Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People

above the hole in order to stop
the penetration of the water in
the ship.
Snake - keeper of worlds
It is impossible to assume that
the cult of fertility could exist
without the snake which proves
that numerous examples where it is
represented as a kind of life
carrier, since it takes care of
the preservation of the human race
which can be confirmed through a
few examples from the Bosnian
tradition (1). According to the
legend which can be heard today
from the older population in the
northwest part of Bosnia during
the time of the flood the mouse
drilled a hole at the bottom of
Noah's ark, bringing everyone in
danger from water penetrating
inside the ship. The snake was the
only one that noticed it and
quickly threw itself onto the
mouse, swallowed him and curled
Raif Esmerović
Primeval connection of the snake,
divine totem of the Illyrians, and
the Bosnian people themselves was
never interrupted, despite bloody
and painful parts of our history.
Even with the advent of the
Bogomils, whose religion was
dominant in the middle ages in
Bosnia, there was a special
reverence towards the snake and
unlike other directions of the
Bogomil faith, the character of
Satan was not seen in the snake.
Sin which got Adam and Eve ejected
from heaven was not caused by the
snake, but a sexual act of the
first people, according to
monotheistic belief.
According to a Bogomil legend,
when god drove out people from
heaven, he gave them various
diseases, from which we still
suffer. But God, in his vast mercy
created an herb for each disease,
Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People