For a woman to become a sihirbazica (witch) and gain magical powers she needs to take the holly Qur'an and throw it on the ground and stomping it utter: Iblis, help me, I give you my soul, help me in my intentions (or wishes)".
In Bosnia it is believed that after this blasphemous act she becomes a witch: she can cast love spells, exert revenge on her enemies, become invisible...
In the past, according to ethnological writings, young women often became witches in order to become attractive with the help of magic, so that men would want them. Similarly, a woman would become a witch in order to bring her man back, who left her or to separate him from his beloved girlfriend, her rival.
In their practice the Bosnian witches used various ways to cast love spells on men, and the most famous one is the one with white beans. The ritual was performed as follows:
At night, when no one is around, the witch would take an axe and place it behind the entrance door along with nine white beans on which she urinated on. Then the witch goes to the fire place inside the house and places the beans in the ash near the fire. She would then utter: "the beans crackle, bah bahti, the axe behind the door and X in front of it. Die, burst until you come to me, with Gods power and my merit, veledalin amin".
She would then blow three times in the direction of the man and then she would swallow her spit. The witch stirs the beans in a circle with a metal spoon, takes the axe and brings it and places it next to her feet, and then she stirs the beans with the spoon one more time and brings the axe back behind the door. While doing this she utters:
"I am placing the axe behind the door; I am not placing the axe but the brain and wits of X behind the door. Die, burst until you come to me, with God's power and my merit.Veledalin amin".
After that she repeats the following words three times: "basmice, basmice sisters as ordained by God, bring me X there is the dark and the cloud, I am his shining sun and moon. Dark all around him and I am his only light, elzalif amin".
At the end she blows down her bosom three times, turns around and goes to bed.
It is believed that after this ritual the man who was the target of the ritual becomes plagued by an unexplainable longing and wish to see the woman as soon as he can. Because of the love magic the man cannot sleep nor concentrate on anything else. If he resists the urge to visit the witch strange blisters appear on his body and he suffers a high temperature for days. When he visits the woman, and as soon as he lays his eyes on her, all of the symptoms disappear immediately.
