Witchcraft in the Central Balkans I: Characteristics of WitchesAuthor(s): T. P. VukanovićReviewed work(s):Source: Folklore, Vol. 100, No. 1 (1989), pp. 9-24Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1259997 .Accessed: 24/07/2012 07:22

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Folklore vol. 100:i, 1989 9

Witchcraft in the Central Balkans I: Characteristics of Witches T. P. VUKANOVIC

THE conservatism of the peoples of the Central Balkans ensured that many traditional beliefs and ritual practices survived till the end of the nineteenth century, and even that some traces of them remained in the first decades of the twentieth. Noteworthy elements in this inheritance are the various supernaturally evil beings (vampires, witches, demons, etc); the roots of such concepts are no doubt to be traced back to the prehistoric past, some 5000 to 3000 years BC. The written records of Greece and Rome allude to the reputation of Thessaly in Classical times as a region where witches abounded; this is mentioned by Apuleius, Lucian, Ovid, and Horace, especially in connexion with the great legendary sorceress Medea. But it is only in medieval times, when persecution of alleged witches began in the Balkans as well as in the rest of Europe, that more detailed documentation becomes available.

The first reports of witch-hunts among the South Slavs were from Croatia in the mid-fourteenth century. The earliest is a legal document from Zagreb in 1360 concerning two women of that town, Alicia and Margareta, who were accused of being witches. The verdict of the town's law was that they must produce six witnesses to testify that they were not witches, and that if they were ever caught in such evil practices again, they would be burnt at the stake. The next, in 1369, refers to a certain Dragica, who supposedly estranged a married couple by her witchcraft. The Court told her to produce a guarantee of twelve witnesses to give evidence that she had not done the evil deed; it also decreed that if she managed to defend herself from the charges this time, but were caught at evil practices again, she would be burnt at the stake. In 1379, Zagreb Town Council sentenced the widow of a certain Peter Rubinovi' and the widow and daughter of a certain Peterkon to produce, within eight days, 25 witnesses each to testify to their innocence; they too were warned that they would be burnt if they were caught practising witchcraft again. However, because of the high number of witnesses required from them, they appealed to the Higher Law Court.' As these instances show, the measures against witches in Zagreb at this period were not very harsh, being more in the nature of a warning and a suspended sentence, nor is there mention of torture.

However, in the coastal towns of Dalmatia, where witches were mostly tried by the Catholic authorities, medieval sentences were often excessively severe. There is an instance dating from 1444 at Sibenik which is related in certain old theological sources. There it is alleged that an old experienced witch from Vrlika, called Mrna Ratkova, had in her youth won the affections of men by magical means. Later, at the time when the 'high magic' of the Renaissance was in vogue, she continued using witchcraft to lure rich lovers to her daughter Dobra. She managed to cast a spell on a nobleman from Sibenik, Dragan DraganiC, but his relatives found means to bring both mother and daughter to trial before the Inquisitor, Father Ivan from Trogir. In agreement with the Bishop of Sibenik, Djordje Sisigorie, legal proceedings were taken, ending in the

10 T. P. VUKANOVIC

following severe verdict: Mrna was to be led through the town by her daughter, seated on a donkey but turned backwards to face its tail, and smeared with excrement; they were to be accompanied by a police guard, and both must wear paper mitres and pictures of the Devil. In addition, Mrna was to be branded on the forehead and face. However, before the execution of this horrifying sentence, the friends of the beautiful Dobra found a way for them both to escape from jail.2

Such occurrences were of course part of a much wider pattern of accusations, panics and trials throughout Europe, the history of which is well known. Typical of the period was Article Ten of the Croatian Assembly in 1609, which empowered all citizens of Croatia to search for witches and to hand them over to the nobleman responsible for the district for punishment. If he found them guilty but failed to punish them, he would forfeit his sword, the emblem of his rank. From 1640 to 1752 there were 28 witch trials in Zagreb.3 All were of women, ranging from the age of twenty to eighty; some were both old and blind, but were brought to court in chains, tortured, and eventually burnt at the stake. In general terms, the charges against them were of four types: they had denied God and made pacts with the Devil; they caused storms and hail and frosts; they caused sicknesses and deaths in human beings and in animals; they magically stole milk from other people's cows. In the 28 Zagreb trials, the following incidents are mentioned as causes of suspicion sufficient for a woman to be charged with witchcraft: A child picking mushrooms with a neighbour picked more than she did; later he fell ill, and she was suspected of causing it. If a child picked a garlic bulb or some fruit from a neighbour and then got a headache, the woman whose garden it was was thought to be a witch who had done this. If a woman said of a sick neighbour that he was beyond cure and he then died, she was thought to have brought death on him; but equally, if she said he would live, it was as a witch that she saved him, because 'she lifted the spell of illness'. If a woman cursed thieves who stole her grapes at night and they subsequently fell ill, she was said to be a witch. The innocent remark 'There will be roast meat here for me too,' uttered by a sister on seeing turkey gibblets in a riddle in her brother's house before the midnight Mass of Christmas Eve, turned out fatal for her, for three days later a child from that household died, and it was proved in the law court that she had procured the child's death in that way. Another woman was accused because she dissuaded her neighbours from going in the field to weed wheat, saying they would be caught in a rainstorm; presently a heavy storm burst, and she was prosecuted as a witch for having 'made' the rain. If someone's arm or neck swelled in the night, witches were said to have bitten him as he slept; hence, a woman would be suspected. If a child called out to his mother in his sleep, at the same time mentioning the name of some woman of the village who was allegedly strangling him in his sleep, or if he had a fever and spoke of some woman neighbour, this undeniably proved her to be a witch. One woman scolded her son for stealing, and when this young man's child died shortly afterwards, he proclaimed that his own mother had killed the child, sued her, and testified that she was a witch. Women were also accused and tried because strange noises had been heard from an attic at night, or a cow's milk ceased or turned sour, or a cow escaped from her pen, or accidentally crushed her calf to death, or hens would not lay, or would not hatch their chicks.

There were also occasions when women were killed as witches without any legal process at all. In 1685 there was a severe crop failure which, acording to the masses, had been brought about by witches. Any woman then reported to be a witch would be caught

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 11

and mercilessly burnt 'in peasant rage' without any trial, either ecclesiastical or secular. However, in the following year the peasants were punished for having taken the law into their own hands; 'they had to kneel for several hours in church on certain days, and repent.'4

THE ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF WITCHES

Turning from trial records to folk traditions, we find in the Central Balkans certain mythological legends about the origin of witches. Notably, in Salvonija the story goes that some time after God had driven Adam and Eve from Paradise he took pity on them and went to see what they were doing. They had twelve children by then, but were ashamed to admit the real number, so they told God that they had only six, and brought six to show Him. Then God told them: 'Let there be as many invisible as there are visible.' From then on, those who had been hidden became invisible. 'They are the elves and witches. Today too there are as many invisible people as there are visible, for the invisible ones are born and die in the same way as we, the visible people, do.' Similarly it used to be said in Zagreb, in the remote past, that there were as many witches as 'blades of grass and leaves'

To explain why one woman rather than another becomes a witch, various beliefs are held. In Conavli, near Dubrovnik (Dalmatia), it is said that a female child born in a red caul will become a morica as a grown-up girl - that is to say, she will be a Nightmare, one who torments sleepers by lying on their chests and weighing them down to suffocation, so that they cannot get up, or shout, or breathe. And when the morica marries, she becomes a witch.5 Among the Serbs of Herzegovina, a witch is a woman who was conceived at an evil hour, or on the eve of a major holy day, or on the eve of one of the Twelve Good Fridays in the year; alternatively, she is one who has learnt 'the art of witchcraft' from an old witch, 'and so she herself became a witch.'6 Among the Kuce tribe in Montenegro it is said that a witch is born in a red caul, which her mother hides away and then hands over to the daughter when she comes of age and is able to work evil.7

It has long been customary among Serbs to consider a woman to be a witch if she possesses a devilish spirit which, according to tradition, leaves her body and transforms itself into a butterfly, a hen, or a turkey; in this shape it flies from house to house eating people, particularly little children. On the whole, it is the old, ugly women, never young, pretty ones, who are said to be witches.8

From fieldwork among the Serbs in Sretacka ziupa, near Prizren, one learns that there witches are usually thought to be women without children, or those whose children keep dying. As they remain at home, their soul goes out 'like rising smoke'; such a witch has a 'petty' soul, and her breath tugs at a child's soul 'till it pulls it out'. It is customary in many areas for those who mention witches to add a brief curse- formula. Thus at Crveni village on the Rogozna river people say that witches, 'evil upon them!', have wings.

At Lesak village in Ibar valley it is said that a witch ('let her turn into stone!') is born in a caul. However, if a woman of the household where a female baby is born thus takes a stone and throws it over the house, crying 'Listen, all people, great and small! A witch has been born!', this formula will 'expose' the baby and prevent her from growing up to be a witch.

12 T. P. VUKANOVIC

In Rakovica, a suburb of Belgrade, cross-eyed women were formerly believed to be witches, and moreover each was bound to have a tail.9 The Serbs of Srem also thought they were old women with tails.'" On the island of Hvar an old woman with a protruding chin, long pointed nose, deep-set eyes and gaunt face was thought to be either a witch or a Nightmare." At Vlasenica in Bosnia any woman with hairless armpits and legs was thought to be a witch.12 In Zeta in Montenegro, the signs were wrinkled skin in the shape of a cross under the nose, a thick moustache, and hairy legs; such women were believed to harm people.13

In Samobor, Croatia, it was believed that a woman who wants to become a witch must copulate with the Devil and bear a child of his, which must die and be cooked so long that it turns into an unguent called coprnicka mast ('witch's unguent'); this, rubbed under the armpits, enables a witch to fly. It is also said here that this ointment is made out of children who died unbaptized, 'who are called invisible children.'4

The following are the names for female witches among the South Slavs: barka, brina, brkaca, coprnica, hman], morna, kamenica, karavesltica, konjobarka,

krljavestica, krstaca, potkovanica, prokletnica, rogulja, skamenjenica, spravs'a, srkad, striga, stringa, tamo ona, vesterka, ves~ica, Viska. Male witches are called: cosernjak, polunodnik, ctrigun, vesac, vestac, vesier, vis'un, vjesiurak.'5

FLIGHT AND SHAPE-CHANGING

That witches can transform themselves into anything is a very old and widespread belief. In the central Balkans they are said to change at will into certain animals - including toads, owls, various black birds, the ordinary eagle, butterflies, bitches, cats, hens, turkeys and mice - but never into a pigeon or an imperial eagle, for they can rarely harm the latter.

There are many accounts of the ointment they use for flying. Some say it is made by their Kapetanica (female captain) from the excrement of black swine, with the words 'Let this unguent be with us when we fly, to keep us alive.' Others, that the Devil supplies them with it when they need it. At the same time it is also believed that 'all a witch need do is tie a broomstick behind her' and she will take off into the air. However, the ointment is considered a better means, for, they say, a certain 'lame Jelenka fell from an oak-tree when mounting a broomstick' somewhere near Zagreb 'across the Sava river'. Witches also ride on weaving beams, while holding a stick or rod by which they pull the hearts out of their victims' chests.'6

Among Serbs in Herzegovina it is believed that the shape-changing ointment is made of human fat mixed with and cooked in child's blood, to which 'certain herbs' are also added. This enables witches to get wings which are not of feathers but of flesh, like a bat's.'7 These Serbs also believed that a witch strips naked at night, when everyone else is asleep, and strikes the preklad, the metal or stone grate in the fireplace, three or four times with a rod, while speaking as though she were calling to a ram. Out of the grate appears a black pot; she puts her hands in it, and with her greasy hands rubs herself all over her body.' Similar beliefs were widespread in other areas of the South Slays,'9 as well as among the Gegs, a group of tribes in northern Albania, where a stone preklad was believed to be a seat for witches.20 In the famous poem 'The Mountain Wreath' by Peter Petrovie Njegos, Prince-Bishop of Montenegro (1813-1851), an old woman speaks of the shape-changing ointment:

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 13

We have a certain herb for this, Which herb we cook within a pot; With which we all anoint in turn, Upon which we are witches all.21

A well-known scholar, M. Res'tar, commenting on this passage, says it was commonly believed that this unguent was made of 'cooked toad or butter made from mare's milk'.22

The famous Turkish geographer Evlija Celebija, writing in 1652, tells an amazing story about the transformation of a Bulgarian woman from the mountain village Balkan K6yi. This old Bulgarian woman changed her seven children, sons and daughters, into chickens by means of a handful of ash from the hearth which she strewed over their naked bodies while they were sleeping in bed. She then strewed her head with ashes from the same hearth and changed herself into a hen. This aroused anxiety and excitement among the Turkish travellers. But the hen and her chicks turned into human beings again after a Bulgarian peasant took out his penis from his breeches and urinated on them. The woman and her children were then taken by the peasants to church to a priest for prayer. Celebija was also told that this woman, being a witch, used to change herself into an animal once a year on a winter night.23

GOING TO THE SABBATH

The next group of popular traditions to be considered concerns the belief that there is a magic formula enabling witches to fly, which must be correctly pronounced, otherwise the user will come to harm. Among the Serbs of the Central Balkans there are various such magic words, notably: 'Let me not catch on thorn nor bough, but go straight to the trouble-stirring threshing-floor.'24 The Serbs on the borders of Croatia believed that witches setting out for their sabbath said, 'Let me not catch on log, nor stump, nor tree, nor stone, nor Todor's pear-tree.'25 In Herzegovina, the formula was, 'Let me not catch on rock, nor tree, nor turf, nor thorn, but go straight to a field under the oak-tree.' 26 (According to tradition, one favourite meeting-place of witches is an oak-tree, where they sit at a golden table and drink from golden cups.)27

In Bukovica, Dalmatia, it is believed that if a witch, at the moment of taking flight, were to say 'In the name of Jesus' or 'God help me' she would remain naked at the same spot, unable to take off.28 Terrible storms, whistling, and noise are said to follow witches when they fly through the air.29

Finally, among the Serbs of Sirini z'upa in Kosovo it is believed that the sparks that fly up from live coals are 'some kind of witches.30

WITCHES' SABBATHS

On this matter we may look first at the evidence presented at trials, then at popular traditions. In 1743, a certain Bara Duganka was tried in the court at Zagreb, and recounted how she had been initiated into the order of witches. At dawn on Trinity Sunday she went out into her front yard, where there were several witches, and also the Devil, dressed in the formal red suit of the Croats. He was the leader, and he marked the newcomer with 'the devil's seal' by pricking her with a needle (it could also have been done by a slap). Such a gathering of witches was called a 'Copernicus Guild'-this title having been given under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, in allusion

14 T. P. VUKANOVIC

to the famous but supposedly irreligious astronomer. Gatherings most often took place before Christmas, or on St Elijah's Day (July 7), or at Whitsun, early in the morning or late at night, and before some Christian symbol such as a dome, a cross, or an inscription. The Devil must be present at each initiation; that is how the witch 'enrols under the Devil's banner'. Old women were always easily admitted; it was harder for young ones. Each group of women formed a kumpanija (company), whose leader was a devil, always dressed in the formal red national costume of Croatia; only once did he wear a green suit, and once he even had dog's paws. He would usually drive the witches in a coach with six black horses. They addressed him as 'Mister', but he also had names such as Filip, Kralj, Lucifer, Matek, Matic'ek, Pogan, Premus'and Silnjak. He would give a feast in their honour, with bread, meat and sausages. They would dance with him, singly, or in a group.

In 1657 when Jela Magdalenika was on trial for witchcraft, she spoke in her statement of one who was both 'devil and priest' to witches. He would serve a rich meal, with wine, after which they would dance. In some cases there was no devil and a witch was leader of the group; she was called glavarica ('head'), or gospa ('lady'), or kapetinaca ('female captain') or stara majka ('old mother'). At these gatherings some witches did the menial tasks, such as collecting wood, making fires, serving food, washing up. The glavarica baked cakes and made pies. These gatherings took place on certain nights, usually at the change of the moon, sometimes at a crossroads, or by the gallows, on some meadow, or in the vicinity of a hamlet, or beneath an oak (rarely a lime), or sometimes on Mount Medvednica, near Zagreb. There, they would eat half-cooked red meat, cooked pork and roast veal, and drink mulled wine or cold wine, and afterwards dance a lot.31

These descriptions of the Sabbath elicited during the witch trials are parallelled in folk traditions. Among the Serbs in Herzegovina, it is believed that shortly before March witches elect one of themselves to be their chief, at a gathering or Sabbath. The person elected has the right, during her term of office, to spare anyone of her kin from being sacrificed, unlike any other witch, who must yield one of her children or some other person of her kin. Witches are said to boast at their gatherings of how many persons they have killed, expressing this as 'how many dzeferdara (muskets) each had caused to be hung up on a peg, and how many mothers each had caused to grieve!' Hence, a popular saying about a woman supposed to be a witch: 'Let her be, let her go, for she has hung up three hundred muskets on the pegs,' meaning 'she has killed three hundred men.'32

Once at Poljice in Dalmatia, according to a traditional story, there was a great gathering of witches - 'males, females, noblemen, priests, friars.' When they caught sight of a peasant they cried, 'Here's a newcomer!' and offered him a golden cup to drink a toast.33

A bronze threshing-floor is held to be one of the usual meeting-places for witches, and there they are said to come in fine clothes and dance the hora.34 Trees too are often mentioned-an oak, pear-tree, or an old olive-tree. They are said to gather at one particular old elm near 'id, and also at an elm near Socanica in the Ibar valley, where they dance the kolo, and from where they all rush together at their intended victim, though only one of them does the actual killing. In Dalmatia, witches are believed to meet in Pula. They are also said to meet at crossroads to decide what they are going

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 15

to do, and how.35 In Boka Kotorska, Montenegro, they are said to hold their meeting when there is sunshine and rain at the same time, and to recite:

Sunshine and rain, Here comes trouble; Witches are gathering, That's even worse!36

In Sumadija, in central Serbia, sunshine and rain together is said by the peasants to mean that 'a witch is in labour.'37

Certain calendrical dates are said to be times when witches hold their meetings. Among the Kuce in Montenegro, these are the evening of Christmas Eve and on March 1.38 Some Serbs in Herzegovina believe they generally gather 'on the swept threshing-floor' on March 1 in spring, on St Jevdokija's Day (March 14), at the autumn equinox of September 22, and on St Joachim's and Anna's Day (September 21).39

Other communities believe they gather whenever there is a strong wind, in which they enjoy dancing. Among the Croats of the islands of Brac' and Hvar, it was believed that they gathered in stormy weather when there was thunder and lightning, which happened five or six times a year, and that on these occasions they feasted on human hearts.40

HARM DONE BY WITCHES TO HUMAN BEINGS

The women accused of witchcraft in the trials held in Zagreb between 1640 and 1752 stated in their confessions that they had committed various evil deeds by magic. They had strangled their own unbaptized babies and used their corpses for their witchcraft. They had secretly suckled babies who were sleeping in the stubble fields, their mothers having left them there as they worked, after spitting behind them against the evil eye. They would steal these children, carry them to a crossroads where they would eat up their hearts, and then bring them back, dead, to their original place. They practiced deadly magic as follows: they would make a wedge of hawthorn wood, singe it, and drive it into the ground in front of their threshold, where they would rotate it to make a funnel-shaped hollow, into which they would pour milk. After that, they would heat an iron spit in the fire and plunge it into the milk, saying, 'Now we have done what we intended.' It was believed that the person at whom the spell was aimed would shortly die. Again, some would grease a knife with lard, Christmas honey, resin, or juniper buds, draw a circle with it in the fireplace, and stick the knife inside it; the intended victim would fall sick and die very shortly. Or, in the week of a new moon they would dye wool green and put it in a spring-trap for the victim to step on, by which yarn they would measure his foot; they would then tie knots in it and throw it away somewhere, often into running water. Finally, they could bring fever on someone by giving him grated sorrel root to drink. Witches also restored affection between married couples who quarrelled or where the husband had deserted his wife; they would give the wives 'some herb and water in a pot to rub their cheeks and breasts with, and to put into their husbands' food,' and also 'dog's and cat's blood to sprinkle on the path their husbands would take to go to their mistresses, who would then take a dislike to them.41

16 T. P. VUKANOVIC"

These statements at the witch trials are similar in many ways to the mythical-traditional beliefs later observed among the peasantry, many of which are very ancient. Thus among the Croats, ever since antiquity, witches have been believed to take the form of cats and suck people at night, so that their breasts are swollen next day.42 A similar belief existed among the Serbs, where some victims are said to die straight away because the witch has eaten their hearts, while others can keep on living as long as the witch has ordered.43 A woman who was a witch and was not satisfied with her husband would kill him by taking his heart out." According to Serbs in Herzegovina, a person whose heart has been taken out by a witch who has touched him with her rod would soon be killed by something wooden, or would commit suicide with a knife, or would fall ill at once and die within a few hours.45

Particularly interesting is the belief of the Montenegrins in the vicinity of Bar in the ancient past that in order to take a child's heart out a witch would put 'a little ring of vine twig' on his chest on the side where the heart was, whereupon his heart would spring out from his chest without making a wound in it. The Kuci of Montenegro thought witches devoured fine and beautiful children, especially boys;46 also that witches caused discord and enmity between people.47

Among Serbs in the southern district of Leskovac, it was thought that witches relieved themselves in the woods, and that their excreta were in the form of 'a white foam-like liquid'; whoever touched this would have his home ruined as a result of the witches' wrath.48 Croats on the islands of Brac and Hvar believed that if someone did not utter a curse against witches when speaking of them they would 'at that very moment take his heart out, or make him be struck by lightning, or cause him to have a stroke'; the most frequent of these acts was to bring lightning down on the speaker.49 It was also occasionally said among Croats that anyone who sat or slept under an oak-tree at night would be eaten by witches."s

Finally, one must note an interesting and ancient mythological-traditional belief that a witch only has power to harm members of her own clan and kindred, and can do no harm to others, especially to her enemies. Obviously this is inconsistent with some of the beliefs and tales given already, for instance with those incidents recorded in the Zagreb trials where woman were accused of magically harming children or adults who had angered them by stealing from them. Nevertheless, the principle was well known. Petar Petrovid Njegos, the Serbian poet, alludes to it in his work 'The Mountain Wreath' in these words, spoken by an old witch:

To one we hate no harm we do! But be he dear, or of our kin, Then blot we out all trace of him.51

There is a popular Serbian saying about it: "Where should a witch go, if not in her own kindred, to do her harm?'52 And in a Serbian folksong a shepherd, Radoje, complains to his sister Jana:

Witches have eaten me up; While Mother pulled my heart out, My uncle's wife held a burning coal for her!53

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 17

HARM DONE TO LIVESTOCK AND CROPS

Witches were said to kill domestic livestock, especially young oxen and horses-chiefly those of their relatives and friends, and after them those of other peasants in the village and district. In and around Zagreb in the 17th and 18th centuries witches were said to have placed 'crushed cheese' in pigs' troughs to prevent people raising pigs. They also frequently took the milk from other people's cows. To do this they would go to the crossroads early in the morning during the week of the new moon and gather dew with their left hand, which they then gave other people's cows to drink. In the old days, people in Herzegovina and Montenegro held witches responsible in times of pestilence among cattle and poultry.54 Likewise, among the Kuc~ tribe in Montenegro they were said to drink fresh cow's milk in the pen at the gate where cows were milked, especially on St. George's Day.55 In the district of Vranje in Southern Serbia, on the eve of St George's Day shepherds would stay naked all night in the sheep-folds to protect their sheep against witchcraft." The Serbs of Metolysko believed that on this date witches rode round the village naked, on weaving-beams, so as to transfer the peasants' milk to their own pails for the rest of the year.

As regards crop damage, it was commonly believed in the Central Balkans that witches can direct the movements of clouds, particularly those of hailstorms, and so in the course of the summer can at their pleasure destroy the crops and vineyards and orchards of people they hate. They are said to be so skilled at this that they can select and damage one plot or tract of land only.

During the Zagreb trials in the period 1640-1752, several women condemned to death confessed to having made hailstorms to destroy crops, fruit-trees and vineyards in summer, and having brought frost in winter. They made the hail on mountain tops-on Mount Medvednica for preference, and also on Mount Okiinica and Mount Tuskanec. The Devil, they claimed, drove them there in a coach. They made the hail at night out of the lye which women used for soaking and washing clothes on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday in the week of a new moon; or else they made it out of white soil and clay, or stones and snow, which they collected in winter and stored in a large cave inside Mount Medvednica, 'and they could also make it out of the water from the water mill in which the Devil soaked it to make it hard.' They would say: 'Ride the hail and destroy crops!' They would make one, two or three frosts around Christmas. They could also raise a cloud with a whirlwind in it to transport a witch wherever she wanted. When they had finished their weather magic, the Devil took them home again in his coach. If their magic failed, they believed it was because the parish priest had thwarted them by making the sign of the cross at the clouds, or because of belfries bearing sacred symbols-in Zagreb, the belfries of St Mark's Church and of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit were particularly mentioned.

The Zagreb witches also stated in their confessions that they deprived people of their crops by going into the fields early in the morning and collecting ears of grain-especially rye-in their aprons, to make bread of them. Similarly, they would put onto the fire before sunrise any yarn spun in the week of the new moon, and it would turn into a sausage which they ate. Finally, on the day of sowing wheat they practiced sorcery against vermin, and refused to lend fire from the hearth to anyone.

In one of the Zagreb court documents is a case where witches stole twelve jugs of wine from casks in the cellar of a peasant at Sestinah, while from somebody else they stole four jugs. It was said that they drank all the wine and refilled the empty vessels

18 T. P. VUKANOVIC

with water." Parallels can be found in Croatian folk beliefs, where it is thought that if wine starts turning sour in the casks this is a sign that witches have drunk from it and refilled the casks with their urine; they were said to take only the best wines.5s

MALE WITCHES

Balkan folklore also has traditions about male witches, siriguni; they too are evil supernatural beings, but their malevolence is commonly believed to be less than that of female witches. They are said to be exceptionally strong and powerful, to be lucky in gambling (especially at cards), and generally to have beautiful women 'because they bewitch them'. When wronged they are very revengeful; they set their enemy's house on fire or cut his vines down at night. However, there is an old saying that anyone harmed by witches will be doubly compensated by God.

The male witch, like his female counterpart, is often said to have been born with a caul; such an infant may also be suspected of being a werewolf," just as we saw above that the female baby with a caul may become a Nightmare as well as a witch. When the male witch (vesiae) grows up and becomes a man, he can eat up a child each day and each night. In various regions (e.g. Drenica, Metohijski podgor, Djacovic) it is said that whenever the word vesiac is uttered one should add a curse: 'Let him eat out his own heart!', or 'Let his knee bend!' The latter is based on the idea that a male witch walks without bending his kneees, and so implies 'May he lose his powers and become like other people!'

A male witch's son is called a vis'6un. The Croats of the island of Brac'have a proverb 'Like s~rigun, like vis'un,' 'Like father like son'. According to traditional folk belief, if a strigun is flying through the air and needs power, he can at that very moment 'cause his wife to give birth to a baby vis'dun, even though she is not pregnant'. In popular belief a sirigun is more like a helpful wizard than a witch (s~riga); however, they can usually do harm by looking through the left sleeve of their coat.60 Among Serbs in Bosnia, on the other hand, the male witch is said to do all the same harmful acts as the female one does, e.g. killing people, eating children, and so on.61

Men were less often brought to trial for witchcraft than women, but in 1687 a certain miller from Zagreb was suspected and prosecuted for hanging the Devil in his mill and for sitting on a hen's eggs to hatch out chicks.62

IDENTIFICATION

According to the traditional supernatural beliefs of Balkan peoples, witches can be recognized by certain physical signs, by various magic rituals designed to detect them, and by certain persons gifted with power to recognize them. As instances of physical signs, one may note the beliefs in Herzegovina 'that a woman with a wicked look in her eyes is a real witch' and that a woman with a moustache is 'a downright and shrewd witch'.63 Among Serbs of the Croatian borders and in the areas of Levae and Tumenie in Sumadija they are said never to eat garlic because they cannot stand its smell.64

The Dalmatians of Poljce make a cup of ivy-wood from which they serve drinks at Christmas; if a woman refuses to drink from it, it is a sign that she is a witch. Anyone meeting a suspected witch on the road should greet her with 'Praise be to Jesus!' If she does not reply clearly, but stammers, this shows 'The evil spirit is in her'.65 Finally, the Serbs of Djakovica, a small town in the province of Kosovo, believed that no witch would evey say mas;ala ('long life') to wish well to a child, and could be recognized by this.

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 19

Various more complicated rituals were known in Dalmatia. At the time of the first Mass of Christmas Day (i.e. at midnight or at dawn), the Austrian coin called a kreutzer should be cut into four quarters, each called a soldino, and these should be put at the four corners of the church. When Mass is over and people are leaving, women who are witches will become confused and be unable to pass through the doorway, but they will attack the priest, who will only be able to protect himself against them with the missal. The person who had put down the pieces of kreutzer must run home, where he should remain lying flat on his stomach until the witches get home. An alternative practice was to throw a log of fig-wood which had been blessed at Shrovetide over the church on Christmas Day; if there was a witch inside, it was thought she would not be able to find her way out.65" Another old way of identifying witches in Dalmatia was this: at White Shrovetide (i.e. the Saturday preceding Ash Wednesday) several youths would gather and take a new gourd that had never been used, fill it with water, and seal it up; they would then walk round the village carrying it, and when they returned to the house they had started from they would say: 'The witches round whom we have made a circle tonight shall not be able to urinate till we uncork this gourd.' The common belief was that if there were any witches in the village they would be forced to go to beg the youths to uncork the gourd so that they could urinate.66

In Meja Praputnik it was said one can recognise a siriga by looking into her eyes, for if one sees oneself reflected upside down in them, she is said to be a witch.67

Croatian rituals of identification, like those in Dalmatia, stress the church, but here the object used is the teljig, the bow or loop of the simple oxbow type of yoke. Among the Croats of Sinj it was believed that if a teljig with which a black ox had ploughed was thrown over the church during a service, any witches inside would be unable to get out, and would rush to the altar to revenge themselves by attacking the priest."6 On the island of Hvar it is believed that every striga is restless during Mass and moves about all the time, and some must even get out of the church because 'the very Devil himself drives them out'.69 In Bukovica the belief is the same as in Sinj, except that the teljfig must be thrown three times, and that it must be done at Christmas or at Easter.7" In Montenegro it is said that if the teljig of a black ox is thrown over the roof during the service, all the witches inside will be forced to stoop, and be unable to move until it is thrown back.71 Such rites go back to an ancient belief that supernatural beings (including evil demons) dwell on the roofs of buildings; hurling an apotropaic object over the roof will banish them.

In Zaostrog, Dalmatia, Slavonica, Srem and Bosnia, it was believed that if the church door was decorated with Ruta (a type of green moss from a tree or stone) on Christmas Eve, no witch would be able to get in or out.72 Likewise, it was said in Montenegro and Herzegovina that witches were best recognized at Easter; if someone were to turn a tile on the church roof while people were attending the service then, every witch would stoop and would have to stay like that without being able to move until the tile was put back the right way.73 On the Montenegrin coast it is believed that witches can be recognized by sticking an ornamental pin into the threshold or door-post of the church; they will be unable to leave the building till it is removed."7

On the island of Krk there was a belief that if on Christmas night, when the church was full of worshippers, someone were to encircle it with a white thread at the foot of the walls and then bury the thread under its threshold, together with a little spoon he had himself made from ivy-wood, no witch or Nightmare who happened to be in

20 T. P. VUKANOVIC

the church could get out, and so they could easily be identified. But if they found out who had set the trap he could only escape by sailing away by boat; for, according to common belief, witches and Nightmares can only cross the sea in eggshells, which is not easy to arrange quickly.7"

In Slavonia it was believed that anyone wishing to identify witches must start making a stool on St Lucy's Day (December 13) and finish it by Christmas Eve (January 6): he must then take it into church for the Midnight Mass and step onto it at midnight, and then would be able to recognize all witches and wizards in the church. He would of course have to leave at once, for they would kill him if they caught him in front of the church after midnight. Similarly it was believed that a man could recognize witches at the midnight service if he went there wearing a new kozuh (sleeveless sheepskin jacket) wich had been begun on St Lucy's Day and finished on Christmas Eve. According to a traditional tale, there was a man who did this, but as he left the church his third neighbour, a wizard, hit him on the head with a broom. Luckily, he had a tuft of wolf's hair sewn onto his hat and the name of Jesus stamped on its lining, otherwise they would have killed him, for no one could see who was beating him.76

Among the Serbs in Srem, the ritual for identifying witches was to take the crumbs from the Christmas Eve supper into church for the service on Christmas Day.77

In Bosanska Krajina, whoever puts on his clothes inside out, and also the insoles of his sandals, and hides at a crossroads on the eve of St George's Day will see witches at their gathering in the still of the night, and will be able to catch them unharmed by them.78 In Vlasenica, Bosnia, when someone was harmed by a witch and was pretty sure who she was, he would take a pair of grebeni (carding combs) and lay them somewhere where the suspected woman would pass between them; then he would put them together and place them over a fire. The guilty woman would come hurrying to him to beg him to separate them so that she could pass between them again backwards.79 It was also a custom in this region to take out of one's mouth the first mouthful of the supper one eats when the Lenten fast ends on Easter Saturday, and to put it in the hollow of the left knee and keep it there throughout supper; afterwards, one takes it in one's hand and looks around, and it is believed that one can then see the witches sparkling and glowing like embers.s0 In Bosnia, the belief was that a man who wished to discover witches must catch a snake alive before the Day of the Forty Martyrs (March 22, also known as Mladenci, Day of the Newly-Weds); he must cut its head off, put a garlic clove in it, and plant it all in the garden. He must pick this garlic at Easter or on St Peter's Day and wear it when he went to church; he would then know which women they were, for every one of them would ask him to give her some of his garlic."' Similar customs were recorded in Grblja county (Dalmatia), and Sumadija district (Serbia).82 The same belief has also existed a long time among the Serbs, though for them the date is the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25).83

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Serbs of Montenegrin descent in the areas of Jablanica and Toplica believed that during the Good Friday service, at which clappers and wooden gongs are used instead of bells, an unlocked padlock and its key were carried round the church from left to right, and that at the entrance the padlock was locked and thrown over the church; the idea was that no witches would be able to leave until it was found and unlocked.

It is a strong belief among the peoples of the central Balkans that a priest can recognize any witch during Mass, at one or other of the few moments when the liturgy requires him to be turned towards the congregation, and thus able to survey them. In Bukovica

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 21

this is thought to be when the priests are carrying the holy donations through the church, at which time they can recognise female witches by a kind of cuca (a long drooping wattle like a turkey's) which hangs from their heads, and male witches by a small horn on their heads. Moreover, anyone who could step on the priest's foot at this moment would be able to see them as he does."4

In Konavli, near Dubrovnik, and also on Hvar and Brac, it is said that when a friar saying Mass turns towards the congregation to say orate fratres (pray, brethren) he will see a pair of horns on every witch's head."5 Similarly, the islanders of Krk believed that at the oratefratres a friar would recognize all witches and Nightmares because they were turning their behinds to the altar."6 In Herzegovina, Serbs thought that a priest could recognize witches in church by seeing two stripes down their faces, invisible to everyone else; 'God branded them with these stripes to distinguish them from honest women.'"87 Besides this, Herzegovinians also believed that 'every priest can recognize each witch, because while giving them Communion he sees bloody teeth in them all, but not for the world would he denounce them'; instead, he urges them to confess, for when a witch made a confession, it was said, 'she could not be a witch any longer even if she wanted to.'88 Similarly in Montenegro it was believed priests could 'see something in a witch's teeth' at Communion, but were afraid to denounce her and preferred to wait for her to repent."8

HOW WITCHES LOSE THEIR POWERS

Voluntary confession of her nature will, it is commonly believed, ensure that a witch loses all her supernatural powers and can never recover them. Such confession may be made to a priest, but also, it is said, to the earth or to the green grass, with an oath, three times repeated, never to practice witchcraft again. Or again, a witch may confess to the hearth; she must rake the fire, confess her sin, swear solemnly to God that it will never happen again, and then bank the fire up with coal-dust 'to cover the oath'."90 Such an ex-witch may, however, retain powers beyond those of most people; she may then be considered a sorceress or a fortune-teller.

It was mentioned in an earlier section of this paper that when a baby is born in a caul she must be 'exposed' i.e. denounced by the uttering of a formula, in order to destroy her witch-powers. A woman of the houshold must throw a stone over the roof, crying 'Listen, all people, great and small, a witch has been born!' (Leak village, in Kosovo). Sometimes the new-born baby is taken out into the street so that a chance passer-by may act as its godfather and give it a name. The Serbs in the area Rogozni have a story of a peasant woman named Velika and called Velja who bore a baby girl with a caul, so one of the older women of the household stepped out into the courtyard and announced loudly to the whole village: 'Listen, folks, Velja has borne a witch!' - and 'the baby girl died right away'. Among Serbs in the villages on both banks of the Kopaonik, the grandmother of a cauled infant must prevent it becoming a male or female witch by climbing onto the roof of the house and shouting: 'Listen, everyone, great and small! A witch has borne a witch-child!' Curiously, the caul itself is considered lucky; it is kept for use as an amulet for the infant, who, if he is male, will wear it when he grows up to protect him from being shot with a rifle-bullet.

There is a folktale current among the Serbs in the Ibar Valley about a certain witch ('May she turn into stone!' and 'May she bend and become so small as to fit under her own knee!') who is said to have lived in the mid-19th century, at the time of Turkish

22 T. P. VUKANOVIC

rule. She was forced to disclose her evil deeds by the sub-pasha, Ali-aga. The woman's husband came to the pasha because he thought his wife was dead, but the pasha said she was not, and told him to move her round so that her feet were where her head had lain. Soon after, a mouse came and ran round the woman's feet. 'This is her soul' said the Aga. They turned her back, and the mouse whipped straight into her mouth, and she woke, saying 'Oh my, I fell asleep!'9'

DEAD WITCHES

Some think witches continue their evil after death. It is said that when one has been ten years in the grave her shadow rises up and 'walks' (Crkolez village in Metohijsko Podgorje). But she walks 'as a ghost, not as an animated corpse' and 'cuts like a sword'; whoever is harmed by her dies at once (Plakaonica village on the river Rogozna). Therefore, when a siriga dies it is thought that her heel-strings and the tendons behind her knees should be cut with a black-handled knife, to prevent her leaving her grave and visiting her home to harm people.92

CONCLUSION

This survey of the characteristics and activities ascribed to witches in Balkan folk- beliefs and witch-trials has shown certain aspects which will be easily parallelled in Western Europe (e.g. much that concerns the pact with the Devil, the Sabbath, the flying-ointment).93 Some particular similarities may be due to shared stereotyped assumptions on the part of inquisitors and judges who elicited statements from women on trial, sometimes under threat of torture; other, broader, similarities (e.g. as regards the type of harm allegedly done by witches) reflect a deep-rooted shared inheritance of folk-belief. On the other hand, there are beliefs and rituals prominent in the Balkans but rare or absent in West Europe, e.g. those for detecting witches in church and those surrounding the birth of an infant with a caul. In the second part of this article I shall describe the numerous apotropaic objects and ritual actions formerly employed by Balkan peasants to protect themselves from witchcraft, which are richly elaborate and form a striking feature in Balkan folk traditions.

Knicaninova 14, 11000 Beograd

NOTES

In these notes frequently cited journals are referred to by the following abbreviations: GZM = Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini (Sarajevo) SEZ = Srpski etnografiski zbornik (Beograd) ZNZ = Zbornik za narodni iwvot i obicaje Juinih Slovena (Zagreb)

1. See pp. 84-5 of I. Tkalck, 'Parnice proti vjes'ticam u Hrvatskoj' ('Lawsuits against Witches in Croatia'), Rad Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti CIII (Zagreb, 1891),

p•. 83-116.

2. P.Kolendit, 'Vjestice u Sibenicu XV vijeka' ('Witches in 15th Century Sibenik'), ZNZ XXVI: 2 (Zagreb, 1928), pp. 358-70.

3. Tkalcxl, op. cit., pp. 86-9. 4. Tkalcke, op. cit., 86-9; J. W. Valvazor, Ehre des Herzogthums Krains (Ljubljana/Nfirnberg 1689, ed. Janeza

Krajka v Novem Mestu, 1887), Vol. IV bk. xii, ch. 1. 5. Pavlina pl. Bogdan Bijelit, ZNZ XIII (1908), pp. 306-7. 6. T.A. Bratit, GZM XIV (1904), p. 288 7. S. Duck, 'Zivot i obic-aji plemena Kuca' ('Life and Customsof the Kuca Tribe'), SEZ XLVIII (1931), p. 293.

WITCHCRAFT IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS 23

8. V.S. Karadzke, Srpski rjecnik (Serbian Dictionary), (Wien, 1818; photographic reprint, Beograd 1969), s.v. vjestica. Among the Serbs of the Leskovac region in Southern Serbia, witches are believed to be 'some evil female beings': see D.M. Djordjevi?, Zivot i obicaji nardni u leskovac7wm kraju (Peasant Life and Customs in the Leskovac Region), (Leskovac, 1985), p. 135.

9. A. Petrovik, Rakovica I (Beograd, 1938) p.72. 10. M. D. Sarik, SEZ LIV (1939), p. 136. 11. A. I Carie, GZM IX (1897), pp. 495, 713. 12. T. Dragicevie, GZM XX (1908) p. 454. 13. I. Radulovie, Glasnik etnologiski muzeja Beograd XI (1936), P. 62 14. M. Lang, ZNZ XIX (1914), pp. 123-5. 15. Tkalii, op. cit., in n.1, pp. 95, 105; CariE, op. cit. in n.ll, p. 710; J. Kolarski~ ZNZ XXIII (1918), p.

49; V. Vuletie, SEZ L (1934), p. 161; M. S. Filipovi6, SEZ LIV (1939), p. 520; M.D. Skaljie, SEZ LIV (1939), p. 136; T.R. Djordjevie, 'Vesitica u narodnom verovanju Juinih Slovena' ('Witch Beliefs among South Slavs'), SEZ LXVI (1953), pp. 5, 53.

16. Tkalcdk, op. cit., in n. 1, p. 106. See also Bratit, op. cit. in n. 6, pp. 234, 247; Karadjzie, op. cit., in n. 8, loc. cit.; T. R. Djordjevie, op.cit., in n.15, p. 27.

17. V. Vrc'evi?, Srbadija (1876), p. 74 18. J. Pamucina, Srbsko-dalmatinski magazin (1867), p. 49. 19. See V. ArdaliU, ZNZ XXII (1917), p. 306; Duci, op. cit., in n.7, p. 294; N. Begovie, Zivot i obicaji

Srba granicara (Life and Customs of the Serbian Frontiersmen), (Zagreb, 1887), p. 199; J. Milcetit, ZNZ VI (1901), p. 233.

20. A. Haberlandt, Kulturwissenschaftliche Beitrige zur Volkskunde von Montenegro, Albanien und Serbien (Wien, 1917), p. 72; T. P. Vukanovi?, 'Preklad' ('The Grate'), Studije iz Balkanskog folklora III, 'Ognjiste kao lararijum u folkloru Juznih Slovena' ('The Hearth as the Abode of the Lares in the Folklore of the South Slavs', Vranjski glasnik VII (1971), p. 175.

21. P. P. Nyegosh, 'The Mountain Wreath' transl. by James W. Wiles (London, 1930), p. 185. 22. P. P. Njegos Gorski Vijenac ('The Mountain Wreath'), (Titograd, 1965), commentary by M. Resetar, p. 316. 23. G. Elezovit, 'Prividjenje ili obmana Evlije Celebije,' Zbornik Radova XIV (Beograd, 1951), pp. 109-16. 24. Karadzic, loc. cit. in n.8. 25. Begovi6, op. cit., in n. 19, p. 199. 26. L. Grdji6 Bjelokosi?, Iz naroda i o narodu (From and About the People), (Novi Sad, 1898), Vol. II, p. 34;

Brati6, op.cit. in n.6, p. 288; Karadjz16, loc. cit. in n.8; Carrie, op. cit. in n.11, p. 710; Pamucina, op. cit. in n.18, p. 49; S. Milinovi6, Arkiv za povjestnicu jugoslavnic knijzevnosti V (1859), p. 217; V. Ardalie, ZNZ X (1905), p. 238; Duchi, op.cit. in n.7, p. 294.

27. Karadzk, loc. cit. in n. 8; Djordjevi?, op. cit. in n.15, p. 33. 28. J. Ardalie, Srbsko-Dalmatinski magazin (1865), p. 43. 29. F.Ivanis'evi6, ZNZ X (1905), p. 231. 30. J. Djordjevie, SEZ XXXII (1925), p. 397. 31. Tkalcak, op. cit., in n.1, pp. 103-5. 32. Bratit, op. cit. in n.6, pp. 289-90; Djordjevit, op. cit. in n., p. 37. 33. Ivanis'evik, op. cit. in n.29, p. 237. 34. V. Cajkanovie, SEZ XLI (1927), p. 417. 35. Djordjevi6, op. cit. in n.15, pp. 29-30. 36. V. Vric-evit, SEZ L (134), p. 18. 37. M. D. Milic'evie, 'Zivot Srba seljaka' ('The Life of Serbian Peasants'), SEZ I (1894), p. 595. 38. Duci', op.cit., in n.7, p.294. 39. Brati', op. cit., in n.6, p 289. 40. Carie, op. cit., in n.ll, p. 710. 41. Tkalcle, op. cit. in n.1, pp. 86-7, 105-6. 42. J. Vujanovie, ZNZ I (1896), p. 324. 43. Karadzkh, loc. cit.in n.8. 44. Carie, op. cit., in n.11, p. 710. 45. Bratie, op.cit. in n. 6, p. 289. 46. M.M. Jovovit, ZNZ 1 (1896), p. 99; Ducide, op. cit. in n.7, p. 293. 47. Ducic, loc. cit. 48. Djordjevie, op.cit. in n.8, p.135. 49. Carie, op.cit. in n.ll,p. 710. 50. S. Banovit, ZNZ XXIII (1918), p.194. 51. Njegos(Nyegosh), trnsl. Wiles, as in n.21, p. 185.

24 T. P. VUKANOVIC

52. V. S. Karadzie, Srpske narodne poslovical (Serbian Folk Proverbs), (Beograd, 1900), no. 3134. 53. V. S. Karadzie, Srpske narodne pjesme (Serbian Folksongs), (Leipzig, 1824), Vol I, no. 237. 54. Tkalcik, op.cit. in n.1, p. 87; V. Bogisie, Zbonik sadainjih pravnih obicaja u Juinih Slovena (Codex of

the Contemporary Judicial Customs of the South Slavs (Zagreb, 1874), Vol. I, p. 640. 55. Ducli, op. cit. in n.7, p. 293. 56. V. Stojancevie, 'Vranjsko Pomoralvje, etnoloska ispitivanja' ('Ethnological Research in Vrjansko

Pomoralvje'), SEZ LXXXVI (Beograd, 1974), p. 105. Among many tribes and peoples there exist beliefs about milk being stolen on the eve of St. George's Day; see J. G. Frazer,The Golden Bough (1890), Vol. II, pp.334 ff.; S. K6nig, Folk-Lore XLVIII (1937), pp. 65, 67.

57. Tkalcid, op. cit. in n.1, pp. 87, 106-7. 58. Ardalie, op.cit. in n.28, p. 43; ZNZ XXII (1917), p. 308. 59. See Roman Jakobson and Marc Szeftel, 'The Vseslav Epos,' in Roman Jakobson; Selected Writings (The

Hague-Paris, 1966), Vol. IV, pp. 301-68; and, with D. Ruzicie, 'The Serbian Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk and the Russian Vseslav Epos,' in op.cit, pp. 369-79.

60. Carit, op. cit. in n.ll, p. 712; J. Kotarski, ZNZ XXIII (1918), p. 49. 61. J. Sajnovit, ZNZ III (1898), pp. 205-256. 62. Valvasor, loc. cit. in n.4. 63. Pamucina, op.cit. in n.18, p.50. 64. Begovit, op.cit. in n.19, p. 199; S.M.Mijatovid, SEZ XXXIII (1925), p.41. 65. Ivanisevit, op.cit. in n.29, p.233. 65a. Ibid. 66. Ardalit, op.cit. in n.19, p. 310; cf. Djordjevit, op.cit. in n.15, p.12. 67. Djordjevie, op.cit. in n.30, p. 397. 68. V. Vuletit-Vukasovit, SEZ L (1934), p. 164; L.-B. Ilia, Narodni slavonski obicaji (Slavonian Folk Customs),

(Zagreb, 1864), p. 93; D.S. Dez'elit, Arkiv za povjestnicu jugoslavensku VII (Zagreb, 1863), p. 218. 69. Carie, op.cit. in n.11, p.713. 70. Djordjevit, op.cit. in n.15, p.16. 71. Ardalie, op.cit. in n.28, p.43. 72. J. Lovretie, ZNZ VII (1902), p. 122; M. Stojanovit, Slike iz Zivota hrvatskoga narode u Slavoniju

(Illustrations of the Life of the Croats in Slavonia), (Zagreb, 1891), p. 259. 73. V. Vrcevie, Srbadija (1876), p. 74; Bratit, op.cit. in n.6, p.289. 74. Jovovi', op.cit. in n.46, p.99 75. J. Milcetie, ZNZ X (1905), p. 236 76. Vrcevie, op.cit. in n.73, p.74; Djordjevie, op.cit. in n.15, p.16. 77. M.D.Skarid, SEZ LIV (1939), p. 138. 78. T. Dragicevie, GZM XX (1908),pp. 453, 455-6. 79. Ibid. 80. Ibid. 81. Ibid. 82. A. Vasiljevid, Bosanska vila (Sarajvo, 1895), p. 74; Milicevie, op. cit. in n.37, p. 98; V.S.Karadzke, SEZ

L (1934), p. 29; Vuletit-Vukasovie, op.cit. in n.68, p.64; T. Vukanovie, 'Lovna zmije u Jugoslaviji' ('Snake Hunting in Yugloslavia'), Narodna starina XIV (Zagreb, 1939), p. 125.

83. Karadzke, op.cit. in n.8, s.v.Blagovjest (Feast of the Annunciation). 84. Ardalit, op.cit. in n.28, p.43. 85. B.Bijeli', ZNZ XIII (1908), p.307; Carid, op.cit. in n.ll, p. 711. 86. Milc'etie, op.cit. in n.75, p.232. 87. Bratit, op.cit. in n.6, p. 289. 88. Pamucdna, op.cit. in n.18, p.50 89. Vrc-evie, op. cit. in n.73, p.74. For similar beliefs among the Gypsies in Voivodina, see T. P. Vukanovie, Romi (Gigani) u Jugoslaviji Vranje (1983), pp. 298-9. 90. Bratie, op. cit. in n.6, p. 290; cf. Djordjevie, op.cit. in n.15, pp. 48-9. 91. Cf. Karadzk1, loc.cit in n.8; A. Petrovie, Rakovica II (Beograd, 1939), p. 73; Vrcevie, op.cit. in n.73, p. 74. 92. Vrcevie, op.cit. in n.73, p. 52. 93. Much has been written on this topic in every country; useful material can be found in Julio Caro Baroja,

The World of the Witches (London, 1964); Gustav Henningsen, The European Witch-Persecution (Copenhagen, 1973); Rossel H. Robbins,The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology (New York, 1959).