Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People

gets up and the Imam wishes him
god's blessing and good fortune.
People believe firmly in the
protective powers of azaan, which
is also uttered when there is a
great storm outside and before the
prayer is started one would throw
a rolling pin outside of the house.
A special category is taken up by
children which have no mothers,
whether she had died during birth
or after it. They are called
orphans no matter if their father
is alive or not. Namely, among the
folk it is still claimed today
that a father can be anyone, but
there can only be one mother.
Result of strict patriarchal
upbringing which forced a rule on
men that they mustn't show
pronounced feelings or care
towards the child, especially in
public places, gave birth to a
folk saying "the father is as
stiff as a board!" i.e. he has no
feelings nor understanding for his
child.
Orphans are especially pledged
among Bosnian people, partially
for the fact that god's messenger
himself, Muhammad, was an orphan.
It was always said, if there is no
other way to help an orphan, that
one should at least stroke him on
his head, since among other things
he has been bereft of warmth and
attention. Similarly, there is no
greater sin from abuse of an
orphan since "the tear of an
orphan is as heavy as the greatest
sea!". In Velika Kladuša it is
believed that the sun wouldn't
shine if there were no orphans in
the world, since it needs to warm
Raif Esmerović
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them. It is still today claimed
that good children (orphans) can
call upon rain during draughts, if
the Imam takes them on top of the
tallest hill in that area (remnant
of the Bogomils's beliefs about
the holiness of the hill), where
the Imam will utter a rain prayer
and the children will bless the
prayer by saying amen. A child
whose mother had died during
childbirth, was believed to have
power to stop a fight (bad weather)
if it eats a few grains of hail.
The same was believed about the
youngest child.
In the past people were afraid of
the activity of the Jinn and
devils, especially birth demons
called Al Karisi, which alongside
the female Jinn Sibjan,
represented the greatest danger
for both the new-born and his
mother. In order to chase them
away there was a tradition for a
family member to shoot a weapon
outside when the child is born,
because of the belief that lead
but also the sound of the weapon
can scare and chase away the evil
spirits. The mother would be
scared to leave the child in the
crib alone, if she had to leave
the house for some reason, fearing
that faeries don't steal or
replace her child. In order to
protect him, she would place a
metal item underneath its pillow,
a stem of nacre, garlic clove or
something else which could chase
away the faeries. Namely,
according to a Turkish legend
which became popular in our region,
the humans stole the first faery
child and from that time the
Cult of fertility among the Bosnian People