bosnian ritual

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SALIVANJE STRAHEBosnian ritual with four elements and apentagramAuthor: Raif Esmerović

e-mail: esmerovicr @gmail.com

Keywords: folk medicine, salivanje strahe, olovo, Bosnia, stravarka, stravaruša, Illyrians, basma,magic, healing, lead melting, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, elements, four, pentagram, ritual, fire, earth,air, water, herbs.

Stravarka Aiša from Sarajevo practices a form of ethno-medicine characteristic forMiddle East and the Balkans, a method called salivanje strahe or salivanje zrna „meltingthe fear“ in Bosnia. This method consists of ritual behaviour and a special text known as a„basma“ (or magic poetry), used together with the aim of healing the patient.

Another part of the technique is the melting of lead (or 'melting the fear'), which consistsof the ritual melting of a small piece of lead, by means of which stravarka Aiša ' sees' thecause of the illness. This piece of lead represents the condensed illness and its cause aswell. The shape the melted metal assumes is interpreted by the conjurer (stravarka). Atthe end of the interpretation, the conjurer gives this piece of lead to the patient and hemust liberate himself from it by throwing it ritually back over his shoulder without turningback his head, while pronouncing a charm.

That ritual can be performed by man or woman, but women perform it more often, as theyused to, traditionally, care about their family's health. Women who does that ritual inBosnia is called „stravarka“ or "stravaruša", and she is usually older lady who has beenpassed through menopause. The illness which stravarka Aiša heals and from which the term'melting the fear' originates are defined in the folk speech as straha or strava - a terror,a fear, a spell, or evil eyes. These are different psychic crises, neurosis, states of stressand nervousness.

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Stravarka, in the process, uses a few props; metal spoon, bowl for water, 3 or 4 pieces oflead and red towel or scarf. Ritual follows the strict religious pattern and thereforeStravarka, before she starts performs abdest (muslim religious washing). Stravarka, overthe lead and bowl filled with water, pronounces some individual Quranic prayers, with Al-Fatiha first Quranic chapter and Ihlas 112. chapter dominating.

When treating a frightened child, Aiša first put little pieces of led through the gun barreland then puts them in a spoon and melt in the fire. However, when treating her adultpatients she holds a larger or several small pieces of lead in her hand and rotates them 3times clockwise round around the patients head saying:„Euzubilahi mineš šejtanir radžim bismillahir rahmanir rahim“.

While the lead is melting in fire, Stravarka, over the bowl with water, quietly speaksprayers and basma (magic words) that seek the salvation of God and the health for apatient.

Between the prayers she repeats the following words:

"Dear Hazrat Fatima,my dear mother,tell your father Mohammedthat the patient needs help day and night"

(Draga moja hazreti Fatime,draga moja majko,reci svom ocu Muhamedu pejgamberuda bude u pomoći i u danu i u noći)

When she pronounces all the words and prayers due to which she normally experiencessome harmless sensations like uncontrolled yawning or tearing eyes stravarka coverspatient’s head with a cloth or red scarf (patient sits on a chair). Then, while holding thebowl of water in her left hand over the patient’s head she takes a right handed spoon withmelted lead and quickly pours it into the water. On this occasion stravarka says;

“lead to break and all evil to bounce from (name of patient)Amen!, Amen!, Amen!”

(olovo puca i sve zlo razbija sa N.Amin! Amin! Amin!)

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When pronouncing the magic words she looks out into a high mountain intending, in such away, to positively affect the recovery of a patient.

Namely, in BIH high landscapes such as mountains, are considers as symbols of happinessand good health; this is originating from the old Bosnian Sun-worshiping Cult. During thisritual, several times encounter the segments of those beliefs when stravarka 3 timesmoves in clockwise direction; following the path of the sun, when circling lead around thepatients head or during her prayers’ chanting over the bowl of water that she, after everyprayer, rotates in clockwise circle.

After she throws dissolved lead in cold water, on which occasion leads form variousshapes, Stravarka Aiša commences analyses of the obtained shapes what leads her to thecause of problem/disorder. If lead forms in a shape of a needle or number of themStravarka is convinced that the patient was a victim of an enormous shock of fright. Leadformed in a circle is a sign of a direct patient’s contact with the spiritual world of Jinns,on which occasion spirits harmed the patient.

After Stravarka Aiša performed the analyses of the obtained forms of lead, she collectsall the lead by the spoon and brings it back to fire in order to re-melt it. Then, she repeatsthe same ritual that has already been described above, with a difference in lead beingmelted in water this time over the patient’s stomach not head. When stage two iscompleted the last time Stravarka melts lead over the patient’s feet, what is thefinal/ending stage of the ritual.

The sign of successful treatment is sought in the lead itself. Namely, so-called heart(srce) appears in the very lead (shape of tear), what is a sign of all the evil beingneutralized in the patient. The patient washes his face 3 times with the water lead wasmelted in 3 times, drinks a bit of it too, washes his/her hands up to his/her elbows andwashes his/her legs up to his/her knees. The rest of the water is spilled under bush ofrose.

Heart or tears of lead is kept for a month time under the patient’s pillow and then throwndown the river stream.

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Lead melting is an old ritual of neutralising negative energy known from Bosnia andHerzegovina all the way to Palestine. But, while in Turkey and throughout the Middle Eastthe ritual was exclusively practiced to nullify spellbound eyes, or, in Romanian and Bulgariafor removing effects of fear, in Bosnia this ritual cures the consequences of spellboundeyes, fear, black magic, influence of demons, certain skin diseases and different blockagessuch as the inability for someone to get married or a pupil to achieve success in school.Also, only in Bosnia and Herzegovina stravarke and stravari know how to use this ritual tohelp people which are far away from them, without physical contact, even on anothercontinent. That's why it is known that Bosnian stravari are the best ones in this area.

In support of all the above the claim that the lead melting ritual originated in Bosnia isvery popular, namely the Ottomans spread it across the lands they conquered in theircampaigns i.e. from the Balkans to Palestine and Syria. In support of the originality of theritual the data that lead melting was familiar in Bosnia since the old days and that there isno data in any ethnographic chapter which would disprove these claims. According toindividual anthropologists lead melting is an ancient ritual of the Iillyrians which knew howto use metals and how to shape them but also to use them for purposes of magic.

As I have written before on the ritual practice this time I will pay more attention to thetheory and detailed explanation of the magical background of this ritual. To begin with weshould stress that the ritual of lead melting itself is actually a combination of fourelements, since a human is also made out of them. Namely, the human body is divided in thefollowing way; from the foot to the waist rules the element of earth, from the waist tothe chest is the element water, around the lungs, rules the element of air, while the headbelongs to the element of fire.

In what way are the 4 elements present in the ritual? In the bowl with water, in which youmelt lead, you place a hollow rock which is considered to be hardened earth. It's functionis that all negative energy passes through it and goes into the ground. The water in thebowl is the second element which is combined with the element of air i.e. the stravarkablows into the water while chanting various formulas. The lead is melted with fire, withwhich we come to the last of the four elements. Namely, lead melting is an ancient ritualwhich is used to bring all four elements inside a human into balance and harmony and insuch a way it enables a normal flow of energy and healing.

Another symbol, which is very important in the ritual of lead melting is what I would call"unification of the elements" and that is the pentagram or star with five points, whichrepresents the human. Each point represents a part of the body: head, arms and legs.According to the procedure after the ritual the diseased washes his face with waterwhich was used for lead melting and chanting of prayers and in such a way as to follow the

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pentagram; first wash the face, then the right arm and left leg and then the left arm andright leg. In such a manner one symbolically forms a star since according to ancient Bosniantradition, successors of Illyrian cults, each man has his own star in the sky with which heis connected over his forehead, i.e. the place between the eyebrows. For that reason thestravar or stravarka every time after the last lead pouring dips his/her fingers into thebowl with the water and passes the fingers over the forehead of the diseased. With thatritual she "cleans" the star of that man or better yet neutralises all blockages whichdisrupted the connection of the man and his star.

It is interesting to mention that there are a few versions of this ritual only in Bosnia,which are absolutely unknown in other countries where the practice of lead melting ispresent. Namely, besides the use of lead the ritual is performed with certain herbs suchas stravna herb (glechoma hederecea) or kukurijeka (Helleborus niger L.var.macranthusFreyn). From the root of kukurijeka one would boil a tea and in it lead would be poured.After that the diseased would drink the tea.

The second way is even more interesting. The ritual is performed with the help of hotwater which is poured from the vessel into a saucer, then the vessel is turned upside downand placed in the middle of the saucer with the water and one would utter prayers over it.When, because of the heat, the vacuum sucks the air from the upturned vessel, the waterwould also be sucked into the vessel. After that has occurred the vessel is raised and thediseased washes his face with the water and drinks some of it.

bosnian ritual

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