Magic Among the Balkan Populations

7/25/2019 Magic Among the Balkan Populations

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BalkanologieVol. VIII, n 2 (2004)

Volume VIII Numro 2

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Alexandre Popovic

Magic among the Balkan populations:convergences and divergences

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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BalkanologieVIII 2] dcembre 200 4 p. 137-143 \ 137

MAGIC AMO NG THE BALKAN

POPULATIONS CONVERGENCES

AND D IV E RGE NCE S

Alexandre Popovic

Having bee n stud ying for a few y ears w ithin th e framework of m y semi

nar of th e

Centre d'histoire du d om aine turc

at th e cole des H autes Etudes

en Sciences Sociales, Paris ( Mo dern a nd con tem po rary History of th e Balkan

Muslims )

1

, the magic among Muslims of Balkans, I had the opportunity to

survey a very significant documentation related to magic in general in this

area, concerning no t only Muslim p opulations, but also Christian pop ulations

(orthodox an d catholic) of th e Penin sula. Am ong th e first o bservation s I m ade

through this examination still in progress, the main one is that magic in the

M uslim w orld, an d especially am ong Balkan Muslim s, shows a complexity in

comparably larger than what one can observe among Christians. This magic

rests on a literature, at the same time old and abundant, and on very varied

an d elab orate practices, linked in par ticular to beliefs in th e nu m erica l valu e of

the le t ters

2

and to the existence of the djinns

3

. However, th ere are similar ele

m en ts. And it w as not excep tional to see the faithful of one religion com ing to

consult specialists of ano the r religion.

*

CNRS-EHESS, P ar is.

1

Wehave studied in th is seminar, for four yearsnow, the m agic am on g Balkan M uslims at the e nd of 19th and

in the 20th Century, beg innin g w ith th e publications of the three m ain local specialists

:

M uham ed Garcevic

(bom around1893,an d w ho died at a date not yet know n, but in an y cases, after 1951.On him and its works, see

my article Popovic Alexandre), propos de la magie chez les musulmans des Balkans , in Bouillier

(Vronique), Servan-Schreiber (Catherine),eds., D e I ArabieI Himalaya. Che mins

roiss

en hommage M arc

Gaborieau, Paris

:

M aiso nn eu ve Larose, 20 04 ); Stanko Sielski (1891-1958); an d Tihom ir R. Djordjevic (1868-

1944),

but also according to the very scattered publications of abo ut thirty o ther less know n autho rs.

2

Concerning the nu me rical value of let ters, see

Fahd T.),

art. Djafr,The Encyclopaedia of

Islam.

New

Edition,

Vol. II, 1956, pp . 386-388 (of the French ed.) ; and ,

Fahd T.),

art. Hurf ('ilm al-) ,

op. cit,

Vol. III,

1967,

pp . 616-617 (of th e Fren ch ed.).

3Concerning the djinns, see Macdonald (D.B.),et alii, art. Djinn ,The Encyclopae dia of Islam, Vol. II,

1963,

pp. 560-563 (of the French ed.).


3/8

138 / Ba lkanolog ie VIII [2] dcembre 2004 p. 137-143

In this article I shall expose briefly the se ph en om en a and m ake som e re

marks on these divergences and convergences, as well as in the domain of

theo ry and system s , as in the d om ain of the magic ritual and m ate

rial

,

through some documents concerning the 19

t h

and

2 0

t h

centuries.

I

shall

add h ere tw o oth er p oints. First, I have to remind th e reade r tha t m y research

on the Balkan magic is undertaken through my own point of view, that of an

orientalist in th e old wa y

wh o is intere sted above all in the M uslim w orld

of the B alkans. I consequ ently try to und er sta nd if this one works on this pre

cise level in th e sam e w ay that th e o ther M uslim w orlds , close or rem ote.

But, at the same time, I try to make comparisons with the magic practiced

among non-Muslims of the Balkan Peninsula, and especially among the or

thodox and catholic Christians

4

. Second, I must add that we work for the mo

ment above all on the magic among the Muslim populations of the former

Yugoslavia, ow ing to th e fact that the ex isting sources come ma inly from the se

areas.

However, we also hope to examine closely, as soon as possible, docu

m en ts conce rning th e M uslims of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece an d Rum ania.

Let us no w try to see, beginning w ith th e m agic practiced amo ng M uslims

of the form er Y ugoslavia, wh at are th e sim ilarities an d th e differences, compa

red to the magic practiced among Christians of ex-Yugoslavia. The first thing

wh ich very clearly arises from th e texts that we exam ined up to now, is that we

are obviously (according to the opinion of the auth ors of these texts) in the pre

sence of tw o catego ries of

magic,

w hich respective borders are m oreover not al

wa ys very clear. The studied authors distin guis h indeed , on one side, th e n on-

religious magic, generally called by them popular magic and, on the other

side,th e religious m agic. It will be easily unde rstoo d th at convergences are es

pecially, bu t n ot only, to be found in the first, an d th e divergences i n th e second.

POPULAR MAGIC

Let us first look, ve ry briefly, at th e po pu lar m ag ic . The two prin cipa l

exam ples, universally know n, are theevil eye

5

and th e use of non -religious

am ulets an d talism an s, th e famous hamajlije (sing, hamajlija), on which

the re is a very ab un da nt literature, an d which is supposed to have the capacity

to p rotect from th e evil eye , from diseases in g eneral, and from all kinds of

4

As well as, obviously, th e Jewis h pop ulation s an d th e G ypsies of Balkans, ifIsucceed in finding the n e

cessa ry documenta t ion .

5

In the field of the terminology, among the Slavs populations of the Balkans, one uses in fact two terms,

which a re p rac tica lly synonym s : on one hand that of

zle oi

(which me an s evi l eyes

,

therefore in its

plural form), which is /are supposed to i r radiate the evi l ; and, on the other hand, that of

urok

(plural

u roc i /u rok i ),w hic h m ea ns evil spell, m agic spell , or to cast a bad spell .


4/8

Alexandre Popovic

- Magic among

the

Balkan populations convergences and divergences

\ 139

accidents, etc. One notes that there is a very important convergence between

the beliefs and the practices of the Muslims and the Christians of the former

Yugoslavia, at this level.

For th e o nes as for th e othe rs, th e evil eye (as th e

urok)

is supp osed to

have the capacity to strike men, women, children, but also animals, plants,

trees,

vineyards, etc., even the most various inanimate objects (workshops,

shops,

houses,.. .) an d even the work of somebody . Am ong very m an y duly re

corded and indexed examples, let us quote the case of a woman manufactu

ring soap w ho se neighb or sud denly arrives and asks W hat are you doing

the re ? . The w om an has to answ er, if she w an ts to protect the fruit of he r

w ork : I pl an t garlic . Because garlic is ind eed well k no w n, in th e field of

m agic, by its capacity to remove aw ay or pu sh back the evil eye. In sup po rt of

this, we have long lists, with precise references as for the place and the date

where these beliefs were noted. One enumerates cases of people who are par

t icularly vulnerable w he n facing the

evil eye,and categories of peop le w ho

are imm unized. In these l ists we also find t he t ho us an d and o ne ways of pro

tecting oneself from th e evil eye, by the m ost varied stra tage m s or by ma gic

formulas. We finally find the means of curing the evil eye when someone has

bee n struck, by prayers, by m agic rituals, by a dap ted drugs, or by a very p arti

cular me tho d called bajanje , dep end ing on th e circum stances. It is a com

plex method which consists in mumbling not easily audible, and more or less

incomprehensible incantations ; this ritual is operated by a specialist who is,

generally but not necessarily, an old woman

6

.

As for the non religious amulets and talismans - because there are also,

an d even especially, religious talis m an s - th ey are, very often, the sam e for

Muslims and Christians. They can be divided into three categories :

mineral,

vegetable

and

animal.

The am ulets and talism ans in question are th e most va

ried articles chosen for their specific qualities, therefore objects which are for

example particularly hard, sharp, prickly, etc., or substances which are acrid or

rou gh to th e tas te (very spiced, bitter, sour,etc.),or objects w hich are s upp osed

to hav e mag ic capacities .The most exhaustive catalogue of these, with re

gard to European South-East, has bee n for a very long tim e

(i.e.

unti l the publi

cation of the five volumes issued during the last decades by Ljubinko

6

On this question see first the three volumes of

urok

collected in the form er Yugoslavia by

Radenkovi

Ljubinko), Urok ide uz polje. Narodn a bajanja

{ rokis walk ing th roug h th e f ie lds . The popular

bajanja),

Ni

:

Gradina,

1973;Narodne basm e i bajanja

(The pop ular

basme

an d

bajanja),

Ni / Pritina / Kragu jevac:

Gra dina / Jedi nstv o / Svetlost, 1982 ; and

Narodna bajanja

(The popular

bajanja),

Belgrade : Rad, 1983.

Then, by th e sam e author, one global analysis of

bajanja,

in general,

Rad enkov i Ljubinko),Narodna ba-

janja kod Junih Slovena

(The popular

bajanja

am on g th e So uth Slavs), Belgrade, Prosveta- B alkanoloki

Institut SANU, 1996 [Balkanoloki Institut SANU, Posebna izdanja, vol. 60]

;

and finally, at a larger level,

his book

Simbolika sveta u narodnoj magiji Junih Slovena

(The Symbolism of the World in the popular

m agi c am on g th e So uth Slavs), Belgrade / Ni : SANU / Prosveta, 1996 [Balkanoloki Ins tit ut SANU,

Pos ebna izdanja, vol. 67].


5/8

140 / Balkanologie

V

[2] dcembre 2004 p. 137-143

Radenkovi, m en tion ed in the preceding footnote) th at established by T. R.

Djordjevi

7

. Here are some examples, according to which one can notice that

generally an analogical principle is at work. Among the

mineral

amulets ,

wh ich are rath er less wide spread t h an t h e two o ther categories, i t is necessa ry

to quote first salt and iron (i.e. the various objects made out of iron: the knife,

the horseshoe, iron nails, the poker, the sickle, the fork etc.) then silver, and

m uch m ore rarely gold ; then a lso m ercury, lightnin g stones (also called

thunder stones );and finally precious and semi-precious stones. The power

of the vegetable amulets appears in various ways, and it is necessary to use

th em in an ad eq ua te w ay : either by infusion, or by fumigations or for body

baths, even carrying the m on

oneself.

The best kn ow n are

:

garlic, onion , woo d

of yew tree , rue, nigella, bramb le, ha w tho rn, pin e cone, a reddish g rass k no w n

un de r t he na m e of he ar t of rabbit , mallow, rosemary, pepper, coniferous

tree,

w oo d of oak, m istleto e, fern, burdock, but also transformed plants

,

like

bread for example, or cotton wire (white or red)

8

, etc. As for the animal amu

lets, i t is necessary to begin with mentioning those which come from the

h u m a n be ing itself (the placenta of a child at birth, i.e. the most intern of the

m em bra nes w hich w rap th e foetus , a small part of the navel of a new -born

baby, an d m an y o ther p arts of th e h u m an body), th en a very large variety of

animal amulets (hollow bone of a dog, egg of otter, duck rump, tail of rattles

nake, small piece of rabbit tail, horns of various animals, wolf or wild boar

teeth, bat head or wing, mole paw, snail, shells and corals, earth worms,

scratch es of eag le, of spa rrow ha w k or of bear, etc.).

RELIGIOUS MAGIC

Let us come now to thereligiousmag ic, field in which o ne ca n notice im

portant divergences between the three great denominational groups in the

Balkans :Orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians and Muslims. Two decisive

rea son s are at th e o rigin of this sta te of affairs. The first is th e am bivale nce of

th e Islamic dogm a concerning th e m agic. In fact

the Muslim dogma affirms

the existence of invisible beings (djinns, angels) and admits the possibility to

enter in contact with them, even to obtain certain services from them

9

. The

7

Djordjevi Tiho mir R.),

Zle oi u verovanju Junih Slovena

(The evil eye in the b elief of th e So uth-Slavs),

Belgrade :Srpska Kraljevska Akademija, 1938 (Second ed., Belgrade :Prosveta, 1985).

8

Because obviously, the colors play an extremely significant role in the magic, in particular in the rural

world (as Helen e Gouroussi , w ho m I thank wa rm ly on this occasion, pointed out to me).

9 Lory Pierre), D velo pp em ent historiqu e de la mag ie en te rre d'islam , in Servier (Jean), d.,

Dictionnaire critique de l sot rism e,Paris : Presses U nivers itaires de France, 1998,

p.

770.


6/8

Alexandre Popovic -Magic amongth Balkan populations convergences and divergences\ 141

result of this is a

fun dam enta l paradox as if it w ere inaug ural of th e Islamic

religious system

:

the ma gic is real the re, but it can be false

;

real in its phen o-

menological expressions and virtually false in its ontological and axiologic

bases.

The backgroun d of this paradoxical conception is linked to the preisla-

mic supernaturalism that Islam largely renewed while appropriating it and

adapting it

1 0

.

The second reason, which arises directly from the preceding one, is that

the techniques of the religious Muslim magic rituals are infinitely more ela

borate than those in use among the Balkan Christian populations. In fact,

thes e Islamic ritual can rely as we have just seen, on o ne side, on the M uslim

dogma, on the Islamic theology and exegesis and, on the other side, on the

Muslim philosophy and the M uslim law

1 1

. This is not the case of the Catholics

and Orthodox, as we have nothing similar in the Christian dogmas, which

might have allowed such developments of the religious magic in Christian

theology.

In addition, in Muslim practice in general,

the venerat ion for the Qur 'anic verb knew applicat ions approaching the magic .

One started to reci te suras or precise fragments of Qur 'an to help cure a disease

(Sura 36), to w ar off ill fo rtu ne (Sura113 and 114) or to move away the impure spi

rits.

The Qur'anic text w as use d as a basis for som e divin ation practices . Gradually,

a t ru e magic t radi t ion, foun ded on the efficacy of the Q ur 'anic verb wa s c onst i tu

ted. Some Qur 'anic term s, an d part icularly th e na m es qual i fying God Himself ( the

Merciful, the Powerful, the Knower, the Living, etc.), undergoing complex treat

ments l ike gemat r ic

1 2

calculat ions, magic composi t ions of squares, dist r ibut ions

on ta l isman ic f igures, we re supp osed to confer a specific vir tue ex pressed by their

significance to those which had recourse to them: a ta l isman bui l t on the name

the Generous w as suppo sed to a t t rac t generos i ty for examp le . The num erica l

value that each le t ter of the Arabic a lph abe t has, wa s used as a basis for comp lex

speculations, very close to those practiced in the Hebraic Kabbalah. This type of

magic , primari ly Musl im, spread in a l l the Is lamized areas. I t could a t the same

tim e pride i tse lf of i ts a t ta ch m en t to M usl im orthodo xy (all pow ers em an ate from

God) and of a use easier than that of the astra l magic of the Ancients , which re

quired often very erudi te calculat ions

1 3

.

10

Elboudrary Hassan),Positions de la magie dans la pense musulmane

,

in Servier (Jean),

d.,

op .

cit,

p.

772.

11

Among the most frequently quoted mediaeval Arab authors, it is necessary to men tion th e names of

Ibn al-Nadm

d.

995/998

?),

al-Ghazl

d.

1111), al-Bn

d.

1225 ? and Ibn K haldn

d.

1406).

1 2

Alteration of the Greek gemetria

,

part of the Hebraic Kabbalah, based on th e a rithmetical or geo

metrical interpretation of Biblical words.

13

Lory Pierre),art. cit.,p.

771.


7/8

142 / Ba lkan olog ie VIII [2] dcembre 2004 p. 137-143

Am ong th e Balkan Muslims (as every wh ere else in the M uslim world), the

religious amulets are written in Arabic characters, but sometimes also by

means of various secret writings. Most of the time, they appeared on small

pieces of pa pe r (in gen era l rather w hite), even o n rollers (from

5

to

10

cm broad,

of variable leng th, up to 50 cm an d so m etim es m uch mo re, up to three m eters),

or on varied materials (various kinds of leather, stones, sheets of trees, egg

shells,etc.). They c onta in either Q ur'anic qu otations, prayers, magic triangles

or squares, usua lly wr itt en w ith a pen m ade out of reed, th e

kalam,

but some

tim es also wi th a gold or iron pen, if not w ith special grass. An am ulet can be

made for medical aims (fever, tooth ache, psychoses, to facilitate childbirth,

etc.),

or for practical or emotional aims (to have children, to obtain the love of

som eon e, or th e se para tion from som eone, to mak e the beloved one return s, to

know the situation of a absent person, to know the thoughts of someone, to

predic t th e future...). The Mu slims of Bosnia-Herzegovina, for exam ple, w ere in

such nee d of amu lets, th at those wh ich ma de th em in thes e areas could not sa

tisfy th e d em an d. Thus, the y had to go and fetch am ulets m ad e by Christian

sp ecialists (Orthodox or Catholic). If th e p atie nt w as n ot cu red by th e am u

lets,som etim es, w he n th e conditions could be met, one tried ano ther m agic ri

tual, in particular a form of very peculiar and spectacular magic, that of the

d ira,or

djinns convocation

1 4

.

Am ong th e Balkan C hristians, th e religious magic rituals an d practices are

m uch less complex. They are often lim ited to the u se of med als tha t are carried

aro un d th e neck whic h iconography is very stereotyped :th e V irgin, th e Virgin

wi th

Jesu s, Jesus,

ba ptis m of Jesus in th e Jordan, angels, various saints. One can

also w ea r m eda llions c ontaining some prayers or penite nces to read and to re

cite.I t is in particular necessary to m entio n th at th e sm all text know n unde r

the nam e ofS an Svete Bogorodice (The d re am of th e Holy m ot he r ofGod is

som etimes carried as a talism an

1 5

. People we ar as w ell various insc riptions, or

sm all icons an d pieces ofhost; m ore often, qu ite simply, people w ear th e cross

w hic h occupies, obviously by its sym bolism, its im po rtan ce a nd its diffusion,

the very first place. The inscriptions in question are generally written with

black ink and with a goose pen, or a wooden stamp of which one reproduces

th e im pr in t o n a piece of paper, on a fabric, or, som etim es, directly on the skin

of th e sick pa rt of th e body. They c on tain eith er pa ssa ges out of th e Old

Testament, or prayers (often apocryphal) , or incantations (bajanja), or

magic

signs a nd letters , such as the fam ous

Seal of Solomon .

14

On th e extraordinar ily com plicated r i tual of the

d ira,

one finds very detailed descriptions in the book

of

Garevi M uham ed)

Zapisi i hama jlije (Talismans and amulets), Sarajevo (Dravni Muzej Banja Luka,

vol.I),1942, pp. 27-44.

1 5

Concerning this small text, see

Djordjevi Tih om ir R.),

op. cit.,pp .

240-241.


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Alexandre Popovic - M agic among the Balkan populations convergences and divergences \ 143

In spite of these divergences, one can nevertheless see some lines of

convergence in th e use of pieces of sacred texts . Am ong the mo st asto nish ing

examples of this kind, one can mention two tal ismans described by

Djordjevi

16

: one wit h the ima ge of th e cross, th e oth er wit h th e im age of

Christ on th e cross, accom panied by the inscription

mashal

written in Cyrillic

characters. This is of course a trun cat ed qu otatio n of th e w ell know n Qur'anic

expression which became thereafter the Muslim magic formula par excel

lence, namely the word

mashallah

(more exactly, in Arabic

m sh Allh,

which mean swh at Allh w ants ) But especially, th ere is convergence w he n

Muslims go to the Christian priests (and vice versa) in order to obtain talis

m ans, even to be exorcized by the prayers of th e ortho dox p op es

1 7

, or by tho se

of the catholic priests or monks, all these being relatively ordinary pheno

mena. On this last point for example, we have about twenty archival docu

ments (written in ottoman Turkish, and dating from the 18

t h

century), in

which the local Ottoman authorities expressly required from the monks of the

famous Franciscan monastery of Fojnica, in central Bosnia, to cure by their

prayers, talism an s (

zapisi

) an d drugs, such or such Mu slim patient, suppose d to

be

possessed by djinn s, or by the devil

1 8

.

To conclude, let us p oint out th at th er e is still a lot to do in th e field of re

search on mag ic in South-Eastern Europe. On one han d, it wo uld be necessa ry

to collect sources and documents, scattered data, which exist in great number

in th e various countries of th e area an d to gather n ew m ateria l in th e field. The

results of these collection and research should be gathered in a data base so

tha t th is m ater ial could be accessible to all thos e wh o w ish to consult it. On the

other hand , it wo uld th en be necessary to analyze this information on a theo

retical level, an d from vario us p oin ts of view : anth ropo logic al, sociological,

theolog ical, th a t of sciences of religion, etc., w hic h w ill be obviously in ea ch

case a long, extr aor dina rily co mp lex and, evidently, very difficult task .

16

See Ibid. pp. 272-273, an d the il lust ratio ns 50,

51,

52.

Besides, one can f ind a very interest ing test imo ny

concerning the zapisi [ tal ismans] , wr i t ten in Cyril lic characters by an un kn ow n Orthodox specialist

in Herzegovina at the very be ginn ing of the 20 th century, in the ar t icle of Brati Toma A.), Pabirci iz

naro dne med icine u Hercegovini (Fragments concerning th e pop ular m edicine in Herzegovina) ,

Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini,

15,1903

pp . 153-180 (see p p . 177-178).

17

See,

for exam ple,Djordjevi Tih om ir R.),

op. cit,

p. 315.

18

See

M atas ovi Josip),

Fojnicka rege sta (Regesta Fojnicensia. Acta turcica, bosn ens ia et latina. Ex ar-

chivo conventus fratrum m ino rum de observantia spir i tus s. Fojnicae Bosnae Argentinae) ,Spomenik, 67

(Drugi razred, 53), 1930, pp . 61-432, in-folio ; and by th e sam e auth or, Fratri bosan ski pr em a mu slima -

nim a za l ii t bonika [with a S um ma ry in G erman : Die bosnische n Franziskaner als Aerzte der

M o h a m e d a n e r

],

Lijeniki vjesnik, Znan stveni dio,

53

(4), Ap ril

1931,

pp . 411-419.

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