FORTUNE TELLING - DIVINATION - FALANJE

Bosnian word falanje (fortune telling) comes from the Persian word fal, to bode, or tefaul which means positive fortune telling. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, besides a unique method that is practiced by some Imam's, a combination of astrology, numerology and spiritual science known amongst the people a“otvaranje zvijezde”("opening of the stars") or yildiznama, the three most popular divination systems are present: fortune telling with the help of beans, coffee and cards.

OTVARANJE ZVIJEZDE

It is a tradition in Bosnia to seek a solution to certain life problems such as illnesses or love issues, from a famous Imam who is known for treating many such problems. The Imam is often visited when a person is often ill, but the medical examination shows no problems, or when a husband or wife, want to save their marriage.


To help such a person the Imam practices a divination method known as "otvaranje zvijezde (opening the stars)" whose analysis often results in a talisman construction (zapis) or an hamajlije construction (amulet). If the diseased is under the influence of black magic the Imam constructs a few talismans which are then submerged in water, so they can be used for consumption or bathing, or burning so that the diseased can fumigate himself, or that it can be buried near a place with running water, burning fire, etc. In the end, when the patient is healed and the negative manifestations of the problem disappear, the Imam constructs an amulet which should protect him from all evil in the future.
When it comes to love issues the humane desire for help is often mixed with greed. Namely, in Bosnia it is believed that all magic is a sin except love magic which are used to save a marriage and save a family from disintegrating. However, often the Imam's which posses certain psychological and spiritual powers break that rule and connect partners that are not bound by fate, or their marriage is not preordained by God. To find out if the partners are suitable for marriage the Imam uses the "otvaranje zvijezda" method, and if he sees that the partners don't have common stars, that they are not harmonious or suitable to each other then he must inform them of this. In most cases, the Imam emphasizes that even if the talismans were used the relationship wouldn't last long because it is not preordained by God. But if the interested person persists the Imam constructs love talismans whose effects are short lived and they can't have a serious effect.
To gain insight into someone's fate the Imam needs only two things - the name of that person and its mother's name. Once the Imam writes those names on paper, he converts certain letters which have a numerical value into numbers, then he sums them up and divides that number with the number 12. The number that he gets reveals the star (astrological sign) under which the person is born. In a special book, which is called Yildizname in Turkey, the Imam reads the chapter dedicated to that sign. If for example the Imam received the number 2 by the mathematical operation, then the interpretation for a man would be as follows:
-A man born under the influence of this planet values education and educated people, he is wise and dedicated to his work. His home is prosperous and good natured people come to his home. Materially this person is well situated. He has brothers with which he shares his understanding and help. This person is a father and a mother; he is of a caring nature. He will have both male and female children. He will be married twice. His wife is noble, she has a good heart. Of health problems he will suffer the disease of the legs, especially the knees, but that will only last for a period of his life. In a later stage of his life heart problems will threaten him and they could be the cause of his death.
Business wise all will be well, even though this person earns a lot of money he also spends it very quickly. He has many enemies but he is stronger than all of them. Wednesday and the month Zilhad are lucky for him. When he sees a new moon he should look at the money in his wallet and pray to God. He is advised to wear green coloured clothes as often as he can. When he travels to highly positioned people he should wear such clothes in order to have his demands and pleas met.
On the right side of his body this person has a sign of sihira (magic), and he feels pain at that place. He has a birth mark near one eye, and on his leg a scar from a dog bite or a burn.
Throughout his life 7th, 14th and 43rd years of his life are critical. If he survives those years he will then live to be 80 years old seven months and seven days. And about the rest Allah knows best.

FALANJE U GRAH


One of the most popular methods of fortune-telling in Bosnia and Herzegovina is certainly divination with beans "falanje u grah" or "throwing beans" (bacanje graha). Among the people there are stories that demised Hazrat Fatima secretly performed divination with beans, hiding it from her father Muhammad. On one occasion while Hazrat Fatima predicted the fate of her friend in the room suddenly entered Mohammed. Hazrat Fatima in shock and rush managed to hide under her dress only half of the beans, which were located in front her, therefore since then it is believed that in every divination lies half truth and half lie. It is interesting that one combination of divination is named after her name – “Hazrat Fatima fal”. It is a combination of 333, which represents happiness, marriage and the fulfillment of whish.







In Bosnia, a person dealing with the divination in the beans is called “faladžija" or "faladžinica" if it is a female person. For divination in the beans fortune teller needs the red patch on which he or she lines up 41 grains of white beans. Before she starts placing the beans on the patch she takes the beans into the right fist , places the fist close to her mouth and recites the prayer: “Rabbi jesir vela tu'asir, rabbi temmim bil-hayr” three times and then blows into her fist three times.

Then she divides the beans into three smaller piles and from each takes the four seeds making a figure of three rows with nine beans pile where each individual pile can have 1, 2, 3 or 4 seed. The left vertical line represents a female person and the right male person. The vertical line in the middle is called the house or heart. In addition, females and males lines are divided into three symbols: the head, arms, legs and the line in the middle is divided on: the cushion, fireplace and doors.
The method of divination in the bean is extremely broad and requires much effort and space for an explanation, however there are several shorter versions of divination which people mostly use to get the answer to a specific question.


The group of 41 beads of white beans the fortune teller arranges three times:
-The first arrangement is for the past and it symbolizes childhood and youth
The second arrangement symbolizes the clients present and the middle of his life
The third arrangement symbolizes the future, and is treated as the most important part of the complete fortune telling. It symbolizes the latter part of someone's life.

A B C
D E F
G H I

TEHIR or TIME

The first row (A,B,C) is called „površina“ or "the surface", and its characteristic is that it can only have an odd sum of numbers 5 or 9 beads, when compared to the second and third row. When there are five beads in the first row (212, 122, 221), and in the bottom that symbolizes time (or their) 5 groups each having four beads (or five hatmi) then that shows speed to the fortune teller, favorable progress of the situation, or as they like to say: „the beans go in your favour!" The first row symbolizes intelligence, thinking patterns, thought processes,. and that's why there is a "male" and "female" head inside and a "pillow".

The second row (D,E,F) represents emotion and the house. It can be said that the second and third row are connected while the first row is separate and independent. The one thing that most people don't know is that only in the second and third row there can be for example a combination of infidelity, loss, moving, tears but also travel, gain, etc.

The third row (G,H,I) is a symbol of the things that are outside or in front of the door. It is a symbol of movement and action which is confirmed by the male and female foot prints (or legs) and the "threshold". The more beads there are on the threshold the more guests in the house or if there is only one bead on the threshold-the news will arrive inside the house, two beads "open door" that is the one whose fortune is foretold will travel or the like.

Tehir or time symbolizes a specific period when a prophecy might come true, for example, if there are five groups that have four beads in the "time" row, that means that the foretold will come about soon, if there are four groups each having four beads then the client has to be patient because the prophecy will not come about soon, etc. Fortune telling of four groups each having four beads is called „hatma“.

Besides this, each fortune teller with beans can foretell for three types of persons- girlfriend, wife, widow or boyfriend, husband, widower. For example, if a married person receives the "Hazrat Fatima fal" it is not interpreted as to the other groups. While to the other groups it foretells marriage, to the married ones it foretells divorce or the like.



111 - problems, divorce, departure

112 - loss of a loved one

121 – love between partners

131 - ''wings'': happiness, cash gain, succes

144 - relationship, marriage

212 -   bismillah fal grah: love date

233 - love joy

242 - meeting, cash gain

224 - travelling

314 -  problems in a marriage or family

323 - love

333 - Hazrat Fatima fal: marriage, luck, succees on work or in love

414 - problems

431 - loss

432 - news

444 - prosperity, succees on work or in love







Favomancy is a form of divination that involves throwing beans on the ground and interpreting the patterns in which the beans fall; it is therefore a type of cleromancy. Various forms of favomancy are present across the World cultures. The term favomancy comes from the Latin faba "bean" and formed by analogy with the names of similar divination methods such as alectromancy.
Favomancy used to be practised by seers in Russia, in particular, among the Ubykh. Russian methods of favomancy may still exist; however, since the departure of the Ubykhs from the Caucasus in 1864, details of exactly how Ubykh soothsayers interpreted the patterns formed by the beans are lost.[1] The Ubykh term for a favomancer simply means "bean-thrower", and later became a synonym for all soothsayers and seers in general.[2]
In Bosniak traditions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, favomancy is is called bacanje graha 'bean-throwing' or falanje (from Persian fal 'to bode'). The fortune-teller places 41 beads of white beans onto a flat surfaces, dividing them into smaller groups using a complex set of rules. The resulting numbers of beans in each group are then interpreted as favorable or unfavorable signs in different aspects of life.[3]
Both Russian and Bosnian methods are remarkably similar, and likely share a common origin. Since the method is not present in the West, it is possible that the origin might be in the middle East. In Iran, a similar method exists, involving fifty-three peas.

DIVINATION WITH PLAYING CARDS




The use of playing cards in their esoteric form is called cartomancy and it has its beginnings in the 16-17th century. It is not known in which European country were they used as a fortune telling tool for the first time, however it is well known that they enjoyed huge popularity especially amongst the wealthy classes. As the playing cards first appeared in Bosnia and Herzegowina long before Tarot cards or Gypsy cards, which were usually the tools of roaming gypsy fortune tellers, it is only natural to assume that these cards sparked the imagination of various Bosnian fortune tellers and that's how they started being used for esoteric purposes. In the previous sentence I used imagination because it describes perfectly the creative mind of the fortune teller and his or her idea to construct the whole system of divinity by dividing the cards into four basic signs.

The system for fortunetelling with cards consists of four stages:
Speculative part: a wish to foretell the future formulated in a certain question
Physical part: touching, shuffling, dealing and arrangement of the cards
Oral part: presentation of the obtained meaning following a set pattern
Intuitive part: reading from the cards based on the visual and inner feeling or intuition.

As one can see with the help of an analysis, in the practical part of the fortunetelling we come across two segments that reciprocally follow each other. In the first one the fortune teller follows instructions moulded with already predicted symbols and meaning through singular or joined combinations. There we come across a classic example of mechanical fortunetelling. The second part is much more proficient and transparent for the fortune teller when elated by intuition the strictly defined meanings lose their weight and serve only as a spring board. Therefore it is not wrong to call this stage the stage of intuitive fortunetelling. During that stage the true strength of clairvoyance free of any restraint can be observed.




Nizama M. from Bosanski Brod is a married woman in her forties and she is a mom of two teenagers. A very eloquent woman who is cheerful and she has a penetrating glance.

My husband doesn't know that I predict fortunes by reading cards, he doesn't like it and its all black magic for him. That's why I never did it publicly and I probably never will. It is enough for me to do it for my friends over coffee. I learned to foretell the future with cards during high school from my friend. As young women it was very interesting for us and we would constantly predict the future to one another when it comes to boys that we liked. We would often over do it, but it was OK, those were nice times, remembers Nizama with a smile.

After she got married and had children, Nizama abstinated from any form of fortunetelling. When the children have grown and left for school, the vacuum created by household chores and motherhood made her turn to her favourite activity from childhood, the cards.

Certain fortunetelling techniques were forgotten over time, but I have replaced them with new ones, my own, that came to me. The moment I delve deep into the position of the cards, I get a clear picture in my head of what the cards represent and how I should interpret them to the person sitting across from me. There, let's say, club is not a complete symbol in a picturesque sense, as we can see it dissipates into smaller leaves or circles. That's why the cards with its symbol have a negative connotation. On the other hand spade is a complete symbol, a full card, its tip goes upwards and that's why it has a completely positive meaning, and so forth. For me the black cards are bad and the red ones good, however in some circumstances where the cards create a bad luck combination, a certain number of red cards can foretell danger, say from fire or conflagration.

Analysing the cards a skilled fortune teller can uncover a lot of interesting details and even describe a person's appearance in general, its mentality, material or family situation and the like. King check represents a father figure or a brother, Queen check represents a woman of light or brown hair... When an ace card appears above the king or queen card then that combination speaks of an educated and intelligent person. In short, there are hundreds of combinations, individual ones or those created through association, which requires a lot of effort and concentration from the Faladžija.

FORTUNE TELLING IN COFFEE CUP




The desire to foretell the future is as old as mankind itself. The fear of the unknown and generally, man's need to influence fate has led to various forms of fortunetelling which served to foretell the outcome of some disease, to find a thief, to find out the sex of the baby, to find out whether the year will be fruitful, to find out if a couple will get married, etc.

According to the beliefs in Bosnia the ideal day for fortunetelling, especially with the help of beans or coffee, is Tuesday. This is because it is believed that Tuesday is the day of magic when each spell has a stronger effect and each fortunetelling is more accurate.



To foretell the future using coffee, it is necessary to fulfil a few simple conditions. First, the coffee cannot be express coffee but "Bosnian coffee" so that the cup will contain a lot of sediment. The coffee should be drank hot and without sugar.

When the coffee is finished, the person that wants its future foretold, places some money under the saucer and spins the cup three times clockwise and covers it with the saucer. After that one places his/her index finger from his/her right hand on the cup and in his/her mind he/she must make a wish or think about a specific person. The side of the cup from which the client drank is considered to be a representation of him, whilst the opposite side is considered to represent a person of the opposite sex. The bottom of the cup is a symbol of a home and all the symbols that are found on that part signify events inside the family.

Before the fortune teller starts, he/she first checks the situation of the entire cup. If the space around the handle of the cup is empty and without any sediment, it is believed that the person is unhappy in love affairs or is in a bad financial situation.

If the bottom of the cup is filled with sediment that signifies a period of prosperity while an empty bottom signifies a bad financial situation, a departure or a trip.

Bosnian fortune tellers pay specific attention to interpretation of individual symbols and they connect them with other symbols in their vicinity. Of course, there are some other important symbols that every fortune teller pays specific attention to. If there happens to be three identical symbols inside the cup, then that signifies great pleasure...

The following represents some interpretations that Bosnian fortune tellers use during their fortune telling using coffee:

Angel- joy, a wish coming true

Aeroplane- mail, news

Car- happiness

Bull- wealth, money

Old woman- sorrow, sickness

Numbers: 1- decision, 2-sickness, 3-date, 4-you must be patient, 5-worry...

Flowers: you are in an advantageous period

Pigeon: mail, news

Lizard: change, new beginning

Piano: you will receive an important message

Umbrella- you will meet an old love partner

Wolf: tears and sorrow because of jealousy

Moon: feast, a wish will come true

Bear: sickness

Mouse: beware of a theft

Knife: an end of a relationship or marriage

Eagle: an advantageous change or move

Frog: you will be a victim of someone's scheme and intrigue

Dots: large dots in the cup always symbolise favourable news. Large dot on the bottom of the cup: pregnancy in the family

Pregnant woman: monetary gain, present

Horse: a victory in court or in sports

Chicken: others are slandering you

Pyramid: trouble with a court or the law

Dog: stable relationship or marriage, loyal friend

Ring: marriage

Heron: pregnancy

Fish: worry, disease

Letters: A-new beginning or a new job, T- stress, F-love...

Heart: the best symbol in love fortune telling. This is a sign of love. If the heart symbol is white then it signifies true feelings

Deer: an important conversation with your partner

Cat: a black cat is a symbol of hatred, someone doesn't like you. A white cat warns you to be careful with blandishment and mellifluous words

Bird: a symbol for news

Parrot: you will meet a person who speaks two languages or is a stranger

Spider: be careful of your pride and stubbornness

Rifle or a gun: stress, anger

Dragon: you are prone to saving and keeping money

Snake: enemy, adversary in love

Rabbit: you are having problems sleeping

Squirrel: lack of confidence or bravery

Cross: argument, fight

Fox: be careful or lies and hoaxes

Glasses: you will meet a new person...

At the end of every fortune telling the client presses his finger on the bottom of the cup and makes a wish so that the fortune teller can see if it will come true. The sediment that remains on the finger of a female client is placed under her tongue so that her man says her name often and that he thinks about her often.

Fortune telling for marriage: When a girl comes to someone's house for coffee for the first time, she needs to steal a lump of sugar in a manner that no one notices it, and then when she goes to sleep she should place that lump under her pillow. That night she will have a dream about the man that she will marry.

In Bosnian way of bean grains fortune telling particular attention is committed to the interpretation of each grain positioning. Direction in which the grain is directed, its horizontal or vertical position, whether one grain is attached to another, or tree or more, is very important data in the process. An example concerning one love couple follows:



1. Woman is burdened with love relationship and displays serious insecurity. She easily gets angry with the man and then she terminates communication with him.
2. Man and woman are together.
3. Man has got similar temper as woman he gets angry easily and than he does not communicate to her.
4. Woman loves man
5. Regardless certain problems in character and communication themselves, as a couple, go along fine.
6. Man is quite introverted; he does not display enough emotions or affection.
7. Woman is indecisive; she often does not know what to do to improve their relationship.
8. Communication seems to be a great problem. They both communicate more with others than with each-other.
9. Man is more oriented towards carrier, income, money.


If this combination of grains appeared in the first cast of beans than analyse is interpreted in the past tense. This, in fact, interprets the relationship of partners in the past. However, if it appears in the second cast than it represents their present, while in the third cast has negative connotation and may indicate problematic love relation.

The augur technique of using beads or "bacanje tespiha" originates from Turkey and it came into Bosnia via the Dervish. There aren't enough written data about it, and it is usually mentioned only in conversations about spiritual healing or as a prop of some of the augurs. In Kosovo and Albania this divination method is more common. The Dervishes that lived there as well as local augurs, in their work used unusually large beads which were some times larger than one meter. In the Arabic world the usage of beads is well known in the ritual Istikhare when someone wants to have a concrete answer to his inquiry.



In Bosnia the beads are often used by stravarke in rituals of annulling the negative energy, they pull the beads over a bottle of water or they pull a piece of lead through it, and this will later be used for spiritual healing. With this ritual the stravarka energizes these props with Godly energy.
Stravarka Bilka uses during the whole ritual of salivanja strahe beads that behave as a spiritual leader and counsellor in their own right. At the end of the healing ritual she would pull the beads nine times over a bottle of water, and she would utter Qur'an verses, after that she would throw the beads on the ground and according to its position she would then interpret what she sees. If, for example, the beads form the number eight, for her it is not a good sign and it means that the patient hasn't healed completely and that the ritual needs to be repeated again in a couple of days, etc.
While praying over a bowl of water, Stravarka Bilka switches the beads from one hand into the other taking care that at the end of each stage of the healing ritual there are some beads that she hasn't touched. That is very important for her, since it is used to find out where the negative energy actually originates from. Namely, if there are three beads left stravarka Bilka is certain that the evil comes from a neighbour, however if there is a different number of beads, it can mean that the evil comes from someone distant or even a family member. This information doesn't seem important at first, but all of the data gathered during the healing process is for her vital because she claims that it can help her determine the strength of the evil and the problem which has blocked the patient's positive energy and health. And what is more important is that with the acquired information the patient can distance himself and even protect himself from this threat and enemy.

Analysing the remaining beads stravarka Bilka can also foretell the love life of the person she is treating. According to her experience, ten beads is a sign of a high quality emotional life, harmony with the partner and companionship. If the patient has a wish to enter into a loving relationship with a chosen person sometime in the future, the ten beads symbolise the connection and fulfilment of this emotional wish. Bilka claims that a sign of great luck is evident if during the ritual the number seven appears two times amongst the beads.

The method of predicting with beads is quite simple and in Bosnia it is done in the following way: the person who wishes to receive an answer to some question or a person who is interested in the future needs to take prayer beads that have 33 beads on them and holding them one needs to utter "Allahu akbar!" touching one bead at a time. The moment the last "Allahu akbar!" is uttered the beads need to be thrown in front of oneself on a clear space. The figure that is formed when the beads hit the floor reveals the answer to ones question.



From various figures-answers that beads can form here are some interpretations:
Beads forming an eight: if your question is of an emotional nature the beads predict an unhappy love life or an unhappy relationship.

The Bosniaks are known by their countrymen as lovers of leisure and conversation. Bosniaks, regardless of age or sex, enjoy group activity and may eat, drink and converse with each other for many hours at a time. Men as a rule associate in cafes, while women visit each other in their homes, accepting frequent offers to join a coffee break which sets the stage for the old custom of coffee-ground divination or falanje u kahvu.

Bosniaks make their coffee in the Turkish style. The rich, fragrant brew is drunk from demitasse cups or the more traditional handleless "fildžan". The thick coffee grounds which settle to the bottom of the cup form intricate patterns when the cup is inverted, the custom when the drinker has had his fill. But the coffee break does not stop there. lndeed, from the moment the coffee is poured, the divination begins, a long process which extends and enhances the coffee-drinking session.

Bosnian coffee-ground divination is typically a three-part process. As mentioned, the divination begins as soon as the coffee is poured. Each cup gets a bit of foam, "kajmak", which rises to the top of the coffee pot in the brewing process. Sometimes the foam forms a ring or heart which float upon the coffee, and these symbols are interpreted variously — as signs of a gift or love, respectively. While the coffee is being drunk, divination subsides and conversation rules. One by one drinkers invert their cups, signaling that they've had their fill and anticipate a round of fortune telling.
Within minutes after a cup is inverted, the grounds trickle down and patterns take shape. The inspection of these designs form the major body of coffee divination.

Sometimes the grounds that flow out of the cup onto a tray or saucer may first be examined and interpreted. Beginning with the most obvious symbols, a good fortune teller can weave a narrative combining insights into an individual's character and the events that await him. Even if there is no real fortune teller among them, most men and women can interpret at least a few symbols to be able to muse over each other's cups.

Symbols representing death, illness and misfortune are usually minimized or disregarded if the least bit hazy. On the other hand, the slightest resemblance of a favorable sign is highly prized. Unmarried girls are generally preoccupied with love and will single out symbols which foreshadow rendevous (the numbers 3 and 7), kisses (coffee smudges on outside of cup), fidelity (dog), and the universal symbols of love – hearts and arrows. Cigarettes invariably accompany coffee and Bosnian girls may manipulate the butts of their cigarettes in hopes that they will reveal the initials of a boy who loves them. The wooden matches used to light cigarettes are also sources of divination. The way they burn are said to reveal whether one's sweetheart is true or loves another.


Married and older individuals are concerned with their children, the material well-being of their family, and their children, the material well-being of their family, and their relationships with their neighbors. Coveted symbols are those representing material gain (a thick clump of coffee grounds), happiness (the sun, letters M, R and S), physical strength (elephant), and steadfast friends (horse). Unfavorable signs are snakes, which represent enemies; fish, standing for worry and anxiety; a camel, meaning a burden of sorrow, doubled if there are two humps.

Aside from these isolated symbols, close examination of grounds may reveal picture- like scenes depicting people and events. Further, the patterns of grounds are interpreted as photograph negatives. White figures are said to be black, and black areas, which are the coffee grounds themselves, are said to be white. Thus, a dark figure (cluster of grounds) may represent a blond individual. Odd numbers are considered lucky, but even ones are unfavorable.

The final stage of coffee-ground divination is the making of wishes. With a finger, an individual presses any area in the cup covered by ground, usually the bottom, and makes a wish. If the pressure leaves a full circle when the finger is withdrawn, the wish is said to become true. Sometimes the statement of fulfillment is qualified by a symbol or picture that the pressure may form, and any such signs are appropriately interpreted. For example, a wish for a letter may come true if there is a full circle, but not before five days are up if there is a number five within the circle.


Generally, three wishes are granted. Only one wish may be made, but any second wish must be followed by a third. Again, odd numbers are favored. When the wish is work, the index finger is used, while the middle finger is associated with family matters, and the ring finger means love. Any or all three fingers may be used in succession. Many people ignore these distinctions, using any finger for all wishes. When the wish-making is over the fortune telling is complete and the coffee break has finally come to an end. Aside from the procedures mentioned above, there are many superstitions connected with the coffee ritual. Coffee is never poured with the left hand. An individual must drink only from his own cup and invert it himself to make the fortune valid, though he must never attempt to tell his own fortune. Fortunes should not be told more than once a day, and no more than three wishes may be made during a session.

ISTIHARA or ISTIKHARA


Sadeta was dressed in slightly shabby, modest blouse and skirt. She was a friend of the landlord we were staying with, and he contacted her after I gave a short introduction about Islam and dreaming on Bosnian Federation morning television. Sadeta was very friendly, with a smiling, happy face and very good eye contact. She seemed a happy and very genuine person, did not ask for money although I later pressed her to take a small amount to cover her bus fare in Sarajevo. She said she did Istikhara without charging money but accepted gifts of money. An imam who had told her she had a gift from Allah told her to do Istikhara from

others and gave her two books to work with: a guide to Qur'anic healing and one for Istikhara practice.

In dreams Sadeta had been called, arguably similarly to shamanic dream calling examples, to be a Qur'anic and Istikhara dream healer. She said:

-I dreamed, dreamed a lot and I didn't know the meaning „why“ I had been dreaming. Therefore I went to visit one well-educated imam whom I told about my dreams.

Sadeta practiced two types of Islamic healing, saying specific prayers from the Qur'an for conditions such as exam nerves, as the interview took place during the exam season:




- It depends, case from case, as to what is needed. This doesn't mean a medical curing but curing with the Qur'an. In this book (giving specific guidance concerning reading specific Qur'anic verses for specific medical conditions) I usually find what is needed and then I take the Qur'an and pray with the Qur'an. Look at this book, you can see which prayers are appropriate for particular illnesses. For example, nowadays I am very busy because many young people are preparing for their exams, and they might be very nervous and lacking in confidence (Qur'anic healing) something when you can't drink any pill to calm you, otherwise you would be sleepy and so on. Ehh, and now, I do pray for them to lose their nervousness, to liberate themselves, and success, to pass the exams. However, it can't help everybody, only for those who believe that I have such a capacity to help. Look at the books, they are small; I find later in Qur'an „the number“ referred to in the book and „how many times“ it is necessary to pray the particular prayer. Afterwards I'll take the Qur'an and do the prayer.




Belief in the efficacy of the healer, Sadeta, and the Islamic faith are both apparently indispensable requirements for successful healing to take place. The healing is done from Allah, and Sadeta is a vehicle for this form of divine grace. She prayed for her clients on certain days and times of her own choosing:

I do it alone. And why? Because when you pray to Allah, I could pray all day but God couldn't receive my prayers. Therefore, I ask God, between akšam and jacija. Akšam (fourth daily prayer) is now about 8:30 PM and Jacija (fifth daily prayer) about 10:30 PM, and between the two prayers I do remember the complete name of the one I am praying for and then the particular prayer. And again the following morning when I do pray Sabah (first morning prayer); I do it again because I don't know whether God wants to receive my prayers or not. It isn't like doing shopping when you take a loaf of bread and the work is done. Therefore I usually repeat everything two or three times to make sure that God will help, but I can't guarantee 100 percent success. But I have success, thanks to Allah. I do not advertise myself anywhere, neither in newspapers nor on radio as many others do. Nothing like this. People just come and I am glad that God helps and still I have a lot of work to do.

Sadeta also does Istihara using another little book given her by the imam (Hodza). Sadeta describes doing Istikhara:

-Eeh, to pray Istikhara, I have another book, look. Do you know how to pray Istikhara? You have to wake up during the night, about 1:00 AM and you pray a „nonobligatory“ prayer, nonobligatory because we (Muslims) have to pray times a day, but you pray Istikhara. When I do pray the prayer, I remember the person I am praying for and subsequently I go to sleep. Morcover, I do remember the prayer and the person I prayed for again while I am already lying in my bed. And then I do dream, but the dream has to be interpreted later on.

Sadeta usually dreams after undertaking her prayer practice:

-Yes, I usually have a dream. It might happen that I don't have one, but it's rare. Sometimes, the meaning of a dream is rather unclear and has to be interpreted. For example, „a house“: the nice house with flowers around might symbolize organizing the mevlud (special prayer honoring the birth of the Prophet Muhammed or for a special celebratory occasion) prayer at home; for somebody without success or with problems, so the message of the dream might be for example to slaughter kurban (sacrifical ram/sheep) and to give food to people. Or sometimes I do dream and the interpretation is that I have to pray the sura „Yusuf“, ehh, Yusuf suffered a lot in his life-so if someone suffers like Yusuf than I do pray the sure „Yusuf“, but there is written (in the book) how many times I have to pray the sura.

Sadeta gives examples of the Istikhara practice:

Eeh, one young woman asked me for Istikhara, she gave me her name and surname. I dreamed about a house (she didn't tell me where she lives), I came (in the dream) in front of a house. I see a house with two entrances. When I've entered the house I see a small, wild garden and there were lambs and sheep. While I was in the garden I heard a voice saying: „I am interested in the young woman, I want to marry her, she will have much happiness in her life.“ When I told her about the dream, she said that her boyfriend has the some house. So, it means their fate is to stay together. Moreover, sheep and lambs are usually slaughtered during such an occasion like a marriage; and also wool makes life easy so everything was beautiful in the dream.

Sometimes the interpretation of a dream might be sorcery. One woman had a flat in Sarajevo and she bought a door, but she couldn't place it properly; it was impossible. Therefore, I did pray Istikhara for her; I dreamed. It's very bad when you dream like this, that in front of the door someone hooked an ox. And now, I see an ox clearly, I see his meat is rotting, it isn't good. So, when I dreamed about the rotting ox, the dream itself was terrible, I told her-you have to dig up the threshold and the doorframe, there has to be sihir (sorcery). Moreover, I had to pray various prayers against the evil powers for her to protect herself. I got a special prayer from one hafiz (educated Muslim who knows the Qur'an by heart) and it needs to be prayed thirty-seven times. When the woman had dug up the threshold around the door, she found everything that you can imagine (sorcery items).

Sadeta started to dream in 1990, her dream guide being a young handsome man dressed in white. She does not know him but thinks he may be a former, now deceased, shadida (martyr):

-I started to dream in 1990 in the flat that I now live in. I have lived in about five flats during my life, before, during and after the war; in one flat I lived for more than eighteen years, but I do Istikhara dreaming only in this one flat. No one else has dreamt Istikhara in the flat.

I've dreamed about a young man aged twenty-five to thirty, very nice, in a white shirt, and he tells me what I have to do, to help people, to heal people. And this has been since the very beginning. What is interesting is that I do dream only in the kitchen, not in other rooms. It's unbelievable but during the war, everything was damaged roundabout, except for my flat where even the windows stayed untouched. I couldn't believe it. What is there, in the flat, I don't know. I didn't pray Istikhara before; it happened when I told other people about my dreams. They explained to me that I could have the capacity for dreaming Istikhara and healing.