Bajanje (Serbia and the Western Balkans)
| Bajanje (Serbia and the Western Balkans) 🇷🇸 | ||
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| Location: Serbia | ||
| Definition: The pronouncement of a verbal texts or charm to achieve a desired effect | ||
| Keywords: Serbia – Europe – Balkans – Yugoslavia – Occult – Healthcare – Religion – Orthodox Christianity – Divination – Charm – Spell | ||
| Author: Maria Vivod | ||
| Affiliation: Research Unit ‘Dynamics of Europe’, University of Strasbourg, France and Novi Sad, Serbia | ||
| Website: Profile page on Academia | ||
By Maria Vivod, Research Unit ‘Dynamics of Europe’, University of Strasbourg, France and Novi Sad, Serbia
| Bajanje is the pronouncement of a verbal text or charm (basma) to achieve a desired effect. The charmer is called bajalica (also basmara, bajarica, bajaluša) (Radenković 1996) and is usually a woman, who has been initiated during an illness suffered in childhood; by being born with a mark or impairment; or through a matrilineal knowledge-transmission. During the pronouncement of the basma, bajalice refer to themselves with special names or attributes (Radenković 1996), such as lakodušnica (‘one with an easy soul’), lakobajka (‘one who easily casts spells’), or petoprsnjača (‘the five-fingered one’). Pronouncing a spell, known only to the initiated, is done in a particular manner, for instance whispering in the ear of the individual or standing above a person's head or chest with a water bowl and murmuring the verses (Radenković 1996). According to material collected by Serbian ethnographers in the late nineteenth century and during the first half of the twentieth century, bajanje was conducted on specific days – especially Tuesdays and Thursdays. These days were believed to be chthonic, favoured by the south Slavic (pre-Christian) gods ruling the world of spirits and therefore favourable for activities invoking this world (Radenković 1996). Nowadays, bajalica in Serbia and Montenegro will avoid charming on ‘red days’ (crvena slova), days dedicated to Christian orthodox saints, presumably named for being marked with red letters in the calendar (Vivod 2008a). Bajanje is conducted at the house (on the doorstep, at the fireplace, at the gate) or outdoors (near a water source or at the crossroads) (Radenković 1996). |
Pronouncing basma is goal-oriented; some basme are healing charms, others are meant to protect against demons, for instance against babice who attack new-borns and their mothers (Conrad 1983, Vivod 2008). The disorders treated with bajanje are most often ʻculture-bound syndromesʼ, symptoms of illness found only within a specific society or culture. In the Western Balkans, one such condition is called strava (called fras in cases of small children). Bajanje is often is accompanied by an act of ʻmelting leadʼ, also called ʻmelting fearʼ (salivanje olova or salivanje strave) (Ðorđević 2011, Milisavljević 2001). It consists of pouring hot, molten lead into a bowl of water, then interpreting the cause of illness from the shape of metal. This act is both a divination and a protection against an evil charm (urok) (Milisavljević 2001). By ‘seeing’ and naming the cause of the fear in the molten piece of lead, the individual is cured, and the strava (fright) – a personified emotion, imagined as an evil spirit – is ‘chased away’ (Đorđević 2011, Vivod 2014). Strava can be compared with the Latin-American susto, or the Chinese-Polynesian hak-tao. A similar practice is ʻextinguishing coalsʼ (gašenje ugljevlja), where instead of molten lead, hot coal is thrown into the water (Conrad 1983). That water is later given to the patient to drink.
Another disorder, struna (ʻstringʼ), is a displacement of stomach or uterus that causes pain and bodily dysfunction. It is believed that the interior organs float freely in the human body. In the event of a physical shock or psychological trauma, the stomach and the uterus can ‘move’. This illness is also called struna želuca (stomach struna) or spušten želudac (‘dropped stomach’). Struna can be treated with bajanje and nameštanje želuca (‘setting the stomach’). It can be detected by examining the hand of the patient and locating the displaced ‘string’ between the thumb and the index finger (see image in Radenković 1996: 102). The illness is treated with putting heated cups on the patient's body. The heated cups create a vacuum and adhere to the skin. It is believed that the cups can attract the internal organ through the skin and, like a magnet, move it back to its original place.
Bajanje can be accompanied by a ritual bodily practice performed by bajalica, such as provlačenje (pulling through), merenje (measuring), and kupanje (washing). Provlačenje is an act of pulling the patient through a barrier, such as the chains of the cauldron (verige), a garland of flowers, or a specially shaped tree branch. In merenje, bajalica measures the patient's limbs with a cord before bajanje and after, and compares the two results. If they differ, bajalica determines an evil spell as the cause of illness. The cord is destroyed (burned or thrown into a stream) after the treatment. Kupanje takes place in the stream or well where bajanje is conducted, or in the water in which the coal or molten lead was thrown. It is believed that these techniques help the patient ‘pass through’ between worlds and leave the illness in the other, chthonic world (Radenković 1996). The words bajanje and basma have a Proto-Indo-European root bhā- that means ʻto speak, tell, sayʼ. Basme, often whispered and kept secret, take a prescribed form, although the bajalica can choose to improvise and adapt the verses of the charm to the patient or occasion. Some charms take the shape of a formula or a statement. Some involve counting backwards (Conrad 1990, Lecouteux 1996). Some basme are folk versions of canonical Christian prayers or apocryphal prayers, often invoking God, Jesus or a saint to ask for help or protection (Kropej in Roper 2009). An example of a basma in a formula-form:
| Bešte uroci niz potoci!
Moja duša keruša Pojuriće, uhvatiće, rastrgnuće. |
Scram, evil spells, down the stream!
My soul, a bitch Will chase you, catch you, tear you apart. (Source: Ðorđević 1983) |
Folk medicine practices such as bajanje tend to resurface in periods of crisis and great uncertainty. The detailed ethnographies of folk medicine from the Yugoslav socialist period following WWII mostly openly condemn bajanje, designating it as originating in the backward beliefs of the poor, oppressed and primitive people (Knežević 1991: 82). Folk medicine in that period was deemed incompatible with communist ideals. Tito, the Yugoslav leader, claimed to be a seer himself and since he saw the future, there was no need for others to be clairvoyant, ran the popular joke. From the 1990s, after the collapse of socialism and during the ensuing Balkan war and NATO airstrikes in 1999, the attitudes toward bajanje shifted (Vivod 2008a, Vivod 2008b, Vivod 2015). The society had come to accept the existence of this 'parallel' medicine, and despite some condemnations of this 'primitive' behavior and thought, folk medicine found its place in contemporary belief systems. Charming, predicted to disappear, was reborn and began to flourish in a slightly altered way, adopting elements from the Serbian Orthodox Church. Once marginal, bajalice, popularly called baba (grandmother), became accepted and distinguished in their communities. In Vojvodina, people regardless of historical or cultural origin began to turn to traditional medicine healers for a cure for their ailment. During that period, it was common for people to seek the advice or help from of a healer, bonesetter, herbalist, or a magician at least once. The quest for national identity following the end of socialism focused on the return to the roots, with narodno lekarstvo (‘traditional ways of healing’) becoming one of the sources of inspiration. In parallel, in a country impoverished by war and in lack of resources, modern medicine was not able to provide relief to the sick or to a family in crisis, especially to a large proportion of people in the countryside. Charmers were the last resort for those seeking relief for psychological disorders or those failed by biomedical treatments. The traditional methods of medication and therapy that treat people's 'souls' were felt to be more supportive to individuals and families in need.
Twenty years later, bajalice have been pushed back to the margins. For most, bajanje is not a main source of income but a side activity. The Serbian national media began reporting on the 'foolish', 'backward' and 'dangerous' practices of bajalice, especially if they consulted local politicians and became newsworthy (Nikolin 2016, 021 2017). Only the desperate go and seek out help from the bajalica nowadays, while bajalice themselves are afraid of unwanted publicity. Clients fear being stigmatised for their psychological disorders and superstitions. For this reason, it is difficult to assess the number of operating charmers and their clients in the region and there is rarely data for this practice beyond the ethnographic descriptions.
Documentary films
Biljana, the woman healer, a documentary by Maria Vivod, 2000, Serbia, 39'
Ear whispering from the village of Püspökhatvan, a documentary by Maria Vivod, 2005, Hungary, 3'
References
1. Ðorđević, M.1983. Basme iz okoline Kruševca i Ražnja, Raskovnik, X, br.38 Beograd
2. Lecouteux, C. 1996. Charmes, conjurations et bénédictions, Lexique et formules. Paris: Honoré Champion
3. Kropej, M. 2009. Slovenian charms between South Slavic and Central European Tradition. in J. Roper (ed) Charms, Charmers and Charming. International research on Verbal Magic. Palgrave Macmillan:145-62Knežević, Srebrica. 1991. Iscelitelji u svetu etnoloških istraživanja. Beograd, Svetlost duha I/1
4. Milisavljević, N. 2001. Rituali za salivanje strave i uroka. Beograd : Alternativa
5. Nikolin, G. 2016 ‘Novosađani koriste kancerogeno olovo u lečenju strahova’. 10. February. https://www.021.rs/story/Novi-Sad/Vesti/128468/Novosadjani-koriste-kancerogeno-olovo-u-lecenju-strahova.html
6. Radenković, Lj. 1996. Narodna bajanja kod Južnih Slovena. Beograd : Prosveta/ Balkanološki institut SANU
7. Roper, J. 2009. Charms, Charmers and Charming. International research on Verbal Magic. Palgrave Macmillan
8. Conrad, J.L. 1983. Magic Charms and Healing Rituals in Contemporary Yugoslavia. Southeastern Europe. Volume 10: Issue 1:99-120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/187633383X00099
9. Vivod, M. 2014. Radmila—the Fairy-clairvoyant. Rethinking Ethnopsychiatry—a Case Study from Serbia. Curare 37 (2014)1: 55-64.
10. Vivod, M. 2008a ‘The Charms of the charmer, bajalica Biljana’ In J.Roper (Ed), Charms and Charmers, London : Palgrave Macmillan
11. Vivod, M. 2008b. ‚Die Beschwörerin (Bajalica) Biljana aus Budisava, Wojwodina. Rekonstruktionsversuche einer ethnischen Identität im postsozialistischen Nachkriegsserbien‘. In Curare, 30(2007)2+3: 153-162
12. 021. 2017. ‘Balkanski rituali ili kako nas je obuzelo nadrilekarstvo‘ 12 February. https://www.021.rs/story/Info/Svet/155939/Balkanski-rituali-ili-kako-nas-je-obuzelo-nadrilekarstvo.html