In Bosnian magic there were rituals which were used to create a Jinn (demon) which will serve those witches which helped with his birth. But, rules of such and similar rituals are often rigorous and demand somewhat unusual conditions which need to be met in order to reach the desired result. Of course, there were those witches who managed to circumvent some of the rules with their knowledge and wit, thereby reaching their goal - creation of a demonic servant.
In order to successfully complete a magical task a girl, which will become the "mother" of the future Jinn, must meet two criteria, from which the second one is very difficult. The girl needs to be seventeen, if she is younger or much older she won't meet the strict rules of witchcraft, which is a pretty simple task compared to the second one. Namely, a more important condition is that she never spoke to a man in her life, not even her father?!
If one happens to find such a candidate, then her task is not to wash her face or comb her hair for seven days, in order to expose herself to the sun in such a condition. After the seven days pass she takes an egg from a black chicken with a short tail, but a small egg, the one which is called among the folk
pronosakor
iznosak. She will carry that egg under her armpit for a month, taking care that the egg is with her during the night as well. At the very end of this time period instead of a chicken a monstrous creature will appear which is called
cikavac in Bosnian mythology. But, with that her magical task is not completely over, since
cikavac is still not a Jinn.
It is believed among the folk that in the past of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially rural areas, there were many
cikavac which the local witches used for their egoistic and criminal goals, i.e. stealing of milk, cheese and sour cream from their neighbours. Though miniature creatures these creatures had a large pharynx (or gullet) in which they would store the milk, cheese or sour cream which they devoured in the houses during the night.
Cikavac is also a being which suck the blood out of an udder and would leave it completely without milk. When they returned to their witch after their visit, they would empty into a wooden dish everything they stole. In such a manner they would supply their mistress with all the dairy products to the detriment of her neighbours.
More ambitious witches weren't satisfied with owning a
cikavac instead they wanted to create more powerful beings, which in the future could offer them a wider range of services, therefore they would wrap a
cikavac into a swath for 21 days, like a mother would her child, made out of hairs taken from the tail of a brown horse. In that time the
cikavac would slowly transform into a demonic being, a small mixture of an animal and a human, which would consider the witch her mother and it would be able to fulfil numerous wishes. But, since the Jinn is a pretty intelligent and evil being, with a constant hunger for human souls, in the beginning his services are free but later, when he managed to create a certain dependence towards himself, he would offer the witch a deal which would be based on trade - she will be his master as long as she is alive and after her death the witch will give him her soul.
Such a deal was acceptable for both parties since witches yearned for great power with whose help they could perform various miracles and in a sense rule destinies of individuals while the lifespan of a human presents no problem for a Jinn, since unlike humans the Jinn live for a few thousand years.
And in the end we need to mention that among the Bosnian folk there was a firm belief that women are more successful and better than man in the world of magic, which is often reasoned by this short tale. On one occasion a man and a woman made a bet who will talk a demon into entering an empty pumpkin. The man tried first but all his persuasion attempts ended negatively. Then it was the woman's turn. She took the pumpkin seductively and brought the opening of the pumpkin next to her eye and she started to wonder and gasp. Struggling to bear his curiosity the demon asked her what is her amazement and why is she so exalted by what she sees, to which she replied: "My dear demon, I cannot describe it to you in words what wonders I see in the pumpkin. You need to see it for yourself, enter and see." After those words the demon thought to himself "I could enter quickly to see what is so amazing in that pumpkin". As soon as the demon thought this he entered the pumpkin, the woman sealed it and took away the bet.
