Mythology of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mythology of Bosnia and Herzegovina RAIF ESMEROVIĆ

The first step towards destruction destruction of a nation is destruction of its memory. Destroy Destroy its books, culture and history and then find someone to write new books, invent a new history. Such a nation will soon start to forget what it is and what it was. Arthur Schlesinger

Bosnia exists over 2700 years Map of the Bosnian country of the 7th century BC, published published under the Culture presentation of Europe, publication of French National library in Atlas "Europe throughout the centuries" which raised a lot of interest both among the Bosniaks as well as this part of the Europe. In the top left corner of this map it is written "altere "a ltere eisenzeit 700-450 v.Ch." Inscriptions themselves are of a Duch language, old German German - though today these these two languages Ducj and Deutsch, are well distinguished because of the modernisation of the German language. Territory of Bosnia is marked by the inscription "BOSNISCHE" and encompasses geographical area from f rom the Adriatic sea until the depths of the inland of the territory that today makes up Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and parts of Montenegro. If we compare this map with the map of discovered d iscovered tombstones, they fully coincide. Another thing is very important, namely, in the neighbourhood there are inscriptions Illyici, Hallstatty, Kullur. Map that proves that Bosnia exists over 2700 years or 27 centuries is a historical proof of the age of the Bosnian people but also its Illyrian descent. This is why all those lies which were marked to us by so called historians about some sort of affiliation to Slavs or in general any type of historical connection loses all sense. But, this is a very important data for further study of the ancient history of Bosnia and its peoples.

Bosnian mythology is not Slavic but Illyrian! Cultural anthropology which combines a few special disciplines such as ethnology, archaeology or linguistics, gives us a perfect insight into the history and heritage of a certain people, and it tries, fairly successfully, to show in a logical sense se nse the evolutionary trend present throughout history among a certain people. Influences are, of course, socially multifaceted, and so with the cultural the religious influence was supplemented and the circle would wo uld be complete. If we wish to monitor carefully that evolutionary sequence of events then we surely must reach out to mythology, its fantastic creatures and legends, mostly for the fact that mythology is the most archaic form of art which for the first time showed mankind's limitless imagination. Inhabiting nature and the world around them with highly unusual and different beings and appearances, mankind first of all showed their social nature, but also the need to express its intimate i ntimate fears, hopes, aspirations and frustrations. The tendency to express oneself in the best possible way resulted in the appearance of various stories, legends, drawings and sculptures about a different world where the principles of good and evil are highly accentuated, and what is more important, where they show sho w their meaning and efficiency. Through those mediums we come across information about classic frustration with everyday life to which people were subject to in the old days as well as today. That's why mythology as a discipline always suggests that there is no one answer but that there are many. Consistency of mythological legends is evident in various segments of a society in its entirety, even though it might not be so visible at first glance. Some of its parts, smaller or larger segments, are so incorporated in everyday life that no one pays attention to them, nor is their deeper meaning

analysed. In more recent past mythology was present in social memory mostly when one wanted to achieve a political goal, which is always connected with nationalism and genocidal ideas, which we could witness during the end of the last century when the militant politics of Serbia specifically and deliberately used the historic event, defeat d efeat by the Ottomans at Kosovo, to start their military invasion on neighbouring republics which had catastrophic circumstances, such as the genocide in Srebrenica but also in other cities in BiH. When we want to study the mythology of Bosnia and Herzegovina but also of the entire former Yugoslavia we have to start start from the historical fact that southern Slavs don't exist. There are only people of southern Europe which use Slavic languages, lan guages, but those people are not of Slavic descent but Illyrian, especially the people from Bosnia Bos nia and Herzegovina and Croatia, which w hich was proven a couple of times with the analysis of genetic origin. The mistake that historians made in their estimate of the origin of a certain people based solely on their language is catastrophic and, as we have witnessed, historically tragic. According to that theory todays Mexicans should be Spaniards, Brazilians or Portuguese, etc. One of the studies on genetic origin of the inhabitants of former Yugoslav republics was implemented in cooperation with: Institute for Anthropological rese arch in Zagreb, Medical University in Skopje, Clinical centre in Belgrade, Estonian Bio-centre Bio-ce ntre at the Tart University, Medical University in i n Priština, Medical Faculty in Tuzla, Clinical hospital "Bijeli Brijeg" Brijeg " in Tuzla, Health centre in Zagreb and Medical school in Edinburgh - Scotland. For the results to be as close to reality in the field, the the tests were gathered in all cities of the former Yugoslav republic. The results showed that the most dominant were the haplogroup's on the territory of former Yugoslavia: 1lb, R1a, R1b R1b and E3bl. Haplogroup l1b or so called "Illyrian gene" was the most widespread in all countries of former Yugoslavia, and the most interesting fact is that the group l1b was present even in 70% in Herzegovina, Dalmatia and other islands. In Bosnia this group group was present in 52, 20% while the Slavic group R1 on o n the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina was present only in 24,60% of the cases. Precisely those facts correspond with the ever e ver present confusion of scientific circles, especially e specially after genetic analysis, did the arrival of Slavic tribes to the Balkans really ever took place? There are indications which gain more authenticity, that such an event never took place, but that the Illyrians, Ill yrians, after a difficult and long occupation by the Roman empire, created a pretty intelligent plan of survival and preservation through assimilation of languages of neighbouring Slavic countries in order to ensure some sort of peace and possibility for survival through a turbulent history. Many segments of Illyrian religion are still present today in all countries that made up the former Yugoslav republic such as the snake cult, belief in stars-guardians stars -guardians of souls, cult of fertility, f ertility, and solar and lunar cults, worship of water through the cult of god Bindu, belief in spellbound eyes, the name spellbound (Urok) is an Illyrian word, etc.

Bosniaks Bosniaks - one of the best geneticall geneticallyy preserved preserved people people in Europe

After the battle at Kosovo 1389, 1389 , when the Ottomans completely defeated the Serbian army, which lead to a catastrophic reduction of the male population, something 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. f ather. That's why there is not one family in Serbia which doesn't 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 e ven 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 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 Bosniaks - one of the best genetical genetically ly preserved preserved people in Europe 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 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 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.

Short history of Bogomils in Bosnia Pope Pius II (1458-1464) in his work "Cosmografia" wrote while while describing the Adriatic countries: "Behind Albania come the Illyrian people towards the west and north. This people were called the Slaves in our time and they call themselves Bosniaks, other Dalmatians, third Croats, Istrians and Carniolans". Bosnia Bosnia - land of of the Bogo Bogomils mils

The first mention of heresy in Bosnia stems from the first half of the 10 th century. In the letter of Pope Ivan X, sent to an archbishop from Split and the local clergy in 925, a complaint is mentioned that in the neighbouring diocese or land (referring to Bosnia), there is a science "located in holly books". The Pope rebukes them for not paying attention and "tacitly approving it". Though here there is no direct mention of who the heretics were, nor is there mention of the character of their teachings, but there is mention that it is not "in the holly books", this clearly implies that the Pope saw it as heresy. That it refers to Bosnia and its heretics is quite clear since in the later period Bosnia was the only country in this part of Europe where heresy developed and where it, so to speak, gained the status of state religion. (Source: F. Šišić, Manual on Croatian history, I/1 Zagreb 1914., p.215.) Another important document confirms that the Bogomils were present in Bosnia in the 10th century. Anselmo  Anselmo Canterburyjski (San Anselmo) from Alexandria in Italy, which lived and worked in the 13th century, in one of his documents mentions that "the heretics were initially in Bosnia from where they spread their teachings to Lombardy, and from there towards France, from where it arrived to Orleans in 1022 and into Arras in 1025." (Source: A. Dondaine, Le Tractatus de hereticis d'Alexandrie, Arch. Fr. Praedic, XX, Rome 1950., p. 308- 324). Letter of the Roman Pope Gregory IX about Bosnia as a nest of heretics

"In his letters from 1232 to 1239 (pope Gregory IX) mentions heretics in Bosnia several times. Thus on May 30th 1233 he wrote to the the cardinal Jakov Prenestinsky his legate in Bosnia, that with sorrow he discerned from his report, that the Bosnian bishop fell "into the bitterness of the crazy heresy ". That's why he ordered to place two, three or four bishops?! (though he has no support in Bosnia). About the Bosniaks he says: "About the inhabitants of that country he says, that they are poor in estate, and rich in wickedness, since in most part they are infected with wickedness of heresy". (Pope doesn't hide his hatred towards the Bosniaks and confirms that Bosnia is mostly heretic but despite that he plans to place bishops in Bosnia?!) Bo snia?!) In the second letter from February 13 th 1234 Gregory IX wrote: "such is the multitude of infidels in Bosnia and surrounding areas, that the entire country (Bosnia) weeps and aches, barren and impassable" impassable".. On August August 8 th 1236 the pope wrote to Sibislav, the duke of Usora, son of the former king of Bosnia Stephen (Stepan Kulinić), that "he received with joy the news that he is among the dukes of the Bosnian diocese?! (which never existed), which are infected by the taint of heretic wickedness, like a lily among thorns". From this letter one can clearly conclude that the pope clearly wrote to one catholic among the

Bosnian nobility, commending him for not falling into heresy like all the other Bosnian nobility. He mentions that in the letters, which he wrote to Ancila, the mother of Sibislav and to Hungarian bishops (since there are no Bosnian bishops), to whom he recommends Sibislav and his mother". (Source: Dominik Mandić "Bosnia and Herzegovina volume II: Bogomil church of Bosnian Christians" p. 33-34). Letter of Pope Ivan XII 1319 to Croatian liege Mladin Šubić

"They are learning disastrous heretical fallacies. fa llacies. Every believer has to stand up against such people and destroy them in order to up root their poisonous anger to prevent contamination of other believers. We often, with great sorrow, listened, from credible sources, that the land of the Bosniaks is the home to heretics, that churches are being abandoned, the clergy has been up u p rooted, Christian sanctities are being trudged on, the cross is not being respected, moreover, there is no sacrament of christening". Bosniak Bosniakss - dualist dualistss

"Dialogus contra manichaeos in Bosna" translated "Dialogue against Manichaeism in Bosnia" is the work of Jakob de Marchia who was placed as the vicar of Bosnia and main inquisitor by the Roman curia. This work which was written on the ground of Bosnia describes the Bosniaks as Manichaeists and as bi-fundamental heretics (dualists). In the dialogue it is mentioned that they baptize themselves with the book, and not water, wate r, similarly to the western Cathars, which is the original spiritual, dualistic baptism called consolamentum. The work "Dialogus contra manichaeos in Bosnia" was in the hands of church censors in 1697 when the issue was canonization of Jakov (Jakob) Markijski (de Marchia). Since then the work has been lost. Censors Johannes Bapt. Lucini and Jochannes Bapt. Barberio exhausted the content of the work and incorporated it into their analysis which is contained in a collective work called "Monumenta "Monumenta canonizationis B. Jacobi de Marchia" which is in Rome.  Jakob de Marchia who was labelled a saint was a doctor of canonical law and a great fighter against heresy. Senate of Dubrovnik called him "the most elegant sower of the Lords word". His lack of success in converting Bosnian Patarens he justified to the pope by claiming that he lacked support from the royal couple Tvrtko II and Dorothea. Dorothea and Tvrtko became very unpopular among the Franciscans, which called Dorothea an "evil woman". They would rather die than accept orthodoxy

One of the four grand inquisitors which were labelled saints by the Roman church is inquisitor Capistran (Giovanni de Capistrano) which was also known as the expert on heresy. In his letter to pope Kalisto III 4/7/1455 wrote: "Bosnian Christians are not members of the Eastern church, nay they would rather die in disbelief, than accept accept the religion of the Rašan (Serbs)." (Ref: Franjo Šanjek Šanjek Phenomenon "krstjani (Christians)" in in medieval Bosnia and Hum, collection collection of works.) How much hatred and revolt there was was against the Pope, and the eastern church - which at one moment had a competition who will commit commit greater genocide over the Bogomils - is best confirmed by this letter according to to which the Bogomils inclined towards the Ottomans Ottomans as protectors against Christian evil (inquisition) and murdering. At the end of 1456 pope's legate Ivan Karahal sent Nikola Barbucini to king Tomaš in order to talk him into declaring war against the Ottomans in unison with Hungary. After the stay and discussion with the Bosnian king, Barbucini sent a report to the pope's. legate that Tomaš is willing to go to war against the Ottomans but that "he can't because of the Manichaeists which are still a majority in

Bosnia, and which love the Ottomans more than the Christians..". The statement that the Bosnian king gave to Barbuicini was repeated literally, three years later in 1459 in his letter to pope Pius II. Theological structure of Bosnian heresy according according to inquisitor Torquemada:

Cardinal Juan Torquemada, uncle of the infamous Spanish grand inquisitor Tomas Torquemada, in 1461 compiled a list "fifty Manichean fallacies in Bosnia". Namely, that year three Bosnian nobles were brought in chains to Rome ("three champions of heresy, influential in the king's court"). Cardinal Torquemada questioned them and studied their religion for a whole year and found 50 fallacies. He had Croatian priests at his his side, and especially Luka de Talentis, archdeacon from Korčula, who was at the time serving among the pope's curia. In the end he interpreted to the three Bogomil's the list of cardinal Torquemada and based on that list on May 14 th 1461 they renounced all 50 "Manichean fallacies" and promised that they will try to persuade their countrymen to change their opinion and renounce them as well. After the ceremonial renunciation the three Bosnian Christians returned to Bosnia. The two of them kept their promises, and one of them reclaimed and escaped into the parts where Stepan Kosača ruled "his friend in unbelief". Fifty Manichean fallacies in Bosnia according to Torquemada: 1. There are two gods, one of which they call supreme good, and the other supreme evil. 2. There are two principles. The first they call god of light and the other god of darkness. 3. Some angels have an evil nature and they couldn't stop sinning. 4. Lucifer ascended into the sky and fought god and he brought many angels from there. 5. Human souls are demon's trapped inside bodies. 6. Evil angels, trapped in bodies, will return into heaven with the help of baptism, cleansing and repentance. 7. They condemn and reject the Old Testament. They say it stems from the god of darkness. 8. For the angel that spoke to Moses on the hill Sinai, they claim he was evil. 9. They accept the New Testament only partially. They deny that Jesus was born by a woman and they don't accept his genealogy. 10. They renounce the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament. 11. They condemn the blessed John the Baptist and claim that there is no greater devil in hell than him. 12. The tree of knowledge (of good and evil) was a woman, and Adam sinned for having sex with her and that's why he was cast out of heaven. 13. Blessed Marry was not a woman nor female being but an angel. 14. Son of god took a pseudo-body pseudo-body and not not a real one. 15. Christ didn't truly suffer nor died, nor did he go to heaven or hell, but all that he did was illusory. 16. They believe that their church was God's. 17. They are successors of the apostles, and their heresy is the bishop of the church and the deputy and successor of Peter. 18. The Roman church was condemned and cast out. 19. Everyone is a pope, from Saint Peter to Saint Sylvester, whether their religion or not, and saint Sylvester Sylvester was the first one who went rogue. rogue. 20. They condemn brick churches and called them synagogues, and for those that pray inside them, they say they are performing idolatry. 21. Use of pictures inside churches is idolatry. id olatry. 22. Sign of the cross is the devil's symbol. 23. They despise the service of the lord, laude and hymns, they say it's all contrary to Christ's gospel and his teachings. 24. They make fun of and condemn worship of holly relics. 25. All reverence of saints which is done in churches is condemned and made fun of and they say one should only pray to god and worship him. 26. Their elders allow the people to pray to them, saying that they are without sin and that they carry the holy ghost in them (Parakletos). 27. They condemn church sacraments.

28. They renounce baptism which is done in the water and they say that it is John's baptism and that it cannot save anyone. 29. They claim that's Christ's baptism is done without water, by placing a book of the gospel on the chest and imposition of hands. 30. With their baptism everyone achieves forgiveness of sins and becomes as holly as Peter himself. 31. A child cannot be saved before it reaches the age of reason. re ason. 32. Full worth and power of o f baptism comes to the baptised from merit of the baptist. 33. The number of times the baptist sins, that's how many souls, though they be in heaven, will fall into hell. 34. The number of times the baptist sins, that's the number of baptisms those that he baptised will need. 35. They renounce the sacrament of confirmation. 36. They say that the Christ's body cannot turn into bread, and if it is turned, we cannot eat it. 37. They renounce the sacrament of penance, they say that sins are forgiven by their repeat baptism. 38. They renounce the sacrament of the last ointment. 39. They renounce the sacrament of the (holy) order. 40. Bodily marriage is adultery. 41. Every sin is a death de ath sin. 42. Renouncing every church authority, they say that no one must be excommunicated. 43. They renounce enjoyment of meet, they say that no one who eats meet or cheese or dairy products can be saved if they are not baptised again. 44. They deny resurrection and say that the body that dies now will never resurrect but the spirit will. 45. They claim that there is no purgatory. They say that there is no middle way between heaven and hell. 46. They renounce prayers which are used for the deceased inside the church. 47. It's a death sin to kill animals or birds, also to smash eggs. 48. They condemn blood justice which is done by worldly leaders. 49. They condemn all oaths. 50. They forbid giving charity, they reject and rebuff acts of mercy.

BOSNIAN MYTHOLOGY The mystical world of Bosnian people has in itself, besides its uniqueness, a rich religious-magical concept infused with shamanism. When we analyse the majority of registered beliefs we come to a unique entity which reveals a fascinating fact of how much the Bosnian people were linked with nature and its forces throughout their long history. Since the ancient times Bosniaks believed that each man had his own star in the sky, headquarters of the soul, and on Earth a snake, guardian of the the house and family, his/her tree and stream and in the underworld a zviždenjak. Some anthropologists tried to classify all of the above above mentioned elements into a thesis about human human doppelgangers (astral, vegetable and animal), regardless of the fact that their lives and existence are completely independent from that of the human and they have no connection to him except in certain situations, i.e. the ones that deal with death. For that fact f act this presumption is completely irrelevant and unfounded. However, in the mystical connection of mankind and nature we notice a dominant influence of fatalism, which is common to all Mediterranean people and cultures, in combination with the Illyrian cult of the snake. Traditional legends about the close connection of certain reptiles with humans can be separated into 4 chapters after an analysis of Bosnian mythology: -about the snake, guardian of the house and family, -snake which can enter a human and live inside its body for f or certain amount of time

-about sexual contacts between dragons and women and the birth of snijet, baby ragon, -and about zviždenjak and its devouring of a human corpse All All of of th the abo abovve men menttione ioned d cha chap pters are are actually actually segments segments of a single cult of of snake, a totem animal of our ancestors. Besides serving as a tot totem em symb symbol ol the the sna snake ke repr repres esen ente ted d to to the the Illy Illyrians the highest deity whose spirit permeates the entire entire natu nature re and and univer universe se which which is is especia especially lly well reflected in the belief that a large snake stretches around the entire globe, creating a ring with its body. According to anci ancien entt bel belie ieff the the snak snakee was was crea created 40 years years prior prior to any any other other animal animal and huma huma which is the reason that that her her rol rolee is esp espec ecia iall llyy pro promi minnent ent in in the the cult cult of the the Gra Grand nd Mot Mother. her. Name Namely ly,, a s ake, or in its celest celestial ial form form a dragon dragon,, is a clas classsic symbol of of fe fertility. In In Bo Bosnian tr tradition th the co co nection of a snake with a dragon can be connected o the the pers person onif ifie ied d ide ideaa of of veg veget etat ativ ivee cyc cycle less ana analo lo ous to the ones from Greco reco-R -Rom oman an myth mythoology logy.. A dra dra on actu actuall allyy makes makes a circu circular lar journey journey,, he exits exits ea earth from water, flies throug throughh to to anot another her locati location on whe e he he ente enters rs a pit pit,, a hole hole and and rea reapp ppear earss aft after er a cer certain period.

Cult of zviždenjak Ani Animism mism,, whi which ch is inse insepa para rabl blee f om shamanism is evident in many segments of osnian folk religion in wh whos osee ausp auspic icee the the longe longest st livi living cults, which got their religious sense from the Illyrians, embedded their beliefs into the collective consciousness of Bosniaks. The cult of zviždenjak ( alamandra salamandra) among the Bosnian people people is closel closelyy linked linked to the cult cult of the snake snake a d the belief in dragons. The name zviždenjak as given to this lizard since people believed that his scream or whistl whistlee could could instant instantly ly make make yo deaf. He is also called družđ or diževnjak.

Base Based d on the the anc ancien ientt Bosn Bosnian ian bel belief we can conclude that in fact zviždenjak is a miniature form of a drag dragon on on on eart earth. h. Its Its yello yellow w col coloo r with with black black spots spots faithfu faithfully lly depict depictss Illy Illyria riann lege lege d about the god of evil, a large black dragon, who anaged to to swallow swallow two suns suns in the the sky while while th third sun was saved by a swallow. People still today elieve that the yellow colour between the black pots represents traces of the two suns that he swallowed. allowed. The concept concept of swallowin swallowingg in this this legen legend is analogous to the devour devouring ing of a dead dead huma humann body by a zvižd zvižden enja jakk and and this this imp impos oses es a con concl clus usion ion that a dragon feeds of life life energy energy whic whichh he gives gives bac back to nature nature in its vegetativ vegetativee or even reincarn reincarnatin atin cycle, all the while waking new life in nature itself. Although in its miniature form zviždenjak has the power to hurt any human that tries to hurt him.

Namely, still today it is believed that if someone disturbs or steps on a zviždenjak he can become deaf from zviždenjak scream. It is also connected to rain among the folk since according to folk belief it appears before rain or immediately after it. Besides obvious fear of seeing a zviždenjak and the belief that this reptile is the messenger of rain, there is no classic divination among the the folk about a chance meeting with this animal according to which someone's fortune or misfortune is predicted, as is the case with the fox, rabbit, wolf and the like. Analogous with the snake, the beliefs about about zviždenjak are also contradictory; in some, respect is shown to it and in others it is suggested that one should throw a curse on it: "God willing, if you are mine, you should die before me!" or to even undertake more rigorous measures i.e. to kill it. In Kakanj it is believed that it is best to kill zviždenjak 40 days prior to one's own death?! The reason for such behaviour according to belief stemming from Glamoč, Gla moč, Livno, Kupres and Mrkonjić Grad, is that a zviždenjak enters a dead man's body through his mouth and spoils his h is physical purity, and it is a good deed to kill it. Killing a zviždenjak is in opposition with the attempts of certain anthropologists and ethnologists to proclaim a zviždenjak zvižde njak as man's animal doppelganger, since if that was the case, killing this animal would be forbidden and would represent a great sin. According to a belief among the Bosnian people each man has his own zviždenjak, although it remains an unknown if one gets him during birth or it appears during one's lifetime. When a man dies, the third day after the funeral, zviždenjak visits that man inside the grave. If the man was sinful during his lifetime, zviždenjak will start devouring him from his nose, but if the man was noble then it will only lay beside that person. That's why one shouldn't kill zviždenjak, if one sees him on a road it is advisable to take it with your hand and place it across the road or onto a meadow. This act of kindness can be connected with a human's h uman's attempt to propitiate his afterlife companion so that he will spare him. In another belief it is mentioned that after a man's death a zviždenjak will visit his sahibija (master) in the grave to welcome him and he will start devouring the cadaver from his big toe. It is interesting to mention that among the Bosnian people it is believed that after a man dies and is buried, at one moment the soul returns into his dead body, entering through the toes, which results in resuscitation of the body but also shock and fear which cause a man to try and get up, he then hits his head on the wooden beams above his head and dies again. That's why we can presume that a zviždenjak starts devouring the body from the toes in order to stop him from reviving; or this act can have a mythological depiction as "life devouring" or taking away life energy from someone. Besides eating humans from the toes, people in certain parts of Bosnia believe that a zviždenjak eats a man's nose or eyes as soon as he enters a grave. Since eyes are, according to belief, god's gift to humans and are as such holly, which also supports another belief which claims that there is no greater sin then a man swearing by his eyes, we can conclude then that a zviždenjak always goes after tabooed parts of the body. According According to folk belief god had the most trouble trouble with creating a nose, and that's why making fun of someone's nose is considered to be a great sin. Analysing the above we come to a conclusion that a zviždnejak's task is to devour a man's toes in the grave (in order to stop st op him from reviving), or nose and then drinks his eyes i.e. to take away his heavenly gift after which the body will be completely lifeless and without any divine sanctity. By that the human body becomes a clod of earth, from which it was created. In the myth about the black dragon and his devouring of the sun or moon, we notice the hunger of this being for all that which sparks and has a divine characteristic. The attack of darkness and evil on light and good is an anthological tradition about two universal principles through whose interaction,

creation, destruction, life and death are possible. As zviždenjak represents a miniature dragon his devouring of evil people inside a grave can be seen as an act of feeding a dragon who needs strength from evil. This is clearly visible in those parts of belief which accentuates that zviženjak starts devouring the body at the beginning or end of the body, i.e. at the places considered holly. Besides zviždenjak in the Bosnian tradition it is believed that a snake visits a dead person inside a grave and devours him and in such a way he becomes a part of it. it . This fits perfectly into the Illyrian myth about the great grandfather of the Illyrians which turns into a snake after he dies. As a Bogomil legend says, zviždenjaci were created out of fallen angels. Namely, when god punished all evil angels and threw them from heaven into hell, there were so many of them that they were falling all day and night, until hell was full and until it closed its gates. Those angels that fell on earth after that were turned into zviždenjak. According to the Bogomil doctrine human souls are fallen angels trapped in the body. Perhaps in this information we can find hidden the answer as to why it is believed that zviždenjak eats a dead body inside inside the grave - frees a fallen fallen angel from the human human body or better yet yet a demon inside inside an animal body is freeing a demon from a human body. But, we shouldn't ignore the historical fact that the Bosnian people before the advent of Christianity (Bogomilism) and Islam had a long continuity of pagan past with its numerous Illyrian cults of nature where a central place was occupied by the cult of fertility and the Grand Mother. That's why this Bogomil legend needs to be observed strictly from the point of cultivating that same cult through folk religion which existed along with monotheism. The cult of the Grand Mother is full of magic, mystic rituals and codexes of behaviour based on the worshiping of natural forces which can appear to humans in a human, vegetable or animal form. A special feature of this cult is that from its beginning it had the role of a public service i.e. it helped human communities which is best seen through the t he belief that the Grand Mother thought t hought people everything about agriculture. In folk tradition zviždenjak is a classic example of creative energy. He has the power to endow a human with creative energy which leads us to the idea that this animal in folk religion of our people, and especially our ancestors, had a divine status and probably represented a form of natural force. This is supported by magical practice through which one o ne asks for blessing from this animal. When a young man wishes to master something, especially hand crafts, he would go at spring time in search for a zviždenjak. As soon as he would find him, he would take him into his hands and would pass him three times under his belt. After Af ter that, it was believed, he will be successful in any craft he chooses. In another example that man which wanted to become a skilful master would catch a zviždenjak and would pass him along with an axe through his clothes and his belt, from his chest, downward, letting the axe hit the ground but holding the zviždenjak in his arms and uttering: "As you managed to decorate yourself like that zviždenjak, so shall I be able to make everything I want with my hands." He would then place the animal on the axe and walk home. Tomorrow he would come back to check if the zviždenjak is still on the axe, if he is that means he will become a master, but if he is not then his wish won't come true. Girls who were unable to make embroidery nor weave and make other hand crafts would at spring time search for a zviždenjak and would pass him three times through the sleeve of their right arm and would take him home and bound in him in a ball of yarn, a piece of cloth or or something else and leave him there until morning. At dawn, before sunrise, the girl would take the bound zviždenjak and would go to a spring which is turned towards east. She would place the cloth (yarn) in the water and

the zviždenjak as well, uttering: "As you are multicolored multicolored zviždenjak, so too shall I know how to weave and start all work: who gave you let him also give me!" She would then take the cloth and quickly, without looking back, go home leaving the zviždenjak in the stream. In folk tradition, because of his name, zviždenjak is considered to be a male animal, besides the fact that there are female animals of this breed, that's why it has the title of uncle. On the other hand, snake and frog are animals of female sex. In certain parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina zviždenjak is called diževnjak, družd, daždenjak, probably from the old word dažd - rain, but we shouldn't exclude the the possibility that such a name comes from the Turkish word daidža, which was retained in the Bosnian language, and means uncle. The following example from ritual practice of our people gives us this idea, namely, farmers before Jurjevo or Hidirlez would catch a zviždenjak and would throw him into milk on the day of the holiday, the milk would be milked that morning and they would utter: "So shall we be multicolored lambs, like you are dazed, uncle!" They would then take him out of the milk and would bring him to a forest and would leave him there, Why is zviždenjak called uncle in this formula is hard to discern. Eventual family relation between a snake and zviždenjak arises as a relatively acceptable idea, as two divine beings, i.e. they are brother and sister, children of the Grand Mother personified in nature overall. But, it's a motive for further research of interesting Bosnian mythology which constantly confirms the deep connection of our people with the ancient Illyrian cults of nature.

Bosnia Bosniaks ks - snake snake people people According to Bosnian mythology the snake is the first being that God created, created, it appeared 40 years before the first man and animal were created. This mythological data is especially interesting from the aspect of perceiving numerous other beliefs and legends about the snake in BiH since it gives us a basis for understanding the entire concept concept of the snake cult phenomenon. We should especially note the connection of this cult with the tradition of our people whose Illyrian genes justify denomination of Bosniaks as snake people. Among the multitude of beliefs a legend about a giant snake stands out, this snake encircles the entire globe, forming a belt around it, which when analysed geometrically depicts a circle which has a dot in the centre. In such a way we get the symbol of the sun which is inseparable from the snake cult. We shouldn't disregard the peculiarity of this transcendental myth which directs us towards a mystical idea that a snake has a celestial form besides its earthly one. Folk beliefs claim that the snake is as large as a mountain in its original form but thanks to t o its mystical powers it manages to appear in its miniature form for m in front of humans. It I t is, according to all aforesaid, a being of exceptional magical power and one of the greatest forces that exist in the universe. The cult of mountain peaks, which certain folklorists and ethnologists hypothesised to belong to the solar cult, cult, can be directly connected with the snake cult through simple logic and folk descriptions of the snake as a gigantic appearance which is compared to that of a mountain. In such a manner we again confirm the hypothesis about the inseparable connection of the sun and the snake in folk beliefs.

Tues Tuesda dayy - holly holly day day

Folklore claims that snakes live like like hum humans: ans: they they have have thei theirr fami famili lies es but but als also kin kingdoms and monarchies. monarchies. They always always gather exc exclusively on Tu Tuesda esdayys in or order to ho hold th their meetings and agreements and at that moment, acco accordi rding ng to to folk folk belie belief, f, there there are are hun hundre dreds ds of of them on one place. Depe Depend ndin ingg on the the rel relig igio ionn that that t ey follow they have have names which which are are identical identical to humans. How wides widespr pread ead this this bel belie ieff is stil stilll tod today is best shown shown by the stat stateme ement nt of stra stravar varka ka Alija from Velika Kladuša. On one occasion, when she she went went to her her neig neighb hbou our' r'ss hou house se,, Ali Alija ja me mett a black snake laying on the road road and obser observed ved her. her. Seein Seeing the snake on the road Alija Alija stopped stopped and starte starte uttering all Bosnian femal femalee nam names es that that she she cou could ld thi thi k of: of: Mejr Mejra, a, Bej Bejza za,, Hani Hanifa fa,, Fatim Fatime, e, Sen Senad ada,. a,. and and only after she uttered the name name Katk Katkaa the snak snakee reacte reacte and started moving towards a nearby meadow, disappearing in the tall tall gras grass. s. Acco Accord rding ing to Alija Alija's 's belief lief each each snak snakee has has its its own own name name,, which which is identi identical to a human name, and as soon as one guesses it the snake will disappear. Even though people avoid close cont contac actt wit with snak snakes es from from fear fear of thei theirr att attack ack we should mention that a snake bite is not seen as a large unfortunate event. Namely, it is considered to be heavenly gift since the pe person which is bitten by a s ake, ake, will will acco accord rdin ingg to to bel belie ief, f, gain gain magi magica call str stren enggth - it wil willl gain gain the power of of th the cu curse. Al Alije, which as bitten bitten by a snake snake at a very very young young age, claime claimed that she possessed the power of the curse which she never wanted to demonstrate sine "it is a great s in!". All those Bosnian beliefs are the resu result lt of a trad tradit itio ionn over over a thou thousa sand nd year yearss old, old, whose Illyrian origin is evident in all of its parts. It is especia eciall llyy rec recog ogni niza zabl blee in in bel belie iefs fs tied tied to Tues Tuesda dayy - holly day of snakes but also of Bogomils. That's why this day day has a specia speciall meaning meaning for understa understandin nding numerous segments segments of of Bosnia's Bosnia's past past but but als also mythology. mythology. Tuesday is a holly day which which is in ccordance with that

marked by various taboos, especially the ones one s that have to do with men, me n, which can point to an idea of a "female" day i.e. that in the the past it was dedicated to a goddess, probably the goddess of moon. moon. There is some evidence for this fact, namely, in Visoko it is believed that a deer fasts every Tuesday and that it refuses to feed its young on that day. In order to understand the hidden meaning of this belief we need to reach out to mythology of those people which had a significant influence on our Illyrian forefathers, and those people are the Celts. In Celtic mythology the goddess of moon was transformed into a deer by magic and in that form she is taking care of her son Oisin. Moon goddess is at the same time the ruler of the the dead which is analogous to the Bosnian belief that on Tuesday men shouldn't shave or that their clothes should be washed "since the dirty water is poured into the eyes of the dead". In the background of this belief we can notice the cult of the moon goddess Arianrhod, depicted on a Bosnian tombstone, which is taking care of warriors and their souls.

The connection of a deer i.e. a roe with the underworld, especially in combination with the depiction of a bird, was relatively a constant occurrence on tombstones, Šefik Bešlagić claims in his book "Stećcikultura kultura i umjetnost" umjetnost" (tombstones (tombstones - culture culture and art), which which means that that he belief in the fast of the the deer on Tuesday is not accidental and it is only a small segment of a once large cult of fertility in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We shouldn't forget the fact that without death there is no new life, no new fruit unless a seed is buried in the ground, and that the entire e ntire concept of the cult of fertility and a nd cult of the dead is based upon that principle. And in other cultures one addresses the ancestors when one wishes their intervention in the form of protection for the family, facilitation of fertility and new-borns. Since we are talking about a lunar deity, which has an arbitrary role over water and weather conditions, it is logical that all gathering of Bosniaks on Tuesday on high places, had in their background the cult of the moon goddess, water and fertility. Their location is besides a place which

were geopolitically important in the thousand year old history of Bosnia. All dovišta (pilgrimage site) are located on clearings and plateaus with lush vegetation and undergrowth, forests and local streams. The most important characteristic of all dovišta is that they are former worshiping w orshiping places of Bogomils, where they gathered and prayed together to god to send them rain and ensure a bountiful harvest, successful defence from enemies, protection of the home, fertility of women, etc. However, ethnologists found out that ritual sacrifices of sheep at those places are proof that dovišta are not exclusively a part of the Bogomil tradition but that they only continued to observe much older Illyrian cults, especially astral cults and the cult of god of streams Bindu. One of these places of worship dovište Dobre vode (good water) near Foča which is connected to the tomb of two "dobri" (good), i.e. a father and son that a stepmother wanted to kill with the help of a snake, is an ideal example of the cult of water. Visit to medicinal streams which are located there and where prayer is done during the first Tuesday up to Hidirllez and first Tuesday after it. With the advent of Islam or better to say with the conversion of Bogomils to Islam besides Tuesday, Friday also gained the characteristic of a holly day and because of that fact we have numerous common beliefs and taboos connected to them. The most dominant belief is that during these days one shouldn't wash clothes, especially male clothes, in order to avoid lightning striking a home or even a homeowner dying, which is a clear influence of the cult of the snake, the protector of the family and home. In Rogatica and Žepa it is believed that on Tuesday and Friday it is not good to neither wash clothes nor do anything else on the river or stream in order to avoid stirring the water since it can cause hailstorm.

Snake in the Bogomil legends

In numerous Bogomil legends the snake plays a main or supporting role like the one about Grandfather Ravuš or Did Ravuš, which folk tales describe as an old man with long white beard who performed his regular prayers, like all the other Bogomil priests, under a linden tree. The daughter of bey Džafer, a Bogomil nobleman who converted to Islam, was a girl given for marriage. On one occasion the suitors came to ask for her hand and a beautiful beautiful young man from Duvno succeeded. The marriage was planned for a Friday, and the day before that the girl went to the meadow to pick some flowers with which she wanted to decorate the wedding procession. However, her niece was very jealous of her and her marriage and she was looking for a way to hurt her and seeing her jovially walking towards the meadow to pick some flowers she came up with the idea to plant some snakes which will bite her. Approaching her cousin carefully without her h er noticing it, she dropped a snake and walked away. As soon as the snake saw the girl it started to move towards her but at that moment out of nowhere Grandfather Ravuš appeared and made a circle around her uttering a few words which turned the snake into stone. In another legend from Middle ages the snake is tied to two holly men so called evlije for which a tomb was raised which later became a pilgrimage site. When Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, conquered Bosnia, all Bogomil population converted to Islam in a very short time period. New religion and customs were not as strange to them as much as Christianity was rigid to which they never wanted to surrender. We know little today about the events that took place during the medieval Bosnia, since legends hide the truth. One of them is tied to a father and a son which converted to Islam, and they lived in a village Kolun near Foča. The father was a man of exceptional physical

strength, while the son was of a more more gentle constitution. The reason for that is that at a very young age the boy lost his mother and he grew up on food that his father procured. As he could not manage without a woman, the father re-married after some time to a woman which didn't show care and respect to his son, which she also secretly tortured. On one occasion, while he was sleeping, she placed a small snake in his mouth which entered him and all that the boy ate the snake would swallow. The boy ate a lot but he was pale and skinny regardless. His body became ever weaker. At night after he said his prayers, he asked Allah to help him and that evening he dreamt of his deceased mother, who told him in his sleep to enter the room where they keep yoghurt, which his stepmother forbid him. Tomorrow, while the stepmother was out of the house, the boy entered the forbidden room, found the yoghurt in a wooden plate and drank it. At that moment the boy fainted. A miracle happened. Disturbed by the yoghurt the snake left the boy's body and hid under a shelf with cheese. Soon after that the boy woke up and escaped from the room. He was very hungry. As soon as the stepmother came into the house he told her that he is hungry and she replied that she will give him some food. She entered the room where she kept the cheese, and the snake jumped and bit her by her face. The stepmother died and the snake escaped. When the father came, he realised what was going on, and he promised his son that he will never get married again.

Bosniak Bosniak women women - the women women that that gave birth birth to drago dragons ns

One of the most mysterious Bosnian traditions is the one about the birth of snijet. Tabooed and of a holly status, this tradition existed in Bosnia for centuries, until today where it only exists in stories and sayings of older women. Some of them claim that they themselves gave birth to snijet or dragons. The beginning of this tradition should be sought in the forefathers of the Bosnians, the ancient Illyrians who saw the snake i.e. dragon as a central animal of their national and also religious cult. In favour of this the ethnological records can be found among the Bosnians living in Montenegro and Albanians on Kosovo and Albania, lands that once made up the vast Illyrian empire. We also need to mention another tradition which is specifically connected to the Bosnian people and that is the one that mentions snakes entering and living inside humans who happened to fall asleep outside, in the field or under a tree. This clearly points to the ancient belief that snakes or dragons are directly connected to people and that physical permeations an d mergers are possible.

Mola hydatidosa or infanticide

The legend about dragons and their descendants which is called among the Bosnian folk snijet are an inalienable part of the fascinating world of mythology of this country which sometimes seems so real and tangible as in this sense. A long time before the twentieth century, when the ethnologists started gathering ethnological data around Bosnia and Herzegovina, among the Bosnian folk one could hear, through an oral tradition, a story that t hat a woman gave birth to a snijet, a mysterious creature which was considered to be a baby dragon. Since Si nce the ethnologists never saw a birth of a snijet they concluded that

this is a phenomenon which is called hydatidosa in medicine, a disease of the placenta where there are degenerative and proliferative process's in the placenta, specifically in the part that stems from the fetus. However the medical explanation doesn't mention the possibility of mola hydatidosa and the child being born together or the possibility that the embryo develops into a fetus inside the diseased placenta. The same way, when we look at the pictures of mola hydatidosa from a layman's perspective, we quickly ascertain that the appearance and description description of that disease have nothing in common with the claims made by the ethnologists during their field work. The only similarities to the medical claims are the accompanying symptoms of profuse bleeding bleed ing after birth of the snijet, sni jet, yet that phenomenon is common for most normal births, especially those in the past. Namely, up until the last few decades of the past century, most childbirths were done at home, individually or in the company of an experienced woman which is called a midwife, far from the hospital and the doctor. In such completely unprofessional conditions the tradition about the snijet was misused and women and girls used it to hide abortions or the birth of deformed, retarded or extramarital children which they would kills right after birth. Since the snijet has been tabooed from its beginnings each infanticide went unpunished. If someone showed some interest for the childbirth the midwife would claim that "she had a snijet!" and that would stop any further discussion. But, such criminal behaviour and attitude recorded in isolated cases is not a justified reason to cease the investigation about the snijet. Especially since the author of this text had the opportunity to meet an old lady who vividly described her experience of giving birth to a snijet, snijet, which leaves little room for doubt.

God's punishment or blessing?

The ethnologists equated the word snijet to Ustilago maydis, because of the appearance, white colour and shaped like a corn parasite. However, in some places there is a different opinion based on the white colour of the placenta which uncommonly resembles an egg shell. The women usually described snijeti jaje i.e. carry down an egg. With this interpretation we are getting close to the mythological theory of the birth of a dragon, for which many legends claim that he actually came from a large egg. There are a few versions of how a snijet is brought to this world. According to one of them if the woman has intercourse during her menstrual cycle, and a child is conceived, God will punish her for that blasphemy and she will give birth to a monstrous creation known as snijet. In the second version the woman is impregnated by a dragon, when he sees her resting somewhere in the field after work or when he visits her while she is sleeping. In a few ethnological publications we come across a few contradictions when it comes to the birth of snijet, namely, while some parts of BIH experience snijet as God's punishment, others don't see anything bad in it and claim that each Bosnian woman has given birth to snijet at least once in her life. A woman can be pregnant with both a child and a snijet, which has catastrophic consequences for the fetus. There were cases that a woman gives birth to a child with a dead snijet on its head, after which the child would also die soon after. In the same same way, if both are born alive, alive, the folk belief is, that the child will die when the snijet is killed or when it dies.

The dread that a woman will give give birth to a snijet appeared appeared if the birth process took longer than usual. According to folk belief, snijet is delivered much harder than a normal child, the woman bleeds profusely and recovers slowly. Influencing the woman's psychological state depended on the climate, especially if she gave birth to a dead child. If the woman who gave birth to a snijet belonged to the part of the country that thought it was punishment from God, she would go into deep depression and psychological crisis, spending most of her days in bed. However if her surrounding saw snijet as a good thing (sevap) then her recovery would be much faster and her psychological state stable. Snijet can be born along a child or by itself. If that happens in most cases the baby would be born dead or would die soon after birth. There were cases when the child survived but that happened only if the snijet didn't come to life inside the woman's womb. When the snijet is alive inside the womb, it then attacks the child and eats it, that's why the child is born with a deformity or disease. Apparently, the snijet bites and eats the child's head, arm, leg or bites it on its back "and eats its entire lungs while it is still in the mother's womb". According to the confessions of women w omen that gave birth to a snijet or that witnessed such an event, the t he child leaves the woman's body first followed by a snijet. Each woman, no matter the geographical location inside Bosnia, describe the snijet identically: "Snijet resembles a mole, it's the same colour and size, except it doesn't have any hair" or "Snijet mostly resembles a mole, it's black, has no hair on it, but everything else resembles a mole, the nose, body and legs". This description is also interesting: "it looks like a black piece of liver that has skin".

Escape from the mother

As mentioned earlier, snijet can be born by itself, or with a child, in a white placenta. If the pregnant woman is only carrying snijet in her womb, then her pregnancy doesn't last for nine months, but three to four. But, nevertheless, all through that short pregnancy she feels standard accompanying symptoms which are similar during normal pregnancy. In most cases snijet was born alive and as soon as it came out of the woman, it showed strength and a developed instinct for survival, because according to the testimony of numerous women, "the moment it comes out it runs away from people, you can't catch it, it runs like a mouse and climbs walls". If the pregnant woman would give birth by herself, without anyone's help, which was frequent in the past, then the snijet escaped without much problems and later it transformed into a dragon. According to the statement of an old lady from Žepa, who gave birth to two snijet besides her eleven children, sevap (good thing) is when someone gives birth to a snijet "it's as if the woman gave birth to two healthy children". The same lady said the following: "a woman who gives birth to a snijet three times, has all of her sins forgiven and after death she will go straight to heaven, that proves how happy God is when a snijet is born!" Even though the birth of a snijet was tabooed for fear of judgement or ridicule of the environment, it was treated with respect, besides the fact it was killed, which can be seen in the fact that it was forbidden to throw a dead snijet into the garbage can, one needed to bury it wrapped in a cloth together with the placenta, under a young tree or farmyard manure. Behind such a rule one can see

the human fear of a dragon d ragon retaliation because of the death of its cubs, therefore the wrapping inside a cloth and and burying needed to hide such a deed.

CULT OF THE FROG Thanks to ethnological materials present today around museums in Bosnia and Herzegovina and partially present oral tradition, at least among the older population, we know of the more important cults which were present among the Bosnian B osnian people since ancient times. Their peculiarity was based on worshiping nature and its divine manifestations. Presumably on the basis of that all, or most of, Illyrian deities were in a zoomorphic shape so that later on, under Roman influence, they gradually got their anthropomorphic shape. But, it would be wrong to conclude that cults of snake, frog, zviždenjak or even trees, water, fire, caves or hills and mountains, were the only cults that existed. Authenticity was the key element of existence of the above mentioned cults since otherwise they would be lost in history, especially because of foreign influences and new religious dogmas and tenants. The continuity of worshiping these cults outlasted outlasted all breaking events in the long long history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the Roman empire all the way up to the advent of monotheism, but also the Communist system which was based on atheism. An especially fascinating data is that these cults existed successfully in parallel with Christianity and Islam, transforming itself into that which is today referred to as "folk religion" in which pagan and cult beliefs are intertwined with elements of Christianity and Islam. In my personal opinion the most merit for the survival of old Illyrian cults is credited to the most dominant cult among among them - cult of fertility. fertility. Namely, in each of them, elements of cult of fertility were present in its widest sense, regardless rega rdless of its particularity. An ideal example of this is the cult of the snake which nurtured not only the cult of fertility, but also the cult of the dead (ancestors) and so it connected an entire community into a whole. Snake as a holly animals and a totem became one of the holders of an identity of a people and in the following centuries and periods it found its place in folklore and art of all a ll those countries that once constituted parts of the Illyricum, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina. Representation of the snake in various forms on tombstones presents a continuation of Illyrian sacral art, but it is important to mention that this animalistic an imalistic motif is found on outside walls of numerous Bosnian houses, especially next to entrance doors, such as the old house of Beglerović family in Repovci near Konjic. Snake as a figurative motif was regularly carved onto fiddles and numerous other artistic artefacts. The thing which is especially characteristic for ancient cults is fatalism, which is intensively present in all cults which were recorded in the tradition of the Bosnian people. It is surely a logical summary, especially if we take into consideration the traditional propensity towards superstition and magic in everyday life of our ancestors. In the cults of our forefathers, which were permeated by strong influences of animism, shamanism and fatalism, certain animals, and in this case a frog, had their religious re ligious function since they represented an incarnation of a certain deity or they included its spirit through which they influenced the environment. The most famous example of a divine role of the frog we find in ancient Egypt where Heketa was worshiped, goddess of fertility, protector of mothers and children, usually depicted as a goddess-frog. She represented life in its fullest sense and that's why she can be considered to be the Grand Mother, which was later replaced by Izida. But, the origin of that symbol was not originally Egyptian, but a component of the religious-magical system s ystem which was shared among the old cultures, among whom were the Illyrians. In Sarajevo but also in the rest of BiH, until the end of the last century it was believed that every

house, besides a snake, had its frog which had a beneficial effect on cow's milk, namely, it made it tastier and of a higher quality. A special respect was shown to the frog which would choose its place of dwelling in front of the doorstep, which directly links this animal to the Grand Mother, primarily because of the role of the doorstep in the cult of fertility, fertilit y, but also milk. Another belief which supports the thesis of a frog, protector protector of the household and family and holly symbology of the doorstep as a symbol of the Grand Mother which we find in Velika Kladuša. If a frog comes to someone's doorstep, or a frog is found there in the morning, it is believed that such an event warns the inhabitants of that household that their house has become a target of evil and black magic. A house frog is considered a member of the family, just like the snake. In accordance to that it was forbidden to kill it, because otherwise otherwise cows would stop giving milk. If a housewife sees a frog inside the house, she doesn't disturb it, on the contrary, she lets it go any direction it pleases. But, if she finds it dead inside her house, she immediately places her hands on her ears, and with tight lips in the shape of the letter O she breathes in air in order to produce a sound similar to a mouse and utters before that and after that "God be with me!" The described prophylactic ritual has the goal of neutralising bad luck which could affect the house because of the death of the frog, because after the loss of its protector, that home and especially the cattle are subject to attacks from demons. Frog Frog - the Grand Grand Mothe Motherr

The frog which personifies the Grand Mother, or one of her manifestations, even by her physical appearance, i.e. its back part, resembles a woman with a protruded back side and pronounced hips, which is usually the main attribute, along with w ith large breasts and stomach, of the Grand Mother whose physical representation in numerous drawings and statues we can follow since the Neolithic period. Consistency of the symbology of the frog as a divine manifestation of fertility is for that reason can be examined chronologically from the earliest human history until today and determine her significance in development of religious consciousness on the territory of BiH. In a recorded story about women from Dizdarević family from Gradina which one Ramadan day, right after sunset, went to visit other women in the city and one of them met on the road a large bloated frog, which she named "baba", clearly emphasising emphasising the story about a pregnant woman and childbirth. Since the frog jumped in front of one of them, a young bride, she kicked it with her foot and spotting that she is bloated, she told her out loud "You hear baba! When you give birth call me to babine!" Later the story tells of how after some time the bride was abducted by devils who took her to a cave where the frog gave birth for her to assist her during birth, threatening her that if the child happens to be a female, woe be upon her but if the child is male she will receive a huge reward. The young bride was forced to assist during the birth of the frog and since a son was born they rewarded her plentifully and organised a large feast. In colloquial speech a frog was named baba or babetina, which in etymology is connected with the term zbabna, a folk name for a pregnant woman, or babine - a period of 40 days after birth when the young bride is subject to various dangers and taboos. That period is also a time of visits by other women when the mother and child are bestowed with gifts. In Rogatica and Žepa it is believed that in front of a small child one shouldn't say "žaba (frog)" but "baba". That taboo hides within itself the fear of revenge from the frog, since she is connected in folk tales with demons and witches which were traditionally tied with childbirth and babine. Their primary task was to harm the mother and child in any way possible. In Rogatica that fear was camouflaged by the belief that "a frog can resurrect inside the child" child" which is again very similar to to another belief about the snake, for which it is said that she can enter a human's body and live in it for

some time. A frog is a common motif of numerous beliefs dedicated to children. Namely, small children were always scared to open their mouths in front of frogs, out of fear that the frog might count their teeth, because, if that happened that child's mother could die. d ie. This taboo is not coincidental but it stems from the classic respect of people towards the gods. Scaring children children to keep their mouths closed in front of a frog is a sign of showing respect towards the Grand Mother.

An animal of mysterious power

We mustn't forget to mention that a snake and a frog have identical mysterious powers. Namely, among the Bosnian people it is believed that a frog eats dirt, and for the snake i.e. dragon it is believed that it attacks and devours the sun or the moon. In the same manner, both animals have mysterious powers to blow up a human or cow, sheep, or some other domestic d omestic animal which causes an unusual state among them. Besides being connected to a snake in such a way, the frog also possesses identical power which which is attributed attributed to zviždenjak zviždenjak - a power to make make a man go deaf. In one recipe recipe of love magic magic a young man or woman which wants to win over someone's heart must first catch a live frog and bring her to an anthill and burry her in it. The frog is covered with a pot to ensure that it doesn't escape while the ants eat her. As soon as the frog is covered with the pot the girl or boy have to run away because if they hear the frog croak they might go deaf. A frog is an ambivalent symbol: lives in water and on land, it is tied to the cult of fertility but also for the cult of the dead. She is usually connected to agriculture through various folk beliefs i.e. the beginning of field work but also as a fortune teller of a fruitful year. Namely, the frog is a climatic indicator - maize sowing in the past was always determined by the beginning beginning of the croaking of frogs. Namely, from that day on (when the croaking is heard) it was considered that it is the safest time to sow since after that there will be no more frost and cold weather. In Mostar and its surrounding it is believed that croaking of frogs in the early spring predicts sunny spring and good yield of wheat in that year. In Bosnian mythology the frog is deeply connected with nature and its spirits, and that's why it can be called a medium. Her ability is manifested manifested in a few ways: from climatic prognosis, connection with the human spirit all the way to spiritualistic interactions. In one of the folk tales it is said that during d uring the Ottoman occupation of BiH there was a pretty girl named Ajša, daughter of Bosnian nobleman, noble man, she was supposed to marry Sali effendi, a young man that she loved. But, their plans were disrupted one of the numerous battles that her beloved faience had to go into. After a difficult parting Ajša spent many days waiting for the return of her beloved Sali effendi but instead of him the news of his death

arrived. From shock and pain Ajša ripped up her expensive clothes and spent three days closed cl osed up in a room crying and abstaining from food and drink. drink. To stop her suffering a maid talked her into seeing a famous soothsayer, in order to find some comfort and a ray of hope for her aching heart. Arriving at the soothsayer's humble home, Ajša placed a rich gift in front of her and begged her to do the thing that no one else can - call forth forth the ghost of her dead dead fiancé to ask him ifif he is still thinking thinking of her. Since she was a daughter of rich parents, the soothsayer couldn't say no to her and at the same time hoping for a plentiful reward if her efforts yield results. And she also felt sorry for the young , broken rose. -Allah will forgive the sin if it's done done in the name of love, the soothsayer thought to herself, and took out a frog out of a pot with water. After she placed it into a copper casserole, she placed it onto a slab full of hot coal and she began her ritual. Rhythmically swaying front and back the soothsayer started to murmur an unknown prayer while watching the movement of the frog. As soon as the casserole began to heat up the frog disturbed by the heat started to croak. Then the old woman said to Ajša to start praying since the ghost of her fiancé is on the way. As soon as she heard that the girl started to shake from fear and happiness and together with the soothsayer she started to pray. After that the old woman clasped her hand and swaying around the casserole she started to ask the frog some questions: -What is your name o summoned spirit? The frog croaked. -Is Sali effendi alive? The frog croaked again. -Thank you heavenly Lord! Ajša, your faithful fiancé and future wife, is she in your heart? The frog croaked for the third time. -Sali effendi is alive and true to to his Ajša, soon he will come come to comfort her, the soothsayer uttered out loud. She immediately turned to Ajša waking her up from her half-sleep and told her what the frog had said. The girl hearing the good news took of her golden necklace and gave it to the old lady and with quick steps and teary eyes she left her house. She ran outside to breathe in some fresh air and free of her burden she decided to share her happiness with her parents. She felt like the happiest woman in the world, which she was at that moment. After three weeks a miracle happened. One beautiful summer evening Sali effendi rode right in front of her fiancés house on his steed. Alive and well, wanting to see the face of the one he loved the most. A few days later in front of an Imam they got married and they rewarded the soothsayer with a fez full of silver.

Illyrian god’s and goddesses In order to grasp the pagan pagan world of our ancestors, especially the the one connected with their religious life, we need to gather all the names of the god’s and goddesses of the Illyrian pantheon from the entire area of Illyricum from Albania across Bosnia and Herzegovina to Slovenia. Individual deities had several names but an identical function which is the reason why the Illyrians failed to establish a unique religion across the territory of Illyricum and why it was divided into many cults. But, according to all available data, worshiping the snake, the reincarnation of the Grand Mother, Thane and Vidasus were common to all Illyrian tribes mostly because these deities were connected with the cult of agriculture and fertility. Dracon and Draccena: divine couple. Nutrika: goddess, protector of children.

Sentona Sentona – goddess tied tied to the cult cult of agricult agriculture. ure. Ika – goddess goddess of of fertili fertility. ty. Histria Histria – goddess, goddess, protector protector of the entire geographica geographicall area of Istria. Bori Boriaa – god god of wind wind.. Nebra – goddess of storms storms and and mist. mist. Trita – goddess of health. health. Her name has no connection connection to the the Istria area, instead instead it can can be recognized recognized in the names from Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the form Tritan, Tritanon or Traitano. It is believed that the name of the goddess has an Illyrian-Celtic heritage. Melosok Melosok – local Illyrian Illyrian god, protector. protector. Anzotika, Irija or Prende: goddess of love. Boa: divine snake. Verbti: god of fire and the north wind which causes fires. Beautiful celestials (in Albanian: Bukuri and Qiellit) in ancient Illyrian times, three gods which divided the world into the heavens, sea and underground. Thana, Tana, Thiana or Zana (Albanian): Illyrian goddess equated to the Roman Diana. She is followed by three goats with golden horns. In Albanian mountains Zana lives as a faery adorned by bravery and beauty. Among the Bosniaks Zana or Tana is a forest faery (Zlatna) which lives in Bosnian forests and helps great warriors, such as Mujo Hrnjica. Deep connection of the goddess Tana is evident through folk songs where the scene of Mujo Hrnjica meeting with the faeries is described, the fairies were disguised as goats, with his shrewdness he manages to unmask them and subject them to his will. Even though in Bosnian mythology it is considered that the forest faery and Zlatna are actually two different faeries i.e. mother and daughter, we are probably talking about one faery which probably has a different name in various parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Identification of the Illyrian goddess in the name of the queen of faeries Zlatna (Zlatana) is more than evident in the name itself, namely, if we subtract first three letters from Zlatana we will get the name Tana or if we subtract the second, second, third third and fourth fourth letter letter – Zana. Zlatna is called forest or mountain faery in north-western part of Bosnia with clear meaning of mountain i.e. forest faery or forest mother. Her epithet of queen, confirms her privileged position which she has as the goddess of our Illyrian forefathers. Medauros or Armatos: god of war. Depicted as riding a horse, with a spear in his left hand. Redon: protector of seafarers. God in the form of a boy next to which a dolphin appears. En: one of the three supreme gods. Perendi or Shurdi: god of thunder, husband of the goddess Prenda. A curious similarity appears between the “Slav” name of the god of thunder Perun and the Illyrian Perendi. If we take into consideration that the Illyrians, besides the Greeks, are the oldest people in the Balkans then it is easy to conclude that Perendi or Perin Perin is nothing more than an ancient Illyrian deity which is wrongly connected with the forced Slav pantheon. Vidasus or Vidas: one of the names of this grand god of the Illyrian pantheon is Messor or Žetalac

which clearly alludes to his dominant role in the cult of fertility i.e. agriculture. Time of harvests was a period dedicated to him.

Altar of Vidasus and Thana from Topusko, Archaeological Museum in Zagreb

Altar of Vidasus and Thana from Topusko, Archaeological Museum in Zagreb

VidasVidasus Vidas Vidasus (Silvan)us (Silvan)

Cult of the the god god Bindu Ancient beliefs of the Illyrian tribes which inhabited Bosnia and Herzegovina remained present in folk beliefs, mostly connected to the cult of water healing, in which the god Bindu is clearly manifested. When one analyses the folk cult of healing and the practice of it, which is essentially pagan in nature, then it is difficult diff icult to explain how that ancient system managed to survive in Bosnia especially in the midst of a strong expansion of Christianity and later Islam?! However, the answer should be sought in the fact that Christianity, especially after the appearance of Bogomils, or Islam had enough influence to fully assimilate the Bosnian people and to fully disengage them from the ancient Illyrian religion. And that it is true is perhaps best shown by the cult of god Bindu. As it is known god Bindu was the god of springs of the Bosnian Illyrians whose spring-temples were found all over modern Bosnia and Herzegovina and the neighbouring Croatia. One of the best preserved holly places was found in Privilice near Bihać which is located in nature, next to a spring. At that location dozens of dedicated d edicated sacrifices to Binud were excavated, as well as a chapel with numerous animal bones sacrificed in his honour. In the ritual practice of pilgrimage towards springs one can notice the influence of three religious cults of the Bosnian Illyrians: cult of the sun, cult of the moon and cult of Bindu. Cult of the sun: the largest number of holly and salutary springs are located on the east side of the settlement. One would visit it exclusively at dawn, before sunrise, in order to pray, wash one's face and drink water. In such a way the diseased would expect the blessing of the sun which would shine the light and warmness on the person once it rose from the east. Cult of the moon: the holly springs were visited in the first week of the new moon, precisely on odd days i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Cult of Bindu: after washing their faces f aces and drinking water or placing it into vessels and carrying it home, the diseased would leave some money next to the streams, usually coins, food, eggs or they would hang some of their clothes on the nearby branches. In the mentioned descriptions of rituals one can notice influences of three deities, which could point to the fact that Bindu was the son of the sun god and moon goddess and as their son he represented the perfect example of vitality and health which gives life and defeats evil, in this case over diseases. The sun that would appear in the east in the morning, according to folk fol k belief the sun was "born", and the first seven days after the appearance of the new moon undoubtedly point to the idea of renewal of life energy, health and generally luck and prosperity. The sick would ask for blessings from the heavenly deities who again resurrected in their eternal cycles and the manifestation of their divine power was exactly the water over which Bindu had patronage and power. During the beginning of the 20thcentury, Emilian Lilek, a professor from Sarajevo, recorded a dozen examples of spring worshiping in Bosnia, the springs were equated with healing powers. His ethnological work has been published in the National Museum BIH under the title "Religious antiquities from Bosnia and Herzegovina" Herze govina" in the chapter "Water worship". Examples that professor Lilek gathered and recorded have, besides their ethnological value, a historic significance because they confirm the long practice of worshiping the cult of god Bindu, deity of the Bosnian Illyrians to whom spring were dedicated i.e. natural temples. temples.

It is clear that the Bosnian people haven't forgotten about the religious practice of their ancestors which survived despite numerous restless decades which were characterised by the arrival of the Slavs and monotheism. In all of the descriptions one can clearly see the practice of of pilgrimage towards the streams whose water was considered to have healing properties as well as the practice of leaving money as a gift, food or a piece of clothing which was a substitute for human or animal sacrifice. Behind such a ritual there existed a belief in a supernatural being, whose name was forgotten by the people, and to whom a sacrificial offering had to be made in order to get help i.e. help from disease. The following are only some of the examples given by professor Lilek: On the left side of the river Miljacka there is a spring Pišće-water, Pišće- water, from which you mustn't drink until you leave some money next to the stream or a piece of one's clothing. Bosnian women visit Pišćewater before sunrise, leaving money next to the spring, and tying pieces of clothing onto the branches of the willow next to the stream. Catholic women visit the stream above Kovačević before sunrise and leave some money there. In Tešanj there is a stream outside the city where the Bosnian women bring their sick children, and bathe them in that water. When they head home they leave some money next to the stream, or they take off a piece of clothing from the child and leave it next to the spring. In Travnik there is a spring called Safa's source source and it is visited by Muslim's and Christian's alike, especially around May 6th, in particular those that have headaches or fever. They bathe themselves at the spring. When they head home they throw some money in the water or leave a piece of clothing there. In Pritoka next to Bihać there is a spring which is visited by sick people in order to bathe in it. If a diseased arrives who is also a sinner, the water from the spring disappears immediately, but if a man without large sins comes the water appears in order for him to bathe in it. The spring is gifted with money, clothes, etc. Next to Modriča there is a spring called Šičara. When someone has a fever, f ever, one visits the spring in the t he first week of the new moon's appearance, Wednesday or Friday, and it bathes in its waters before sunrise. One leaves some money next to the spring or hangs a piece of its clothing onto a tree next to the spring. In Tuzla there is a spring called Istočnik, Christians visit it during Friday or Wednesday, in the first week of the new moon's appearance. They bathe at the spring and leave some money or some food.

Altar with dedication to Bindus Neptune from Privilica, Territorial Museum in Sarajevo Altar with dedication to Bindus Neptune from Privilica, Territorial Museum in Sarajevo