. In order to more clearly explain what I'm talking about let us remember this historical fact which states: how is it possible that the people of the Balkans, which existed between two great civilizations, Greece and Rome, never managed to achieve a cultural or civilization advancement?! Everything that was created in the previous centuries in this area is a result of all other people besides the Balkan ones, starting from the Romans, Greeks, Germans, Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians. whether we like it or not, the answer is simple - primitivism was always a dominant trait of this part of Europe. History has shown as well as proved that the people which can be manipulated the easiest are primitive ones.
 

A less known fact among the public is that the Austrian monarchy secretly distinguished Vuk Karadžić, who quickly made some type of dictionary of Serbian language according to instructions of the Monarchy in 1818; the dictionary has no scientific validity, since it is not a result of linguistic research, instead it was created on a geographically small area. The intention was to create foundations of nationalism on whose enthusiasm a surface for conflict will be created between the small nations all with the goal of easier western manipulation over them. In contrast, in Bosnia since 1631 a Bosnian-Turkish dictionary (Bosansko-turski rječnik) was created by Muhamed Hevai Uskufi, but the dictionary was never a cause for hegemony of Bosnians over other peoples, since the dictionary wasn't created by someone's order but out of love for Bosnia and its people.

 

This manipulation of Europe over primitive Balkan people was so evident and at the beginning of the twenties of the previous century when the western representatives came at the same time to Belgrade and Zagreb agitating Serbs against the Croats. Namely, western representative would say to the war criminal Slobodan Milošević that he has the right to preserve Yugoslavia from disintegration and in Zagreb that Croatia has the right to independence since it was decided by a folk referendum. In such an abject way they pushed, again playing according to the verified recipe of nationalism, peoples of former Yugoslavia into war, which culminated with genocide in Bosnia.
 

 

 

This is why it is important that we finally become aware of ourselves, our origin, rich history and that we finally stop caring what our enemies write and say about us, we need to value and respect our identity and Illyrian forefathers who are our inseparable part.

Two angels of the afterlife

As Antun Hangi wrote in his anthological edition about the tradition and life of Bosnian people after funeral, when the gathered people leave the cemetery, i.e. move 40 steps from the grave, Suvaldžije or Suradžije come to the deceased to prepare suval for him, i.e. ask him about his earthly life. When Suradžije come the deceased comes to life, but not in the form that he lived on earth, he is in some hypnotic state, from which he will answer all the questions that will be posed to him. According to Bosnian mythology, Suvaldžije are two angels which are called Munkir and Nekir. They're in charge of asking certain questions based on which the decision if the soul will go to heaven or hell will be made. First questions to which the deceased will answer are: "Who is your God?". He will reply: "My God is Allah". Then comes the second question: "What is qibla to you?" - "Qibla is my Mecca". "Who is God's messenger?" - "God's messenger is Muhammad". The questioning doesn't end, then comes the second round of mysterious questions about which people know nothing about. But we can presume that they are tied to the character and good deeds. If the deceased was a good Muslim, i.e. if he was a true believer and if he followed the rules of the religion and abided by them, he will then answer positively and quickly to all questions. The result in the end will be that Suvaldžija will take his soul to heaven. After his soul has been taken to heaven, his grave will be widened so that his body doesn't suffer, since the body of the just will not see judgment day. If the deceased was not a real Muslim and he hasn't died in god's grace and the real fate which was revealed by Muhammad, he cannot then reply to all the questions, and his soul will be taken by Suvaldžija and thrown into hell, which the deceased earned with his inadequate life and character.

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 pantheon of other gods and goddesses such as Bindu, Tur, Anzotik, or the divine serpent Boa, whose roles in the religious system were not negligible. But, as a starting point for further observation when researching ways of healing by our forefathers the most important are Vidasus, Tana, Tur and Bind.


What we need to stress at the beginning is the fact that thanks to these deities of our forefathers, today we can be proud that we have a durable cult of healing, which has a deep reach in the ancient times. Documented data from the National Museum in Sarajevo present examples of continued ritual practice of visiting streams and washing the diseased, which ends in leaving a piece of clothing or food next to the stream or even throwing a coin inside of it, which is without a doubt a preserved tradition of respecting and seeking help from god Bind, which our forefathers the Illyrians worshiped as a deity of streams. In pagan Bosnia he was offered animal sacrifices, usually of smaller animals such as goats, which was latter exchanged by symbolic gifts. Cult of Bind was especially dominant in the part of Bosnia, which was dominated by Japod's, as well as boarder parts of the Croatia at that time, especially in Lika, where it was practiced until the middle of the previous century. Belief that spring water, especially the one taken before sunrise, medicinal and suitable for healing is another segment of the mentioned cult.

Tana and Vidasus

Sculptures which depict god Vidasus, sometimes accompanied by Tana, show him encircled by girls dancing or in the form of nymphs, water faeries. Beside the data which confirm that the Bosnian folk were familiar with faeries from ancient times, this information is extremely important for further study about correlation with persons which came into direct contact with faeries and gained healing powers as well as texts of spells. From Bosnian tradition we know that faeries are skilled in healing with medicinal herbs and spring water in which, according to legends, they would bathe.
What was especially interesting to notice when gathering materials for this research are individual ways of initiation of certain persons into the world of magic and healing and for which it is impossible not to find a direct link with Tan, Vidasus or even a snake, holly totem of our forefathers.

-"Bosnian folk believes that spells are a gift from spirits, especially faeries, which is evidenced by numerous testimonies about initiation. A large part of older women in the past that used to work with spells were illiterate and they used to live in villages. Their initiation into supernatural was always based on weird dreams in which young and beautiful girls used to appear, usually three, they would teach the chosen woman healing formulas in the dream. There are different examples. According to sayings of a well-known witch from Velika Kladuša called Ćanka, an unknown man and woman appeared in her dream, clad in white clothes. They pulled her by her large toe and "woke her". Then they told her that they chose her to heal and help people. Another woman received her initiation into the world of magic by a snake bite. Namely, at one time while she was out working in the field she got tired and she laid down to rest. Without realising she fell asleep and when she woke up she felt pain in her lips. As soon as she came home she saw that her lips were swollen and dark. She quickly went to a doctor who determined that she was bitten by a snake. It wouldn't have been a sensational event if she hadn't felt that she "knew" strange things and that suddenly she knew how to perform love magic and cure people of it."

Cult of god Tur

In folk religion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is based on Illyrian traditional beliefs, some segments of the Bosnian god Tur were preserved thanks to the cult of spells (magical formulas); in Bosnian mythology it was believed that Tur was a gigantic black bull who held earth on his back. The name Tur itself probably comes from poturiti, onaj koji potura, drži nešto ili pridržava (plant, someone who places under, upholds or holds something) which fully corresponds to the function which is ascribed to this mythological being. Though according to the writings of ethnologists the belief about the gigantic bull who is holding up earth is only found among the Bosnian people, some segments of that cult are present in the magical practice of all three people in our country. We are talking about healing rituals of cattle where women or men who perform these rituals preform a spring ritual of transmission of divine power of Tur in order to gain his blessing or power of healing.
Namely, in folk religion of Bosnia the snail is a miniature representation of the bull Tur since it possesses attributes which symbolise the bull: horns and house on his body which symbolises earth. It is no less interesting to mention that for the ritual of touching, a dark coloured snail is often sought, since the bull Tur was described as being of a black skin or hair, therefore the Bosnian people in the northwest part of Bosnia call him Garonja (black). Significance of touching the snail is the magical connection with earth, in which Tur lives, otherwise in Bosnian mythology is the only culprit for causing earthquakes, and calming Tur, personification of the earth's strength, which is clearly visible in the formula which follows ritual touching of the snails horns: "Ustuk biče, moje biče jače!" (stand down bull, my strength is bigger than the bull's)
 When a woman from the surrounding area of Mostar would gain the power of healing livestock, she would use her index finger of her right hand to touch the horns of a dark snail three times, pulling her finger down his body, backwards, uttering the following spell: "Stu na se! Stu natrag, ne znalo ti se za trag. Stu na se. Od Boga derman a od mog iladž!" (Go back, go back, may your origin be unknown, go back! From God the cure and my labour recovery). As we can see from the examples, touching the horns of the snail is nothing but a magical imitation of touching horns of Tur, whose entire strength rests in them, and using that force to heal, since that is the energy of earth or Grand Mother. It is believed that after such a transfer of power from the snail onto a woman or man, a person can use their acquired powers to cure throughout the entire year.
A diseased animal is brought to a rock which is firmly fixed into the ground, i.e. it never moved from that place, which is alluding to a tombstone, then the woman which is performing the healing ritual uses her index finger to make three circles around the diseased part of the body and utters: "stu natrag!" (an abbreviation of "come, tread, move"). She then spits on her index finger uttering: "Ptuj, u živac, u kamen, stu natrag!" she repeats this three times.
Right index finger in folk medicine is the finger of healing and is brought into connection with the finger of Hazrat Alija, who is always depicted with a raised index finger as a symbol of god's wisdom but also blessing. This is no coincidence since Hazrat Fatima and her husband Hazrat Ali in folk medicine, especially in Iran and Turkey, are regarded as a couple who have ascribed mystic properties to them, among which are healing properties. In north-western part of Bosnia, in Velika Kladuša and Cazin, right index finger is represented in the prayer to the new moon which is pointed towards the moon after uttering five short (smaller) surah, then a spell is uttered with which one aims to renew vitality and beauty of the body.
According to traditional belief for this magical transmission one would chose the period from the beginning of May until the middle of the month which is no coincidence, namely, it was a custom in the past to slaughter a bull (once people used to say: "We'll slaughter a bull for the first of the May!"), which was a symbol in the former Yugoslav republic of labour day, however, that practice of slaughtering animals, i.e. sacrificing a bull on our territory is an ancient practice and stems directly from Illyrians. All of this of course has its roots on the cult of Tur and mother earth or goddess Grand Mother.
Actually, today's holiday St. George's day, which is observed on May 6th among the Bosnian orthodox Christians, is not a Christian holiday at all, nor any other, it has been taken over from paganism. In this data we can find an answer as to why Bosnian people, former members of the Church of Bosnia before the advent of Christianity, were pagans, therefore it is normal and logical to conclude that they, like other people, did not fully renounce their old religion. Instead they continued under the veil of Christianity and later Islam to celebrate the holidays of their pagan forefathers. That's why among the Bosnian folk some so called "Christian" holidays were marked (observed) but not in a religious but magical way i.e. the original pagan way, during which destiny was foretold, spells uttered and livestock protected from evil spirits and diseases.

Serbs and Turks are one and the same people

After the battle at Kosovo 1389, when the Ottomans completely defeated the Serbian army, which lead to a catastrophic reduction of the male population, something took place which forever changed that people in its entirety. According to claims of historians in the entire Serbia there were only 200 thousand men left. Defeated and destroyed, Serbs became a part of the grand Ottoman empire and so suffered the worst fate of a looser. After the victory the Ottomans ruled over Serbia and in the long history of 500 years in entirety they changed the demographic image of the country. Namely, Turkish soldiers married Serbian women and girls or even raped them which resulted in every other child in Serbia, having a Turk as a father. That's why there is not one family in Serbia which doesn't have Turkish genes in their heritage. All of this unquestionably reflected in the physical appearance of the Serbian people which is very similar to the Turkish people which is especially evident in the facial features, namely, a larger part of the population has dark hair and eyes, just like the Turks. Because of this historical but also genetic connectedness, everything that was Turkish  became an inseparable part of the Serbian identity from the Turkish cuisine, language, music and even mentality.  

 

Today when you compare Serbs and Turks, besides physical similarity, you will notice some important links: both people are extremely nationalistically driven, both people strive for creating Grand Turkey i.e. Grand Serbia, both people do not accept minorities, both people committed genocide which they deny - over Armenians and Bosniaks, both people are trying to assimilate other people around them, both people pretend to be great religious people, both people claim other's cultural heritage as their own, etc. There are too many similarities in order to conclude something else instead of that they are brothers i.e. same people.

 

Bosniaks - one of the best genetically preserved people in Europe

 

Luckily, Bosniaks didn't have the same fate under the Ottoman rule since by converting to Islam they were spared all of the negative events which struck the Serbian people. Today, out of historical but also genetic research we know that Bosniaks are one of the rare European people which can brag with a large percentage of racial purity. This was noticed long time ago by Karl Steiner, doctor in Ljubinja, which in his work "Bosnian folk medicine" writes the following: "Bodily the tall man from Bosnia and Herzegovina represents undoubtedly the most beautiful type of South Slavic-Illyrian racial mixture. He is taller from his neighbours in Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia, his chest are powerfully kept, musculature firm and hinged; smooth or weak curly, brown or dark hair and black eyes we see among the members of all three religions, but as often brothers are similar but yet different, similarly our Muslims, Orthodox and Christians show certain characteristics, which through centuries came about due to mixture in breeding. For example among the Christians and Muslims the iris of the eyes is mostly light, often blue or yellowish, while eyes among the Orthodox are usually darker, often black. Among the Muslim and Catholic children one can often see light blue hair, soft, skin white as milk, generally typical Aryan type, but the hair and skin colour will darken bit by bit, while these characteristic among the Orthodox are rare."

 

Unlike the extremely large genetic mixture between Serbs and Ottomans in Serbia, in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is a completely different situation about which Ćiro Truhelka, archaeologist and historian, wrote the following in his anthropological study:

 

"Endogamy was among the Bosniaks (Muslims in Bosnia) so strict, that in my time I knew a dozen Bey families, which intermarried and they wouldn't allow in their harem women which were out of this circle, though they were from the best homes. Because of the mentioned reasons mixed marriages between the Ottoman and Bosnian Muslims were extremely rare and without evident effect on shaping the race."

Endogamy and with it harem enclosure were the most successful measure of protection of racial element in Bosnia, and I believe that I can say, that rare ethnic groups in Europe managed to preserve their identity like the Bosniaks in Bosnia. The merit goes to harem exclusivity, which in this case preserved racial characteristics of the forefathers. Similarly it is familiar that  there was antagonism between the Bosnian Muslims and Ottomans and that the Bosniaks dreaded from marrying their daughters to so called Turkuše (superlative of Turk), that antagonism often gained a dangerous political form, and was the cause of revolts.      

Dwarf Perkman

Political rise of Bosnia was followed from the first part of the XIV century by a corresponding development and progress. By expansion of the territories of medieval Bosnian state naturally the scope of trade had increased, which in its basis had the rise of production, especially mining. Bosnia was rich in ore and metal which were produced and processed in numerous places: Fojnica, Zenica, Vareš, Kakanj, Srebrenica, Foča, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Goražde, Ustikolina and Zvornik. Significant source of income for the rulers and nobility were the mines, especially of silver and lead. Migration of the Germans and the Slavs covered the continuous development of ancient mining in the late ancient and early medieval period on the territory of Bosnia. Mining still existed, but with reduced capacity on the traces of the ancient mines. A greater swing in the development of mining belongs only to the developed middle ages. The reason for these improvements is found in the fact that after the shortage of noble metals in western and middle Europe, a general search began for the metals which had its reflection also on this territory. For that purpose the German miners sasi or Saxons (German tribe) were employed, they were specialised in finding and organizing exploitation of ores. This is why Srebrenica was the homeland of the miners spirit, dwarf Perkman, north-German mythological being. Remnants of the medieval mining works for which it is believed that during their excavation the merry dwarf Perkman helped, they are visible by the promenade which leads towards the spa from the city.  

Living dead - lampiri

Vampire is a Bulgarian word, which comes from north Turkish word upir. That's why there is a logical question - did the belief in vampires even exist before the advent of the Ottomans to the Balkans?! According to the available data we can conclude that such mythological beliefs in the territory of the Balkans did not exist until the Ottomans came, which confirmed by the issue "Karadžić svesci" from 1900 where folk tales are described about how Muhammad became a vampire since "the Turks took care that no one leapt over Muhammad and not if someone stole him, since they believed in vampires".



The first known vampire in the Balkans is the one from Istra, Jure Grando, whose existence was documented in 1689. Jure Grando from a place Kringa, not far from Pazin, died in 1656 when Stipan Milašić decapitated him with an axe. There are testimonies about Jure the vampire in the work "Slava vojvodine Kranjske" from the Slovenian historian Janez Vajkarda Valvazor (Johann Weikhard von Valvasor).

Among the Bosnian people, both in BiH and Sandžak (Sanjak), the most widespread name for a vampire is lampir. According to etymology the name lampir stems from the folk name for a butterfly - lepir, lampijer, which is confirmed by the Bosnian belief that the vampire exits the grave through a small hole in the ground in the shape of a butterfly. In Serbia and Montenegro lampir is often called ukolak, which is why in some places in Bosnia we come across the name vukodlak (werewolf), though he has no real connection with the lampir.

Prevalent opinion about the lampir among the Bosnian folk is animistic i.e. it is a "rogue spirit" of a man who died i.e. his spirit mysteriously received such power that even without a soul it can temporarily resurrect a dead body:

-"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"

Lampiri are socially aware. They know how to return to their home, make love to their spouse or disturb the neighbours by throwing rocks on their roof. Business is not strange to them, namely, "some lampir, stemming from Herzegovina, had his own store in Sarajevo where he sold all goods by a yardstick (scales), so when they pierced him in his birth place, they forcefully tried to break his store, but the store was nothing more but spider web and snowdrift. When people find out that someone in the village has become a vampire, then they make a fire on that person's grave and they sharpen a hawthorn stick to puncture the dead person's stomach. When a strong stick has been made with hammers it is bashed to bring him into the grave." In the descriptions of the treatment of the lampir among the Bosnian people we cannot but notice an almost identical treatment toward the soul and the dead which the angels Azrail and Džibril have according to Bosnian mythology:

-"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".(Soul and death in Bosnian tradition, author Raif Esmerović)

Making a fire on the grave is obviously alluding to the fire from hell which swallows the souls of the evil and sinful people. It is used to scare the deceased, moreover, give him a mortal fear so that the spirit runs from the body, which will then be decapitated and made unsuitable for use by puncturing its stomach. Lampiri can be very aggressive.

According to the documented case of Ahmed Ramov Mujović from Montenegro who got into a fight with this supernatural being. Coming back home one night from ploughing, "something stopped his oxen and they couldn't move forward". Seeing this he shouted: "Please if you are ukolak, but a devil, but a human, move away, by my faith I will return again". Then he went home, took his sabre, two pistols and a rifle and returned to that place where he shouted: "Where are ye that has waited for me?" at that moment ukolak appeared. They fought until the roosters sounds were heard. Tomorrow Ahmed came back to that same spot and found out that it was a lampir. He followed the bloody trail and arrived at the yard of the family Puranović. They found him there in the grave, they burnt him with quicklime and stuck him on to a stake made out of the tree Prunus spinosa.

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.

Serbs - mythological children of the swine

In certain folk stories and legends the Serbs are called "sons of swine" or "children of the swine", and for their largest saint tradition claim that he was able to transform into this animal. Namely, in folk story, St. Sava was attacked and disturbed by the devil himself, usually why he slept, therefore he turned into a pig and lied down among the other pigs in order to fool the devil and have his rest. Of course all those stories are not accidental but are directly connected to the physiognomy of the people. Average Serb is fat and the face resembles a swine.

 The most obvious example that demonstrates this is the face of the war criminal Slobodan Milošević, better known as the Balkan Hitler, on whose face the resemblance with a swine is most evident.

Way of life itself among the Serbs also corresponds to the life of this animal since a large part of the population is prone to alcoholism, among the folk there is a saying "you're as drunk as a pig", and their hygienic habits are pretty bad. Belgrade is one of the dirtiest cities in the Balkans where city dump and garbage, as well as the horrid smell of the sewer is seen on every corner.

Besides, swine in Bosnian mythology is a dirty animal in which evil people turn into so that their soul in the body of the swine would suffer and so release them from their sins.

Wild Grandma

In Bosnian mythology it is believed that in every chasm in the ground a wild grandma lives who has her kitchen utensils in the underworld and that she does the jobs that women do in the real world. Legend says that a sheepherder threw a stone into a chasm in the ground and soon he heard a threatening woman's voice: "If my hand's weren't covered in flour I would come out and I would punish you!" Belief in the wild grandma is a remnant of previous beliefs in pagan Bosnia when this mythological character represented a female demon or one of the goddesses of nature which controlled weather. In favour of it speaks the belief that every wind is born out of large chasms in the ground and still today one can hear from the old Bosniaks that when there is a wind blowing one should go and place a large stone on the openining of the chasm and that the wind will stop blowing.