Reincarnation in the Tradition of the Bosnian People

RAHID ESMEROVIĆ

CIRCLE OF LIFE REINCARN REIN CARNATI ATION ON IN THE TRADIT TRADITION ION OF THE THE BOSN BOSNIAN IAN PEO PEOPLE PLE

CIRCLE OF LIFE

BogomilsmwasbasedonPersiandualism:themasterofthespiritualworldwasgod,andthe material,whichwastransitory,wasruledbytheevilgodSatan.Thesameprincipleisevidentin Christianity,IslamandJudaismwheretheprincipleofgoodandevilareclearlyaccentuated, andthatgodforvariousreasonsnevermanagedtodefeatSatanandthat'swhybothofthem havetheirkingdomsandeternallyopposedarmies.Thebalanceofpowerisequalwitha religiouspromisethatSatanwillbeeventuallybeatenanddestroyed. Themainelementofthespiritualworldwasthesoul,forwhichtheBogomilsbelievedthatwith migrationsor migrationsormetem metempsychos psychosisit isitaims aimsate ateternal ternalperfect perfectionor ionornirvana nirvana - finalliberat finalliberation. ion. AccordingtoBogomildoctrine,itwasforbiddento killanimalsandbirds,andeventodestroy theireggs,becauseineveryanimaltherecanbeahumansouldoingpenanceforthesin'sa manhasdoneforhislifetime.ThatoldBogomilbeliefsleftahugemarkontheBosnianpeople isbestwitnessedbythe stillactivebelieffromnorth-westernBosniawhichclaimsthatevil peopleturnintoanimalsafterdeathsuchaspigs,cows,horses,.inordertoservehumansin theirnewlifeandtopayfortheirsins. Oneimportantrecord,whichdatesfromtheOttoman occupationofBiH,named"FromBosnia withpictures"speaksexplicitlyabouttheverywidespreadideaofreincarnationamongthe Bosnianpeople.AuthorClementBožić commented,likenumerousothercontemporary observers,seeingpacksofdogsmovingfreely aroundtheneighbourhoodsandstreetsof Sarajevo:"Bosniakstakecareofthem(dogs),bygivingthemcompletefreedom;theysaythat someofthemmaycontainahumansoulandifsomeonehasabaddream,inthemorningthey buybreadand buybreadandfeedth feedthemto emtothe the dogs." dogs." Theonlyanimalthatcannothaveahumansoulisthesnake,probablybecauseoftheIllyrian legendaccordingtowhichasnakehasbeencreated40yearspriortoanylivingbeingonthis planet.ThismythologicalbeliefoftheBosnianpeopleiscompletelyanalogoustotheancient representationabouttheforefatherofallIllyrianswhichwaswrappedbyasnakewhenhewas ababy.Inmanywaysasnakehasbeenofficiallygivenafavouredstatusandshehadaspecial placeamongtheBogomilswhichcan beseenfromnumerouslegendscreatedthroughoutthe MiddleAgeswherethisanimalplaysamajorrole. TotheBogomils,unlikeotherChristianchurches,thesnakedidn'trepresentthereincarnationof evilsinceaccordingtotheirdoctrinethetreeof knowledgeofgoodandevilwasawoman (Eve),andAdamsinnedforcopulatingwithher,andthat'swhybothofthemwerebanished fromheaven.Thankstothisfacttheexistenceofthecultofsnakewasneverbroughtinto questionthroughoutanyperiodofBosnianhistory,notevenduringtheturbulentMiddleAges. Theanswertothequestionwhywasonlythesnakeexemptfromthekarmiccircleisthatsheas ahollyanimalcannotbethebearerofahuman'ssinfulsoul,hertaskistousehermystical powersto protecteveryhouseandallsoulslivinginthem.

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EventhoughtheBogomilsweren'tinclined,accordingtotheirreligiousbelief,toexcessive indulgementofearthlygoods,theywere,likeallothers,exposedtoconstanttemptationswhich ruledtheevil materialworldwhichadditionallymadeitharderforasoultoachieve enlightenment.AccordingtoBogomil'sconceptiontheendofthereincarnationcyclewasonly possibleafterreceivingthesacramentatdeathwithwhichthesoulwouldachieveitsspiritual regeneration.Itwasonlypossiblethroughthistypeofcleansingandafterseparationfromthe materialworldwhichwasunderthecontrolofevil.Thefinalgoalwastoensuretheunification ofthesoulwiththegoodgod.InalawsuitinTorinoin1388aclaimmentionedthatasoulwhich doesn'treceive   consolamentum  transfersintothefirstbodytowhichitcomesacrossto,either humanoranimal;thiscontinuesonuntilitisblessedbyitsspiritualfatheronitsdeathbed. Whenwesummariseallthathasbeenwrittensofarwecometosomesensationaldatawhich revealstousthatinBosniaandHerzegovinawefindveryclearandevidentbasicdoctrines aboutkarmaandreincarnationwhichcanbeconsideredtoberare,ifnottheonlycountry in thispartofEurope,withsuchtraditionalconceptwhichcertainlydidn'tformintheBogomil religion,butit'sappearancedatesfromancienttimes.That'swhythisparticularitydeserves specialresearch. Reincarnationasatermwaswelldefinedin BhagavadGita,authoritativewritingofaVedic teacherwhichdatesfromthe5 centuryBCE,definedasacycleofbirthanddeathinthecircle th

ofsamsara,andkarmaascausaleffectaccordingtowhichbyourownactions,thoughtsand feelingswecreate ourowndestiny.Theideaaboutreincarnationcanbefoundonall continents.But,forusthemostimportantdataisthatreincarnationasathoughtwaspresent amongtheoldCeltsandPersians,twopeopleswhichmoreorlesshadadefininginfluenceon thereligiousunderstandingoftheBosnianpeople,especiallyduringancientandmiddleages.

Celtic dragon and goddess of moon Inordertogetamoredetailedunderstandingofthebeginningsofthereligiousideaof reincarnationinBosniaandHerzegovina itisnecessarytofollowthesnake(dragon)trailonthe uniquesymbolofancientpastofthiscountry - tombstone.Eventhoughtherepresentationofa dragononaBosniantombstonesuchastheoneinBoljunioronthefamoustombstonefrom DonjeZgošćeaccidentallyoronpurposedidn'tstimulateinterestforseriousobservations,but wasinterpretedinasimplerway,asheraldicmotifswithoutanydeeperbackgroundmeaning,it canbearoadsigntoanyseriousresearcherwhenitcomestodiscoveringreligiousand culturalheritageoftheBosnianpeople.

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Luckilytodayweknowthatdepictionsofdragonsarenotaccidentalnorintheformofan ornamentwithoutmeaning,buttheyrepresent,amongothers,proofofdeepsymbiosisofCelts andIllyrians,throughculturalandreligiouspractice.Namely,onsome tombstonesthereare depictionsoftwo-headeddragonswhichisthesameastheCelticsymbolofthetwo-headed dragon.ThesimilarityoftheCelticandBosnian(Illyrian)traditiondoesn'tendthere,butitgetsits fullmeaningthroughdepictionsoftheCelticmoongoddessArianhrodononeofthe tombstoneswhichbringsustorecentevidenceaboutthedominantinfluenceofthecultofthe GrandMothera GrandMotheranddra nddragonas gonassymbol symboloffer offertilit tility y - newlife. newlife.

Celtic-Gaul depiction of a two headed dragon. The symbol of a two headed dragon on Bosnian tombstones.

Arianhodisknownunderseveralnames:"HighFruitfulMother","SilverWheel","SilverCircle", "SkyGoddess",etc.InetymologyitisconsideredthathernamecomesfromtheWelshword "silver"or" "silver"or"ariawyn ariawyn"" - "silverwoma "silverwoman".T n".Theorigi heoriginoft nofthenam henameisa eisalso lso broughtinto broughtintoconnec connection tion withAriadneorAradia,Greeklunargoddess,whichisconnectedtothecultofthegrowing moon.Ariana,whosemeaningis"oneveryholly",isafamiliarIllyriannameandisverypresent todayontheterritoryofAlbania,KosovoandBiH.Othervariationsofthisnamearealsoinuse suchasIlirijanaorIlirija.

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Celtic goddess goddess of moon moon Arianrhod. Arianrhod. Celtic goddess of moon Arianrhod Arianrhod on a Bosnian Bosnian tombstone.

CelticreligiousinfluenceonIllyrian tribesleftarelativelydeepmarkespeciallyonthecultofthe GrandMother.Namely,accordingtoCelticlegend,Arianhrodtakescareofwarriorsandtheir soulswhichperfectlyfitsintothelegendaboutMujoHrnjicaandtheMountainfaery.Inthe same manner,Arianhrodisthegoddessofreincarnation,newlife,withwhichsherepresents unrivalledmotheroflife.Notionofreincarnationi.e.resurrectionandnewlifewasnotforeignto theIllyrians,onthecontrary,allthatsymbologywasrepresentedbythesnake,theirtotem, whichpersonifiedtheunbrokencircleoflifebysheddingitsskin. Inaccordancewitheverythingsaidsofar,wecanconcludethatreincarnationnotionwas inseparablepartofthecultoffertilityandtheGrandMotherandthatassuchitwaspartofthe traditionofourpeoplethroughoutallcenturies,inasmallerorlargerextent.That'swhywecan finditintheBogomiltraditionbutalsoduringmiddleAgesinfolkreligion.

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