Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People

villages I heard accusation about
some women because "they carry
snake skins".
Snake skin as medicine is usually
taken in powdered form by folk,
mixed with almost anything, while
I barely came across a few cases
of it being worn around the waist
as a means of some help.
Snake skins are gathered in
paramljeće (spring), when snakes
change their skin! They are found
in thorns, fences, etc. since
snakes then move through something
tight, in order to get rid of the
old skin.
"Crush the skin" and drink in milk
- and a nursing lady will get her
milk. It is a cure for those women,
which nurse children but which
don't have milk of their own.
Crush the skin and rub your hands
and feet with it, cure for those
with sweaty palms and feet!
Women which can't get pregnant
need to drink marigold herb,
teucrium herb and a bit of the
crushed skin, and she will get
pregnant! She will achieve the
same effect if she carries the
skin around her waist.
A woman carrying snake skin around
her waist will marry the person
that she wants! With a lot of
Raif Esmerović
discretion I received some data on
carrying "snake waist", such women
are called in the village snake
woman or girl woman.
To kill a snake which bit you and
crush her head, place it over the
wound will draw out the poison!
Through the mentioned data it is
evident that the ancient beliefs
about the snake have been
preserved, a symbol of fertility,
the snake also had the role of
deity which enabled a girl to get
married, start a family i.e. give
birth and feed her children. The
act of tattooing the snake among
women has the same purpose since
it is familiar through the history
of religion that various people
usually tattooed symbols of gods,
their protectors, with the goal of
achieving a more intimate
relationship with them with the
purpose of getting benefits which
is evident by the statements of
the snake defending from spells
and snake bites. We should
certainly take into consideration
that the text originated in the
first half of the twentieth
century, which by itself creates a
large continuity and testifies
about traditional conservation of
Illyrian traditions and beliefs
among our people.
Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People