Love magic

Cultural anthropology considers that the entire nature has its own paranormal dimension which came into contact with humans primarily through magical rituals. Particular attention among people, since the time of their creation, was sparked by the celestial bodies which provoked awe and admiration because of its position but also effect on nature.

Since the earliest times man had a wish and a tendency to explain all those things which he didn't understand in any way possible, to at least temporarily quench his thirst for knowledge and understanding. Such a position lead to appearance of numerous deities which in their zoomorphic and antromorphic shape began to represent the celestial bodies. Giving a known shape considerably lowered the fear of the unknown and through the religious and magical practice a bond between humans and the world that surrounds them has been established.

Even though we know that our Illyrian forefathers had a developed solar and lunar cult, today it is still difficult to fully visualise their ritualistic practice and have a detailed insight in the emergence of Bosnian mythology. However, it is known that gods since the early days were shown in three archetypes: as humans, as animals and as half man half beast. All of these examples can be found in our mythology.

This time we will focus exclusively on the beings from the celestial cult. Here we could mention the belief in three stars (Budimka, Palinka and Nesanka) behind which there is obviously an ancient triad of celestial goddesses or legends about wraiths with golden wings, described as half human half bird. We shouldn't disregard the mention of the large celestial bird or the belief in dragons, gigantic snake with wings. From all of the mentioned examples it is logical to conclude that we are dealing with ancient deities of the sky which resided on certain celestial bodies and constellations. This information in particular is very important since it facilitates our insight into certain segments of Bosnian magic, especially love magic.

In Bosnian love magic there are dozens of rituals where one addresses celestial bodies for help. Asking the stars for help is probably connected to the ancient Bosnian belief that each man gets a star in the sky when he is born. We are connected to it through our forehead, specifically the place called "the third eye", and for that reason the girl looks at that spot while uttering her magical vow.

Star ritual



Right after sunset, as soon as the stars appear, a girl takes a knife and sticks it into the ground under the roof of the house, at the location where drops of rain fall from the roof. While doing this she utters:



I'm not putting this knife into the ground,

but in Mujo's heart and liver,

in his 77 nerves,

88 joints (while uttering this she drives the knife harder into the ground),

and 99 bones.



After that she looks at the largest star in the sky and utters:



Small star by god my sister (she moves her hands away from the knife),

wherever you find my Mujo you shall possess him,

where you catch up to him you shall move him from his place,

strike him in his cowlick,

bring him to me!



Then she places her palms onto the ground and utters the following vow:



Dark earth by god my mother!

This vow should not grasp me nor you,

nor the encircled garden,

nor a planted tree,

nor a barren sheep,

nor a cow without a calf,

but my Mujo and his heart and liver,

his 77 nerves,

88 joints and his 99 bones.

He should die,

go crazy until he comes to me and until he talks to me!



Then she blows in the direction of the star and without turning around she goes home. Tomorrow morning, before sunup, she takes the knife out from the ground.

Ritual involving a new moon



When a new moon appears a girl looking at it utters the prayer Ihlas three times and then the following vow:



O new moon, old man, young soldier,

make me as tall as a fir tree,

make me as white as a pearl,

so I can be pretty and dear to all

and to my N. the most beautiful and dearest!



After that she blows in the direction of the new moon three times.

Ritual involving the sun



When the sun starts setting behind a hill a girl looks at it and utters the following vow three times:



O ye, bright sun,

are you setting behind a hill,

with whom are you leaving me?

Leave me with my dear N.,

he doesn't love me,

he doesn't care for me.

With god's will I have placed three burdens on him;

first one is a toothache,

the second one is the pain of a woman giving birth

and the third is the pain that a man feels when Azrail rips his soul from his body.

Let him die, let him have a fit until he sees me.

Elif zalim lamim!



After that she blows in the direction of the sun three times.





All three of these vow's have the goal to cause love in a certain person as well as lust towards the girl that uttered it.