Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People

feeling of suffocation, etc. In
women a "dislocated stomach" can
affect the womb and ovaries,
causes frequent inflammations and
thus prevents conception.
There are a few methods of curing;
the diseased person is massaged,
drinks various teas and women
which cannot get pregnant along
with these procedures also "bind"
themselves around the waist, i.e.
underneath the stomach. Method of
tying a cloth underneath the
stomach, around the hips or
placing a coffee cup upside down
on the belly button, and a cloth
over it, which was previously
around the hips, would return the
stomach to its place and cure this
issue. According to folk belief,
proper diet had a crucial effect
on fertility because of the belief
that unlike a skinny and
undeveloped woman, a woman which
has pronounced curves, especially
hips and back side, represents an
ideal type for procreation - "such
a woman is full of children!"
Raif Esmerović
30
Abortion and pregnancy
As soon as girls get married they
tell fortunes whether they will
achieve motherhood and how many
children they will have. One of
the ways which is familiar to us
from the north-western part of
Bosnia is that a woman needs to
look for a rosehip bush in the
autumn. She will locate a wool
ball next to the fruits. In it,
allegedly, must be a white worm.
Whether alive or dead he is
necessary for divination. The
woman must secretly pass it
through her right sleeve and place
it in a glass of water. She will
give the water to her husband to
drink without telling him what she
had done. As soon as he drinks the
water she will look to see if the
husband swallowed the worm or if
he stayed at the bottom of the
glass. If she sees the worm at the
bottom she will only have one
child with the man if he swallowed
it she will have multiple children.
Desire for a child was
traditionally pronounced from the
marriage ceremony and until
recently the primary goal of a
young couple was thought to be
quick realization of parenthood,
no matter the material status- In
the last decade, and especially
since the military aggression by
Serbia and Montenegro on BiH with
the beginning of 1992, such a
Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People