bosnian folk calendar

RaifEsmerović BOSNIAN FOLK CALENDAR

The Bosnian national (agricultural)

calendar spans back to the old era. The

maker of the calendar is unknown. It is

known that it was created and used by a

farmer. Some dates from the Julian

calendar, which was created 45 years BCE,

can be recognised in the Bosnian calendar.

After Christianity came, some of these

dates received names of saints. With the

arrival of the Slavs, pagans, people known

for agriculture, the dates had different

names, but they always remained the

same. The folk calendar was used

continuously, it was used during the time

of the Bogumil's, it was also used during

the Ottoman period, and it even serves a

purpose today. Besides this, in Bosnia the

Hijri calendar was also strictly observed. It

was done by the Imam's and other religious

scholars, in order to be aware of the

important religious dates (Ramadan,

Bayram, New year, etc.). The Hijri

calendar was impractical when it came to

agriculture, since it moved forward ten

days every solar year, however it was

practical when it came to fasting during the

month of Ramadan since it moved through

all the seasons. We need to mention that

the Hijri calendar was the official calendar

in Bosnia during the Ottoman period, until

the Austro-Hungarian period when they

brought the Gregorian calendar.

The Bosnian folk calendar begins on

December 21st, the folk belief holds that

on that date, the day extends as much as a

rooster can jump from a doorstep. From

this date on comes the Zehmeriya

(Turkish: Zehmeri) the coldest part of

winter that lasts for 40 days. While

Zehmeriya lasts people avoid drinking cold

water in fear of catching a cold.

January: the folk call January the longest

moth in the year. From January 17th the

counting of the weeks until Hidirlez begins

(May 6th), 17 weeks total. This is what

determines the sowing.

The period from January 31st until March

20th is called Hamsin and it represents the

second part of winter.

February- from February 14th until March

14th is Veljača, the folk belief is that if

snow falls in the beginning of the Veljača

that the year will be fertile, and that wheat

will have a good yield.

Djemre (Turkish: Cemreler), the meaning

of this word is "burning charcoal", it is

believed that Djemre is the sun's heat

which starts to have an intense impact on

the land and it starts awakening the nature.

-The first Djemra appears on February

20th and heats the air. That's when the

Southern wind starts blowing and it

becomes milder.

-The second Djemra appears on February

27th heats up the water and raises its

level. The water in the river doesn't freeze

from this point on.

-The third Djemra appears on March 6th

and heats up the land. The snow melts fast

and the first grass starts sprouting.

(Right after the first Djemra the people


have a custom to notch the roots of the

birch and put a glass bottle so that the

juices of the birch flow in it. The bottle

stays in that position until the third Djemra.

The collected juices are used for medicinal

purposes, especially kidney diseases).

March: the agricultural works begin during

this month, the potatoes, onions and salads

are sown. After the third Djemra the fruit

trees are notched and inoculated.

Grandma (Baba)- from March 15th until

March 21st is the period of the grandma,

the unstable period when a couple of

weather phenomena change in one day.

Grandpa (Did,Djed)- from March 21st until

March 28th is the period of the grandpa,

the folk beliefs are that it is more merciful

and people start sowing potatoes during

this period.

(“Did” or Grandpa is a name (title) of each

Bogumil priest in Bosnia and “Baba”

(grandma) is the name of his wife who

helped her husband and the community by

healing with herbs, assisting in births, or

foretelling fortunes. Since the Bosnian

people were Bogumils before Islam came,

it is then no mystery why they kept some

of the memories of their old religion.

Among the folk there are numerous

stories, mostly comical, about Did and

Baba and their adventures. By them, we

can discern that they commanded great

respect among the Bosnian people.)

Kablići- March 29th until March 31st

Stablići- April 1st until April 3rd

Štapići- April 4th until April 7th

(All three names are connected to the past

of Bosnia when the winters were very long

and they usually lasted until the middle of

April. During that period the cattle used to

die because of lack of food).

Mučenjaci- period from April 8th until July,

this is the period when people suffered

(hence the name) until the sowing of the

wheat.

April: during April the corn is sown. The

old Bosniaks would wait for the frogs to

start making noise, which would be a sign

that the climate is optimal for sowing. The

people also followed other signs of the

nature, and therefore it is believed that

when the beech tree starts sprouting

leaves that one can begin sowing grain

without fearing frost. During the middle of

April the grapevine was notched and a

bottle was placed underneath it for the

juices to drip in it until Hidirlez. This juice

was used by women to smear on their hair

so it would be healthy and grow quicker.

May: in the first quarter of May the sowing

of beans begins.

Hidirlez or Jurjevo (May 6th)- according to

the national calendar from this day

forward, the summer begins and the

swimming in lakes and ponds can begin. In


the period from May 6th until May 13th the

first swarms of bees are let loose.

June: the first seven days of June are

called "bijela nedjelja” or “white week"

because the white mushrooms

(Cantharellus cibarius) are picked in the

forests at that time. In the beginning of

June , pumpkins, turnips and radishes are

sown.

August: it is believed that this month gives

diarrhea to children and the elderly. To

prevent this from happening, the mothers

would take some clothes of their children

and throw it under the wheel of carriages

that carry wheat bundles. In the first days

of August the onion and garlic are picked.

Aliđun- August 2nd: the folk belief is that

from this day on, the summer loses its heat

and slowly turns into autumn, the water in

the rivers begins to cool down and there

can be no more swimming.

September: during this month the potato is

reaped, the corn as well and the grapes

start ripening. If some strawberries sprout

in September, then it is believed that the

autumn will be long and mild.

October: in the first and second week of

October wheat is sown.

Kasum - November 8th: from this day

onward, winter starts. On this day, all loans

are settled, and leases of land end. Kasum

is Turkish the name of November. The

Arabic word kasim means 'something that

divides“.

Pagan background of the folkcalendar

As Christianity took over most of the

pagan holidays and customs creating a cult

of saints, in this analysis of ancient

Bosnian calendar we won't waste space

and time by discovering which saint took

over which role of a pagan deity, instead

we will focus on more important, original

segments which are in its basis key

principles for punctual description of the

folk calendar whose content follows the

creative cycle of nature. The only thing

that is worth mentioning is that Christianity

changed moved some dates a few days

earlier or later from the original date of the

pagan holidays in order to give it a

Christian meaning and diminish the ancient,

pagan one.

Researchers of ancient Bosnia came across

archaeological evidence which point out

that there was mixing between the Celtic

religious cults with those of the Illyrians,

especially with the Japodi, a tribe that


inhabited the north-western part of Bosnia.

By analysing the folk calendar of that part

of Bosnia, which was transferred orally

from one generation to the other, we can

discover the traces of Celtic religion, the

cult of fertility to be more exact, which is a

staple part of what we know today as

European witchcraft.

By describing particular calendar dates and

beliefs connected to them we can

relatively successfully reconstruct the

ancient cult of triple goddess Brigid which

is also considered the Grand Mother.

Wheat was dedicated to her out of whom

prophylactic symbols were created with

intent to keep the family safe from evil.

Herodotus in one of his descriptions of the

Illyrians mentions that Illyrian women bring

wheat as a sacrifice to one of their

goddesses. This undoubtedly confirms the

similar belief of the Celt and the Illyrians.

In the folk calendar dualism is emphasized,

the permeation of the negative and the

positive period during which nature begins

and ends its circle of fertility, which is

under the protection of the goddess mother

and god sun. Modelled after the antique

folk calendar, the Bosnian is divided on

only two seasons i.e. summer and winter

because it is in its essence agricultural and

follows the natural cycles. According to

the belief of the Bosnian folk summer

begins in May and ends in November

(Beltane-Samhain), and then comes the

winter, when would the manifestation of

the goddess mother, in her three forms,

commence together with the winter

solstice.

Zehmerija, Veljača and Baba we will

analyse in more detail, besides female

names and characteristics, they symbolise

three life stages which are undoubtedly

reminiscent of the pagan cult of the

goddess mother, which was celebrated as

triple goddess - girl, mother and old

woman. The name Zehmerija, unlike the

other two names, doesn't originate from

Bosnia, it is a part of the Turkish folk

tradition which was accepted by our people

and merged into the tradition. But, while

Zehmerija actually Zehmeri or Zehmerir in

Turkish alludes to males, in Bosnia

Zehmerija was always considered to be a

female name. This is supported by "Crna

Zehmerija" (Black Zehemerija), which

represents the coldest winter days. During

that period in the past people tended to get

frozen fingers or toes, in case of very low

temperatures.

Zehmerija

Witches holiday Yule which is exactly on

21st December and more than ideally it

corresponds to the calendar date of the

beginning of Zehmerija. From the winter

solstice the day starts to get longer by the

amount that the rooster can jump from the

house doorstep. In this folk belief there is

a clear allusion to the sun cult, whose

symbol is a rooster, because in paganism

after 21st of December the sun is "born"

and announces a gradual arrival of warmer

days.

The goddess gave birth to a son, god,

which will eventually become her lover and

father of the child in the next cycle. She is

tired and exhausted and that's why she's

resting and recuperating. That's why it's

cold and snowy in nature. The goddess like

the Bosnian woman rests for 40 days

(četeresnica) after birth, which is also how

long the Zehmerija is, and during that time

the folk tradition records various taboos

which clearly allude to birth. Apparently,


while the Zehmerija lasts the people would

avoid travelling by night, in order not to

cross places where the demons celebrate

and dine which also has the greatest

influence during that part of year. From

such encounters between people and the

Jinn, humans can fall ill both physically and

mentally. A similar prohibition pertains to a

woman who gave birth; she was prohibited

from going out at night from fear of a

demon attack, since she has no immunity

to them during the first 40 days after birth.

Veljača

Calendar wise Veljača is different from

Zehmerija because it doesn't coincide with

the other pagan holiday called Imbolc

which is celebrated from dusk of 31st

January until 2nd February which means

that it comes at the end of Zehmerija, and

we shouldn't disregard this information.

Imbolc is the event when the Celtic triple

goddess Brigid first appeared as a girl and

made love with the young sun god, who

was born on the shortest day in the year.

The difference of 12 days is perhaps due

to the events i.e. mistakes in oral transfer

of the tradition from one generation to the

other. But, we shouldn't ignore the fact

that Zehemerija, which lasts for 40 days,

begins on December 21st and ends 1st of

February. The name Veljača probable

comes from Velja, Vela or Velika which

alludes to the fact that the girl became a

mother, and that's why she obtained the

title grand/big, the one that brings forth

life. Her symbol is the full moon. The

goddess recovered from birth. God has

strengthened and his warmth slowly

permeates the earth and that's how the

first signs of spring come about. His power

grows continually, the light pierces

darkness and the days become longer. The

nature is slowly coming to life, which is

reflected by the Bosnian calendar in the

form of a fight between southern and

northern wind. The goddess shows her

blessings, the folk tradition claims that if

the beginning of Veljača i.e. 14th, 15th and

16th of February is marked by

precipitation of snow the year will be

fruitful, especially for wheat, usually a

symbol of the goddess.

Baba or Grandma

Baba, as the name suggests, symbolises an

old lady. In the same way, the pagan

holiday Ostare falls on the vernal equinox

on the last day of a seven day cycle which

is ruled by the Baba. With that we could

claim that the last day symbolises the end

of the life cycle. In this period the goddess

mother conceived a child i.e. son who will

be born on December 21st. Baba can be

easily seen as a pregnant woman since the

Bosnian term zbabna refers to a pregnant

woman and the word babine refers to the

traditional visit to the woman who gave

birth. The folk description of Baba's

character clearly alludes to classic

symptoms that a woman has during

childbirth - she is wilful, fickle, prone to

frequent changes of mood... Due to such

circumstances the goddess mother can

sometimes steal fertility from humans and

cause a dry year or a year marked by

frequent storms.

During this period the goddess covers the

earth with fertility, awakens it from its

slumber, and the god grows and slowly

reaches maturity. The hours of the day and


night are equal, and light slowly triumphs

over darkness. Farming activities start.

The sun is in its northernmost point.

The end of Baba begins with a seven day

period during which Did rules, the male

principle, or better to say god whose

mother is the goddess, he has now reached

maturity and shares grace to the people,

which is described in the folk tradition:

"Did is merciful because during it one can

start planting potatoes". The seed is placed

in the earth which needs to supply the

crop, fertility. The dominant influence of

god is seen in the following months.

Jurjevo (Hidirlez)

In the pagan tradition Beltane symbolises

the beginning of the light half of the year

i.e. the arrival of summer. For the Celts

that is the holiday dedicated to the god of

light (sun) who has fire as its symbol.

That's why each year during Jurjevo or

Hidirlez in Bosnia early in the morning,

before sun rise, a fire is lit in the yard as a

sign of welcome to the sun which will

appear in the east. Because of the strong

monotheistic influence that ritual was

interpreted as a defence from snakes,

which allowed it to be hidden and freely

practiced throughout the ages.

Aliđun

Lughnassan which lasts from 31st July until

2nd of August is the ancient holiday of

harvest. In Bosnia during that period

comes the Aliđun which is considered by

the people to stand for the height of

summer during which there is prosperity of

fruits and grain. In the past the Bosnian

people visited cult places in nature, known

as dovišta, and those were the places

where god was worshiped and celebrations

were held followed with entertainment and

food. With that the old pagan tradition was

followed of praising the holiday of harvest

and thankfulness for the yields of nature.

Dovište Lastavica was until the middle of

the twentieth century a cult place where

Bosnian people would gather for 2nd of

August to practice the ritual of

slaughtering sheep, which is a tradition

from the Illyrian times as many

ethnologists claim, and it symbolised

"sacrificing a virgin to the devil" i.e. a

specific deity from whom one sought

mercy and blessing in order to ensure

fertility.

Kasum

Samhain (31.10-02.11), symbolises the end

of the summer and the light part of the

year after which winter and darkness

arrive. Among the folk it is called Kasum,

Turkish name for November. The name

Kasum stems from Arabic which means

"something which is shared". The end of

the warm period and the beginning of

winter is best supported by the folk saying:

"Jurjevo brings a green leaf and Kasum

white snow!" That is where the Bosnian

folk calendar ends.

bosnian folk calendar

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