Mythology of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Red faery (Crvena vila)


She usually appears around sunset. They usually sit in an alley or next to a road combing her long red hair. The one who meets her can be harmed when she swings her hair in his direction and hits him with it. A man becomes sick from that blow and sometimes they can fall into a coma. Her symbol is the colour red.


Bosnian faery (Bosanska vila)

She is a girl with golden hair and luscious bosom. She wears a long white gown whose edges are sown through with a golden thread. In her hair there is a flower of lily. Her body is adorned with large wings which she uses, according to legend, to fly through the air and fly over Bosnia in all directions. Bosnian faery has a mellifluous voice and she sings often. By nature she falls within the benevolent kind. She can often be found in the company of other faeries which are of a lower rank than her. Her symbol is the flower lily (Lilium bosniacum).


Faery queen Golden (kraljica vila Zlatna)

She is the mistress of all Bosnian faeries. She lives in large thick forests and always moves in the company of her subjects. At night, especially during a full moon, she exits the forests and bathes in a river or pond. She has golden wings and a crown on her head. After her bath she sings and plays with the other faeries on some mound until the first rooster sounds at dawn. Her symbol is a full moon.


Forest faery (Gorska vila)

She is among the oldest faeries and she is often called the mother of faeries. It is considered that Golden faery is her daughter which inherited her. Forest faery is the one which is most remembered among the Bosnian folk because she was the reason that Mujo Hrnjica became the biggest hero of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is meek and wise by nature and she has a mellifluous voice. The Bosnian witches (stravarka) call them for aid during healing rituals addressing them with words "mother, sister". Her symbol is a golden apple.



Mountain faery (vila Planinka)

She is a faery that has a garland of flowers in her hair. She wears a long dress and sometimes she holds a walking stick in her hand. She has the ability to transform and she often transforms into a goat for easier passage along the steep hillside. She is familiar with all of the secrets of the plants and healing. Herdsmen often encounter her, and she helps them if there is a need for it. Her symbol is a white goat.


Black faery (Crna vila)

She is also called which-faery since she appears in the form of a dark shadow especially around the time of holidays Beltaine (May) and Samhaine (October-November). Sometimes they appear after sunset but more often at nights with moonlight. She appears suddenly and disappears quickly. From all of the faeries the black faery doesn't speak much nor does she sing. Her symbol is black colour.


Water faery (Vodena vila)


She is the guardian of all springs and it is believed that humans can suddenly fall ill if he walks next to a spring during night or if he accidentally disturbs a faery that is bathing. That's why there was a folk custom to great the spring with these words "Selam alejk, water and waters guardians!" Showing respect towards the faery the humans tried to protect themselves from their rage. All water faeries are by nature egoistic and vengeful. They usually hate men and they are always trying to trick them and drown them in the water while they are more merciful towards the women and they sometimes help them. The symbol of a water faery is a silver coin.

Three demons of love


According to folk belief there are three stars/demons that appear after sunset, if the sky is clear without clouds. Demon stars move around the sky and they are always on the other side of the world where there is a woman which wants to enchant a man with magical formulas and oaths. The main demon among them is called Palinka and the other two which follow her are Budinka and Nesanka. According to folk belief the three of them are sisters and each of them individually have different magical powers: Palinka who is also called in some formulas Kostolomka, Sjanka or Planika, she brings a lot of love and obsession into the heart of humans. Budinka, Budmirka or Budimka, brings unrest and hysteria and Nesanka, also called Prisanka or Podminta, causes insomnia. The folk imagines them as beautiful girls with long golden hair and bright eyes.

Three demons are classic characters in all rituals of Bosnian magic. Unlike Palinka, Budinka and Nesanka which are female sky demons, there are three male demons which respond to a call by banging one's hand on the wall on the eve of Tuesday and by uttering a specific formula. They are called Indija or Inda, Džindija or Džinda and Šumabir. In love rituals Indija and Džindija are sent on a trip in their lands and Šumabir is directed towards the one that needs to be spellbound and compelled to love. All three of them are imagined as creatures with tails which are blind in one eye and they limp. But none of these physical defects create difficulties for their courtesy and efficiency.

These three names are also mentioned in specific formulas used to negate negative energy, especially spellbound eyes and children weeping. While as in all other cases the first two demons are sent to their native lands Šumabir is sent to bring the child's weeping and spellbound eyes into a river vortex.

According to the occult classification Indija, Džindija and Šumabir are earthen demons which respond to banging against the wall of a house but in the end of the ritual the person calling forth the demons places both hands on the ground praying to earth, or antic goddess mother, to help and direct the demons in the desired direction. In other formulas which are of an esoteric nature the names of the demons are not mentioned, the term "three Jinn and three devils" is used. Based on that, we notice how the exorcists are not quite sure if they belong to a stronger or weaker line of demons.

Sky rooster


In Bosnian mythology there is mention of a large white rooster living in the sky, he is the king of all rooster on earth. When he crows at dawn and stomps his leg in the sky, all the rooster on earth hear him and they have to respond by crowing back. That's the reason why the people liked white roosters far more because they believed that they have better hearing than the roosters of a different colour. Crowing of the rooster is regarded by the folk as something positive since they believe that it chases away the Jinn and devils away from the house.

Belief in the king rooster probably comes from Iran. Ancient Iranians considered a rooster as a holly animal which reminds people to pray to God by crowing. In Bosnia it is believed that a rooster crows every time it sees an angel.

One of the greatest wisdom for the Bosnian dervishes and Sufis which they have to discover is contained in the following riddle: "When a rooster crows and stomps his foot, after seven minutes the heavenly rooster can hear him, and he too crows and stomps his foot. Therefore, what was down, went up, and what was up - never returns down?"

Naletnjak


Naletnjak is one kind of Jinn in Bosnia who possesses the power of transformation. He is very adaptable and he can pass through the smallest hole or opening. According to folk belief Naletnjak can be seen during the night if one goes onto a bridge. Naletnjak can jump onto a human in the form of a cat or a ram in the desire to be carried by the human or he appears in front of a human in the form of a horse and when the human mounts him he flies towards the sky, into the clouds, until the call of the rooster is heard. Frequently the Naletnjak would appear in the form of a black whirlwind that stretched all the way up to the sky. It was forbidden to whistle during the night inside a house or a yard since it was considered that Naletnjak communicated in such a manner and one could call them when whistling.

Plague or Mubarećija


Plague is considered to be a female demon amongst the folk. It is called Mubarećija (euphemism, which means lucky) and it is described as a woman in a white dress with skinny legs or in a shape of a goat. She travels all over the world, goes from one house to the other and quizzes people on everything. She hates lies and that's why one needs to tell her the truth at all times. Sometimes she communicated to people in their dreams in order to warn them that she will be visiting their village or city and that they should move out. Plague is afraid of dogs and when she is attacked by them she curls into the fetal position and waits for the dogs to leave. Like the Karanđoloz the plague also requires that a human that she meets along the way has to carry her on her back. If the human obeys the plague spares him and his family. Humans protected themselves from the plague by cleanliness and garlic.

Barefaced Man

Figure of Bosnian folk tales and mythology. The Barefaced Man, ćosa or ćosav, is a wily and artful figure, and, often as a portent of evil, someone to be avoided. There is an Bosnians saying „May God protect you from bearded women and barefaced men“. In Bosnian folk tales, the Barefaced Man, i.e. a man without a moustache, appears as a cunning devil not to be trusted at all.

Mračne havaje (Dark Havaye)


Among the Bosnian folk there is a belief that alongside the material world there is a spiritual world called Mračne Havaje. This belief is especially present in folk magic where it is often mentioned in rituals of annulling negative energy through the use of basmi (spells) i.e. oral magic. By analysing a few basme we come across precise names of locations which give us a clear picture that the Dark Havaje is a world covered by a lifeless desert called Kavdag in whose middle there is a gigantic mountain Jaban, which is full of cracks and holes. Kavdag is very similar to the name of the Jinn mountain Qaf which is mentioned in Islamic legends. According to mythology, mountain Qaf is the home of the Jinn because a large number of them live there.

Mračne Havaje are basically a folk representation of hell, a distant place where the world of humans ends and the spirit world begins in which there is no fertility nor life. The word Havaj or Havaje come from the Arabic language and symbolise air, sky, height; and we can find that word in several songs about heroes. In accordance to that it would be easy to conclude that the negative energy is being carried into the heights, into the lifeless mountain where eternal silence and darkness rule.

Bosnian spiritual healers believe that evil cannot be destroyed but transferred from one person onto another location and that's why it is sent to Dark Havaje, a place capable of absorbing all of the negative energy. The transfer is done in such a way that evil and sickness are channelled in the direction of Dark havaje with a precise chant: "over a hundred fields, over a hundred forests, behind the nine hills, into the barren land, where there is no dog bark nor a cat meow, where the prayer isn't heard..."