GLASNIK SLOVENSKEGA ETNOGRAFSKEGA MUZEJA '
BULLETIN OF THE SLOVENE ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM
ETNOLOG
9/1999, St 1
UUBUANA 1999
Etnolog
Glasnik Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja
Letnik 9 (60), leto 1999, št. 1
ISSN 0354^316
UDK 39(497.4)(05)-163.6+-111 U= 133.1
Etnolog 1(1926/27), 1926 - XV1I(1944), 1945 in
Slovenski etnograf, 1(1948), 1948 - XXXIV( 1988-90), 1991.
Od leta 1926 do leta 1999 je izšlo 60 letnikov glasnika Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja.
From 1926 to 1999 60 volumes of the bulletin of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum
have been published.
ISSN 03540316
UDK 39(497.4)(05)= 163.6+-111 U=133.1
ETNOLOG
Glasnik Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja
Bulletin of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum
Etnolog izhaja enkrat do dvakrat letno. Izdaja ga Slovenski etnografski muzej.
Published annually or semiannualy by the Slovene Ethnographic Museum.
Urednici / Editors: dr. Nena Židov, Bojana Rogelj Škafar
Uredniški odbor / Editorial Bord: dr. Zmago Šmitek (Ljubljana),
dr. Mojca Ravnik (Ljubljana), mag. Inja Smerdel (Ljubljana), Aleš Gačnik (Ptuj).
Naročila in pojasnila na naslov / Information and Subscriptions:
Slovenski etnografski muzej, Metelkova 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija.
Tel.: 386 61/130 62 60 204, Fax: 386 61/132 53 77
Ismail: bojana.rogelj@etno-muzej.si, nevenka.zidov@etno-muzej.si
GLASNIK SLOVENSKEGA ETNOGRAFSKEGA MUZEJA
BULLETIN OF THE SLOVENE ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM
ETNOLOG
LJUBLJANA 1999
Revija je indeksirana v podatkovni zbirki Institut de rinformation scientifique et technique pod šifro
COTE INIST 25965 in v Anthropological Index Oniin
(Anthropological Index of the Royal Antropology Institute).
Redakcija te številke je bila končana aprila 1999.
Za znanstveno vsebino svojega prispevka odgovarja vsak avtor sam.
Ponatis člankov je mogoč z dovoljenjem uredništva in navedbo vira.
Cena te številke je 2500 tolaijev. V ceno je vključen DDV.
Tiskano s subvencijo Ministrstva za kulturo in Ministrstva za znanost in tehnologijo
Republike Slovenije ter Oddelka za kulturo in raziskovalno dejavnost Mestne občine Ljubljana.
Etnološki in antropološki
vidiki preučevanja smrti
Ethnological and Anthropological
Approaches to the Study of Death
Mednarodni simpozij / International Symposium
5. - 8. november 1998 / S* - 8^ November 1998
Slovenski etnografski muzej, Ljubljana / Slovene Ethnographic Museum, Ljubljana
VSEBINA
CONTENTS
UVODNA BESEDA
11
INTRODUCTION
7
Verovanja
in mitične predstave
o smrti in posmrtnem življenju
Svetlana M. ToLSTAYA:
Slavic Folk Conceptions of Death
According to Linguistic Data
17
Beliefs and
Mythologieal ISotwns of
Death and Life after Death
{Slovanski ljudski koncepti smrti
glede na lingvistična dejstva)
Biljana SlKlMlč:
Violent Death in South Slavic
ChUdren's Folklore
27
(Nasilna smrt v južnoslovanski otroški
folklori)
Yekaterina Yakushkina:
The Motif of Death in Serbian and
Croatian Folk Narrative
39
{Motiv smrti v srbskem in hrvaškem
ljudskem pripovedništvu)
Lyudmila ViNOGRADOVA:
Notions of »Good« and »Bad« Death
in the System of Slavic Beliefs
45
{Komepta "dobre" in "slabe" smrti
v verovanjih Slovanov)
Iveta TODOROVA-PiRGOVA:
Talking about the »Other World*.
»Our« Conceptual Models and »Му«
Human Experiance
51
{Razprava o "drugem svetu". "Naši
konceptualni modeli" in "moje"
človeške izkušnje)
Marija sxanonik:
Nagrobni napisi na slovenskih
pokopališčih
63
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
74
Ljupčo S. RiSTESKi:
The Concept of Death in the Folk
Culture of Macedonians
87
{Koncept smrti v makedonski ljudski
kulturi)
Stari in novi rituali
ter tradicionalne
in sodobne šege ob smrti
OU and New Rituals - Traditional
and Contemporary Customs
Connected with Death
Helena LožAR-PODLOGAR:
Pogrebne šege na slovenskem
podeželju
101
Death Customs in the Slovene
Countryside
108
Urszula Lehr:
The Magic of the Time of Death. A
Contribution to the Study of Funeral
Customs in the Carpathian Village
117
(Magija časa ob smrti. Prispevek
k raziskavam šeg ob smrti
v karpatski vasi)
Inja Smerdel:
S postelje do pokopališča.
Zgodba o mrliškem vozu
127
From Bed to Cemetery.
The Story of a Hearse
132
Branko Daković:
About the Custom of Repeated
(Double) Burial
137
(0 šegi ponovnega (dvojnega) pokopa)
Mateja Навшс:
Visiting and Tending the Graves with a
Special Reference to the Case-Study in
Brežice
145
(Obiskovanje grobov in skrb zanje na
primeru študije iz Brežic)
Marta Gregorčič:
Zmanjkalo je solz.
Konceptualizacija fenomena smrti
skozi časovno prostorsko dimenzijo
in tradicionalno
vs. moderno
na primeru pogrebnih obredov
163
Out of Tears.
Conceptualization of the Phenomenon
of Death through the Time-Space
Dimension and the Dichotomy Between
Traditiorml and Postmodern Funeral
Rites
179
Mirjam Mencej:
Verovanje o vodi
kot o meji med svetovoma
živih in mrtvih
195
Beliefs about Water as a Boundary
between the World of the Living and
the World of the Dead
200
Anna Plotnikova: ■
The Earthly Loci of Death: the I
Coffin, the Grave, the Cemetery
205
(Zemeljski prostori smrti:
krsta, grob, pokopališče)
MultifUsciplinarni vidiki
preučevanja smrti
MuUidiseiplinary Aspects of the
Study of Death
Robert Oravecz:
0 vsebini suicidalnih zapisov
slovenskih samomorilcev in
poslovilnih pisem rodoljubov,
ustreljenih med drugo svetovno vojno
219
On the Contents of Suicide Notes and
the Fareivell Letters of Patriots,
Executed during the Second World War
225
Uroš Bavec:
Arheološko najdišče in legenda
o umrlih:
primer Gorenji Mokronog
231
An Archaeological Site and the Legend
of the Dead:
Case-Study of Gorenji Mokronog
241
Željko DuGAC:
Frescos and Graffitos as Witnesses
of Mass Death
247
{Freske in grafiti kot priče
množične smrti)
Antropologija smrti
Anthropology of Death
Maja ŠuBic, Tomaž Krpic:
Kokoš, cachiru
in druga leteča bitja
255
The Hen, Cachiru
and other Winged Creatures
271
Irena Rozman:
Odnos do smrti z zgledom homeopa-
tskega tabuja med nosečnostjo
285
Borut Telban:
Smrt in sodba živih
v papuanovogvinejski
skupnosti
295
Attitudes to Death with Regard to a
Homeopathic Taboo During Pregrmnxy
290
Death and the Judgement of the \
Living in a Papua New Guinean \
Community
308
Natalija VrečeR:
Smrt in žalovanje v begunstvu:
Bošnjaki, Bošnjakinje v Sloveniji
321
Death, Grief and Mourning in Exile:
Bosnian Mudims in Slovenia
330
Maja MlLČINSKl:
The Problem of Longevity and
Death in Daoism
339
(Problem dolgoživosti in smrti
V daoizmu)
Marija Mojca TerCeu:
Pojmovanje smrti v stari Mehiki
in religiozni sinkretizem v današnjih
obredih ob smrti
(s posebnim poudarkom
na kulturi zoque, Chiapas)
349
The Conception of Death in Ancient
Mexico and the Religious Syncretism
of Present-day Death Rituals
(With Special Emphasis on the Zoque
Culture, Chiapas)
359
SODELAVCI    370    CONTRIBUTORS
UVODNA BESEDA
Nena Žide
Odkar Etnolog izhaja v novi podobi, se je precej »okrepil« tudi njegov obseg.
Kljub temu da se v uredništvu zadnja leta trudimo, predvsem zaradi omejenih financ,
ki so nam na voljo, da bi nekoliko »shujšali« Etnologa, nam to nikakor ne uspe.
Tolažimo pa se z mislijo, da obseg Etnologa kaže na njegovo priljubljenost med pisci
prispevkov. Kljub temu, da načelno izdajamo eno številko na leto, smo se tokrat odloči-
li, da bo Etnolog izšel v dveh številkah.
V prvi številki letošnjega Etnologa, ki je pred vami, objavljamo izbor referatov, ki
so bili predstavljeni na mednarodnem simpoziju Etnološki in antropološki vidiki
preučevanja smrti. Simpozij so organizirale osrednje slovenske etnološke ustanove: Od-
delek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani,
Slovenski etnografski muzej in Inštitut za slovensko narodopisje pri ZRC SAZU. Simpo-
zij je potekal od 5. do 9. novembra 1998 v prostorih Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja.
Številni udeleženci in udeleženke so imeli možnost prisluhniti izredno zanimi-
vim referatom, ki so iz različnih zornih kotov osvetljevali fenomen smrti. Da je šlo za
izrazito multidisciplinarno srečanje, potrjuje dejstvo, da so na simpoziju aktivno sode-
lovali etnologi, antropologi, jezikoslovci, sociologi, psihologi, zdravniki, psihiatri, filo-
zofi in arheologi. Imeli smo priložnost poslušati referente in referentke iz Slovenije, s
Hrvaške, iz Srbije, Makedonije, Bolgarije, s Poljske, z Madžarske, iz Rusije in Nemčije.
Da je bil simpozij - kljub za marsikoga »čudni« temi - zanimiv tudi za širše poslušalstvo,
je vse tri dni kazala prenatrpana muzejska dvorana, v kateri je potekal simpozij.
Ker smo v uredništvu Etnologa prepričani, da je simpozij pomembno doprinesel k
preučevanju fenomena smrti, smo se odločili, da bomo večji del predstavljenih referatov
tudi objavili. Simpozij je bil razdeljen v več tematskih sklopov, katerim sledijo tudi prispe-
vki, objavljeni v pričujoči številki Etnologa. Slovenskim avtorjem smo dali možnost, da
svoja besedila objavijo v slovenskem in angleškem jeziku, besedila tujih avtorjev pa obja-
vljamo le v angleščini, z izvlečkom v slovenščini. Angleških izvlečkov ne objavljamo, ker so
bili še pred simpozijem natisnjeni v Knjigi povzetkov / Book of Abstracts.
V razdelku Verovanja in mitične predstave o smrti in posmrtnem življenju Svetlana
M. Tolstaja predstavlja nekaj temeljnih idej in semantičnih modelov, ki se kažejo v bese-
dnjaku in frazeologiji »o smrti« v slovanskih jezikih. Biljana Sikimić opozarja na prisot-
Nena Židov
nost nasilne smrti v nekaterih otroških folklornih besedilih in besedilih, namenjenih
otrokom, Jekaterina Jakushkina pa predstavlja smrt v okviru življenjske usode posamez-
nika, kot se kaže v srbski in hrvaški slovstveni folklori. Ljudmila Vinogradova išče slovan-
ske predstave o »dobri« in »slabi« smrti v povezavi z opozicijo naravne in nasilne smrti.
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova govori o predstavah o »drugem svetu«, kakršne so se izoblikovale
v okviru širše skupnosti, in o »drugem svetu« glede na izkušnje posameznikov. Marija Sta-
nonik na podlagi nagrobnih napisov na slovenskih pokopališčih ugotavlja, kako žalujoči
gledajo na življenje in smrt, ter sledi spreminjanju nagrobnih napisov. Ljupčo Risteski
piše o pojmovanju smrti v makedonski ljudski kulturi.
Razdelek Stari in novi rituali ter tradicionalne in sodobne šege ob smrti zapol-
njujejo prispevki sedmih avtorjev in avtoric. Helena Ložar-Podlogar predstavlja tradi-
cionalno obredje ob smrti na slovenskem podeželju. Urszula Lehr opisuje magično in
religiozno vedenje, povezano s pogrebnimi šegami, v karpatskih vaseh. O transportu
umrlih na Slovenskem piše Inja Smerdel. Branko Daković predstavlja šego dvojnega
pokopa pri južnih Slovanih. Mateja Habinc piše o obiskovanju in skrbi za grobove na
pokopališču v Brežicah. Marta Gregorčič primerja odnos do smrti in umrlega ter s
tem povezane pogrebne obrede in šege nekoč z današnjo pogrebno industrijo. Mirjam
Mencej predstavlja verovanje o vodi kot o meji med svetovoma živih in mrtvih pri Slova-
nih. Prispevek Airne Plotnikove govori o ljudskih verovanjih in obredih, povezanih s
krsto, grobom in pokopališčem.
V razdelku Multidisciplinarni vidiki preučevanja smrti Robert Oravecz prikazuje
zgodovino raziskovanja poslovilnih pisem samomorilcev in išče skupne poteze suicidaL
nih zapisov slovenskih samomorilcev in poslovilnih pisem rodoljubov, ustreljenih med
drugo svetovno vojno. Uroš Bavec razmišlja o razlogih za »mitizacijo« nekaterih gro-
bišč in njihovo ohranjanje v spominu okoliških prebivalcev. Zeljko Dugac na podlagi
fresk v istrskih cerkvah rekonstruira odnos prebivalcev Istre do smrti v času velikih
epidemij v 15. in 16. stoletju.
V razdelku Antropologija smrti Maja Šubic in Tomaž Krpic v besedi in sliki pred-
stavljata krilate živah, ki jih v različnih kulturah najpogosteje povezujejo s smrtjo. Irena
Rozman piše o odnosu do smrti na primeru homeopatskega tabuja med nosečnostjo.
Vpogled v smrt in sodbo živih v papuanovogvinejski skupnosti nam omogoča prispevek
Boruta Telbana. Natalija Vrečer nas seznanja z doživljanjem smrti in žalovanjem bosan-
skih beguncev in begunk v Sloveniji. Maja Milčinski piše o problemu dolgoživosti in smr-
ti v daoizmu, Marija Mojca Terčelj pa o pojmovanju smrti v stari Mehiki in religioznem
sinkretizmu v sodobnih pogrebnih obredih v Chiapasu.
Čeprav tematika smrti za marsikoga na prvi pogled ni ravno atraktivna, vas vabimo
k branju prispevkov, ki so nedvomno zanimivi tako za strokovno kot za širšo javnost.
Bralcem se opravičujemo za morebitne napake v angleških besedilih. Avtorji so
namreč sami poskrbeli za prevode, uredništvo pa zaradi omejenih finančnih sredstev ni
moglo poskrbeti za angleško lekturo vseh prispevkov.
12
INTRODUCTION
Since Etnolog appears in its new form, its volume has quite expanded. Because of
the limited financial means that are at our disposal the editors have endeavoured over
the past years to keep the journal from growing, but with little success. Thinking posi-
tively, this of course also means that the scope of Etnolog indicates how popular it is
among contributors of articles. Though in principle one volume is published annually,
we have now decided that Etnolog will be published in two volumes.
This first volume of Etnolog presents a selection of papers, presented at the Inter-
national Symposium "Ethnological and Anthropological Approaches to the Study of
Death". The symposium was organised by the main Slovene ethnological institutions:
the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts of the
University of Ljubljana, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum and the Institute of Slov-
ene Ethnology at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovene Academy of Sciences
and Arts. The symposium was held from 5 to 9 November 1998 in the premises of the
Slovene Ethnographic Museum.
The numerous participants had the opportunity to listen to eminently interesting
contributions which shed light on the phenomenon of death from different angles. The
symposium's notably multidisciplinary nature was reflected by the active participation
of ethnologists, anthropologists, linguists sociologists, psychologists, doctors, psychia-
trists, philosophers and archaeologists. Papers were presented from Slovenia, Croatia,
Macedonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Russia and Germany. In spite of its "weird"
topic the symposium also attracted the interest of the wider public: the hall in which
the symposium took place was occupied to the last seat for three days.
The editorial board of Etnolog believes that the symposium was a major contribu-
tion to the research of death and decided to publish the majority of the papers present-
ed at it. The symposium was divided into several thematic sections and the same divi-
sion is observed for the papers, published in this volume of Etnolog. The Slovene au-
thors were given the opportunity to publish their papers in Slovene and English, while
the papers of foreign authors are published only in English with Slovene abstracts add-
ed. The English abstracts are not published here since they already appeared in the
symposium's Book of Abstracts.
In the section Beliefs and Mythological Notions of Death and Life after Death by
Svetlana M. Tolstaya presents some fundamental ideas and semantic models as they
appear in the vocabulary and phraseology of Slavic languages. Biljana Sikimić draws
attention to the presence of violent death in some children's folklore narratives and in
texts meant for children; Yekaterina Yakushkina, on the other hand, presents death as
a part of an individual's destiny as it appears in Serbian and Croatian literary folklore.
Ljudmila Vinogradova searched for Slavic ideas about "good" and "evil" in connec-
tion with the contrast between natural and violent death. Iveta Todorova-Pirgova re-
flects on ideas about the "other world" as they established themselves within a wider
community, and on the "other world" as conceived by individuals. Marija Stanonik
researched tombstone inscriptions in Slovene cemeteries to find out how the mourning
13
Nena Židov
view life and death and traced the changes in tombstone inscriptions. Ljupčo Risteski
writes about the conception of death in Macedonian folk culture.
The section Old and New Rituals - Traditional and Contemporary Customs Connect-
ed with Death presents contributions by seven authors. Helena Ložar-Podlogar intro-
duces the reader to death customs in the Slovene countryside. UrsziJa Lehr describes
magic and religious behaviour connected with funeral rites in a Carpathian village. How
the dead were and are transported in Slovenia is illustrated by Inja Smerdel. Branko
Daković presents the custom of repeated burial with the South Slavs. Mateja Habinc
writes on visiting and tending graves in the cemetery of Brežice. Marta Gregorčič com-
pares the attitude towards death and the deceased and the funereal rites and customs con-
nected with both attitudes in the past with the present-time funeral industry. Mirjam
Mencej presents beliefs in water as the boundary between the world of the living and that
of the dead with the Slavs. Amia Plotnikova's paper deals with popular beliefs and ritu-
als, connected with coffins, graves and cemeteries.
In the section Multidisciplinary Aspects of the Study of Death Robert Oravecz
presents a history of the research of farewell letters of suicides and searches for com-
mon elements in the suicide notes of Slovene suicides and in the farewell letters of Slo-
vene patriots, executed during the Second World War. Uroš Bavec reflects on the rea-
sons for the "mythical attitude" towards certain cemeteries and how they live on in the
memory of the nearby population. Zeljko Dugac analysed frescoes in Istrian churches
in order to reconstruct the attitude of the population of Istria toward death during the
period of the great plagues of the 15''' and 16''' centuries.
In the section The Anthropology of Death Maja Subic and Tomaž Krpic present
in text and illustrations the winged creatures commonly associated with death in differ-
ent cultures. Irena Rozman writes on the attitude toward death in the case of a home-
opathic taboo during pregnancy. Insight into death and the judgement of the living in
a Papua New Guinean community is provided by Borut Telban's article. Natalija
Vrečer introduces us to the experience of death and mourning of Bosnian refugees in
Slovenia. Maja Milčinski writes on the problems of longevity and death in Daoism, and
Marija Mojca Terčelj on the conception of death in ancient Mexico and on the reli-
gious syncretism in present-day death rites in Chiapas.
Though to many death as a topic may not appear attractive at first sight, we invite
you to read these articles which are undoubtedly interesting from a professional angle,
but also to the wider public.
We apologise to our readers for possible errors in the English texts. The authors
were responsible for the translations and due to our limited financial means the edito-
rial board was not able to have all of them edited.
14
VEROVANJA IN MITIČNE PREDSTAVE O SMRTI
IN POSMRTNEM ŽIVLJENJU
BELIEFS AND MYTHOLOGICAL NOTIONS
OF DEATH AND LIFE AFTER DEATH
15
SLAVIC FOLK CONCEPTIONS OF DEATH
ACCORDING TO LINGUISTIC DATA
Svetlana M. Tolstaya
IZVLEČEK
Slovanski ljudski koncepti smrti glede na lingvistična dejstva
Avtorica navaja nekaj temeljnih idej in semantičnih modelov, ki se kažejo v besednjaku in frazeologiji "o
smrti" v slovanskih jezikih.
1. Koncept duše in interpretacija smrti kot "ločitev duše od telesa, njen odhod iz telesa" in podobne izraze
je mogoče najti v izrazih (povezanih z umirajočo osebo) kot, na primer, "nekdo ima dušo v svojem nosu"
(srbščina), "v zobeh" (bolgarščina) itd.
2. Eden najpomembnejših konceptov v "besedilu o smrti" je ideja poti, zato smrt opisuje tako veliko glago-
lov gibanja. Umirajoča oseba tako "gre narazen", "leti", "potuje", "je na poti" itd.
3. Interpretacija smrti kot vrnitve na zemljo, ki je bila element in material za ustvarjenje človeka (primerjaj
z Genezo), predstavlja semantično osnovo naslednjih izrazov: "iti v črno zemljo", "iti pod črno zemljo",
"biti poročen s črno smrtjo", "jesti zemljo" itd.
4. Naslednja ideja o smrti je koncept konca, sklenitev življenja, izčrpanje virov, življenjskih moči in pripa-
dajočega časa. S tem v zvezi so povezani naslednji izrazi: "priti do konca", "končati se", "biti zunaj let",
"pojesti življenje nekoga" itd.
5. Krščanske koncepte smrti kot poti v novo življenje ali novo rojstvo lahko opazimo v izrazih, kot so, na
primer, "rešiti se" v bolgarščini, roditi se, "da umreš" itd.
6. Včasih je zunanji simptom umiranja ali specifičnost pogrebne šege uporabljen kot izrazni motiv. Na pri-
mer "zaviti z očmi", "dati roke skupaj", "imeti 'kolivo' v ustih" itd.
Ključne besede: umiranje, umrla oseba, duša, pogrebne šege, pot, zemlja, besednjak o smrti
Key words: dying, deseased person, soul,fiineral rites, route, earth, vocabulary of death
Comparative poorness of verbal representation of such an important fragment of
the traditional world picture as folk concepts of death and the corresponding rituals and
everyday behavior has more than once been pointed out by scholars investigating Slavic
folk culture. Such poorness is even more evident against the background of the developed
terminology and phraseology of the wedding ritual and matrimonial beliefs. It is normal-
ly accounted for by the consecration of the theme of death, by the danger of direct nom-
n
Svetlana m. Tolstaya
ination of the very phenomenon of death, the deceased, the other world etc. «The vocabu-
lary of death» comprises mostly euphemistic designations and idioms based on non spe-
cific vocabulary, nevertheless justified by the whole system of concepts concerning life
and death, correlated with the ritual of leave-taking of the deceased, burial and remem-
brance. To a considerable extend the sphere of the meanings (concepts) elaborated in the
vocabulary and phraseology of death coincides in various Slavic languages, which fact,
considering their etymological community, allows to reconstruct ancient Slavic beliefs
relating to death and, so to say, the whole «text of deaths.
It seems that the only «specific» area in the Slavic vocabulary of death are the
words containing the common Slavic root *mbr-/mer-/mor, from which the «key words»
*shmbrtb 'death' and *-mbreti 'to die' represented in all the Slavic languages are de-
rived. Nevertheless, even these words, as shown by V. V. Ivanov (Иванов 1987) and V. N.
Toporov (TonopoB 1991), in the Indo-European retrospective turn out to be not void of
inner form, i.e. semantically derived and reduced to be primary meaning 'to disap-
pear', a corresponding verb (alongside with the meaning 'to die') heaving been regis-
tered in ancient Hittite texts. Such semantic development 'to disappear' -> 'to die' is
convincingly explained as an ancient euphemism (while opposite direction of semantic
development seems unlikely).
Such actual, for the Hittite language, i.-e. inner form has, of course, been wholly
erased in the Slavic ground and the verb *-mbreti is undoubtedly non-motivated in
Slavic languages. Nevertheless, the ancient semantic model 'to disappear' 'to die'
with certain semantic filiations like 'be missing, be lost' 'to die' (or semantically cor-
related causative row: 'to destroy' 'to kill, to put the death') turns out to be actual
also for the Slavic languages and is encountered in a considerable layer of so-called
^secondary*, i.e. motivated vocabulary of death. 1 mean such verbs involved in the field
of death as *t^reti (aq) 'to lose, be lost', * gubiti (aq)/ *ghbnoti/*gybati (se) 'to destroy, be
destroyed', * propasti/*propadati 'to be missing', *tratiti 'to spend', *konbcati (se)/
*konbciti (sq) and some others, e.g. *gladiti.
All these verbs with the common main meaning 'to disappear, to be missing' or
(causative) 'act so that something /somebody disappears, is missing' (and their deriva-
tives) may, in various Slavic languages, have the meaning 'to die /to put to death, to
kill'. Being unable to quote here the necessary illustrative material, I would just like to
point out that this semantic connection 'to disappear' —> 'to die' is confirmed and sup
ported by the connection between opposite (antonymous) meanings: 'to find /be found'
and 'to bear /be born' (words with the meaning 'to find /be found' have in a few Slavic
languages the meaning of 'to bear /be born', Толстан 1997). Such correlation of
words and meanings reflects, characteristically of the Slavic folk culture, the mirroring
opposing concept of birth and death, two polar marks of human life (see Толстан
1990). It should be also noted that the verbs nominating burial in the Slavic languages
*chormti, *choiati, *pretati are indirectly connected with the same semantic sphere of
«losing~finding». On the one hand, we find antonymous correlation 'to lose /have
lost' ~ 'to keep / have kept' (i.e. 'not to lose' / 'not to have lost'), and on the other hand
there is semantic opposition 'to hide'-'to find'.
18
Slavic Folk Conceptions of Death According to Linguistic Data
Such essential, for the folk tradition, category, as a contraposition of good, natu-
ral, self death to bad, unnatural death, is also reflected in the vocabulary of death. The
very common Slavic word *shmbrtb originally used to denote a natural, good, right
death (which is expressed by the prefix *$Ђ-/*$и-, meaning 'good' and 'own'). Unnatu-
ral, bad death is denoted by the verbs * gubiti (s^)/ *ghbnoti/*g\bati (sq) 'to destroy, be
destroyed' with the primary meaning 'to bend', and further, possibly, leading to the
notion 'crooked', having stable negative connotations and interpreted as 'something
wrong, bad, dangerous' (Жуикова 1998; Толстан 1998).
Let us briefly examine a few more motifs and semantic models reflected in the vo-
cabulary and phraseology of the Slavic languages, being key ones the folk concept of
death.
1. Let us begin with the cardinal, for the given sphere, concept of the soul and
interpretation of death as separation of soul from the body. According to Serbian be-
liefs, a living person's soul is «tied» to the body (whence expressions везана душа,
«tied, i.e. corporal souU), while after death it frees itself from the body (it is nominated
слободна душа «free souU). See Чајкановић 1994.5: 72. This concept interprets
death as «separation» of the body from the soul, as the breach of the bond. \vhich bond
is sometimes perceived as christening or matrimonial bond, whence the Serbian ex-
pressions like pacKpecmumb челоеека c душоп «unchristen somebody with the souU,
свнцетик раскреи^ивает ултрак)и{его c душоп «the priest unchristens the dying
person with the soul» (Vukanović 1986: 304).
There exist various notions about the exact location of the soul in the body, as
well as about the manner in which it leaves the body in the moment of death. Most fre-
quently it's believed that the soul leaves the body through the mouth (Serbians have a
proverb Душа јвдна врата има, (i.e. «there is only one door for the soul»), but it
might also be the nose (Serbians say about a dying person Душа jMyymcy cmo]u «he
has his soul standing in his nose», (Чајкановић 1994/2: 62), or дошла душа y hoc
«the soul has come up to the nose»); cf. Serbian folk curse Душа mu на hoc da
излазша (Pirot, Златковић 1989: 32). It might also be the throat (or a hollow on the
neck): douna душа nod грло «the soul has come up to the throat^; Bulgarians consid-
er the teeth to be the last refuge of the soul before death, so they say about the dying
person Hocu душата в ЗЂбите cu «he wears his soul in his teeth» or душата му e do
ЗЂбите «his soul has come up to the teeth» or СЂржа душата cu зад ЗЂбите »he
keeps his soul behind his teeth» (ФРБЕ 1: 285-286).
It might be the eyes: Silesian Poles used to believe that the eyes burst in the mo-
ment of death, and that is how the soul comes out of the body (Moszynski 1967: 594; cf.
also Чајкановић 1994/5: 108). It may be also the nails: Bulg. dyuia u nod НОКЂЖ
остан «the soul holds on but under the nail». Czechs believe it to be the elbow: mit
duši v lokti «he has his soul in his elbow», Serbians believe it to be the bones: Дух му ce
y Kocmu забио «his spirit has hidden in his bones», Запекла му ce душа y костима
«his soul has been baked in the bones», Једва носим y костима dyiuy 4 can hardly
wear my soul in my bones» (Чајкановић 1994/5: 72). Russians also consider the soul to
gradually «run out» of the body, cf. the expression в чем moлbкo душа держитсн
19
Šveđana m. Tolstava
«what is there to keep the souU (though it might also have a different inner meaning,
underlining bodily diminution, insufficiency). Russian dial. Душа коротка стала
«the soul has become short», Ukrainian душа на однш ттџ depMumbCM «The soul
holds on to a thread» (ФСУМ 1: 277) etc.
East-Serbian (from Pirot) curses might also nominate the ribs as the place of
souls the departure: Душа mu на ребро излезла «your soul has come to your rib» etc.
(Златаовић 1989: 32). The same texts may have, in accordance with the general «low-
ered» stylistics of the curses and their characteristic «non-normativity», the motif of the
soul's departure through the anus (Душа на dyne da mu излази кад nojdeiu на они]а
свет - the same), which is in accordance with the folk concept of death of wizards,
witches etc.
Separation of the soul from the body can be interpreted as the action of either
the soul itself or the dying person or some other «third» subject. In the former case, the
soul, as a rule, «comes out» (the standard expression about death in Polesye: dyiua
ebiuuia) or «goes away» (душа уходит - about the dying person, Zakarpatye, Sinevir).
Moreover, the soul may «fly away» (East-Slavic), «fall down» (Serb, док му душа не
испадне - Трипковић 1967: 5), «break off» (Тешић 1988: 144-145); cf. also Old-Rus-
sian изрони душу из храбра тела («Слово o полку Игореве»), Rus. Karel, душа
випадает 4he soul falls out» about a dying person (СРГК 2: 13). When the dying
person is the agent, he «parts with», «separates with» the soul, «bids farewell» to it, <4ets
out, spews, exhales» the soul, «climbs down the soul» (Vologda dial, сдоблметсл c
душетки cnycmumbCH - Брагина 1980), отдает Богу душу «gives the soul to God».
Serbians say about the agony that the person «coIlect the soul» or «fights with the soul»
(agony being interpreted as the fight between the angel and the death, the fight be-
tween the angel and the devil for the human soul). See ГЕМБ 49: 163.
<=The third* party of the act may be God who takes the soul (Serb, узме му Бог
dytuy «God will take his soul»), an Angel or Archangel, a saint sent by God to take the
soul out of the person and bring it to heaven, or Death, devil, an evil spirit that «grab»
the soul with a scythe, hooks, a knife, a sabre etc. (Byelor. Gomel, анхал за правнм
вухам, HCHUcmb за левим, хто з пих пераможа, топ душу блрз).
Relatives of the dying person take care to, according to a folk expression,
nponycmumb душу -let the soul through», while it is leaving the body, therefore unfas-
ten the clothes, open the windows, the doors, the chests, and in the case of a difficult
agonizing death they raise up the tie-beam, take to pieces the ceiling or the roof. The
expression cmopoжumb dyiuy or Kapaynumb душу 'to guard the soul' is connected
with the known up to now custom of putting a vessel of the water at the head of dying
person's bed and make sure, by the waving of the water, that the soul has left the body.
It is quite often that in similar expressions the word душа 'the soul' is substituted
by dyx 'the spirit': dyx вишел, дух вон, испустш дух «the spirit went out, the spirit got
out, let the spirit out» etc. Peasants of Vologda region, while throwing some earth onto the
coffin, used to say: «dyx вон, слух вон, вид вон» «the spirit out, hearing out, seeing out».
The spirit, the air, the vapour, in folk concepts, are the substance of the soul, its
material embodiment. Though sometimes similar context might echo the Christian
20
Slavic Folk Conceptions of Death According to Linguistic Data
concept of tlie soul based on the triad body-soul-spirit, in Polesye beliefs, expressions
dyx на небо ude, a душа в землк) «The spirit goes to the heaven, and the soul goes to
the earth» or душа, вона шчо, вона никуда не попадае, згнивае «the soul does not
get anywhere, it rots» (PA, Rovno region, Glinnoye).
2. The second essential motif of the «the text of death» is the route. The fact
that it is not a concept introduced by scholars understanding the ritual of burial as
rite de passage, but a category inherent in the folk culture itself, is justified by the
vocabulary and phraseology connected with the idea of movement and route, widely
represented in all the Slavic languages. The verb xodumb 'to go', as well as its deriv-
atives and synonyms, is in the centre of these nominations of death. They say about
the dying person that he omxodum «going off», about the deceased person - отошел
«went off» {Bom y нас y соседки мужик отошел, молодоп еце бнл). Tambov dia-
lects have yxoduMbCM in the meaning of 'to be drowned' {У нас yxodunacb одна
молодеткал, так ee схоронили), and ухожики are 'the drowned ones'; the same
dialects present a rare usage of the verbs yлememb, omnememb «to fly off» in the
meaning 'to die' {У менн два мужа улетели; Начал o6upambCH, значит скоро
улетит om нас) (Махрачева 1997); it is possible that similar usage has been af-
fected by common expressions like душа отлетела, улетела «the soul has flown
off». The verb y6pambCH «to be removed* is known in the same meaning: У менл
шнубралсл, молодоп шакоп бил, 32 года «Му son was removed, he was so young,
32 years old» (Tambov).
There is another verb noted in Polesye, 6podumb «to wander», denoting the state
of the agonizing dying person. The motif of «the water route» is present in Perm dialect
expressions Јумтм зареку, упти за Каму, mom берег eudamb «to go over the river, to
go over the Kama, the other bank can be seen» (about the dying person) (Подшков
1991: 65). The way after death can be directed either upwards (Rus. Arkhangel. fta
гору собираетсн «is going up the mountain», about the dying person, AOC 9: 82) or
downwards (Perm, упти книзу 'to die', Подгоков 1991: 67).
Eastern Slavs often say about the dying person tiiat he is собираетсн в дорогу,
дивитсл на дорогу «getting ready for the journey, looking at the road» (PA, Brest region,
Rubel), уже на дорозе «already on the way» (PA, Brest region, Khoromsk), udem в
далекук) дорогу «is leaving on a far journey» (Zakarpatye, Sinevir). It was customary in
the Vologda region to place the dying person onto the floor along die floor-boards чтоб
ему no путш 6bU0 «so that he is on his way». Bulgarians used to name the dying person
ПЂШник «a traveller» (Вакарелски 1938: 258), and the special loaf of bread baked just
after death, was called ПЂШнина, and it was believed that, after the ritual breaking up of
the loaf, the soul of the deceased «started on its route» (Лозанова 1997: 42). In Polesye,
while nailing the coffin, they wished the deceased person «a happy journey». All the Slavic
traditions prohibit crying, bewailing, keening during the agony, with the stable motiva-
tion: «the dying person ought not to be disturbed on his route».
However, the verbs of the movement are more frequent in full constructions with
the designated aim, the ultimate point of the route. This ultimate point is usually de-
fined as «home>.: the dying person собираетсл do дому, do дому поглндае, идет в
21
Svetlana m. Tolstaya
дорогу do дому «is going to leave for home, looking forward to his home, going on his
way home». The inevitability of death is thus alluded to: da до.му mpe ици miucb
«some time it is necessary to go home», треба додому уже umu ему «he has to go
home already* (PA Gomel region, Ruchayevka), about the deceased: niuioe do dojuy
(PA, Rovno region, Svaritsevichi), >'же [пошел] на вечнип doM ^already [gone] to the
eternal home» (PA, Kiev region, Kopachi).
The aim of the route may also be meeting one's deceased relatives, joining the
assembly of ancestors, described in the following expressions: пошел do dedoe, do
жонки, do podbiHu, пошел do ceoux, do ecex ceoux, пошел do своего poda, do
своего doMy, уже c небошчиками говорит, з npodKamu за руку 3dopoeaemcH
«gone to the grandfathers, to one's wife, to the family, to one's own people, to all one's
people, gone to one's kin, to one's home, already talking with the deceased, greeting
the ancestors by the hand» (PA, Brest region), на своп хлеб пошла, на свое
мecmoжumeлbcmвo «gone to eat one's own bread, to one's own place of abode» (Vo-
logda region) etc. An adapted to Christianity variant of such beliefs is reflected in
phrases like отправилсн к Богу на небеса, на mom свет собралсн «gone to God in
heaven, getting ready for the other world».
From time to time, there can be met expressions connected with archaic notions
about the vegetable kingdom as the locus of the dead. Thus, an old woman from 01-
tush, a Polesye village, said about herself: Hxydm noedy в гап Л shall soon go to the
grove» (PA, Brest region); in Kaluga dialects there has been registered an expression
собираетсл в березки «going to leave to the birches», which means 'close to death'. In
Siberian dialects noumu в березовип (в зеленип) гап Ло go to the birch (green) gar-
den» means 'to die'; Russians in Lithuania say nod берези nopa «it is time to go under
the birches»; in Novgorod region yumu nod елку «to go to the fir-tree» means 'to die'
(see Подшков 1991: 71). A Yaroslav phrase nopa на веники «time to go to the besom»
with the same meaning is also interesting (it is connected with the custom of putting
besoms into the coffin).
3. The semantic models mentioned above suppose vertical linear movement of
the soul - from the dead body up to the heaven above. They are opposed by the phrase-
ology understanding death, so to say, a corporeal point of view, i.e. as the way of the
person from the face of the earth into its entrails, as coming back into the element and
substance from which the human being has been created (cL from the Orthodox Chris-
tian burial service «ико земт ecu u в землн) ombideuiu» «thou ait like the earth and
into the earth thou shalt go»).
Carpathian Rusyns say noumu do чорног зешг «go to the black earth* meaning
'to die'; Serbians say oh ode nod црну земЂу «he goes under the black earth»; Bulgar-
ian curses: Чтоб тебн взлла чернал землл! «Мау the black earth take you!»; Mdu mu
в чернун) землн)! «Go into the black earth!» etc. Slovenes say about the deceased per-
son «he has been wed to the black earth» or «he is in the arms of the black earth»; and
Greeks say «he has been eaten by the black earth* (see Толстои 1997), cL Perm, землк)
HaKopMumb «to feed the earth» meaning 'to die' (Подшков 1991: 62). Kashubs simi-
larly say «he has long been grinding the earth* (Svchta 6: 221). There is a group of sim-
22
Slavic Folk Conceptions of Death According to Linguistic Data
ilar phrases in the Czech containing the word hlina, which in the given case also means
'the earth': «there is already a pile of clay upon him», «he is in the black clay», «he is
grinding, puddling the clay», «he has gone to Hlinsk» etc. .\11 these expressions mean
'he is already dead, in the grave' (Zaoralek 1947: 109-110).
Kashubs speak about old age thus: «earth is already coming upon me», «earth is
pulling him», «he is growing into the earth» (Sychta 6: 221). It can be heard in Polesye
about very old people that they «smell of earth» (PA, Kiev region, Kopachi), or they
^getting ready to go into earth» (PA, Brest region). The Perm dialectal expression do
песку «until the sadn» means 'until death'; they say about very old people песок на
глаза сиплетсн «sand is pouring onto one's eyes» (Подкжов 1991: 67), cf. also
Novgorod, глаза песком sacunanib «to pour sand onto one's eyes»; Arkhang. песку на
глаза noлoжumb «to put some sand onto one's eyes» (AOC 9: 82) etc.
There exists a widely spread belief, according to which a person should die on the
ground, so it was customary in numerous local traditions to take the dying person
down from the bed onto the ground or at least onto the floor, especially during an ago-
nizing death. Serbians thought that the dying person should by all means «grab the
earth», «seize the earth», for being separated from mother earth, he cannot die.
Eastern Slavs and Russians in particular have an expression зелпн не
принимает «the earth won't admit», which represents a very ancient concept concern-
ing good, natural, «one's own» death and - bad, «not one's own», «evil» death. It was
forbidden to bury in the earth those who died of unnatural reasons - self-murderers,
hanged people, drowned people. Such category of the deceased people and correspond-
ing beliefs and rituals have been thoroughly investigated by D. K. Zelenin (Зеленин
1995), who, using a Northern Russian dialect term called such deceased people
заложние. According to folk beliefs, every time a заложнип deceased person is bur-
ied in the earth, he is coming back to the ground, which just is that «the earth won't
admit»; he is not prone to decay and, by nights, gets out of the grave and harms people.
Such beliefs have given origin to a special burying practice: such dead bodies were not
buried in the earth, but they were thrown out into deserted places or left on the place
of death, heaped up with twigs and branches of trees, brushwood, stones etc. to prevent
them from «walking». Serbians thought that «the earth won't admit» great sinners -
perjurers, murderers, transgressors of property laws etc. Bodies of such sinners were
burnt after their death, and the custom was preserved in some places up to the 20'''
century (Филиповиђ 1959).
The corporeal image of death gives origin to nominations of death based on the
outward observed symptoms like очи в гору подоиши «eyes gone up» (Polesye), глазки
встали «eyes stopped* (Russia); на леву сторону глаза вblвepнyлucb «eyes turned
out to the left» (Arhkangelsk region, Каспина 1996: 49) cf. the proverb <^лoжucb nod
образа da виворачивап глаза» («lie down under the icons and turn your eyes out»,
AOC 9: 82); ноги протннул «stretched one's legs» (Russia), sadpaifb (adKmyijb) Hoei
(Byelorussia, КЗрчанка 1972: 235), Pol. zadarl gegi «put one's feet up», SW) etc., as
well as characteristic features of the very funeral rites, e.g. cлoжumb руки «to fold
arms* {Уменл мужрано сложилруки в 31 год «Му husband folded his arms early -
23
Svetlana M. Tolstava
at age of 31», Tambov region, Махрачева 1997); треба pa6ui{b nam руки складеш
«one bas to work until folds one's arms*, PA, Gomel region, Ruchayevka), Rus. nod
образа neub (noлoжumb) «to lie/lay down under the icons*, Rus. Perm, nopa
полотенце zomoeumb, руки na zpydb noлoжumb, pacmnHymbcn вдoлb лавки «time
to get the towel ready; to put the arms on one's chest; to spread oneself along the
bench*; Bulg. «he carries koUvo in his mouth* (ФРБЕ 1: 749) etc.
4. The next semantic model of nomination of death stresses the concept of the end,
the completion of one's life, of «exaustiveness» of one's life resources (lot), of the life forc-
es and assigned time. The verbs Konamb and K0H4ambCH are central in the group; they
are used to denote agony and death in all the Slavic languages (let us note that the original
semantics of these verbs again brings us back to the concept of «disappearance*; both
KOHHambCM and ucHesnymb mean 'to cease to exist'). Beside these verbs, there are synon-
ymous expressions describing various aspects of the «end*, e.g. Serb. dial, пребринуо cee
бриге «all his cares have been left behind him*, or ocmaeuo кашику «put his spoon
aside* (Тешић 1988: 145), Rus. Volog. отрлхнулсн om жизни «shuffled off life*; about
old people: отживает, доживает, чужоп век живет living through the remainder
of one's days; living somebody else's life* (Poles, чужук) жизт заедает «eating some-
body else's life*), вишел из годов «run out of one's years*; безгодовип «having no
years*, cf. about one's death часуетсл «living out the hours*. According to folk beliefs, a
human being's earthly existence is measured and every violation of one's measure of time
(not living long enough up to one's measure or, vice versa, a too long life) is considered to
be dangerous for the person as well as for the whole society.
The Christian idea of death as the end of the earthly route and transition to a
new eternal life, as a second birth is basic for such nominations of death as Bulg. cnacu
ce «saved oneself*, ;?о<)м ce «was horn* (Вакарелски 1939: 10). Russian duhkobors
«do not call a Christian's extinction - death, but a change {изменение), and so do not
say our brother is dead, but our brother has changed^ (evidence of the beginning of the
19''" century, Тихонравов 1862: 12 of spec, pagin.).
A few cultural metaphors can be pointed out, being used in the vocabulary of
death. Thus, the concept that a man has his counterparts in the world of nature has
produced such phrases as saKammacb его звезда «one's star has set*, primarily corre-
lated with the phenomenon of death and connected with the belief that at the moment
of one's birth a new star is lighted in the sky, and at the moment of one's death it is
extinguished. The same image of life as light and death as darkness is present in Pole-
sye phrases догорела свечка «the candle is gone out» (about one's death) and уже
ваша cbeu4Ka doeapbieae «your candle is burning out* (your life is at an end) or in
Perm, expression свеча погасла «the candle is gone out*, i.e. 'death has come'
(Подшков 1991: 70). A Serbian expression посјвкло ce му дрво «his tree is felled* is
connected with a folk belief, according to which a man has a counterpart in the world
of trees, and, if the tree is felled, the man will die.
Among the stable and widely met in the vocabidary of death metaphors is the one
describing death as a sleep, according to the Russian proverb «сон смерти своп» (i.e.
«sleep and death are closeones*). The image has served as the basis for such well-known
24
Slavic Folk Conceptions of Death According to Linguistic Data
expressions as ycnymb вечннм сном «fall to eternal sleep», усопшип «the late«,
успение «Assumption» and, moreover, it is being developed as an ordinary picture of
sleep, bed, lying in bed etc., cf. Perm. pacmHHymbCR nodo.nb лавки, nocmenumb
nocmenbKy, еловим оделлом yKpumbcn «to stretch oneself along the bench, to make
one's bed, to cover oneself with fir blanket» meaning 'to die' etc. (Подгоков 1991: 70).
The presented examples of phraseology and vocabulary concerning death, should
they be taken outside the ritual context and the context of beliefs, might be interpreted
as ordinary linguistic metaphors, euphemistic substitutions of the verb yMupamb
(yjuepemb) 'to die', produced by the taboo on the direct nomination of death and the
process of dying; however, the very character of such substitutional nomination brings
out the deep roots of such «secondary» vocabulary of death in the cultural concepts, its
direct connection with the beliefs and ritual practice, its cultural foundation and se-
mantic depth.
REFERENCES
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БРАГИНА 1980 - Н. A. Брагина. Диалектнал лексика обрлдов семеиного цикла (родинного и похоронного)
Череповецкого и Шекснинского раионов Вологодскои области. Дипломнан работа. МГУ. М., 1980.
ВАКАРЕЛСКИ 1938 - X. Вакарелски. Старинните елементи бвлгарските народни обичаи // През векове.
Софил, 1938, р. 246-281.
ВЛКАРЕЛСКИ 1939 - A. Вашрелсш. Поштш и представи за смЂртта и за душа. Софии, 1939.
ГЕМБ - Гласник Етнографског музеја. Београд.
ЖУИКОВА 1998 - М. Жупкова. Номинацил смерти и архаическое мншление // Etnolingwistyka / Red. E.
Bartmiiiski. Lublin, 1998. [T.] 9/10, p. 67-80.
ЗЕЛЕИИН 1995 - Д K. Зеленш. Избраннме труди. Очерки русскои мифологии: умершие неестественноЈ!
смертБЈО и русалки. М., 1995. Изд. 2-е.
ЗЛАТКОВИЋ 1989 - Д. Златковић. Фразеологија страхе и наде у пиротском говору. Београд, 1989 [СЕЗб.
1989. m. Гз\.
ИВАНОВ 1987 - В. В. Иванов. Лингвистические материалв! к реконструкции погребалБНБ1х текстов в
балтиискои традиции // Балто-славлнские исследованил. 1985. М., 1987, р. 3-10.
КАСПИНА 1996 - М. Каспина. Похороннв1И обрлд Каргополви // Живал старина. 1996. № 1. р. 47-49.
ЛОЗАНОВА 1997 - Г Лозанова. Хлл6ђт на мЂртвите (no материали от 1ожнославлнската погребална
обредност от крал на X1X-XX в.) // Хли6ђт в славлнската култура. Софил, 1997, р. 37-47.
МАХРАЧЕВА 1997 - 7! S. Махрачева. Лексика и структура погребалБно-поминалвного обрндового текста в
говорах ТамбовскоЈ! обл. Кандидатскан диссертацил. Тамбов, 1997.
PA - Archives of Polesye. Institute of Slavic Studies, Moscow.
Подкжов 1991 - И. A. Подтков. Hapoлнa^ фразеологил в зеркале народно!) кулвтури. Пермв, 1991.
СРГК - Словарв русских говоров Карелии и сопределвнБ1х областеи. СПб., 1995. Bbin.2.
ТЕШИЋ 1988 - М. Теишћ. Народни живот и обичаи Пожешког 1фаа. Развигор, 1988.
ТИХОНРАВОВ 1862 - Летописи pyccKoii литературвЈ и древности, издаваемБ1е Николаем ТихонравовБ1м.
М., 1862. Т. IV.
ТОЛСТАЛ 1990 - С. М. Толстсш. Обшие злементБЈ в ритуалвном оформлении родов и кончинб! (на
материале балкано-славлнских традигши) // Балканские чтенил.1. Симпозиум no структуре текста.
М., 1990, р. 99-101.
ТОЛСТАЛ 1997 - С. M Тожтш. Из полесско!! обридовои лексики: нашлосв дити II У1фашсБКИ1Ј
д1алектолог1чни11 зб1рник. Книга 3. Пам"лти Teт^ни Назарово!. Киш, 1997.
ТОЛСТАЛ 1998 - С. М. Толстан. КулБтурнал семантика слав. *кта- II Слово и кулБтура. М., 1998. Т. 2,
р. 215-229.
25
Svetlana M. Tolstava
ТОЛСТОИ 1997 - H. И. Толстоп. КЗжнослав. црна земља, черна зелш и бели бог, бл7 бог в символико-
мифологическои перспективе // Н. И. Толстои. Избраннне труди. Т. I. Славннскал лексикологин и
семасиоло™. М.. 1997, р. 271-279.
ТОПОРОВ 1991 - В. Н. Топоров. Заметка o двух индоевропеиских глаголах умиранил // Исследовании в
области балто-славинскои духовнои кулвтурв!. ПофебалБнии обрлд. М., 1990, р. 47-53.
ТРИПКОВИћ 1967 - Посмртни обичаји и морачке жалопојке. И издање из збирке РЋ. Трипковића.
Београд, 1967.
ФИЛИПОВИЋ 1959 - М. Фтитвић. Спаљивање мртвих код Јужних Словена // Рад Војвођанских музеја.
Нови Сад, 1959. Св. 1, р. 119-133.
ФРБЕ - Фразеологичен речник на бЂлгарскил език. Софил, 1974-1975. Т. 1-2.
ФСУМ - Фразеологјчнии словник украЈнсБко! мови. Кшв, 1993. Кн. 1-2.
ЧАЈКАНОВИЋ 1994 - В. Чајтновић. Сабрана дела из српске религије и митологије. Београд, 1994. Књ. 1-5.
ГОРЧАНКА 1972 - Г.Ф. ЈОрчант. 1 коц1цца, i валјцца. Устоил1вил словазлучзнн! у гавории Mcuic-
ла1шчБ1НБ1. MiHCK, 1972.
MOSZYNSKl 1967 - K. Moszymki. Kultura ludowa Slmrian. ^arszawa, 1967. T. 2. Kultura duchowa. Cz. 1.
SW - J. Karlouicz, A. Krynski, W. Mediidecki. Slownik j^zvka polskiego. Warszawa, 1900-1935. T. 1-8.
SYCHTA 1-6 - B. Sychta. Slownik gwar kaszubskich na tie kultury kidowej. Wroclaw etc., 1967-1976. T. 1-7.
VUK.4N0VIĆ 1986 - T. Vukamiić. Srbi na Kosovu. Vranje, 1986. [Кпј.| II.
ZAORALEK 1947 - /. Znorilek. Lidovi rčeni. Praha. Brno, 1947.
BESEDA O AVTORICI
Svetlana M. Tolstava. dr., je filologinja. Di-
plomirala je na Fakulteti moskovske univerze leta
1961 in doktorirala leta 1993. Zaposlena je na Od-
delku za slovansko etnolingvistiko in folkloro. In-
štitut za slovansko kulturo, ^Akademija znanosti,
Moskva. Njeno znanstveno zanimanje sega na po-
dročje slovanske lingvistike in ljudske kulture. Je
ena izmed avtorjev enciklopedičnega slovarja "Slo-
vanske starožitnosti". Napisala je več kot 250
člankov o slovanski primerjalni slovnici, dialekto-
logiji, folklori in mitologiji, kot tudi knjigo "Mor-
fologija v strukture slavianskih jazykov" (Moskva,
1998).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Svetlana M. Tolstava. Ph.D., is a philologist.
She graduated from the Faculty of Moscow Univer-
sity in 1961 and finished her Ph.D. thesis in 1993.
She is employed at the Department of Slavic Eth-
nolinguistics and Folklore, the Institute of Slavic
Culture, the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Her
interest lies in the Slavic lingustics and folk cultu-
re. She is one of the authors of the encyclopaedic
dictionary "Slavic antiquities". She wrote over
250 papers on the Slavic comparative grammar,
dialectology, folklore and mythology and also a
book "Morfologija v strukture slavianskih jazy-
kov" (Moscow, 1998).
26
VIOLENT DEATH
IN SOUTH SLAVIC CHILDREN'S FOLKLORE
Biljana Sikimić
IZVLEČEK
Nasilna smrt vjuinoshivanski otroški folklori
Prisotnost motiva nasilne smrti v določenih otroških folkornih besedilih lahko predvideva magični izvor
besedila samega. Dokazi za to predpostavko so otroška prekletstva in zaklinjanja, kjer je smrt ena glavnih
dogajanj. Primer za to je norčevanje iz pripadnikov drugih narodnosti (Vlahov, Latinov, Ciganov itd.):
"Ti, Latin z repom, jutri boš umrl." V nekem zaklinjanju, na drugi strani, najdemo tudi tipično grožnjo
živali iz otroške folklore: v pesmi, ki jo pojejo polžu, temu ukazujejo, naj pokaže svoje roge: "Polž, pokaži
roge, če jih ne boš pokazal, te bom ubil s sekiro na zeleni trati!"
Ni potrebno dokazovati, da so tudi pesmi pestunj besedila magičnega izvora, nasilna smrt pa je motiv, ki ga
najdemo pogosto tudi v drugih besedilih odraslih, ko se igrajo z otroki. To velja za sledeči motiv iz srbske
oziroma hrvaške pesmi: "List se je zvrnil, starka je ponorela in pobila vse otroke", kjer lahko starko razume-
mo kot eno izmed otroških demonov. Verz "Volkovi bodo ubili mati rm polju", ki mu sledi prošnja volku, naj
tega ne stori (ker je mati dobra in bo dala svojemu detetu mleko), je drugačen. Pomembno je, da je perspek-
tiva ubijanja samo grožnja, tako kot je to vidno v drugih otroških besedilih magičnega izvora. Smrt živali
ima popolnoma drugačen status in velja za naravno dejanje, celo za smešno dejanje (npr "Ko so ubili gos,
so vsi otroci jokali, ko pa so jo pojedli, so bili vsi veseli."). "Naravne" smrti kot opozicije "nasilni" smrti v
južnoslovanski otroški folklori ne najdemo. Vjuzrwslovanskih jezikih je nasilna smrt najpogosteje izražena
z besedama "zaklati" in "zadaviti".
Ključna besedet folklora, južni Slovani, smrt, otroštvo, žrtev
Keywords: folklore, South Slavs, death, childhood, victim
The aim of this article is to point at some lacunas evident in contemporary South
Slavic folklore research. We have in mind the whole line of children's rhymes that are
deliberately completely avoided in both folklore anthologies and textbooks. The main
reason for this neglecting is probably the fact that contemporary reader, and even sci-
entific researcher, find these texts morbid.
Our starting point was the distinction between natural and violent death in Slavic
perception of the world, considering the violent one a not-one's4)wn death. The idea
27
Biljana Sikimić
was to check how it is reflected in South Slavic folklore texts, paying special attention
to the usage of these texts for and by the children. We will focus only on children's
point of view of incidental situation, as it is performed by the adults for children in the
early childhood, and how it is performed by children themselves, some years later.
Due to the specific type of material certain terms used in this article need addi-
tional explanation. The violent death is frequently displayed in children's folklore
through the incidental situation. Incidental situation can remain not effectuated, i.e.,
remain on mere threat or curse, or some similar verbal expression. This situation is
created by actors, that in children's folklore could be directly mentioned in the text it-
self (directly mentioned actor is the explicitly quoted actor that is unchangeable and
not depending on the context), and indirect participants of the incidental situation, so-
called contextual actors. Contextual actors take part in the text from the context, from
performer's or narrator's standpoint. This actor is changeable, and in each situation of
the text performing it is related to the concrete child or children. This child is men-
tioned by its proper name, or its presence is evident from the use of personal pronoun
in first or third person singular. First person is used by child itself or by the narrator
instead of the child.
Actors of incidental situation can assume two different positions - the positions of
agens or patiens, frequently related by conjunctio instrumentalis (cf. Toporov 1998). In
anthroponymic code agens can be, e.g., Aunt, Turk, Queen, or Me. The Wolf or Bear
belongs to the zoomorphic code agens, in ridicules agens could even be Hen. The agens
in children's curses sometimes is not specified, but it is obvious - the concept of the
death in curse being provoked, violent one, e.g.: tomorrow you will die. The usage of
the distinction ones-own and not-ones-own death related to the patiens in children's
folklore can provoke interesting consequences. The violent death (slaughter, where the
agens is a man) has completely different status (status of the ones-own death) and it is
considered a natural act, even funny, e.g.: When they killed the goose, all the children
cried, when they ate the goose, all were happy. On the other hand, perishing of the wild
animal (disregarding the agens) has a status of not-one's-own death. Natural death of
the human being (one's-own death) opposed to the violent one, is rarely found in South
Slavic children's folklore.
Specific material of the death orientated children's folklore for the purpose of
this article is limited to texts only, children's games being considered solely if their
texts are also independently attested, not vice versa. Existence of the same text both
within ritual and independently (without context) is always good indication in search-
ing for the text origin, and further for the origin of the motif itself. This treatment will
be illustrated mainly with such transformed texts, starting from the children's games,
or adults' ritual folklore, children magic texts and other texts of not marked usage. The
inverse process was also possible, i.e., some neutral children's text gradually could sub-
stitute original incantation texts.
28
Violent Death in South Slavic Children's Folklore
1. i4iitlirop»morpliic patlens
1.1. Contextual actor (Child): agens (Aunt, Uncle, She-bear)
Involved contextual actor - child participates in the game as potential victim, as it
is said in the text itself. Children's game comprises closed circle, one child in the mid-
dle is to be Aunt (tetka), with its hands she imitates the process of making cookies. At
the end of the rhyme. Aunt becomes angry and drives children away, catches them and
strangles them, because of the teasing words of children's singing: Tetka kolačiće pljes-
ka na bukovu listu, list se provali, tetka se pomami, pa svu decu pognjavL ("Aunt is mak-
ing cookies, on the beech leaf, the leaf broke, aunt went mad, and killed all the chil-
dren", Vlasenica in Bosnia). This children's game text is well-known all over Serbo-
Croat language territory, which is not the case with the game itself. The same text is a
song sung to a child while swinging or as a lullaby. According to the agens type all the
known variants are divided in three region groups, while the patiens is contextual actor
- the child to whom this rhyme is sung. In the East agens is She-bear: Nuni nuni nuška,
kraj Morave kruška. Tuj mi sedi tetka, te mi ljulja Petka, Nuni, nuni, Petko, ete gu ide
mečka da udavi Petka. ("Pear tree beside Morava. There sits my aunt, swinging Petko.
Sleep, sleep, Petko, here it comes she-bear to choke you", Niš, Serbia); in central area
agens is Uncle: Ljulja ljulja ljuske, na Moravi kruške. Gdeje moja tetka? Kolačiće pljes-
ka. I meni bi dala ali ne da tetak otpao mu repak na veliki petak. ("Pear trees are on
Morava. Where is my aunt? She is petting cookies. She would give them to me, but the
uncle would not allow, let his tail fall off on Good Friday", Čačak; Serbia); in western
regions text model the agens is Aunt: Hajdemo mi na more, na zelene javore, gdjeno
moja tetka kolačiće pleska na bukovoj Ijeski; ljeska se prevali, tetka se pomami. ("Let us
go at the seaside, on green maples, where my aunt is petting cookies on beech leaves,
leaf overturned, my aunt became furious", Herzegovina). Starting from the supposi-
tion that even in this case peripheral regions are more conservative than central ones,
we can suppose that the Uncle is secondary in text variants, together with his action (he
would not allow cookies to the child). In that case, the Aunt and She-bear are issofunc-
tional and the incident they provoke is fatal.
The actions performed by the mentioned actor (Aunt), which is not always agens,
are: petting cookies, crushing nuts and nibbling hazel-nuts. Searching for explanation
of this actor's function, the folk tale about the origin of fleas, lice, nuts and hazel-nuts,
can be helpful. An old woman was bored, and she prayed the God: Daj mi Bože jal
ušicu, jal bušicu, ja oraščić, ja lešnjičić - da se zabavljam ('God, give me louse, or flea, or
nut, or hazel-nut, to amuse myself), hs function in text can be made clear with South
Slavic ethnographic data about existing correlation between the children, from one
side, and nuts and hazel-nuts from the other. In Samobor, Croatia, people believe that
during the year abundant with nuts and hazel-nuts, lots of children will be born, also.
For the same purpose (to have many of children) during Montenegrin wedding, people
throw nuts and hazel-nuts; Catholics in Karlovac put hazel-nut branch in front of the
bride; in Homolje (Northern Serbia) the bride herself puts acorns, hazel-nuts and nuts
under her dress in order to give birth to boys only.
29
Biljana Sikimić
Text variants collected in a zone of Balkan language league together with Aunt
and Uncle contain She-bear as a text actor. This bear kills (strangles or takes away) the
child called Petko. The examples are from Western Bulgaria (Dimitrovgrad, Kjustendil)
or from South-eastern Serbia (Boljevac, Niš, Leskovac, Bujanovac). In this region some-
times the Aunt makes a plea to the She-bear not to scare children, but She-bear then
strangles the Aunt. The Aunt (tetka) in this region is one of euphemisms for the bear.
This is the case at Boljevac, at the Saint Andrew - Bear's Day (this festival is known only
to the South Slavs, cf. Gura 1997:172, SD s.v. Andrej) when the parents shell corn and
show it to the children explaining that the aunt was here and ate dinner. In the vicinity
of Pirot the same day is called Aunt's Day (Tetkin d'n), and the bear is called tetka. Also,
in some villages near Niš She-bear is called teta, tetka. Early in the morning on Bear's
Day, the adults show to the children bit corn saying: Children, the bear was here, or:
Look, what the aunt ate. In the village of Hum they make bear traces in snow. On that
day working is prohibited, because the bear can strangle a person disobeying that rule,
tear his clothes, or make some other damage.
Completely different is the situation to the west from the Balkan language league
territory, where the unique text actor is Aunt (tetka). Location of this actor (tetka) is
pear tree, or beech along side the Morava river, or brook, middle of the field, heaven,
seaside, green maple, or the Aunt is sitting on beech/pear leaf (connected with follow-
ing incident: this leaf broke or overturned). Demonic role of the Aunt is evident only
through her relationship with the contextual actor (me, my child): tetka se pomami, svu
djecu pognjavi, samo mene ostavi ('the aunt infuriated and killed all the children but
me'). This action is frequently expressed through incidental folklore formula provali/
pomami (broke/infuriated) .
There is a similar situation in children's game Sije baba mlivo ('The old woman
sowing flour', attested in Bosnia). Children in wheel dancing sing to the Old woman
that imitates sowing with sieve: Seje baba mlivo na rešeto krivo, ne može ga posipati reč
ga stade prosipati ('The old woman is sowing flour with a torn sieve, she can't do it, so
she begins to spill it'). Then, the children blow in flour, old woman gets infuriated and
runs after them. The same text is used while swinging child's head in hands: Sije baba
mlivo na rešeto krivo. ('The old woman is sowing flour with a torn sieve'). The same text
is attested without ritual context, only as a song and contains the same incidental for-
mula provali/pomami (broke/inhiriated): Sij baba mlivo, na rešeto krivo, rešeto se prov-
ali, baba se pomami. ('Sow, old woman, flower with a torn sieve, the sieve broke, the old
woman got infuriated'), or: Seje baba brašno na dedino krilo. Krilo se provaU, baba se
pomami pa svu decu podavi. ('The old woman is sowing flour on the old man's lap. The
lap broke, the old woman got infuriated, and strangled all the children'. All these exam-
ples come from Bosnia).
Even the connection Aunt : cake is a folklore formula, cf. following proverbs:
Hvala mu kao i tetki bez kolača ('Thank him like aunt without a cake'). Bog te sačuvo
božične jugovine i tetina kolača; ће raduj se božičnoj jugovini ni tetinu kolaču ('God save
you from Christmas south wind and aunt's cake'; 'Don't look forward to Christmas
south wind or to aunt's cake'); also, when the child chokes up, others tell him: Doneče ti
tetka kolače ('The aunt will bring you cakes', Kosovo).
30
Violent Death in South Slavic Children's Folklore
1.2. Contextual actor (Child): patiens (my Mother), agens (Wolf)
In children's folklore mother's death is frequently issofunctional with the death
of the actor itself, i.e. child. The illustration for this thesis is the case of involving the
child in folklore text already mentioning mother (it implicitly includes a particular
child). On the other hand, in the same example polyfunctionality of the same text can
be followed, so at Punat, on the island of Krk, there is a saddle shaped stone 'horse'
used by children for riding that 'horse'. On this occasion, while riding stone or branch,
children say following rhyme: Ijo, cu, na konja, pal je Marko pod konja, na šenicu bilicu,
milu majku zazove, ćiću mu je dala, i još će mu dati, kada ide spati. ('Jump on the horse.
Marko fell under the horse, on the white wheat, he called his dear mother, she gave him
breast, and will give it to him again before he goes to sleep'). There is a belief that on
the same stone initiation occurs when future magician comes to age, what makes possi-
ble supposition that this game, as well as the text, is a relict of some initiation ritual (cf.
Bonifačić-Rožin 1976:150-151).
The same rhyme, with slightly modified incident, is spread all over Serbo-
Croatian language territory: Cucun cucun na konju, vuci majku zakolju, u pšenici u
polju. Nemojte ju zaboga, majka mi je dragana, sise mi je davala. Opet će mi davati kad
stanemo spavati. ('Ride on horse, wolfs slaughter the mother, in wheat field. For God's
sake, don't do that, she is dear, she gave me her breast. She will give me again before
sleep'). The actors provoking incident are almost always wolfs (sometimes a Turk can
stand in the place o wolf, or the evil is not named). Only once the victim is described as
an old woman. Location is regularly the same: wheat field (rarely: deep brook, broad
stone). Further development of the death incident is possible this way: da je za breg
odnesu, da je vrane pojedu ('to take her behind the hill, for crows to eat her'). Still, this
fatal incident remains in text only in a form of threat. Contextual actor - child is beg-
ging the wolf not to accomplish his threat, sometimes even offering him some recom-
pensation: nabraću ti jagoda (TU pick up strawberries for you', transferred without
adaptation from the folklore offer to a bear). Some examples of this rhyme have at the
end continuation in a form of a children's prayer before sleep.
In folklore children's curses mother's death is used in strictly determined situa-
tions. The following one is connected with playing speechless: ko ne rekne ap, umrla mu
mat i najmladji brat. ('Who wouldn't say ap, may his mother and the youngest brother
die', Slavonija). This curse is also used in a situation when some child would not share
his food with the other children: Ko jede sam da mu umre majka. ("Who is eating alone,
may his mother die', Kosovo), or: Moja ruka prosi ako nećeš dati umreće ti mati sutra u 6
sati ('My hand is begging, if you don't give anything your mother will die tomorrow at
six o'clock', Belgrade). In the same context issofunctionally appears death threat to the
child itself: Podijeli krivoj ruci pa te neće mrki vuci pred djamijom dje klanjaju Turci.
('Give to the twisted hand, black wolfs will not kill you in front of the mosque where
Turks are praying', Kordun). In South Slavic children folklore wolf kills domestic ani-
mals, too: Pojo vuk telce, i popove štence, ne žali pop telce, man on žali štence. Seoski su
telci, a popovi štenci. ('Wolf ate calves and priest's pups. The priest is sorry for pups, not
for calves. The calves belong to the village, pups to the priest').
31
Biljana Sikimić
Death threat to the mother in children's folklore is issofunctional with some oth-
er incidents, e.g. house fall: Dete, dete, kokoške ti prete, ploičići ti govore da ti majku
umore. ('Child, chickens are threatening you, little ducks are talking to kill your moth-
er', Serbia), and: Dijete, kokoši ti prijete. Orozi ti govore da ti kuću obore. ('Child, chick-
ens are threatening. Cocks are talking to strike down your house', Bosnia), Dijete, koko-
ši ti prijete da ne jedeš jaja za godinu dana za luburu jaja; orozi ti govore, da ti kuću
obore. ('Child, chickens are threatening not to eat eggs for a year, for a dish of eggs,
cocks are telling that they will strike down your house', Bosnia).
In South Slavic children's folklore some texts are known where incidental situa-
tion - wolfs killing mother - is effectuated. The examples are from Slavonia and Bosnia:
Gavran gače sa jele. Pitajte ga što vele? Bome dobro ne vele: vuci ženu pojeli! Cija žena
žalostan? Arlovova Marija! Arlov žali Mariju, i pečenu pogaču. ('Raven is cracking at the
fir-tree. Ask him what they are saying? Indeed, they don't say good: wolfs have killed the
woman! Whose woman, forlorn? Arlov's Maria! Arlov is lamenting Maria and baked
cake'). The final segment of this rhyme is unique, it preserves fragments of husband's
funeral laments, cf. Dabar kuka i plače: Jaoj moja Jurija! i kuvana večera i mekana
ložnica, i satrena obućal ('Dabar, is weeping and crying: ow! my Yuria, and cooked din-
ner, and soft bedroom and cleaned shoes!') or: Jaoj moja Urijo, nepredena kudiljo, ne-
varena večero, neprostrta posteljol ('Ow, my Uria, tow not spun, dinner not cooked, bed
not prepared!'). This husband's lament reveals ideal women's qualities as wife and
housewife. Similar content - praising ideal woman's qualities - is found in some South
Slavic wedding laments, where the bride is weeping before wedding in front of her
friends, cf. the example from Kosovo: Zašto čerku odvojiste? Da li kuću ne pomela? Da li
vodu ne donela? Da I ve nije jadna oprala? Da I vi nije izatkala? Da I čarape nije saplela?
Da I u trio nije ulegla? Da li stoku nije pomuzla? ('Why did you separate your doughtier?
Didn't she broom the house? Didn't she bring the water? Didn't she, poor thing, wash
you? Didn't she weave? Didn't she knit socks? Didn't she enter the sheep-fold? Didn't
she milk the cattle?'), or: Zar te nije, tajko, izula? Zar ti nije obuću našla? Zar te nije is-
pratila? Zar te nije pričekala? Zar te nije ponudila? Ni postelju namestila? ('Didn't she
take off your shoes, father? Didn't she bring your shoes? Didn't she see you off? Didn't
she meet you? Didn't she offer you? Didn't she prepare the bed?'). The same ideal us-
age of the women is found in droll children's rhyme from Serbia: Aoj Ero nevero što si
ženu Otero, tebi žena treba da ti mesi hleba, ručak da gotovi, večeru da sprema ('Ow! Era,
you treacherous one, why did you throw out your wife, you need her for making bread,
cooking lunch, preparing dinner'), or: ženu mi ne diraj, žena mi treba, da mi mesi leba,
ručak da kuva, decu da čuva, gaće da krpi i boj da trpi. ('Don't touch my wife, I need
her, for making bread, for cooking lunch, for looking after children, for mending my
pants and for sustaining beating'). This motif of ideal woman is found in Russian wed-
ding laments, even using the same syntax.
32
Violent Death in South Slavic Children's Folklore
2. Anthropomorphic patiens (Others)
2.1. Text aetors : ridicules
Children's ridicules texts mention particular victim by name. They are connected
with context and with the active presence of the patiens. The victims in the text con-
taining death threat are mentioned as group members, generically, with pointing out
their ethnic origin. Certain types of mockering of the aliens contain specific incidental
formula: death threat (expressed by the verb "krepati") followed by troublesome funer-
al (the same text can refer e.g., to the Serb - Vlach, Dalmatian, or Croat - Dokac): Oj ti
Vlase repati, sutra tije krepati! Kuku ruci koja će te vući i lopati koja će te kopati; Đokac
bokac repati, sjutra ćeš nam krepati. Teško onoj ruci koja će te vući, teško onoj lopati koja
će te kopati ("Неу, you Vlach/Croat with a tail, you will die tomorrow! Woe to the hand
that will pull you, and to the shovel that will bury you"). Verb krepati ("perish misera-
bly") does not reflect one's4)wn death, the act being even temporally planned ("tomor-
row; when"). The same text is used for the citizens of the town of Šabac: Šabačani repa-
ti, kada ćete krepati? Teško onoj ruci koja će vas vući! Teško onoj lopati koja će vas kopa-
til It can be used by Orthodox people to the Catholics: Latinine repati, sjutra ćeš mi kre-
pati, teško onoj ruci, koja će te vući, teško onoj lopati, koja će te kopati, and vice versa, by
Catholics to the Orthodox: Kudrovine repati, sjutra ćeš mi krepati (both examples from
Sarajevo). In Bosnia the same text is used for Gypsies.
Other incidental formula, typical of Serbia, describes pest (cuma) that kills all ex-
cept one, insulting at the same time their mother. It may again be aimed at members of
certain ethnicity, e.g. Gypsies: Ciganka Banka kurva joj majka, mnogu decu porodila,
došla čuma te pobila. Sam' ostalo Janće Jovanče ("Gypsy banka, her mother is a whore,
she gave birth to many children, then pest came and killed them. Janče Jovanče just re-
mained"), or residents of different villages, e.g. village Ljubinci: vaša majka djavoljaj-
ka, mnogu decu porodila, došla čuma te pobila, sal ostao taraban ("Your mother is dev-
ilish, then pest came and killed them, just taraban remained"), village Obrez: Vaša
majka torolajka. Mnogu decu naradjala, došla čuma te potrla, sal ostao Balaban ("Your
mother is a whore. She had a lot of children, then pest came and killed them, just Balo-
ban remained"), residents of the other side of Morava river: sve ih majka porodila sve ih
čuma pogodila, samo jedan ostao ("ali of them mother bore, all of them the pest struck,
just one remained").
2.2. Text actors: old woman and old man
Completely different is the incidental situation describing violence between an
old couple. The old woman (baba) and old man (deda) in the following examples are
common, patiens is not personalised. From the synchronical point of view this incident
operates as a humorous one because of the inverse picture of usual gender behaviour.
The examples are from Bosnia, Lika, Istria: Seje/kuva baba lobodu, posla dedu po vodu,
nema dede: - leti baba poskokom, nadje dida pod plotom: tikva ga je pritisla pa mu dušu
istisla ("The old woman is sowing/cooking orach; she sends her old man to bring the
water, there is no old man: old woman runs and jumps, she finds the old man under the
33
Biljana Sikimić
fence: a pumpkin pressed him and squeezed his soul") or: Podje baba u skok, nadje
dida uz plot. Uze baba kablinu, razbi didu glavinu. Ne zali baba glavine, nego svoje ka-
bline ("The old woman jumps, she finds the old man beside the fence. The old woman
took a big tub, and crashed old man's head. The old woman is not grieving for the
head, but for her big tub").
Ritual context of Macedonian Christmas carol with the same actors and similar
incidental situation: padnalo grede, utepalo dede ("beam fell and killed the old man"),
the old woman is mourning by ridiculous lament: 0 lele starce, kuso nmgarče ("Oh,
woe, old man, donkey without a tail"), can be the clue for the explanation of similar
South Slavic children's texts.
3.  Zoomorphic patiens
34. Death threat: snail
In children's incantation text directed to the snail with a command to stretch his
horns, patiens is snail, present during the text performance, agens being contextual actor,
that is the child pronouncing the rhyme. This structure is typical of children's incanta-
tion texts, although death threat does not come regularly (cf. completely different attitude
toward the ladybird). Death threat to a snail exists with other Slavic peoples, e.g. with the
Kashubs. South Slavic variants are explicit: ako nećeš pustiti, mi ćemo te ubiti ("f you don't
want to stretch them, we will kill you"),ya ću tebe ubiti, na zelenoj travi, sikirompo glavi ("I
will kill you, on the green grass, with an axe on your head", both examples from Serbia).
Issofunctional to death threat is the threat of destroying the snail's house: ako je nećeš
pustiti hižu ću ti prodati ("if you don't want to stretch it, I will sell your house"); da ti kuće
ne prodam starom dedi/babi za duhan ("1 will sell your house and buy tobacco for the old
man/woman"); caru i carici za krajcaricu ("to the king and queen for kreuzer", Bosnia,
Croatia), će ne ћ bodem hišo potrl; or: drugać ti hišo poderem ("if not I will break your
house; otherwise I will tear your house", Slovenia). It is likely that following examples of
the threat of breaking the dishes could refer to the snails house: ja ću tebe ubiti i sudove
razbiti; polupaću ti sudove ("I will kill you and break dishes: 1 will smash your dishes".
Northern Serbia). Even in this text appears as issofunctional the threat of mother's death:
da ti mati ne umre, da ti djeca ne plaču, da ti kruha ne ištu, da ti vode ne piju ("that your
mother not die, that your children not cry, not ask for a bread, not drink water", Bosnia).
Ethnographic evidences about the children's attitude toward snad show that this threat in
fact is later frequently effectuated.
3.2. Effectuated death: §waUow
Zoomorphic victims of the incident always are mentioned in the text. Basic differ-
ence in the folklore status of zoomorphic victim consists in the fact that for domestic
animals violent death (caused by man) is one's-own death, what is not the case with wild
animals, especially not with inedible ones.
Folklore text presents the death of a swallow as a violent one, not-one's-own death.
In the children's text present in the whole Balkan Slavic region (Macedonia, Bulgaria,
34
Violent Death in South Slavic Children's Folklore
Southeast Serbia) determined by collectors as lullaby, counting-out rhyme, or simply
children's rhyme to a swallow (when children see that bird, at Macedonia and Bulgaria)
there is an invitation for the swallow to prepare feathers for the dinner. The swallow is
answering: 'T don't feel like having dinner, because my fledgling is killed." Some vari-
ants describe the incident: Carica ga je nagazila i creva mu isterala; Carička ga nastan-
ula na zlo mesto na slabinu ("The queen stepped on him, and squeezed his intestines;
Queen stepped on his wrong place, on flank"), Car mi gaje nagazio ("The king stepped
on him". Eastern Serbia, Bulgaria); in the variant from Levač: orlica ga raščupala rui
zlo mesto na grbinu ("The eagle dishevelled him on the wrong place, on back"). Beside
it evident presence in the South Slavic children's folklore, this text appears in some
East Serbian collections as a Serbian family feast (slava) song.
3.3. Effectuated death: goose
Zoomorphic victim killing (slaughtering) is in chddren folklore accepted as a reg-
ular event, the death of one domestic animal serving for food is one's-own death. This is
clearly expressed in following nursery rhyme: Delengu, delengu, četir guske na leglu (or:
četir guske bele sedam jaja snele), a kad su ih zaklali svi smo redom plakali. A kad smo ih
pojeli svi smo bili veseli, ("four geese on the nest/four white geese laid seven eggs, when
they slaughtered them we all cried. But, when we ate them, we were all happy", Serbia,
Slavonia, Bosnia), or: Mi tu gusku zaklasmo pa za njome plakasmo nije mi žao guske, ko
od guske peruške ("We slathered this goose and cried for her, I was not sorry for the
goose, as for goose's feather", Slavonia), Jednu gusku zaklaše, svu noč deca plakaše,
ćuti, ćuti, dilbere, kupicu ti cipele ("One goose was slaughtered, all night children cried,
be silent, be sdent, my dear, I will buy you shoes", Radjevina, Serbia).
3.4. Zoomorphic patiens: others
In the following chOdren's rhyme from Bosnia, slaughtering of rooster or cow in-
clude implicitly wedding context: Sta na piru bi, bi? - Zaklaše pjevca krilaša, nametnuše
kupusa glavaša; zaklaše kravu Gutuju, dovedoše Fatu Rutuju ("What was on the wed-
ding? They slaughtered winged rooster, they put on him big-headed cabbage; they
slaughtered cow called Gutuja, they brought Eata Rutuja"). Such treatment is expected
in other ritual contexts, e.g. in Macedonian and Western Bulgarian Christmas songs:
Idat Božik, nosit nože da kolime tele; tele velit: lele, ne koli mene, koli ga zajka/kokol
("Christmas is coming, it is caring the knife for slaughtering the calf; calf is speaking:
won, don't slaughter me, slaughter rabbit/hen"). The same motif appears in the Christ-
mas song from Pelješac (Dalmatia): a žene su dobre ćudi (...) ubit će jalovicu, počastit če
me, ispeć će peć kruha (...) provrtit će bačvu vina ("Women have good temper, they will
kill barren cow, they will stand me a treat, they will bake an oven full of bread, they will
open barrel of vine"). One text of St. Lazarus day procession from Southern Serbia
mentions slaughtering of a hen: našje Lazar u selo. Meste mu pogače, koljite mu koko-
šku, točete mu rakiju ("Our Lazarus is in the village. Knead for him round cake, slaugh-
ter for him a hen, pour for him brandy"). In all these examples it is possible to consider
these animal victims as parts of the food code.
35
Biljana Sikimić
Slaughtering of an domestic animal folklore text can treat even as an award, e.g.
in mockery to the crying child, due to the later processing of the animal into high qual-
ity food: Riči, rid, magare, preko blata u bare, zaklaćemo junicu, daćemo ti uzicu i njez-
ino crivo, da ti nije krivo. ("Roar, roar, donkey, across the mud toward pond, we will
slaughter heifer, we will give you string and her bowel, may you not feel injured"); Cuva
plačko goveda i babinu junicu (...) Zakla baba junicu, dade Ibri nožicu. ("Cry-baby is
keeping cattle and old woman's heifer. Old woman slaughtered the heifer and gave to
Ibro the leg"). Zakla baba junicu, dade plačku guzicu. ("Old woman slaughtered the
heifer and gave ass to cry-baby").
On the other hand, natural death of a domestic animal (dying of a calf, or a cow,
e.g.) in the folklore text is an unnatural fact, i. e., material damage: Kuku lele, krepa
babi tele; šuti baba sjutra će i krava. ("Woe, old woman's calf died, keep silent, old wom-
an, the cow will die tomorrow"). Material damage, consequently from the folklore per-
spective is perishing of some domestic animal caused by wolf or bear, cf., e.g. Russian
curse to the landlady not willing to reward members of the ritual procession: Pervaja
beda - lošad' so dvora, vtoraja beda - korova so dvora, vaša skotinka zabludissja! Volk
sožret, i medved' obderetl ("First evil - to take the horse from the yard, second evil - to
take the cow from the yard, your cattle to disappear! Let the wolf devour and bear
scratch!")
Possible global conclusions on synchronic basis derived from here presented
South Slavic children's folklore should take into account it's relative conservatism, and
consequently, possibility of persistence of some archaic traces in it. Close connections
between the texts containing the death motif and the adult's ritual texts or incantations
is evident. This fact makes possible supposition that in past difference between the folk-
lore of adults ant that belonging to children was not evident, like it is today. Here ana-
lyzed South Slavic children's folklore texts can serve as a ground for dyachronic ethno-
linguistic research of the concept of Death in Old Slavic culture. From the other side, it
is necessary to emphasize that violence and cruelty are inherent to the children's folk-
lore in general.
36
Violent Death in South Slavic Children's Folklore
LITERATURE
The following list contains only basic references and no ethnographic and folklorist sources, due to the limited size of
the article.
AGAPKINA, T. 1998: Mitologija derev'jev v tradicionnoj kul'ture Slavjan: leščina (Corylus avellana). Studia m\lhologi-
ca stavka I, Ljubljana - Pisa, 183-196.
B0NIFAČI("^0Ž1N, N. 1976: Oblici tradicionalne stočarske kulture na otoku Krku, Rad 21. Kongresa SUFJ, Sa-
rajevo, 143-169.
ĆAJKANOVIĆ, V. 1990: Rečnik narodnih verovanja o biljkama, Beograd.
DJORDJEVIC, Т. 1990: Deca u verovanjima i običajima našega naroda, Beograd - Niš.
GURA, A. V. 1997: Simbolika životnjh v slavjanskoj narodnoj tradicii, Moskva.
KAUFMAN, N., KAUFMAN, D. 1988: Pogrebalni i drugi oplakvanija v B'lgarija, Sofija.
SD: Slavjanskie drevnosti, Moskva 1995.
SIKIMIĆ, В. 1999: Djavo i jalova žena, Slavjanskie stjudy, Sbornik k jubileju S. М. Tolstoj, Moskva, 416-475.
SIKIMIĆ, В. 1998: Detskie draznilki, Živaja starina 1 (17), Moskva, 21-24.
TOPOROV, V. N. 1974: Slavjanskie kommentarii k neskol'kim latinskim arhaizmam. Etimologija 1972, Moskva, 3-19.
TOPOROV, V. N. 1998: Detskaja igra t- nožiški i ee miforitual'nye istoki, Slovo i kul'tura II, Moskva, 242-272.
37
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Biljana Sikimić. dr., znanstvena sodelavka
na Inšitutu za srbski jezik Srbske akademije zna-
nosti in umetnosti v Beogradu (Oddelek za etimo-
logijo). Področja njenega zanimanja so slovanska
etimologija, jezik folklore, balkanska lingvistika in
etnolingvistika, leksikologija. Objavila je prek 40
člankov v revijah in znanstvenih publikacijah, mo-
nografijo Etimologija in male folklorne oblike (Be-
ograd 1996) ter 18 gesel v Poskusni izdaji etimolo-
škega slovarja srbskega jezika (Beograd 1988).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Biljana Sikimić, Ph.D., scientific resear-
cher at the Institute for Serbian language, Depart-
ment for etymology (Serbian Academy of Sciences
and Arts), Belgrade. The field of research - Slavic
etymology, language of folklore, Balkan Unguisti-
cs, ethnolinguistics, lexicology. She published over
40 articles in reviews and scientific journals; mo-
nograph "Etymology and Small Folklore Forms",
Belgrade 1996; 18 entries in "Test volume of Ety-
mological dictionary of Serbian language",
Belgrade 1998.
THE MOTIF OF DEATH IN SERBIAN AND
CROATIAN FOLK NARRATIVE
Yekaterina Yakushkina
IZVLEČEK
Motiv smrti v srbskem in hrvaškem ljudskem pripovedništvu
Iz ljudske kulture je razvidno, da je smrt glavni dogodek v človekovi usodi. Določanje časa in okoliščin
smrti je eden najpomembnejših (skupaj s poroko) aspektov obsodbe, ki jo izvajajo sojenice, demoni usode
pri južnih Slovanih. Pojmovanje človeške usode je pogosto sinonim za pojmovanje smrti (sudjen dan =
smrt, določen dan = smrt). Podobno imajo ljudje tudi demone, ki določajo človeško usodo, za demone smr-
ti. Ti najpogosteje določijo nenaravno smrt, kot na primer, da se bo oseba utopila. Ne le, da predvidijo oko-
liščine smrti, temveč jo tudi povzročijo s tem, da obsodbo izgovorijo. Magična moč njihovih besed povzroči
smrt (določiti usodo nekoga = izvajati "smrtno obsodbo" = ubiti).
Ze dejstvo, da jim ljudje niso žrtvovali, včasih zadostuje, da se odločijo "ubiti" neko osebo. Iz primerov
moralnih ljudskih zgodb je razvidno, da bo oseba, ki ne verjame v magičnost obsodb demonov, ušla napove-
dani smrti. Ne glede na to je glavna misel vseh ljudskih zgodb o človeški usodi, da je obsodba (smrt) neogi-
bna, navkljub vsem poskusom, da bi jo preprečili. Oseba lahko živi dlje, kot je bilo določeno le, če ji nekdo
podari del svojega življenja, da se tako ohranja "uravnoteženost". Na ta način je določanje smrti pravza-
prav omogočanje ustreznega življenja in skupni seštevek ostaja konstanten.
Ključne besede: ljudsko pripovedništvo, Srbi, Hrvati, smrt, usoda
Key words: folk tales, Serbs, Croats, death, fate
My paper is dedicated to the issue of the predetermination of death in Serbian
and Croatian folk narratives about people's fate. This body of texts consist of stories in
which demons - suđenice ("rodenice") and angels - act who predetermine man's fate.
Folk stories about a fixed death are non-fantasy and most of them are close to the genre
of Saga. These stories are not equally common in all parts of Serbia and Croatia, and
we should emphasise that they are less common than the belief in the suđenice. As an
area where these stories have been preserved we can single out East Serbia: Kosovo,
Kruševac, Levač (material gathered in the early 20"' century). Takovo (mid-20''' centu-
ry), Požarevac, Niš (material gathered in the early 1970s for an ethnographic atlas of
39
Yekaterina Y'akushkina
Yugoslavia), Leskovac (1980s). The Croatian stories originate from Varaždin (late 19*
century), Samobor (early 20* century). Dugo Selo and Đakovo (1920s and 30s).
M. Valjavec who collected folk stories about suđenice in the environs of Varaždin,
established that in the stories we know positive verdicts are very rare. Of the eleven stories
recorded in Varaždin there are only three in which the decision of the demons is positive,
although in one of them it is only relatively positive: "If he doesn't marry the daughter of
the king of the Vile (nymphs), we shall kill him". In other stories the judgement is negati-
ve. This means that because of the fact that their judgement is more often connected with
death than with other events in human life, we can presume that originally suđenice were
the demons of death, and only later became the demons of destiny.
The most common plot in folk stories about destinv is as follows: after pronouncing
a verdict, the person dies the death adjudged to him, in spite of all his attempts to avoid it.
Parents don't allow their child - if predetermined to drown - to come close to a river, but
the child chokes when drinking water. Parents close the well in which the child is to fall,
but it dies near it. Relatives don't let a child, predestined to be eaten by a wolf, to go to the
forest, but the rose the boy likes turns into a wolf, and the child perishes and so on. In
non-fantasy narratives the basic function of suđenice is the emphasised predetermination
of the time and circumstances of someone's death. The story-teller perceives them just
this way. "Three rođenice have come. They are women who decide what kind of death one
will die." We can thus say that the concept of fate in non-fantasy narratives is reduced to
the predetermination of time and nature of death. Moreover, in language death is fixed as
a result of judgement: suđen dan - the adjudged day.
In the texts of folk narratives the semantic 'to adjudge death' is expressed by the
words "to kill" or "to take away": "If he doesn't marry the daughter of the king of the
Vile (nymphs king), we shall kill him". In other words the suđenice cause the death of a
person. But they cause it not by their own action, but through their words which in this
case have the power of action and inevitably cause death. It is very important to note
that their activity is not limited to the moment of someone's birth. They supervise
events of someone's life, and if death was not adjudged at the moment of birth, they can
cause it subsequently. "If be doesn't marry the daughter of the king of the Vile, we
shall kill him". The image of murder corresponds with the fact that, as a rule, an unna-
tural death is adjudged. The suđenice usually decide that a person will drown, fall from
a tree, will be murdered, bitten by a snake or eaten by a wolf. These motifs are not
equally typical of various local traditions. In Požarevac all stories about fate (there are
six of them, recorded when material was collected for an ethnological atlas of Yugosla-
via) contain the motif of a child's death near a well: "The first said: 'Let him die at
once', the second: 'No, let him die when he goes to school'. But the eldest said: 'I'm the
eldest and cleverest. Let him drown in a well on his wedding-day.'" In Niš we find a
story which contains a motif "the child was to drown in a river on the day of his marria-
ge". Much more common are stories about death caused by a wolf, and their form is in
our opinion typical only of the specific region of Niš: "A dead wolf was lying on the
road, the groom touched it with his foot, the wolf moved, and the terrified groom drop
ped dead." In Takovo we find either the motif of death caused by a wolf or the motif of
40
The Motif of Death in Serbian and Croatian Folk Narrative
death in a well. In Kruševac and Leskovac we find only the motif of death in water: it is
adjudged to a child that it will choke when drinking water or to "jump in a well on its
Saint's day". Stories about death caused by the bite of a snake come from Levac and
Takovo. The same motif is also found in Otok in Slavonia. In Varaždin the more com-
mon motif is to be eaten by a wolf.
The motif of death caused by a wolf also appears in stories about Saint Sava. St
Sava (or the Archangel) is handing out food to the wolves and tells the last wolf to eat
the man who accidentally overheard the conversation between St Sava and the wolves.
The man attempts to avoid this fate but he fails: the wolf catches him even though he is
sleeping between two shepherds.
The motif of "predetermination of death in the form of murder" is sometimes
transformed in a series of motifs, and within this plot the suđenice can obtain the attri-
butes of enemies, for instance of cannibalism. The sister of a new-born baby accidental-
ly sees in a forest three women grilling a man (Levač). "Here, under a large tree she saw
three women grdling a man: the first was turning the spit, the second was fanning the
flames, and the third one was carrying firewood. /.../ The three women argued whether
to kill a child which had been born that day in the wood". However, their action is not
a simple feature of cannibalism committed by a cruel creature or enemy like for instan-
ce a psoglav. It reminds us of the ritual of predetermining someone's destiny in the
same way as in some local traditions the belief exists that the suđenice sometimes spin a
string (of human life?). In Ćuprija, for instance, people believe that there are three suđ-
enice: the first spins, the second knits, the third judges. Their roles in this action are
precisely distributed and structured. Something similar is found in descriptions of the
actions of an Usud (a judge who predetermines human fate in fantasy tales). During his
lifetime the judge as a rule passes through three levels of prosperity, from poverty to
richness, determining in this way the fate of a person. The process of announcing a
verdict preserves its structure when each woman states her opinion, beginning with the
strictest and finishing with the kindest, and turning into suggestions to kill a child and
into a dispute on when to kill it. "The first said: 'Let's kill him'. The second: 'We won't
kill him now, but when he is ten years old'. At the end the third said: 'Let's kill him
when he gets married. He will marry a girl from an other country and when they re-
turn home they will have to sleep in a forest. He will take off his shoes, but a snake will
sneak into his shoe and bite him, and he will die'". It's very important that the prede-
termination of death by the suđenice is considered as an act of murder on the person
whose fate they predetermine. Because of this aspect there are no motifs of cannibali-
sm or of being grilled to death in predetermination.
Frequently, the story-teller particularly insists that precisely the suđenice cause
someone's death: "She said: God said so and he died" - "God didn't say so, but the suđ-
enice judged that way". A typical feature of all stories about fate is that the first sudeni-
ca suggests to "take" a child at once: "Three the suđenice came. The first said: 'He
must die at once'. The second said: 'Let him live'". Beside the first suggestion to kill a
child at once, a typical formula of these stories is the gradual putting off of the day of
death when every sudenica expresses her opinion: "Let him die at once" - "Let him die
41
Yekaterina Yakushkina
when his mother loves him most of all - when he begins to talk" - "Let him die when he
gets married, during the first night". Quite often the suđenice fix as the day of death a
person's wedding day, when the groom takes his bride across a river (Leskovac, Kruše-
vac); or in a forest on his way home (Levač); during the first night (Đakovo, Varaždin):
"They judged: when he is twenty years old, he will get married and a wolf will eat him".
Usually this motif is typical of Saga about the predetermination of a person's fate, but
there are also interesting legends which include this motiL When childless people give
shelter to a wanderer (God), he promises them in gratitude that they will have a child.
On the night when the suđenice come, God overhears their verdict. They say that the
child will drown on the day of his wedding. God tries to prevent this, but the man cho-
kes on drop of water when crossing a river. Despite God's request the suđenice refuse to
prolong the man's life by a few days. "We don't change our decisions. This is the way it
must be." They agree to prolong someone's life only in exchange for reducing someone
else's life. The suđenice can not get three additional days of hfe "out of nowhere": all
destinies are part of a total volume of vital energy and all of them are co-ordinated.
When they determine how long a person will live, his life span, the suđenice give him
some of this vital force, depending on the destiny and life span of other people. This is
the reason why it is not possible to resurrect a person or to prolong his life unless an
equal portion is taken from the life of someone else. In the mentioned stories parents
never agree to offer a part of their life in exchange.
The decision of the suđenice often depends, as it is laid down in non-fantasy nar-
ratives, on the attitude of the child's parents towards them and towards the visitors-tra-
vellers who sleep in the house the night the suđenice come. Disrespect for them is pu-
nished with the child's death: "These people are such misers that they even didn't put
candles on the table for us to stay here longer. At this time of day they should put so-
mething on the table, at least bread and some meat for the child to be happy. So let it
be then that he drowns when he is seven years old".
The possible perception of the suđenice in folk stories as enemies aspiring to kill
a person corresponds with the beliefs connected with the suđenice in traditional cultu-
re. 'Osuđenice are considered to be enemies of new-born babies. Within the system of
mythological creatures they are close to babice, the demons which harm pregnant wo-
men, mothers and new-born babies. The death of a baby is explained by the actions of
the suđenice. It is considered that those children die at once to whom the suđenice pre-
determined death in infancy: the reason for the child's death is connected with the fact
that the suđenice decided to take him. There is a system of protection against the suđe-
nice as well as against other demons which are harmful to mothers and children. In
local traditions suđenice are considered to be the personification of a mother's illness
and as mythological creatures which harm women with children.
42
The Motif of Death in Serbian and Croatian Folk Narrative i
:M;|.I0GRAPHV
S,\NU, etnografska zbirka, br. 210, Krsta Božović, 61.
ČAJKANOVTĆ v.: Srpske narodne umotvorine. In: SEZ 41, Beograd 1927.
COROVIC V.: Sveti Sava u narodnom predanju. Beograd, 1927.
DOKUŠEC S.: Tisuću i jedna noć našega naroda. Kajkavske priče i anegdote iz Lupoglava, Beograd 1935.
ĐURĐEVIC М.: Život i običaji narodni u Leskovačkoj Moravi. SEZ 70, Beograd 19.S0.
ETNOGRAFSKI atlas Jugoslavije.
LANG M.: Samobor : stvorovi kao ljudi. In: ZNŽO 19, Zagreb 1914.
LOVRETlC J.: Otok: vjerovanja. In: ZNŽO 7, Zagreb 1902.
P0PR-\T0V1Ć N.: Narodne pripovetke iz okolice Đakova. In: ZNŽO 32, sv 2, Zagreb 1940.
SRPSKE narodne pripovetke i predanja iz Leskovačke oblasti. In: SEZ 94, Beograd 1988.
VAU.WEC M.:. O suđenicah ili rodenicah. In: Književnik. Godina druga, Zagreb 1865, p. 52-61.
\ALJ.\\T1C М.: Narodne pripovijesti u Varaždinu i okolici. Zagreb 1890.
43
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
.Tekaterina .lakushkina je diplomirala iz slo-
vanskih jezikov in srbohrvaškega jezika na Filozo-
fski fakulteti Državne univerze v Moskvi. Trenut-
no opravlja podiplomski doktorski študij na Od-
delku za slovanske jezike Filozofske fakultete v
Moskvi. Ukvarja se s preučevanjem ljudskega pri-
povedništva slovanskih narodov. V reviji Živaja sta-
rina (Moskva) je objavila nekaj člankov.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yekaterina Yakushkina graduated in the
Slavic languages and the Serbo-Croat language at
the Faculty of Arts, State University, Moscow.
Currently she is a Ph.D. student at the Depart-
ment of the Slavic languages of the Faculty of Arts,
Moscow. She researches folk tales of the Slavic na-
tions. She published several articles in the magazi-
ne Zivaja starina (Moscow).
NOTIONS OF «GOOD» AND «BAD» DEATH IN
THE SYSTEM OF SLAVIC BELIEFS
Lyudmila N. Vinogradova
IZVLEČEK
Koncepta "dobre" in "stobe" smrti v verovanjih SImtanov
Ljudske opredelitve "dobre" in "slabe" smrti so povezane z opozicijo naravne in nasilne smrti. To idejo lahko
zasledimo že v prvotnem slovanskem korenu *- mBrtb 'uničiti' in predponi *st>- 'sebstvo', 'dobro'. V ljudski
kulturi so bile cenjene želje po dobri smrti. Po ljudskih verovanjih dobra smrt pomeni: umreti naravne smrti, ob
primernem času, na primernem prostoru in v družbi bližnjih sorodnikov. Tiste, ki so umrli "dobre" smrti, so
imeli za častitljive prednike - v nasprotju s tistimi, ki so umrli "slabe" smrti. Slednji se ne morejo preseliti na
drugi svet in postanejo škodljiva demonična bitja. Ljudje so poskušali nevtralizirati usodne posledice "slabe"
smrti s posebnimi obredi Glavni obred je bil poskus umrlemu zagotoviti njegov delež zemeljskih blagoslovov
(hrano, obleko, simbolično pokristjanjevanje, simbolično poroko itd.). Praznoverje o "umrlem, ki hodi" je
najbolj stalen del slovanske mitologije.
Ključne besede: smrt, pogrebne šege, mitologija, umrli
Key words: death, funeral rites, mythology, deceased
Ethnologists studying folk cultures have reasonably observed that understanding
of the inevitableness of death is not a biological trait of human consciousness (in con-
trast to common for the man and animal universal sensations connected, for example,
with hunger or sex appeal), i.e. such information is obtained not due to instinct but in
the process of concrete social communication. It means, that the ideas concerning the
man's mortality and supposed life hereafter belong to the sphere of culture. Corre-
spondingly, every ethnic culture creates its own special image of death. However, the
history of ethnologic research until quite recently lacked thorough investigation in
such most important segment of traditional culture as the system of beliefs and cus-
toms connected with death. Thus, Polish ethnographers have reasonably observed that
in Slavic research «the ethnography of man's dying is an extremely poor section of eth-
nology and, first of all, as specialists are prevented from thorough study of the phenom-
enon of death by their own taboo» (PSL, 1986 N 1-2: 57). The fact that the theme was to
45
Lviidmila N. \mogradova
a great degree tabooed until recently is confirmed by facts from Moscow bigher educa-
tional institutions: attempts to suggest to linguistic and folklore students from the Mos-
cow State University for diploma paper topics concerning lexical and phraseological
studies about death, agony, funeral, - used to provoke inner protest and negative atti-
tude both in students and their professors.
Hidden fear of death and utterly negative attitude to it have lead the man of the
modern civilization to hushing up the very theme of death and post4leath existence. In
this connection, we may recall that nowadays it is a widely spread custom to keep chil-
dren from participating in funerals and discussing problem connected with death; it is
also considered improper to introduce the theme during social contacts; it is also con-
sidered wrong for a person to get ready for his own death etc.
It is quite different in folk culture. Though death inspires natural fear by its in-
comprehensibility and the idea of the end of earthly existence, nevertheless, death is
interpreted only as a transition from one state to another, from one world to another.
It's known that people belonging to the traditional culture used to tranquilly and light-
heartedly get prepared to their own death, used to expect meetings with late departed
relatives, believed they would frequent their home and the living members of the fami-
ly etc. In many places of Slavic world a considerate head of family would prepare his
own death-clothes and the coffin (and sometimes also for the wife and the eldest son)
beforehand. It was a custom with Northern Russians to present to a relative or a close
friend with a coffin made by oneself, and such present was highly valued and was
thankfully accepted with no prejudice at all (Логинов 1993: 123). Wishes of «good»
death (as well as wishes of good harvest, cattle increase, house-hold prosperity) were an
adopted speech stereotype and constituted the basis of the positive verbal-formula in
the system of traditional well-wishing. The estimation of a death as «good» or «bad» was
one of the main concerns of the ethnic society, as death was never looked upon as a
strictly family event: it was considered that the general well-being of the village depend-
ed on the utmost realization of all the standard regulations concerning the situation of
dying and burial.
So what, according to the folk beliefs, is «good» death? In short, the following
characteristics of this notion are essential: the death must be «one's own» (i.e. natural,
easy, not violent); it must happened at «one's own* time (i.e. at an appropriate age); in
«one's own* place and among «one's* relatives, and then all the customs accepted in
«one's own» society should be observed during the burial.
The definition of «good» death, as linguists have proved, is present in the very
word CMepmb. According to etymological data, the Slavic root * sh-mbrtb should be cor-
related with Old-Indian su- meaning 'one's own, beneficent, good' and Indo-European
mrt'death'(Фасмер 1971, t.3: 686).
So, according to Slavic beliefs, »one's own» death is non-violent death, hap-
pened at an old age, when man's potential of vitality is exhausted. The Russian expres-
sion U36bmb своп век means 'to fully expend one's vital force allotted by destiny'. The
deceased by such normal death were considered to safely pass to another world and
become respected ancestors, while people не изжившие своего века на зеше stay
46
Notions of .Good, and .Bad. Death in the System of Slavic Beliefs
after their death as an active harmful force which intruded in the world of the living
people at an inopportune time. It is essential that, according to folk beliefs, lifetime as
a certain amount of vital force is distributed between all the members of the communi-
ty, so the deceased «до срока» (i.e. before his own time) is, due to his unexhausted vital
force, dangerous for the living; however, a person who lives to a great age is harmful
too, because he - as Russians used to say - заедает чужоп век (или зажилсн, живет
не своп век etc.) (Седакова 1990: 55).
The ultimate border of age for a human life was considered to come with old age,
when productive force, as well as ability to labour, was exhausted, with the signs of old
age, white hair and infirmity. Sometimes a change of one's height served as a criterion
of such border: it was believed that before death one grew shorter.
Besides defining the death as non-violent (natural), it's taking account of special
calendar or day-time as «good for dying». For example, autumn and winter, the great
yearly holidays were considered to be the most appropriated season for the old people
to die. At that time, they said, the border between this and «the other» world was open;
and during the month such was the «good» period of the waning moon; and during the
day-night time - the night.
«Good» (or «one's own») death was also correlated with the idea about «one's
own» space of dying: any death outside home was considered «not one's own». Polish
ethnographers working in the Podlyasye district (Polish - Byelorussian border) noted
peasant's fear of the town hospital inspired by the apprehension to die there (out of
home). So relatives tried to bring home the hopelessly ill in order to let them die in
«their own place» (Drabik 1994: 16). According to Byelorussian beliefs, such people
who died beyond home or village borders should not be pray at home but the funeral
repast should be held at the place of burial (i.e. the deceased out of home be a sudden
death should be buried at the place of the death - Federowski 1897: 337).
To die in «one's own» place also meant to die in the property selected space,
which was specially actualized in the situation of a lasting agony: a dying person unable
to part with life for a long time, was transported to make his agony easier, into the
floor, the straw, sometimes - into «the red corner» [краснип угол) under the icons or,
vice versa, nearer to the exit, to the threshold or to the stove. If a person died in «his
own» place, then normally it happened in the midst of «one's own» relatives who were
obliged to observe the regulations of behaviour accompanying death: lighting the can-
dle, bidding the farewell to the relatives, bringing the neighbours at odds with the dy-
ing person so that they could forgive each other etc. Violation of a number of rules by
those present could cause difficult death of the relative: such could be premature (be-
fore final death) bewailing, an ungranted wish of the dying person, an unsettled quar-
rel or debt etc. Connections with living people that had not been finally broken were
believed to prevent the person from easy parting with life. The actions of those present
had to make the soul's transition to the other world easier, as well as to take obstacles
out of its way: silence during agony was strictly observed, it was forbidden to make
noise and cry loudly, чтоби не сбитв душу c пути (so that the soul does not lose its
route), not to tarry it in the earthly world; thev tried to avoid mentioning the dying per-
47
Lyudmila N. Vinogradova
son's name, used to satisfy all his wishes, so that he does not go off to the other world
with an ungranted wish; to make one's agony easier (according to folk explanation -
чтоби nponycmumb душу, i.e. «to let the soul though»), they used to unfasten the
clothes, open the windows, the door, the damper of the stove, drill a hole in the ceiling,
raise the tie-beam, knock out some roof-planks.
In folk mythology concepts of «good» and «bad» death are closely connected with
the division of the defunct into чистих, праведних («clean, righteous») and
нечистих, вредоносних («un-clean, harmful» - in D. K. Zelenin's terms - заложних)
deceased. According to general Slavic beliefs, the «un-clean» deceased cannot finally
pass into the other world, cause harm to the living people, remaining in the earthly
space, become «walking» deceased, vampires, demonic beings (Зеленин 1911: 354-
424). That's why such harmful effects of a «bad» death had to be neutralize by special
ritual actions. For example, the Slavs widely observed the prohibition to bury «un-
clean» deceased in the village cemetery; they had to be buried in «no man's Iand» (i.e.
belonging to neither of the neighbouring villages), neglected land or swamp. Among
the customs that had to prevent «walking deceased», there should be pointed out such
ones, the meaning of which is to make the dead body unable to move: they were buried
without footwear or with tied legs; sinews under their knees were cut; hells were
pricked; the whole body was tied with red thread. Other magic actions served the same
end: they put a scythe or a sickle into the neck of the harmful deceased or they placed
sharp metal instruments; the body was pierced through with an aspen stake; the grave
was laden over with a heavy log or a stone; turning coals were spread on the grave, a fire
of aspen wood was made on the grave etc.
However, the measures of the defense from the ^walking deceased* were not re-
stricted to the methods of symbolic threat and aggression acts; observation of the cus-
toms, according to which the deceased had to be given the part of earthly welfare, they
had not received during their lifetime, was deemed to be not less effective. Thus, the
tradition common for all the Slaves to organize a symbolic wedding for unmarried
young deceased brought about introduction of some wedding ritual elements into the
funeral rites (they made wreaths for the deceased, a wedding free was decorated, wed-
ding songs were performed, a symbolic «bridegroom» or «bride» for the deceased was
selected from those present etc.). Unique data have been registered in Mildiailovgrad-
sky strict in Bulgaria about a quite recent real wedding (at the church or at home but
with certain participation of a priest) of a deceased to a stone or a tree, i.e. to objects
symbolizing the spouse. While burying an unmarried young man, they used to put a
stone tied with a woman's kerchief to the left side of him and while burying a young
girl they used to place a stone with a cap on it to the right side. Other variants of the
custom are wedding a young man to a stone and a young girl to a bramble branch. The
folk explanations of the custom are: «the unmarried deceased - either a young man or a
girl - must be married at least to a stone, otherwise he will not be able to pass to the
other world (Гарнизов 1991: 249).
Taking into account the motif of giving the deceased his proper part of all the
earthly welfare was the most stable pivot of the ancient burial ritual, then it's clear that
48
Notion? of -Good« and -Bad. Death in the Sy?tem of Slavic Beliefs
it was as important to provide the deceased with a spouse by means of a symbohc wed-
ding, as to give him a «home» - coffin, food, clothes, household objects etc.
The presented data show that the most archaic concepts about «good» and «bad»
death were correlated with the idea of biological death coinciding with the end of
«one's own life term», while further relationship between the living and the dead (clean
and un-clean) depended on the proper observation of the funeral and remembrance
rites, the most essential one being provision of the deceased with all the things that
were necessary for him.
So, according to Slavic folk beliefs, the category of harmful «un-clean» deceased,
consists of: 1) those who died of «not his own» death; 2) those who didn't break finally
before his death relationship with the living (i.e. not having received their own «part» -
a name, a christening ceremony, a spouse, a certain things, absolution, proper funeral
and leave-taking etc.); 3) those who had been in contact with the evil spirits during
their lives (sorcerers, witches, people with «double souls»). It is most essential for the
sphere of concepts that people of the traditional culture not so much feared the fact of
death as the «revival» of the deceased. Superstitions concerning such harmful deceased
who cannot finally pass into another world, turn out to be nearly the most stable part of
the Slavic mythological system.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ГАРНИ30В, 1991 - Гарнизов B. «СмЂрт - сватба« // Проблеми на бЂлгарскии фолклор. Т. 8. БЂлгаркинт
фолклор в славннската и балканската културна традицин. Софин, 1991, р. 147-252.
ЗЕЛЕНИН, 1911 - Зеленин Д. К. K вопросу o русалках: Кулвт покоиников, умерших неестественно11
CMepibto, у русских и у финнов // Живал Старина. СПб., 1911, ввш. 3-4, р. 354424.
ЛОГИНОВ, 1993 - Логинов К. К. Семеинв1е обрлдвт и верованил русских Заонежвл. Петрозаводск, 1993.
СЕДАКОВА, 1990 - Седакова О. A. Тема «доли» в погребалвном обрлде (восточно-мжнославннскии
материал) // Исследованил в области балто-славлнскои духовнои кулвтурв!: По1ребалБНБ1и обрлд.
М., 1990, р. 5463.
ФАСМЕР, 1971 - ФасмерМ. ЗтимологическпЈ! словарв русского лзика. Т. 3. М., 1971.
DRABIK, 1994 - Drahik П. Lmrzec jak nalezv // Rocznik Muzeum Etnograficznego. Krakow, 1994. t. XL p. 11-19.
FEDEROWSKI. 1897 - Fedewuski \l. Lud bialoruski. T. I. Krakow, 1897.
PSL - Polska Sztuka l.udowa. 4'arszawa, 1986. № 1-2.
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
LvTjdmila N. \ inogradova. dr.. je diplomira-
la leta 1961 na Filolozofski fakulteti na univerzi v
Užgorodu (Ukrajina). Zaposlena je na Oddelku za
slovansko etnolingvistiko in folkloro na Inštitutu
za slovanske študije Ruske akademije znanosti v
Moskvi. Njen znanstvenoraziskovalni interes sega
na področje slovanske ljudske kulture in etnolin-
gvistike. Je avtorica okoli 200 člankov. Napisala je
knjigo Zimniaja kalendarnaja poezija zapadnvh i
vostocnyh slavian (Moskva, 1982).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lyudmila N. Vinogradova. Ph.D., gradua-
ted in 1961 at the Philological FacuRy of the Uni-
versity in Uzgorod (Ukraine). She is employed at
the Department of the Slavic Ethnolinguistics and
Folklore of the Institute of Slavic Studies, Aca-
demy of Sciences, Moscow. Her scientific interest
lies in the Slavic folk culture and ethnolingustics.
She is the author of 200 papers and the book Zim-
niaja Kalendarnaja poezija zapadnvh i vostocnyh
slavian (Moscow, 1982).
49
TALKING ABOUT THE "OTHER WORLD". "OUR
CONCEPTUAL MODELS AND "MY" HUMAN
EXPERIENCE
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova
IZVLEČEK
Rasprava o '^drugem svetu". "Naši" konceptualni modeli in "moje" človeške iskusiye
Avtorica bo v članku pisala o "drugem svetu" iz dveh zornih kotov. Prvi zorni kot se nanaša na skupno
dojemanje (v lokalni skupnosti) in pojmovanje prostora, strukture in prebivalcev "drugega sveta", kot tudi
na odnose med njegovimi prebivalci in tistimi iz "našega sveta". Pogled iz drugega zornega kota se bo prav
tako nanašal na iste ideje, vendar iz osebnega vidika. V drugem delu članka bo avtorica analizirala neka-
tere biografske zgodbe, ki govorijo o srečanjih z "drugo stranjo". Interpretirala bo primere dveh vrst tak-
šnih zgodb:
a) zgodb o poti na "drugi svet" v budnosti in spanju;
b) zgodb o sanjah, kjer nekdo iz "drugega sveta" pride povedat, kaj je tam videl.
Očitno je, da človeška bitja želijo reproducirati stare ideje in podobe, da bi humanizirala prostorske struk-
ture in jih približala svojemu načinu dojemanja in čustvom. Na ta način osmišljajo prostor "Senzibilen pro-
stor" je lahko vtisnjen v specifične kulturne fenomene in je lahko povezan z osebno usodo.
Ključne besede: verovanja, "drugi svet", čudeži, zgodbe, izkušnje
Key words: beliefs, "the world beyond", miracles, stories, experiences
What we designate as notions, beliefs, concepts or images in folklore is part and
parcel of the conceptual model of this type of culture. However, a fundamental specifi-
city of the model is the fact that its basic ideas are not formulated in any particular way
and that they have no derivative written correlates that are products of the culture it-
self. These ideas underlie the numerous folklore phenomena and the mechanisms
through which they operate. They have various faces and assume diverse appearances,
insofar as they are shaped by different types of cultural situations. Their primary
meaning always goes together with a host of additional meanings required by the peo-
ple, who use them in one case or another.
The research concepts of folklore beliefs, notions and images are the outcome of an
analytical folklore structure, created by comparing and generalising invariant cultural
51
Iveta Todorova-Pirwva
-s-
forms. This is done as a part of the endeavour to describe theoretically the folklore con-
ceptual model and to grasp the recurrent, i.e. the typical in the reasoning and behaviour
of the individual, who carries the folklore culture. And from a particular point of time
onwards a paradox, maybe a natural one, occurs: the link with that individual is severed,
and the object of the culture that is observed and analysed is alienated from its subject.
That is how we acquired numerous descriptions of "the world beyond", classified as
"inherited knowledge" or "traditional ideas", which can be most generally quahfied as
"reflecting" both the idea of the horizontal division of the world into two parts ("here"
and "there") and its vertical division into three parts ("here", "up" and "down"). Moreo-
ver, it can be said that "the upper world" (Paradise) and "the lower world" (Hell), com-
bined in the generic idea of "the world beyond", are inhabited by the souls of deceased
people, by various demonic characters, as well as by saints, angels, God and Satan. They
are partially, yet elaborately described in different folklore texts: stories, legends, songs,
etc. They are projected in ritual practices and painted on diverse objects.
In an attempt "to impart a human face" to the folklore analysis, 1 am willing to
seek the projection of the world "beyond" - in a specific type of texts - those known as
biographic narratives. 1 have been driven by the following specific motives: on the one
hand, to seek the dimensions of the human presence in the concrete presentation of
definite cultural conceptions, and, on the other hand, to view their marginality in the
context of cultures of varying orders. For they are topical even nowadays, when folklore
culture is no more the dominant type of a culture and they can still be heard in our
contemporary cultural surroundings.
Biographical narratives per se are "texts, where the link between the entities and
objects of folklore culture seems to be most immediately and clearly manifested. More-
over, they are valuable both with the information on the cultural processes and phe-
nomena they carry and with the representation of the specific culture carriers - as nar-
rators and/or characters in these stories".' They constitute a real-life story, which is a
product of the respective type of a culture, yet they seem to highlight its specific charac-
teristics externally.
What are the major peculiarities of the biographic narratives recounting stories
about "the world beyond"?
These peculiarities can be derived from the specificity of the event that is nar-
rated:
a. a narrative about a visit (dreamt about or real) to the "world beyond", or
b. a narrative about a meeting (meetings) (again dreamt about or real) represent-
ed as a personal experience.
It becomes immediately clear that we are talking about an event of a peculiar dual
nature. On the one hand, it is unusual (and in some cases perceived as a miracle)', and on
' Elchinova, M. The Autobiographical Accounts as a Self-Representation (Avtobiografichnijat Razkaz kato Sa-
mopredstayjane) - In: Journal of Bulgarian Folklore, 1994, N 6, p. 17.
' Georgieva, A. When God was walking the Earth (Kogato Gospod Hodeshe po Zemjata). Sofia. 1993, pp. 13-14.
52
the other hand, it is a fact in someone's biography, a part of someone's fate in Ufe. This
seems to explain the existence of numerous dual characteristics of this type of narratives.
We can therefore regard this type of stories as texts with intertwining "inherited
knowledge (acquired through education in the community culture)" and "personal ex-
perience" (gained through its individual rationalisation in the context of the unique
human destiny), elements of the conceptual model and the ideas generaKsing the indi-
vidual life-time experience of the respective narrator. It is also possible to trace the indi-
vidual history of the phenomenon that is being described within the specifically select-
ed strategy of self-presentation of the personality.^ The narrative is both a sign and
human presence, insofar as it refers us to the more general ideas, allowing its adequate
understanding, and at the same time it involves us in the process of their personality
socialisation. It can use both the language of symbols and the language of everyday life
in order to make "the world beyond" both comprehensible and accessible to the listen-
er in sensory and imagery terms.
Summing it up, the event that is recounted is both a miracle and personal ex-
perience. And this also determines the specificity of the way in which it is discussed.
I shall dwell on two types of biographic narratives dealing with the "world
beyond":
1. Narratives about transfers to "the world to come" - either in a dream or in
one's waking hours.
2. Narratives, where someone "from out there" comes to recount what he saw.
At that I shall focus less on the very description of the "next world" and more on
the effects of the occurrence on the person and the community they belong to.
Perhaps it is important to begin by noting that most often the first type of sto-
ries cannot be told to everybody. A singular event frequently involves singular per-
sonalities. 1 use "singular personalities" to mean people of extraordinary talents and
skills. These abilities of theirs distinguish them from the other members of the com-
munity, but at the same time they constitute a significant means for maintaining the
community integrity. For the participants in most of the transfer narratives are those
called "living saints"^ sorceresses, magicians, fortune-tellers, etc. The "living saints"
are often healers and clairvoyants as well, but they are even more than that - they are
more directly bound up with the religious doctrines and the miracles related to their
lives and activities and they have their correlates in the passions of most of the Chris-
tian saints'. The consequences of the transportation to "the world beyond" are very
important both for the community and for the individual person. On the one hand,
the narrative reinforces certain knowledge about the "the world to come" acquired
by them and confirms or modifies the rules of the relationship with it. On the other
' Elchinova, M. Op. cit. pp. 22-23.
' Izmirlieva V., P. Ivanov, St. Stojna from the Village of Sushica (Sushishkata svetica Sojna) - In: Journal of
Bulgarian Folklore, 1990, N 3, pp. 75-95.
' This is especially of Christians because the Muslim versions of the same phenomena are a little different.
Talking about the "other world". "Our" Conceptual Models and "My" Human Experience
53
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova
hand, the belief in what has been experienced and the awareness of its significance
affect considerably the life of the person taking part in this singular event. Quite of-
ten the transfer itself is the way in which they acquire or reinforce their magic heal-
ing power; at the moment of the transfer a specific contact with the personal patron
saint is created or confirmed.
Here are some instances of concrete transfer stories:
Example 1:
God endows a man with a healing talent by transferring him to "the next world"
In his young years a now old man once "died" and ever since he has been casting
spells. This is how it happened:
He died and his soul ascended. While he was up there, he saw how a priest was
summoned, how his body was laid in a coffin and how his wife lamented for him. And
all the time he lay motionless in the coffin. There were a lot of flowers in the coffin.
Candles were lit for him and people came along to eat and drink for the peace of his
soul. Meanwhile his soul went to Heaven. There was a lot of light and young children in
white clothing there. Then Christ came up to him and told him to go back to the earth
for He would endow him with the gift to cure people of "any pain". The old man fol-
lowed his advice and went back. And as he rose in the coffin, everybody was scared, but
when he told them what had happened, he won their deep respect and they came over
to him from all kinds of places to ask his advice.^
Example 2:
Saint Spas endows a woman with the power to cure people by transferring her to "the
world beyond"
An old woman already knew a lot of incantations that she had learnt from two
sorceresses - one of them came from her native village, and the other one from her hus-
band's village. But she had not put her skills to practice yet.
Once, as she fell asleep, she dreamt of a high ladder. She started climbing it.
There was fog on both sides of her. As she reached the highest point, she suddenly saw
intensive light and St. Spas appeared before her. He told her that it was Paradise, but
that it was not yet the right time for her to go there. He instructed her to go down
again, because he would endow her with a "power" and from that day onwards she
would be able to cure people. She came back and, indeed, as she woke up she felt that
she could apply her knowledge. She believes that the power helps her work magic - "I
have already brought death to three people, but I shall bring death to all of them, for
they hate me!" She thinks that St. Spas and St. Mina are her patrons and makes a per-
sonal vow on their days. She kneads ceremonial bread and gives out pieces of it believ-
ing that this will bring her success. Moreover, in her view, St. Spas is not Jesus Christ
but some other saint, while St. Mina is a female saint."
' Todorova-Pirgova, I. Magic Rituals (Bajanija i Magii), Monograph research and described rituals, is being
printed.
' Todorova-Pirgova, I. Op. cit.
54
_Talking about the "other world". "Our" Conceptual Models and "My" Human Experience_
55
Example 3:
Acquhition of a talent and a possibility to see "the world beyond" bestowed by Allah and
the angels
The gift can be conferred on you both when you are asleep and when you are
awake. The angels come. If you look this way, and if you have read the Koran or other
things a lot, you will see something - like an animal or a human being. If you know a
lot, if you believe in Allah and if you have a good heart, something comes here, out of
the wall. As you turn back and look over your right shoulder, you will see it. It shows if
the person will recover from the illness or not. It shows everything to you.
(What is it you see?) An angel. But it is not Jebrail (Gabriel). Some other angel,
sent to you by Allah. It comes and says to you, "1 am so-and-so. You are a faithful
person. I shall be helping you. You believe in Allah. If you are in trouble, prey to me
and I will come." You remember what it looks like and then you know. And you do
whatever it tells you. It whispers things to you, but only you can hear them. It can be
seen as a shadow on the wall and a voice can be heard. And whatever it says, you tell
to the person that has come to you - about a disease, or about something that will
happen to them, about everything. Good or bad. If it is bad, it says, "Don't tell for-
tune to this one." If it will not work, it tells me that 1 should not try to heal the per-
son at all. There are some people that come to me to hear about their fortune (the
old man tells everybody's fortune according to the Koran); but others say: "Forget
about it, they are lying to you. Don't go there." It tells you. You know immediately.
And you do not tell anything to such a person, and you do not cure them. It appears
like this, when matters are more important. Not every time. If it is about trifles, it
doesn't come. These are subtle things, very subtle things that cannot be done by eve-
rybody. It says, for example, that you should not tell a person the day of their death.
You know, but you do not tell...
They can appear when you are awake, too. Most often it shows up as a human
being. It looks like a human being and it tells you: "You will do this and that. If you
have great difficulties, you will call me" (How will you call it?). With a prayer and it will
come immediately, it will come right away. Even if it is away, at the other end of the
world, it comes. It is a spirit. As you call it, it immediately comes out of the wall. Like
now, you are looking at this sick person, aren't you?! And you cannot understand what
he has. You say a prayer to it. You look aside, and you can see it in the wall. And it tells
you. The shadow comes out and only you can see it. The others cannot. You ask it noth-
ing, because it already knows what you are calling it for and it tells you.
If the believer is an imam, a nice, kind-hearted imam, he can call it in the
mosque. It immediately appears on the wall. It can come out of any wall and say what it
needs to say.
(And can the believer go to "the world beyond" while alive? -1. T.) The person can
sometimes be taken there by the angels while asleep. If he believes strongly and he is a
man of Allah, this is possible. They show it to him as a picture - it is very beautiful, a real
miracle, just to look on and wonder... There was someone here, who was telling how he
went there and what a wonder it was - greenery, waters, beauty ... and light all over ... So
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova
one can go there, but then he comes back, for the right time has not yet come for him.
But this is not something that anybody can do. It is... well, it is not for everybody ..."
Ejcample 4;
Acquisition of a healing gift bestowed by Allah and a glimpse at the "world to come" in a
dream
She saw the actions as her grandma performed them. She is the sixth generation
of sorceresses in her family, but the prayer was told to her by Allah himself in her sleep.
He appeared to her one night, wearing a white shirt and a black mantle, he stood there,
all wrapped up in something green. He told her that from that night onwards she could
cast lead in the form of bullets to cure frightened people and tell fortunes over beans.
Prior to that moment she had problems with her eyes and she frequently fell
asleep unexpectedly. Then, after her very first case of lead casting, her unexpected doz-
ing off vanished, and later on, gradually, after each new person, for whom she cast lead,
her eyes improved. Allah appeared to her when she was 50.
She happened to see what was out there just once. She could not remember who
had taken her there, but she was asleep and as she woke up suddenly, she found herself
at a very beautiful spot. There were beautiful people in white clothes and a lot of green-
ery around her. She realised she was in Paradise and she thought she had died and she
had gone there for good but she woke up in her bed. She became aware that Allah only
showed it to her and then brought her back, because she had more days to spend on
Earth. She believes that Allah cannot be addressed by just anybody with the request to
show them Paradise but only selected people can do so. Allah chooses them by himself.
It depends on the will of Allah rather than on the will of people.'
Example 5:
A visit to Paradise by reverend Stoina
"As the nun fainted, they say she went to Paradise, where God is. It was a lot of
people there. Big tables. There was a lot to eat and drink before them, and those who
had done evil things were looking on at the end of the table and there was nothing in
front of them.'""
The narratives about dreams related to the topic under review also reinforce the
inherited knowledge and the community-shared notions and beliefs. However, they
also provide an opportunity for a secondary interpretation, which can lead to a change
in the details of certain types of ritual practices. To put it differently, this type of narra-
tives are one of the sources of variance in local ritual tradition. It this case reference
can be made most generally to:
- dreams related to "the world beyond" which consolidate knowledge or ritual
practices and
" Todorova-Pirgova, I. Op. cit.
^ Todorova-Pirgova, I. Op. cit.
Izmirlieva V., P. Ivanov, Op. cit, p. 80.
56
_Talking about the "other world". "Our" Conceptual Models and "My" Human Experience
57
- dreams, related to "the world beyond", which change some elements of knowl-
edge or ritual practices.
Examples of the first type of dreams:
Example 6:
Giving out clothes during a funeral for the wedding of a lass and a lad in "the world to
come"
A boy died and his mother dreamt that her son instructed her to find bridal
clothes and decorations. Then she was to go to a certain village and take them there,
because there was a bride for him there. "A bride will come over to me", he said. The
mother did so. As she reached the end of the village, mentioned by her son, she saw
that a lass had died and that her funeral was on that same day. The mother left the fin-
ery for her, because she realised that the lass and her son were going to get married in
the world beyond. That is why her son had instructed her to bring them."
Example 7:
Tlie news about baptising always reaches "the world beyond"
Now, an officer had a girl. And the girl died and they were about to bury her. But
the officer fell asleep and dreamt that he went to the "other" world. And he reached a
garden. It was a thorny garden and not a very pretty one. Many girls played there and
he asked them: "Hey, haven't you seen my girl play here? Isn't she with you?" And they
replied: "We are the girls that haven't been baptised, and those that have been baptised
are over there, in the more beautiful garden." And he went on and on in his dream and
he reached that garden. And he saw his girl there. And he asked her: "Why are you
here, my girl, if you are not baptised? You are not baptised, are you? Yet you are here."
And she said: "Daddy, 1 am baptised. Granny had me baptised and she put my baptis-
mal certificate in the trunk, on the bottom of Granny's trunk. Go there, lift the lid and
you will find it." And he came back, and he went up to the trunk and opened it and
found the certificate on its bottom. Yet, before that he thought that his child was not
baptised. And then he had another child and he had it immediately baptised.
Example 8:
A dream about "the world beyond", which shows why at memorial services food and
drinks should be given rwt to relatives, but only to aliens.
Now, the girl of my sister-in-law died. She was three. And as we give out food and
drinks and clothes on the 40"'' day, after 6 months, after a year, and after a year and a
half... my sister-in-law also served food and drinks. But whatever she gave out, she
served it to her relatives. She gave clothes to the cousin of the dead girl, because the
two children were of the same age. So far, so good. But one day her neighbour had a
dream. She dreamt about my mother-in-law (she is also dead), who told her, "Parashke-
" Archives of the Institute of Folklore - BAS I, N92, recorded in Krivnja, Razgrad region, Bulgaria (hereinaf-
ter rec.) in 1990 by I. Todorova-Pirgova.
Archives of the Institute of Folklore - BAS I, N92, recorded in Krivnja, Razgrad region, Bulgaria (hereinaf-
ter rec.) in 1990 by I. Todorova-Pirgova.
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova
va, go and tell Pena (my sister-in-law) to open the gate because I cannot enter their
home. 1 went to their house and 1 knocked and 1 knocked but nobody opened up. 1 can-
not go in. Tell her that Kolcheto goes about half naked, that all she wears is a pair of
torn trousers." Thus she had this dream for two days and on the third one she went to
the woman and told her what she had dreamt. But she said: "But 1 did give out
clothes." And the third night she had the same dream in the same way, and as my moth-
er-in-law came, the woman told her: "Well, she gave out clothes for Kolcheto, why does
she go about half naked and in torn clothing?" lAnd my mother-in-law told her: "She
gave them for her, but she gave them out to a relative and they do not reach her here.
Let her give out clothing quickly, for Kolcheto goes about half naked and feels cold."
And ... 1 don't know if she gave them out later or not... I don't know.''
Examples of the second type of dreams:
Example 9;
Pomana (a ritual involving giving out food, drinks and objects for the dead) can be given
out until 5 p.m.
My grandmother used to say that pomana is given out only until noon. And every-
body tries to do so - to give out everything till noon. But now I know that it can be done
later - till 5 p.m. For this is what my father said. I dreamt about him as he died. My fa-
ther came to me in my dream and he said: "Rahelo, you don't have to hurry, because
the Chief, that is God, calls us and gives us pomanas at 5 o'clock, it is at 5 o'clock that
he gathers us to give us the pomanas. Whatever arrives till that time, he gives it to us."
Whatever you give out, it immediately gets there (in the world beyond). So... Because
my father told me so and
Example 10:
Why are clothes given out on St. Peter's Day and not at Rousalya
A woman's father visited her in her dreams. He had died in hospital merely in his
underwear. And she dreamt that he was sitting in the world beyond with nothing on but
his underwear He was sitting under a tree and his clothes were at his feet. "Why do you
sit like this, why don't you wear the clothes 1 gave you during the poman?" "Well, you
gave me clothes but that was at Rousalya, and Rousalya goes about and kicks them at
my feet. 1 cannot wear them and all the time Rousalya kicks them like this, like this.
Why didn't you give them to me on St. Peter's Day, for on St. Peter's Day St. Peter and
St. Paul take us to the red apple and they dress us and then they give us the clothes
from pomana." So, you get it, don't you? Clothes should not be given out at Rousalya,
but only on St. Peter's Day, so that the person can wear them. Because Rousalya kicks
them, while St. Peter and St. Paul already give these clothes to be worn.'^
" Archives of the Institute of Folklore - BAS I, N92, rec. in Krivnja, Razgrad region, Bulgaria in 1990 by I.
Todorova-Pirgova.
" Archives of the Institute of Folklore - BAS I, N118,1, rec. in Gumzovo, Vidin region, Bulgaria in 1990 by 1.
Todorova-Pirgova and D. Ajdačić.
Archives of the Institute of Folklore - BAS I, N118,1, rec. in Gumzovo, \idin region, Bulgaria in 1990 by 1.
Todorova-Pirgova and D. Ajdačić.
58
_Talking about the "other world". "Our" Conceptual Models and "My" Human Experience_
59
Both types of narratives (about transfers and about dreams) are refer to the
"world beyond", but their emphasis is different. In both cases the effects influence
both individual and community being. The life of the individual man is changed (par-
ticularly in the cases of newly acquired talents and skills), but the destiny of the people,
who benefit from them also changes. The impact on local culture is manifested both in
the possibility for additional explanations and interpretations and in the change of the
elements of the tradition in accordance with the newly acquired "direct" knowledge
"from above".
In all cases, however, what is known as "a belief in the world beyond" is personi-
fied and related to one's life and fate. This fact sustains the viability of the belief and
enables us to assess its significance for human thinking and behaviour since ancient
times. The belief becomes an element of the personaKty culture and a regulator of the
everyday and ritual behaviour. It is encompassed in the individual views about the
world through its relationship with the personal biography.
The event that is recounted is not only important for the lives of the participants
in it, but in a certain sense it distinguishes them from the community and in this case
we observe how the community-shared views are reinforced by shifting the emphasis to
individual experience and through it. Thus the self-presentation of the personality
takes place through certain opposition to the community.
Thus the participation in the exceptional event links the individual with the com-
munity through the shared notion, yet, it separates him from it through the unique
personal experience.
These two different accents balance up the personality/community dichotomy
and convert the narratives under consideration into a natural semantic bridge linking
cultures of various types. That is why we also find such narratives in the context of the
modern urban cultural environment - they are once again vivid, effective and meeting
the old human need to peep in the world "beyond". In a sense, even nowadays the par-
ticipants in the events are extraordinary people - people, who are believed to have ac-
quired peculiar talents and skills "from above".
An extremely illustrative example is that of the modern urban dwellers with
extraordinary sensory skills, who often recount their experience with the door to
"what lies beyond" that was set ajar: what they saw there and how this sight influ-
enced their further healing or clairvoyant practices. Naturally the descriptions of the
"next world" differ from those narrated in traditional rural culture but the narrative
situation and the underlying semantic orientation are quite similar. For the princi-
pal ideas - the idea of space divisible in terms of meaning and axiology, the idea of
life after death, the idea of a contact with the non-men "from out there" - remain
unchanged. Words differ but their meaning is transformed only as much as it should
be in order to be in harmony with the specificity of the culture in whose context
these narratives emerge and exist.
Here are two examples as an illustration:
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova
Example 11:
A visit to the "world beyond" with a spiritual leader
"My Leader, for example, was born during the "Golden Age", you may have
heard about it... It was the very first age during which people lived on the Earth. And it
lasted for many, many years - many more than any other one that followed. And one day
he took me there to see how people lived in his time, when he himself was a man like
us. Currently they are all just energy substances but at that time they were people - like
me and you. (How did he take you there? - L T.) Well, it was very interesting. One after-
noon, as I was sitting and thinking about some problems of mine, I heard his voice tell-
ing me that he wanted to take me for a walk. And all of a sudden I feh as if I was asleep
and dreaming. It was a mental journey, you understand, don't you? (And what did you
see there? -1. T.) Oh, many things. How can I describe it to you?! First and foremost,
everything was lit up. Very intensive light. And people, coming towards me. They were
all kind of lit up and tall, dressed in white clothes. And most of them were smiling at
me. I somehow felt that they were happy to see me. And I still remember this feeling of
happiness. A man and a woman came to meet me - later on he explained to me that they
were his parents. They took me for a walk in some gardens but they did not talk to me.
Everything was green and there were those wonderful flowers. There were some varie-
ties that I had never seen in my life. They are probably extinct. I saw no houses, but
probably they have some. We walked along a path along a river but there was not much
time, because I had to go back.""'
Example 12:
Descriptions of the single Space, where the human world is but a small part.
There are planets, such as the Earth, but there are also astral, mental and etheric
planets. Astral planets turn around us and rotate in the direction from the Earth to the
Sun. The souls of our dead dwell there. Mental and etheric planets are located on a
higher energy level. We constitute heavy energy, while they constitute lighter, finer en-
ergy ... The planet Earth is alive, it is a living organism and it is also struggling to climb
to the higher mental level. When our intelligence is upgraded and our energy becomes
lighter, we shall help it move up ... Space has its centre and a periphery. We are located
in the external coat, but it is also in the form of a spiral and we are in the first curves.
The purest and most supreme energy is in the Centre, in the smallest curves - that is
God - God the Father and God the Son.'"^ - "The whole world consists of four Univers-
es, each Universe is made up of 41 Galaxies, and each Galaxy comprises billions of
planets and suns... Everything is governed by the Big Mind - God.'""
Todorova-Pirgova, I., "Golden Age" in the Human History ("Zlatnijat vek v choveshkata istorija) - In: Jour-
nal ot Arts, 1996, N 4, p. 26
Archives ot the Institute of Folklore - BAS I, N118, II (interview with the same person ot extraordinary sen-
sory abilities - Petranka Mariyanova Petrova - born in 1949, trade - zootechnics) recorded (hereinafter rec.) in 1994 by
I. Todorova-Pirgova and D. Ajdačić.
" A letter to the Editorial Office of the "Psycho Plus" newspaper from 1994.
60
Talking about the "other world". "Our" Conceptual Models and "My" Human Experience
- "Since last year I came to know several extra-terrestrial civilisations. It took
place by way of telepathy ... There are 12 levels in the Universe, and our knowledge
reaches as far as the fourth one.'"''
- "1 dreamt that 1 was standing in front of the entire Universe. It is like an enor-
mous colour circle, it vanishes in the distance and pulsates
- "The Mother Planet is a living organism belonging to the common living Uni-
verse. It breathes, it gets energy and information from the Mother Universe." And "the
Soul of the Earth is located in its centre and it is about 32 meters big. This is a shaft of
energy of approximately the same size as that of the archangels, with just a few differ-
ent characteristics. The Soul of the Earth has its own tasks, as well as any other crea-
tion of God ..."21
Obviously it will take a while before men can reconcile himself with a description of
spatial structures that is indiscernible from a Ne\vtonian perspective and in the meantime
they will continue to reproduce the old images and ideas by means of which they make it
more human and bring it closer to their perceptions; to make it a part of local cultural
manifestations and to link it to important moments of their own personal fate.
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova. dr., je docentka na
Oddelku za slovanske študije na Univerzi Svetega
Klimenta Ohridskega v Sofiji. Njene raziskave se-
gajo na področje obredov, magičnih dejanj na
Balkanu, religije, folklore, kulture in identitete.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Iveta Todorova-Pirgova. Ph.D., .Assoc. Prof.
at the Slavic Department at the Sofia University
"St. Kliment Ohridsky". Her research interests are
in the field of ritual performance, magic practices
in the Balkans, religion and folklore, culture and
identity. |
" P. Dimitrova. The Supernatural (Svruhestestvenoto). Sofia 1992 (a letter from Russe), p. 17.
-° P. Dimitrova. The Supernatural (Svruhestestvenoto). Sofia 1992 (a letter from Stara Zagora), p. 17.
-' A letter to the Editorial Office of the "Psycho Plus" newspaper from 1993 and "Seed from Cniverse knowle-
dge" (Recorded by M. Jovanović and M. Reić). Belgrade 1993, issue #1, p. 88.
61
NAGROBNI NAPISI NA SLOVENSKIH
POKOPALIŠČIH
Marija Stanonik
Куиспе besede: Slovenija, smrt, pokopališča, nagrobni napisi, slovenska literatura
I vod
Senca smrti spremlja človeka, odkar se zaveda svojega življenja. Na diahroni osi je
dokaz za to najstarejša znana pesnitev človeške civilizacije - sumerski ep o Gilgamešu,
ki je nastal predvidoma okoli leta 2000 pred Kristusovim rojstvom v Mezopotamiji in
katerega glavna tema je smrt: Vladar Gilgameš izgubi zvestega prijatelja Engiduja, ki je
bil v najboljših letih, in tega ne more sprejeti. Beži v daljnje kraje in celo na oni svet gre
povpraševat po skrivnosti življenja in smrti. Zve pa le to: ...Neizbežna je bridka smrU
Toda napis - ali ga smemo šteti za najzgodnejši nagrobni napis? - na eni od egiptovskih
piramid iz 3. tisočletja pred Kristusom zagotavlja: Spiš, / da se zopet zbudiš, / umrješ, /
da živiš.^ Enako pomenljive besede, ki jih lahko obrne vsak tudi nase, je dal že za
življenja napisati na svoj nagrobnik koroški duhovnik v Meiseldingenu:
* 1906 incipit mori z rojstvom je (sem) začel umirati
f ? incipit vivere s smrtjo je (sem) začel živeti^.
Ta latinski napis iz sodobnosti je lepa iztočnica za opozorilo na rimske nagrob-
nike z latinskimi napisi, ki tudi na slovenskih tleh dokazujejo, če drugega ne, da so
lahko pomemben vir za preučevanje nekdanjih prebivalcev in njihovih kultur v tem
prostoru.^ Nagrobni napis škofu Gaudenciju v tedanjem Poetoviu (Ptuju) priča, da "so
tudi naši kraji poznali krče mladega krščanstva... Pesnik Gaudencijevega nagrobnega
napisa namreč prosi pokojnega škofa, naj ne pozabi moliti, da bi obvaroval svojo čredo
' Anton Feinig, Neizbežna je bridka smrt, Nagrobni napisi, Celovec-Dunaj-Ljubljana 1997, 9. Ep o Gilgamešu
(Sivi kondor V), Ljubljana 1963.
- Anton Trstenjak, Lmrješ, da živiš, Celje 1993, 101-107. m.R., Umrješ, da živiš. Knjiga '93/6, Ljubljana
1993, 131.
^ A. Trstenjak, n. d.. 154.
' Iva Curk, Rimljani na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 1976, 11, 42.
63
Marija Stanonik
vernih pred grabežljivim levom, odpadom od vere, kot to razlagajo poznavalci".^ To je
že obdobje, blizu papežu Damazu, ki med papeži iz 4. stoletja še posebej izstopa zaradi
odločdnega prispevka k češčenju krščanskih mučencev, saj je zanje med drugim pisal
nagrobne napise (epitafe), (čeprav so nekateri verzi okorni, mu ne gre odrekati pe-
sniške nadarjenosti. "Njegov prijatelj Filokal je prav za klesanje teh napisov oblikoval
novo pisavo, ki ohranja monumentalnost stare kvadratne kapitale in dodaja nevsiljivo
ornamentiko".'
I.   Nagrobni napisi v sleve.n§lii piiblicistiki
V slovenskem kulturnem prostoru so, po dosedanjem vedenju, prvo pozornost slo-
venskim nagrobnim napisom začeli namenjati sredi 19. stoletja, z nastankom možnosti
njihovega objavljanja. Kmetijske in rokodelske novice imajo časovno prednost,^ vendar pa
kmalu težišče njihovih objav prevzame Zgodnja Danica. Ni težko razumeti, zakaj. Ta prvi
verski slovenski časopis je od leta 1849 dalje v ne zmeraj enakomernih presledkih v ru-
briki Nagrobni napisi popolnoma anonimno priobčeval za to specifično pesniško vrsto
ustrezne verze. Vendar se zdi, da ne gre za zapise s terena, to je za prepise z nagrobnikov,
ampak za koncept uredništva, ki je tudi po tej poti skušalo približati bralcem neizbežno
resnico prepletenosti življenja in smrti. Kljub določenim razločkom v sporočilu in obliki
posameznih epitafov ni mogoče reči, ali je v rubriki sodelovalo več avtorjev ah imajo zaslu-
ge zanjo posamezniki.^ Cenjen avtor tovrstnih napisov je moral biti Matevž Frelih (Lozice
na Vipavskem 1828, umrl kot dekan v Trebnjem 1892), saj so izšli skupaj z drugimi njego-
vimi prigodnimi pesmimi tudi v posebni knjižici leta 1854 in še tretjič v popravljenem
ponatisu leta 1886.' Zanesljivo je v letu svoje smrti, morda v slutnji njenega bližanja in
deloma tudi v duhu svojega časa, zlagal nagrobnice Matevž Lotrič (Železniki, 1840-1864),
ki je umrl še istega leta, kot je bil posvečen v duhovnika.'"
' Iva Curk, n. d., 89. V bogatem arheološkem gradivu ptujskih najdišč pa se lahko seznanimo tudi z grškim
napisom, za katerega sklepajo, da je pripadal grobu krščanskega mučenca, verjetno iz časa vladanja Diokleciana in
Maksimijana. I. Curk, n. d. 61, 89.
' Zgodnjekrščanska latinska poezija. Prevedel in komentarje napisal Miran Spelič, Ljubljana 1997, 85. Iz istega
obdobja, leta 344, se je ohranil nagrobni napis, ki je kakor molitev za pokojnega: Bog vseh duhov in vsake stvari, / ki si
premagal smrt, /ki si dal življenje svetu, j nakloni pokoj duši mojega očeta Sinesa. / Naj bo blizu Abrahama, kaka in Jako-
ba/v deželi luči in počitka, / kjer ni več trpljenja, bolečine in solza. / Odpusti mu vsak greh, / ki gaje storil v besedah,
dejanjih ali mislih, j ker si dober in prijatelj ljudi. / Ti edini si Bog, na tebi ni rwbenega greha, tvoja pravičnost je večna, j
Gospod, tvoja beseda je resnica. / Nakloni pokoj duši mojega očeta Sinesa, / U, ki si pokoj, življenje in vstajenje. / Slava tebi.
Oče, Sin in Sveti Duh./Amen. Miran Spelič, Nagrobni napis, Družina 47,1. november 1998, št. 43, 7.
' Prira. Nagrobni napisi. Kmetijske in rokodelske novice V/1847, 181; IX/1851, 185.
«Prim. Zgodnja Danica 11/1849, 352; 111/1850, 25; VIIl/1855, 144 152, 164, 192, 202; IX/1856, 20, 198.
XXXVin/1885, 182, 236.
' Josip Marn, Jezičnik XXX, 1892, 12.
Karel Glaser, Zgodovina slovenskega slovstva III, 1896, 183.
64
Nagrobni napisi na slovenskih pokopališčih
Primeri iz Zgodnje Danice s podnaslovom Na vsaki grob.
Kmalo bodeš tud med nami,
Morde ravno v moji jami;
Zdaj cveteče truplo tvoje
Namestilo bode /no/e."
Ti, ki tukaj se sprehajaš
In po grobih tu postajaš,
Truplo moje tu počiva,
Duša tam plačilo vživa;
Kličem milo s temne jame:
Moli, o prijatel, za-meF^
Preden moje vse košice
Bodo zopet prekopali.
Bo obledelo tvoje lice,
In mem mene
Bodo tebe
Znabit tukaj pokopali}^
Človek, glej gomilo mojo!
Kar sim jest, boš skorej ti.
In za vso ošabnost svojo
Boš zadobil pest persti.
Gledaš semterje krog sebe,
Išeš kdo de tu alj tam leži;
Sliši, kaj iz groba kličem ti:
"Danes mene, juter tebe".
Ce želiš, de truplo tvoje
Vstane v časti sodnji dan,
Ne pozabi duše svoje.
Delaj za-njo neugnan.^"
Človek, glej! rebrovje moje,
Skorej, skorej bo strohnelo,
Namestilo ga bo tvoje.
Zdaj cveteče, kmal pa velo.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 32, 9. veliciga serpana 1855, 136.
'- Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 36, 6. kimovca 1855, 152.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 39, 27. kimovca 1855, 164.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj \ III, list 45, V Ljubljani 8. listopada 1855, 192.
Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 47, V Ljubljani. 22. listopada 1855, 202.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj l\. list 6. Ljubljana 20. sušca 1856. 56.
65 J
Marija Stanonik
Kaj pomeni pojasnilo Za vsak grob, se poučimo iz primerov, kjer je podnaslov za-
menjan z drugim, npr. Na grob mladenča.
Lej, o človek! tako truplo moje,
Se clo mlado, skorej bo strohnelo;
Spomni se, de tudi truplo tvoje,
Pred ko misliš, bode ocvetelo}^
Na grob device.
Si ponižna rožica cvetela
Tu na zemlji le za Jezusa,
Zdaj pa novo pesem bodeš pela
Kot devica v družbi Jagnjeta.^^
Občasno so jih objavljali tudi drugi časopisi (Slovanski svet''), revije (Dom in
jvet-°) in koledarji (Drobtinice,-' Mohorjev koledar--). V ta okvir sodijo tudi številni
zapisi iz časa druge svetovne vojne.-'
II. Nagrobni napisi \ slovenski literarni kulturi
Ta problematika bi zaslužila samostojno poglavje, saj bi se ji bilo treba približati z
več vidikov. Njihova funkcija je mnogostranska.
a) Izvrševalca Glavarjeve oporoke sta dala nad grobom Petra Pavla Glavarja iz
Komende v kamen vklesati v latinščini besede, ki se v prevodu glasijo: "Ubogi! / Pridite,
poglejte! / pa tudi žalujte! / Pod kamnitim pokrovom počiva v miru / Peter Pavel Glavar,
I izredni stvariteljski smrtnik. / K življenju bo vstal ob glasu angelske trombe!"^* Še pre-
den je Jakob Aljaž prišel na Dovje, je dal zapisati svoji materi na spomenik: Večna luč
naj jim sveti, srčno ste nas vi ljubili, / dobra mati bih ste, / vam hvaležno smo točili /
vročih solzic jagode. / Ko trobenta zabuči, / videli se bomo vsi. Ze na prvi pogled opazi-
mo, da oba zapisa vsebujeta motiv "angelskih tromb" / trobent iz svetopisemskega Ra-
zodetja. Naslednji napis se je že izločil iz te klasične tradicije in se trudi našteti vse za-
sluge pokojnega v smislu realističnega pogleda na svet: Tukaj počivajo / prečastiti go-
spod zhtomašnik / Dr / Jožef Muršec-Zivkov, / bivši profesor v Gradcu, / konsistorijalni
Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VHI, list 33, 16. velieiga serpana 1855, 140.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 33, 16. velieiga serpana 1855, 140.
"Slovanski svet VI/1893, 236,
2« Dom in svet 25/1912, 195.
2' Drobtinice 1854, 127, 128; 1859-60, 173 si.
Mohorjev koledar za leto 1953, 175.
Prim. Marija Stanonik, Iz kaosa kozmos, Ljubljana 1995, 172-180.
" Ivan Sivec, In večno bodo cvetele lipe. Celje 1991, 213.
^» Navaja Ivan Sivec, Triglavski kralj. Družina 38, 13. marca 1994, št 11, 13.
66
Nagrobni napisi na slovenskih pokopališčih
svetovalec sekov. in lavant. škofije, j roj. 1. sušca 1807 v Bišu, / umrli 25. virwtoka 1895
v Gradcu. I Bili so pobožen in izgleden / duhovnik, odličen slovenski / rodoljub in pisa-
telj, ter I velikodušen dobrodelnik / svojim sorodnikom in / župniji sv. Bolfanka. / Ljubi
Bog bodi jim povračnik / v nebesih^-''
b) Da nagrobni napis nikakor ni zanemarljiva, ampak v slovenski zavesti stalno
navzoča pesniška vrsta, dokazujejo France Prešeren {Grobni napisi: Matiji Čopu, i4nto-
nu Linhartu, Francetu Julianiju, Ovsenekovima dečkoma, Juriju Kalanu;^^ Grabschrift
fiir Emil Korytko""), Anton Medved (prve objavljene v Domu in svetu-''), Alojz Gradnik
(Pojoča kri'"), Ciril Kosmač." Ta problematika je bila na robu zanimanja Josipa Vid-
marja, ki se je sicer prvi soočil z "mrtvaškim plesom", to je motivom smrti sploh v slo-
venski poeziji,'- ker je nagrobni napis praviloma izrecno prigodno literarno dejanje.
c) Močan značaj in zrelo osebnost dokazujejo možje, ki si napišejo nagrobni napis
zase kar sami. Od kod dobivajo nagib za tako odločitev, pove dejstvo, da gre, vsaj v doslej
znanih primerih vedno za duhovnike. Za Matijo Kastelca (1620-1688) morda ne bi mogli
trditi, da se je poleg nabožnega slovstva ukvarjal tudi s stavbarstvom, če si ne bi sam na
nagrobnik napisal "sciens architecturam" (vešč arhitekture)." Mikloš Kiizmič (1737-
1804), prekmurski katohški pisatelj", je ravnal enako. V slovenskem prevodu se v latinšči-
ni ohranjen nagrobni napis, ki si ga je sam sestavil, glasi: Tu ležim kot prah zemlje, j žitek
moj koncem je že. / f Dolnjih Slavečih sem se rodil / in za Mikloša krščen bil. / So Kiizmič
mi priimek dali/ in v Ivanovcih me pokopah. / Pravičnega Sodnika preiskavo j sem prestal,
prejel razsodbo pravo, / Ti ki bereš črke, / vdolbene v kamen, / moli zame, da me Bog očisti.
Amen.^" Franc Kogej (1884-1938), pokopan v grobnici šentviških (Šentvid nad Ljubljano)
duhovnikov, je svojo duhovno oporoko želel imeti napisano na nagrobnem spomeniku:
"Kar sem učd vas. zvesto držite, / lepo živite/ iu za svojega kateheta molite!"^ Tudi Ksaver
Meško (1874-1964) si je sam pripra\il napis za svoj nagrobnik: Na grob pa križ lesen mi
zasadite, / naj vera vam v življenju bo. / le mnogokrat se vanj ozrite, / ker kaže pot vam v
nebo. I Uvene roža, a sveti križ ostane./ življenje mine, a ostane duša!/Zato, otroci, le moli-
te zame, / ko grob zelen mi že zaraste ruša.^'
* Jože Pavlic. \ klesani spomin. Družina 34 (29. okt. 1995). št. 43, 16.
France Prešeren. Pesnitve in pisma. I.jubjana 1962, 130-131.
France Prešeren. lVsnil\e in pisma. Ljubljana 1962, 171.
'" Leksikon Slovenska kiijižcMUist. Ljubljana 1996, 289.
"' Alojz Gradnik. Pojoča kri. Ljubljana 1944. 37-38.
" Sibo Fatur. Ljudje in kraji ob Pivki. Postojna 1975, 304-305.
Josip \idmar. Mrl\aški ples. Ljubljana 1983.
" Ivo Pirkovič. O nastanku žilnega kozolca. Slovenski etnograf XVI-XVI1, Ljubljana 1946, 303.
" \ sa leta svojega dulunuiškega življenja je prebival v starem lesenem župnijskem hramu v samotnem Ivano-
vskem dolu pod bregom S\. licnedikta v K;mče\('ih. Tam. v cerkvi sv. Benedikta, tudi počiva. Jožef Smej, Družina 38
(1994). št. IL 12.
Jožef Smej. Družina 38 (l')<»n. št. 14. 12.
'"Župnija 1 julijana-šenlvid. ')(HI lel. Ljubljana 1991. 145.
\iktor Leiovnik. \ Moškcnih Sclah. liodna gruda 40. julij 1993, 14.
67
Marija Stanonik
Tak napis bi utegnil sestaviti tudi pesnik Joža Lovrenčič, vendar o tem ni nikakr-
šnih podatkov, razen besedila samega: Moli zame / v upanju križa, j ki naju zbliža j on-
stran jame. / Moli zame?^ In kadar spet bukve zagore / in kadar spet gabri zažare / bodo
iz mene žareli, j j Žar ■ šum in hlad - vse iz mene / pesem, cvet livad - vse iz mene / vse iz
mene mrtvega..:'''' Alije Stanko Majcen oblikoval napis na način vložnice svojemu sinu,
ki je bil izginil leta 1945, ali je imel pred očmi sebe, iz vira ni razvidno. To bi lahko
ugotovdi na podlagi datuma nastanka besedila. Krščansko pojmovanje posmrtne priho-
dnosti je tu nadomestilo estetsko doživljanje panteističnega krogotoka.
Obstaja izročilo, da si je tudi France Prešeren (1800-1849) zase v kranjskem ob-
dobju ob neki priložnosti improviziral navihane verze za napis na svojem grobu: Tukaj
počiva Franc Prešeren, j nejeveren in vendar veren.*'^ Drobna besedna igra svetovnona-
zorsko meri na agnosticizem, a kot šegavi domislici ji lahko postavimo ob bok Partljiče-
vo "žalostno komedijo" iz naših dni Na svidenje nad zvezdami: "Humorno bridke so
scene pri Tozdu Pogrebnik; prizadevanje, da bi iz njega nareddi 'najmodernejše samou-
pravno podjetje, družbenopolitično široko odprto vsem občanom'. Odpraviti napise, ki
'izražajo religiozno naravnanost našega naroda', napis 'na svidenje nad zvezdami', je
'mistika, vera v posmrtno življenje', zahteva pa napis v slogu: 'Tu počiva Valerija, spre-
minja se v materija!'"^'
III. J\a|^robiii napisi kot vir za različne zgodovinske
panoge
Najprej so zbudUi pozornost slovenski nagrobni napisi na koroških pokopališčih.
Od Strojne in Št. Danijela nad Prevaljami do Pečnice pri Baškem jezeru jih je iz ob-
dobja med 1853 do 1909 zbral in v treh presledkih objavil Ksaver Meško.''^ To je spod-
budUo Ivana Grafenauerja, da se je naklonjeno pomudd ob njih: "Ob vodilnih umet-
nikih iz Koroške Slovenije tudi preproste umetnosti koroških ljudskih pesnikov in
bukovnikov ne smemo pozabiti... Priče naravnega pesemskega daru, nežnih in slikovito
izraženih misli, so mnogi izmed napisov na grobnih spomenikih, kamnitih in lese-
nih."^' Najlepši rezultat te prizadevnosti je prva samostojna knjiga slovenskih nagrob-
nih napisov, ki jo je pripravil Anton Feinig.^^ V njej je otetih pozabe tristo (296) koro-
ških nagrobnih napisov, ki jih je začel zbirati že v začetku šestdesetih let.^"
'* Miran Mihelič, 'Jaz bi rad rož rudečih' Ob 50-letnici obsodbe dr. Jože Lovrenčiea iz Kreda, Dom 31 (1996),
št. 12, 3.
" Jože Zadraveo, 'Tje bomo našli pot', Ljubljana 1988, 105-106.
Boris Paternu, France Prešeren in njegovo pesniško delo, Ljubljana 1976, 34. France Stele, Donesek k spo-
minu na Prešerna, Dom in svet 1930, 309.
■" Tone Partljič, 'In kadar spet bukve zagore in kadar spet gabri zažare'. Delo, Književni listi, 9. 12. 1993, 7.
Ksaver Meško, Koledar Moborjeve družbe 1910, 72; 1911, 26-29; 1921, 52.
" Ivan Grafenauer, Slovensko slovstvo na Koroškem, živ člen vseslovenskega slovstva, Literarnozgodovinski
spisi, Ljubljana 1980, 517.
" Anton Feinig, Nagrobni napisi od Šentlenarta do Golšova, Celovec 1997.
A. Feinig, n. d., 7.
68
Nagrobni napisi na slovenskih pokopališčih
Prav je, da avtor ob tem na zamolči pešanja in sramovanja slovenske narodne pre-
poznavnosti: "Na žalost je na naših koroških pokopališčih vedno manj slovenskih napi-
sov, še bolj redki pa postajajo verzi. Stari napisi so že obledeli in se slabo vidijo, nekate-
ri so že nečitljivi, ker jih nihče ne obnovi več. Na novih nagrobnih kamnih pa so napisa-
na največkrat le še imena umrlih in letnice rojstva in smrti, slovenskih rajmov pa je zelo
zelo malo. Opažam velik strah pred vsako slovensko besedo, celo pred črko!, da ne bi
izdala prikrito narodnost. To je za nas seveda velika škoda. Polagoma bodo izbrisane še
vse zadnje sledi, celo na kraju našega zadnjega počitka. Ti zbrani nagrobni napisi - ver-
zi naj bi odprli koroškim Slovencem oči, da bi spoznali, kakšna pomembna kulturna
dragocenost so bili in so ti rajmi."^*"
V smislu koncentričnih krogov začenjamo njihovo predstavitev na zunanjem obo-
du, v slovenskem zamejstvu. Poleg pietetne funkcije, ki jo nagrobni napisi v prvi vrsti
opravljajo, imajo v tem prostoru še veliko veljavnejšo, družbeno razsežnost, ki se jo da
lepo razbrati iz kritične Feinigove tožbe nad njihovim izginjanjem. Nagrobni napis
duhovniku v Ukvah govori sam zase, da je bila v 19. stoletju slovenščina v Kanalski do-
lini običajni jezik sporazumevanja: Gospod Jožef Skarbina / rojeni v Ločah 10. nov.
1821. Imerli 29. sept. 1879. Fajmošter v Ukvah 13 let, / Bih so svoji cedi zvest pastir, /
mladini skrbljiv učenik, za božjo / čast ves unet, zatorej nam nepozabljen.*^ Na nagrob-
niku koroškega župnika Vinka Poljanca, ki je mučeniške smrti umrl leta 1938, napis na
spomeniku kratko pove, kdo je bil pokojni in kaj je pomenil koroškim Slovencem:
Bil je skrben dušni pastir!
- Značaj kakor čisto zlato!
- Božje ljubezni nositelj!
Narodu modri voditelj!
Morda se bo v tujem svetu, kjer niti ni (bilo) pogojev za rezko tekmovalnost, njiho-
va pričevalnost lažje upirala zobu časa kakor v našem zamejstvu, kjer konkurenčnost
dveh ali treh subjektov za življenjski prostor neizprosno briše kulturo šibkejšega, če-
mur smo neposredne priče. Na krajih, kamor so se v takšni ali drugačni stiski zatekli
naši ljudje, bodo morda ostali nemi pomniki vztrajnosti in žilavosti, upa in obupa.
Nekoč bodo na njihovi podlagi odkrivali, kje vse so (bile) po starem ali novem svetu
raztresene naselbine slovenskih izseljencev: "Pokrajina, suha in posuta s skalami, sredi
nje pokopališče. Zrak je čist, obrisi zarje natančno ločijo zemljo od nebes... In v daljavi
mogočna Aconcagua z večnim belim snegom. Na tem koščku ameriške zemlje, pod
najvišjo goro Novega sveta, počiva prvi izseljenski duhovnik med rojaki v Argentini,
Jože Kastelic. Sin slovenske zemlje ter ljubitelj gora, neumorni dušni pastir svojih
rojakov, razpršenih po širjavah Novega sveta. Ljubezen do gorskih višin ga je gnala na
Aconcaguo, kjer je za vedno zaspal sredi viharja v letu 1940. Verzi na kamnitem stebru,
ki so mu ga 'hvaležni rojaki' postavili na grob, ga predstavijo:
* Anton Feinig. Uvodna beseda. Nagrobni napisi od Sentlenarta do Golšova, Celovec 1997. 7-8.
*' Dorica Makuc, UTdjankski župniki. Rodna gruda 37. št. 1, 1990. 20.
" 1. M. Spominska prireditev. Pred 50 leti je mučeniške smrti umrl na Koroškem župnik \ inko Poljanec.
Družina ,37 (1988), št. 35,2.
69
Marija Stanonik
V miru počivaj slovenske zemlje sin,
vneti ljubitelj visokih planin.
Narodu bil si vodnik do večnih višin.*^,
V kamen vklesani napisi (ni nujno, da so ravno v verzih) so toliko bolj nepre-
cenljiv vir za različne zgodovinske panoge, kolikor starejši so. Lepo prdožnost za dokaz
te trdiUe daje naslednji primer. "Med potjo s pokopališča se mi oko ustavi še na lepem
starinskem spomeniku, kjer piše: Tu počiva naš dobri oče Peter Zadravec - Amerikance,
častni član pariške Akademije znanosti, posestnik in mlinar v Loperšicah.
Roj. 1. VII. 1850, umrl 29. VIL 1936.
,Na božje poti rad si ronrnl,
ni ti težka bila pot,
končno k Bogu si priromal
svojo zadnjo božjo pot.'"'*
Pa smo tam, sem dejal. Na majhnem skritem, humskem pokopališču počivajo po-
smrtni ostanki velikega moža, ki ga nihče več ne omenja, človeka, ki je mnogo prispeval
k naši prehrani, ki je izumil posebno moko, hrano dojenčkov in starčkov. Zaslužil si je
spomenik v Ormožu, ne samo tistega, ki so mu ga postavili hvaležni otroci na humskem
pokopališču..."'''
IV. Zamisel o KbiranJH slovenskili nagrobnih napisov
Prva misel o zbiranju nagrobnih napisov se je porodila še za časa študija ob
nekem potovanju iz Kranjske gore čez Vršič v Soško dolino. Ustavili smo se v Logu pod
Mangrtom in tedaj sem postala pozorna na številne imenitne nagrobne napise na poko-
pališču zraven avtobusne postaje. Leta in leta sem čutila dolžnost, da bi jih morala iti
zapisat, toda ko sem se ob priložnosti, spet na vožnji z avtobusom, tam pomudda, sem
razočarano ugotovda, da sem prepozna. Večino nagrobnikov so zamenjali in na novih
Irene Mislej, Ob 60-letnici Duhovnega življenja, Mohoijev koledar 1994, Celje 1993, 124.
™ Slovenski biografski leksikon, 14. zvezek, 1986, 740 piše o njem: Zadravec Peter, mlinar in izumitelj, roj. 1.
avg. 1850 v Loperšicah tesarju Jožefu in Margareti, r. Lukman, ter u. 29. jul. 1936 (pok. v Humu pri Ormožu). Po
osnovni šoli v Humu se je izučil za mlinarja v Središču ob Dravi in delal po večjih mlinskih obratih na Štajerskem. Od
mladosti se je zanimal za mehaniko, zlasti za mlinske naprave in stroje. \ želji, da bi se seznanil z najnovejšo mlinsko
tehniko, je 1885 odpotoval v ZDA, kjer je ostal do 1893. Najprej je delal na kmetiji, nato v San Antoniu (Teksas) v
umetnem mlinu, kjer je bil zadnji dve leti obratovodja. V prostem času je študiral strok, literaturo. Skonstruiral je sito
za moko (flour separator) in pogon za večji vetrni mlin (primeren za Holandijo). Še med bivanjem v Ameriki je kupil
v bližini svojega doma v Loperšicah mlin z malim posestvom, kjer je po vrnitvi mlinaril do smrti (prijel se ga je vzde-
vek Amerikance). Z nasveti je pomagal okoliškim mlinarjem in podpiral šolarje rodnega kraja. Za uspešne inovacije in
praktične izboljšave v mlinski tehniki mu je Academic parisienne des inventeurs industrielles et exposants podelila
diplomo z zlato medaljo in ga imenovala za častnega člana.
Rado Kukovec, š Huma po "štukeh" v Ormož, Mohorjev koledar 1992, Celje 1991, 89-90.
70
Nagrobni napisi na slovenskih pokopališčih
je le tu in tam vklesan še kak zapis. Če so že mene opisane zamenjave trpko presenetile,
kako lahko zadenejo šele neposredno prizadete. "...Namesto križa stoji na grohu razko-
šen spomenik, na katerem piše: Tu počiva Franc Lešničar. To je mož moje sestre Mi-
cike, ki je umrl pred kratkim. Sestra mu je postavila spomenik na dedkovem in babiči-
nem grobu, na spomeniku pa ni našla prostora za njuno ime. Žalostno požrem slino, ki
se mi je ustavila v grlu, in rečem: 'Ne razumem, ne razumem! Zakaj? Zakaj? Kako je
mogla?' In potrt zapuščam materin grob, ki ga ni več. Z mislijo na dedeka in babico, ki
nimata več spomenika in bosta zato ostala le v mojem srcu... se vračam..."^^ Vedno več
takih doživetij narekuje, da je treba pohiteti. Za tukajšnjo priložnost je mogoče podati
le neke vrste medfazno poročilo. S pomočjo nekaterih sodelavk"'* je bilo doslej pregle-
danih dvainštirideset slovenskih pokopališč^* in tako zbranih blizu 900 napisov. Ce zra-
ven prištejemo še že objavljene iz omenjene knjige, ki vsebuje slovenske napise s Koro-
ške v Avstriji, je ta čas evidentiranih 1187 nagrobnih napisov. Tako število že omogoča
nakazati prve obrise njihovih posebnosti.
a)   Nagrobni napisi iz 19. stotega
Prvo lepo presenečenje se navezuje na diahrono perspektivo. Kar nekaj napisov je
še mogoče najti iz 19. stoletja. Zasluga za to gre praksi, da so nekdaj nagrobnike ugled-
nih mož po določenem obdobju vzidavali na zunanjo stran cerkvenih sten. Praviloma
gre za nagrobne napise duhovnikom. Zato so še toliko bolj dragoceni primeri, kot je ta
iz Sentiovrenca na Dolenjskem: Tukej počivata, in perčakujeta / goruztajine MATIJA
SUPANČIĆI iz Korenitke, 73 let star, / vmerl v letu 1845 - in njegova / žena JRA, na go-
remkim / rojena PEGAM, stara 75 let, / vmerla v letu 1848 - j Bog bodi jima milaztu, /
daj jima večin mir in pokoj/ in večna ljuč jima sveti.^^
h)    Nagrobni napisi otrokom
Najbolj pretresljivi so napisi globoko žalujočih staršev za svojimi prezgodaj umrli-
mi otroki. Starejši napisi zanje se navezujejo na staro vero, da nedolžni otroci postanejo
po smrti angelčki. Se France Prešeren se je oprl nanjo, a jo zvočno in vizualno in ge-
stikulacijsko razgibal: Jasni so in srečni bli / njij' življenja kratki dni. / Glas zasliš'ta:
'Prid'te k meni, / majhni vi, nezadolženiV/ Duše njij'ne sta vesele / repetničice razpele. -
I Oča, matere očesa / mokre gledajo v nebesa.^ Kaže, da je ta ljubka metaforika spod-
bujala dokaj močan pesniški navdih, kakor dokazujeta naslednja primera. Prvi za
'2 R. Kukovec, s Huma, n. d., 89-90.
Breda Karner (Hlevni Vrh, Ledine, Medvedje Brdo, Nova Oselica, Rovte, Stara Oselica, Vrh Svetih Treh
kraljev, Zavratec, 128 nagrobnih napisov), Marta Koren (Skrile pri Danah, Špitalič, 2), Zdenka Primožič (Lipica pri
Škofji Loki, Reteče, Stara Loka, Skofja Loka, 230 nagrobnih napisov), Ema in Andreja Sevšek (Dobrepolje, dvoje po-
kopališč, 98 napisov), nekaj študentk (Maribor, Gornja Radgona, 19 napisov).
Po abecedi: Breznica na Gorenjskem, Češnijice nad Blagovico, Črna na Koroškem, Dravlje, Leskovica v
Poljanski dolini, Ljubno na Gorenjskem, Hrenovice, Jezersko, Komenda, Luče, Mekinje pri Kamniku, Mohliče na
Koroškem, Nova vas v Istri, Postojna, Sela pri Kamniku, Sveta Gora (Skalnica), Solčava, Stranje pri Kamniku, Sentgo-
tard pri Trojanah, Trčmun, Tunjice, Zaplana. Zasavska Sveta Gora.
Jože Pavlic, Vklesani spomin. Družina 39 (29. okt. 1995), št. 43, 16.
* E. Prešeren, Ovsenekovima dečkoma. Pesnitve in pisma. Ljubljana 1962, 130.
71
Marija Stanonik
dečka: Bil sem angelček pri vas doma, / še lepši sem angel v naročju / večnega Boga.^' In
drugi za deklico: Še mala v cvetju mladih let j pustila si ta revni svet. // Zdaj v raju z
angelci vesela / Bogu boš večno Hvalo pela:'^ Pogosto je prebrati: Sladko spančkaj.
Sladko spavaj, vendar sintagmi kljub temu ne delujeta klišejsko.
c)    ]\agrobni napisi mladim
Ti napisi so po svoje še bolj otožni kakor napisi otro(č)kom, saj se njihovi najbližji ne
morejo več tolažiti z njihovo angelsko transformacijo, poleg tega pa so se tudi čustveno že
bolj navezah nanje. Tu drži, kakor je dejala stara žena iz Solčave, ki je ostala sama: "Pra-
vijo, daje najhujše svojo kri pokopavat",'' namreč - svojega otroka. Vendar je tudi tu, kro-
nološko gledano, zaznati precejšnje spremembe v težišču sporočila. Napis iz prve polovice
20. stoletja napeljuje, se zdi, na razočaranje zaradi izločitve mladeniča iz vaške skupnosti
in rodovnega nasledstva: Bil velik si očetov up - / in fantov pogreša te četa, / Prej družbe in
društva vnet član, / uživaj nebesa zdaj sveta. / Postavil žalostni oče.*^ Sredi stoletja je ak-
tualna metafora "cvet mladosti", kije znana tudi iz drugih hrskih vrst; V cvetju mladosti/
zapustil si svet, / v raju nebeškem / se vidimo spet.^^ Konec sedemdesetih let je resignacija
položena v usta pokojnega: Zbogom vam in mladosti, j ki sem jo preživel med vami.''- Za-
misel o posmrtnem življenju je ali zatajena ali pa je več ni.
č)    Nagrobni napisi ponesrečenim
V tej skupini se ločita dve skupini ponesrečencev: planinci in žrtve prometnih ne-
sreč. Na primer: Tukaj počiva / žrtev Kamniških / planin / RUDI PEČAR / * 22. 4. 1912
f2. 9. 1930//Tebi RUDI sveti raj,/nam pa Bog tolažbo daj.//Prijatelji prijatelju.^^ Nasle-
dnje besedilo je lep primer prepletanja metaforike "cveta", znanega iz razdelka o mlado-
sti, in gora: Ta gomila mlad pod sabo / skriva cvet omahnil v gorah / sredi si najlepših kt.^
Iz standardnih okvirov izstopa napis, ki v primerjavi z drugimi deluje naravnost romane-
skno: V triglavskem pogorju izzvenel / tvoj korak, gore so zadušile / tvoj poslednji krik, a
nam, / ki srrm ljubili te, iz dneva / v dan raste v neskončnost / tvoj dragi lik.^" Naslednja dva
napisa delujeta kot ubesedene risbe na tablah oz. znamenjih, ki so zaznamovala kraj ne-
sreče. Gre za sorazmerno prozaični sporočili, ki ju obkroža čustvo le na robu. Kolesa avto-
mobila / so me odtrgala od vas, / ne žalujte dragi za menoj, / saj sinko je še vedno vaš.''''
Kruti topol te je ubil - / ljubezen mojo pogiibil. / Irerm.'"
A. Feinig, n. d., 7.
■'» Krista Gabriel * 2. 6. I960 f 15. 9. 1966, Št. Jakob v Rožu. Zapisala M. Stanonik, 2. 4. 1978.
™ Terenski podatek Solčava, 22. julija 1995.
Sela nad Kamnikom. Francetu Resniku, *1903, f 1926. Fmrl kot vojak v Skopju.
" Leskovica, * 1926-1950.
'^Dravlje, * 1960-1979.
« Jože Pavlic, VHesani spomin. Družina 39 (29. okt. 1995), št. 43, 16.
"Dravlje, *1964,11982.
Breznica pri Vrbi na Gorenjskem, f 1968, t 1969.
»Dravlje, *1942,t 1986.
Dravlje, Očka Janez Zaje, *1938 - f 1965.
72
Nagrobni napisi na slovenskih pokopališčih
d)    INagrobni napisi, ki omogočajo šalo
Za konec še dva napisa, ki dovoljujeta zdravilen na/smeh: Tukaj je en hladen gro-
bek, I kjer počiva Mici Bobek, / milo kliče iz temne jame: / O, prijatelj, moli zame!''^ Dra-
gi mož I Počivaj v miru, j dokler se spet / ne snideva.'''' Prvi primer povzroča vedrino
zaradi prikupne rime prvega dvostišja: grobek - Bobek. Kakor da bi se kdo res hotel
poigrati s pomanjševalničnim priimkom. Za drugi napis (mi) lokacija ni znana, zato
tudi ni mogoče jamčiti za zanesljivost njegovega obstoja, vendar je dokaj verjeten. Prvi
hip ni z napisom nič narobe, a pri skrbnejšem branju se zavemo dvoumnosti formula-
cije. Smeh, četudi skozi solze, je vedno dobrodošel.
Prva analiza zbranega gradiva narekuje nadaljnjo obravnavo na ravni njegove
duhovne sporočilnosti, duševnega zdravljenja, kulturnega dokumenta, in celo vrsto
oblikovnih vprašanj, kot so časovna pogojenost stilemov, žanrski problemi, problemi
stereotipov in folklorizacije.
•* Stožice, napis je obstajal še v letih po drugi svetovni vojni. Zapisal po spominu Mirko Ramovš, ISN, ZRC
SAZU, Ljubljana, 10. 10. 1988.
* Sinja Žemljic, ISN, ZRC SAZU, in Ana Lavrič, Inštitut za umetnostno zgodovino Franceta Steleta. ZRC
SAZU, Ljubljana, 28. 2. 1992.
73
EPITAPHS IN SLOVENE CEMETERIES
Marija Stanonik
Key words: Slovenia, death, cemetery, epitaphs, Slovene literature
Introdactien
Man has Uved in the shadow of death since he became aware of himself and life.
Diachronically, evidence is provided by the oldest known poem of human civilisation -
the Sumerian epic about Gilgamesh which presumably dates to around 2000 BC in
Mesopotamia and which central theme is death: King Gilgamesh, whose loyal friend
Enkidu dies in the prime of his life, refuses to accept the loss. He flees to faraway places
and even to the other world to inquire about the secret of life and death. The only an-
swer he gets is: Tliere is no escape from bitter death.^ But the inscription on one of
Egypt's pyramids from the 3"* millennium BC - we may well deem it to be the earliest
epitaph in history! - assures us; You live, to wake up again, / you die, to live again.^ A
Carinthian priest from Meiseldingen had the following similarly meaningful words
which everyone can apply to himself written on his tombstone whUe he was still alive:
* 1906 incipit mori - Upon birth he (1) started to die
f incipit vivere - Upon death he (I) started to live^.
This Modern-Age Latin inscription is an adequate starting-point for drawing at-
tention to the Latin inscriptions which, if nothing else, in Slovenia too prove that they
can be an important source for the study of the inhabitants and their cultures in this
area in the past.* The epitaph dedicated to Bishop Gaudentius from the then Poetovio
(present-day Ptuj) witnesses that "here too, early Christianity experienced convul-
' Anton Feinig, Neizbežna je bridka smrt. Nagrobni napisi, Celovec-Dunaj-Ljubljana 1997, 9. Ep o Gilgamešu
(Sivi kondor V), Ljubljana 1963.
- Anton Trstenjak. Umrješ, da živiš, Celje 1993, 101-107. M. R., Lmrješ, da živiš. Volume '93/6, Ljubljana
1993. 131.
' A. Trstenjak, op. cit., 154.
' Iva Curk, Rimljani na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 1976, II, 42.
74
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
sions... The author of Gaudentius' epitaph indeed begs the deceased Bishop not to for-
get to pray and to protect his flock of believers against the greedy lion, that is against
apostasy as the metaphor is explained by experts".' This is indeed a period close to that
of Pope Damasus who stands out particularly among the popes of the 4"^ century be-
cause of his decisive contribution to the worship of Christian martyrs, among others by
writing tombstone inscriptions or epitaphs for them. Though some of his verses are
rather unpolished, they reveal a certain talent for poetry. "His friend Philocalus invent-
ed a new script for carving these inscriptions which preserves the monumental charac-
ter of the old square capitals and adds an unobtrusive ornament to them.^
I.   Epitaphs ill Slovene journalism
Judging from our present knowledge attention was first given to Slovene epitaphs
in the Slovene cultural area in the mid-19 century, that is when it became possible to
publish them. Kmetijske in rokodelske novice (Peasant and Crafts News) are certainly
the first,' but the focus soon shifted to epitaphs published in Zgodnja Danica, and this
is not hard to understand. This first religious newspaper in Slovene published from
1849 onwards printed in not always equal intervals and under the heading Epitaphs
completely anonymously appropriate verses which were quite representative of this
specific line of poetry. It appears, however, that they are not field notes, that is lines
copied from tombstones, but an editorial concept which in this way too endeavoured to
familiarise the readers with the inevitable truth that life and death are interconnected.
In spite of certain minor differences contained in the messages and in the forms of in-
dividual epitaphs we cannot establish whether the section was written by several au-
thors or the fruit of (subsequent) individuals.^ A distinguished author of these inscrip-
tions must have been Matevž Frelih (Lozice, Vipava Valley, 1828, died as deacon in
Trebnje in 1892) since they were published together with his other occasional poetry in
a special booklet in 1854 and in a third revise reprint in 1886.' What is known with
certainty is that in the year of his death, perhaps as a premonition of his own death,
" Iva Curk, op. cit, 89. The rich archaeological material from the Ptuj sites also yielded a Greek inscription
which is thought to belong to the grave of a Christian martyr, presumably from the reign of Diocletian or Majdmian.
I. Curk, op. cit 61, 89.
' Zgodnjekrščanska latinska poezija. Prevedel in komentarje napisal Miran Špelič, Ljubljana 1997, 85. Erom
the same period (344) an epitaph has survived that sounds like a prayer for the deceased: God of all spirits and all
things I You who defeated death/ who gave life to the world / bequeath peace to the soul of my father Sines. / Let him be
close to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob /in the land of light and rest, / where there is no more suffering, nor pain nor tears.
/ Forgive him all the sins which he committed in words, deeds or thought, / for You are good and a friend of people. /
You are the only God, there is no sin on You, Your justice is eternal. / Lord, Your word is the truth. / Give peace to the
soul of my father Sines, / You, who are peace, life and the resurrection. / Blessed be the. Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. / Amen. Miran Spelič, Nagrobni napis. Družina 47, 1. november 1998, no. 43, 7.
' Cp. Epitaphs, Kmetijske in rokodelske novice V/1847, 181; IX/1851, 185.
»Cp. Zgodnja Danica 11/1849, 352; 111/1850, 25; VlII/1855, 144, 152, 164, 192, 202; IX/1856, 20, 198.
XXXVIII/1885, 182. 236.
' Josip Mam, Jezičnik XXX, 1892, 12.
75
Marija Stanonik
but also in the spirit of the time, he wrote the epitaph for Matevž Lotrič (Železniki,
1840-1864), who died in the year of his ordination to the priesthood.'"
Some examples from Zgodnja Danica subtitled for any grave.
Soon among us you will be.
Right here in my grave maybe;
Your body now so fine.
Will then replace mine. "
You who walk around
From grave to grave bound.
My body rests in this yard,
Wliile my soul enjoys its reward;
I beg you from the dark grave
Let your prayers help me saveP
Before they will rebury
These little bones of mine,
Your face will turn pale.
And next to me
A grave will be,
that will be all thine. "
Look, in this mound I hide.
What I am now, soon you will be.
And for all your pride.
Dust is all there shall be for ibec.^"^
You look around to see.
Who lies here, who there, you seek;
Listen to what from the grave I speak:
"Today me, tomorrow thee."
If you want your body to rise
And honour Judgement Day,
Do not forget you soul, be wise.
Work for it and pray.
Karel Glaser, Zgodovina Slovenskega slovstva III, 1896, 183.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 32, 9. veliciga serpana 1855, 136.
Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 36, 6. kimovca 1855, 152.
" Zgodnja Danica.tečaj \ III, list 39, 27. kimovca 1855, 164.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII, list 45, V Ljubljani 8. listopada 1855, 192.
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj VIII. list 47. \ Ljubljani 22. listopada 1855. 202.
76
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
Look here, this carcass of mine.
Soon, so soon icill dechne.
And yours, still in the prime.
Will take its place in iw time^''.
^Tiat is meant by "for any grave" is explained by the examples in which the subti-
tle reads "for the graves of the young ".
Look here, this body of mine,
so young, will soon decline.
Remember, that your body's song
Will fade out ere long.^'
For a virgins grave
As a humble flower you were blooming.
Here on Earth as Jesus'pride.
Now a new song you will be singing.
As a virgin at the Lamb's side.
Epitaphs were published occasionally also by other newspapers {Slovanski si^ef",
the magazine Dom in svet^") and in calendars {Drobtinice,^^ Mohorjev koledai^^). To
this group also belong the numerous records from the Second World War.-^
II. Epitaphs in Slowne literary culture
The issue would merit a chapter of its own as it would have to be approached
from several angles. The epitaphs have indeed many different functions.
a) The executors of the will of Peter Pavel Glavar from Komenda had a Latin in-
scription carved in his tonnbstone which reads translated: "Poor people! / Come and
watch! / and mourn too! / Under this stone cover rests in peace / Peter Pavel Glavar,/ an
exceptional, creative mortal. / He will rise to live again when the angels' trombones will
resound!"-* Before he moved to Dovje Jakob ,\ljaž had the following inscription made
" Zgodnja Danica, tečaj IX, list 6, Ljubljana 20. sušca 1856, 56.
Zgodnja Danica, tečaj IX, Hst 33, 16. velieiga serpana 1855, 140.
'* Zgodnja Danica, tečaj IX, list 33, 16. velieiga serpana 1855, 140.
"Slovanski svet VI/1893, 236.
-»Dom in svet 2,5/1912, 195.
Drobtinice 1854, 127, 128; 1859-60, 173 pp.
Mohorjev koledar za leto 1953, 175.
Cp. Marija Stanonik, Iz kaosa kozmos, Ljubljana 1995, 172-180.
-' Ivan Sivec, In večno bodo cvetele lipe. Celje 1991, 213.
77
Marija Stanonik
on his mother's tombstone: May the eternal light your path, you who loved us all so
dearly, / a good mother you have been, / and in gratitude we shed / hot tears. / When the
trumpet resounds, / we shall all meet again}" h is, of course, obvious right away that
both inscriptions contains the same motif from the Book of Revelation - the angels'
trombones/trumpet. The next inscription we turn to already diverges from this classi-
cal tradition and strives to enumerate all the deceased's merits in the manner of a real-
istic view of the world: Here rests / Dr. Jožef Muršec-Zivkov, / 50 years a priest/former
professor in Graz, / consistory counsellor of the Seckau and Lavant Deaconry, / born
March 1 1807 in Bis, / died October 25, 1895 in Graz. // He was a pious and exemplary
I priest, an eminent Slovene / patriot and writer and / a generous benefactor / to his rela-
tives and I to the parish of St Bolfank.// Dear Lord, reward him in heaven?^
b) That epitaphs are far from being a insignificant line of poetry, but instead
something that is continuously present in Slovene consciousness, is more than substan-
tiated by the great poets France Prešeren (epitaphs dedicated to Matija Čop, .4nton Lin-
hart, France Juliani, the Ovsenek boys, Jurij Kalan;-' and Grabschrift fur Emil Ko-
rytko^^), Anton Medved (the first ones to be published in the magazine Dom in svef"^),
Alojz Gradnik (Pojoča kri^), and by writer Ciril Kosmač." The topic was also of mar-
ginal interest to Josip Vidmar, who was actually the first to tackle the "Dance of death"
that is the motif of death in general in Slovene poetry.'^ Epitaphs are indeed as a rule
explicitly literary products.
c) People who write their own epitaph must be endowed with a strong character
and a mature personality. What drives them to it is evident from the fact that at least all
cases known to date concern priests. We would hardly have known that Matija Kastelec
(1620-1688) occupied himself beside with devout literature also with architecture, if it
wasn't for his tombstone with the inscription "sciens architecturam" (''knowledgeable
on architecture'").^^ Mikloš Kiizmič (1737-1804), a Catholic writer from Prekmurje,'*
acted in the same way. The Slovene translation of the Latin epitaph he composed for
himself reads: As the dust of the earth here I lie, / my life has gone by. / In Dolnji Slaveči
I was born I Mikloš the name to be worn. / Kiizmič ivas the surname I got, / and a grave
in Ivanovci my ultimate lot. / A righteous Judge tried me / and a proper verdict issued He,
I You who read these letters, / carved in stone, / pray that God may cleanse me of my sins.
Navaja Ivan Sivec, Triglavski kralj, Družina 38, 13. marca 1994, no. 11, 13.
Jože Pavlic, Vlclesani spomin, Družina 39 (29. okt. 1995), no. 43, 16.
-■ France Prešeren, Pesnitve in pisma, Ljubjana 1962, 130-131.
France Prešeren, Pesnitve in pisma, Ljubljana 1962, 171.
Leksikon Slovenske književnost, Ljubljana 1996, 289.
" Alojz Gradnik, Pojoča kri, Ljubljana 1944, 37-38.
" Silvo Fatur, Ljudje in kraji ob Pivki, Postojna 1975, 304-305.
Josip Vidmar, Mrtvaški ples, Ljubljana 1983.
Ivo Pirkovič, O nastanku žitnega kozolca, Slovenski etnograf XVI-XVII, Ljubljana 1946, 303.
" During his entire career as a priest he dwelled in the old wooden parish temple of solitary Ivanovski dol. Sv.
Benedikt, Kančevci. It is there, in the church of St. Benedikt, that he rests. Jožef Smej. Družina 38 (1994). no. 14. 12.
78
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
Amen.^^ Franc Kogej (1884-1938), buried in the vauk of the Šentvid priests specified in
his last will that he wanted the following inscription on his tombstone: "Wliat I have
taught you, adhere to faithfully, / live your life truthfully / and pray for your catechist
carefully"!^'' Ksaver Meško (18741964) too formulated the epitaph for his tombstone
himself: Plant a wooden cross on my grave, / let faith lighten your every day, / turn to it
when you need to be brave / to heaven it will show you the way. / A flower withers, but
the holy cross stays, / life passes, but the soul never! / Therefore, children, pray for me
always I for green sods will cover my grave forever.^'
Poet Joža Lovrenčič may have composed a similar inscription, but there is no ac-
tual evidence to prove this, except for the preserved text: "Pray for me / in the hope of
the cross I which brings together me and thee / beyond the grave's loss. / Pray for mel^^
Arul when the beeches will blossom once more / and their crowns radiate as never before
I they will shine out of me. j j Their shine, rustle and shade will all grow out of me / the
song and flower of the mead - will come out of me, all out of my dead self.}'' Whether
Stanko Majcen composed the inscription in the form of a lyrical poem for his son who
disappeared in 1945 or whether he had in mind his own person, is not evident from the
source. This might, however, be established on the base of the date the text was written.
The Christian conception of life after death is here replaced by an aesthetic experience
of a pantheistic cycle.
The legend has it that during his stay in Kranj France Prešeren (1800-1849) im-
provised on a certain occasion the following roguish verses for the inscription on his
grave: France Prešeren rests here / in disbelief/as a believer / in grief*'' This miniature
ideological pun points towards agnosticism, but as a pun we can compare it with See
you beyond the stars, Partljič's contemporary "sorrowful comedy": "Humorous and bit-
ter are the scenes in the state undertakers; the efforts of its staff to make it 'the most
modern self-governing company, socially and politically open to all citizens'. Replacing
'inscriptions which reveal the religious nature of our people', with 'see you beyond the
stars'; replacing 'the mystic belief in life after death' with an inscription in the manner
of 'Hear me John Natter, I'm changing into matter.'"^'
Jožef Smej, Družina 38 (1994), no. 14, 12.
* Župnija Ljubjana-Šentvid, 900 let, Ljubljana 1991, 145.
" Viktor LevovTiik, V Meškovih Selah, Rodna gruda 40, julij 1993, 14.
™ Miran Mihelič, 'Jaz bi rad rož rudečih' Ob 504etnici obsodbe dr. Jože Lovrenčiča iz Kreda. Dom 31 (1996),
no. 12, 3.
" Jože Zadravec, 'Tje bomo našli pot', Ljubljana 1988, 105-106.
* Boris Paternu, France Prešeren in njegovo pesniško delo, Ljubljana 1976, 34. France Stele, Donesek k spo-
minu na Prešerna, Dom in svet 1930, 309.
" Tone ParUjič, 'in kadar spet bukve zagore in kadar spet gabri zažare, Delo, Književni listi, 9. 12. 1993, 7.
79
M,Ilija Stanonik
III. Epitaphs as a souree for various historical
disciplines
The first to attract attention were the Slovene epitaphs in Carinthian cemeteries.
Ksaver Meško collected them from Strojna and St. Danijel near Prevalje to Pećnica on
Faaker See between 1853 and 1909 and published them in three sequels.*^ This stimu-
lated Ivan Grafenauer to reflect on these epitaphs with some affection: "Beside the
leading artists from Slovene Carinthia we should not forget about the simple artistic
endeavours of Carinthian folk poets and writers... Many inscriptions on tombs in wood
or stone bear witness to their natural gift for poetry, for reflections expressed gently
and charmingly."*' The ripest fruit of these endeavours is the first independent book
of Slovene epitaphs edited by Anton Feinig.** Nearly 300 (to be exact: 296) Carinthian
epitaphs gathered from the early 1860s onwards were saved from oblivion.*"
The author has the courage not to ignore the weakening of an overt Slovene na-
tional identity and the shame accompanying it: "Unfortunately, there are increasingly
less Slovene epitaphs to be found in cemeteries, and verses are even rarer. Old inscrip-
tions are fading and hardly visible, some are quite illegible because nobody takes care
of them. On new tombstones most often only the names of the deceased are written and
their years of birth and death, but there are very few Slovene rhymes. In my eyes this is
caused by a great fear of any Slovene word or even Slovene letter, fear to betray one's
concealed nationality. This is of course very detrimental to our cause. Gradually, the
last traces will be erased, even at the place of our ultimate rest. These collected epi-
taphs and verses should open the eyes of the Carinthian Slovenes and tell them how
important and culturally precious these rhymes were and continue to be."**'
In a sense of concentric circles we shall start the presentation of these epitaphs
on the outer fringe or perimeter, that is with the autochthonous Slovenes across the
borders. Beside their primary pious function they harbour a much more significant,
social dimension in this area which is quite obvious from Feinig's critical complaint
about their gradual disappearing. The epitaph for of a priest in Ukve tells us quite
clearly that Slovene was the lingua franca of Val Canale in the 19'*' century: Reverend
Jozef Skarbina / born in Loče, Nov. 10, 182L Died Sept, 29, 1879. Priest in Ukve for 13
years, I He was a faithfiil shepherd to his flock, / a caring teacher to the young / fid! of
zeal in God's honour, and we shall never forget him.*' On the tombstone of Carinthian
parish priest Vinko Poljanec, who died as a martyr in 1938, the inscription tells us suc-
cinctly who the deceased was and what he meant to the Carinthian Slovenes:
« Ksaver Meško, Koledar Mohorjeve družbe 1910, 72; 1911, 26-29; 1921, 52.
^■^ Ivan trrafenauer, Slovensko slovstvo na Koroškem, živ člen vseslovenskega slovstva, Literarnozgodovinski
spisi, Ljubljana 1980, 517.
" Anton Feinig, Nagrobni napisi od SenUenarta do Golšova, Celovee 1997.
* A. Feinig, op. cit., 7.
* Anton Feinig, Uvodna beseda. Nagrobni napisi od Sentlenarta do Golšova, Celovec 1997, 7-8.
Dorica Makuc. t kljankski župniki. Rodna gruda 37. no. 1, 1990, 20.
80
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
He was a concerned pastor!
-A nature as pure a gold!
-A messenger of God's love!
A wise leader of the people!*^
In distant countries where conditions to compete with other nations are (and
were) non-existent, the message of these words will withstand the test of time better as
with our fellow Slovenes across the borders, where the struggle of two or three nations
for lebensraum ruthlessly erases the culturally weaker nation - a development we con-
tinue to witness. In faraway places where Slovenes found refuge from various ordeals
these epitaphs remain tacit reminders of our perseverance and tenacity, of hope and
despair. Some time in the future they will provide the basis for a study where in the Old
and in the New World scattered setdements of Slovene emigrants existed: "A arid land-
scape dotted with rocks, in the middle of it a cemetery. The air is pure, the contours of
red dawn sharply separate earth and sky. In the distance looms the mighty Aconcagua,
covered by eternal white snow. In this little piece of .American land, at the foot of the
highest mountain of the New World, rests the first emigrant priest among our fellow
Slovenes in Argentine, Jože Kastelic. He was born on Slovene soil and a fervent lover of
the mountains, tireless pastor of his fellow Slovenes, scattered across the expanses of
the New World. His love for the high mountains drove him up the Aconcagua, where he
passed away in the middle of a storm in 1940. The verses on the stone pillar which his
"grateful compatriots" erected for him, present him with these words:
Rest in peace, you who on Slovene soil were born,
of the high mountains you were lovelorn.
You have led your people to eternal morn.*^
Inscriptions carved in stone do not necessarily have to be verses: the older they
are, the more precious as sources for several historical disciplines. An excellent exam-
ple upholding this claim is the following: "On my way to the exit of the cemetery 1 be-
held a beautiful old tombstone with the inscription: "Here rests our good father Peter
Zadravec - an American, honorary member of the Paris Academy of Sciences, landlord
and mUler in Loperšice.
Born 1. VII. 1850, died 29. VIL 1936.
,You loved to go on a pilgrimage,
no road was too hard for you,,
and now you have made the final pilgrimage
to he with the Lord all through.'-'''
" 1. M. Spominska prireditev, Družina 37 (1988), no. 35, 2.
* Irene Mislej, Ob 60-letnici Duhovnega življenja, .Mohorjev koledar 1994, Celje 1993, 124.
^ Slovenski biografski leksikon, volume 14 , 1986, 740 (Slovene Biographic Lexicon): Zadravec Peter, miller
and inventor, born August 1, 1850 in Loperšice, son of carpenter Jožef and Margareta, nee Lukman. died on July 29,
81
Marija Stanonik
This is what's it all about, I thought. In this small, hidden cemetery in the village
of Hum rest the mortal remains of a great man, who nobody ever mentions any more,
someone who contributed to the improvement of our nutrition because he invented a
special kind of flour for baby food and for the elderly. He really deserves a monument
in Ormož, not just the one grateful children erected for him in the Hum cemetery...""'
IV. The idea about coUecting Slovene epitaphs
The idea of collecting epitaphs came to my mind for the first time while 1 was stiU a
student and on a journey which took me from Kranjska gora across the Vršič mountain
pass into the Soča Valley. We stopped in Log pod Mangrt and my attention was drawn by
the numerous splendid epitaphs in the cemetery beside the bus station. For many years
afterwards I felt the urge to go back there and write them down, but when on another
occasion, travelling by bus once more, 1 revisited the village, 1 was very disappointed to see
that it was already too late. Most of the tombstones had been replaced and of the new ones
oidy a handful carry inscriptions. If it was hard for me to accept these changes, how could
they not have affected those immediately involved?. "...Instead of a cross there is luxuri-
ous tombstone on the grave now with the inscription: Here rests Franc Lešničar. The hus-
band of my sister Micika who died recently. My sister had a tombstone for him put on the
grave of grandmother and grandfather but there was no room for their names on them. 1
felt a tightening of my throat that did not go away and heard myself say: '1 don't under-
stand, I don't understand! Why? Why was this necessary? How could she?' Struck with
grief I leave the grave of my mother, that is not there any more. 1 think of granny and
grandfather who are without a tombstone now and will therefore live on only in my heart
... while I'm on my way home There are increasingly more similar experiences
which urge us to hurry. In the context of this article only an intermediate report can be
provided. With the assistance of several collaborators"' forty-two Slovene cemeteries have
been visited"*, yielding a total of approximately 900 inscriptions. If we add these to those
1936 (buried in Hum near Ormož). After finishing primary school Zadravec learned the trade of a miller in Središče
ob Dravi and worked in several mills in Štajerska. As a youth the was already attracted by mechanics, especially by
miUing devices and machines. Driven by the wish to learn about the latest milling techniques he left for the USA in
1885 and stayed there until 1893. He first worked on a farm, then in San Antonio (Texas) in a mill which ran the last
two years of his stay in America. In his free time he studied the relevant specialist literature. Zadravec constructed a
flour separator and an engine for big windmills (suitable for Holland). While still in America he bought close to his
home in Loperšice a mill and a small property, and worked as a miller after bis return and until his death (his nickna-
me was "the American"). He helped many local millers with advice and supported students of his native village. His
successful innovations and practical improvements of milling techniques earned him the diploma with gold medal of
the Academic parisienne des inventeurs industrielles et exposants, whose honorary member he also became.
Rado Kukovec, S Huma po "štiikeh" v Ormož, Mohorjev koledar 1992, Celje 1991, 89-90.
R. Kukovec, S Huma, op. cit., 89-90.
Breda Karner (Hlevni Vrh, Ledine, Medvedje Brdo, Nova Oselica, Rovte, Stara Oselica, Vrh Svetih Treh
kraljev, Zavratec, 128 epitaphs), Marta Koren (Skrile pri Danah, Špitalič, 2), Zdenka Primožič (Lipica pri Škofji Loki,
Reteče, Stara Loka, Skofja Loka, 230 epitaphs), Ema and Andreja Sevšek (Dobrepolje, two cemeteries, 98 inscrip-
tions), students (Maribor, Gornja Radgona. 19 inscriptions).
In alphabetic order: Breznica na Gorenjskem, Češnijice nad Blagovico, Črna na Koroškem. Dravlje. Leskovi-
ca v Poljanski dolini, Ljubno na Gorenjskem, Hrenovice, Jezersko, Komenda, Luče, Mekinje pri Kamniku, Mohliče
82
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
already published in the above mentioned book which contains Slovene inscriptions from
Carinthia in Austria, we get a total of 1187 recorded epitaphs. A quantity which already
allows us to indicate some first particularities.
a) 19* century epitaphs
The first encouraging surprise is connected with the diachroruc perspective. Quite
some epitaphs from the IQ*"' century have survived as a result of die practice that after a
certain period the tombstones of eminent people were built into the outer church walls.
They usually involve epitaphs for priests. Even more precious are examples Idee those
from Sentlovrenc in Dolenjsko: Here rests, waitirig for the resurrection МАЋЈА
SUPANČIČIfrom Korenitka, 73 years old, / who died in 1845 - and his wife /JERA born in
Gorenjsko I rojena PEGAM, 75 years old / died in 1948-/ May God have mercy upon them,
I give them eternal peace and quiet/ and let the eternal light shine on them}''
b) Epitaphs for children
The most heart-rendering are the epitaphs of mourning parents for children who
died prematurely. Older epitaphs still refer to the ancient belief that after their death
innocent children become angels. Even France Prešeren referred to it but in a vivid,
sonorous and dynamic way: Bright it was and gay / their life's brief stay. / They heard a
voice: Come to me / you little ones, of sin free!' / Their souls celebrated, and their wings
spread elated. - / Their father and mother's eyes, now in tears see them in paradise."*' It
appears that this lovely metaphors instigated a quite effective poetic inspiration of the
kind we find in the following two examples. The first one is for a boy: / was a little angle
while at home / now a greater angel I am under the Lord's dome." The second one is for
a girl: In the prime of your life / you left this world full of strife.// Now with the angels in
paradise your voice you raise / to sing the Lord's eternal praise.^ A recurrent verse is;
Sleep gently, sleep gently, but die syntagm never has the effect of a cliche
c) Epitaphs to youths
These inscriptions are even more melancholic as those to little children since
their parents cannot console themselves with the idea that their children became litde
angels, and also because emotionally they had become much more attached to them.
There are no better words to illustrate this than those of an elderly woman from Solča-
va who was left behind alone: "They say the worst that can happen to you is to bury
your own blood and flesh",'** - your own chdd. But here, too, and viewed chronological-
ly, substantial differences show as to where the emphasis of the message lies. An in-
na Koroškem, Nova vas v Istri, Postojna, Sela pri Kamniku, Sveta Gora (Skalnica), Solčava, Stranje pri Kamniku, Šen-
tgotard pri Trojanah, Trčmun, Tunjice, Zaplana, Zasavska Sveta Gora.
Jože Pavlic, Vklesani spomin. Družina 39 (29. okt. 1995), no. 43, 16.
* F. Prešeren, Ovsenekovima dečkoma, Pesnitve in pisma, Ljubljana 1962, 130.
" A. Feinig, op. ch., 7.
^ Krista Gabriel * 2. 6. 1960 f 15. 9. 1966, Št. Jakob v Rožu. Zapisala m. Stanonik. 2. 4. 1978.
Field note. Solčava. Julv 22. 1995.
83
Marija Stanonik
scription from tfie 20* century's first half suggests frustration because a youth was torn
out of the village community and the family succession: Your father had placed his
hopes on you and we, your friends, will all miss you, / Before, you were an eager member
of the community and our society, / now enjoy the heavens of the world. / Your mourning
father.^ In the mid-20"' century the metaphor "in the prime of youth", that is also
known from other lyrical verses is quite common; In the prime of youth / you left this
world, / in heavenly paradise we shall meet in truth.*'^ In the late 1970s resignation is
voiced by the deceased: Farewell to you and to my youth, / which I spent among you.^^
The idea of life after death is either suppressed or it is not present any more.
Č)    Epitaphs to victims of accidents
This group is divided into two subgroups of victims: mountain climbers and victims
of traffic accidents. For instance: Here rests / a victim of the Kamnik mountains / RLDI
PEČAR I * 22. 4. 1912 f 2. 9. 1930 // For you, RLDI, holy paradise, / to us may God give
consolation. // Your friends.^^ The following text is a excellent example of blending the
metaphor of the "prime of youth" as we know it from the section on youths and that of
mountains: This mound a young / flower hides, fallen in the mountains / in the prime of his
tides.^ Far from the standard cliches is an inscription which compared with the others is
frankly Gothic: In the Triglav mountain range / your steps faded for ever, / the mountains
suffocated your last scream, / and to us who loved you as ever/from day to day your sweet
face I turns into an eternal dream.'"' The following two inscriptions have the effect of
putting into words the drawings on the signs which mark the place of an accident. They
are rather prosaic messages with some marginal emotion. Hie wheels of a car / have taken
me away from you, / do not mourn for me, I shall be your son all through.'''' Killed by a
poplar so cruelly, my love for you h dead truly. / Irena.''^
d)   Epitaplis whicli allow for a joke
To end this section here are two inscriptions which may produce a hearty smile or
laughter. Here in this chilly little grave, rests Mici the Brave, / and from the darkness she
calls: I Dear friends, pray for me until the Lord recalls!''^ Dear husband, rest in peace
until we meet again.'''' The first one causes merriment because of the charming rhyme
" Sela nad Kamnikom, Francetu Resniku, * 1903, f 1926. Died as a soldier in Skopje.
"Leskovica, * 1926-19.50.
"2 Dravlje, 4960-1979.
Jože Pavlic, Vldesani spomin. Družina 39 (October 29, 1995), no. 43, 16.
"Dravlje, * 1964,-^ 1982.
'5 Breznica pri Vrbi na Gorenjskem, f 1968, f 1969.
»Dravlje, * 1942, t 1986.
" Dravlje, Očka Janez Zaje, * 1938 - f 1965.
Stožice, the inscription was still there in the years after the Second World War. Recorded as remembered by
Mirko Ramovš, ISN, ZRC SAZL, Ljubljana, 10. 10. 1988.
* Sinja Žemljic, ISN, ZRC SAZU, and Ana Lavrič, France Stele Institute of Art History, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana,
28. 2. 1992.
84
Epitaphs in Slovene Cemeteries
(in Slovene: grobek (little grave) - Bobek). As if someone really wanted to make a pun
with the diminutive surname. The location of the second inscription is not known (to
me), and 1 cannot guarantee that it really exists, though it is quite likely genuine. Xt
first sight there is nothing particular about the inscription, but on second thought we
become aware of the formulation's ambiguity. Laughter, even when mixed with tears, is
always welcome.
A first analysis of the collected material suggests further treatment on the level of
several aspects: their spiritual messages, mental healing, as cultural documents and,
further, a whole range of issues regarding form: periodKletermined styles, genre issues,
stereotype issues and folklorisation.
8b
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Marija Stanonik. dr., docentka, višja znan-
stvena sodelavka na Inštitutu za slovensko narodo-
pisje pri ZRC Slovenske akademije znanosti in
umetnosti. Osrednji področji njenega delovanja sta
teorija in zgodovina slovenske slovstvene folklore
in nekatere teme iz slovenske etnologije in literar-
ne zgodovine. Je urednica zbirke Glasovi, v okviru
katere je doslej izšlo čez 4000 slovenskih folklor-
nih pripovedi. Objavila je več monografj in nekaj
sto člankov.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marija Stanonik. Ph.D.. lecturer, senior
scientific fellow at the Institute for Slovene Ethno-
logy of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The central fields of her scientific work are the
theory and history of Slovene literary folklore as
well as themes from Slovene ethnology and Ute-
rary history. She is editor of the series Glasovi, in
which to date over 4000 Slovene folklore stories
have been published. She has published several
monographs and several hundred articles.
THE CONCEPT OF DEATH IN THE FOLK
CULTURE OF MACEDONIANS
Ljupčo S. Risteski
IZVLEČEK
Koncept smrti v makedonski ljudski kulturi
To proučevanje bo dopolnilo vedenje o smrli v ljudski kulturi. Smrt člana skupnosti pomeni nevarnost in
krizo za družino in širšo socialno in obredno skupnost - vas. Je tudi vzrok dejanskih in temeljnih sprememb
v družinski strukturi in v odnosih vaške skupnosti, zato lahko katastrofalno vpliva na njuno integriteto. V
tem primeru smo obravnavali smrt kot najpomembnejši vzrok za prekinitev obstoječe harmonije in struktu-
re odnosov v svetu. Obredne dejavnosti dajejo možnost realizacije novega kozmosa ali pa uveljavitev novih
odnosov. Če upoštevamo, da smrt in umiranje ne pomenita le biološkega konca živih dejavnosti za tradicio-
nalno skupnost, temveč sta tudi kulturrm fenomerm, nam analiza obeh ne omogoča le ugotavljanja in
odkrivanja individualne psihologije, temveč še mnogo pomembnejših socialnih, religioznih in mitičnih vse-
bin, ki so bistveni segmenti strukture legendarnega koncepta sveta v tradicionalnih strukturah.
Ključne besede: posmrtne šege, Makedonija, ljudska kultura, ljudske uprizoritve in verovanja o smrti in
umiranju, "sumljiva umrla oseba", "nečista umrla oseba", "čista umrla oseba"
Keywords: Posthumous ceremonial complex, Macedonia, traditional culture, folk presentations and beliefs
about death and dying, "suspicious deceased person", "impure deceased person", "pure deceased person"
The exceptionally rich empirical materials of the traditional cultures, especially
those from the Balkans, indicate existence of a constructed system which presents a
model of the World on which all variations and ways of people's behaviour have been
based. For the researchers of these, the so-called, folk-traditional cultures, a primary
task is to discover that conception, which is a unique possibdity for its adequate under-
standing and interpretation of human activities connected with its mythic past, its reli-
gious idea and its ritual activities. Human activities consist of permanent repetition of
mythic archetypes, which have in their basis always brought the myth about the prime
creation of the World.' Living space, according to the traditional understanding of the
' Mirča Elijade, Sveto i profano. Književna zajednica Novog Sada, Novi Sad, 1986,66. М. Elijade, Mitut za več-
noto zavrčane : Arhetipi i povtorenie, Hristo Botev, Sofija 1994, 48.
Ljupčo S. Risteski
conception, has been the centre of the Cosmos. Traditional views of Macedonians
about the conception of the World indicate presentations of three cosmic worlds: "our"
world settled by human beings, called "The Middle Land"; beyond the "our" world lies
"The Upper Land" and beUow "our" "The Under Land".^
According to that tradition, people's World is an archetype or projection of God's
World and the World of Deities. Everything that happens in the Middle Land presents
only a projection or pattern of the World of Deities, and all people's activities are a pro-
jection of deities' activities. Human activities in "our" World present the eternal as-
pires through the ritual repetition of archetype beginnings to simulate the primordial
act of the World creation.
According to the folk tradition, these three Worlds have been arranged vertically
and divided among themselves by strong boundaries. Characteristics of the Upper and
the Under Land are very similar and, very often, mutually connected, making an eter-
nal circle in the Cosmos.
Tlie Structiire of the Mythic World and Possibilities for
its Distarbing
According to the mythic rules of the World's arrangement in the traditional cul-
ture, everything functions very good up to the moment when, for some reasons the
World order and the patterns of all forms of behaviour are disturbed. Generally, this
happens when some factors, in the frame of social and ritual community, cause a situa-
tion which leads to replacement or elimination of the established boundaries among
the mythic Worlds, putting that way the whole social community in a very dangerous
situation. In such a situation, the community reacts immediately, organising intensive
magic and ritual activities in order to restore the World, its harmony and to mark again
the boundaries among the Worlds.
Death - the Appearance of the Chaos
According to traditional beliefs, the process of existence is eternal but every alive
being is subjected to the process of dying. The process of dying is comprehended as a
moment or a process of transformation of energy and its transferring from one to the
other cosmic world. According to the people's beliefs, the energy - the essence - the soul
is never lost, but it passes over into other levels. People's "leaving" from the world of
the alive has been considered as the most frightful and, at the same time, the most im-
portant act for the community of the alive, because death of a member of the commu-
nity means irreparable loss - his leaving into the other World.
^ Ljupčo s. Risteski, Posmrtni obredni kompleks u tradicijskoj kulturi Marijova, Belgrade University, 1997 (ma-
nuscript).
88
The Concept of Death in the Folk Culture of Macedonians
This means that death has been the most important cause of Cosmos disturbance.
Death causes radical changes into the structure of cosmic organisation, making a state of
Chaos in die relations of the community, which can reflect catastrophically on its future
integrity and development. In that sense, die social and ritual community takes on very
rich and complex magic and ritual activities in order to restore the harmony. From an
aspect of the Macedonian folk, there are more polysignificant comprehensions of death as
a demonic being, or it is imagined as a state or more precisely, as a phase in which die
essential principle - the soul - finally leaves the human body.
•:":a& and. Diseases as Demonic Beings
Death and its numerous variants - diseases, according to the folk beliefs, are the
basic causes of the soul leaving the human body. There are many ideas about death as
a demonic being, which is very "thirsty" for people's life. The most frequent are pres-
entations in which death has been presented as "a woman, a black woman" or meta-
morphosed as the demonic being, disease: plague (chuma) - as a woman with her ch-
thonic attributes: distaff (furka), her deadly voice, her note book and presentations of
demonic beings: fairy (samovda), (senishte), fever (treska) etc.^
...my dear sister, very bad disease caught you,
(milna sestra shto loshi bolhi te vatija)
or
five years, my brother, with disease you were fighting...
(pet godini, brate so bolka se boreshe)*...
In Christian forms of beliefs and folk genres as stories, legends etc. - St. Archangel
Michael has a role of guide of people's souls.
Death as a Particular State or Phase of Final Soul
Separation from the Human Body
An important part of the survived information recorded during our field re-
search point out to the people's idea about death as a dream, a great, long and eternal
dream. These kinds of presentations of death, according to the opinions of many eth-
nologists, are related to the traditional understanding of sleeping, or more precisely,
the process of dreaming as a situation very close to death and very dangerous for living
people. While the body of the sleeper is resting, his soul in dream, remains active and
liberates itself moving out of the human body.
' Narodna demonologija na Makedoncite. T. Vražinovski, collaborators V. Karadžoski, L. Risteski, L. Simoska,
MM-ISK, Skopje-Frilep 1996, 53-55.
* .Archive of Institute of Old Slavic Culture - Prilep (.\10SC). Inv. No. K - 56/1996. Inform. Pedcana Rimcheva. born
in 1943 in the village of Vitolishta. region of Mariovo. Recorded on Februarv' 17. 1996 in die village of \ltolishta. .\Iariovo.
89
Ljujičo S. Risteski
But, duration of this free movement is limited, because the prolonged soul wan-
dering can be very dangerous and causes death.
According to the above mentioned information, the numerous prohibitions and
system of taboos connected with the sleeping people and their surrounding become
very clear. The soul can wander somewhere without coming back, failing to find the
body in which it has been settled or to find some other body or other subject. Dreaming
is a state in which human body stays quiet, with apparently low intensity of the signs of
life, with liberated soul in a process of movement, causing a situation in which the body
is very close to death. Comparing these situations, people connect actual dying with a
state of sleeping, but sleeping as a kind of eternal and great dream from which nobody
has ever awoke.
The Process of Cosmisatloii of the Chaos
Community as an autonomous entity has a tendency, in a shortest possible time,
to eliminate the cases of destruction, to protect the rest of its members and to reestab-
lish the previous relations and harmony.
1. Rituals for Liberation of the Community from the Dead Member
In the case of death, the most important task of the community is to neutralize
the effects of the dead person or to minimize them as much as possible. This can be
achieved by a complete isolation of the dead person and of those who had direct con-
tacts with him. People who have an intermediary contact with the dead person, always
take many preventive actions which do not allow expansion of death. They visit the
dead person with garlic on the hands and ancles with a piece of stone or some thorn in
their mouths, defending themselves and other members of the community. Consider-
ing that this kind of isolation can not be effective for a long period, the community
buries the dead person.
2. The Magic Separation of Good from Bad and Protection from Danger
The status of a dead person in the community, especially to the moment of his
burial, has a variety of meanings and implicates many activities which clearly deter-
mine relations of the alive to the dead person of the community. At the beginning, the
most important thing is to set clear boundaries between the contaminated zone in
which the dead person lived and is still present, and the space of the alive. After that,
the community starts with the process of separation of two very important principles:
good and bad, life and death, fruitfulness and sterility.
Everything that was used in the funeral ceremony, or found in the surrounding of
a dead person is contaminated and dangerous for the alive. Because of that, all requi-
sites containing the magic infection ought to be separated and thrown out of the reach
of the alive. Mostly, these requisites have been buried together with the dead person or
they pass through a range of lustrative phases in order to bring them into a normal sit-
uation for everyday use. This approach can be noticed through all the ritual activities:
90
The Concept of Death in the Folk Culture of Macedonians
separation of the clothes of the dead person; water in which the dead person "was
bathed", his comb, razor, measure for his grave, etc. Biers on which the dead person
was carried to the cemetery are either buried or left near the grave, marked as some-
thing which can not be returned back into the community.
The rope with which the deceased was buried was at first thrown on the ground
in order to neutralise its magic effects, and even after "it had been dragged by legs
along the ground", some members of the house-hold would have taken it. Objects with
a great importance for life and existence of the community must be separated com-
pletely and never be put in use among the alive. (The sickle put over the stomach of the
dead person and used in the rituals of magic cutting, was never again used by the com-
munity in its original purpose: as a basic tool in harvest.) Some things, tools and parts
from the deceased, however, are left among the alive, to be used for the aims of black
magic (kerchiefs with which the mouth, arms or legs were tied; ritual small breads
through which someone could be seen, etc.)
There are many ritual activities for further protection from the dead. "The dead
water" in which the dead person was bathed, is poured out on places where the alive
can not make a direct contact with it. Water from jugs in the whole village must be
poured out, too, and replaced by fresh water. In these ritual actions, people must be
very careful not to disturb the purity of water. For this reason, all woman from the vil-
lage go to the water source together, being afraid to meet the others who go to the water
after them, and who might intercept and contaminate the fresh water again.
The most important separations between life and death, between good and bad,
are realised at home, before the burial of the dead person. These ritual activities of sep-
aration are usually carried out by the so called "mesaria" (a woman who is the most
important ritual actor during the funeral ceremony and after). In these moments, she
stands in the space signed as "domestic", near the "breads", and because of that all her
activities are aimed to protect the fruitful power of the bread, the grain, and the live
stock. In that occasion, "the mesaria" kneads the ritual breads called "bulinja", which
should sign the new boundaries at the level of fruitfulness between the two opposite
categories: life and death.
In kneading the ritual breads on the dead person's right hand, the first bread
symbohses the principle of death, the evil and "mesaria" puts it into the dead person's
armpit. The other bread remains at home as a symbol of the principle of bread fertility
and welfare of the house. In order to preserve the welfare of the house, from the breads
devoted for the funeral ceremony, "mesaria" takes one bread back to the house and
one "is sent" to the shepherds and live stock. Once the breads were taken out of the
house, there is a ritual prohibition for their returning into the house since they are
considered as possible agents of death. Cutting the linen by which the dead was cov-
ered, "the mesaria" leaves a part of it tied on the right "leg" of the box for kneading
bread, in order to preserve the fruitful power of the dead and transmit it to the house-
hold. In a case the fire was burning in the moment when somebody died, people take
care of it not to extinguish it, it is a symbol of life and welfare. In the same time, the
relatives of the dead take care that noone of the visitors takes the fire for himself.
91
Ljupčo S. Risteski
When the people come back from the funeral, they use different roads, believ-
ing that the dead's soul or his mortal influence does not know how to come back to
the living. In some cases, people cross the river, connotating passing into the space
of the alive. After coming back, the participants of the funeral procession pass across
the water and fire. After funeral ceremony, the participants come back in the house
of the deceased, passing through a process of individual lustration prevents from the
eventual magic infection of death. They lustrate themselves by washing and throwing
embers on their hands.
During the funeral ceremony, close relatives of the dead person remain under
some green and fruitful tree in the cemetery, preserving the life and fertility. That
place, the housewife ungirding her apron or the belt, takes the alive members of her
family under her magic protection. The ritual activities, however, show that not every
object connected with the deceased has the meaning of danger and harmfulness. The
deceased person who was, until recently, alive member of the community, especially if
he was known as a good host, keeps his characteristics even after death. The positive
and good attributes have a special importance for the community of alive. Because of
that, the community makes efforts to keep and use these attributes for itself.
3.    The Black Hen in the Grave
If t^vo persons of the same family die in a short period, the traditional community
takes another very important magic and ritual activity. Believing that the two died per-
sons will drawl the third person, during the funeral of the second one people bury
black hen - "let it be the third". People believe that this action will influence the estab-
lishing of the magic completeness of number - three. Actions related to the selection
and killing or, more exactly, suffocating the hen, point out to the archaic motive of sac-
rificing to the cause of death or as an act of calling deities - protectors of the communi-
ty, to show mercy on them. The hen should be black or dark coloured and should not
be slaughtered but suffocated, covered in some vessel.
In traditional conception of the community, a decisive importance has the categor-
ical separation of deceased persons according to their features: "pure", "suspicious" and
"impure deceased person"." It's according to these ideas that the whole ritual and magic
activity of the community was structured. The community ritual and social activities have
always been directed to making a successful and complete distance from the dead person,
separating his good values from the bad ones, and his sending off into the community of
dead ancestors wherefrom he can successfully and fruitfully act upon the community of
living persons. Only the category "pure deceased person" (persons who passed through a
complete ritual complex and were successfully included into the community of dead), has
a great importance for the community. It can only be achieved if the community complet-
ed the whole ritual complex needed by the "dead person in passing", or by "the suspi-
cious deceased person" and provided all necessities for their transfer into the category of
' Valentina Vaseva, Zadušnicata kato obredna dejavnost. Etnografski problemi na narodnata duhovna kultura.
tom 3, Sofija 1994, 154-155.
92
The Concept of Death in the Folk Culture of Macedonians
"pure deceased person". And the opposite, "the suspicious deceased person" becomes
"impure deceased person", very harmful for the community.
All community's efforts have been directed to preserve die complete integrity of the
dead person and to prevent some bad ghosts or evil spirit to settle in its body. These de-
monic beings can make die dead person very harmful for the community and stop his fi-
nal passing into the World of death. Then, there are many situations which permanently
cause Chaos, destruction and disturbing of the harmonic relations in the Nature. In such
situation "the suspicious dead person" appears dead person whose soul has been meta-
morphosed in the evd spirit, permanently staying among die living and doing many
harmful actions to them. According to the above mentioned, we shall precise which cate-
gories of dead persons can become "suspicious" or " impure dead persons":
- Dead persons predisposed by boring to become vampires and karakondozols.
- Dead persons with undefined social status: bachelors, maidens and unnamed
new born child.
- Dead persons who died and were buried out of the usual patterns of ritual behaviour.
After somebody's death, the community undertakes a lot of magic and ritual activi-
ties that, at first, should prevent the "suspicious deceased person" to pass successfully into
"impure deceased person". The most important protective measures against becoming a
vampire are: keeping the animals not to jump across the dead body; watching that some-
thing not given across the deceased and complete realisation of the ritual process.
In some regions of Macedonia, in Mariovo, for example, the most important pro-
tection against becoming a vampire is the so called "'magic hacking of the dead person"
(zasekuvanje). After the body of the dead person would be dressed, the most important
ritual actor - "mesaria" - would realise the magic hatching. Through the ritual thread-
ing, the "mesaria" hits beside the dead person's head and legs from right to the left
with a sickle or an axe, pronouncing the magic formula with a very strong symbolic
meaning: "Prefer thou an oudaw or a cut? Go thee with health." ("Odmet sakash ali
odsek sakash. Odi mi so zdravje")'' or "Go after God and Virgin Mary and not after
Satan and Sataness" ("Da odish po Boga i Bogorodica, a ne po Soton i Satonica").'
If the community considers that there are some possibilities for the dead person
to become a vampire (if he was very sinful or if he died "unseen" - nobody saw him at
the moment of dying), than people stab in his left foot hawthorn or mostly they prick
him with a needle into the stomach (navel), believing that the bad influences of these
spirits were finally neutralised. In some villages in the region of Mariovo, they use real
hacking with knife on the breast or at part of the body near the heart. There are nu-
merous folk narrations referring to vampires, and to the difficulties about their exclud-
ing from the community. Namely, in spite of preventive measures, it happens very of-
ten, somebody that becomes a vampire and moves continuously among the living, espe-
cially in the house where he lived before. His coming back to his own household was
' AIOSC, Inv. No. K - 52/1995. Inform. Kata Shipinkaroska, born in 1919 in the village of Gradeshnica, re-
gion of Mariovo. Recorded on September 29, 1995 in the village of Gradeshnica, Mariovo.
' AIOSC, Inv. No. K - 40/1995. Inform. Velika Koleska, born in 192,3 in the village of Veprchani. region of
Mariovo. Recorded on September 13, 1995 in Prilep.
93
Ljupčo S. Risteski
mostly very harmful: he broke the vessels, poured out the water, threw the food on the
floor, let the animals out of the stables, etc.
Many events were narrated in which the vampire continued his sexual contacts
with his wife, and as a result of these contacts a very unusual child was born, well
known in the tradition of Macedonians as a vampire or vampire's son. Vampire's son
possesses special features which enables the community to use him as the most impor-
tant destroyer of vampires. "Carrying the vampire to another place" - has been the
widespread magic measure for the community protection. This ritual action means
"carrying the vampire" out of the actual or symbolic boundaries of the village. It was
practiced, very often to carry the vampire across the water (river) or across the village
landmark with an aim not to come back.
Very often, people carry the vampire, lying to him that they will go to the wedding
in the neighbouring village, taking with them some wine and bread. After crossing the
village border or river, people leave the wine and bread somewhere, saying to the vam-
pire that he must stay and wait there because they must go back to the village. People
believe that vampire can not come back alone across the river or the village border. The
more reliable way of exterminating the vampire is the act of his ritual killing. Ritual
killing of the vampire is done only by the above mentioned vampire's son, because he is
the only one who can see the vampire and kill him. On the place where the vampire was
killed, blood - "blood - as a meatmold" usually appears, threaten after that with hot
water "not to become alive again".
The dead new-born infants, unbaptised persons, unmarried and suicide persons
belong to the category of "suspicious deceased persons". If the community does not
undertake all the necessary ritual and magic activities, members of this category have
all prerequisites to become "impure deceased persons", and after the phase of unsuc-
cessful passing into the community of dead ancestors, they would stay among the living
persons in a form of various demonic beings: navi, faires (samovili). Staying in the
world of living creatures, this category of "suspicious deceased person" and the demo-
niac beings referring to this category, permanently, disturb the harmony or bring clos-
er the boundaries between the two opposite Worlds. Thereby, people's community he-
comes marginal and because of that there are many folk beliefs about their harmfid
effects but also about various modes for neutrahsation of their influences.
Navi are mythic demonic beings originating from the unbaptized dead new-born
child. They do not succeed to pass the phase of "suspicious deceased person" and become
"impure spirits" attacking women who have just given birth in the first 40 days of parturi-
tion. Because of these harmful influences, the community organises fictive baptising of
the child while it is iU or after its dead. Traditional common law does not allow the new-
born children to stay nameless for a longer period. This period symbolises a lack of their
personal identity, as well as their ritual not belonging to the community. Only after bap-
tising they become members of the community, having full rights, being therefore harm-
less for the living persons. Many times, the act of baptising is not enough. As "uncon-
firmed" members of the community, their bodies are often buried in places called "un-
known graves". Realising this kind of ritual action, the community, attempts to erase the
child's nonconfirmed identity protecting thereby it's living members.
94
The Concept of Death in the Folk Culture of Macedonians
The category of socially unconfirmed and uncompleted unmarried persons be-
longs to the category of "suspicious deceased person", too. Because of its lack of social
differentiation and completeness, the community attempts to make symbolic and ritual
establishment of their social integrity organising a special ritual called posthumous
wedding or eternal wedding," in order to satisfy preliminary conditions, so that the
"new dead person" could successfully overcome the phase of passing.
"... Wlien I uent into (the other World), I saw a girl and a boy staying in front of
the door (of the World of the death).
I asked them:
- 'Why were you staying there alone?'
- 'Because we had done our death by ourselves. And because of that, they did not
allow us to went into. We were staying here..."
("... Ama koa vlegu (vo Onoj svet - na son. Zab. Lj. R.) jas, edno chupe i edno mashko
promeneti stoeja na vratata (pred vlezot na svetot m mrtvite. Zab. Lj.R.) I jas mu vela:
- 'Oti vie taka sami stojte?'
- 'Oti nie sami si naprajvme smrt. Ne ne pushtajat dva vlezime. Ovde si sedime nije.
Si stoeme. "f
It is believed that drowned persons have devoted themselves to the devil and their
souls wonder among the living causing damages to the community. According to the
folk beliefs, drowned persons possess the power of water and the power of the hail.
"The hail comes back with the drowned's soul. It comes back with him ". (Gradot, ko tche
vrne so umreniot se vratcha. So toj shto se udavil. Se vratcha so umreniot).Because of
that, an old woman or a man, with knife in the hands, threaten all drowned persons
from the village, to change the direction of the hail clouds.
"... to the high mountains and dense forests,
where the axe does not cut,
where the sickle does not reap,
where the threshing floor does not stretch..."
("... visoki planini, gusti gori,
kaj sho sekira ne sechi,
kaj sho srp ne zhnie,
kaj sho gumno ne e rastureno...
° V. Garnizov, Smrt - svatba. Balgarskija folklor v slavjanskata i balkanskata kulturna tradicija, t. 8, BAN, Sofija
1991, 248; М. Barjaktarović, Posmrtna ili nakmulna svadba. Glasnik Cetinjskog Muzeja, t. \. Getinje 1972, 263-272.
' AIOSC, Inv. No. K - 41/1995. Inform. Menka Mitreska, born in 1924 in the village of Dunje, region of Ma-
riovo. In 1949 she got married in the village of Chanishte and since 1970 she has lived in Prilep. Recorded on Novem-
ber 13, 1995 in Prilep.
'»AIOSC, Inv. No. K - 50/1995. Inform. Velika Mi&eska. born in 1934 in die village of Bzovitch, region of Mariovo.
In 1955 she got married in die village of Chanishte. Recorded on November 28, 1995 in die village of Chanishte, Mariovo.
" AIOSC, Inv. No. K - 50/1995. Inform. Velika Mitreska, bom in 1934 in die village of Bzovitch, region of Mariovo.
In 1955 she got married in die village of Chanishte. Recorded on September 28. 1995 in die village of Chanishte. Mariovo.
95
Liupčo S. Risteski
In the same time, the soul of the drowned person appears as a very useful media-
tor with the water (especially the rain), in a case of rainless period. Then, maidens from
the village take a stone from the drowner's grave and throw it down into some well or
spring calling therewith the rain to fall. This means that drowned persons have a func-
tion of hearers of mythic water and fertility. In that sense, the essence of the rituals
carried out through the posthumous complex, reflects the people's efforts:
- to ensure complete elimination of the effects of dead person;
- supply all necessary conditions for undisturbed and final passing of the "new
dead person" into the World of the death. This process lasts through a period of one-
year intensive ritual activities;
- to ensure final entering and including the new dead person into the other, eternal,
community of dead ancestors, structured according to the system of relationships.
Rituals for Providing successful Passing into the WWld
of the Death
The community of alive, permanently and cycUcally, tries to support dead per-
sons in the World of the Death. According to the folk idea, there are mutual relations
between these Worlds, and the community of living expects support by the community
of its dead ancestors.
In the frames of this folk concept of death, when somebody dies, the community
attempts to "become free" of the dead person, but, in the same time, to provide him with
all necessities for successful passing into the other world, the world of dead ancestors.
In that sense, the posthumous ritual complex presents a mechanism of symbolic
regulation among the systems and their mutual relations. According to the principles
of folk tradition, the community takes an intensive ritual activity in a period of one
year with an aim to "lead" the dead person in the World of the Death. After this period,
the intensity of ritual activities decreases and the community starts with cyclic and per-
manent providing of all necessities for the dead ancestors. The community supposes
that the deceased person has been successfully adapted into the community of death.
Revision of the Process of Cosmisation of the \\4>rld
After the period of three, five, seven or nine years from die inhumation, in some
regions of Macedonia, the community organises ritual "exhumation" of the graves until
the first decades of the 20* century. In the wider Balkans region, this custom has been
well known among the people as "repeated inhumation", or "digging the graves". In eth-
nological studies, this custom is known as "repeated or double digging of the graves".
Kuzman A. Šapkarev, Izbrani dela.: Ohičai. obredi, nosii, tom 4, Misla, Skopje, 1976, 96, 101-102; T. Dorde-
vić. Naš narodni život: Nekoliki samrtni običaji u Južnih Stovena, tom 4, Prosveta, Beograd, 1984, 244-246; T. Dorde-
vić. Dvostruko sahranjivanje. Glasnik Skopskog Naučnog Društva, knj. Ill, Odeljenje društvenih nauka 1, Skoplje,
96
The Concept of Death in the Folk Culture of Macedonians
Having in mind the basic ideas of the traditional culture of Macedonians, the process of
exhumation of the graves had a very important meaning in the establishing the "real" sit-
uation of the process of passing of a dead person into the community of the death. Be-
cause of this, we shall analyse the ritual exhumation and repeated inhumation as a revi-
sion act of the process of the world cosmisation. The ritual community wants to follow the
process of passing and to revise the possible "deviations" of the "suspicious dead per-
sons". The process of passing ought to be under the community's supervision.
Revisions of the process of cosmisation are often very concrete. The "control"
exhumation is done in order to be sure about the real situation of the dead person.
There are numerous belifs about the success in the process of passing into the commu-
nity of dead ancestors. It is believed that this success ^mu\d be greater if the deceased
person "comes to light again" or "see the sunlight once again". Many times, in the
graves of persons died of tuberculosis, people used to bury a bottle of red wine which
was used when some of the close relatives got ill with same disease. However, this wine
could be used only if the community was sure that the process of passing into the World
of Death had been completed successfuly.
After exhumation, the ritual actors make an actual revision of the state of a dead
person, checking his body, the colour of his bones, etc. If the bones kept their white
colour, social and ritual community is satisfied, believing that it succeeded to organise
the ritual cycle completely, overcoming the dangerous period of "suspicious deceased
person". Sometimes, however, the revisions after digging of the graves show that the
process of passing of the dead person into the community of ancestors does not always
follow the custom rules. It happens that some of the dead persons "become alive" or
"become a vampire". In these cases, the community repeats the ritual complex, trying
to find the basic causes for prolonging the suspicious period for death, ^e mentioned
numerous exhumations and repeated inhumations in order to destroy the vampires or
simdar demonic beings.
Finishing this presentation, we can conclude that comprehension of Death as a
cultural and anthropological phenomenon on the basis of empirical materials of tradi-
tional cultures, enables us to understand the whole ritual complex, ideas and believes
related to death. Discovering the structure, contents, functions and meanings of this
phenomenon in the traditional cultures we will be able to comprehend the wider myth-
ic concept of cosmic arrangement and its functioning.
1928, .'547-348: M. Barjaktarović, Dvostruko sahranjivanje. Glasnik Zemaljakog Muzeja u Sarajevo, n.s. Etnologija,
tom X.\IX, Sarajevo, 1974; M. Jovanović, Ponovo ih dvostruko sahranjivanje, Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta. IX - X,
(1960-1961), S.\NU, Beograd, 1961, 212-218; В. Jovanović, Srpska knjiga mrtvih : Tanatologike I. Gradina, Niš 1992,
193-194; G. Lozanova. Običajat "vtoro pogrebenie" u Balgarite - sadarimie i fimkcii, Balgarska Etnografija. Godina
11, Kniga 3, BAN, Sofija, 1991, 52-57.
97
Ljupčo S. Risteski
BESEDA O AVTORJU
Ljupčo S. Risteski. mag., je dodiplomski
študij \pisal v šolskem letu 1989/90 na Oddelku za
etnologijo in antropologijo. Filozofska fakulteta.
Univerza v Beogradu. Podiplomski študij je na-
daljeval od leta 1994 do 1997 na isti univerzi iz
smeri socio-kulturna antropologija. Leta 1997 je
magistriral s temo "Posmrtne šege v tradicionalni
kulturi v Mariovem" (specifična etnična regija v
Makedoniji). Od leta 1994 do 1998 je delal na In-
štitutu za staroslovanske kulture kot asistent ra-
ziskovalec. Od leta 1998 je zaposlen kot asistent na
Oddelku za etnologijo na Fakulteti za naravoslovje
in matematiko Univerze "Svetega Cirila in Meto-
da" v Skopju. Njegovi raziskovalni interesi: make-
don^a, balkanska in slovanska mitologija, ljudska
verovanja in obredi. Objavil je štiri monografije in
šest člaidiov.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ljupčo S. Risteski. M. A., in 1989/90 school
year eiu-oUed at Belgrade University at the Faculty
of Philosophy, Department of Ethnology and An-
thropology. From 1994 to 1997 he studied the post-
graduates' studies of socio^ultural anthropology at
the same University. In 1997 he graduated with the
theme "Posthumous ceremonial complex in the tra-
ditional culture of Mariovo" - (specific ethno region
in Macedonia). From 1994 to 1998 he worked at the
Institute of Old Slavic Culture, as an assistant-re-
searcher. From 1998 he works as an assistant at the
Department of Ethnology, at the Faculty of Natural
Sciences and Mathematics, University "SS. Ciryl
and Methodius" in Skopje. The researcher's inter-
ests: Macedonian, Balkan and Slavic mythologies,
folk religions and rituals. He published four mono-
graphs and six papers.
98
STARI IN NOVI RITUALI TER TRADICIONALNE
IN SODOBNE ŠEGE OB SMRTI
OLD AND NEW RITUALS - TRADITIONAL AND
CONTEMPORARY CUSTOMS CONNECTED WITH
DEATH
99
ŠEGE OB SMRTI NA SLOVENSKEM PODEŽELJU
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
Ključne besede: Slovenija, pogrebne šege, smrt, verovanje, pogreb, drugi pokop
Življenjska pot povezuje dve med seboj odvisni skrajnosti - rojstvo in smrt. Že ob
rojstvu - še več, že ob spočetju vsako živo bitje stopi na pot smrti, torej je življenje že
tudi umiranje. Med tema skrajnostma vstopa človek v posamezna življenjska obdobja,
na katera lahko bolj ali manj sam vpliva, so odvisna od njegove volje, tako npr izbira
šole, poklica, zakonskega stanu. Posamezne življenjske stopnje pa pomenijo vedno zno-
va prehode v nove skupnosti soljudi in prav v teh prehodih je človek videl negotovosti,
tveganja, nevarnosti za tistega, ki je spremenil svoj življenjski stan. Iz take miselnosti so
nastale različne šege obrambnega (apotropejskega) značaja. Ker pa vsaka izmed treh
glavnih življenjskih stopenj vpliva tudi na širšo okolico, na družino, fantovske, dekliške,
vaške skupnosti, se t.i. šege prehoda, »rites de passage«, ki imajo apotropejski značaj,
vedno prepletajo tudi s šegami slovesa in s šegami sprejema.
Za človeka, ki veruje v posmrtno življenje, pomeni smrt le prehod v družbo raj-
nih, vstop v neko boljše, večno življenje. Tisti pa, ki vanj ne veruje, vidi v smrti konec, ki
se mu zdi nesprejemljiv. Zato tudi on, še bolj pa njegova okolica, išče tolažbe in se okle-
pa včasih istega upanja, da je dosegel polnost življenja, da je ustvaril nekaj, kar bo spo-
minjalo na to, da je živel. Verjetno v svoji podzavesti vsak človek veruje v neko višjo silo,
ki ima moč nad življenjem in smrtjo; morda ga pred smrtjo le prešine dvom, da obstaja
tudi po smrti neko, sicer drugačno življenje, v katerega mora vstopiti pripravljen. Čaka
pa ga prehod, v katerem so ljudje slutili mnoge nevarnosti za rajnega in za ljudi, ki jih
je zapustil. In prav pri šegah ob smrti, ki so na slovenskem podeželju najbolj ohranile
svojo prvotno obliko, si strah in slovo podajata roke. Na eni strani srečujemo strah pred
mrličem in pred njegovo možno vrnitvijo, ki bi lahko imela zle posledice za domače in
okolico, na drugi strani pa veliko spoštovanje do njega, saj bo po smrti dobil moč nad
živimi, postal bo njihov priprošnjik, posrednik med njimi in Bogom. Tako srečamo pri
šegah ob smrti in pogrebu prvine, ki sicer izvirajo iz davne preteklosti in je njih prvotni
pomen pozabljen ali pa ga danes drugače razlagajo, ki pa so vendarle ostale kot trdno
zasidrana navada. O mnogih nam pripovedujejo stara pisna poročila, o njih poročajo
101
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
ljudje na terenu, mnogo tega lahko še danes sami doživljamo, opazujemo v vsakodnev-
nih komunikacijah. Preseneča nas, kako je še živo tisto, kar tako radi imenujemo
»vraževerje«, pri tem pa se ne moremo otresti občutka, da ljudje v moč dejanj resnično
verjamejo, morda prav zato, ker se zdi smrt nekaj tako dokončnega, težko sprejemljive-
ga in vendar neizogibnega. Velik del šeg ob smrti in umiranju se nanaša na verovanja v
duhove, demone (vse to naj bi bde duše umrlih) in vse so obrnjene k misli na obrambo
pred njihovim zlim vplivom. Najprimernejše sredstvo je molitev tistih, ki stojijo ob smrt-
ni postelji. Zanimivo je, da poleg pravih molitev za umirajoče ne poznamo nobenih
drugih čarobnih formul (npr. zagovorov), kakor jih poznajo ob drugih priložnostih (ob
porodu ali nekaterih boleznih). V navadi so očenaš, rožni venec, križev pot in sedem
resnic. Obrambno moč pa pripisujejo zakramentalom: blagoslovljeni vodi in sveči
(prižgejo jo ob bolnikovem vzglavju), rožnemu vencu, križcem z relikvijami, ki so jih
prinesli z božje poti.
Ne bomo se ustavljali in razčlenjevali posamezne šege ob smrti, ob umiranju, tre-
nutku smrti, pogrebu in osmini, čeprav je ljudem slovenskega podeželja še zelo pomem-
ben ustaljen potek dogajanj. Izbrala sem le nekaj tistega, kar se zdi, da je v tem vedno
bolj modernem, higiensko urejenem in praktičnem svetu najbolj ogroženo - to pa so
šege, ki so od nekdaj povezovale družino, sosedstvo, vaško skupnost.
Daje nekdo hudo bolan, ljudje na vasi hitro izvedo: manj ga obiskujejo v bolnišni-
ci, če pa leži doma, čutijo kot dolžnost, da pri njem posedijo. Ko zaslutijo, da se mu
bhža zadnja ura, se zbere vsa družina, prijatelji in sosedje, da ne bi umrl zapuščen, da
bi pokazali, da mu odpuščajo vse zamere, kar naj bi tudi pomenilo, da mu lajšajo smrt.
In vendar že v Stoletni pratiki 1801-1900 pisec svari: »Če je bolnik močno slab, se
ne smejo obiskovavci brez posebne potrebe k njemu pušati, kteri bi pred njim čenčali, ne-
slane pogovore imeli, in ga glušili:... obilni obiskovalci so mu le bolj v nadležnost, kakor
v polajšanje.... v tesni stanici se zrak ... kmalo spridi in skazi, in na bolnika močno
vdarja, de težko diha in nekako nepokojnost v sebi občuti, ktera se na vsim njegovim živo-
tu razodeva.-' Svetuje tudi, de se »morajo taki iz hiše spraviti, kteri s svojim jokam ...
umirajočim nadlego in nepokoj delajo.^
Trenutkom umiranja ljudje od nekdaj prisojajo največji pomen za mir bolnikove (in
ne nazadnje tudi svoje) duše. Podzavestno je pri ljudeh vedno prisotna misel na drama-
tičen boj Boga in njegovih pomočndiov svetndiov in angelov na eni in hudobo na drugi
strani. Zato je razumljivo, da umirajočega v tem težkem trenutku in nevarnosti polnem
položaju ne pustijo samega. K hudo bolnemu pokličejo didiovnika, da ga previdi, mazili
in mu prinese »sveto popotnico^. V ta namen je imela še v prvi polovici tega stoletja vsaka
hiša vedno pripravljene prte, križ, dva svečnika, posodo za žegnano vodo in eno za olje.
Vse to je morala k hiši prinesti že nevesta s svojo balo (nevesta mora misliti tako na rojstvo
otroka kakor tudi na svojo in svojih domačih zadnjo uro) in je bilo spravljeno kot nekak-
šen »memento mori« - opomin, da smrt prej ah slej obišče vsako hišo.
V času baroka je bilo nošenje svete popotnice podobno procesiji Rešnjega Telesa: ob
odhodu iz cerkve so zvonili, duhovnik je hodil pod »nebom«, dva moža sta nosda banderi,
dva sta poleg stopala z baklami, eden je nosd luč, drugi je zvončkljal. Ljudje, ki so srečah
ali opazdi ta sprevod, so ob poteh, pred hišami ali na polju poklekndi. Ta baročna scena se
10^
šege ob smrti na slovenskem podeželju
seveda ni mogla obdržati, toda na deželi je še vedno v navadi, da nosi duhovnik sveto po-
potnico oblečen v koretelj s štolo, pred njim pa stopa mežnar z lučjo in zvončkom. Ljudje
še vedno ali pokleknejo ali se vsaj pokrižajo, moški pa se odkrijejo. Da so sosedje v mislih
spremljali bolnika, dokazuje, da so se (ponekod pa se še) že prej zbrali pred vaškim zna-
menjem ali ob vhodu v vas in skupaj pospremili didiovnika do hiše umirajočega. Zakra-
ment maziljenja nudi Cerkev svojim vernikom že od prvih začetkov krščanstva. Do visoke-
ga srednjega veka je bil poudarek predvsem na prošnji in upanju za ozdravitev in šele poz-
neje je odpuščanje grehov dobilo svojo težo. Maziljenje se je tedaj imenovalo ^poslednje
olje<- - to pa je bilo pravzaprav obremenjeno s slutnjo, da ni upanja na zdravje, da je to,
kar še nudi Cerkev na tem svetu, tisto »poslednje«, ki izraža dokončnost, konec. To je
psihično slabo vplivalo na bolnika, kije še pri zavesti. Uradna Cerkev je želela to premosti-
ti in je poslednje olje preimenovala v ^bolniško maziljenje^.
Smrt v fari naznanja mrtvaško zvonjenje. Navček ali cinklenkl cingla, zapoje, ali,
kakor pravijo, premolkne enkrat, dvakrat ali trikrat, na Dolenjskem dva ali tri štikelce
ali štuke zvoni. V posameznih farah, vendar ne povsod enako, že po tem, kolikokrat
zvon premolkne, sklepajo, ali je umrl moški, ženska ali otrok. Tam, kjer so imeli več
zvonov, za moškega zvonijo s ta velikim, za žensko s ta srednjim, za otrokom pa s ta
malim zvonom.
Ko bolnik izdihne, mu najprej zatisnejo oči. To je znak spoštovanja do umrlega,
hkrati pa tudi obrambno dejanje, ki naj bi izviralo iz strahu pred mrličevim "hudim
pogledom'^ - še danes pravijo da bo, če mrlič gleda (ali pa če se smehlja), kmalu še nek-
do umrl. To je sicer s krščanskim umevanjem smrti težko utemeljiti. Težko se je odločiti
tudi, ali gre tu za predkrščansko verovanje ali pa samo za morebitne slabe izkušnje, ko
je ob kaki nalezljivi bolezni, epidemiji umrlo več ljudi drug za drugim. Vsekakor so se
taka verovanja pojavljala po epidemiji kuge, ki ji je sledilo nekaj posebnih ravnanj oz.
dejanj. Mrtvim so začeli skrbno zatiskati oči in zapirati usta, poskrbeli so tudi, da je
bilo vse, kar bi lahko imelo zvezo z živimi, odmaknjeno od ust rajnega (npr. uvezena
imena, monogrami na rjuhi, blazini, sposojeni mrtvaški prt, prtiči, obleka itd.). Sledila
pa so še druga varnostna dejanja: zbuditi je treba živino (predvsem, če je umrl gospo-
dar), premešati žito, da ne bi izgubilo kaljivosti, odpreti okno, pomesti smeti (duša naj
ima prosto pot), izliti vodo iz posod, na Gorenjskem in Dolenjskem rjuho, na kateri je
bolnik umrl, takoj namočiti in jo neožeto obesiti (kolikor kapljic je odteklo z rjuhe, to-
liko duš so rešili), še danes takoj zagrnejo ogledalo, da iz njega ne bi odsevala mrliška
bledica, in ustavijo uro, saj se je rajnemu iztekel čas, zato naj se ne muči s štetjem ur in
minut, ko bo moral zapustiti domačo hišo. Danes je razlaga seveda drugačna kot nekoč:
kropivcem ni treba vpraševati, kdaj je umrl, saj ustavljena ura vse pove. Predvsem pa je
treba pogasiti ogenj v peči: ogenj je namreč živa stvar, prasketanje gorečega lesa pa je
slišati tako, kakor tla jočejo verne duše v vicah. In tudi to ima predvsem praktičen po-
men: rajni največkrat leži na parah doma, v t.i. hiši, torej v prostoru, kjer je kmečka
peč. Soba, v kateri je naparan, pa mora biti hladna, da od mrliča prezgodaj ne pride
zadah. Ker pa v peči ne kurijo, seveda tudi ne morejo peči kruha, s katerim postrežejo
vsem, ki pridejo kropit. Tako se je ustalila navada, da kruh in pogače iz medsebojne
pomoči spečejo sosedje.
103
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
Prvo delo, ki ga store potem, ko nekdo umre, je, da ga umijejo (ne le iz higienskdi
razlogov, marveč zaradi starega verovanja, da se ne bi hodil nazaj umivat) in oblečejo v
obleko, ki so si jo včasih ljudje za smrt hranili vse življenje (pogosto je bila to celo poroč-
na obleka). Mnogokje je še navada (seveda, če človek umre doma), da to delo opravijo
zgolj sosedje, saj se domači mrtvega niso smeli dotakniti. Takim sosedom na Go-
renjskem pravijo »mrtvi sosedje^ in jih tako ločijo od tistih, s katerimi so v botrinji, ki
velja včasih celo za več kot sorodstvo. Vendar pa počasi tudi ta navada izginja in vse
pogosteje rajnega, če seveda umre doma, preoblečejo kar domači sami. »Včasih smo
pa vsi sosedje hiteh umit, preobleč, poribat, pare imredit, smo bolj skup držal, sedaj je pa
vsak zase...«). To je že prva sprememba, ki nastaja v današnjem svetu: tistega, ki umre
v bolnišnici, domov pripeljejo v krsti, pogosto kar v mrtvaško vežico, če jo fara že ima: s
tem pa odpade vrsta šeg. Ljudje, ki še dajo kaj na stare navade, se tega zavedajo in vča-
sih pred smrtjo vzamejo bolnika iz bolnišnice, češ »da bo umrl domo". Ko pride čas, jim
sosedje pomagajo pripraviti mrtvaški oder, ki mu splošno pravijo pare; mrliča torej
položijo na pare, na pravico, na skolke. Pokojni leži na mrtvaškem odru sredi hiše, ven-
dar tako, da je z nogami obrnjen proti hišnim vratom. Sklenjene roke mu ovijejo z
rožnim vencem, na mizico pred pare postavijo med dve goreči sveči križ, predenj pa
skodelico z blagoslovljeno vodo ali soljo in kropdno vejico, oljko, pušpan, brinje, re-
dkeje smrekovo vejico. Ob mrtvaški oder postavijo klopi, da domači in tudi kropilci pri
rajnem lahko malo posedijo, predvsem pa so klopi in stoli v sobi za nočno vahtanje,
bedenje pri mrliču.
Sorodnikom in znancem naznanijo smrt domači sami, k pogrebu pa so nekoč,
ponekod pa še danes, od vasi do vasi, od hiše do hiše vabili ali, kakor pravijo, »na po-
greb velevali« ali »ukazali« posebni mrtvaški vabovci ali znanilci. Starejši moški ali žen-
ska, navadno tisti, ki bo ves čas čul pri mrliču, gre naznanit smrt k sosedom in jih hkra-
ti povabi k pogrebu in k vahtanju ali žebranju (Koroška). Stara navada je namreč bila,
da so prišli na pogreb le tisti sovaščani, ki so bili povabljeni. Ce je umrl gospodar ali
gospodinja, so velevali na pogreb pri sosedih iz vsake hiše po dvema, če pa otrok, pa po
enemu. Vabovec, ki je v hišo stopil z besedami »K pogrebu sem prišel velevat--, je v dar
dobd nekaj prosa, kaše ali moke, kos kruha, pozneje že tudi denar. Čeprav danes skoraj
ne velevajo več, pa gre iz vsake hiše vsaj eden na pogreb, kropit pa po nepisanem pravi-
lu vsak, ki je pokojnega poznal; če so bdi sosedje med seboj v zameri, v jezi, se v večini
tedaj pobotajo. Celo ob zelo hudi zameri, ko na pogreb niso šli, so prišli vsaj kropit.
Pri pokojnem čuje noč in dan posebej najeti čuvar ali čuvarica in za to dobi denar
ali kakšen kos pokojnikove obleke. Taki ženi pravijo na Notranjskem, da je »rm lučci«, in
ker se vsakemu z »bohlonaj- zahvali, ji na Dolenjskem pravijo »žem za bohlonaj-. Na
podeželju največ hodijo kropit zvečer, ko imajo več časa in potem pri mrliču ostanejo poz-
no v noč ter pri njem čujejo. V BeU krajini so na varki, Gorenjci gredo mrhča vahtat ali
varvat, na Štajerskem gredo k njemu bedet, Korošci pa žebrat (molit), Dolenjci gredo celo
»bel kruh jest-, sicer pa pravijo bedenju »mrtvaško vasovanje- ali nočno vasovanje pri mr-
liču. Najprej za umrlega in za duše v vicah, predvsem za tiste, »ki brez miru okrog letajo-,
kakor pravijo, molijo, potem pojejo cerkvene in mrliške pesmi (obsmrtnice). Razpoloženje
sčasoma postane vedro, pripovedujejo zgodbe, tudi strašljive, se igrajo razne igre (najraje
take s kaznimi) in skoraj pozabijo, da so ob mrliču. Ljudsko izročilo namen nočnega vaso-
704
šege ob smrti na slovenskem podeželju
vanja pri mrliču le slabo pojasnjuje. Ena izmed razlag je, da se tako tisti, ki čujejo ob mr-
tvaškem odru, sami zavarujejo pred smrtjo, kajti po prastari šegi, kije vse do danes še niso
povsem opustili, mora biti človek na mrliškem vasovanju dobre volje, poleg molitev in
žalostnih pesmi pa se oglašajo tudi vesele, mrliški vasovalci se tudi šalijo. Veselo
razpoloženje naj bi človeka zavarovalo pred smrtjo, o kateri so verovali, daje zlasti ponoči,
ko človeka premaguje spanec, nalezljiva. Ker pa so imele ljudske šege navadno več name-
nov, so razpoloženje razlagali tudi s tem, da morajo rajnega razvedriti, ker bi bil sicer
užaljen, če bi se njegovi sorodniki in znanci z žalostjo ločili od njega.
Domači morajo vse kropilce in mrtvaške vasovalce pogostiti: prinesejo žganje in
bel kruh. Le-ta je moral biti za kropilce še pred drugo vojno pri vsaki hiši, če drugače
ne, ga je revnejšim »eno peko« (okoli 6 hlebcev) prinesel premožnejši sosed. Kruh so
vzeli vsi, mnogi pa ga niso pojedli, ampak so ga nesli domov otrokom. Tako pokojni še
zadnjikrat pogosti vse sorodnike, znance, posebno pa siromake in berače in še za-
dnjikrat pokaže svojo gostoljubnost. Tu se pokaže tesna miselna povezanost med revni-
mi dušami v vicah in med reveži na zemlji. S podpiranjem revnih se lahko pridobi za-
sluge za lastno dušo ali za duše sorodnikov. Pogostitev kropilcev se je obdržala še do
današnjega časa, tudi tam, kjer rajni leži v mrliški vežici. Arhitekt, ki pozna in sledi
navadam ljudi, predvidi tudi ob vežici majhno čajno kuhinjo, kamor domači prinesejo
pijačo, kruh in pecivo in v kateri skuhajo čaj, kavo ali vino, da lahko kropilce pogostijo
in da se pozimi tudi sami lahko pogrejejo, saj tudi v vežici mrtvega ne pustijo samega.
Ni pa več nočnega vasovanja pri mrliču, saj vežico zvečer navadno zaklenejo, po
mnenju nekaterih prezgodaj, saj ljudje, ki imajo delo na polju, lahko pridejo kropit šele
zvečer. Mrliške vežice sprejemajo zelo različno: starejši, ki še bivajo v svojih starih hi-
šah, radi vidijo, da pokojni leži doma, da so ob njem, da vse poteka po ustaljenem redu
po starih navadah. Za mlajše, ki žive že v novejših, modernih hišah, pomeni dejstvo, da
ob pokopališču še ni vežice, resen problem, ki ga želijo s samoprispevki in lastnim de-
lom čimprej rešiti.
Mrliča pokopljejo navadno tretji dan. Se v začetku tega stoletja so grob izkopali
sosedje ali pa tisti vaščani, ki so nosili tudi krsto. Orodje so prinesli s seboj ali pa so ga
vzeli iz nekdanje totenkamre, mrtvašnice, v kateri so nekoč ležali le brezdomci. Pozneje
so to navado začeli opuščati in je jamo izkopal kar grobar, včasih cerkovnik, ki je bil
tudi grobar Držati pa se je moral predpisov, kdaj sme stari grob ponovno odkopati za
novega mrliča. Na Koroškem je še vedno navada, da kramp in lopato v obliki križa
položijo čez izkopano jamo. Pogrebci, pogrebniki so bili še do nedavnega sosedje, vašča-
ni, prijatelji, ki jih je pogosto pokojni že prej naprosil ali določil ali pa so to storili do-
mači po njegovi smrti. Biti pogrebnik je veljalo za čast, naprošeni je užival spoštovanje
in naklonjenost in ne pomnijo, da bi to kdo odklonil. Še danes pa morajo pogrebci poz-
nati vsa nepisana pravila in se jih držati. Najprej je pomembno, kako rajnega nesejo iz
domače hiše, saj je to prehod od doma v grob in je treba pri tem upoštevati vse šege
prehoda, ločitve in slovesa. Z nogami ga nesejo naprej, s krsto prekrižajo vse prage, kar
naj velja kot njegovo slovo, po starih verovanjih pa tako ne bi našel prave poti, če bi se
po naključju vrnil. Ob vaškem znamenju, križu, krsto položijo na tla. Najstarejši pogre-
bec se v imenu umrlega poslovi ter prosi odpuščanja za krivice, ki jih je morebiti komu
naredil, ter vsem zagotovi, da jim tudi sam odpušča, in prosi, naj zanj molijo. Križu pra-
105
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
vijo tudi »feer/e/z«, kar pride iz »kyrie eleison« - Gospod usmili se - to ime izvira prav iz
te šege. Ne samo, da se je ta šega na deželi ohranila vse do danes, še več, redno smo ji
priča tudi na obrohju slovenskih mest, npr. v vaseh pod Šmarno goro, celo v Šentvidu,
torej v Ljubljani. Tudi v cerkev (na deželi so skoraj redno pogrebi z mašo, po njej pa je
ofer) nesejo mrtvega z nogami naprej, niso pa več istega mnenja glede tega, kako ga
morajo nesti iz cerkve: eni trdijo, da je krsto treba obrniti, da gre tudi z nogami ven,
zopet drugi pa trdijo, da mora ves čas gledati na oltar, saj »nihče Bogu ne obrne hrbta«.
Zato se morajo pogrebniki o tem prej dogovoriti. Dolžnost pogrebnikov je bUa, da so
prinesli krsto, nosdi pokojnika (vozili so ga le, če je bda domača hiša zelo daleč od far-
nega pokopališča; za vozom pa je po ljudski veri treba iti po kolesnicah, ne iskati
bližnjic in se ne ozirati, sicer bo kmalu nov mrlič v hiši) in ga tudi zagrebli. Pravdoma
so bdi štirje, redkeje šest. Dobro je bilo, da so bili enake rasti, saj se je teža tako enako-
merno porazdelila. Oblečeni so bili v boljšo obleko, po možnosti črno, na rokavih so
imeli žalne trakove, za poročene črne, za samske bele. Trakove, ki so jih vedno pripravi-
li pokojnikovi domači, so imeli na zunanji strani. Ko so nosila {trage) preložili na drugo
ramo, so prestavdi tudi trak. Po pogrebu so trakove sneli in jih vrgli v grob na krsto. Ta
navada se je v drugačni obliki na Dolenjskem ohranda vse do danes. Črn trak z državne
zastave, ki jo nosijo na čelu vsakega pogrebnega sprevoda, prav tako snamejo in ga
vržejo v grob.
Posebno skrb za umrlega nam kažejo tudi šege in navade, ki se odvijajo po pogre-
bu doma ali na pokopališču. Tisti, ki niso šli na pogreb, so doma pospravdi mrtvaški
oder, odprli vsa okna, razmetah stole, vrgh rjuhe in mrtvaške prte v vodo in morda celo
sežgali zimnico. Ker so verovali, da mora vsak umrli prvo noč stražiti vse mrtve na po-
kopališču, zanj po pogrebu najprej zmolijo, predvsem zato, da ga to prvo noč ne bi bilo
strah. Še danes pa se drže stare šege pogostitve sedmi ali osmi dan po pogrebu. To go-
stijo imenujejo sedmina ali osmina, pravijo ji tudi karmina, korhirm, trbina, in jo pri-
pravijo domači pokojniku v čast in spomin. Danes je ta mrtvaška gostija navadno takoj
po pogrebu in ji pravimo pogrebščina. Povabijo vse, ki so bili na pogrebu, predvsem pa
vabovce, čuvarja, nosače krste, grobarja, cerkovnika in seveda duhovnika. Preden pose-
dejo, eden izmed njih glasno moli pet očenašev za pokojnikovo dušo. Na nastanek sed-
mine ali osmine je vplivala črna maša zadušnica, ki se bere za pokojnega sedmi oz.
osmi dan po pogrebu. Prav tako so na uvedbo sedmine vplivale ljudske molitve, ki so jih
na pokojnikovem domu opravljali sedem oz. osem dni zapovrstjo. O tem poroča že Val-
vasor iz 17. stol: »Pri pogrebih je ponekod ... navada, da dado precej po pokopu samo
nosačem jesti. Nato prihajajo osem dni zapovrstjo v hišo tisti, ki so šh za pogrebom, in
tudi tisti, ki so nosiU truplo, ter polože v sobi na mestu, kjer je ležal mrtvec, dve voščeni
sveči križem druga na drugo, ju prižgo na vseh štirih koncih ... pokleknejo in molijo, dok-
ler sveči čisto ne pogorita... Nato gre vsakdo po svoji poti domov. In tako delajo osem dni.
Zadnji, t.j. osmi dan, pa jim je treba dati kaj jesti. Tedaj je pokojni prav pokopan.« Po-
ročda o tem se vrstijo vse do današnjih dni. V Beli krajini so še pred vojno »sedmino
molili«, na Gorenjskem celo devet dni, na Dolenjskem še danes hodijo k družini umrle-
ga molit osem dni vsak večer, osmi dan je zadušnica, potem pa jih pogostijo. Iz vsega
tega lahko sklepamo, da so sedmine ali osmine z mrtvaško gostijo v bistvu zaključne
molitve za umrlega. Zavedati pa se moramo, da je sedmina oz. osmina samo po svojem
106
Sege ob smrti na slovenskem podeželju
imenu in po času vršitve mlajša, iz krščanskega srednjega veka izvirajoča šega. Kot mr-
tvaška gostija izvira namreč iz prastarih časov in je zadnji ostanek staroslovanskih mr-
tvaških obredij.
Ob koncu pa omenimo še posebno šego, ki je danes splošno manj znana in vendar
je ponekod na Koroškem še živa: s posebnimi šegami je namreč združena skrb za kosti,
posebno za lobanjo in večje kosti tistega pokojnega, v katerega grob nameravajo poko-
pati drugega mrliča. Vse kosti je namreč treba zbrati, jih umiti in zavite v prt ob novem
pogrebu položiti nazaj v grob. Sega umivanja in zavijanja kosti nas spominja na drugi
pokop mrliča, ki ga poznajo mnoga prvotna ljudstva zunaj Evrope.
107
MRI IN LITERATURA
ARHI\ SKO gradivo Inštituta za slovensko narodopisje ZRC SAZU in terenski zapisi avtorice.
LOŽAR-PODLOGAR Helena, Šege življenjskega kroga. C. Smrt. Vprašal niča IX. V: Etnološka topografija slovenskega
etničnega ozemlja (ur.: Slavko Kremenšek, Vilko Novak, Valens Vodušek), Ljubljana 1978. str. 36-50.
LOŽAR-PODLOGAR, Helena, Šege življenjskega kroga. V: Slovensko ljudsko izročilo. Pregled etnologije Slovencev
(ur. Angelos Baš), Ljubljana 1980.
NOVAK Vilko, Od rojstva do smrti. Ob smrti. V: Slovenska ljudska kultura, Ljubljana 1960, str. 186-194.
OREL Boris, Trije mejniki v človeškem življenju. Smrt in pogreb. V: Narodopisje Slovencev I. Ljubljana 1944, str.
303-314.
STOLETNA pratika 1801-1901. Za duhovne, deželske služabnike in kmete. V Ljubljani 1860 (Tretja popravljena
izdaja).
VALVASOR Johann Weichard, Die Ehre des Hertzogthums Krain. Laibach-Nurnberg 1689, II/6, 280 et passim.
ZABLATNIK Pavle, Verovanja in običaji ob smrti. V: Od zibelke do groba. Šege in navade na Koroškem. Celovec 1982,
str. 95-128.
DEATH CUSTOMS IN THE SLOVENE
COUNTRYSIDE
108
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
Keywords: Slovenia, funeral rites, death, beliefs, funerals, repeated (double) burial
The path of life links two interdependent extremes: birth and death. When it is
born, even at the time of its conception, every living creature starts on the path toward
death - one can also say that living simultaneously implies dying as well. Between these
two extremes man enters different stages of life which he or she is able to influence to
a certain degree: the choice of school, profession, marital status, and so on. These indi-
vidual stages in one's life denote rites of passage, transition to a new community, to a
different group of people. Man has perceived these passages as especially uncertain,
risky, and dangerous for the one experiencing them. Such notions resulted in a
number of different customs with a defensive (apotropaic) character. And since each of
the three life stages (birth, marriage, death) affects others as well, for instance one's
family, communities of young men, young women or fellow villagers, these so-called
apotropaic »rites de passage« are always closely linked to the customs of departing or of
welcoming another human being.
For those who believe in the after-life death merely denotes a transition into the
community of the dead, into a better, eternal life; non-believers perceive death as the ulti-
mate end. Since the latter find this hard to accept they, and even more those around
them, seek solace, clinging to the hope that they had lived a full life, having created some-
thing to remember them by. It is probably in man's subconsciousness to believe in a high-
er power which governs life and death, and possibly a trace of doubt enters a person's
mind before dying, hoping that even after death there might be a different life into which
one must come prepared. But such a person is about to undergo the transition which
many find equally dangerous for the deceased as well as for those left behind. Death cus-
toms and rites which have been preserved most in the Slovene countryside reflect the in-
terconnection of fear and departure. On one hand there is fear of the dead and the possi-
ble return of the deceased which could prove fatal for the family or other villagers, on the
other a great respect for the deceased who is believed to attain power over the living after
Death Customs in the Slovene Countryside
death, becoming the mediator between them and God. Death rites tiius contain elements
from ancient past whose original meaning has long been forgotten, or is now explained
differendy, but which have remained and are practiced as a firmly grounded habit. Many
are descrdied in old texts or by oral sources, or seen in practice, in everyday communica-
tions. It is surprising how what is sometimes labelled "superstition" remains alive, and
one cannot help but think that people really believe in the power of these acts - maybe
even more so because deadi seems something truly final, hard to accept, and yet inevita-
ble. Numerous deadi customs contain the behef in ghosts and demons (represented by
the souls of the deceased) and strive to protect against their evil influences. The most ap
propriate protection thus represents the prayer of those gathered around the dying per-
son. It is interesting that aside from the genuine prayers for the dying other magical for-
mulas (invocations) used on other occasions, such as birth or certain illnesses, are un-
known. People usually say the Lord's Prayer, the rosary, the seven gospel truths, or do the
stations. The protective power is contained in the sacramental character of the last rites:
holy water and candles lit at the head of the dying person, the rosary, the crucifix with
rehcs brought from a pilgrimage.
There is not enough room to dissect and explain each death custom - the process
of dying, the moment of death, the funeral, the funeral repast. But those living in the
Slovene countryside still greatly value the traditional, firmly established course of
events. 1 have chosen a fragment of what seems to be the most endangered in our ultra-
modern, hygienic world of order and practicality - that is the customs which have
bound the family, neighbors, and the village community from time immemorial.
Villagers quickly learn of somebody's illness. Whde they do not often visit the sick
in the hospital, they do feel obliged to go and spend some time with them if they remain
at home. When it is felt that die time of death is approaching, the whole family, relatives,
neighbors, and friends gather at the deathbed to show that old grievances have been for-
gotten, to make the dying feel less lonely, and to ease the moment of death.
And yet the author of an article in Stoletna pratika 1801-1900 (1801-1900 Perpet-
ual Calendar) warns his readers: »Ifthe sick person is very weak, visitors with no specific
need should not be allowed to chatter around him, to talk nonsense, and to deafen him...
he perceives such a multitude of visitors more of a burden than a relief... the air in a small
room soon becomes stale and the sick person starts breathing heavily and feels somehow
ill at ease, which is reflected by his whole body.-The author further advises to chase »...
out of the house those whose crying bothers and disturbs the dying person.-
Since time immemorial people have felt that the moment of dying is of the ut-
most importance for the peace of the dying person's (and, last but not least, of their
own) soul. Unconsciously they think of the dramatic fight of God and his helpers, the
saints and the angels, with their evil opponent. It is therefore understandable that they
do not leave the dying person alone in such a troublesome, dangerous situation. They
call for a priest to administer the last rites and to provide the dying with the »sacred
provisions^. .4s late as the first half of the 20th century each house always kept ready a
few tablecloths, a crucifix, two candlesticks, a container for holy water and another one
for oil. All of this had to be part of a bride's dowry (since the bride who comes to live in
109
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
her bridegroom's house has to think of the birth of a baby as well as the final hour of
her family - and indeed her own - as well), and was kept more or less at hand as a sym-
bolic »memento mori« - a reminder that sooner or later death visits each and every
household.
In Baroque the carrying of the sacred provisions was similar to the Corpus Chris-
ti procession: church bells sounded when the priest left the church walking under a
canopy, two men carried banderas, two carried torches, one held a light, another
chimed the bells. People who chanced upon this procession kneeled on the ground, be
it along the village paths, in front of their own houses, or in the fields. While it is under-
standable that this Baroque custom could not have been preserved into the present, it
is nevertheless still a habit that the priest bearing the sacred provisions is dressed in
funeral robes with a stole, is preceeded by the sexton carrying a light and a small bell,
and that those who see them still kneel or at least make the sign of the cross, the men
taking off their hats. Since the neighbors accompanied the deceased in their thoughts
they used to - or they still do so - gather by the village crucifix or by the entrance to the
village and then accompany the priest to the house of the deceased. The sacrament of
anointing the sick has been available to believers since the very first years of Christian-
ity. Until the High Middle Ages it emphasized primarily the plea and the hope for re-
covery, only later it shifted toward the absolution of sins and was named »the last rites«,
implying that there was no more hope of attaining health again, that what the Church
still had to offer was the very "final" act in this world. Since this aspect of finality dis-
turbed the person who was still conscious, the official Church wished to avoid this neg-
ative, final aspect and renamed this act the »annointment of the sick.«
In the parish the death of a villager is announced with the chime of a death bell.
The bell, called navček or cinklenkl, chimes or, as people say, »pauses« once, twice, or
three times. In Dolenjsko it sounds two or three štikelce or štuke. Though this differs
from parish to parish, villagers are able to recognize by the number of pauses whether
the deceased was a man, a woman, or a child. If a parish had several bells, the largest
chimed if the deceased was male, the middle sounded for female parishioners, and the
smallest one for a child.
When a person dies, those around him first close his or her eyes. This symbolizes
respect for the deceased, but is simultaneously the protection from the »evil еуе« of the
deceased; the notion that another person will die soon if the eyes of the deceased are
open, or if the dead person is smiling, is still alive. It is difficult to establish whether
this belief is consistent with the Christian notion of death or not; is it a remnant of cer-
tain pre-Christian beliefs, or simply the result of negative experiences from the past
when people died one after another had there been an epidemic. At any case, these
beliefs started after an epidemic of plague which was followed by a series of specific
acts. The eyes and the mouth of the deceased had to be carefully closed, people also
took care that anything which might have been connected with the living (i.e. mono-
grams on the sheets or pillows, a borrowed death cloth, smaller tablecloths, clothes,
etc.) was removed from the proximity of the mouth of the deceased. This was followed
by other protective acts: the cattle - especially if the deceased was the master of the
no
Death Customs in the Slovene Countrvside
house - had to be awaken, wheat had to be remixed so it would not loose its capacity for
germination, a window had to be opened to set free the passage of the soul, all water
had to be poured from containers. In Gorenjsko and Dolenjsko the sheet on which the
dying had lain had to be soaked in water immediately, then hung to dry without wTing-
ing any of the water out (each falling droplet namely represented a soul saved from
hell). Even today, a mirror which might reflect the deathly pallor of the deceased is cov-
ered, and the clock in the room is stopped since the deceased has run out of time on
this earth and he or she should not strain to count the hours and minutes before leav-
ing the home. There is a different explanation of this act in the present, of course:
those who come to pay their respect need not ask when the deceased died, they can see
it from the clock. It is very important to extinguish the fire in the oven; the fire is
namely a living entity, and the crackling of the burning wood sounds like the crying of
the faithful souls in purgatory. There is a practical reason for this as well: the deceased
most often lies on a catafalque at home, in the so-called hiša (house), that is in the
room with the oven. Since the room with the deceased has to remain cool lest the
corpse starts to smell, there is no fire in the oven. And since there is no fire in the oven
in which bread is usually baked, those who come to pay their respect cannot be offered
bread. It is therefore customary that neighbors organize themselves and bring freshly-
baked bread and cakes.
The deceased is first washed (this is not only due to hygienic reasons, but also
because of the old belief that otherwise he or she would be returning to get washed)
and changed into the clothes which were often saved for this very occasion throughout
one's life; these are often the very same clothes one got married in. If the deceased died
at home it is usually customary that this is carried out only by neighbors since the fam-
ily is not allowed to touch the deceased. In Gorenjsko such neighbors are called the
»death neighbors- to differentiate them from those who are the family's godparents;
godparents are namely frequently more valued that relatives of kin. But this custom is
slowly disappearing and the deceased is now often changed by the family. (»A11 the
neighbors used to come to wash and change the corpse, scrub the floor, assemble the
catafalque. We used to stick together while it is each on his own now«). This is the first
change in the present times: whoever dies in a hospital is brought to his or her home in
a coffin or often even directly to the funeral chapel if there is one in the parish; a
number of customs are thus rendered obsolete. Those who still value the old usages are
aware of this and frequently bring the dying person from the hospital so that he or she
can die »at home«. Their neighbors help them prepare the catafalque, usually called
pare. The corpse is placed on the catafalque (also called pare, pravica, skolke) in the
middle of the hiša, with his legs facing the door and with a rosary in his hands. A litde
table with two burning candles and a crucifix in the middle is placed in front of the
catafalque. In front of the crucifix is a cup of holy water or salt and an aspergillum,
that is a twig from either an olive, box or juniper tree, only rarely from a fir tree. The
catafalque is flanked by benches so that the family and visitors can pause for a whde,
but mainly they are needed for the wake at night.
Famdy members inform (»na pogreb velevati- or »гш pogreb ukazati--) their relatives
or acquaintances by themselves; in die past - and in some places still today - this task was
111
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
performed by the soK^alled death announcers (mrtvaški vabovci). Vabovci went from house
to house, from village to village, inviting people to attend the funeral (тш pogreb velevati).
An elderly man or woman, usually the one who will keep the wake by the deceased, goes to
neighboring houses, announces the death and at the same time invites them to the funer-
al and the wake (zebranje in Koroško). It was customary in the past that only those who
had been specifically invited attended the funeral. If the deceased was either the master
or the mistress of the house, the invitation was issued to two people, but only to one if a
child had died. Vabovec, who stepped into a house announcing Л have come to summon
you to the funeral«, received some millet, groats, flour or a piece of bread (later money) as
a reward. Even though this custom is not practiced any more, at least one person from
each house comes to the funeral. According to an unwritten law all who had known the
deceased come to sprinkle holy water on the corpse. Those neighbors who bore a grudge
or who had quarreled with the deceased for some reason, usually reconcile at that mo-
ment. Even when their resentment is so fierce that no one attends the funeral, they always
come to sprinkle holy water on the corpse.
A hired man or a woman stays with the deceased night and day; as a reward he or
she receives either a piece of the deceased's clothing, or money. In Notranjsko it is said
that such a woman is »ш lučci«, while in Dolenjsko, where such a person thanks each vis-
itor with the words "bohlonaj«, (God bless you), this woman is called "žena za bohlonaj«
(the bohlonaj lady). In Slovene villages people usually come to sprinkle the deceased at
night when their daily tasks are mostly done. They stay late at night, keeping the wake. In
Bela krajina they are »na varki", in Gorenjsko they call the wake ^mrliča vahtat" or »mr/i-
ra varvat<', in Štajerska people come and sit up (bedijo) with the dead whUe in Koroško it
is said that people go to pray (gredo žebrat) by the corpse. In Dolenjsko people even say
that they go Ло eat white bread«; but keeping the wake is more frequendy called
^mrtvaško vasovanje or »nočno vasovanje pri mrliču-'. During the wake the assembled
first pray for the deceased and for the souls in purgatory, especially for those who »wander
around with no peace«, as they say. Then they sing church and death songs, and when the
mood gradually brightens they tell stories, also scary ones, and play different games, al-
most forgetting that they are keeping a wake. Eolk tradition has not explained the motive
of this nightly vigil. One of the explanations maintains that in such a manner people pro-
tect themselves from death. The ancient custom of being merry during the wake, of sing-
ing merry songs alongside the sad ones and prayers, and of cracking jokes has persisted
into the present. It is believed that high spirits protect a person from death which is sup-
posed to be especially catching at night when man is apt to succumb to sleep. Since such
customs usually contained more than one meaning, one of the explanations for such be-
haviour is that people need to cheer up the deceased lest he took offence at his relatives
and neighbours taking leave from him in sadness.
The family is obliged to offer schnapps and white bread to every visitor (who is
called kropilec, mrtvaški vasovalec). Even before World War 11 each house had to serve
white bread on such an occasion; if the family could not afford it, a more affluent
neighbor brought them a »batch« (about six loaves). All visitors accepted the bread, but
many took it home to their children. In this manner the deceased treats his relatives,
acquaintances and especially the poor and beggars, for the last time, manifesting his
112
Death Cvistoms in the Slovene Countrvside
hospitality. This reveals the close connection of poor souls in purgatory with the poor
on Earth. By giving to the poor one can acquire merits for one's own soul or for the
souls of one's relatives. This gesture of hospitality has been preserved to the present,
even if the deceased lies in a funeral chapel. Those architects who are familiar with
people's customs design a small kitchenette alongside a funeral chapel into which the
family brings beverages, bread and cakes, and in which they make tea, coffee, or serve
wine for those who have come to pay their respect. This is also a place where in winter
the family can warm up during their vigil by the deceased. At night, however, the chap
el is locked, much to the chagrin of many who feel that this occurs much too early for
the farmers who work in the fields tiU dusk and are therefore able to come only later in
the evening. The feelings concerning such funeral chapels are ambivalent: those who
still live in their own, original houses, prefer that the deceased remain at home until
the funeral so that they can keep a constant vigil and ensure that everything takes place
according to old customs and firmly established traditions. If a cemetery does not yet
have a funeral chapel, younger people who live in modern houses perceive this as a se-
rious problem and try to solve it as soon as possible by collecting financial contribu-
tions and by donating their own labor.
The funeral usually takes place the third day after death. Even at the beginning
of the 20th century the grave used to be dug out by neighbors or by the pallbearers.
They either brought the necessary tools with them or borrowed them from the so-called
totenkamra, a funeral chapel which was used only for the homeless. ^Tien this custom
started to disappear later on, the grave was dug out by gravediggers or sometimes by a
sexton who also doubled as a gravedigger. But he had to adhere to the rules prescribing
when an old grave could be uncovered for a new corpse. In Koroško it is still customary
to form a cross with a pick and a shovel and place them over the freshly-dug grave. Until
very recently the pallbearers were usually neighbors, fellow villagers, or friends who
had been asked or appointed to do this by the deceased beforehand, or were asked by
the family of the deceased. It was a great honor to be a pallbearer; such people were
highly esteemed by the community and nobody ever refused this task. But the pallbear-
ers have to be familiar with and stricdy obey all the unwritten rules concerning this
task. Since this denotes a transition from one's home to one's grave and the customs of
such a transition, separation, and farewell have to be strictly obeyed, it is extremely
important how the deceased is taken out from his house. His feet have to face forward,
his coffin making a cross over all the thresholds in the house. This denotes his leave-
taking, and according to old beliefs he would thus be unable to find the right way home
should he accidentally return. By the village crucifix or a chapel the coffin is placed on
the ground. Speaking for the deceased, the oldest pallbearer bids farewell, asks to be
forgiven for any wrongs the deceased may have done to anybody, gives an assurance
that the deceased forgives any injustice done to him, and asks all around him to pray
for the deceased. The village crucifux is also called »kerlejž« - from kyrie eleison (Lord
have mercy) - and was named after this very custom. The custom has not only been
preserved in the countryside, but is also practiced on the outskirts of Slovene cities, for
instance in villages at the foot of Šmarna gora, and even in Šentvid, thus even in
Ljubljana. The deceased is then carried into church (in the Slovene countryside funer-
113
Helena Ložar-Podlogar
als almost always have a mass and an »o/er« - offering - afterwards) with his feet for-
ward, but opinions differ as to how the corpse should be brought out of the church.
Some say that the casket has to be turned around so that the deceased leaves the
church with his feet forward as well, while others feel that the deceased should face the
altar throughout the ceremony, since »no one should turn his back to God«. The pall-
bearers therefore have to agree on this beforehand. It was the pallbearers' task to bring
the coffin, to carry the deceased (the coffin was driven oidy if the home of the deceased
was quite far from the parish cemetery; according to the popular belief mourners have
to follow the cart stepping into the cart track, avoiding any shortcuts or looking back;
otherwise the house of the deceased will soon be struck with another death), and to
bury the coffin. There were usually four pallbearers, only rarely six. It was advisable
that their height was roughly the same so as to evenly distribute the weight. They were
dressed in their Sunday best, in black if possible, with mourning bands which were
black if the deceased had been married, or white if the person who died had been sin-
gle. These bands, always made by the family of the deceased, were worn faced outward.
When the palls were placed on the other shoulder, the band was always repositioned
accordingly. These bands were later taken off and thrown on the top of the coffin in the
open grave. Though in a different form, this custom has been preserved up to the
present in Dolenjsko: the black band from the state flag, which is carried at the head of
every funeral procession, is likewise taken off and thrown into the grave.
Customs taking place at the home of the deceased likewise reveal a special con-
cern for the dead. Those who did not go to the funeral dismantled the catafalque,
opened all the windows, scattered all the chairs, threw the sheets and the funeral sheets
in water, maybe even burned the mattress. Since they believed that everybody who died
had to watch over all the dead in the cemetery, after the funeral they first prayed that
the deceased would not be scared. The old custom of organizing a funeral repast the
seventh or the eighth day after the funeral is still practiced. The repast, called sedmina
(the seventh day) or osmina (the eighth day), but also karmina, korhina, trbina, and pre-
pared by the family, is to honor the deceased. Nowadays this usually takes place imme-
diately after the funeral and is called pogrebščina. All who came to the funeral, espe-
cially vabovci, the person who was hired to keep the vigil by the dead, the pallbearers,
the gravedigger, the sexton, and of course the priest, are invited. Before they all sit
down somebody says five Lord's prayers aloud for the soul of the deceased. The origin
of sedmina or osmina is connected to the requiem mass which takes place on the sev-
enth or the eighth day after the funeral, but also to the prayers performed at the home
of the deceased seven or eight days in a row. These are mentioned in Valvasor's book
»Die Ehre des Hertzogthums Krain« from the 17th century: »In places it is customary
that only the pallbearers are given food immediately after the funeral. Those attending
the funeral as well as the pallbearers then come to the house eight days in a row. They
position two wax candles in the form of a cross, light them on all four ends, place them on
the spot where the deceased lay, kneel down and pray untU the candles burn out. Then
they return home, but repeat the process for eight days. The final, eighth day, they have
to be given food. Only then the deceased is buried properly.^ Reports on this custom date
into the present. Before World War II such prayers (sedmino moliti) usually lasted seven
114
Death Customs in the Slovene Countrvside
days in Bela krajina, in Gorenjsko even nine days, whde in Dolenjsko people still come
to the house of the deceased to pray for eight consequtive days, and are offered food
after the requiem mass on the eighth day. This leads to the conclusion that such funer-
al repasts really represent the final prayers for the deceased. We do need to be aware,
however, that their name {sedmina or osmina) reflects a more recent custom originat-
ing from the Christian Middle Ages. The funeral repast namely originated in the antiq-
uity and represents the last remnant of Old Slavic death ceremonies.
Let us also mention a special, nowadays less known custom which is stdl practiced
in some areas of Koroško: a ceremonial concern for the bones, especially for the skull
of the deceased in whose grave another corpse is about to be buried. .\11 the bones have
to be carefully gathered, washed and then replaced into their grave wrapped in a piece
of cloth. This custom of rinsing bones and wrapping them in a cloth is similar to the
second burial of the deceased known among numerous native peoples outside Europe.
SOmCES .\ND LITERATURE see page 107
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Helena Ložar-Podlogar. mag., raziskovalka,
samostojna strokovna sodelavka s specializacijo.
Diplomirala je iz etnologije in nemškega jezika s
književnostjo na Filozofski fakulteti v Ljubljani, se
dve leti podiplomsko izpopolnjevala na dunajski
univerzi (Institut fiir osterreichische und verglei-
chende Volkskunde) in magistrirala iz etnologije.
Dela na Inštitutu za slovensko narodopisje Znan-
stvenoraziskovalnega centra pri Slovenski akade-
miji znanosti in umetnosti v sekciji za ljudske šege
in igre. Glavno področje njenega delovanja so šege
življenjskega kroga (knjiga in več razprav). Je dol-
goletna urednica slovenskega dela pri mednarodni
strokovni reviji Demos, Internationale ethno-
graphische und folkloristische Informationen, in
urednica za slovenski del Internationale volkskun-
dliche Bibliographie. Je urednica Traditiones,
Zbornika Inštituta za slovensko narodopisje.
ABOUT THE .AUTHOR
Helena Ložar-Podlogar. M..A., independent
expert fellow with specialization, B. A. in ethnolo-
gy and German studies at the Faculty of Arts in
Ljubljana, two years of post-graduate work at he
University of Vienna (Institut fiir osterreichische
und vergleichende Volkskunde). ЋЛ. in ethnolo-
gy. Employed at the Institute of Slovene Ethnology
of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts in
the section for folk customs and plays. Main area
of her work: customs of the life cycle (book and
several treatises). For many years she has been the
editor of publication Demos, Internationale eth-
nographische und folkloristische Informationen,
and editor-in-chief of Traditiones, an anthology of
the Institute of Slovene Ethnology. ,
115
THE MAGIC OE THE TIME OF DEATH
A Contribution to the Study of Funeral Customs in the
Carpathian Village
Urszula Lehr
IZVLEČEK
Magičnost časa ob smrti. Prispevek k raaiskavam šeg ob smrti v karpatski »o*i
Avtorica v članku prikazuje osnovno obdobje tranzicije v človeškem življenju - smrt - in bogastvo celotnega
spektra oblik magičnega in religioznega vedenja, ki so z njo povezane. Način ukvarjanja z umirajočim in
umrlim narekujejo ljudska verovanja. Njihova naloga je zagotavljanje miru za dušo umirajočega in pre-
prečevanje njenega vračanja, da bi zagotovili mirno bivanje živih. Tako široko razumljene tradicionalne
šege ob smrti so bile globoko prepletene z iraciomdnim. Avtorica to ponazarja s primeri stopenj, ki sledijo
človekovemu odhodu s tega sveta, kot so, na primer, znanilci smrti (scmje, zlovešči znaki, vedenje živali,
zvoki), proces umiranja (nmgični načini pospeševanja smrti), obredi in šege (ustavljanje ure, pokrivanje
ogledal, prižiganje sveče, uničevanje lastnine umrlega itd.), ter pogreb in pokop (obred odhajanja od donui
in družine, prekinitev običajnega poteka zadev, vedenje na pogrebu). Pri niagično-religioznih oblikah ve-
denja in obredih pogosto uporabljajo posebne pripomočke in predmete. Nekatere izmed njih so prilagali
tudi v krsto, zlasti kovance, zelišča, platno, ki ga uporabljajo pri krstu itd. Ne glede na spremembe po drugi
svetcwni vojni se tradicionalno magično vedenje, povezano s šegami ob smrti, v karpatskih vaseh še vedno
pojavlja, čeprav v omejenem obsegu.
Ključne besede: smrt, šege, obredi, magija, religija
Ker words: death, customs, rites, magic, religion
In the traditional rural community, the time of passing away was always marked
by magical and/or religious forms of behaviour and rituals, often accompanied by spe-
cial accessories and objects. Such practices survived well into the post-World-War-II pe-
riod and even into the 1990s.' Pursued by the village dwellers, they were meant to
' The study is based predominantly on the author's own fieldwork on funeral customs, carried out in the years
1991-1994 in the following Carpathian villages: Brzegi. Bustryk, Male Ciche, Z^b (the Podhale region in southern
Poland). These materials are supplemented with some field data on demonology, collected by the author in other
parts of the Carpathians in southern Poland, in the villages of: L^cko (die Nowy Sqcz region). Istebna. Brenna (the
Beskid Šl^ski region). Milowka and Sol (the Žpiec region).
117
Urszula Lehr
allow the dying person to depart in dignity, as prescribed by the religious and social
norms, and then to protect the soul of the deceased from eternal damnation. Other
forms of behaviour were intended to protect the living relatives from the possible re-
turn of the dead, resulting from the failure to perform an appropriate ritual. It thus
appears that the measures undertaken were of a preventive and/or protective charac-
ter. The beliefs underlying such forms of behaviour, which determined the special ways
of handling the dying person and then the corpse, give rise to the elaborate concept of
the time of death. It goes beyond the purely biological definition based on the bodily
functions coming to a stop and can be, generally speaking, divided into four stages.
Stage one comprises all kinds of phenomena which are the harbingers of death,
including dreams, signs, and unusual forms of animal behaviour, popularly believed to
be ominous.
\dlage dwellers mention certain symbolic themes, connected with things, loca-
tions or rituals, whose appearance in dreams signified an approaching death, such as: a
falling our tooth (Podhale), a tub filled with water, an empty unmade bed, ash, an owl
on the roof, a funeral wreath, crows, a cemetery (Malicki 1947; Sdesia), a wedding or a
broken tree (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985; the INowy S^cz region). Other dreams could have
a literal meaning; the deceased family members would visit their relatives in their
sleep: "When our father was to die, my sister had a dream: she saw our mother come
and take father by the hands. He died soon afterwards" (S 1928; the Zywiec region).^
Some disturbing phenomena on the borderline between wakefulness and sleep
could also be seen as a kind of an ominous, telepathic message from a dying person:^
"1 put the chddren to bed, made the bed for myself and then 1 heard something in the
shed, a scratching sound as if a cat was there. Then 1 heard it again, but didn't go to the
shed. When 1 heard it for the third time, 1 finally went out to see, but there was no cat
there. Then 1 thought my brother was dead and was coming to visit me. Soon my hus-
band was back home and told me my brother had really died" (Z 1905; Podhale);
"Mother told me when she was a chdd ... and [her] parents attended a wedding in the
village of Stasikowka, someone fired a shot and a cousin of my mother's dropped dead.
She [her mother] told me then she was haunted by a ghost. The house was trembling
Only a small proportion of the data comes from the literature, as few publications exist that deal with the
problems in question in the area of the Polish Carpathians.
Quotations from the informants are followed by the name of the village, abbreviated to its initial letter (or. in
the case of two-word names, the initial letters of both parts of the name), and their birth date. Some of the field data
for which no quotation is given are nevertheless also accompanied by an indication of the region and/or village, usu-
ally in an abbreviated form; B - Brzegi, MC - Male Ciche, S - Sol, Z - Zifb.
- A quotation in similar spirit, emphasizing the bond between a deceased wife and her husband, has been re-
corded in Z^b. The informant told the story of his father-in-law's miraculous encounter with his deceased wife: "[Fa-
ther-in-law said:] 'It's time to leave this world. My old woman came to me as I was herding cattle, she took me by the
hand to take me along, and I said. How can 1 go? I won't leave the cattle on their own!' Soon afterwards he lay down
on the pasture and died. People would then say: 'And he bad to go'" (Z 1924; Podhale).
' .Apart from soolled "strangers' dreams", Auerbach mentions some examples of what might be labelled
"farewell dreams". They occur in cases where a strong emotional attachment exists, which gives rise to this kind of
paranormal phenomena. The same author believes that some mechanism may exist whereby the dying may communi-
cate with the living by telepathy (.Auerbach 1992).
118
The Magic of the Time of Death
and would not stop until daybreak. Then grandma [mother's mother] came and said
the cousin had been killed - and they were friends with mother" (MC 1949; Podhale).
There were also recurring dreams in which a missing relative would show. This
kind of occurrence usually foreshadowed the official news confirming his or her death
and sometimes gave a clue as to the burial place of the missing person - in case of a
sudden death inflicted by another person: "You can see in your dream a murdered per-
son whose body has been hidden and awaits an proper burial" (B 1975; Podhale).*
It was a widespread belief in folk tradition that the death of a family member
could be predicted well in advance on the basis of certain signs, most of which would
appear on Christmas Eve. People would watch the shadows cast by the persons seated at
table during Christmas Eve supper: a pale and indistinct shadow augured the death of
that person in the coming year. To drop a spoon at supper on the same day was likewise
an ominous sign signifying a death in the family (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985; the Nowy
S^cz region). In Silesia, it was a custom in the early 20th century to eat walnuts after
Christmas Eve supper: finding an empty one was a presage of death, too. People also
believed that a person who left the table while Christmas Eve supper was in progress
ran a risk of death {Materialy 1908; Silesia).
Another group of signs comprised acoustic phenomena. These were generally
called "announcements of death" or simply "announcements". They took on various
forms and affected - like dreams did - persons who were either related by blood to the
deceased or had formed a strong emotional attachment to them. The sounds one could
thus hear included the opening of the door or some unspecified knocks: "Some strange
disturbance was heard when father was dying" (MC 1914; Podhale); "There was some
knocking on the window; it was the dead man coming to let us know he was no longer
among the living" (Z 1928; Podhale); "We heard a rapping sound, like our father was
there - he used to tap his fingers on the table like that - and the sound went on until we
learnt he was dead" (S 1932; the Zywiec region). The "announcements" could also take
the form of some inexplicable phenomena, like a clock stopping all by itself at the mo-
ment of someone's death, and the like: "My grandma said that when her father-in4aw
was about to die, a picture fell off the wall" (Z 1905; Podhale); "When granddad was
dying, the radio fell down to the ground and the candle at his bedside went out" (S
1920; the Zywiec region).
One more important category of omens was connected with unusual animal be-
haviour, which made people apprehensive. At least some species were believed to be
able to feel or even see the approaching death. The most sensitive in this respect, it was
said, were dogs. "When they howl, it means there is going to be a death in the village"
(B 1975; Podhale) and they always "face the place where the death is heading, three
days in advance" (Z 1928; Podhale), their muzzles pointing to the ground (Kowalska-
* This story, together with the conclusion it leads to, are based on an actual event which took place in one of
the villages of the Podhale region a couple of years ago (1992). A relative of the murder victim saw in his dream the
place where the corpse had been buried. (The police had staged an energetic search, but to no avail.) Even so, no one
would believe in what the man said. Nevertheless, when all other clues failed, the place he had seen in his dream was
inspected and the body was there.
119
Urszula Lehr
Lewicka 1985; the Nowy S^cz region). If horses neighed or were resdess, or if catde
lowed, it could also foreshadow death (Malicki 1947; Silesia), ^lien "a mole digs
through the snow" (B 1949; Podhale) or "digs underneath the doorstep, it digs a grave"
(Z 1924; Podhale), particularly when it proceeds from the doorstep outwards, to the
fields (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985; the Nowy Sqcz region). .Лп ominous meaning was like-
wise ascribed to certain bird cries: a hen crowing like a rooster, an owl hooting near the
house (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985; the Nowy Sqcz region), a crow or a cuckoo - "A cuck-
oo's song meant someone was going to die" (MC 1914; Podhale), especially when it was
"singing next to the house" (MC 1921; Podhale).
The finality of God's decree necessitated further action to be taken at the second
stage of the time of death. At the bedside of the dying person a candle which had been
blessed on Candlemas Day (gromnka) was lit. Its purpose was not only to light up the way
for the soul of the deceased, but also to keep all kinds of evd spirits and demons at bay.'
In the presence of the dying or deceased person, the relatives were supposed to behave in
a special way. This was intended, on the one hand, to make sure the death would be peace-
ful and, on the other hand, to guarantee an undisturbed existence of the survivors. First
of all, any chddren or pregnant women present in the dying person's house were made to
leave. The reasons behind this practice were predominandy of magical nature, particular-
ly as regards pregnant women. People feared that the baby would be born "pale as a
corpse" (Z 1928; Podhale). Seeing the dead body by a pregnant woman might even have
more dire consequences, as "there was a danger of a stillbirth" (MC 1966; Podhale), re-
sulting from the mother "fixing her stare" at the corpse (zapatrzenie). This aUeged harm-
ful influence of the dead person on the future mother is explained by the similia similibus
principle (like attracts like) in its purely negative form.
The dying person was censed with a miniature wreath made in the form of a wed-
ding ring (witka), or one was placed on his or her finger. This custom, which was still
practised in the early 20th century in Silesia (Malicki 1947; Silesia), has never been
explained. Presumably, the witka, being a form of a wedding ring, was meant to accom-
pany the dying person as a symbol of their new bond - with death. If die agony was pro-
longed, as was often the case, this was believed to be due to some evil deed performed
by the dying person which \vent unforgiven. In obvious cases, the wronged individual
was asked to come so that the dying person could offer an apology and obtain forgive-
ness (Podhale, the Nowy Sqcz region, Silesia). When the reason of the prolonged agony
was unknown, it was common practice - as late as between the two World Wars in Pod-
hale and the 1950s in the Nowy S^cz region (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985) - to move the dy-
ing person to the floor, strewn with straw and covered with a sheet (plachta). It was
thought that the closeness to the earth would quicken the death: "When my mother
was dying, father carried her to the floor to ease her pain" (Z1905; Podhale).
Placing the dying person on the floor was undoubtedly an act of magic significance,
symbolizing the imminent lowering of the body into an earthly. Such an act of anticipat-
ing and the downward motion associated with it were believed to assist the dying person in
^ For other types of symbolic meaning attached to the word "candle", including those related to the dead and
their cult, see Kopaliiiski (Kopaliiiski 1991:417).

The Magic of the Time of Death
departing from this world.*' It was not only the action itself that was magic: a similar sig-
nificance was attached to the straw placed underneath the dying person. According to
Fischer, the very structure of straw - its smoothness and lack of knots, which symboHze
the bond (in this case) between body and soul, facilitate their severance. The same author
states that similar properties were ascribed in Podhale to pea stems (Fischer 1921). He
gives, however, no explanation. Means used to quicken the death also included herbs
blessed on the Assumption Day (15 August) and a bell which had been blessed in church.
It was believed to have "a supernatural power, because its owner had said certain special
prayers over it. One rang the bell and the death came faster" (B 1944; Podhale). People
would also remove the pillow from underneath the dying person's head, as it was thought
that chicken feathers in the pillow could stand in death's way (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985;
the Nowy S^cz region).
Yet another magic form of behaviour was recorded in the early 20th century in the
village of Czarny Dunajec (Podhale). When a farm-owner (gazda) was dying, people would
wake up his catde and bees "so that they would not depart together with their master"
(Kantor 1907:141), and if the animals were grazing at the moment of their owner's death,
they had to be sold immcdiat(4y, or else "they would never thrive" (Kantor 1907:141).
Similar customs and beliefs existed in the Nowy Sć^cz region (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985).
The third successive stage of the time of death comprises customs, rituals and
practices that follow the death. The first things to do included covering the mirror "so
that the corpse should not reflect" (MC; Podhale)^ and stopping the clock "so that the
dead person's heart should remain at rest" (MC; Podhale). An important duty of the
person who kept vigil at the bedside of the dying person was to wake up all the other
inhabitants. This custom may be related to the primeval belief that sleep was a momen-
tary state of death, during which the soul left the body.* On its way, it was believed, it
could encounter the soul of the deceased which might take it along into the other
world. This is just one of several hypotheses that account for the necessity to wake up
the dead person's family. Special forms of behaviour stemmed also from the belief that
the soul remained in this world until the funeral day. Invisible, it observed the actions
of the relatives. Thus some magic and religious practices were undertaken for fear that
if the traditional rituals were not observed, the dead person might return and take re-
venge on the family. This also explains the prohibition of weeping and loud lamenta-
tion from the time the person was about to die until a certain moment after his or her
death: otherwise, those outward manifestations of sorrow might have hindered the soul
from going away forever.
' Described by Fischer (1921: 74, 80), who takes issue with Hordand's views.
' This is just one interpretation of the symbolic importance of mirrors, preserved in a highly simplified form.
Following Kopabiiski, we may add that by looking at the mirror, the dead person could spot another victim: "The
mirror is a door through which the soul may pass to (and from) the other world" (KopaUiiski 1991: 206-209). On this
last interpretation, the mirror becomes a transition zone or a border between the tivo worlds.
' This accounts partly for the origin of the bebef, inspired by Christian tradition, that a nightmare (zmorn)
might haunt die souls that have left the sleeping body at night. As regards the nightmare, see materials on demonolo-
gy, Archives of the Ethnology Workgroup, Archaeology and Ethnology Department, Pobsh Academy of Sciences
(items no. 1576, 1596, 1597, 1647, 1719).
121
Urszula Lehr
The behef in the harmful properties of things that had come into contact with
the dead was widespread in the Carpathian village at least until the mid-20th century.
When the corpse had been washed by a person regularly hired for such jobs, the water
was disposed of at some out-of-the-way place "where no one walked" (MC 1921; Pod-
hale), taking care "that it did not get into the stream" (MC 1914; Podhale). People be-
lieved that the water in which a corpse had been washed acquired an evil power. A per-
son who came into contact with such water "would wither like a corpse" (MC Podhale).
Even before World War П a common thing to do was to burn the dead person's proper-
ty. That was done on rational grounds: to avoid contagion or because the clothes or
sheets were worn out. In most cases, however, this act had a magic significance, too, its
purpose being to eradicate all the traces of the dead and "prevent the deceased person
from coming back" (B 1924; Podhale). At the bottom of such practices was thus the
fear of the dead. The use of fire to dispose of the dead person's belongings is explained
both by the destructive power of flames and by die belief in the purifying properties of
fire. The notion that contact with the dead person's possessions was dangerous - in
terms of magic - to the living is attested to by the practice of making the fire "at some
place, like a mountain slope, where few people pass by" (MC; Podhale).
The deceased person would next be dressed in their best clothes, or, as the case
may be, in accordance with their wish made before death. During the period between
the two World Wars, it was customary in Silesia to sew shirts for the dead. No knots
were allowed when making such a shirt, and the needle was not to be used any more
afterwards. Usually, it was left in the dead person's clothes, only to be removed on clos-
ing the coffin. It was believed that a person who carried such a needle was lucky at gam-
bling (Malicki 1947).
It was important to make sure that all the wishes of the deceased were complied
with and to remember about some of his or her favourite items to be taken to the other
world. Were these to be forgotten, the person might wish to claim them and return. Thus,
apart from the clothes, the dead person was provided with a prayer book, pictures of his
or her favourite saints, a rosary (korunka), a handkerchief, sometimes a pipe, if he had
been a smoker, a pair of glasses, a walking cane or even a violin bow if the person was a
musician (Z^b; Podhale). Other things put in the coffin included herbs, money and so-
called "baptism linen" (krzcielne plotno). M of these had distinct, magic functions.
The most important herb placed in the coffin was artemisia (Artemisia abrota-
num L), blessed on the Assumption Day and subsequently dried. A bunch of artemisia
placed in the dead person's hands would serve to fend off the hell fire. Even though
this custom was not observed by everyone, older women attached great importance to
it, as is dlustrated by the foUowing quotation: "When my mother died, a neighbour
came to pay her the last visit and saw there were no herbs in the coffin, so she got angry
with me. I didn't have any artemisia so she fetched me some and 1 had to put it in the
coffin" (Z; Podhale). Eor the sake of completeness, and to emphasize the persistence of
certain customs, let me add that the event in question took place in 1992. Some in-
formants interpret the functions of artemisia somewhat differently: "One gives artemi-
sia to the dead for they need it do drive the devil away" (Z 1928; Podhale), or "The soul
122
The Magic of the Time of Death
Stays at St. Gertrude's place for the night and the soul uses the branch to keep her dog
away" (Z 1905; Podhale). Instead of artemisia, one occasionally used bluebells (Cam-
panulla) for the same magic purpose - to protect the soul from evil spirits. One of the
informants says that her grandmother (who died in 1982 at the age of 92) wanted "blue
flowers, that is, bluebells, blessed on the Assumption Day" placed in her coffin after
death (B 1944; Podhale).
Equally important, from the point of view of magic, were coins put on the eyelids
of the dead. This custom was practised in Silesia, and in Podhale it persisted well into
the 1980s. It was motivated by the fear that with half-open eyes, the dead might "catch
sight" of a relative, thus causing that person to die soon afterwards. It was believed that
leaving the dead with one eye half-open posed a threat to some more distant family
member, and if both eyes were left that way, it would be a close relative that the dead
might take along to the other world.
Another interesting custom, whose interpretation is not entirely clear, is the plac-
ing of so-called "baptism linen" or a piece of clothing made thereof in the coffin. This
custom is still remembered and sporadically practised in Podhale. A child would re-
ceive from its godmother at baptism a piece of white linen several metres long, which
was put inside the christening set. Afterwards, it was either cut into nappies, or careful-
ly folded and stored in a chest. When a maiden was to get married, she used the cloth to
make a shirt or a petticoat, which she would keep until death to be buried in. This cus-
tom is still alive among older women, as is confirmed by informants: "I kept this linen
since baptism and had a petticoat made of it for my wedding. When 1 die, they'll dress
me in it for the funeral" (Z 1928; Podhale). If the linen was not used in any way during
the owner's lifetime, it would be placed in the coffin in its original form. The magic
and religious significance of "baptism linen" can be explained, to a certain degree, by
its sacred properties acquired in the course of the baptism ceremony, which allowed it
to avert all kinds of evil.
The corpse was put in the so-called white chamber [biala izba), which was the
room used for special family or festive occasions only. On the one hand, this was a to-
ken of respect for the dead person and, on the other, offered a more convenient place
to receive relatives and neighbours, and keep a vigil at the corpse. The body rested on
wooden boards covered with a sheet. If a coffin had been bought in advance, the corpse
would be placed therein immediately. Typically, however - during the period between
the two World Wars - one had to wait for the coffin as it was being made by the local
carpenter. The boards were subsequently thrown away or, more frequently, burnt, as
they were considered to be impure because of the contact with the dead body.
One should mention at this point a custom which has disappeared in Podhale by
now. It was concerned with the wooden shavings left after the making of the coffin,
which were once used as a sign of death and a supplication for prayer. They were usual-
ly left at some busy place and weighted down with a stone so that they would not be
blown away by wind. Fischer provides evidence from the village of Czarny Dunajec in
Podhale showing that the shavings were left there in front of the deceased person's
house as late as in the 20th century. He interprets this as a warning sign for the passers-
123
Urszula Lehr
by, for it was believed that the house where a corpse lay was impure and was thus best
avoided (Fischer 1921).
The time when the corpse remained at home allowed the inhabitants to become
accustomed, to a certain degree, to the phenomenon of death and to the dead body. The
beliefs associated with the ritual keeping of the corpse at home for three days point at a
psychological explanation of the observed forms of behaviour. People thought that by
staying close to the body or even by touching it, one could overcome the fear of the dead:
"They come, they want to see the dead body, touch it and gain their peace of mind - they
will not be afraid of the deceased person any more" (B 1925; Podhale).
Stage four of the time of death begins when the corpse leaves home. This period
was also marked by many irrational forms of behaviour, explicable mostly on the
grounds of the fear of the dead coming back. Thus before the body left the home for
good, the bearers of the coffin would touch every doorstep \vith it three times: "At every
doorstep they stop and put it down for a while" (Z 1928; Podhale). This ritual was ac-
companied by the words, uttered in the name of the deceased person: "God be with
you" (Z 1928; Podhale).
The custom described above,' which is still practised in the Podhale villages un-
der study and in other regions, obviously reflected the fear of the deceased person and
meant more than just a symbolic parting of the dead with the relatives and home. It
also provided a guarantee for the living that by solemn observance of the traditional
norm, they would ensure a peaceful eternal rest for the deceased and an untroubled
existence for themselves. The parting was repeated, as described above, at every door-
step, which provided a symbolic border between the inner and outer worlds, or, in this
case, between home and the unknown. As this ritual was being performed, the coffin
was left for a short while in a state of suspension and the deceased person was led out of
the world of the living but not yet quite to the world of the dead.
That ritual parting of the dead with home and family was already practised centu-
ries ago, even though it was considered then to be a form of witchcraft for which one
could stand trial in court." Despite the possible sanctions, it has survived to this day,
which attests to the ever-present fear of the dead. During the period between the two
World Wars, when the coffin was being carried out of the house, relatives and friends of
the widow moved the seats (lauy) about so that she might be able to remarry. At the
same time the cattie were fed, so as to ensure they would thrive (Malicki 1947).
No less important than the parting ritual was the proper way of carrying the cof-
fin out of the house - feet first: "They carry the dead man feet first; maybe it's because
he's leaving for good that they do this" (Z 1925; Podhale). Such positioning of the
The ritual parting of the deceased with their house is described by anthropologists as "separation rites"
which consist in the so-called "killing of the corpse". It is followed by further practices whose aim is to sever all emo-
tional relations with the dead (Ksi>ga 1993: 219, 411).
"' In bis account of witchcraft trials connected with the rites practised at the doorstep, Zborowski gives a dif-
ferent interpretation of this custom, namely, that such practices were meant to prevent the dead "from taking some-
one else along" (Zborowski 1932: 74). It seems less convincing, especially in view of the previously mentioned symbol-
ic properties of the doorstep.
124
The Magic of the Time of Death
corpse was an unequivocal indication of its ultimate and irrevocable exit. In Polish,
there is a colloquial expression widely used to refer euphemistically to someone's
death: "He left feet first" means "He died".
The next magic practice performed when the coffin had been carried away con-
sisted in knocking over the chairs on which the coffin had been placed "so that the
dead person would not return" (B 1934; Podhale). This precaution, which was also tak-
en in the Nowy S^icz region, can be seen as a symbolic disruption of the order the dead
person was accustomed to. Thus the deceased who sought to return from the other
world would not recognize the old place and go away, leaving the inhabitants alone.
Should the dead succeed in returning, the family would be exposed to the danger of a
new death. This is one of the reasons why the empty space left by the dead person had
to be filled up as soon as possible. Such was the interpretation given in Podhale: "They
knocked over the chairs so that there would be no new corpse, no room for it. Some-
times they still do it" (B 1924).
Another form of behaviour motivated by magic had to do with arousing the live-
stock when the body was being carried away: "Someone will go to the cowsheci, prod at
the cows and replace their chains so that they would not follow him [the deceased]" (Z
1905; Podhale). Moreover, the previously mentioned belief in animals' capacity to
sense the approaching death is supplemented by accounts of unusual behaviour of an-
imals in time of their master's death: "When my brother-in4aw and my sister died, the
cows lowed loudly as they carried the coffin away; and a dog will always keep howling at
such moments, until they are gone with the coffin" (MC; Podhale).
Between the two World Wars it was customary in the Nowy Sqcz region to pour a
pail full of water on the wheels of the cart that carried the coffin away. The pail being
normally used for milk, this practice was believed to prevent the dead person from de-
priving the cows of their milk by witchcraft (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985).
The mourning procession would proceed from church to the cemetery, where the
final parting usually took place, to the accompaniment of the church bells. On the one
hand, the knell informed the community about the death and conveyed an obligation
to say a prayer for the dead. On the other hand, this sound was meant to keep away the
soul of the deceased, which, it was believed, would hover round and take part in the
funeral until the body was buried. According to folk beliefs, any kind of noise could
drive away spirits and evil powers. In this particular case, the ringing of bells was meant
to force the soul to take leave of its family for ever. It should be added that the bell
whose sound announced death could not be used for any other religious ceremonies or
magic practices, such as dispersing hail clouds. If sounded in such circumstances, it
would not only fail to achieve the desired result but might even make matters worse.
The funeral procession never went through the fields, as it was believed that it
would make the soil barren. Likewise, the cart with the coffin should never be drawn
by a mare in foal, since her offspring might be affected (Kowalska-Lewicka 1985; the
Nowy S^cz region). The examples of magic and/or religious practices presented above
attest to a deep-rooted conviction among village dwellers that the deceased and all
kinds of objects associated with them in any way whatsoever exert a harmful influence
125
Urszula Lehr
on the surroundings. Laying the deceased to his or her eternal rest was the last episode
of the time of death. The subsequent stage - mourning - was also permeated with magic
and religious themes, but not to such a degree. Together with the ceremonies and ritu-
als it included, the multi-stage time of death was intended to fulfil all the obligations
towards the deceased in the spirit one's religion. Most of all, however, its function was
to protect the living against those who had departed for good. A system devised for the
dead served the needs of the living.
REFERENCES
AUERBACH, L., 1992, Ludzie i my [People and Dreams], Bydgoszcz.
FISCHER, A., 1921, Zuyczaje pogrzebowe ludu polskiego [Funeral Rites of the Polish People[, Lwow.
KANTOR, J., 1907, "Czarny Dunajec. Monografia etnograficzna" [The Village of Czarny Dunajec: An Ethnographic
Monograph Studyl, Materialy Antropologiczno-Archeologiczne i Etnografwzne, Vol. 11, pp. 21-229.
KOPALINSKI, W., 1991, Slownik symholi [A Dictionary of Symbols], Warszawa.
Ksi^ga ialoby i imierci [A Book on Mourning and Death[, 1993, Opole.
KOWALSKA-LEWICKA, X., 1985, Wierzenia i zuyczaje ziciqzane ze smierciq. Studia z kultury ludouej Beskidu
Sqdeckiego [Beliefs and Customs Pertaining to Death: A Study in the Folk Culture of the Beskid Sqdecki
Mountains], Komisja Etnograficzna, Wroclaw.
M.ALICKI, L., 1947, "Materialy do kultury spolecznej gorali šl^skich" [Materials for the Study of the Social Culture of
the Beskid Slqski Highlanders], pp. 1-50, an offprint from Peace i Materialy Etrwgraficzne, Vol. 6.
"MATERIALY ludoznawcze" [Ethnological Materials[, 1908, Zaranie Slqskie, Vol. 1, fasc. 2.
ZBOROWSKI, J., 1932, "Ludoznawcze przyczynki z Goralszczyzny" [Contributions to the Ethnology of the Polish
Highlands], Lud, Vol. 11, pp. 65-92.
ARCHIVE SOURCES
The materials used in the present study come from the Archives of the Ethnology Workgroup, Department of Archa-
eology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow: items no. 1556, 1576, 1596, 1597, 1647, 1697,
1717, 1719, 1751, 1761, 1763, 1780, 1788, 1795, 1796.
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Urszula Lehr. dr., je diplomirala na Univerzi
Jagellon v Krakovu (etnografija). Trenutno dela na
Poljski akademiji znanosti v Krakovu, na Oddelku
za arheologijo in etnologijo, v delovni skupini za et-
nologijo. Njeni glavni akademski interesi so na po-
dročju raziskav (temelječih na terenskem delu) de-
monologije in družinskih obredov v Karpatih, po
letu 1998 pa se ukvaija tudi z ljudskim verovanjem
o starosti. Objavljala je tako dela o psiholoških, so-
cialnih in religioznih aspektih demonoloških vero-
vanj kot tudi o družinskih šegah.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Urszula Lehr. Ph.D., is a graduate of the
Jagellonian University, Cracow (Ethnography).
She currently works for the Polish Academy of Sci-
ences in Cracow, Department of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Ethnology Workgroup. Her chief aca-
demic interests include fieldwork-based studies of
demonology and family rites in the Carpathians,
and since 1998, folk attitudes towards old age. She
has published on psychological, social and reli-
gious aspects of demonological beliefs, as well as
on family rites.
126
OD POSTELJE DO POKOPALIŠČA
ZGODBA O MRLIŠKEM VOZU
Inja Smerdel
Ш
Ključne besede: Slovenija, transport, vozovi, mrliči, odnosi
Pričujoče besedilo sega na področje ene izmed povečini obrobno obravnavanih
kulturnih sestavin, kakršno pomeni transport umrlih. S poskusom strnjenja niza zapi-
sanih vedenj o prenašanju in prevažanju umrlih na slovenskem podeželju v 20. stoletju
prinaša nekaj splošnejših odgovorov na vprašanja o fizičnem preseljevanju iz tostran-
skih bivališč v onstranska. Besedilo sklene zgodba o mrliškem vozu iz Smlednika pri
Ljubljani in o njegovem vozniku; sicer posamezen zapis, vendar poln zgovornih odse-
vov dveh osnovnih odnosov do smrti - strahu in pietete.
Trenutek smrti je tudi na Slovenskem, tako kot v mnogih drugih družbah in kul-
turah, stoletja pomenil ločitev fizisa in metafizisa, telesa in duše. Obdajala so ga dejanja
pred tem in dejanja okoli mrliča vse do njegovega pokopa, ki so bila povečini obredna,
apotropejska, namenjena še posebej čim lažjemu prehodu duše iz sveta živih v svet senc
in temu, da bi se duša iz onega sveta ne vračala. Odsevala so odnos do umrlih, v kate-
rem so se prepletali strah, pieteta in verovanja v čudežno moč.
Metafizičnemu odhodu duše umrlega v vice, nebesa ali pekel, njeni selitvi v tak-
šen ali drugačen Hades, ki jo je marsikje na Slovenskem še vse do zadnjega časa vsaj kot
navado označevalo na primer odpiranje oken (Orel, 1944, 305; Smerdel, 1980, 135;
Ložar Podlogar, 1980, 163), je sledilo fizično potovanje trupla; od postelje, v kateri je
pokojnik izdihnil, do pokopališča oziroma do groba kot njegovega onstranskega doma.
Začetek mrličeve selitve iz tostranske postelje, v kateri ali nad katero - na mrtvaškem
odru - je najprej dan ali dva ležal, je pomenila njegova premestitev v krsto, v njegovo
poslednjo posteljo. Ta je bila na Slovenskem največkrat črna - za poročene, bela - za
otroke in za "mlada dekleta", glede na gmotni položaj umrlega bolj ali manj okrašena
in nemalokrat tudi kar doma izdelana iz grobega nepobarvanega lesa (Smerdel, 1980,
137; Makarovič, 1985, 275; Oder, 1992, 262). V krsti kot poslednji postelji so potem
pražnje oblečenega mrliča prenesli ali prepeljali od doma do groba; iz vasi - naselja
živih, do pokopališča - mesta mrtvih.
Inja Smerdel
Transport umrlega je bil na Slovenskem pogosto že del pogreba, obreda pokopa-
vanja; zlasti v primerih, ko je bil dom, ki ga je mrlič zapuščal, v bližini pokopališča. Od
bližine oziroma od oddaljenosti pokopališča je bilo povečini tudi odvisno, ali so umrle
nosili ali peljali in s čim so jih peljali. Bistvene spremembe glede transporta umrlih sta
prinesli šele izgradnja in splošneje uveljavljena raba mrliških vežic - posamezne se
omenjajo ob koncu 19. stoletja (Terčelj, 1989, 20), ponekod v mestih ter njim bližnjih
vaseh v letih po drugi svetovni vojni in ponekod drugod v zadnjih dveh desetletjih (Paj-
sar, Židov, 1991, 171; Oder, 1992, 262; Tome Marinac, 1994, 200; Terčelj, 1989, 171;
Fister, 1985, 140; Balkovec, 1994, 235) - ki je prenašanje oziroma prevažanje umrlih
skrčila na kratkotrajno, uradno, brezosebno porivanje mrliškega vozička. Kljub
nezadržnemu uveljavljanju vežic pa v mnogih bolj odmaknjenih vaseh mrtvi ponavadi
do pogreba še vedno ležijo doma.
Redki objavljeni zapisi o prenašanju umrlih na Slovenskem pričajo, da so krsto
na pogrebu skoraj praviloma nosili nesorodniki; ti so tudi sicer na dan pogreba opra-
vljali večino del okrog mrliča. Na Koroškem kot nosače krste omenjajo sosede (Oder,
1992, 264), v Beli krajini sosede oziroma "prve sosede, ki so tudi izkopali grob" (Maka-
rovič, 1985, 276), in v slovenski Istri tiste štiri sovaščane, ki so kopali "bužo", grob,
vnuke, če umreta "nono" ali "nona", in vaške fante v spremstvu v belo oblečenih dek-
let, če umre mlad fant (Smerdel, 1980, 137).
Nadomestna možnost za prenašanje je bila v primerih oddaljenosti pokopališč
nedvomno že od nekdaj prevažanje umrlih z vozom s konjsko ali z drugo živinsko
vprego in v zadnjih desedetjih tudi z drugimi vozili.
Za okolico Raven na Koroškem je tako na primer sporočeno, da so konec 19. sto-
letja iz bolj oddaljenih krajev krsto peljali na vozu s konjsko vprego, v 70-ih letih tega
stoletja so ponekod za prevoz do odmaknjenih pokopališč uporabljali traktor in gasilski
avtomobil, v 50-ih letih pa naj bi krste začeli splošno voziti, in sicer v dolini s "totnbo-
gnom", z mrliškim vozom, v hribih pa kar z lojtrskim vozom (Oder, 1992,264). Iz zapi-
sa iz Strojne na Koroškem je mogoče razbrati, da so tam krsto še leta po drugi svetovni
vojni nosili ali vozili z vozom, vse do zadnjih let, ko jo peljejo s traktorjem (Makarovič,
1982, 297). Besedilo iz Bele krajine, iz okolice Metlike, pa na primer sporoča, da so
krsto "pozneje" vozili z mrliškim vozom, "zdaj pa tudi z mrliškim avtomobilom, furgo-
nom" (Balkovec, 1994, 235).
Posebno pozornost kaže nameniti še prevažanju umrlih v zimskem času. Iz
življenja odmaknjenih samotnih gorskih kmetij v takem času na primer obstajajo posa-
mezna ustna pričevanja (terenski zapisi avtorice. Arhiv SEM), kako s svojimi morebitni-
mi mrliči niso zmogli poti do nižje ležečih pokopališč, temveč so jih morali do pomladi
ohranjati na hladnem, zakopane v snegu. Kjer je bilo to mogoče, so umrle od doma do
groba drugače nedvomno tudi pozimi nosili ali jih peljali z vozom ali s sanmi, v katere
so bili vpregli živino.
Na Blokah, v Vidovskih hribih in v delu sosednjega dolenjskega ozemlja pa je pri
pogrebu v zimskem času za obdobje do druge svetovne vojne izpričana posebnost -
raba smuči ali sani s podloženimi smučmi (Orel, 1964, 71). Bločani in Vidovci tako
svojih starodavnih smuči niso uporabljali le za hojo in za drsanje. Služile so jim tudi kot
128
Od postelje do pokopališča. Zgodba o mrliškem vozu
prevozno sredstvo, s katerim so prevažali svoje umrle: kot zasdno prevozno sredstvo ozi-
roma nadomestilo za sani in kot pomožni sestavni del pri saneh. V prvem primeru so
krsto z mrličem položili kar na dve letvici, ki sta počez povezovali nekaj daljši par
smuči, oziroma na podložene deske in jo nanju privezali. Tako so prepeljali umrle zlasti
v hribovitejših krajih. V drugem primeru so vzeli manjše otroške sani, pod njihove bose
krivine pribili primerno široke in dolge smuči, na sanke so položili eno ali dve dolgi
deski in vrh njiju krsto, ki so jo s sanmi dvakrat prevezah z vrvjo. Na ta način so vozili
svoje mrliče še posebej na položnejših Blokah. Povsod v omenjenih krajih pa raba
smuči pri pogrebu ni bila vsakdanja. Vanjo so bili primorani le v primerih izredno hu-
dih snežnih razmer ali terenskih ovir (Orel, 1964, 71-74).
Poskus strnjenja skopih zapisov o prevažanju umrlih na Slovenskem lahko dosega
zgolj raven sporočd, da so krste z mrliči od doma do groba tu in tam pač prepeljali, in
navedb, s katerimi prevoznimi sredstvi so jih vozili. Zato se zdi ob koncu mikavno ube-
sediti zgodbo o enem samem prevoznem sredstvu (ki je postalo muzejski predmet; hra-
ni ga SEM); gre za pripoved o mrliškem vozu iz Smlednika in o njegovem vozniku, ki
razkriva nekatere bolj povedne vsebinske razsežnosti prevažanja umrlih.
Že sam pojav mrliškega voza je v tem pogledu pomenil nekaj novega. Za vsa druga
vozda (razen novejših furgonov), za lojtrske in druge vozove, za traktorje in gasdske
avtomobile je namreč mogoče zapisati, da je bdo prevažanje mrličev le njihova sekun-
darna, zgolj občasna funkcija. Šele mrliški vozovi s svojo zgovorno obliko in slavnostno
podobo so bili temu nedvoumno v osnovi namenjeni. Zato je bd za skupnost, ki je posa-
mezen mrliški voz uporabljala, njegov pomen nedvomno precejšen.
Mrliški voz iz Smlednika pri Ljubljani (foto I. Smerdel). ♦ Hearse from Smlednik near Ljubljana (photo I. Smerdel).
129
Inja Smerdel
Lastniki smledniškega mrliškega voza (imenovanega po kraju, v katerem so ga
pod cerkveno lopo nazadnje hranili in iz katerega je bil leta 1988 prepeljan v muzej) so
bdi farani nekdanje smledniške fare, prebivalci vasi Pirniče, Vikrče, Zavrh, Verje in
Smlednik. Kot kaže, so sredi 50-ih let soglasno ugotovili, da želijo imeti za prevažanje
svojih umrlih mrliški voz. Zanj naj bi zbirali denar prav vsi. Potem so v Vižmarjih pri
Ljubljani naročili njegovo izdelavo, in sicer pri treh uglednih vižmarskih mojstrih - ko-
larju, kovaču in sedlarju. Pripovedovali so, da je mrliški voz, imenitna črna kočija, leta
1957 ponosno zapeljal na cesto. Voznika zanj pa niso našli kar takoj. Poleg ustreznega
para konj je moral imeti izbrani mož tudi voljo za opravilo, kakršnega pomeni
prevažati mrliče. In takega dela ni bd pripravljen sprejeti prav vsak.
Voz je nazadnje zapeljal v lopo največje vikrške kmetije pri Bačniku (Vikrče 28).
Njen gospodar, tedaj triindvajsetletni Franc Trojanšek (r. 1934), je imel zanj v hlevu
primeren par temnih slavonskih konj in skorajda v usodo vdan odnos do dela, ki ga
nekdo pač mora opravljati. O takem odnosu priča preprost stavek, s katerim se je Bač-
nik branil pred pomisleki druge žene, ki si jo je leta 1980 kot vdovec pripeljal v hišo, in
so veljali njegovemu prevažanju mrličev: "Sej veš - eden mora."
Iz ženinih pomislekov je prepoznavno vel strah pred umrhmi, pred smrtjo, ki jo je
poosebljal črn mrliški voz. Ko ga je ob prihodu na novi dom prvič uzrla, je kar zakriča-
la. In na Bačnikovi domačiji ni bila edina, ki se je črnega voza bala. Po opravljenih po-
grebnih vožnjah so se vsi branili njegovega čiščenja, a ne zaradi morebitne lenobe.
"Kdo ga je pucal? Eden druzga smo gledal - kir ga bo."
Kaže, da je za vsako delo treba najti pravega človeka. Bačnik je vsekakor poseben
človek, ki še dandanes (zapisano leta 1988), v času skoraj popolne mehanizacije
kmečkih del, na veliki kmetiji nedaleč od Ljubljane še ni sedel na traktor, temveč mir-
no, preudarno vozi in orje s parom konj. Tako mirno in vdano je vse do pred nekaj leti
prevažal tudi umrle. Ponje se je odpravljal v vse vasi smledniške fare ter celo na Marjeto
in v Žlebe. Iz domačih hiš jih je prevažal na pokopališča v Smlednik, v Soro in v Šmart-
no. Ponj niso prihajali le svojci tistih umrlih, ki so živeli v neposredni bližini pokopališč
in so krste s pokojniki nanje kar nosdi.
Bačnik je bil pripravljen zapreci svoja črna slavonska konja ob vsakem času in ob
vsakem vremenu; takoj ko so prišli ponj iz hiše, v kateri je kdo umrl. Vrancema je nadel
plašnice, "ta boljša" komata in že se je odpravil. Kot tuzemeljski Haron je za selitev
mrličev od doma do groba njihovim svojcem zaračunaval skromno brodarino. (Leta
1980 je na primer za vožnjo v Žlebe in od tam na pokopališče računal le petdeset tisoč
dinarjev.) Plačilo je moralo biti sprejemljivo za vsakogar. Poslednja vožnja s črno kočijo,
z imenitnim smledniškim mrliškim vozom, namreč nikakor ni bda socialni privilegij.
Povednost zgodbe o mrliškem vozu je tako še posebej v naslednjem:
♦ Iz nje je mogoče razbrati skrben odnos skupnosti do vseh umrlih - najsibo
sosedov, sovaščanov ali okoličanov - oziroma do njihovih svojcev, ne glede na
njihov gmotni ali družbeni položaj.
♦ Samo dejstvo, da so pogrebno kočijo sploh želeli imeti, morda sporoča uvelja-
vljenost religioznega prepričanja o tostranskem trpljenju in onstranskem bolj-
130
Od postelje do pokopališča. Zgodba o mrliškem vozu
šem življenju. S poslovilno vožnjo na imenitnem mrliškem vozu so morda žele-
li narediti prehod svojih pražnje oblečenih umrlih - iz tega na oni, boljši svet
- še posebno svečan.
♦ Tako skrben odnos skupnosti do svojih umrlih in do njihovih svojcev kot
svečana selitev na oni svet izpričujeta enega izmed obeh osnovnih odnosov do
smrti - pieteto. Drugega, strah - je mogoče prepoznati v nelagodnem ob-
našanju smledniških faranov ob iskanju voznika za skupen mrliški voz in v še
bolj nelagodnem počutju Bačnikovih najbližjih, ki so črno kočijo doživljali kot
poosebljeno smrt.
♦ V nasprotju z odnosom njegovih domačih in širše skupnosti pa je mogoče pri
Bačniku zaslutiti drugačen odnos do smrti. Kot izrazito tradicionalen kmečki
človek je smrt sprejemal analogno z naravnimi dogajanji - kot samoumevno
sklenitev življenjskega kroga.
♦ In končno je mogoče zapisati, da je pripoved o smledniškem mrliškem vozu in
o njegovem vozniku zgodba o posebnem posamezniku, ki je s svojima vrance-
ma in s črno mrliško kočijo v skupnosti vasi nekdanje smledniške fare pome-
nil nedvomno svojsko pogrebno ustanovo.
VIRI IN SLOVSTVO
BALKOVEC, Marjetka, 1994
Občina Metlika. Ljubljana.
EISTER, Majda, 1985
Rož. Ljubljana.
LOŽAR PODLOGAR, Helena, 1980
Šege življenjskega kroga. V: Sloicnsko ljudsko izročilo. Pregled etnologije Slovencev. Ljubljana, str. 157-164.
MAKAROVIČ. Marija. 1982
Strojna in Strojanci. Narodopisna podoba koroške hribovske vasi. Ljubljana.
MAKAROVIČ, Marija, 1985
Predgrad in Predgrajci, Narodopisna podoba belokranjske vasi. Ljubljana.
ODER, Karla, 1992
Občina Ravne na Koroškem. Ljubljana.
OREL. Boris. 1944
Slovenski ljudski običaji. \: Narodopisje Slovencev I. Ljubljana, str. 263-349.
OREL, Boris, 1964
Bloške smuči. Vprašanje njihovega nastanka in razvoja. Ljubljana.
PAjSAR, Breda, ŽIDOV, Nena, 1991
Občina Ljubljana Bežigrad. Ljubljana.
SMERDEL. Inja, 1980
Pojavi, povezani s smrtjo v življenju Koštaboncev. V; Problemi (Etnologija danes - prispevki k raziskovanju nači-
na življenja), št. 4. Ljubljana, str. 133-149.
TERČEU, Mojca, 1989
Občina Sevnica. Ljubljana.
TOME MARINAC. Bogdana, 1994
Občina Izola. Izola.
131
FROM BED TO CEMETERY
THE STORY OF A HEARSE
Inja Smerdel
Key wordst Slovenia, transport, the dead, hearses, attitudes
The present text tackles the domain of a largely marginally treated cultural ele-
ment - the transportation of the dead. It is an attempt to outline a range of written in-
formation on carrying and transporting of the deceased in the Slovene countryside in
the 20* century and offers some answers of a more general nature to questions on the
physical transfer from people's worldly dwellings to those of the other world. The final
part of the text tells the story of a hearse from Smlednik near Ljubljana and its driver.
Though referring to a singular record it nevertheless contains many telling reflections
of two fundamental attitudes toward death - fear and piety.
In Slovenia as in many other societies and cultures the moment of death had for
centuries implied the separation of physis and metaphysis, of body and soul. It was ac-
companied by activities before burial and around the body that were largely of a ritual,
apotropaist nature aimed primarily at alleviating the soul's transition from the world of
the living to the world of shadows, and also at ensuring that the soul would not return
from the other world. These activities reflected the attitude toward the dead in which
fear, piety and beliefs in magical power were interwoven.
The metaphysical departure of the deceased's soid to purgatory, heaven or hell and
its transfer to some or other Hades was in many places in Slovenia until quite recently as
a rule denoted by opening the windows (Orel, 1944, 305; Smerdel, 1980, 135; Ložar Pod-
logar, 1980, 163). This was then followed by the physical journey of the body from the
bed, in which the deceased had passed away, to the cemetery or the grave - its home in the
other world. The deceased's transfer from his earthly bed in or above which (on a bier) he
or she had rested started by being laid in coffin - the ultimate bed. In Slovenia the coffin
was mosdy black - for those who had been married or white for children and for "young
girls" and, depending on the means of the deceased, more or less ornamented. Quite of-
ten coffins were home-made from rough unpainted wood (Smerdel, 1980, 137;
Makarovič, 1985, 275; Oder, 1992, 262). In the coffin as the deceased's ultimate bed the
132
From Bed to Cemetery. The Story of a Hearse
formally dressed body was carried or driven from his home to die grave, from the vdlage -
die setdement of die living - to the cemetery - die home of die dead.
The transportation involved was in Slovenia often part of the funeral, of the bur-
ial ritual; especially in those cases where the home which the deceased left behind was
close to die cemetery. And it also generally depended on the distance to the cemetery
whether the deceased was carried or driven and, when driven, by what means of trans-
portation. Major changes to the transportation of the dead followed the building and
later common use of funeral chapels - a few are mentioned toward the end of the 19*
century (Terčelj, 1989, 20) - in some towns and surrounding villages in the years after
the Second Worid War and in some places elsewhere in the past two decades (Pajsar,
Židov, 1991, 171; Oder, 1992, 262; Tome Marinac, 1994, 200; Terčelj, 1989, 171; Fister,
1985, 140; Balkovec, 1994, 235). Their existence reduced the carrying or transporta-
tion of the dead to the brief, formal and impersonal pushing of the funeral cart. De-
spite the general spread of funeral chapels the dead still rest at their homes until the
funereal in many a remote village.
The scarce published records on carrying the dead in Slovenia tell us that at a
funeral the coffin was as a rule carried by non-relatives, and the same people took care
of most of the jobs related to the body. In Koroška neighbours are mentioned as coffin
bearers (Oder, 1992, 264), in Bela krajina neighbours or "the closest neighbours, who
also dug out the grave" (Makarovič, 1985, 276), and in Slovene Istria four co-villagers
who dug out the bu£a (grave) or the grandchildren when a mm or mna (grandfather
or grandmother) had died or, when a young lad had died, the lads of the village accom-
panied by girls dressed in white (Smerdel, 1980, 137).
In those cases where the cemetery was far away an alternative to carrying has
undoubtedly always been provided by transportation of the dead on a cart drawn by a
horse or another domestic animal. And the last decades other means of transportation
have spread.
Related to the environs of Ravne na Koroškem a record states, for example, that
around the turn of the 19* century coffins were transported from more distant places
on a horse-drawn cart; in the 1970s the transport to distant cemeteries was in some
places performed by means of a tractor or fire engine, and in the 1950s coffins were
generally transported in valleys on a totnbogen, a hearse, and in the mountains even on
an open-frame wooden handcart (Oder, 1992, 264). A record from Strojna in Koroška
reveals, that for many years after the Second World War and untd the quite recent use
of a tractor coffins were either carried or transported on a cart (Makarovič, 1982, 297).
A written source from the environs of Medika in Bela krajina on the other hand tells us
that coffins were "later" driven on a hearse and "nowadays also in a motor hearse"
(Balkovec, 1994, 235).
The transportation of the dead in winter time deserves special attention. Individ-
ual oral records related to life on remote, solitary mountain farms (author's field notes,
SEM archives) refer to times when it was impossible to reach the cemetery which was
situated far below: the bodies were preserved untd spring by burying them in the snow.
But wherever it was possible in winter the dead were undoubtedly carried from their
133
Inja Smerdel
134
home to the grave or transported on a cart or sleigh drawn by a horse or other domestic
animal.
Related to Bloke, the Vidovci hills and to a part of the adjacent area of Dolenjsko
records indicate that a funeral held in winter during the period up to the Second World
War was marked by the particular use of skis or of a sleigh mounted on skis (Orel, 1964,
71). The people of Bloke and Vidovci thus did not use their ancient skis just for walking
and ghding, but also used as a means of transportation to transfer the dead, as a provision-
al means of transportation or alternative to sleighs or as an accessory to a sleigh. In the
first case the coffin containing the deceased was laid on two boards, cross-connected by a
pair of long skis, or on underlain planks to which the coffin was tied. This is the way the
dead were generally transported in mountainous areas. In the other case a children's
sleigh was used and adequately wide and long skis were nailed to the bends not covered by
the metal face. On top of the sleigh one or two long boards were fixed and the coffin was
tied to the sleigh with two ropes. This is how the dead were generally transported in the
more level regions of Bloke. But the use of skis at a funeral was, however, not common in
the places mentioned above. Is was a solution people resorted to only in cases of excep
tionally high snow or other natural obstacles (Orel, 1964, 71-74).
This attempt to summarise the scarce records on the transportation of the dead in
Slovenia can achieve hardly more that conveying the message that in some places coffins
were driven from the deceased's home to the grave and, further, to mention which means
of transportation were used to that purpose. It therefore appears interesting to relate the
story of a particular means of transportation (which became a museum object and is kept
by SEM). It is the story of the Smlednik hearse and its driver, a story which reveals some
significant and essential dimensions of the transportation of the dead.
The arrival of the hearse was in this respect something new in its own right. About
the other vehicles (except for the more recent motor hearses) - open-frame wooden carts
and other carts, tractors and fire engines it is safe to say that the transportation of the
dead was only a secondary, occasional function. Only hearses were by their proverbial
forms and ceremonial appearance undoubtedly intended exclusively for this purpose. To
a community which used a hearse of its own its significance was no doubt considerable.
The owners of the Smlednik hearse (the name derives from the place were it was
kept in a shed belonging to the local church, from which it was taken to the museum in
1988) were the parishioners of the former Smlednik parish - the inhabitants of the villag-
es of Pirniče, Vikrče, Zavrh, Verje and Smlednik. It is said that in the mid-1950s they
agreed that the community required a hearse to transport the dead. All parishioners con-
tributed money for it. The hearse was commissioned in Vižmarje near Ljubljana and in-
volved three renowned master craftsmen - a wheelwright, a smith and a saddle-maker The
story goes that the hearse, a splendid black coach was proudly taken to the road in 1957.
But it took some time to find a driven Beside a suitable pair of horses the chosen person
had to be willing to carry out this particidar job - the transportation of the dead. It cer-
tainly was not something the first man around wanted to do.
The hearse was finally taken to the shed of the biggest farm in Vikrče, called
"Bačnik's" (28 Vikrče). Its owner, the then twenty-three year old Franc Trojanšek (born
From Bed to Cemetery. The Story of a Hearse
1934) had in his stables a suitable pair of black Slavonic horses and, what is more, the
proper resigned attitude that is was just a job someone had to take care of. This attitude
of his is confirmed by the plain sentence Bačnik used when facing his second wife's
apprehensions - he was a widower untd he married her in 1980 - about his transporting
the dead: "You know, dear, somebody's got to do it".
His wife's apprehensions reveal an apparent fear of the dead, of death itself as
embodied by the black hearse. When she first laid eyes on it at her new home, she even
screamed. And she was not the only one at Bačnik's who dreaded the black coach. After
its funeral runs everybody tried to dodge cleaning the hearse but this had nothing to do
with laziness. "Who cleaned it? We just stood around, looking at each other and waiting
for the other guy to do it."
It appears diat for every job die right person has to be found. Bačnik was no doubt
a particidar breed: even today (written in 1988) when all jobs on a farm are mechanised,
he has never mounted a tractor on his big farm close to Ljubljana, but continues to quiet-
ly and prudently drive and plough with a pair of horses. As quietly and resigned as he
used to transport the dead until a few years ago. His rides took him to all the villages of
the Smlednik parish and even as far as Marjeta and Žlebe. From the homes of the de-
ceased he took their bodies to the cemeteries in Smlednik, Sora and Šmartno. The only
people who did not turn to him for his services were the relatives of deceased people who
lived close to the cemetery and who carried the coffin with the deceased diemselves.
Bačnik was always ready to harness his black Slavonic horses at any time and in
any weather as soon as someone came to him from a house in which someone had died.
He put the blinkers on his black horses, their "Sunday" collars and on his way he was.
Like a worldly Charon he charged a quite modest fee to the relatives for transporting
the deceased from his or her home to the grave. (In 1980 he charged only fifty-thou-
sand dinars for the ride to Žlebi and from there to the cemetery.) The fee indeed had to
be within everybody's reach. A man's ultimate journey in Bačnik's coach - the magnifi-
cent Smlednik hearse - was not by any means a social privdege.
The significance of the story of the hearse lies above all in the following consider-
ations:
♦ It tells us about the conscientious attitude of a community toward all the de-
ceased, whether neighbours, co-villagers or people from the village's environs,
as well as their relatives, irrespectively of their financial or social status.
♦ The mere fact that they actually wanted to have a hearse of their own is perhaps
related to the common religious beliefs about suffering this side of the grace
and about a better life on the odier side of it. The fareweU journey on a splendid
hearse was perhaps their idea of making the transition of their solemnly dressed
deceased to the other and better world something particularly ceremonial.
♦ Such a dedicated attitude from a community toward the dead and toward
their relatives witnesses as does the ceremonial transfer to the other world to
one of the two fundamental attitudes toward death - piety. The other one - fear
- can perhaps be traced in the uneasy approach of the parishioners of Smled-
135
Inja Smerdel
nik when searching for a driver for the community's hearse and in the even
more obvious apprehensions of Bačnik's family, who saw the black coach as
the embodiment of death.
♦ Contrary to the attitude of his family and to that of the wider community we
can sense a different attitude toward death in Bačnik himself Being a remark-
ably traditional peasant he accepted death as all other natural occurrences -
as the natural end to a life's circle.
♦ And finally, we may well conclude that the story of the Smlednik hearse and
of its driver is that of a particular individual who with his black horses and
black hearse was an undertaker avant-la-lettre in the community of the
former Smlednik parish.
SOURCES AND LITERATURE see page 131
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Inja Smerdel. mag., etnologinja, direktorica
Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja od julija 1995, je
bUa pred tem kustodinja za ruralno gospodarstvo v
Slovenskem etnografskem muzeju (od leta 1980) in
glavna urednica znanstvene publikacije Etnolog
(1991-95). Po preučevanju nekaterih pojavov
množične kulture (stenskega okrasja in godbe na
pihala) se je v preteklem desetletju in pol posvečala
zlasti raziskovanju različnih gospodarsko kulturnih
prvin: soseskine gospodarske samouprave, del oh
spravilu žitnega pridelka, ovčarstva s selitveno pašo,
ptičjega lova. nazadnje oselnikov in košnje.
Med objavljenimi razpravami in članki, iz-
med katerih jih nekaj izpričuje tudi njene muzeo-
loške poglede, sta pomembnejši deli: Ovčarstvo na
Pivki, Transhumanca od srede 19. do srede 20. sto-
letja ali Trije »ovčarji« (Koper, 1989) in Oselniki:
zbirka SEM (Ljubljana, 1994).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Inja Smerdel M.A., ethnologist and director
of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum since July
1995. Prior to her appointment as director she was
curator of rural economy in the museum (since
1980) and chief editor of the scientific periodical
Etnolog (1991-95). After initial studies of mass4;ul-
ture phenomena (wall decorations and brass bands)
her research efforts of the past fifteen years concen-
trated on the cultural elements of economic activi-
ties: economic self-management of a village, har-
vesting jobs, sheep-farming and transhumanca,
bird-catching, and, most recently, whetstone hold-
ers and the hay harvest. Noticeable among her trea-
tises and articles, some of which also reveal her
views on museum issues, are Sheep-farming in Piv-
ka, Transhumance from the Middle of 19'*' to the
Middle of 20* Century or The Three "Sheep-mas-
ters'" (Koper, 1989) and Ulietstone Holders, pub-
lished in the series of SEM (Ljubljana, 1994).
136
ABOUT THE CUSTOM OF REPEATED (DOUBLE)
BURIAL
Branko Daković
IZVLEČEK
O šegi ponovnega (dvojnega) pokopa
Za današnje vsakdanje življenje sta značilna obstoj in praksa novih obredov, zlasti kadar se ti nanašajo na
spremembe v družbenem in političnem življenju. Prekopavanje in prevoz posmrtnih ostankov pomembnih in
kultnih oseb v povezavi z dvojnim pokopom v kraju rojstva pomenita pravzaprav prenašanje starih kulturnih
vzorcev, prilagojenih novim kulturnim (in ne le kulturnim) kontekstom. V ciklusu posmrtnih in pogrebnih šeg,
pri ponovljenem oziroma "dvojnem" pokopu, je imel izkop poseben pomen, tako kot tudi "srečanje" in "vi-
denje" umrlega. Natančno ime šege s tako kompleksno strukturo in vsebino ni ja.sno. Medkulturni podatki
potrjujejo razširjenost obredov, povezanih s to šego, in potrjujejo njen univerzalni antropološki kontekst.
Podatki za območje južnih Slovanov potrjujejo, da je bila na tem območju šega dvojnega pokopa znana že v
prvi polovici devetega stoletja. Motiv za rmstanek tega članka pa je bilo neobjavljeno gradivo Etnološkega at-
lasa Jugoslavije, ki so ga zbirali na Centru za etnološko kartografijo Oddelka za etnologijo Fibzofske fakultete
v Zagrebu. Iz zbranega gradiva lahko sklepamo, da je do dvojnih pokopov (s spremljajočimi obredi) prihajalo
v časovnem razponu od 40 dni do 30 in več let. Razlogi in motivi za prekopavanje so bolj ali manj jasni. Pogo-
sto je bd vzrok le pomanjkanje prostora, vedno pa je prekope spremljalo spoštovanje do ostankov umrlega. Po
avtorjevem mnenju je ključ za razumevanje tega problema mogoče najti v raziskavah in zanesljivih interpreta-
cijah obredov, ki so del procesa prekopavanja. Glede na to avtor omenja dve tradiciji:
L izkop grobov, da bi preučih stanje trupla, povezan z verovanji o volkodlakih in vampirjih;
2. različni načini izražanja spoštovanja.
Ključne besede: šege, obredi, pogrebi, dvojni pokopi, vprašalniki
Keywords: customs, rituals, funerals, double (repeated) burials, questionnaries
Double burial is one of syntagm which is used in ethnological standard and scien-
tific literature to denote and include a custom of digging up posthumous remains after
a definite time (after 40 days or after 10 or more years) and burying them again which
is followed by different rituals. The notes from the literature used in this paper were a
line of direction for the elaboration of the material from the ethnological Question-
naire, which was gathered for the ethnological .\tias of Yugoslavia in the sixties and sev-
enties of diis century.
137
Branko Daković
The past war hardships and distractions unfortunately marked out the last dec-
ade of the 20* century on the south Slavic territory. Unbelievable destruction did not
pass by many sacred objects, even graves. There were much devastation of tombstones
and other ways of desecration of graves. All this was motivated with irrational wish to
exterminate the cultural, national and religious identity of the "enemy". This showed a
complete negation of universal human values and man as the only being that buries his
dead and pays them respect. In the meantime exhumation and transport of the posthu-
mous remains (or relic) of persons of dignity and Saints from the near or past times was
going on and become a sort of political and religious ritual. Scaffolds, charnel-houses
and grave-yards were visited. Requiems and funeral services were held. Mass hysteria
led to the celebration of god Tanatos. In the final act of this tragedy the defeated (as if
all aren't defeated and losers), of both at war sides began to exhume old as well as new
graves so that the posthumous remains of their deceased could be taken away from
"ethnic-clean" territory.
This so called human transport showed its other side too, the inhuman.
All these events and relations towards contemporaries, ancestors and entire herit-
age showed in a tragic way that this is in fact a transmission of old cultural patterns into
a new social and cultural context.
In the cycle of posthumous customs the ethnologists during their research come
to interesting cognitions. Some of this cannot be entirely explained and some questions
ask for other answers, but in fact it is not possible to deny the positive attitude towards
dead, which is sometimes explained as fear Death, durable in time and decades in
"folk culture" confirm that positive attitude.
In a general division there are at least two traditions which contain more differ-
ent elements and through these elements we can observe the attitude of the south Slavs
towards the place of the burial (grave) and deceased. The grave-yard or grave alone is
always considered holy without regard to religious or other differences. One tradition
forbids or avoids digging up grave for more than one decade as long as there is any sign
that grave existed. If it is a custom, with many different rituals, the other tradition per-
mits digging up the graves in different time intervals, from 40 days to several years. In
both traditions, nearly without exception, the respect towards the deceased is shown,
except when the exhumation is connected with beliefs that the deceased might become
a vampire or werewolf.
The custom of digging up a grave in different time intervals with local character-
istics, in ethnological literature known as repeated or double burial, arouse an interest
among several ethnologists in the last hundred years. It was merely briefly described or
mentioned in different scientific publications. A detaded research and analysis about
this matter made Evel Gasparini and Milko Matičetov in the first half of the fifties and
Šefik Bešlagić in the seventies.'
' Tihomir Đorđević gave an impulse to ttiis research, on the south Slavic territories, in the first decades of the
20'' century, although some information was found by J. Csaplovics at the beginning of the 19* century. We can also
mention Lilek (and other authors mentioned by Đorđević, Matičetov and Bešlagić) and some fereign authors (Haber-
landt, Wlisocki, Vakarelski, Burgstaller etc.) and their comparative data.
1381
Ahout the Custom of Repeated (Double) Burial
MeanwhHe the Union of Ethnological Societies of Yugoslavia started a project The
Ethnological Adas of Yugoslavia. The Project (forming the Questionnaire and gathering
material in the field) was reahsed by many associates from all federal units (republics).
The material diat first arrived in the Centre for Edinological Cartography at the Depart-
ment of Ethnology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, was archived tdl die second
half of the skties. The Centre has valuable archive with data for 157 ethnological themes
from about 3100 places (villages) covering all the regions of former Yugoslavia.
The material for the theme "Digging out the posthumous remains and repeated
burial" (Questionnaire, vol. IV, No. 129), was gathered between seventies and eighties.^
My intention is to make a short preliminary analysis of data concerning this theme.
There are seven groups of questions, which are to be answered:
- the time when the ritual of digging out the grave took place (after 3, 7 or more
years) with the intention to bury a next body or digging out grave for some other reason
- who is involved in the exhumation and what rituals are connected with it
- the treatment with the posthumous remains (putting them in a basket or small
coffin, wrapping in linen or scarf)
- the place where the remains are placed, in the same grave or outside the grave.
There is an extra group of questions: - is the grave dug out in order to examine
the posthumous remains or with other reason "...to let the sun warm the bones".
According to data from the Questionnaire the time after which it is permitted to
disinter an old grave and to bury a new deceased is very variable.
It is not possible to know after how many years the exhumation is allowed on a
wide and famdiar region. In most cases it concerns local traditions which correspond
with the same ones on a faraway territory.
To disinter a grave after 3 or 5 years is very rare, except if it was the last wish of the
dying person who wanted to be buried in a particular grave regardless to the time that
passed from last funeral. A custom in which a married couple is buried in the same grave
is not equally spread. For example, in northeast Macedonia the husband can be buried in
his wife's grave but not the other way, or whether the children (son or daughter) are al-
lowed to be buried in their parent's grave. Disinterring a family vault, mostly in Adriatic
region, is permitted even before the determined time has passed. Exhumation after 40
days or 6 months, often in the east and southeast regions, is usually explained by great
grief, especially for dead children. In Slovenia exhumation is done after 5 or 10 years, and
in west Serbia, east Herzegovina and Monte Negro after 7 years.
In Monte Negro, Serbia and Macedonia the exhumation takes place on religious
holiday, usually on hohdays after Easter. The holidays are: Christian's day (5* Janu-
ary), Lazarus day, Theodore's day, Easter Monday (Pobus(a)ni ponedjeljak) - when peo-
It is necessary to emphasize an excelent poll by M. Matičetov and the research work of Maister. Gathering the
data for this theme, with the Questionnaire of the Ethnological Adas, faced many difficulties - the mere conception
of the questions, which could not include everything, and missunderstanding the meaning of the question by some ot
the persons which were taking down notes.
139
Branko Daković
pie visit the grave-yard to tidy the graves (pobusaju se),' Pentecost day, All Souls' day
(1. before Easter; 2. close to Pentecost day; 3. Demetrius day, 9"' November) and St.
Marcus day; (all the holidays and dates are according to the Julian calendar).
Here and there it is permitted to dig over a grave after 20 or more years. In the
lowlands and partly in the highlands (northeast Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herze-
govina and Serbia), both the Catholics and Orthodox do not permit exhumation at all.
It could only happen by accident when nobody knows the old burial place.
Evan then the posthumous remains are treated with respect although significant
rituals are not omitted. The bones are buried in new dug up grave (or old dug over grave)
or they are buried in an other part of the grave-yard and that oidy if there is no collective
vaults. For example, in Glinsko Novo Selo, a village bet\veen Petrinja and Glina in Croatia,
and in some villages in Pokuplje and east of Zagreb people cease digging up a grave if they
come upon "old" bones and the grave is immediately covered, while in Blato on the island
of Korčula it is considered bad luck to touch the bones which are dug out.
To show the smallest sign of respect to the posthumous remains, they are put on
the ground, paper or linen beside the newly dug up grave where they are covered with
some sod till the next burial. In the villages Jablanica by Maglaj in Bosnia and Razboj-
na by Brusa in Serbia the bones are left for a while out of the grave, so that the sun can
shine on them and then they are buried.*
According to the data from the Questionnaire it is not possible yet to make defi-
nite conclusions about digging over graves and repeated burial as a family tradition
(which has been mentioned in literature), but it confirms an important role of the
Church. In some places the exhumation and repeated burial had to be done by neigh-
bours (it was in fact their obligation); older men from the family, godfathers or the god-
mother or even the grown up children.
In Macedonia women could participate in the ritual when the bones have been
washed (with water or wine) but their status in the community is not stated.
In Mrakovo by Sarajevo, men who didn't have chddren or won't have chUdren any
more were those who dug up the grave; in Zapolje by Otočac in Lika the sons-in-law
are those who dig out their mother-in-laws grave. But, regardless the time when an old
grave is dug over the bones are carefully wrapped in linen (best in white and home wo-
^ The "pobusan" Monday (pobus(a)ni ponedjeljak) is mentioned in the Orthodox community as a day when
people visit the grave-yard to tidy the graves ("pobusavaju, busaju se"), (busen, bus = turf of grass and soil); in other
parts (in Monte Negro) people put on the graves, beside other gifts, black painted Eastereggs.
* Beside data from the Questionnaire there are other informations. While digging up a mediaeval cemetery in
Brestovik (Serbia) the women from the village approved the action only because, "...the sun will warm the bones once
more". Even the Moslems from the area near Bihać in northwest Bosnia "opened" the grave, "...so that the sun warms
their dear deceased once more" (S. Bešlagić, 1974, 207). According to this Bešlagić tried to link, (maybe it's too exag-
gerated!?), the double burial with prechristian worship of the Sun. If such evidence exsists; examples from a research
done in Čečavac, Sloboština and Smoljanovci in the west part of Požega basin in Slavonia by Orthodox in the eighties;
or the information by Ivan Klarić, that the Catholics in Kralje near Bihać, "...before they buried (the deceased) they
opened the coffin so that the sun can shine on him and the relatives can kiss him", (I. Klarić, Kralje in Bosnia: Rođen-
je, svadba i smrt. Zbornik za narodni život i običaje južnih Slavena, 27, 1930, 165 - 175); they are insuficient for the
thesis by Bešlagić.
140
About the Custom of Repeated (Double) Burial
ven), put in small trunk (kovčezić, zabojček), or a linen bag. In some places, mostly in
Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, a white sheet is used {lancun, čaršaf).
Often the bones are put in scarf (rubac, farolić, šamija), usually a white one, but
in some places in Serbia and Macedonia they put them in black one. Sometimes they
are put in white rag or towel (peškir, ubrus), in Serbia and Macedonia the male bones
are put in a cap.'
Reduction of the ritual, on a vast territory, confirms that the custom is gradually
disappearing. In Slovenia there is very littie data about cleaning and washing the bones
with water (the custom is otherwise confirmed), than in Monte Negro, Serbia and Mac-
edonia. The usage of wine in the ritual remains only in the east and southeast parts but
there are no data about washing the bones with it. It is often mentioned that the Ortho-
dox perform sprinkling and blessing with holy water, which is brought from the
Church and while burning the incense it is done by a priest. For sanctification a mix-
ture of wine and oil was used in west Bosnia, east Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia.
From Slovenia (Dovje by Mojstrana) to Macedonia there are noted cases where
the posthumous remains are taken to church and put on the altar usually for one
night; in the surroundings of Ohrid even 40 days.
A special procedure with the skull (well known from the research of M. Matiče-
tov and Maister) accordingly to the Questionnaire is confirmed only in a few places
in Slovenia: Srednji Vrh - Gozd, Nomenj and Stara Fužina - Bohinj, Olševek and
Tupališče - Kranj, Rateče and Spodnje Jezersko - Preddvor. Outside Slovenia it is
mentioned in Devrske by Obrovac in Bukovica (Croatia) where the Orthodox Serbs
live and in Brajići by Budva (Monte Negro), where the skull of the deceased son was
put in his mother's coffin. Washing the skull was practised in Matiševo by Kolašin
(Monte Negro) but without a detaded description. In the villages near Livno, mostly
the Catholics and some Orthodox separated the skull and covered it with a sheet, and
in Miši the skull was buried separated from the skeleton and put beside the skull of
the last deceased.
The conduct with the dug out posthumous remains at the repeated burial show
great differences according to the place in the old grave where they are put. It is diffi-
cult to make a relevant systematisation, not only because of the wide rang of the territo-
ry but because of the need for thorough analysis and complete understanding and in-
terpretation of the rituals. The posthumous remains are put beside the new coffin, gen-
erally, or below the coffin (the coffin is put directly on the remains or the remains are
put in small hole; in the corner of the grave or in a small opening; on the coffin (in the
centre, to the head or down to the feet); in the grave beside the coffin - up to the loins
(in southwest Bosnia), up to the head or feet, in general and with some special charac-
teristics. In Zagoni by Bjeljina (northeast Bosnia) the female bones are put at the left
and the male at the right side of the coffin. In Borike by Rogatica (east Bosnia) the
male bones are put beside the head of the last deceased and the female beside the feet.
^ In Monte Negro a red scarf is mentioned. Matičetov (note 33) quotes: "There are two isolated examples that
white colour is not the only colour: 1. for wrapping the bones they bought 1 meter of red linen (41); 2. they would
wrap the bones of an unmarried person in white linen and married in black" (28), (M. Matičetov, 1955, 240).
141
Branko Daković
In Bribir by Crikvenica (the Croatian Littoral) the bones of the relatives are put on the
coffin up to the head, and the other bones down to the feet.
Beside the examples mentioned in the region of Livno the Orthodox Serbs from
Ivoševci, Kistanje, Biovično selo (all surrounding Knin) put the dug out bones in the
coffin of the "newly died" person. It is done the same way in Monte Negro (near Bud-
va), southeast Serbia (near Vranjska Banja) and in Macedonia (near Kičevo).
In Kordun and Banija (Croatia), in northwest Bosnia (sometimes in east Bosnia
by the Orthodox) and here and there in Serbia in the dug out grave some money is
thrown in order to "buy a place". In Serbia and Macedonia, after 6 week or 6 months,
some magic action were done in the dug out graves. For example, if someone died from
tuberculosis {jektika, smica) a botde of wine (or plum-brandy) is put with him in the
grave, so after the exhumation in a determined time, the bottle was taken out and given
to family to drink (especially to the children). There are some magic actions and for-
tune-telling which are done with the bones or parts of the skeleton; in Dupljaj by
Valjevo (Serbia) a woman clasps the bones of her dead child to her bosom so that she
can have more children. In Slavonski Kobaš (Croatia) the bones are kissed with an ex-
planation that, "God forgives sins to those who kiss dead bones". In the village Slepce
by Bitola (Macedonia) they tie a red thread around one bone, or put in the grave a bot-
tle of water, some grain, flour, salt or even a new suit (Serbia, Macedonia). This is con-
firms the complexity of the custom in which are incorporated elements of different
cultural patterns and traditions, sometimes much wider from the observed cycle. Data
that confirms similarity or is identical with some elements of the double burial custom
is significant with the "first" funeral but is out of the frame of the church rituals. For
example, in the region of Kočani (east Macedonia) during the "second" burial (after 3
years), relatives, friends and neighbours are invited to lunch; in Bijela by Daruvar, Sla-
vonia, the Serbs remember that there were "intended" exhumation after a year and on
that occasion the grave-diggers were invited to lunch. Similar, but incomplete descrip-
tions refer to some villages near Bor in east Serbia. Unfortunately there are no other
data, which would complete this "picture".
Even so, this data contributes the conviction of the thesis such as is the double
burial custom, which is accompanied with series of rituals of considerable regional dif-
ferences. The purpose (or explanation) why is the custom and the rituals done, also the
different terms can help in revealing its nature. The research must continue and that
depends on the aim of the research.
The explanation, that disinterring is done because of great grief, (mainly when
the children are concerned), usually before the year is out, is unspecific and incom-
plete, and such a procedure cannot be interpreted as the "real" double burial.
Meeting and seeing the deceased as reasons for digging up (disinterring) the
graves are insufficient explanation for the whole procedure and are only a part of a
very complex custom, exactly only one part of beliefs in the posthumous customs. The
contents of the rituals that follow the whole procedure (washing the bones, pouring
wine upon the bones, kissing them, wrapping and burying them again, etc.) surpass the
given reasons. In the east and southeast regions (where it mostly occurs), it could be
142
About the Custom of Repeated (Double) Burial!
considered as "real" double burial due to the explanation; "...to be sure that the body
has rotted; "...the soul is absolutely free to go to heaven only when the body has com-
pletely rotted", (Petar Vlahović, Beograd, 1972, 62). If it is believed that the deceased
could become a vampire (or werewolf), or if the extent of his sinfulness has to do with
it, than that belongs to other contents.
Disinterring which is justified with an explanation such as: "...let the sun warm
the bones once more" or "...let the sun shine upon the bones" or "...let the bones see
the light once more", and followed by rituals, as well as special treatment with the
skull, could be also considered as "original" or "real" double burial}
In the course of this it is possible to emphasise few basic elements:
a) believing in life after death and the duality of existence (material and spiritual)
b) special meaning of skull and the relation towards it as probable substitute
c) believing in exceptional importance of the Sun, that is, the Light
Each of these elements hasn't got the same significance or value on the research
territory, neither each of the rituals, which are their component parts. In relation to-
wards the posthumous remains dualism is noted. It is expressed in the respect and piety
towards the remains because of duty, love or fear, or as taboo (avoiding or forbidding
disinterring the graves).
It is necessary to emphasise the important elements which, are diferentia specifi-
ca of the whole problem:
a) ritual digging out the deceased without burying other deceased in the same
grave
b) intentional digging up the grave (the ritual with the posthumous remains) and
burying the other deceased in the same grave
c) accidental (or after many decades) digging up the grave; the procedure with
posthumous remains and burying the other deceased.
As we can see, it is a custom of very complex structure for understanding. It is
necessary to research the reference data and facts outside its narrow frame; to search
for an important indicator in the wider posthumous customs and ritual cycle; to prefer
multiscientific approach, so that historical, social, cultural and religious aspect, influ-
enced its beginning and its disappearance, would be included. In the procedure of dis-
interring the grave and repeated burial a large number of variants make the correct
systematisation and conclusion difficult. Especially because it is a very heterogeneous
cultural (and traditional) territory, which was exposed for a long period to various in-
fluences, frequent migrations and changes of systems and orientations.
' On the basis of data concerning this custom, it is difficult to establish a thesis about worshiping the Sun or
worshiping the skull. The significance of the Sun and light is not debatable. For example, burning candles in general
or burning candles for 40 days while the bones are laid in the church (in the surroundings of Ohrid and further in
Aegean Macedonia). But in posthumous rituals we even note quite the opposite behaviour - from avoiding disintering
the grave to avoiding leaving the grave open ("so that it wouldn't get wet (rain); that hail doesn't destroy the crops",
etc.); disintering the grave in order to see if the body has rotted, because of suspicion that the deceased turned into a
vampire or gained some saindy atributes; the degree of his sinfulness, colour of his bones and their symbolics. We
could discuss here the worship of the ancestors too.
143
Branko Daković
A comprehensive elaboration of the ethnological data from the Questionnaire,
completed with comparative material and cognition, can offer a major help in solving
the problem. A well-done typology for a cartographic presentation and elaboration of
ethnological charts, would be an important contribution in that direction.
A broader knowledge could make it clear, why are riches and varieties of customs,
(not only of these customs and rituals), a rich treasury in which mass ideology as polit-
ical category presents its ambition as the will of the people. Using myths and rituals
and adjusting them to new (mass) folk pattern, such politics creates a negative attitude
in interpretation of tradition, and intrudes "worshipping the past" and affirming neo-
conservatism.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BESLAGIC. Sefik: 0 "običaju dvostrukog sahranjivanja" kod našib naroda - Povodom natpisa na stećku Miroslava Rašk-
ovića. In: Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Sarajevu (etnologija) Nova serija, sv. XXIX, Sarajevo 1974, p. 193-212.
ĐORĐEVIĆ, R. Tihomir: Dvostruko sahranjivanje. In: Glasnik skopskog naučnog društva, knj. I, sv. II, Skopje 1925,
p. 530.
ĐORĐEVIĆ, Tihomir: Nekoliki samrtni običaji u Južnih Slovena. In: Naš narodni život, knj. 4 (11), Beograd 1984,
p. 124-246.
GASPARINI, Evel: SuUa forma della "doppia sepoltura" presso gli Slavi meriodinali. In: Slovenski etnograf, letnik
\ III, Ljubljana, 1955, p. 225-230.
MAISTER, Hrvoj: 0 umiti in v prt zaviti lobanji pri koroških Slovencih. In: Traditiones 4 (1975) Ljubljana 1977,
p. 238-247.
MATIĆETOV, Milko: K prekopavanju mrličev pri Slovanih. In: Slovenski etnograf, letnik Vl-Vll (1953-1954), Ljub-
ljana 1954, p. 195-196.
MATlCETOV, Milko: Umita in v prt zavita lobanja pri Slovencih. In: Slovenski etnograf, letnik Vlll, Ljubljana 1955,
p. 231-254.
VLAH0V1Ć, Petar: Običaji, verovanja i praznoverice naroda Jugoslavije, Beograd, 1972.
BESEDA O AVTORJU
Branko Daković. dr., docent na Oddelku za
etnologijo Filozofske fakultete v Zagrebu. Po-!
dročja njegovega zanimanja in raziskovanja so: ru- i
ralno stavbarstvo in bivalna kultura, tradicionalno i
gospodarstvo, družbeno življenje in šege. j
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Branko Daković. Ph.D., is assistant profes-
sor at the Department of Ethnology, Facultv of
Arts, Zagreb. His field of interest: rural architec-
ture and dwelling culture, traditional economics,
social life and customs.
144
VISITING AND TENDING THE GRAVES
WITH A SPECIAL REEERENCE
TO THE CASE-STUDY IN BREŽICE
Mateja Habinc
IZVLEČEK
Obiskovanje grobov in skrb sanje na primeru študije is Brešie
Avtorica opisuje obiskovanje grobov in skrb zanje v obdobju koledarskega leta in tudi v obdobju življenjske-
ga ciklusa posameznika. Obiskovanje grobov in skrb zanje sicer povezuje s pogrebi in tradicionalno določe-
nim obdobjem žalovanja, a ju skuša raziskovati onkraj tega konteksta. Predpostavlja, da je pokopališče kot
socialen (javen) in obenem zaseben prostor vključeno v vsakdanji način življenja večine. Avtorica je želela
ugotoviti, katera dejanja, pričakovanja pa vrednote in drugo so bili značilni za preteklost in so še danes
povezani z obiskovanjem grobov in skrbjo zanje. Njena metoda je etnografska. Terensko delo je bilo osredo-
točeno na Brežice, majhno mesto na jugovzhodu Slovenije. Raziskava je zajela obdobje tridesetih let tega
stoletja do sedanjosti.
Iz načirm obiskovanja grobov in skrbi zanje je razvidno, da (živi in umrli) sorodniki delujejo kot hierarhičen
sistem in da vedno obstajajo tudi razlike med grobovi. Ljudje hierarhično razporejajo najpomembnejše grobo-
ve sorodnikov in grobove družine kot gospodinjske enote. Vtem kontekstu so avtorico zanimale odločitve izvr-
šiteljev oporoke, povezave z lastništvom, vloga oporok, vplivi na spomine sorodnikov, njihova srečanja in pre-
piri med njimi. Avtorica v članku poskuša pojasniti, kaj skrb za grobove obsega in kako jo posamezniki
dojemajo. Zanimal jo je tudi videz grobov in nagrobnikov, finančna struktura ter delitev skrbi za grobove med
spoloma, pa čiščenje in okraševanje grobov itd. Posebno pozornost je posvečala tudi (v preteklosti) dnevu mrt-
vih, oziroma vseh svetih, ki je v Sloveniji javni praznik, ter cerkvenemu prazniku vseh vernih duš.
Ključne besede: pokopališča, grobovi, obiskovanje, Brežice
Keywords: cemeteries, graves, visiting graves, Brežice
This article' discusses visiting and tending the graves as a subject for ethnological
study and, on the micro level, presents the findings of the field work carried out on the
same subject.
1 would like to start by determining why and from what points of view 1 believe
that visiting and tending the graves is or should be a subject for ethnology.
' The report is based on the author's degree dissertation, written under the mentorship of Professor Dr. Janez
Bogataj at the Department of Fthnology and Cultural Anthropolog), University of Ljubljana, 1997/98.
145
Mateja Habinc
Visitiiig and tending graves as an ethnological subject
A survey of the existing hterature makes it quite clear that the cemeteries, funer-
als and death in general are themes dealt with by architecture (urban planning), histo-
ry (including art history), archaeology, sociology and other sciences. The basis for their
research is - in some fields - the place itself (cemeteries or graves), while in other scienc-
es the attention is given to the values connected with the place or to the attitudes
thought to have been common in specific historical periods, societies or geographic
areas. The Slovene ethnology asserts that as a carrier of the cultural phenomena (Kre-
menšek 1973: 115) is by definition the subject of an ethnologist's interest and, in ac-
cordance with this definition, also man's activities related to the graves and cemeteries
are important issues for the ethnological research. In my opinion ethnology should be-
side funeral rites, death as a part of man's life cycle, people's attitude to cemeteries and
other themes, also research the visiting and tending graves. The theme is a common,
everyday and obvious basis for the study of cemeteries by many sciences, but none of
them researches it as a specific subject. They all take it for granted and mostly deal with
its external phenomena - tombstones, epitaphs and the like.
The subject of my study can be linked to some established fields of ethnological
research. The basic subject the Slovene ethnology today deals with is folk culture and
the way of living (considering all classes of society and all periods) (Kremenšek 1973:
111-125). In this context we can see visiting and tending the graves primarily as a part
of people's way of living. According to the ethnological systematisation (Kuret... 1978:
1-94, Bogataj... 1978: 95-118) the subject was already partially researched in the fields
of traditions and customs (as part of the calendar year and of the traditions and cus-
toms related to important events in a person's life) and in the field of religion. In the
traditional societies we can chiefly consider death and funeral also as ceremonies, rites
of passage (Prošić - Dvornić 1982: 41-53). However, my principal interest was not in vis-
iting and tending the graves as the traditionally claimed final (and according to Arnold
Van Gennep third aggregate) stage of a tripartite funeral ritual. 1 concentrated on peri-
odical visits to cemeteries (Mystical... 197.S: 3241) after the (first) period of mourning.
The ethnological research of these phenomena is also sustained b} the premise that an
ethnologist should deal with mass, public^ phenomena on the level of everyday life,
such as All Saints' Day. Moreover, cemeteries are considered to be public places, open
to everybody and a matter of public consensus.
There are at least two possible views when researching the tending of the graves.
On the one hand, we can examine professional tending of the graves and cemeteries
(undertakers, municipal services, the jobs of grave-diggers etc.) and, on the other hand,
there is the private care by relatives and friends of the deceased. 1 would like to point
out that 1 was primarily interested in the latter aspect. What 1 see as people's care of the
graves are intentional acts like paying the lease and other costs related to the graves, ar-
ranging and decorating them. 1 also believe that individual or collective visits to the
cemeteries have multiple meanings: on the one hand and though they are viewed also
- For the definition of pubHc, see: Habermas 1989: 293-299 & Bajec 1994: 358-359.
146
Visiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Study in Brežic
as an obligation, the attitutle towards them is positive (they contribute to the establish-
ing and preserving one's identity - be it on the level of one's family, native place or a
country identity). On the other hand and more recently, visiting can also function as
something possibly negative, if no appropriate measure is observed in giving expres-
sion to or effecting such visits. In the course of time the meaning of "appropriate" has
changed. Analysing individual, different and always family-related actions I tried to
find out, whether there is anything we might determine as common to a majority of
people, as known to nearly everybody.
In the case study of the cemeteries of Brežice, a small town in the south-east of
Slovenia close to the Croatian border, I attempted to present visiting and tending the
graves within the periods of the calendar year and to a minor extent also within a per-
son's life. I sought to answer some questions about how a cemetery as a public, social
and at the same time private place is a part of the way of living of the majority. I deah,
beside cyclical visits and the ways of tending the graves also with the following issues:
where are people's ancestors buried - in the graves of their parents or in the new graves;
what is the connection between the graves of a family or new graves and the place of
birth and residence of the deceased; where are children buried; what are the values and
expectations that determine visiting the graves, what do these visits mean to people...
To gather answers to these questions, I primarily relied on interviewing people.
The basis for an interview was beside a questionnaire (based upon literature, sources,
media) also a survey of inscriptions from tombstones of my own relatives, buried in the
cemetery in Brežice, and some observations and personal participation in the events.
My informants were those who (even) today tend one or more graves and who are active
in this sense, but who recently had no death in the family. This excludes all those who
today do not pay lease for one or more grave plots, that is children, youths, elderly peo-
ple, about whom 1 also believe that they have their own opinion about tending graves.
At first I wanted to deal chiefly with the present condition, but after carrying out
some initial research I established that this would not be possible without revisiting the
past. 1 then decided to deal with the period from a few years before the outbreak of the
Second World War to the present. In accordance with this decision 1 chose informants
among people who lived in Brežice in this period. Some further explanation is re-
quired: Brežice was a much smaller place in the period before 1941 than it is now. This
means that there are only a few famdies and people left who actually lived in the town
in the beginning of the period and who are still alive. This was one group of inform-
ants. Before the Second World War their famdies (parents) were mostly merchants,
inn(hotel)-keepers, tradesmen. Accidentally, it was established that before the Second
World War most of them were nationally conscious Slovenes with a Catholic back-
ground. Only one of the informants was (in the eyes of others rather than in his own) a
member of the higher middle class and sympathised with the Germans. All the parents
of the informants had moved to Brežice in the period between the two world wars. The
second group were people now living in the town, but only since 1981, when the area
selected for the case study was incorporated into the town. Earlier, this part consisted
of villages and most people were farmers.
147
Mateja Habinc
The cemeteries of Brežice
To begin the presentation of the findings of my field research let me provide
some brief information on the cemeteries of Brežice' throughout history. It could be
said that the cemeteries in the town in general followed the tendencies described in lit-
erature and related to the history of attitudes towards death. In short: from the 12'''
century onwards (Lapuh 1990: 18 & Skaler, Savnik 1976: 25 & Pokopališča... 1916:
339), there has always been one main municipal cemetery which until the end of the
18"' century was situated around the parish church. After a major flood caused by the
nearby Sava river, the cemetery was transferred to the borders of the town, that is untd
1901 (Pokopahšča... 1916: 340 & Lapuh 1990: 22 & Tiller 1937: 4), when due to the dl-
suited land and the lack of space, the graveyard had become too small. A new cemetery
was established in the southern border of the town and is still in use today.
In the course of time there have been other cemeteries in Brežice and their histo-
ry both confirms and reflects the common historical attitudes to death and cemeteries
in general and as described in literature. The Franciscans built a monastery and a
church in the town in the 17th century. They also had their own cemetery for which it
has not been established yet untd when it was used, but it is certain that it was no long-
er in use after the early 19th century (Tiller 1937: 10). Until 1775 also lay people were
buried in the Franciscan church (Lapuh 1990: 26 & Pokopališča... 1916: 339), the site
of the oldest graves in the parish of Brežice. In 1941 the church was demolished and
the Franciscans were banned from the town. There still is a small Franciscan filial
church in a nearby vdlage that also had a cemetery (Lapuh 1990: 28) around it. This
cemetery was used until the second half of 19th century. Sources confirm the existence
of other churches (some of which are gone) in or near the town, but they do not refer to
cemeteries around or near them".
The new cemetery south of the city was the church property until 1955 (Skaler,
Savnik 1976: 13), when the municipahty of Brežice was founded. In the same year the
municipality became the administrator of the land (until the 1980s the cemetery was
managed by a special municipal service) while the church continued to be the owner of
the greater part (and the municipality of the smaller one). The churchyard was laid out
in accordance with generally accepted principles: it was surrounded by a wall or trees
and divided into sections (for wealthy people, non-Catholics, Franciscans, dead-born
babies and sinners etc.), and most of the tombstones are aligned east-west. Until the
1960s and 70s there were tombstones on the graves near the wall, others were mounds
with wooden or iron crosses'. The big cross in the middle of the churchyard was erect-
' The inhabitants of Brežice and those from its environs call the cemetery in Brežice "pokopališč" (colloquial),
"britof (German: Friedhof) and, in sources from before the Second World 4ar I also encountered the expression "miro-
dvor". The latter does not appear in any Slovene or Croatian dictionary, but 1 would like to point out its similarity with
the name of one of Zagreb's cemeteries (the capital of Croatia) "Mirogoj" (meaning perhaps a peaceful grove).
' See: Tiller 1939: 12 & Tiller 1937: II & Lapuh 1990: 19 & Skaler. Savnik 1976: 26.
' Today, when all plots in the cemetery should have equal value, informants consider a "nice spot for the gra-
ve" a plot that is seen from all sides, with an easy approach, clean (not near the waste) and which is not sloping - so that
the soil stays in place...
148
Visiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Studv in Brežice
The abandoned grave with a plastic note from the municipal service, which I attached behind Christ's left hand
(Brežice, January 1998, photo: M. Habinc). ♦ Zapuščen grob s plastičnim obvestilom komunalne službe, pritrjenin
na Kristusovo levo roko (Brežice, januar 1998, foto: M. Habinc).
149
Mateja Habinc
Note from an abandoned grave, asking tbe owner
(according to the text of the note - not the leaseholder),  \
to fill out the data on the lease on the back of the note
and hand it over to the municipal service (Brežice,
January 1998, photo: M. Habinc). ♦ Obvestilo na j
zapuščenem grobu, ki sprašuje njegovega lastnika (kot je
napisano na njem - ne njegovega najemnika), da izpolni
podatke o njegovem najemu na zadnji strani istega
obvestila in ga izroči komunalni službi (Brežice, januar
1998, foto: M. Habinc). i
ed in 1901. The cemetery also had a mortuary chapel but untd recently (mid-1980s) it
was used only for people who died of certain diseases.
Today there are 1507 grave plots in the cemetery of Brežice^ and most of them are
single or double graves. In the northern wing of the cemetery an area is dedicated to the
partisans and civilians, victims of the Second World War. In the southern wing of the cem-
etery there is still a special section reserved for the graves of children. Today it presents a
problem to the municipal service in the sense of managing the graveyard as a whole.
There have never been proposals (as sources told me because there was neither need nor
wish) for an urn garden or for a place for dispersing ashes. The first urn niches were erect-
ed in the cemetery in 1989-90 and today there are 60. From the evidence of people who
pay the lease for grave plots in the cemetery of Brežice I tried to establish the structure of
the cemetery: for 50% of the graves the citizens of Brežice pay the lease. Further - a com-
parison of the numbers of leaseholders from Dolenjska and Štajerska (the border between
the two regions is the Sava river) which also belong to different dioceses, shows that the
majority of the leaseholders are from Štajerska (from the villages or towns). This allows us
to conclude that the cemetery in Brežice is used mainly by the famihes from the right
bank of the Sava.
' The number is approximate: according to tbe map of the cemetery of Brežice from 1996 there should be
1507 plots, but the figure differs from the number of leaseholders (October 1997: 1280 - a leaseholder can appear
several times m the evidence if he or she is paying the lease for more than one grave). The municipal service in
Brežice does not have any information about the number of abandoned graves (for which the lease has not been paid
for a long period). I consider this situation to reflect also a part of the attitude towards the cemetery in Brežice and
more generally towards death (as still personalised) in the new state.
m
Visiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Studv in Brežice
Visiting and tenJiiig the graves with reference to the
Brežice case study
In this presentation of the findings from the research of visiting and tending the
graves in Brežice I highlight only those which I found to be the most common and appli-
cable to a majority of people, while the article deals much less or not at all with detads
and descriptions of, for instance, events Ше AH Saints' Day. When dealing widi visiting
and tending the graves in general, we need to distinguish between various groups of the
graves. The first distinction must be made between the graves someone tends and those
people only visit (bring flowers, lights candles). The two acts can be joined, but usually
there are less graves that are tended than such that are merely visited.
A further subdivision can be made into the two groups of the graves, simdarly as
we use term a family. A famdy (Flandrin 1986: 10-11) can either mean a nuclear family
or an extended family including relatives. In this context we can distinguish between
the graves of the nuclear famdies^ and those of extended famdies.
In the first case at least one parent of the children of a nuclear family rests in the
grave. If we presume that the children of this fictional family are married, then every
couple is related to the two extended-family graves - one belonging to the woman's/
mother's line of relatives (her parent/s) and the other is the grave in which the father's/
man's parent/s is (are) buried. All those related by blood or marital ties automatically
become members of two different sets of relatives. But the attitude towards aU relatives
is never equal. Every family in its entity means and symbolises an arrangement of a
special kind - a hierarchy (Rabuzzi 1987: 277). The same is true, in my opinion, of the
tending of the graves: the spouses usually pay more attention to the one of the two
graves belonging to an extended family. Which grave receives more attention mostly
depends on the patrdocal or matrdocal residence (or on the proximity of their resi-
dence to the place where the spouse's parents live or are buried), on the kind a nuclear
family or extended, and in general on emotional, material and other bonds within one
line of relatives. When a person is single than his or her extended-family grave is auto-
matically the grave of his or her parents.
Usually the tending of this extended-family grave is in die hands of a couple which
through marriage also atlopted the care for die household of die respective partner's par-
ents. This has always been considered as something common, self-evident and not deemed
to be worth mentioning or to be included in wills or donation. It has not been the rule
that the oldest son or daughter should be the one to continue to live in the parental home.
If the chUdren decide not to live at (or near) the place where their parents are buried,
they, at least in some cases, in Brežice pay someone to tend the family grave. Usually, die
chUdren share the costs and visit die grave at least once a year (generally on die occasion
of All Saints' Day). Informants also mentioned the more or less present cases of exhuma-
' My informants (from the basic point of view of a married couple, used in the research, i.e. both partners are
also viewed as somebody's chddren) did not distinguish between these two groups, they labelled both as "family" gra-
ves. But in the interviews it became obvious that the division is acceptable and in many cases exists.
151
Mateja Habinc
tion and transportation to another place, closer to the residence of the chddren of the
deceased. Such graves of an extended family are the centre of understanding, of meetings
between relatives as well as die source or place of arguments - though not quite of argu-
ments about the graves themselves; instead hidden animosity may become obvious (for
example when relatives do not want to meet at a specific grave).
Visiting and tending the graves of an extended family also determines the scope
of memory involving relatives. It is usual that the last two generations, including the
grandparents, are commemorated. Dead brothers or sisters are also more or less com-
memorated (of any of the parents, but less their partners), especially if they were (in
some cases) victims of the Second World War.
Before the Second World War and until approximately the 60s parents generally
buried their deceased children in a special children's section of the cemetery for one
specific reason - because many of them had migrated to Brežice and/or did not have
their own family grave (neither as nuclear or extended family) at the cemetery yet. In
recent times things are different: "Nowadays everybody makes sure where their grave
will be before they die." (FN - Lepšina 1997: 24). When a couple establishes a family of
their own they already reserve (though in most cases only in their mind) a place at the
cemetery for themselves, for their nuclear family (Sore 1985: 203). In the past most of
the relatives of my informants did not exhume and transfer the mortal remains of their
deceased family members to the new graves. It was, however, a general custom for peo-
ple to have their names and dates of birth and/or death inscribed on the tombstones of
the nuclear or extended-family graves. In most cases it has always been considered (for
example for dead children) to be unusual when this is not done, because the family
ought to be at least symbolically together in one place. When a nuclear family leases its
own grave, the relatives usually stop tending the children's graves in the special section.
After some time most of them were abandoned and leased by other people.
People's recollections of who had a tombstone placed and a grave arranged are
weaker among the inhabitants of the town's environs that among the townspeople. The
latter exactly remember placing (even several) tombstones, what were they like... and
recently people even take photographs of all the graves of their relatives so that they
can preserve them for memory. Informants interpreted this as preserving information
about one's relatives.
Nowadays a family grave is something everybody "wants" and the trend is con-
nected with the feeling of private ownership (Vincent 1980: 157/50). By the term fami-
ly grave I understand the grave of one nuclear family or one individual. This kind of
grave can coincide with an extended-family grave or can be the abandoned grave of
(usually, but not necessarily) relatives or acquaintances. Regarding the latter case: the
tending of a grave is not necessardy officially agreed (the lease may still be paid by
someone else). What is more important when someone considers to take a lease on
such a grave is the attachment to the deceased and the material bonds with him or her,
as well as a feeling of being obliged to make sure that the grave is always well tended. In
this sense graves are often viewed as a real estate. There is also a third possibdity for

_Visiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Study in Brežice
153
acquiring a grave for a nuclear family - a completely new grave at the cemetery in a spot
meant for graves and where no one is buried yet.
I have already mentioned that in recent years (twenty or more) people usually
determine where their family grave shall be during their lifetime. To this 1 may add
diat there are some graves (approximately 10) in the cemetery in Brežice which have no
inscriptions on the tombstones (some have names inscribed on them, but without the
dates of death). Nevertheless, these graves are more or less well kept (with flowers, peo-
ple tending them etc.). They are graves of nuclear families and informants say that this
custom was not known before the Second World War and for some decades after it; as
far as they recaU the custom appeared some ten or fifteen years ago.
The two groups of graves mentioned do not mean that they are the only options to
be buried - they are merely (and were especially in the past) the most common practice.
But where someone is buried recently and increasingly depends on people's mobdity and
their life story or fate. The principal factor in deciding where to be buried - the inform-
ants were quite explicit in this matter - is the understanding and relationship with (dead
and living) relatives, regardless where they live or where they are buried.
Besides graves of the two groups mentioned people may honour someone's wish
or feel obliged (that is in the after-war period) to also tend other graves - of friends, rel-
atives... Nevertheless, I found out that there still exists some hierarchy in tending and
visiting the graves. The hierarchy can be compared to that existing between living rela-
tives or people in general. Interviews made it clear that throughout the whole period
under discussion people primarily visited and tended the graves of their nuclear and
extended family (or, considering also singles). I have to mention also the graves of de-
ceased partners). Second in the hierarchy are the graves of relatives, friends, acquaint-
ances... but the occasional visits have always been concentrated on important dates like
All Saints' Day, the anniversary of someone's death, Christmas or New Years' Eve, East-
er and the name-day of the deceased (or his or her birthday).
Another hypothesis 1 put forward in my dissertation is - as mentioned above - that
visiting cemeteries and tending the graves is a part or a way of preserving one's iden-
tity - on the level of the family, native place or country. This also explains why as far as
Brežice is concerned 1 have no evidence to state that people do not tend the graves of
their ancestors* - as seems to be the case with some people in Western Europe and the
USA. In my research 1 also included the old cemetery which was officially abandoned
in 1901. People had the opportunity to transfer tombstones or exhume the mortal re-
mains of the deceased but very few (one of the richest families) opted for the first possi-
bihty (moving tombstones) and no one for the latter. Nevertheless, until the end of the
Second World War, there were stiU some tombstones on the graves in the old cemetery.
' In the Christian areas of the Western countries people still occasionally visit the cemetery In the cities, howe-
ver, people visit the cemetery only once a year, on the occasion of All Saints' Day (Vincent 1980: 20). According to the
data for Slovenia referring to 1997 (Slovenci... 1997: 1) one third of the respondents to a survey occasionally visit the
cemetery once a month; a litUe under one third every week or even more frequendy and 5,3 % only once a year. The
latter data probably confirm the research carried out in Brežice. See further few examples, primarily related to the
national and local identity.
Mateja Habinc
Most of the people 1 spoke with remember the cemetery because of the tombstone of
Radoslav Razlag, an intellectual and fighter for the rights of the Slovenians, who died
in the late 19th century. In the period preceding the Second World War his grave con-
tinued to be decorated on the All Saints' Day by the school children who had to bring
flowers from their home gardens'. On the same occasion people also visited other
graves there, bringing flowers and lighting candles. The informants were, however, pre-
dominantly children of the immigrants of the town, who did not have their own nucle-
ar or extended-family graves. According to the register of the church announcements
from the 1930s prayers were also told in the old cemetery on the All Saints' Day.
In spite of the fact that the cemetery was officially abandoned, and a sports stadi-
um was budt next to it, that a part of it was rearranged into a fruit garden (Tiller 1939:
13) and that some informants remember it as a quiet spot for people in love as well as a
good place for catching small birds, in the minds (and stories'") of people it stdl re-
mained a more or less sacred place untd recently. In this context we can also under-
stand why some people (though not a majority) were against budding the stadium next
to the old cemetery.
People preserve their identity also through social contacts in a cemetery since it
is a public place. Even communicating with the deceased can, in a way, be considered
"socialising". However, if we agree that socialising is possible only between living social
beings, then it includes people meeting and greeting one another in cemeteries on oc-
casions when their primary reason for being there is to visit the graves of their family.
In the past people used to greet everybody diey met in the cemetery, but recently they
only greet people they know from other places and have talked to on other occasions.
More than just saying "heUo" occurs between people who are well acquainted. On
some occasions - for example when there is a larger group of visitors (usually relatives)
in the cemetery, on certain holidays... disputes and/or loud laughter may occur be-
tween them or between the group and other visitors. The situation is specific when the
groups consist also of children (youths) or distant relatives. Adults (those who regularly
visit graves and take tending them) usually try to demonstrate not only what has to be
done at a grave, but also explain who is buried where and what the deceased's relation
to the nuclear or extended family was. It is further specific of women - who prevail
among the people tending the graves" that they convey the family's history to the
' See more in: Počkar 1998: 308, 347.
In 1997, for instance, 1 was told a story about a white woman who was walking to the town together with
three sisters. Only one ot the sisters was able to see the white woman, who after approximately two kilometers left
them by turning to the place where the old cemetery was. Informants date the event approximately prior to the Se-
cond World War - but the story is still known to the family members (and recenUy taled to children).
" For the whole observed period and for all strata the following divison of labour reasonably applies: tending
graves (or, in the higher middle classes, organising the tending) was women's business in pre-war times and in most
cases still is. Observations from 1997 show that 57 % of the visitors were women (cleaning the graves, changing the
flowers and ligthing the candles). In most cases (39%) they went alone to the cemetery, the second largest group were
the couples and the third were elderly single men (Habinc 1998: 81). Men tend graves themselves, if they are widowers
or single, in other cases they organise the lease of the grave, help out when more demanding renovations (cleaning,
renovating frames, plates, tombstones...) are required.
154
_Visiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Study in Brežice_
155\
young ones by regularly taking them to the cemetery. Communication varies from indi-
vidual to individual, but cemeteries are generally held to be among other things public
places (like churches, streets ...) - though primarily by the elderly people nowadays -
where they meet and greet and which require a specific demeanour.
It is commonly known and accepted that when people went to the cemetery in the
past they used to wear their so-called Sunday (or mass) outfit which was not necessarily
black. Men had to take off their hats and as mentioned in a church announcement'^
they were supposed not to smoke or talk in a loud voice. Similarly, it is today still impor-
tant for people to be dressed "properly, decently" - though it is on the other hand quite
acceptable that when people go to arrange a grave they wear comfortable clothes of the
kind they wear when gardening. If there happens to be a funeral at the time someone is
visiting a grave he (she) wdl be quick about it or even abandon the idea. If, however, the
funeral concerns someone known to the visitor (perhaps only by name or by his place
of residence) some informants would join the mourners and attended the ritual for
some time. This practice continues in recent times.
The research also investigated and revealed some restrictions (taboos) connected
with cemeteries and graves. What should be done or not, however, differs from reality. For
instance, one should not step on or across a grave ("rfore'f squeeze the deceased, don't
thrash him..." FN - Habinc 1997: 7) - but for practical reasons this occurs very often and
on different occasions. It is further unacceptable to "borrow" (pdfer) flowers, vases or
candles from odier graves, but all informants told me that they know of at least some in-
stances when this occurred. Elderly people said that the punishment for such acts is that
the deceased will appear visiting the perpetrator one night and ask for the flowers or a
candle from his or her grave. Other taboos are sitting on the plates or tombstones, bring-
ing one's bicycle or dog - but people continue to do this. Nobody approves of the practice
but most of the pre-war inhabitants of the towers expressed their disagreement with it
without having been asked. The only time people visit a cemetery at night - at least in the
last quarter of a century - is the M Saints' Day. Some consider this to be the only time of
the day when there is peace in the cemetery and when it does not matter how one looks.
There are also stories about cemeteries people tell their grandchildren, but this
has become rare even among those who used to live in the environs of the town. People
who lived in the town before the war remember such stories from their grandparents,
servants, teachers etc. But most of them do not pass them on. The most common story'^
is that about a man who went to the cemetery at night to test his courage. His friends
gave him a stake so he could stick it in the ground of the cemetery to prove that he was
really there, but he was so nervous that he pierced his own trousers when sticking it in
die ground. Thinking that the hand of a dead person was holding his leg he became
totally paralysed. The next morning his friends found him dead in the cemetery. There
are also local stories'* about the heavenly chariots flying over the cemetery and about a
See: Oznanila 1927-1934: 2. 11. 1930.
Mentioned (in more or less the same words) in: Smerdel 1980:145, FN - Lepšina 1997: 25-26, FN - Poljanšek
1997: 35.
» See: FN - Vidmar 1997: 69-70, FN - Lepšina 1997: 26.
Mateja Habinc
pre-war grave-digger, of whom some people believed that he used to boil skulls from the
cemetery at night to call the spirits of the deceased. One day he hung himself in one of
the Brežice's churches.
The interviews confirmed the thesis put forward in sources'' - how a grave is
tended depends on its actual form. In the past when most graves were mounds the
grass on them had to be cut regularly; graves with flower-beds needed to be weeded,
and in nowadays some people quite honestly stated that they chose a grave with just a
tombstone and a stone or concrete plate because it needs no special tending or garden-
ing etc. The same is the true of the urn graves"', which first appeared in the cemetery of
Brežice in 1989. But this has no impact on the (ir-)regularity of visits. Before the war
and much in the same way as today, people used to visit cemeteries individuaUy or with
their partners or children, and only very rarely in bigger groups. Basically, visiting a
grave has always been an individual, emotional act, which can, however, turn into a
social event in the cemetery itself. Referring to the entire period, from the 1930s to the
present, about half of the informants mentioned also special fixed days (Sunday after-
noon, once a week, after morning mass etc.) when they used to go or stdl go to the cem-
etery. In the past, it was more common that the men from peasant families of the
town's environs used to visit the cemetery more often. They used to do it after the mass
or when going to town (on a bicycle) simply because they were more mobde. This was
not common with the townspeople because the distance to the cemetery was shorter.
But even their visits were - as nowadays viewed by the informants - quite rare and usual-
ly a part of the usual Sunday stroU. People started to visit the graves more often in the
60s and 70s when there was more money around and more spare time to do it.
Tending the graves before the war mosdy involved their arrangement: hoeing or
weeding, cutting grass, decorating graves with flowers and candles. How often people did
this depended on the individual, his or her social class, how close the cemetery was and
how much time they spend. When asked to recall how often they themselves or their par-
ents tended the graves in the past, most informants stated that untd around the 60s - they
generally made comparisons with the present - that was not very often, approximately
once a month, but in most cases even less, that is only on the most important (already
mentioned) dates concerning the deceased. It was however, common as it is today that
people started to clean the graves and prepare them for the All Saints' Day about a month
in advance. Today some people wash the plates and tombstones with water, polish them
with od to make them shine, renew the colour of the letters in inscriptions... If there is a
flower-bed, they plant new flowers as they used to do before 1941, but the custom saw gen-
eral revival only in the 1960s. On the same occasion they also strew new white gravel.
Regarding this issue 1 refer mostly to: Kocjančič 1980: 56.
" One of the informants stated that he had heard about a cremation that took place before the Second World
War. The story goes that a German chemist from Brežice wanted to be cremated and his ashes thrown into the Sava. In
the past decade - according to representatives of the municipal service of Brežice, the urn funerals have become increa-
singly common. People prefer them because they are cheaper and "cleaner" (as I was toled by informants - you don't see
deca\ing body and that's why goodbye is easier). Urns can be kept in a grave intended for a coffin or in a special urn niche
which occupies less space and can be tended as any other grave. In the latter case the decoration is concentrated on a
smaller area, though a flower bed can be arranged, and an urn grave needs almost no cleaning or arranging.
156
\ išiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Studv in Brežice
Christmas and a New Year decoration (Brežice, January 1998, photo: m. Habinc). ♦ Okraševanje v času božiča in
novega leta (Brežice, januar 1998, foto: m. Habinc).
157
Mateja Habinc
For the rest of the year tending the graves means that women usually twice a year
(in Spring and Autumn) plant flowers and that after winter some people renew the
tombstones (if winter has damaged them). Minor damages are repaired by the men in
the famdy, but if larger pieces have broken off of the tombstones or plates, profession-
als are paid to do it. Practically nobody protects the plates or tombstones during the
winter with wooden covers or the like. What people do is protect the flowers from the
cold with paper or plastic sheets.
Tending also includes decoration: before the Second World War graves were most-
ly decorated for the All Saints' Day and for the funerals. On the occasional visits people
used to bring flowers, which they put in the vases or simply laid then on the grave. They
also used to bring small white candles. Townspeople used to bring flowers from their
gardens or they bought them at the florist's. After the world war wreaths became more
frequent as a decoration, used not only for funerals (as was common before the war).
Flower arrangements appeared as decorations in the 70s. Townspeople bought them at
the florist's (some also in nearby Zagreb or in other towns) whde women from the vil-
lages around Brežice mostly made them themselves from flowers they grew in their gar-
dens. Before using flower work women also stuck flowers, pine or cypress twigs of pines
or cypresses in the ground. They arranged them in different forms - hearts, circles,
crosses etc. Women used this way of decorating the graves quite generally until the ear-
ly 70s, but when there was any "emergency situation" as informants called it (for in-
stance when flowers were stolen from a grave) they also used this method in later times.
In recent years home-made or purchased flower arrangements made of dried, plastic or
exotic flowers are popular.
On die eve of Christmas (or a New Year) people used to (and many stdl do) take a
few pine branches to the graves, ornamented with Christmas tree decorations. Sometimes
these bouquets look like smaU Christmas trees.
Before the Second World War many people, mostly the inhabitants of the town's
environs, decorated the graves - some townspeople continue to do so - also for the Easter
or Palm-Sunday. They brought a branch of an olive-tree or (more recendy) specially deco-
rated flower arrangements or bouquets with candles shaped into an Easter egg. People
however stated that it was always risky to leave such rich decoration in the cemetery be-
cause it might be stolen. In Spring and in general throughout the year the flowers on the
graves follow the seasons: Spring flowers (hellebore, meadow saffron, bell-flowers...) were
planted or brought to the cemetery.
Before the Second World War only thin slender white candles were put on the
graves without a box to put them in. They were still used sometimes untd approximately
five years ago''. Richer townspeople remember that before the Second World War candles
were put in boxes and that there were "eternal lights", either home-made or bought, but
they were very rare. Today many people use special electric lights.
People consider a grave to be neglected when the weed on it is half a meter
high (FN - Lepšina 1997: 25) and to be wed kept if there are fresh flowers on it and a
" They were in use mostly at the Day of Rememberance of the Death (today's formal name for the former All
Saint's Day) because at that occasion people "needed" a lot of candles and the white thin ones were the cheapest.
158
\isiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Study in Brežice
Spring flowers (tulips, hellebores, bell-flowers) on a grave (Brežice, April 1998, photo; M. Habinc). ♦ Pomladne
rože (tulipani, teloh, zvončki) na grobu (Brežice, april 1998, foto: M. Habinc).
burning candle. Graves are supposed to be decorated with flowers and candles and
nothing else because flowers symbolise love and candle's hfe'*. Roses and carnations
are thought to be the most appropriate flowers for a cemetery, but this is usually a
matter of individual taste. If there are children buried in the grave, the proper col-
our is thought to be white both for flowers and candles. The cost of arranging and
decorating the graves has never had any major effect on the family budget. Inform-
ants often said: "A funeral is expensive, but tending the graves ... it isn't ivorth men-
tioning."''* Costs increase when a grave has to be repaired or renovated, but people
usually save money for the purpose. People who accept to tend a grave, also decide
about its appearance - the tombstone, the inscription etc. Even before the war it was
obviously of major importance to die townspeople how a grave looked. On the one
hand they may have had less time (for instance inn-keepers) to tend a grave - before
and after the war they also paid women from the surrounding villages to cut the
grass on the graves and the like - but on the other hand they renovated the appear-
ance of the graves more often. It has always been important what natural stone to
choose for the tombstone, what wdl be written on it, where it wdl be bought and
from whom. And the grave also had to be in a good spot, meaning near or by the cem-
etery wall. Some informants valued the artistic oudook of the tombstones and intend
to keep them the way they were intended to look like. Other people think that a grave
See for example: FN- Habinc 1997: 6.
" ibid.
159
Mateja Habinc
The crowd in the Brežice's cemetery on the All Saints' Day (Brezice, Novemberl, 1997, photo: M. Habinc). ♦
Gneča na pokopališču v Brežicah na dan mrtvih (Brežice, 1. november 1997, foto: M. Habinc).
needs renovation when the stone does not look new any more or when it is damaged,
that is approximately every 40 years^".
When talking about tending the graves in general, people often said that in the
past twenty years there has been an explicit tendency towards exaggeration and materi-
al symbols (the All Saints' Day was dubbed the Fur Coat Day for instance).
They criticised not only the emphasis on the appearance - referring to it as pre-
tentious - but also irregular visiting. Obviously visiting and tending the graves related
to the perception of others and can be valued in two ways: connected with an obligation
and duty in the sense of something positive (because of the identification with the fam-
ily, the village, town etc.) and as something negative when there is no "proper limit" in
the expression or material form of the tending. In the course of time this so-called ap-
propriate limit changed in accordance with the general economic and ideological
changes in the society (post-war "modesty" turned into "pretentiousness" in the 70s).
^° It is also a period in which a generation, which is tendings for grave, changes.
m
Visiting and Tending the Graves with a Special Reference to the Case-Study in Brežice
Conclasion
The work carried out in the case study with the classical ethnological methods of
observation, participation and intertwining offered some general data and some de-
scriptions. But the links to a specific time sequence or to professional or stratified
groups of the town's inhabitants are quite loose. It would be better to pick out a shorter
period or to concentrate on just one or two social classes. Particulars have hardly any
value for the present because of the increasingly diverse population living in the town
or buried in its cemetery.
The picture described in this article is also a picture shaped by informant's belief.
In order to establish more certain facts qualitatively and quantitatively, the findings
would have to be verified with methods evaluating people's statements. To what extent is
what they reveal actually a true, "objective" picture and to what extent is it embellished?
In my opinion - this might be a direction for further research on the subject - that drawing
up famdy trees of dead relatives may be a valuable method. Simdarly as is done for the
living relatives when dealing with the family as one of the basic ethnological subjects, we
could draw genealogical trees of the dead relatives. Following a general genealogical tree
we could go back into the past for a few generations and collect data where die relatives
were buried, why in that place, what is written about them (if anything) on the tomb-
stones etc. By doing this for a substantial sample of people from one period and one social
class, I believe the thesis mentioned in my report could be either confirmed or refuted.
L1TER.4TURE AND SOURCES
BAJEC Anton ... (ed.) 1994: Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika. Ljubljana.
BOGATAJ Janez; Duša KRNEL - UMEK, Zmago ŠMITEK 1978: Verovanje. In: Slavko Kremenšek, Vilko Novak, Valens
Vodušek (ed.). Etnološka topografija slovenskega etničnega ozemlja (ETSEO) - Vprašalnice 9. Ljubljana, 95-118.
ELANDRIN Jean-Louis 1986: Družina. Ljubljana.
(EN) Field Notes (including data trom Brežice's municipal service) 1998.
HABERMAS Jiirgen 1989: Strukturne spremembe javnosti. Ljubljana.
HABINC Mateja 1998: "Gresta v nedeljo popoldne na pokopališče?" Department ot Ethnology and Cultural Anthro-
pology, University of Ljubljana. Type-written.
KOCJANČIČ Neda 1980: Odnos Novogoričanov do pokopališč v Novi Gorici posebej do novonastajajočega pokopal-
išča v Stari Gori. Department ot Ethnology, University of Ljubljana. Type-written.
KREMENŠEK Slavko 1973: Obča etnologija. Ljubljana.
KURET Niko; Helena LOŽAR-PODLOGAR 1978: Šege. In: Slavko Kremenšek, Vilko Novak, Valens Vodušek (ed.),
Etnološka topografija slovenskega etničnega ozemlja (ETSEO) - Vprašalnice 9. Ljubljana, 1-94.
LAPUH Ivan 1990: Brežice v teku stoletij. Brežice.
MYSTICAL Rites and Rituals 1975. London.
OZNANILA 1927-1934. At: Škofijski arhiv Maribor, Župnija Brežice. Box 6, Book 10.
POČKAR Ivanka 1998: Iz časov ječmenove kave. Novo mesto.
POKOPALIŠČA pri cerkvah Lavantinske škofije 1916. Maribor.
PROŠIČ - DVORNIČ Mirjana 1982: Pogrebni ritual u svjedu obreda prelaza. In: Etnološki pregled 18. Beograd, 41-53.
RABUZZl Kathryn Allen 1987: Family In: Mircea Eliade (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion 5. New York, 276-282.
SLOVENCI množično hodimo na grobove 1997. In: Nedelo, 2. 11. 1997, 1.
SMERDEL Inja 1980: Pojavi, povezani s smrtjo Koštaboncev. In; Problemi 4. Ljubljana, 133-148.
SORE Anton 1985: Pokopališča v širši Celjski pokrajini. In: Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje 2. Maribor, 194-211.
i6i
Mateja Habinc
ŠKALER Stanlio; Roman SAVNIK 1976: Brežice. In: Roman Savnik (ed.). Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, Volume III.
Ljubljana, 24-27.
TILLER Viktor 1937: Brežice z okolico. Ljubljana.
- 1939: Dekanija Videm v brežiškem okraju. Groblje - Domžale.
VINCENT Thomas Louis 1980: Antropologija smrti 1. 2. Beograd.
BESEDA O AVTORICI
Mateja Habinc, dipl. etnologinja in novi-
narka, podiplomska študentka antropologije
vsakdanjega življenja na Fakulteti za podiplomski
humanistični študij v Ljubljani (ISH). Že v času
študija je objavila več strokovnih prispevkov. Od
leta 1998 je odgovorna urednica Glasnika Sloven-
skega etnološkega društva. Trenutno se ukvarja s
problematiko spomina.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mateja Habinc , B.A. in ethnology and jour-
nalism, is at present a postgraduate student of the
anthropology of everyday life at the Faculty for
Postgraduate Studies in Humanities in Ljubljana
(ISH). Habinc has published scientific articles as
an undergraduate student. Since 1998 she is edi-
tor-in4;hief of the Bulletin of the Slovene Ethno-
logical Society. She currently deals with issues
concerning memory.
162
ZMANJKALO JE SOLZ
Konceptualizacija fenomena smrti skozi
prostorsko-časovno dimenzijo in tradicionalno
vs. moderno dihotomijo na primeru
pogrebnih obredov
Marta Gregorčič
Ključne besede: smrt, pogrebni obredi, tradicija, Jessica Mitford, Internet, postmoderna družba
I.   Ovod
Smrt je na mestu glavne tabu teme mojega časa zamenjala spolnost. Tekmujemo,
kdo bo naštel zanimivejše detajle intimnega življenja, o smrti pa nimamo česa povedati.
Kratkotrajnost spolnega užitka ni primerljiva z dokončnostjo smrti. Pogrebne šege se
malo spreminjajo, na kar vplivajo vera v posmrtno življenje, želja spoštovati, ceniti in
spominjati se umrlih, strah in ugibanje, povezana z neznanim, ter končno občutek iz-
gube in porušenje ravnotežja, ki spremljata smrt. Globoko zakoreninjene vrednote, ve-
rovanja, prepričanja nam ne dovolijo spreminjati obredov, ki izpolnjujejo našo odgovor-
nost do umrlih, boga, celijo rane tako nam kot tudi družbi. Pogrebne šege so v svojem
bistvu konzervativne in tradicionalne. Kadar se spremenijo naglo in v veliki meri, odse-
vajo dramatične materialne, vedenjske in tudi ideološke spremembe v širši družbi. Mo-
dernizacija, industrializacija, visoka tehnologizacija, sekularizacija, globalizacija, mo-
bilnost... so le nekateri od elementov postmoderne družbe, ki se razkrivajo tudi v sa-
mem obredu pokopa. Najprej se nameravam v prvih treh poglavjih sprehoditi skozi
opis pogrebnih obredov, šeg in pogrebne industrije, ki sem jih spoznala v literaturi,
prek Interneta, skozi intervjuje (pogovore) ali pa sem jih opazovala na pokopališčih.
Zanimal me je zunanji - kvantitativni čas obredov (obred v času) kot tudi notranje
časovne kvalitete obredov (čas v obredu: krajši/daljši oz. počasnejši/hitrejši). Opazovala
sem tudi obred v prostoru in sam prostor obreda (tudi specifičen prostor znotraj poko-
pališča). Skozi tako optiko časa in prostora sem poskušala uzreti tradicionalni (na pri-
merih antične Grčije, starega Rima, zoroastrizma, avstralskih staroselcev in starega slo-
venskega krščanskega pogreba) in moderni (na primerih: Zale, Trst, Amsterdam; inter-
net) obred pogreba. Pri tem sem namerno nekoliko zanemarila samo komparacijo, ker
se mi je zdelo bolj optimalno skozi tradicionalni obred pokazati specifičnosti novih,
163
Marta Gregorčič
modernih obredov (ki se kažejo v zrcalu moderne družbe), predvsem pa z njimi poveza-
ne nove procese ali elemente, ki zadevajo sam obred kot 'slovo od umrlega' in hkrati
tudi sprijaznjenje ali pomiritev žalujočih, bližnjih.
Pri deskripciji pogrebnih obredov sem se naslonila na Van-Gennepovo konceptua-
lizacijo obredov prehoda:
Obred
SEPARACIJA
TRANZICIJA
INK0RP0R.4C1JA
umrli
od živečih članov družbe
iz sveta živih v svet mrtvih
v svet mrtvih
žalujoči
od živečih članov družbe
iz sveta mrtvih v svet živih
v svet živih
Separacijo sem (v nasprotju z Van-Gennepom) razumela kot nastop smrti ('mrlič v
hiši', 'mrhč v bolnišnici ali kakšni drugi instituciji') in z njo povezane obrede. Tranzicijo
sem razumela kot konkreten akt pogrebnega obreda (akt pokopa, akt kremiranja) v vseh
specifikah. Pri inkorporaciji pa so me zanimale popogrebne šege, sprejetje smrti, 'živost'
spomina na umrlega in vključitev žalujočih nazaj v vsakdanji življenjski, rutinski svet.
Ce uvod morda zmotno napeljuje, da bom govorila predvsem o žarnih pokopih,
naj opozorim, da sem se le-tem v veliki meri odpovedala, saj bi s samim opisovanjem
različnih žarnih obredov povedala prav malo novega ali vsaj ne tistega, kar želim pove-
dati. Seveda menim, da so zanimivi in da bi zaradi svoje 'modernosti' nedvomno
zaslužili opredelitev. Opozoriti moram tudi še na to, da sem namerno zanemarila cel
kup elementov, ki so relevantni pri proučevanju obrednega pogreba (vaško/mestno,
nagrobni spomeniki, osmrtnice, pogrebi otrok ali tistih, ki so umrli nasilne smrti -
zanje so veljali posebni obredi...), ker sem poskušala poudariti predvsem novejše proce-
se pri sprejemanju smrti svojcev kot tudi novejše procese, ki zadevajo sam obred poko-
pa. O tem več na koncu.
2. Tradicionalni pogrebni obredi glede na prostorsko
in časo^mo dimenzijo v treh momentih
Za antično Grčijo in Rim veljajo določene podobnosti pri pojmovanju smrti, ker je
Rim precej prevzel od grške kulture. Kljub temu so pri starih Rimljanih smrt in pokop
spremljale zapletene šege, v grški mitologiji pa je smrt štela za nesrečo, nekaj nečistega,
kar je zahtevalo celo vrsto pravilno izvedenih postopkov, da ne bi 'okužda' drugdi.' Tudi
pogrebni obredi zoroastrizma" so prežeti z mitologijo. Smrt je zmaga hudiča nad dobrim
stvarstvom in truplo prebivališče demonov, zato zaradi svoje nečistosti ne sme biti pokopa-
no ali sežgano, da ne bi onečastdo zemlje ali ognja. Avstralski staroselci^ imajo smrt ved-
' Pri spoznavanju pogrebnih obredov Rimljanov in Grkov sem se opirala na: Toynbee, Jocelyn М.С. (1996):
"Death and Burial in the Roman World". Baltimore. London: Tahe Johnson Hopkins University Press; Vernat, Jean-
Pierre (1991): "Mortals and Imartals: Collected Essays", Princeton: Princeton University Press; Janičijević, Jovan
(1986): "U znaku Moloha: antropološki ogled o žrtvovanju". Beograd: Vajat.
- Pri opisovanju pogrebnih obredov zaroastrizma sem se opirala na: Hinnells, John R. (1985): Persian Mytho-
logy. Peter Bedrick Books, New \ork.
Pri opisovanju pogrebnih obredov Aboriginov sem se opirala na: Turner, .4nn Warren (1976): Houses for the
Dead. New Yourk.
164
Zmanjkalo je solz
no za umor; človek ne more umreti naravne smrti: kako sicer pojasniti nenadno smrt
nekoga, ki je bil tako poln življenja? Sorodniki umrlega morajo najti morilca in pri tem
izprašajo vse člane skupnosti. Mrtveca vsi objokujejo ter kažejo druge znake žalovanja
tudi zato, da jih ne bi osumili umora (Turner, 1976: 69). Kristjanov, ki so kot Kristusovi
udje eno v Kristusu, niti smrt ne more nikdar ločiti.* Krščanski pogrebni obredi se
razlikujejo glede na regije, zato bom poskušala podati splošen opis. ICrščanska cerkev pou-
darja spoštovanje telesa, pristojno obnašanje in pokopališče kot sveti kraj.
a)    'Mrlič v liiši' - separacija
V antičnem Rimu so umirajočega položili na gola tla in najbližji sorodnik je s polju-
bom ujel njegov zadnji dih in mu zatisnd oči. Navzoči so začeli glasno klicati umrlega po
imenu'^ in njegovi domači so, v posebnih oblekah za to prdožnost, umdi truplo s toplo
vodo, ga odišavdi in odeli v togo. Truplo je bilo nato izpostavljeno*" v atriju hiše na mr-
tvaškem odru, obdano z gorečimi oljenkami in prekrito s kitami in venci cvetja. Mrtvec je
pod jezikom nosd novčič za plačdo brodarju mrtvecev - Haronu, da bi duša pokojnega
mogla v onostranstvo. V znamenje žalovanja so ugasndi ogenj v domačem ognjišču, jo-
kajoče žene so si pulile lase, trgale obleko in bde po prsih. Grške predpogrebne šege se le
malo razlikujejo od rimskih. Truplo je bdo tu le dan ali dva izpostavljeno v hišnem pred-
dverju 'z nogami naprej' - proti vratom. Podobno kot Rimljanke so tudi Grkinje glasno
žalovale, se tolkle po prsih, posipale lase s pepelom, s posebnimi pahljačami varovale mr-
ličev obraz pred soncem in muhami. Grki so si v znak žalovanja rezali lase. Najeti žalovalci
in žalovalke so prepevali pogrebno žalostinko. Pred vrati hiše z mrličem je stala posoda z
vodo, kot simbol, da je mrlič v hiši, in kot simbol očiščenja.
V zaroastrizmu mora biti truplo umito z gomezom,' oblečeno v čisto sudre* in
povezano s kusti.' S truplom se ukvarjajo le naras-salas - nosači trupla, saj telo zasede
demonka trohnenja in razpada - Nasu, zato se žalujoči truplu ne približujejo. Nasar-sa-
las z žeblji ogradijo nečisti prostor okrog mrtveca in pripeljejo psa, da bi potrdd, da je
človek res mrtev - sagdid. Navzoči z duhovnikom molijo do pogreba, ki je še isti dan,
vendar ne po sončnem zahodu, saj v temi na žive prežijo zle sde. Po Solonovem zakonu
je potrebno mrliča odnesti naslednji dan po izpostavitvi trupla in pred svitanjem, da ne
bi onečistili sončnih žarkov. Po smrti avstralskega staroselca truplo posujejo z rdečo
prstjo, ki spominja na kri, ki je bda prelita ob rojstvu (Turner, 1976: 70). To kaže na
ponovno rojstvo umrlega na drugem svetu. Na pokojnikove prsi in trebuh narišejo znak
klana v beli in rumeni barvi - verujejo namreč, da ti znaki spreminjajo umrlega v sveto
bitje, ki lahko vstopi v svet duhov (Turner, 1976: 71).
' Prim. Simeon Solunski, PG 155, 685 B, v: Krščanski pogreb: Slovenski obred: Rimski obrednik kakor gaje
prenovil drugi vatikanski cerkveni zbor in ga je razglasil papež Pavel VI, Ljubljana, 1970. Pri opisovanju krščanskega
pogreba sem se opirala še na: 'Knjižice' - časopis za duhovno probudo in prosveto (1938, let. 5, št. 119).
^ To je stara šega, imenovana conclamatio, o kateri je pisal tudi Homer v Odiseji.
' Truplo je bilo izpostavljeno največ en teden, vendar pa je to veljalo le za veljake. Reveže in otroke pa so poko-
pavali brez sežiga navadno še isti dan, sredi noči.
' Kravji urin, ki velja za najmočnejše zemeljsko očiščevalno sredstvo.
^ Sveta srajca iz belega bombaža.
' Dolga tkana volnena vrvica.
165^
Marta Gregorčič
166
Smrt katoličana so na Dolenjskem najprej oznanili zvonovi.'" Domači so ustavi-
li stensko uro, mrliču so v največjem prostoru v hiši pripravili mrtvaški oder, stene so
oblekli v črnino in obesdi vence. Mrliča so preoblekli in položdi na mrtvaški oder. S
sklenjenimi rokami je objemal rožni venec. Pred odrom je na mizi stalo cvetje, križ
in blagoslovljena voda, da so ga ljudje hodili kropit in zanj moht. Ob straneh so gore-
le sveče in nad vzglavjem je navadno visela slika ali križ. Mrlič je ležal v hiši 48 ur,
tako da ni bilo več mogoče dvomiti o smrti. Svojci so pri bedenju ob mrliču molili,
peli psalme ali brali Sveto pismo. Včasih so duhovniki prišli na dom in so s procesijo
pospremdi mrliča v cerkev, kasneje pa so mrliča pričakali na cesti do cerkve ali pred
cerkvenimi vrati.
b)   'Akt pogreba' - tranzicija
Za Rimljane je veljal obred pokopa za slovesnost. Pogrebni sprevod so vodili
piskači, tem so sleddi flavtisti, hornisti, trobentači; naenia - žena, ki je pela hvalnico
umrlemu, nato vzklikajoče žene z lesenimi butarami, prepojenimi z dišečimi smolami;
igralci, ki so z mimiko ponazarjali lastnosti umrlega. Tik pred nosili z mrtvim so si
žalujoči nadeli voščene maske umrlih prednikov. V črno oblečeni liktorji so nosili
odkrito truplo, ki mu je v žalni črnini sledila žalujoča družina. Mesto pokopa ali sežiga
je bilo zunaj naselbine," kjer je bda pripravljena bustum.'^ Prastara šega je bila, da so
truplu poslednjič odprli in zaprli oči in mu dah poslednji poljub, zatem pa je bližnji
sorodnik zažgal grmado, prisotni pa so v ogenj metali cvetje, nakit, hrano, dišave. Z vi-
nom so pogasdi žerjavico in umdi kosti, ki so jih z dišavami in medom stresli v urno.
Med pogrebom so svojci s posebnim obredom izidi pitno daritev bogovom. Kraj sežiga
je kasneje krasil s cipresami ograjen oltar - aro -, okrašen s slikami in statuetami, žaro
pa so najpogosteje postavili v kolombarij, ki je nosil pokojnikovo ime. Rimljani so poko-
pavali mrtve tudi v znamenite podzemne katakombe z marmornatimi sarkofagi ali
umetno sezidanimi grobnicami, v katere so polagali nakit, keramične figurice, velike
jantarne prstane, ki so varovali pred zlimi uroki...'■*
Grško pogrebno povorko, ki je krenda po opravljenem žrtvovanju v hiši pokojne-
ga, je vodila žena s posodo za izlitje žrtve, njej so sleddi možje, nato žene'^ in kot zadnji
godci s frulicami. Mrtveca so na odru nosili sorodniki ali sužnji ali pa so ga peljali na
vozu. Pri Grkih, podobno kot pri Rimljanih, je bilo pokopališče zunaj mestnih zidov.
Mrtvega so pokopali ali sežgali. Po sežigu so pepel in kosti zbrali v robec in spravili v
žaro, nato pa pokojniku izlih žrtve. Pri Perzijcih pogrebno procesijo vodijo nasar-salas,
"' To velja vsaj za večji del Dolenjske še danes. (Smrt duhovnika: 3-krat veliki zvon s presledki, smrt moškega:
3-krat mali zvon s presledki, smrt ženske: 2-krat mali zvon s presledki.) Zvonenje se je ponavljalo 3-krat na dan z vsemi
zvonovi, ko so klicali k molitvi.
" Nekropole so navadno ležale ob mestnih vpadnicah.
Rimljani so poznali več vrst grmad. Bustum je izkopana grobna jama, nad katero so položili les, nanj pa no-
sila s truploiti in vse skupaj zažgali, ostanke pa nato prekriU z zemljo.
" Več o bogati pestrosti predmetov, ki so jih Rimljani polagali v grobove, v: Janičijević, Jovan (1986): "U znaku
Moloha: antropološki ogled o žrtvovanju". Beograd: Vajat.
" Žene v Grčiji se niso pojavljale v javnosti, tako so se tudi pogrebov udeležile izključno bližnje sorodnice po-
kojnega.
Zmanjkalo je solz
ki nosijo kovinski mrtvaški oder in z mrtvaškim prtom pokrito truplo; njim sledita dva
duhovnika in nato v parih žalujoči, ki med sabo držijo bel kos blaga, da jih povezane
varuje pred zlom. Ko v tišini prispejo do dokhma (stolpa tišine), položijo truplo na mar-
morno ploščo, žalujoči se z zadnjim pogledom poslovijo od umrlega in še zadnjič izve-
dejo sagdid. Nato truplo v dokhmi izpostavijo jastrebom. Žalujoči se po poti domov
umivajo in molijo za očiščenje, nasar-salas pa se lahko vključijo v družbo po devetdnev-
nem očiščevalnem obredu.
Avstralski staroselci položijo truplo v drevesno deblo, kjer leži tri mesece. Očistijo
kosti, jih 2-3 mesece opazujejo, da se prepričajo, ali jih je duh zapustd, nato jih zložijo v
deblo, ki ga položijo na sredo tabora (Turner, 1976: 76). Krščanski pogrebni sprevod je
vodd duhovnik s strežniki, ki so nosdi križ, kropilo z blagoslovljeno vodo, kadilnico in
večno luč. Njim so sleddi pogrebci s krsto. To so včasih peljali na vozovih, kasneje avto-
mobdih ali na traktorjih. Za krsto so hodili svojci, bližnji. Kar zadeva nadaljnjo razvrsti-
tev, obstajajo spet različne šege.''' Med potjo so molili in peli. Pogrebni sprevod je naj-
prej peljal v cerkev, kjer so pri opravilu božje besede poslušali tolažbo upanja, darovali
evharistično daritev in pozdravili rajnega s posebnim slovesom. Opravili so tudi obred
absolucije ("reši me"), ki so ga kasneje imenovali 'poslednje priporočanje in slovo', kar
je pomendo nekakšno oproščanje grehov rajnega, ko krščansko občestvo skupno
pozdravi svojega člana, preden ga pokopljejo. Ta obred je bd večkrat izvršen na pokopa-
lišču. Ko so duhovnik in verniki spremljali rajnega na pokopališče, so moldi ali peli. Tu
je duhovnik opravd verski obred: kropljenje groba v znamenju sv. križa in s tem blago-
slov, nato blagoslov telesa in na koncu je na krsto spustil zemljo.'^ Pogrebni akt se je
lahko končal s pesmijo.
c)    'Popogrebni obredr - inkorporacija
Rimljani so se tudi po smrti na različne načine spominjali pokojnega. Na grob so
prinašali cvetje in darila in v njegov spomin opravljali obrede. V grobno jamo so porini-
li cevko, po kateri so spuščali mrtvemu jedačo in pijačo.'' Grki so po pogrebu odšli na
žalujoči dom, kjer so morali, da bi se rešdi najhujše nečistosti, ki so jo pridobdi v stiku
s smrtjo, opraviti pomembne obrede očiščevanja, temu pa je sledda žalna gostija. Nasle-
dnji dan je bda hiša očiščena z vodo in dišavami in v znak kultnega spoštovanja pokoj-
nika se je gostija ponovda tretji, deveti in trideseti dan po pokopu in ob obletnici smrti.
Zoroastrijci molijo in opravljajo posebne obrede skupaj z duhovnikom prve tri
dni, ko duša potuje v večnost. Posebni obredi sledijo še vse leto po točno določenih in-
tervalih, ko v veselju vabijo mrtve k praznovanju živih. Avstralski staroselci poskušajo
pomagad umrlemu na njegovi poti v svet duhov, zato opazujejo kosti umrlega, da bi se
prepričali, ah je njegov duh uspešno prešel na oni svet. Do mrtvih se torej obnašajo zelo
Na Dolenjskem niso poznali posebnih navad. Drugod po Sloveniji pa so svojcem najprej sledib mladi moški,
nato poročeni moški z družino, na koncu so hodile ženske aH je veljal spet obratni vrstni red...
" Blagoslov, voda, zemlja - imajo v krščanstvu simbolni pomen: ...sprejmi zemlja, kar je tvojega... z nebeško
roso naj orosi tvojo dušo Bog..., iz prsti si ga naredik s kostmi in kitami si ga sklend, obudi ga poslednji dan..., Gospod,
daj mu večni mir in pokoj in večna luč naj mu sveti...
Ta šega še danes živi med pravoslavnimi v Evropi.
167
Marta Gregorčič
spoštljivo in skrbno. Katoliki so poznali šego, da so se po pogrebu, ki mu je sledda go-
stija, še sedem dni zbirali na domu pokojnega, kjer so peli, moldi in obujali spomine na
mrtvega. Udeleždi so se tudi sedmine, tridesetega dne in obletnice pogreba. Prav tako
so se rajnih spominjali ob cerkvenih praznikih - npr. ob veliki noči, kjer so se bodrdi v
veri v vstajenje in ponovno snidenje.
3. Moderni pogrebni obredi skozi prostorsko in
čas«wno dimenzijo (separacija - tranzicija -
iiikor por acij a)
Danes smrt ne nastopi več na domu, pač pa v bolnišnicah, zavodih, ustanovah.
Domači mrliča ne vidijo in z njim nimajo nikakršnih opravkov, saj truplo prevzamejo
pogrebni servisi. Prva postaja za truplo je hladdnica, kjer na ljubljanskih Zalah'^ tru-
plo tudi po teden dni čaka na upepelitev. Svojci pokojnega ne morejo obiskati in "slo-
vo" je le zadnja ura ali zadnje minute v obredu. Kljub temu da Zale pesti problem časa,
da se pogrebi odvijajo vsako uro (ko je umrljivost večja pa vsake pol ure"), je krščanski
pogreb ohrand vse tri dele obreda: prvi del, ki se je nekoč odvijal na domu, danes opra-
vijo pred mrliško vežico, drugi del v cerkvi ali v katafalku - pred Plečnikovo mohlnico,
tretji del pa na samem grobu. Pri žarnem pogrebu smo Slovenci izoblikovali poseben
obred - izogndi smo se "slovesu" in imamo le "pogreb"-".
Pri krščanskem pogrebu opozorimo še na eno spremembo, ki jo je uvedel drugi
vatikanski cerkveni zbor 1970. leta; dejstvo, da smrti ne gre več zavijati v črnino in
obup, pač pa v vero v vstajenje, črnino zamenja upanje, kar se kaže v oblačdih, moli-
tvah, nagovorih... Zale so posebnost v tem, da je arhitekt Plečnik že 30 let pred vatikan-
skim koncilom zaslutd ne le arhitekturni, pač pa tudi verski pogled na smrt in črnino
zamenjal z belino. Zale kljub urbani stiski poskušajo ohranjati 'človeške' obrede, kar pa
za nekatera velika evropska mesta na velja več.
Samo pogled na pokopališče Sv. Anne v Trstu pove, da je tam velika prostorska
stiska. Grobovi so nametani vsevprek in stisnjeni drug poleg drugega, kolikor prostor
dopušča. Mešajo se različni slogi in oblike. Mogočnim grobnicam in velikim
družinskim kapelam danes konkurirajo 'serijski grobovi'. \ tako imenovane 'serijske
grobove' pokopljejo 48 neznancev, ki jih veže le isti časovni termin smrti. Nova grobišča
so v obliki betonskih ploščadi, kajti ne pokopavajo v zemljo, ampak vlagajo krste v pod-
zemlje. Namesto nagrobnih spomenikov imajo skupno betonsko korito za rože v obliki
križa ali črke T (ti so ob koncih vrst), v velikosti 2x7m, ki pa je mnogokrat prazno ali
poraslo s travo. Vsako korito ima 48 serijskih številk, ki se ujemajo s serijskimi številka-
mi v podzemlju, kjer so nameščene krste. Vsakemu pokojnemu tako na korito s serijsko
številko prdepijo ploščico z njegovim imenom, letnico rojstva in smrti in navadno do-
Zale predstavljam na podlagi pogovora z gospodom .Antonom Rojcem.
" Prehodi iz zime na pomlad, jesensko obdobje, včasih tudi poletno obdobje...
^° To pomeni, da imamo samo zadnji del - drugod po svetu pa je ravno obratno.
168
Zmanjkalo je solz
dajo še sliko. Poleg vsake serijske številke pa je majhna luknjica v obliki kroga, kamor je
možno namestiti vazo z rožami. Korita si v vrsti sledijo v razmiku enega metra. Med
vrstami, ki so vzporedne, so hodniki ali ulice s pokritimi jaški, skozi katere s posebno
pripravo spustijo krsto v podzemlje. Vendar je to podzemlje le začasni dom pokojnega,
kajti po 10 - 15-ih letih krste potegnejo iz podzemlja,^' jih sežgejo in s tem pridobijo
prazne prostore za nove krste. Samo v primeru, če svojci plačajo novi prostor za žaro ali
'serijsko' pokopališče z žarami, pokojnemu zopet pripada tablica z napisom na poseb-
nih stenah ali betonskih panojih, sicer pa njegovo ime izgine.^^
Poleg očitne prostorske stiske pokopališče Sv. Anne v Trstu pesti še časovna
stiska, ki se kaže ob obredu pokopa. Pri civilnem pogrebu svojci pospremijo krsto iz
mrliške vežice do kraja pokopa, kjer delavci krsto postavijo na posebno pripravo in jo
spustijo v podzemlje. Zatem se v podzemlje spustita tudi dva od delavcev in vložita krsto
pod zaporedno številko. Eden od delavcev svojcem pokaže serijsko številko, pod katero
nalepijo ploščico s pokojnikovimi podatki, in tako se obred po dveh minutah konča,
brez govora ali kakšne pristojne osebe. Tako kot mene, ki sem pokop zgolj opazovala, je
tudi svojce, ki verjetno niso poznali 'modernih' šeg, poleg kratkosti obreda presenetda
še ena malenkost. Ko so prisotni po teh dveh minutah hoteh še zadnjič sdsnid roko
žalujočim ali jim morda nameniti spodbudno besedo, so presenečeni ugotovdi, da se
morajo kar najhitreje odstraniti, saj so pogrebni delavci že prinašali naslednjo krsto.
Cerkveni pokop se ne razlikuje mnogo od civdnega. Traja za spoznanje dlje - to je 3.48
minute. Ko duhovnik spregovori zadnje besede in simbolno z lopatko na krsto položi
zemljo, krsto spustijo v podzemlje. Temu sledi že opisan nadaljnji potek, vključno s ti-
stim, ko delavci zopet prinesejo naslednjo krsto in se morajo žalujoči umakniti nasle-
dnjim žalujočim...
Absolutni kontrast opisanim novim, 'modernim', 'mašinskim' pokopom, s kateri-
mi se soočajo števdni svojci na prenatrpanih (predvsem mestnih) pokopališčih, je De
Nieuwe Ooster v Amsterdamu. Govorim o 33 hektarjev velikem, arhitektonsko kon-
struiranem parku in pokopališču obenem. Naravni in kulturni park je s svojim intim-
nim značajem in veličastnimi spomeniki območje, ki nudi več kot le kremiranje in po-
kopavanje ali obisk svojcev. Narava in spomeniki nudijo ogledalo časa v socialnem in
kulturnem pomenu. Zelenice, ogromna, stara drevesa in raznovrstno grmičevje pope-
strijo pdčje petje, ježi, fazani, zajci... Mojo pozornost je pritegnda predvsem raznovr-
stnost, vendar ne razkošnost nagrobnih spomenikov. Pokopališče je razdeljeno v 82
con, ki jih ločuje široka peščena cesta. Cone se med seboj razlikujejo v slogu ali obliki
nagrobnih spomenikov, ki so razvrščeni glede na leto smrd ah glede na slog pogreba,
narodnost umrlega... Ponudba pogrebnih servisov se tu ne razlikuje veliko od ame-
riške, ki je podrobno opisana v naslednjem poglavju. Samega obreda pogreba nisem
imela možnost opazovati, pa si kljub temu upam trditi, da se močno razlikuje od obre-
da v Trstu.
O tem sem se tudi prepričala, saj sem videla delavce, ki so sredi popoldneva iz podzemlja vlekli razpadle
krste, iz katerih so gledale kosti ali ostanki trupla.
Njihov pepel verjetno shranjujejo na kakšnem skupnem pokopaHšču ali prostoru.
169
Marta Gregorčič
4.  Pogrebna industrija na internetu in v delih
Jessiee Mitibrd
Tako imenovani pogrebniki (preden je prišlo do sprememb v terminologiji) se
niso ukvarjali samo z vodenjem pogrebndi zavodov: izdelovalci pohištva so delali krste,
družinski člani so pripravili vse potrebno za pogreb. Ponavadi so truplo opazovali ne
zaradi želje - vtisniti si pokojnika v spomin - pač pa da bi preprečili morebitno pomoto.
Moderno pogrebno podjetje je iznajdba podjetnika, ki je zaslutil, da je mogoče s ponu-
dbo pogrebnih storitev na enem mestu dobro zaslužiti. S podporo kapitala prepričane
oblasti odobrijo podjetniško iniciativo. Je torej res mogoče govoriti o pogrebni indu-
striji? Vsekakor! Delo Jassice Mitford The American Way of Death razkrinka vse črne
plati pogrebne industrije. Skepticizem, ki se je na začetku porajal ob tem šokantnem
besedilu, se je razblind, če jo preverimo na Internetu. Svetovni splet razkriva 1132
spletnih strani na temo smrti, 21772 na temo pogreba, 13885 strani o pogrebnem obre-
dju, 36711 o pogrebnih podjetjih, 3827 o krstah... Na voljo je ogromno informacij o
različnih pogrebnih obredih, mrliških vežicah, pogrebnih zavodih, organizaciji spo-
minskih slovesnosti, pripravah na pogreb in čas po njem,-^ balzamiranju, glasbeni
spremljavi, cvetličarjih, darovanju telesa, oblačenju in kozmetični obdelavi trupel,
obisku pokojnika, bedenju pri njem,^* o cerkvah, kapelah, izbiri krst in žar,^^ hra-
njenju trupel v hladdnici, mumificiranju, spominkih"''... (Precej naštetega je na voljo
ne le umrlim ljudem, temveč tudi hišnim ljubljenčkom.)
Ce ne bi poznali črne plati pogrebne industrije, bi bdo potrebno navdušeno
pozdraviti samo zamisel, pomagati ljudem v prelomnem (morda najtežjem) trenutku,
ko so izgubdi bližnjega. Ker pa v moderni družbi vsaka velika ideja sloni na profitu,
realnost pokaže, da je pogrebna industrija ena izmed najpohlepneješih, saj služi na
račun žalujočih. Pogrebni industriji je uspelo prevrednotiti ali razvrednotiti pogrebni
obred. Danes prej kot o slovesu od umrlega in kreiranju obreda lahko govoritmo o kom-
pliciranem poigravanju s ponudbami pogrebnih direktorjev in denarjem žalujočih. Naj
najprej opozorim le na nekaj nepravilnosti ali načinov manipuliranja, ki jih hitro opa-
zimo ob prebiranju pogrebnih ponudb in pritožb nanje na internetu. Pri svojih ugoto-
vitvah pa se bom oprla predvsem na Jessico Mitford in njeno precizno kritiko.
Najprej naj opozorim na ogromne razlike v ceni med posameznimi pogrebnimi
zavodi za enake ponudbe.^' Hvalospevi izdelkom in pretirano besedičenje pogrebnih
poslovnežev vsiljujeta opcije, kaj bi pokojni najbolj želel oz. kaj bi si zaslužil. Pogrebni
zavodi ponujajo "pogrebne pakete", ki naj bi svojcem pomagali pri izbiri ustreznih po-
Tako imenovane "post-need services", ki skrbijo za potrebe žalujočih po pogrebu, obsegajo od pomoči pri
izpolnjevanju raznih obrazcev do sposoje knjig z relevantno vsebino in organizacije terapije za odrasle in otroke...
2' Enkratni obisk $185.00, poldnevno bedenje $285.00, celodnevno $385.00.
Ker sem prepričana, da ne znam opisati izjemno raznolike ponudbe caskets (neke vrste krsta), predlagam,
da si kot primer ogledate Virgil T. GOLDEN Funeral Service casket price list: http:/Avww.golden-hineralservice.com/
caskets.html - in spoznate pogrebno industrijo iz prve roke.
Zahvalna pisma, seznam pogrebcev, molitve, osmrtnice, razpelo, program spominske slovesnosti, sveče...
" Do 4-kratna razlika za 'casket' iz enakega materiala, barve...
170
Zmanjkalo je solz
grebnih storitev. Tako so mnogokrat prisiljeni plačati tudi storitve, ki jih ne potrebujejo
ali ne želijo. Pogrebni direktor nadzoruje celotno dogajanje po smrti. Funkcionira kot
glavni igralec pogrebne ceremonije, oskrbnik trupla in koordinator z njim povezanih
dejavnosti. Poznavanje njegove vloge je ključno pri razumevanju s smrtjo povezanih
obredov v sodobni družbi.^*
Gre za paradoks: na eni strani družine, ki so izgubile ne le bližnje, pač pa jim je
bil onemogočen tudi način pokopa, ki bi ga želeli, in na drugi strani t. i. "tradicionalni
obredi", ki so jih ustvarili pogrebni poslovneži zaradi za dobička, nadzora nad žalostjo
svojcev in razrednega položaja.^** Nekdanje "coffins" (krste) so danes zamenjale
"caskets" v vseh možnih oblikah, barvah in 'presenetljivo dobrih' materialih, ki uničijo
truplo veliko hitreje ter preprečijo, da bi ga napadli črvi in mravlje, pač pa ga napadajo
plesni v vseh barvah in oblikah.'" T.i. "pre-pay plan'"' (plačilo za pogreb še za časa
življenja) znašajo običajno veliko več kot pogreb, ki ga naročijo svojci; po večini se ga ne
da odpovedati, v primeru odpovedi stroški navadno niso vrnjeni v celoti ali sploh niso
vrnjeni; mnogi ne dobijo pogreba, ki so ga naročdi... Kiber-spominki'^ naj bi izražali
našo bolečino in častdi spomin na pokojnega, pa temu navadno ni tako.
Pogrebe lahko razdelimo na takojšnje pokope (tj. brez kakršnegakoli obreda), tradi-
cionalne pogrebe, sežige, ki jih spremlja pogreb, in sežige brez obreda. Takojšnje pokope
izvršujejo ob smrti brezdomcev in tistih, ki ne morejo kriti stroškov pogreba. Kremiranje
je danes prepovedano pri ortodoksnih juddi, parsih, muslimanih in pravoslavnih Grkih,
običajno pa pri hindujcih in tudi že pri krščanskih pogrebih. V zemlji zakopano telo
razpada počasi, naravno. Pri upepelitvi pride do zelo hitrega, nenadnega razpada. Pri tra-
dicionalnem pogrebu predajamo telo bogu in zemlji, pri čemer sta združeni naravna in
nadnaravna komponenta. Sodobna upepelitev pa je tehnološki postopek, ki pokojnika
zelo hitro pretvori iz enega v drugo stanje. Leta 789 je Karel Veliki zagrozd s smrtno kaz-
nijo vsakomur, ki bi se ukvarjal s kremiranjem trupel. To početje je veljalo za nekrščan-
sko, saj sežgano telo po smrti ne bi moglo vstati od mrtvih. Prvi sežig trupla v ZDA so
opravdi 1876. leta v Washingtonu, v Angliji pa 7 let pozneje (Hatfield, 1993). Katoliška
cerkev je trdirat ostro obsodda sežiganje trupel (1886, 1918 in 1926).'*
V Ameriki iz leta v leto sežgejo več trupel, ne zaradi mode ali želje pokojnega.
Tako imenovani tradicionalni pogrebni obredi so v svojih izpopolnjenih detajlih na-
^ Več o tem v: Death, Value, and Meaning Series by John D. Morgan (1993).
Pogrebniki so zabrisali spomin na religiozne obrede in družinske tradicije na račun lastnega dobička.
Več o tem Jessica Mitford. Ali so pogrebna podjetja, ki povzročajo uničenje trupel, silijo stranke, da kupujejo
krste iz škodljivih materialov in jim za to mastno zaračunajo, res "ugledna", "čuteča" in "skrbna", za kakršna se raz-
glašajo?
" Nosilci pogrebne industrije naštevajo mnogo "utemeljenih" razlogov za 'plaćanje pogreba še za časa
življenja' (npr.: olajšaH boste bolečino svojcev, prihrankov vam ne bo požrla inflacija, sami boste določili obliko in
trajanje pogrebnega obreda in tudi pri načrtovanju boste lahko sodelovaH; tako se boste izogndi nasoglasjem med
družinskimi člani, pomirjeni bodo tako oni kot vi...).
Nekaj primerov: Highgate Cemetery, New Orleans, Online Memoria, The World Wide Cemetry, DeathNET,
Rivendell In Memoriam, The Virtual Memorial Garden, The DAV Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire, New
Mexico...
Več 0 tem 'Knjižice' - časopis za duhovno probudo in prosveto (1938, let. 5, št. 119).
171
Marta Gregorčič
menjeni le še eliti, zato raste povpraševanje po (cenejšem) kremiranju. Ker pa pogrebni
direktorji neradi izgubljajo svoje radodarne stranke, okoliščinam primerno višajo tudi
ceno kremiranja.
Čeprav je v ZDA še vedno več tradicionalnih pogrebov, število upepelitev narašča
(med letoma 1990 in 1995 naraslo s 17% na 24%). Število Američanov, ki načrtuje upe-
pelitev, se je v tem času povečalo s 37% na 43%; interes za upepelitev narašča s staro-
stjo, stopnjo izobrazbe in zaslužkom... Upepelitev je precej cenejša od tradicionalnega
pogreba... V 23% primerov žaro s pepelom vrnejo družini, 16% jih pokopljejo ali shra-
nijo na pokopališču, 6% jih svojci raztresejo po zemlji ali morju. V večini primerov
(54%) svojci pepel preprosto pustijo pogrebnemu zavodu." V študiji o upepelitvah v
Angliji Jupp navaja, da se zanje odločajo mestni, predmestni in na podeželje priseljeni
prebivalci, za tradicionalni pogreb pa tisti, ki že dalj časa živijo na podeželju.
Opozorda sem le na nekaj očitnih primerov zlorabe pogrebnih servisov, veliko
bolj pa so šokantne ugotovitve Jessiee Mitford. Prva raziskovalna študija Jessiee Mitford
"The American Way of Death" (1963)'^ razkriva pohlep, skomercializiranost in zlorabe
ameriške pogrebne industrije. Knjiga je postala uspešnica in je sprožila veliko polemik
o moralnosti in načinih dela pogrebne industrije, ki se je poigrala z ameriško javnostjo.
Beremo jo lahko kot satiro ali kot neomajno kritiko potrošniške družbe in manipulacije
s ponudbo in povprašavanjem. Mitfordova je raziskala novi besednjak smrti, v katerem
ni več mesta za pogrebnike, krste in mrliške vozove. Danes se govori o "pogrebnih di-
rektorjih", "bivališčih" in "transportnih sredstvih". Rože so "cvetni spomin", trupla
vedno "ljubljene osebe", pepel je "pepelnata zapuščina", pare "kraj počitka"... Ena od
posledic je, da stroški pogrebov naraščajo hitreje kot življenjski stroški.
Natanko 35 let po prvi izdaji je Mitfordova objavila novo, dopolnjeno; "The Ame-
rican Way of Death Revisited",^*' kajti v pogrebni industriji je prišlo do mnogih spre-
memb in le redke so bde na bolje. Spremembe Mitfordova razdeli v tri glavne katego-
rije: prvič, upepelitev, včasih najcenejši način pogreba, postaja čedalje dražja, pogrebna
podjetja pa delajo iz nje čedalje bolj zapleten obred. Drugič: težko pričakovani odlok
zvezne trgovinske komisije, ki naj bi pokrival to področje, ima veliko pomanjkljivosti.
Najbolj zaskrbljujoče pa je dejstvo, da se je v zadnjih petnajstih letih močno razširilo
monopolno lastništvo prej neodvisnih mrtvašnic in pokopališč. Stroški pogrebov so dra-
matično (desetkratno) narasli. Pogrebna industrija je velik posel, v katerem čedalje bolj
prevladujejo velike korporacije, ki imajo v lasti ogromno mrliških vozov, limuzin, stori-
tvenih vozil, v službi pa cel spekter pisarniških delavcev, od računovodij do obdeloval-
cev podatkov, ki skrbijo za potrebe več kot pol ducata nekdaj neodvisnih pogrebndi
Po Brad Edmondson: The Facts of Death (.4merican Demografphics magazine, April 1997) - http://
www.demographics.com/publications/ad/97_ad/9704_ad/ad970427.htm
Pred tem je Mitfordova kot reakcijo na pojav revij, ki so se ukvarjale s ponudbo pogrebnih storitev (The Mor-
tuary Management, Casket and Sunny Side, The Jurnal of Creative Ideas for Cemeteries...), objavila članek "Sveti Pe-
ter, ne drzni si me poklicati" ("St. Peter, Don't You Call Me"). S tem je sprožila veliko člankov na to temo - npr.: v
Saturday Evening Postu je Roul Tunlev objavil članek "Si lahko privoščite smrt" ("Can you .Mford to Die").
" Večino poglavij (A Global Village of the Dead, Pay Now - Die Poorer, New Hope for the Dead ...) v preno-
vljeni izdaji je Jessica Mitford napisala sama, preden je leta 1996 nepričakovano umrla za rakom. Knjigo so dokončah
njeni asistentki Karen Leonard in Lisa (Carlson ter njen mož Robert Treuhaft.
172
Zmanjkalo je solz
podjetij. Pogrebna industrija je zdaj verjetno večji posel kot kdajkoli poprej in je odkrila
nov vir dobodkov - kupovanje parcel za grobove vnaprej. Skupno je bdo v te nakupe v
zadnjem času vloženih 20 milijard dolarjev (v letu 1961 le mdijarda dolarjev). Načelo,
ki velja za industrijo, je še vedno isto; to je posel velikih razsežnosti, v katerem se nepre-
stano uporabljajo evfemizmi in olepšave, ki trkajo na domišljijo Američanov in njihovo
željo po urejenosti. V boljšem in morda pametnejšem svetu bi bdi pogrebi skromnejši
in preprostejši, kot so npr. v drugih deželah, zlasti v tistih, ki jih še ni pozlatil ameriški
"Midasov dotik" (Jonatiian Yardley, 1998).'^
Mitfordova želi zrušiti mit o pogrebih: mit o tem, da sodobni pogrebi temeljijo na
ameriški tradiciji; da javnost dobiva, kar želi, vendar pa so stroški pogreba spremenljivi
ne glede na posameznikov okus, ampak glede na to, kaj bo pogrebna industrija prine-
sla; in končno psihiatrične teorije, ki stojijo za njo, in zagotavljajo, da je trajna spomin-
ska slika ali zadnji pogled na umrlega terapija za žalujoče. Na nepravilnosti pogrebne
industrije in njenih direktorjev pa ne opozarja le Jessica Mitford, pač pa je bilo na to
temo napisanih ogromno člankov in knjig.'* Slovenija premore odličen primer pogreb-
ne industrije: monopolno javno podjetje Zale d.o.o. z monopolnimi cenami. Zaradi pro-
storske stiske in estetike so preuredili zapuščene grobove in iznašli novo pogrebno filo-
zofijo, da gredo 'vnaprej pripravljeni grobovi' dobro ali bolje v promet.''
Moje lastno opažanje pogrebne industrije, besedda, pa tudi vse dostopne informa-
cije na internetu so me privedli do spoznanja, da ne gre zgolj za moderno ekonomijo
pogrebnih servisov, pač pa za nekaj več! Lakomnost pogrebne industrije in njeno pro-
fitno cvetenje, z vsak dan lepšim cvetom, je zgolj posledica želje svojcev, da bi šlo to tr-
pljenje (truplo) ne glede na ceno mimo njih. Znebiti se trupla hitro, tiho, nemoteče,
komaj opazno, po receptu pogrebnega direktorja, brez velikega žalovanja, objokovanja
in velikih družinskih ceremonij za pripravo na končni, poslovilni obred. Ali v moderni
družbi denar prevzame terapevtsko vlogo in zaceli bolečino, ki se je zarezala ob izgubi?
Bi pogrebna industrija res lahko nemoteno cvetela v svojem profitu na tako očiten
način, če ne bi držala v svojih krempljih umazanega dela - tabuja smrti, mrliča, trupla...
- nad katerim si akter moderne družbe z denarjem umije roke?!
5. Postmoderna dbražba, no>i obredi in novo razmerje
procesov
Renoviranje starih tradicionalnih obredov, ki se s svojo 'mašinskostjo', hitrostjo...
prilagajajo moderni, kompleksni družbi in modernemu načinu življenja, in nastanek
(pojav) modernih, povsem novih obredov, kot sta npr. kremiranje in kiber-spominki, s
sabo prinašajo nove procese tako v načinu izvedbe obreda kot tudi v načinu spreje-
''http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-08/02/0281-080298-idx.html
" Navajam jih le nekaj: The High Cost of Dying, Ruth Harmer (196,3); The Truth About Funerals: How to
Beat the High Cost of Dying, Donald Flynn (1993), Canada; Dealing Creatively With Death: A Manual of Death Edu-
cation and Simple Burial, Ernest Morgen (1994), Profits of Death, Darrly J. Roberts (1997)...
™ Več 0 Žalah d.o.o v Mladini (1998), 40, str. 2425.
173
Marta Gregorčič
manja 'izgube'. Gre za nova razmerja naslednjih procesov ali elementov, ki med sabo
sovpadajo, se prepletajo in dopolnjujejo:
- (de)personalizacije
- (ne)formalnosti
- (aktivne/pasivne) participacije
- sekularizacije
- inkluzivnosti/ekskluzivnosti
- ritualizacije/reritualizacije/deritualizacije
- (de)teritorializacije
Pri obredu pogreba gre danes tako za proces personalizacije kot tudi depersonali-
zacije. Na eni strani Amerika z visoko razvito pogrebno industrijo, kjer si danes lahko
posameznik pred smrtjo ali njegovi svojci po smrti privoščijo na pogrebu katero koli
zvrst glasbe, katero koli znamko avtomobila ... Ker je smrt najbolj oseben in ireverzibi-
len akt, svojci želijo pogostiti sebe in svojega preminulega s spoštljivim, osebnim in ne-
standardiziranim, spontanim pogrebom.*" Kitajsko verovanje, da so mrtvi še vedno
živi, samo v drugem svetu, lepo ilustrira daoistična praksa sežiganja potrebščin iz papi-
rja. Le-te naj bi umrli uporabljali v postmodernem življenju: papirnate avtomobile,
hiše, celo služabnike. To nima nič opraviti z vraževernostjo, na to gledajo kot na obred,
ki pokaže njihovo skrb in spoštovanje do umrlih." Personalizacija se kaže tudi na na-
grobnikih. Nekdanje verske simbole danes pogosto nadomeščajo kipi, skulpture..., ki
simbolizirajo pokojnikov karakter ali njegov bobi oz. stvari, ki ga kakorkoli označujejo,
ali preprosto stvari, ki jih je imel rad.*^ Vsi ti novi simboli hočejo poudariti mogočnost,
trdnost in karakter umrlega. Personalizacija nagrobnikov je še bolj očitna pri otroških
grobovih, ki so polni raznovrstnih igrač, kar bi bilo skozi očala tradicionalne družbe
prej nespodobno kot želeno.
Opisana personalizacija je neke vrste upor rutinskim, depersonaliziranim pogre-
bom in depersonalni, standardizirani družbi. Proces personalizacije v pogrebnih obre-
dih, ki je danes prej izjema kot pravilo in od svojcev terja znatno vsoto denarja, se nava-
dno odvija pri pogrebih slavnih oseb, kjer ne manjka emocionalno nabitih poslovdnih
govorov in vseh ugodnosti pogrebne industrije,*^ po drugi strani pa je neke vrste perso-
nalizacija prisotna tudi na vaških pogrebih. Danes se je kot pravilo, skladno z
množičnim mašinskim, serijskim pokopavanjem in časovno in prostorsko stisko moder-
ne družbe, uveljavil proces depersonalizacije. Serijske pokope v Trstu izvajajo vsakih 5
minut, na Žalah vsake pol ure. Sorodniki, svojci pri obredu ne sodelujejo, pač pa se sku-
" Npr.: v Ameriki žalujoči ob raztresanju pepela spontano izrekajo govore - povsem osebne - svojemu pokojne-
mu in s tem aktivno in osebno kreirajo pogrebni obred.
" bttp://wy4yv.cuhk.bk/journal/varsity/9503/dead.htm
Npr. na ljubljanskih Žalah lahko opazimo kipce ali skulpture: nogometno žogo, letalo, violino, doprsne
kipe, orle - vendar so le ti, vsaj za Slovenijo izjemni. Personalizacija se je kazala na amsterdamskem pokopališču, pre-
dvsem na novejšUi grobovih. Tu ne gre več za nagrobne spomenike, pač pa za Ixlm velike 'vrtičke', posute z najrazlič-
nejšimi kamni, porasle z različnim cvetjem, polne kipcev, predmetov, igrač, školjk - ki naredijo na obiskovalca simpa-
tičen in prijeten vtis - in so daleč od kiča...
O personalizaciji pogrebnega obreda lahko govorimo v primerih, ko si svojci to lahko privoščijo, oz. glede na
status.
174
Zmanjkalo je solz
šajo prilagajati standardiziranemu vzorcu obreda, ki ga vodi ali duhovnik ali pogrebni
direktor ali (npr. v Trstu) kar navaden delavec v umazani delavski obleki. Obredi po-
stajajo hipni, momentalni. Pri cerkvenih pogrebih maše časovno več ne sovpadajo s
pogrebom, ampak so nekaj ur kasneje ali jih sploh ni.
Depersonalizacija sovpada tudi z večjo stopnjo formalnosti, kar zadeva potek
obreda in govore. Gre za točno določen vzorec obreda, ki ga navadno pozna le pogrebni
direktor in njegovi pristaši, svojci pa kot izgubljene ovce sledijo njihovim zahtevam.
Neformalni, spontani govori ob posipanju pepela in medsebojna izmenjava lepih spo-
minov ali dogodkov pokojnega so spet prej redkost kot pravilo. Na drugi strani pa je vse
nižja stopnja formalnosti vidna v oblekah, načinu obnašanja svojcev in tudi prostor -
nekdaj cerkev ali kapelo - danes pogosto zamenja zunanji ozvočeni prostor, namenjen
predvsem za žarne obrede.
Pasivna vključenost v obred ali nepardcipacija pri obredu je ena od naslednjih
smernic, ki se kažejo pri modernih obredih. Le redko** je zaslediti obrede pokopa, kjer
svojci želijo ali potrebujejo aktivno participacijo in kreiranje pogreba. V ZDA so nekate-
re tradicionalne obrede priredili tako, da lahko svojci umrlega v njih sodelujejo: za-
pojejo, preberejo pesem, ki so jo napisali posebej za to priložnost, povedo anekdoto o
umrlem... Danes pobudnik ceremonije nastopa predvsem kot organizator ter nima
osrednje vloge pri samem dogodku. Pa vendar so to spet redkejši primeri, kot pa vsako-
dnevni neparticipativni, mašinski pogrebi. Iz besedd Jessice Mitford je več kot očitno,
da so subjekt pogrebnih obredov mnogokrat direktorji, in ne svojci oz. umrli, katerim
naj bi bil dejansko obred namenjen.
Naslednji element sodobnih tako pogrebnih obredov kot tudi nagrobnih spome-
nikov je sekularizacija. Pogrebi se odvijajo na posvetnih lokacijah, brez prisotnosti
duhovščine, brez verskih liturgij, glasbe in simbolov. Prav tako prihaja do mešanja po-
svetne in posvečene zemlje. Maše kot sedmina in trideseti dan se v mestih le redko opra-
vljajo, navadno v primerih, ko svojci za to zaprosijo, pa tudi takrat navadno duhovniki
mašujejo 'prazni cerkvi'.*' Sekularizaciji se zoperstavlja strah pred smrtjo, neznanim,
bogaboječnost..., kar se je pri Slovencih pokazalo v raziskavi SJM (91/1), kjer je 73%
anketirancev menilo, da je ob smrti potreben verski obred, pa čeprav jdi je le 23% ve-
rjelo v življenje po smrti oz. 37% v dušo oz. 55% v Boga.**'
Glede na zapletena razmerja v sodobni družbi ter naraščujoče verske, rasne, et-
nične in kulturne razlike, današnje ceremonije in rituali vključujejo čedalje več
žalujočih. Če so nekdaj mrtvega na zadnji poti pospremdi družina, sorodniki in vaščani
ali sosedje iz bližnje okolice, ki so ga poznali, je današnja pogrebna 'povorka' med sabo
povsem heterogena, večidel tuja in 'skregana' (npr: tretji mož, polsestra, mešane
" Spet sem tu zasledila v glavnem primere iz Amerike ali primere slavnih oseb. V Sloveniji svojci pogreb na
različne načine kreirajo predvsem na vaseh. Kot specifičen primer lahko nevedem vasi v Brkinih, kjer imajo navado,
da ob slovesu od doma vsakega pozdravijo z "Zbogom!", predno vaščani sami pokopljejo rajnega. Zavodi imajo zgolj
postransko vlogo (npr.: pripeljejo rajnega iz bolnišnice).
Danes se samo krščanstvo sooča s t.i. "osebno vero" oz. ne gre več za vero v občestvo. Individualistično
življenje poglablja osebno vero, kar se kaže tako v številčnosti ob obredu, simbolih...
* Niko Toš: Center za raziskovanje slovenskega javnega mnenja (SJM 1991/1).
175
Marta Gregorčič
družine, sodelavci iz različnih služb...). Zaradi geografske in družbene mobilnosti, inte-
griranih delovnih mest, vedno večjega števila večrasnih družin ter imigracij z vseh kon-
cev sveta obstaja čedalje večja verjetnost, da bodo tudi žalujoči oz. pogrebci drugačnih
veroizpovedi, nacionalnosti, etničnega porekla... kot pokojnik. Družbena in geografska
mobilnost (globalizacija, reteritorializacija) oddaljujeta in odtujujeta sorodstva in zahte-
vata razumevanje družbene tradicije. Spremembe dovoljujejo ali zahtevajo prevredno-
tenje kulturnih vrednot. Ideologije in institucije so pogosto postavljene pod drobnogled
in pogosto ne zadovoljujejo potreb.
Deritualizacija ali vsaj reritualizacija, je naslednji proces, ki ga lahko zaznamo
tako v pogrebni industriji kot tudi v serijskih, mašinskih pogrebih. Razvrednotenje ali
prevrednotenje pogrebnega obreda, ker obred postaja zgolj nuja, ker je bil tak tradicio-
nalen način slovesa in ga danes zgolj mehansko opravimo. Deritualizacija ali rerituali-
zacija, depersonalizacija, formalnost, departicipacija, sekularizacija, reteritorializacija
in ekskluzivnost so le nekateri od procesov, ki jih ne gre posploševati za celotno moder-
no družbo, pač pa so sestavni del moderne, postmoderne družbe in sodobnega človeka
in se zrcalijo tudi v pogrebnih obredih. Moderni, mašinski pogrebni obredi s konfuzno
in hitrostno 'rituahzacijo' imajo priokus moderne družbe. Zadržati staro obliko in pri-
lagoditi se novim okoliščinam, na nov način, v razpoložljivih prostorskih in časovnih
razmerah, terjata nove procese, nov način akomodacije, 'sprejetja' smrti oz. nov način
sprijaznitve ali pomiritve z 'izgubo'. Smrt gre, kot tudi sam mašinski pokop, hipno, ne-
zavedajoče mimo svojcev. Smrt se je nekdaj nahajala v središču življenja, kot se je poko-
pališče nahajalo v središču mesta. Smrt je bila dih vsakdana. Danes smrti ni!
6.  Smrt - tabu postmoderne družbe - se kaže tudi skozi
pogrebni akt
Kolektivnemu duhu v tradicionalni družbi, kjer je smrt razložena, umeščena, opre-
deljena in obvladana, se zoperstavlja sicer svobodni individuum, ki pa je pri operacionali-
zaciji smrti prepuščen sam sebi. Zastarelost starih razlag in neprepričljivost novdi
sprožata krizo posameznikove eksistence. Avtonomnost nad naravo in višjimi sdami, dina-
mičnost, diferenciacija, kompleksnost, formalizacija in univerzalizacija spreminjajo mrtve
v obsesijo podzavednega. Po Geoffreyju Gorerju se smrt skriva za zaprtimi vrati, Aries vidi
družbeni sram in strah pred smrtjo v ne-obstoju smrti. Carl Gustav Jung, oče psihoanali-
ze, je zdravd licemerce in neumneže, ki se niso spraševali o smrti in njeni dramatičnosti,
pač pa so se delali 'odrasle', 'moderne' in 'elegantne' v pretvarjanju, da smrti ni. Danes bi
moral zdraviti celotno družbo! In kaj bi Jung imel povedati danes, ko 'izgubo'
(ne)uspešno nadomešča novo terapevtsko sredstvo - denar? Smrt je danes strašljiva, za-
ndiana in sramotna. O njej ne velja govoriti, sicer te lahko označijo še za frommovskega
nekrofda. Po Frommu osebe z nekrofdno orientacijo privlači neživo, mrtvo, trupla, gndo-
ba, razživijo se ob pogovorih o bolezni, smrti, pogrebih in ljubijo smrt. Za tako osebo je
Fromm poleg ideala - Hiderja označd tudi Carla Gustava Junga.
V pričujočem članku želim opozoriti na 'radikalne' pogrebne obrede (in z njimi
povezano 'industrijskost'), ki odpirajo nekatera nova razmerja procesov, ki se pojavljajo
176
Zmanjkalo je solz
sočasno s hitro spreminjajočo se družbo in so v vehki meri odsev le-te. Razvrednotenih,
mašinskih pogrebov in phtvega ah vse plehkejšega 'slovesa' od umrlih ne gre jemati kot
splošno ali bodočo smernico, pač pa kot opozorilo, da v moderni, postmoderni družbi
sami fizični, nujni procesi (modernizacije, urbanizacije) zahtevajo ali vodijo v ne-
sprejemanje smrti, skrivanje bolečine, ki se ob deritualizaciji (ali reritualizaciji) nid ne
porodi, pač pa skrije, potlači, ali v pomiritev, ki sploh ni bda vznemirjena. Zato se pre-
vrednoti tudi sam občutek izgube, ki dejansko to več ni. Ne gre več za sprijaznitev s
smrtjo, ampak za obsesijo. Smrt ni več izguba, jasno tudi ni dobiček (z izjemo pogreb-
nih servisov), pač pa je ni. Je ne vrednotimo, o njej ne govorimo, se ne srečamo z mrtve-
cem, s truplom, z umazanim delom, kajti mrtveci preprosto izginejo, sama smrt pa nas
zadene le še finančno in v 'hipnem obredu'.
Ce postmoderna družba spreminja način gledanja na smrt, bi se lahko vprašali
tudi, ali smrt spreminja postmodernizem. Ali resnično obstaja postmoderna smrt, kate-
re značdnosti so ironija, paradoks in igrivost postmodernega življenja? Ali pa smrt
razkriva željo za iskanjem smisla, ki spodkopava postmodernizem? To je vsekakor po-
membno vprašanje za teoretike postmodernizma, prav tako pa tudi za vse, ki jih zani-
ma družbena konstrukcija smrti in umiranja (Walter, 1993: 267). Smrt je izziv postmo-
derni družbi. Ali bodo pokopališča postala le še draga odlagališča odpadkov in zarjave-
lih kosti? Ali bomo smrt prepustili toku hiper-modernizacije, njenih urbanih, kultur-
nih, socialnih in globalnih prisil? Mi ho šlo vse bolj za (že zdaj očitno) vrtičkarstvo, tek-
movanja v nagrobnikih, skulpturah...? Ali bodo mrtveci še kdaj zaživeli v naših spomi-
nih ali jih bomo razvrednotdi dostojanstva, ki so jim ga nekoč izkazovali?
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ska matica.
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JANIČIJEVIĆ, Jovan (1986): U znaku Moloha: antropološki ogled o žrtvovanju. Beograd: Vajat.
JEAN-PIERRE (1991): Mortals and Imortals: Collected Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
JUPP, R (1993): The Development of Cremation in England 1820-1990: a sociological analysis, unpublished PhD
thesis, London Scool of Economics.
JUŽNIČ, Stane (1991): Antropologija smrti. Ljubljana: EDV.
KIRN, Andrej (1986): Družbene oblike smrti: Iz razprav o smislu, sreči in smrti (6). Naši razgledi, 35,15, str. 431432.
KIRN, Andrej (1986): Družbene oblike smrti: Iz razprav o smislu, sreči in smrti (5). Naši razgledi, 35, 14, str. 408.
i 77
Marta Gregorčič
KIRN, .\ndrej (1986): Smrt v filozofskih podobah. TIP, 2:1, 7/8, str. 736-750.
KRŠČANSKI pogreb (1970): Slovenski obred: Rimski obrednik kakor ga je prenovU drugi vatikanski cerkveni zbor in
ga je razglasil papež Pavel VI. Ljubljana. Knjižice - Časopis za duhovno probudo in prosveto. 5. str. 119.
LEVINAS. Emmanuel (1996): Smrt in čas. Nova revija. Ljubljana.
MESORRI. \ ittorio (1986): Izzivi smrti: predlog krščanstva: slepilo ah upanje. Ljubljana: Knjižnice.
ORIN, Edgar (1981): Človek i smrt. Beograd: BIGZ.
MITEORD, Jessica (1963): Tbe American Way of Death. London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd.
SCHELER. Max (1987): Schriften aus dem Nacblass. Band III. Philosophische .\ntropologie. Bonn.
SHILLING. Cris (1993): The Body and Social Theory Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
ŠORČ, CirU (1997): Eshatologija: dovršitev sveta in človeka. Ljubljana: Družina.
TENENTI, .Mberto (1987): Občutenje smrti m ljubezen do življenja v renesansi. Ljubljana: ŠKLC; Filozofska fakulteta.
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TRSTENJAK, Anton (1993): Cmrješ, da živiš. Celje: Mohorjeva družba.
TCRNER, Ann Warren (1976): Houses for the Dead. New Yourk.
TOYNBEE, Jocelyn .M.C. (1996): Death and Burial in tbe Roman ^orld. Baltimore, London: The Johnson Hopkins
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VAN GENNEP, A. (1960): The Rites of Passage, Chicago: University of Chicago.
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178
OUT OF TEARS
Conceptualization of the Phenomenon of Death
through the Time-Space Dimension
and the Dichotomy between Traditional
and Postmodern Funeral Rites
Marta Gregorčič
Key words: death, funeral rites, tradition, Jessica Mitford, Internet, the postmodern society
1.  Introduction
Death has replaced sex as the taboo subject of our times. People compete to dis-
cuss the most intimate details of their sex lives, but they have nothing to say about dy-
ing, which in its immensity dwarfs the momentary pleasures of sex. Our beliefs about
the afterlife and the relationship between the living and the dead, the desire to respect,
honour and remember the deceased, the mystery and fear surrounding the unknown,
and the disruption and grief that occurs when we die, all contribute to keeping funeral
customs from changing much. In the face on deeply entrenched values, beliefs and
emotions, we don't change the rites that we believe are necessary to not only fulfil our
responsibilities to God and the deceased, but that helps us and our society to heal. Fu-
neral customs are inherendy conservative, traditional. Ordinarily they change very lit-
de across time. But when they change extensively and quickly it can reflect dramatic
material, behavioural and even ideological changes in the broader society. Moderniza-
tion, industrialization, the increase of high technology, secularization, globalization
and the increase of mobility are but a few elements of the postmodern society that are
demonstrated throughout the act of the funeral. In the first three sections of the paper
an overview has been made of funeral rites and related customs, the funeral industry as
featured on the Web, and personal observations made through interviews and visits to
cemeteries.
The main point of interest was the time, duration and pace of funeral, as well as
the appearance of the funeral site itself. Attempts were made to extract the characteris-
tics of the traditional and the contemporary funeral rites on the examples of old Greece
and Rome, Zoroastrism, the Aborigines and old Slovene Christian funerals, contrasted
179
Marta Gregorčič
with the M.o. at Ljubljana, Trieste and Amsterdam cemeteries, alongside with the
source on the Web. The comparison of the traditional and the contemporary was ne-
glected, as the goal was to demonstrate the characteristics of the latter through the
characteristics of the former, with emphasis on the "saying farewell" and "finding
peace" components.
Describing the funeral rites 1 drew on Van Gennep's conceptualization of the
rites of passage:
Rites
SEPARATION
TRANSITION
INCORPORATION
The Dead Person
From the living members of society
From the world of the living
towards the world of dead
Into the world of dead
People who are Bereaved
From the living members
of society
From the world of dead
towards the world of the
living
Into the world of the
living
'Separation' (in contrast to Van Gennep) was understood as the actual event of
death and related rites. 'Transition' was understood as the act of the funeral (burial,
cremation), and 'incorporation' as the post-funeral customs and rites, the memories of
the deceased and the return of the mourners to everyday routine.
Cremation was not dealt with in detail although it represents an interesting con-
temporary phenomenon. Also some elements which are undoubtedly relevant to the
research of funeral rites (the difference between the urban and the rural; gravestones,
obituaries, burials of chddren and those who had suffered a violent death) have been
omitted a the paper focuses on the reception of death, and on new practices involved in
the act of the burial.
2. Traditional funeral rites through space and time
dimension, viewed in three key moments
There are certain similarities between old Greek and Roman concept of death.
For Romans, however, death and burial represented complex and solemn occasions,
whde in the Greek mythology death was unfortunate as it was impure which brought
on a series of measures (prevention) in the community.' The funeral rites of zoroas-
trism^ are also concerned with mythology. Death was thought of as the victory of the
devd over the universal good and the dead body as the sanctuary of demons, and as
such impure. They did not allow the body to be buried or cremated as it might dishon-
' For ancient Greek and Roman funeral rites, see Toynbee, J.M.C. (1996): "Deatb and Burial in the Roman
World". Baltimore, London: Tahe Johnson Hopkins University Press; \ernat, Jean-Pierre (1991): "Mortals and Imar-
tals: Collected Essays", Princeton: Princeton University Press; Janićijević, Jovan (1986): "U znaku Moloha: antropolo-
ški ogled 0 žrtvovanju". Beograd: Vajat.
For Zoroastrian funeral rites, see Hinnells, John R. (1985): Persian Mythology. Peter Bedrick Books, New York.
180
Out of Tears
our the Earth or the Fire. Aiorigin tribe^ feels that death is always a murder, there are
no natural causes. "How else could you explain how a person died so suddenly, who
before had been so fuU of life?" was their reasoning. The relatives of dead are responsi-
ble for finding the murderer. They would have to question everyone. After a person
dies, everyone in the camp raises up a wading, and shows their pain of mourning.
Sometimes they would do this so they would not be suspected of the murder (Turner,
1976: 69). The Christians, who are according to their belief, one in Christ, cannot be
separated, not even by deatb.* Christian burials differ according to the regions, but on
the whole Christianity preaches a respectful attitude towards the body and considers
the cemetery a holy place.
a)    "A body in the house" - separation
In ancient Rome, the dying was laid on the bare floor. Their closest relative
caught their final breath with a kiss and closed their eyes. Everybody present started
loudly calling the deceased's name^, the deceased family, in the special clothes for the
occasion, washed the body with warm water and dressed it in a toga. The body was then
laid out* on a bier in the atrium, surrounded by burning oil-lamps and covered with
flowers. They put a coin under the deceased's tongue, to pay the fare to Haron and en-
sure the deceased's soul would be able to enter the world beyond. As a sign of mourn-
ing, the fire was put out in the fireplace, the women were crying, puding their hair,
tore their clothes and beat their chest. Ancient Greek customs were very simdar. The
body was laid out in the hall, with the feet towards the door, for a day or two. Greek
women were also loud in their lamentations, beat their chest, sprinkled ashes over their
hair and protected the deceased's face from sun and fries with specials fans. As a sign of
mourning Greek men cut their hair. Hired mourners of both sexes were singing la-
ments. There was a jug of water put in front of the house door as a purifying symbol
and to show that there was a body in the house.
In Zoroastrism, the dead body has to be washed with gomez^, dressed in a clean
sudre* and tied with kusti'. Mourners do not approach the body because it is possessed
by the demon of rot and decay Nasu; it is handled by the paUbearers, who are called
naras-salas. They make a circle of nails around the body and bring a dog which con-
firms death (sagdid). Everybody present then joins in prayer until the funeral which
takes place before the sunset, because in the dark demons pray on the mourners. Ac-
' For Aborigine's funeral rites, see Turner, Ann Warren (1976): Houses for the Dead. New Yourk.
' Cf. Simon Solunski, PC 155, 685 B v Krščanski pogreb: Slovenski obred: Rimski obrednik kakor ga je preno-
vil drugi vatikanski cerkveni zbor in ga je razglasil papež Pavel VI, Ljubljana, 1970. For further information on Chri-
stian burials, see 'Knjižice' - časopis za duhovno probudo in prosveto (1938, let. 5, št. 119).
' An ancient custom called conclamatio. Homer mentions it in his "Odyssey".
*■ The body was laid out for a week at the most. This apphed to disringuished men only - the children and the
poor were buried, not cremated, on the same day, usually in the middle of the night.
' Cow's urine (believed to be the strongest purifying means know to man).
' A holy shirt, made of white cotton.
' A long woven wool rope.
181
Marta Gregorčič i
cording to Solon's law, the body has to be removed day after being laid out before the
sunrise, otherwise it might contaminate the sunrays. Aborigine - once the person is
dead, they spread read earth on the body, which looks like the blood shed at birdi
(Turner, 1976: 70). This indicates that the dead person is being reborn into another
world. They paint the design of the clan in white and yedow on the chest and stomach.
They believed that "these signs would change the dead man into a sacred being who
could then enter the world of the spirit" (Turner, 1976: 71).
The death of a cadiolic in the Dolenjsko region in Sloveiua was announced by the
church beUs.'" The family stopped die wad clock and prepared the largest room in the
house to host a bier WaUs were covered with black fabric, and wreaths were hung on
them. The deceased's clodies were changed and he or she was placed on a bier, holding
the rosary in his hands. In front of the bier there was a table with flowers, the cross and
holy water The body lay in the house for 48 hours so there was no doubt as to his/her
death. The famdy prayed, sung psalms or read the Bdile during the wake. Sometimes the
priest came to die house and escorted the funeral procession to the church, at other times
the priest met die procession in front of die church or at the church entrance.
b)    "The act of the funeral" - transition
For Romans, the funeral was a solemn occasion. The funeral procession was led
by whisders, flute players, horn players and trumpet players. Then followed 'naenia', a
woman singing praise to the deceased, a group of women crying out laments, carrying
bundles soaked in scented pitch, actors who mimed the character traits of the de-
ceased. Immediately preceding the bearers of the body, there were mourners carrying
wax masks of the ancestors. Liktors, clad in black, carried the body, followed by the
deceased's family, also wearing black. Burial or cremation took place outside the setde-
ment" where bustum'" was ready. It was customary to open and close the eyes of the
deceased; afterwards the next of kin set fire to the stake while the rest of the mourners
threw flowers, jewellery, food and spices into the fire. The amber was put out with wine,
with which they also washed the bones. They put it in the urn together with honey and
spices. During the funeral the family presented it as a sacrifice to gods. The site of cre-
mation was later on decorated by an altar, surrounded by cypresses (aro). Paintings and
statuettes were placed on the altar, while the urn was placed into a colombarium bear-
ing the name of the deceased. The Romans buried their dead in the catacombs as well.
In the catacombs, there were marble sarcophagus or vaults in which jeweUery, ceramic
figures, jade rings (to protect from evd spells) were put..."
This is still true of the larger part of the Dolenjska region (Southern Slovenia). If the deceased is a priest,
the large bell rings three times; if he is a man, the small bell rings three times, and if she is a women, it rings twice.
This is repeated three times a day.
" Necropolies was usually positioned by the main road leading into the city.
Romans distinguished between different types of stakes. A 'bustum' was a niche over which wood was pla-
ced. On it, they put the body and burnt it. The remains were then covered with soil.
More about diverse objects put into Roman graves in Janićijevič, Jovan (1986): "U znaku Moloha: antropolo-
ški ogled 0 žrtvovanju". Beograd:Vajat.
182
Out of Tears
A Greek funeral procession was led by a woman carrying the sacrifice receptacle.
She was followed by men and women'* and the musicians. The body was carried by the
relatives or the slaves or it was transported by a cart. Greek cemeteries, like Roman,
were situated outside the settiement. The body was either buried or cremated. After the
cremation the ashes and bones were gathered into a handkerchief and put into an urn.
A Persian funeral procession is led by nasar - salas who are carrying the metal bier and
the body covered with a cloth. They are followed by two priests and the mourners, walk-
ing in couples and holding a white cloth protecting them from evd. When they arrive to
dokhm (the tower of sdence), the body is put onto a marble platform. The mourners say
goodbye to the deceased by looking at him/her one last time; they once more perform
the sagdid. Then they lay out the body to the vultures. The mourners pray for purifica-
tion and wash themselves on their way home. Nasar - salas have to perform a nine-day
purifying ritual to be able to become a part of the community again.
Aborigine placed the dead body in a tree. After three months, the body is re-
moved, and the bones are cleaned. They then watch the bones for 2-3 months, to make
sure the spirit is gone. Than the bones are placed in a log in the centre of the camp
(Turner, 1976: 76). The Christian funeral procession was headed by the priest with aco-
lytes bearing the cross, the holy water, the incense and the sanctuary lamp. They were
fodowed by the pallbearers; the coffin was sometimes transported on a cart, later on by
car or a tractor. Family and friends followed the coffin. There are different customs
concerning the order of the mourners.'^ They sang and prayed on their way to the cem-
etery. The procession went to the church first, where there was a sermon, an eucharist
and the farewell to the deceased. They performed Absolution ceremonies as well - a sort
of forgiveness of the deceased's sins by the Christiendom. This ceremony often took
place at the cemetery. The priest made the sign of the cross with holy water over the
grave (he blessed it), then he blessed the body. The coffin was then lowered into the
ground.'* The funeral might conclude with a song.
c)    "Post-funeral rites" - incorporation
The Romans performed various rituals in the memory of the deceased: they
brought flowers and presents to the grave, carried out rites and ceremonies. They
pushed a smaU tube down into the pit, which they used to bring food and drink to the
deceased.''' The Greek went to the house of the deceased after the ceremony took
place; there they had to carry out rituals of purification, then followed the funeral re-
past. On the following day, the house was cleansed with water and spices. The honour
the cult of the deceased, they held a mourning feast again on the third, the ninth and
the thirtieth day after the burial and at the anniversary of his death.
" Greek women never appeared in public; only tbe closest female relatives attended the service.
^^ There were no particular habits concerning this in the Dolenjska region. Elsewhere in Slovenia, the family
was followed by young men, married men with their famihes and women.
" The blessing, the water and the sod have a symbolic meaning in Christianity
" This is the custom of the Orthodox in Eastern Europe.
183
Marta Gregorčič
Zoroastrians pray and perform special rituals together with their priest during
the first three days when the soul travels into eternity. Special ceremonies take place
over the entire year after the funeral, in exactly timed intervals, when they invite the
dead to celebrate the living. The aborigines try to help the dead on their way to the spir-
it world, and they continue watching to make sure that the spirit has made it. Through
this, and in the treating of the dead's remains with respect, they show caring towards
the dead or their tribe. It was customary for the Catholics that after the funeral and the
feast, they gathered for seven days at the home of the deceased. They gathered on the
seventh, the thirtieth day after the funeral, and on the anniversary of the death. They
have also remembered those who have passed away on religious holidays, e.g. at Easter
when diey encouraged each other in faith into resurrecdon and afterlife.
3. Coiiteinpoi-arv funeral rites through space and
time dimension (separatiou - transition -
incorporation)
Nowadays, death does not take place at one's home any more. It takes place in
hospitals and other institutions. The family does not need to deal with the body as fu-
neral companies take care of it. The first stop for the body is the cool-room where the
body waits, as is the case at the Ljubljana cemetery "Zale"up to one week to be cre-
mated. The family cannot see the deceased and their fareweU is limited to the last hour
or the last minutes of the ceremony. In spite of the time shortage at "Zale" (funerals
take place on the hour, or, if it's necessary, every half an hour"), the Christian burial
retains all three parts: the first part, which used to take place at home, is now per-
formed in front of the funeral home, the second part in the church or outside Plečnik's
chapel, and the third part on the grave itself. At urn burial, Slovenians omit "the fare-
weU" and only hold "the funeral".^"
With Christian burial, another change has to be pointed out - it was introduced by
the second Vatican councd in 1970. Death was not to be made out in black and despair
Belief in resurrection is to be emphasized, despair should be replaced by hope. This
was reflected in the clothes, prayers, speeches... "Zale" is a rare exception in this re-
spect: thirty years prior to the Vatican councd, the architect Plečnik has sensed not
only the architectural but also religious "shift" and substituted the black marble for
white stone. At "Zale" they try to keep the ceremonies "humane", which is no longer
true of the cemeteries of some other European cities.
One look is enough to establish the lack of space at Santa Anna cemetery in Trieste.
The graves are squeezed together to the greatest extent. There is a great mixture of styles
" Details of burials and cremations at "Žale", die Ljubljana cemetery, were kindly provided by Mr. Anton
Rojc.
" Between winter and spring, sometimes during a very bot summer.
-° Ordy the funeral part is held; exactly the opposite as elsewhere in the world.
184
Out of Tears
and shapes. Contemporary "serial graves" are a competition to the mighty famdy vaults
and chapels. Into the "serial graves" up to 48 John Does are buried, who have nothing
else in common but the time of deadi. The new grave sites take the form of concrete plat-
forms, for tiiey do not perform traditional burials any more, they put the coffin onto the
underground platform. Instead of a gravestone, there is a concrete flower box shaped as a
cross or die letter T (at the end of the row), 2x7 meters in size. They are often empty, or
overgrown with grass. Every flower box has 48 serial numbers which correspond to the
numbers of the coffins. Each deceased is given a plate with his/her name, date of birth
and deadi, usually a picture of the deceased as well. Next to every serial number is a circle-
shaped hole where one can put a vase with flowers. Elower boxes are a metre apart. Be-
tween paraUel rows of graves, there are (covered) underground passages down which a
coffin is lowered onto a platform. Ten to fifteen years after, the burial coffins are lifted^'
and burnt. Thus space for new coffins is provided. Only if the family of the deceased pays
the fee again, his/her name-plate does not disappear.^^
There is also lack of time at Santa Anna cemetery in Trieste. At funerals where
there is no religious service, the family accompanies the coffin from the funeral
home to the grave site. There it is lowered down onto the platform; two workers de-
scend onto the platform and insert the coffin next to its serial number. One of the
workers points out the serial number to the family; a plate containing the personal
information on the deceased is fastened on next to it, and the ceremony is over. As
myself, also the family of the deceased (obviously not used to the "modern funeral")
were surprised not only by the briefness of the ceremony but also by the fact that
they had to get out of the way as quickly as possible since the next coffin was already
being brought out. The funeral which includes religious service is only slightly long-
er; it last 3.48 minutes. After priest's last words and his putting a spade of sod sym-
bolically onto the coffin, the coffin is lowered down onto the platform, and the above
described procedure takes place.
An absolute contrast to these modern, machinedike funerals with which the be-
reaved are faced at crowded city cemeteries, is the Amsterdam cemetery De Nieuwe
Ooster. It is a 33 hectares large, architectonically constructed park and cemetery in
one. Its intimate atmosphere and magnificent monuments offer much more than just a
place to bury or remember your loved ones. The nature and monuments mirror the
spirit of times in a social and cultural sense. Eields of grass, huge old trees and various
shrubbery offer home to birds, hedgehogs, pheasants, rabbits... My attention was
drawn to the great variety (not luxury!) of gravestones. The cemetery is divided into 82
zones by a gravel path. Zones differ in style and shape of gravestones, which are or-
dered by time of death, type of the funeral, nationality of the deceased... The range of
funeral companies is similar to the one in the U.S.A. (described in the next chapter).
Unfortunately there was no opportunity to actually observe the funeral there, stiU I
strongly suspect it to be much different from the one in Trieste.
^' I saw workers pulling decayed coffins out of the ground, with pieces of bones and other remains visible.
The ashes are then probably placed into a special place on cemetery grounds.
ml
Marta Gregorčič
4.  Funeral industry on Internet and the work of
Jessiea Mitford
Undertakers, as they were known back than before all the terminology changed,
were not full-time morticians and usually had another job. Furniture makers made cof-
fers and families took care of the bodies. Someone usually watched the body not for the
"memory picture" but to make sure there were no signs of life. The modern funeral
home was perhaps invented by so entrepreneur who realized he could make money
from supplying all those service goods and service in one place. Once he had enough
money he was then able to get the legislation to back up his rights as a businessman.
Funeral industry? Doubtless! A book of Jassice Mitford: The American Way of Death
uncovers the black sides of the funeral industry and a scepticism, which was raised in
me by this shocking text, and it all went up in smoke when 1 checked the funeral indus-
try on the internet. There are 1132 sites on the web where death is a focal point, 21772
webpages about burial, 13885 webpages about funeral service, 36711 about funeral
home, 3827 webpages about casket... There you can find a mass of funeral services,
funeral homes, funeral directors, memorial service, preplanning, postplanning,-' em-
balming, musicians, florist, body donation, dressing, cosmetics, other body prepara-
tions, viewing, visitation,^* ceremonies, churches, chapels, casket selection,^^ burial
containers, cremation urns selection, refrigeration, mummification, automotive, re-
membrance items,^^ ...(Some of this stuff is not only for people but even for pets.)
If we were ignorant of the dark side of the funeral industry, the idea to help peo-
ple in this dme of need would be highly commendable. Yet in modern society every
great idea is based on profit, and reality shows that the funeral industry is among the
greediest as it makes money out of people's grief The funeral industry managed to
shift and change values around the funeral ceremony. Today d is more about finding
your way between funeral companies' offers than pardng from your loved ones. Firstly,
I will point to a few irregularities and manipulations that I have observed reading the
funeral companies' offers on the Web, and complaints concerning them. The findings
will be backed up by Jessica Mitford's precise criticism.
Firstly, there is a huge discrepancy in prices for identical offers by different funer-
al companies.-" Funeral businessmen keep trying to tell you what would your loved
ones deserve or want. Some funeral services have designed "Funeral Packages" to
Offered by post-need sernces. which support your needs at 'difficuh' time. Some of the valuable post-need
services offered include: providing information and completion of all Veteran, Life Insurance, and Social Security for-
ms, a lending Library, Memorial Programs, assistance in arranging counseling and information on how to deal with
your grief, Children's programs...
" (Private visitation $185.00, half day visitation $285.00, full day visitation $385.00)
For diverse offer of caskets, see Virgil T. GOLDEN Funeral Service casket price list: http://www.golden-
funeralservice.com/cascets.html - and fmd about the funeral industry.
Acnowledgment cards, guest register book, memory folders, prayer cards, liminated obituary, crucifix, me-
morial tribute program, cemetery candle...
" There is up to 400% difference between various offers.
186
Out of Tears
'help' you select appropriate last rites. The funeral director exerts a powerful control
over the after-death system. As a key player in the funeral ceremony, trustee of the
body, and coordinator of related agencies, knowledge of the occupational role of this
deathworker is central to understanding death ritual in modern societies. The empha-
sis for the modern funeral director tends toward the application of 'scientific' tech-
niques to enhance the perception of quality in the product.^^
There is a paradox: on one hand, there are famdies which lose not only a loved
one, and control of their own funeral activities to morticians (the right to celebrate or
grieve as they wish) and on the other, the so-called 'traditional rites', created by busi-
nessmen whose bottom line is profit, control and status.-' Once 'coffins', today 'cas-
kets', in every shape, colour and material of 'surprising quality' which destroys a body
fast; it is not eaten by worms and ants but by moulds in aU shapes and colours.^" Pre-
pay^' plan usually costs much more than funerals bought at time of death; many can't
be cancelled or give little or no refund; many families don't get funerals they bought...
Cybermemorials^^ should express our grief while honouring and commemorating the
people we loved and respect who have died.
Funerals can be roughly divided into immediate (i.e. without ceremony) earth
burials, traditional burials, cremation with ceremony and immediate cremations. Im-
mediate burial is the most often occurrence in the case of indigents or others who are
unable to pay for service. Cremation is forbidden by orthodox Jews, the Parses, Mus-
lims and members of Greek orthodox church. It is customary with Hindus and increas-
ingly so with Christians. With burial, the body decomposes slowly, in nature's time.
With cremation, decomposition is rapid and corresponds to clock time. Natural proc-
esses are assumed to be slow, therefore cremation is an unnatural process. In tradition-
al burial, the corpse is committed to God and the earth, combining the supernatural
and natural dimensions. But modern cremation is a technological ritual which trans-
fers the deceased from one life stage to another and transforms the status of survivors
faster than ever before. Carl the Great forbade cremation in 789 under threat of capital
punishment. Cremation was considered heretic, as it prevented resurrection. The first
For further inforination, see Death, Value, and Meaning Series by John D. Morgan (1993).
® Morticians have destroyed and distorted religious rites and family traditions in order to benefit their profit-
making.
'» More about these Jessica Mitford. Can you really say that you are 'caring', 'honest' and 'reputable' when you
internationally cause the destruction of most famdies' bodies, urge famdies to by harmful cascets, charge exorbitant
markups and prices of them, and don't warn famdies about the destruction?
" Or Pre-arrange your Funeral, Pre-Planning Services, Pre-arrangment On-line, Pre-financing your Funeral...
The funeral industry leaders forced you many excellent reasons to participate in Pre-Need arrangements: to ease the
pain and suffering of your loved ones, your funeral costs are guaranteed in today's money without inflation, you cho-
ose the extent, kind and cost of service vou want, right down to the small detail, you are able to make your wishes
known to your loved ones, your family is not only relieved of the financial responsibUity. they are also able to partici-
pate in the planning, you will avoid conflicts that can arise between famdy menders, you will relive a terrific burden
on your famdy, you can bring peace of mind to yourself and your loved ones...
Some examples: Highgate Cemetry, .New Orleans, Online Memoria, The World Wide Cemetry. DeadiNET.
Rivendell In Memoriam, The Virtual Memorial Garden, The DAV Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fu-e, New
Mexico...
187
Marta Gregorčič
cremation in the U.S.A. was done in 1876 in Washington, the first one in England sev-
en years later (Hatfield, 1993). This procedure was strongly condemned by the Catholic
church (in 1886, 1918 and in 1926).''
Cremation is on increase in the U.S.A., not because it would be fashionable or
because more people would express the wish to be cremated. The so-called "tradition-
al" funerals are reserved for the elite, therefore more and more people decide for
(cheaper) cremation. This being noticed by the funeral director, the cost of cremation
is rising accordingly. "The vast majority of U.S. deaths are followed by a burial, but the
trend is toward cremation. Between 1990 and 1995, the share of U.S. deaths handled by
cremation increased from 17 percent to 21 percent, and the percentage of Americans
who say them plan a cremation for themselves increased from 37 percent to 43 percent.
Cremation is especially popular in trend setting states: 41 percent of deaths are cremat-
ed in California, where social trends are born, and 40 percent are cremated in Florida
and Arizona, where death is almost as common as birth. Interest in cremation in-
creased with age, education, and income... Cremation is also a lot less expensive than a
traditional funeral.... Ashes are returned to families in about 23 percent of cremations;
16 percent are buried or stored in a crematory, and 6 percent are scattered over land or
water. In most cases (54 percent), the cremator simply leaves the ashes with the funeral
director'* In a study of cremation in England Jupp states the individuals who choose
cremation are urban, suburban or newly rural residents, whereas those who choose
earth burial tend to be long-term rural dweUers.
Only a few instances of obvious manipulation by the funeral companies have
been pointed out here; Jessica Mitford's findings are much more upsetting. Mitford's
first investigative study. The American Way of Death (1963)'^ exposes the avarice, com-
mercialism and abuses of the American funeral industry. It quickly became a bestseller
and caused a vigorous national debate over the practices and morality of the funeral
industry. It can be read (now reread) as a hilarious piece of satirical writing and muck-
raking journalism, it exists at a deeper level as a relentless critique of the consumer
society and the manipulation of supply and demand; how American funeral industry
successfully turned the tables in recent years to perpetrate a huge, macabre, and expen-
sive practical joke on the American public. She explored the changing lexicon of death,
in which undertakers had come to call themselves "funeral directors" and "morti-
cians", coffins had become "caskets" and hearses had become "professional cars". In
the new terminology flowers were "floral tributes" and corpses were always caUed
"loved ones", cremated ashes were "cremains", the corpse viewing room were "slum-
ber room", "reposing room"... One of the results of all this was that the cost of dying
was rising faster than the cost of living.
More about it in 'Knjižice' - časopis za duhovno probudo in prosveto (1938/5, no. 119).
^ By Brad Edmondson: The Facts of Death (American Demografphics magazine, April 1997) - bttp://
www.demographics.com/publications/ad/97_ad/9704_ad/ad970427.htm
■'^ Before that book she wrote an article ("St. Peter, Don't You Call Me") as an reaction on mortuary magazines
(The Mortuary Management, Casket and Sunny Side, The Journal of Creative Ideas for Cemeteries...). After that a
Saturday Evening Post writer called Roul Tunley wrote an article called "Can you Afford to Die".
188
Out of Tears
Exactly thirty-five years after the original the edition The American Way of
Death Revisited^" is being published because a lot had changed in the funeral trade
and not many of the changes were for the better. Developments in the industry since
1963, Mitford writes, fall into three broad categories: Cremation, once the best hope
for a low-cost, simple getaway, has become increasingly expensive; furthermore mor-
ticians are fast developing techniques for upgrading this procedure into a full-fig fu-
neral. The Federal Trade Commission's much heralded trade rule has huge loop-
holes. Most sinister of all is the emergence over the last 15 years of monopoly owner-
ship of hitherto independent mortuaries and cemeteries. On top of all that, the price
of mortuary services has risen dramatically; early 1960s figures from the original
edition of the book, Mitford advises, "should be increased tenfold to reflect current
costs", which is to say that the cost of the average funeral has risen from $400 in
1961 to $4,700 today. Funeral industry is a huge business, more and more dominat-
ed by huge corporations that "cluster" the "hearses, hmousines, utdity cars, drivers,
dispatchers, embalmers", and a spectrum of office workers from accountants to data
processors who are kept constantly busy servicing, at vast savings, the needs of a half
dozen or more erstwhde independent funeral homes. The funeral industry may now
be bigger than business than ever, and the cemeteries may have uncovered a rich
new source of income in "the massive 'pre-need' sales campaign" pushing advance
purchase of burial space - money tied up in such sales has risen from $1 bdlion in
1961 to more than $20 billion today - but the name of the game is stdl the same: a
high-pressure business in which everything is couched in euphemismus and evasions
calculated to appeal to the American instincts for sanitation and fantasy. In a better
and perhaps more sensible world, death would be accepted as part of life and treated
accordingly; funerals would be humble and simple, as indeed they are elsewhere in
the world, at least in those places not yet gilded by America's Midas touch (see
Jonathan Yardley, 1998).^'
Mitford wishes to dispel the myths surrounding funerals: that todays funerals are
founded on American tradition; that the public is only being given what it wants - but
the cost of a funeral almost always varies, not 'according to individual tastes' but ac-
cording to what the traffic will bear; and finally there are the psychiatric theories be-
hind the funeral industry for providing 'the lasting memory picture', or last view of the
deceased as well as that of the mortician as a grief therapist. Not only Jessica Mitford,
but also a number of articles and books were published, which point at the irregulari-
ties of the funeral industry and its managers.^' We find an excellent example of funeral
industry in Slovenia in the monopoly firm of Žale Ltd. Due to lack of space and for
" Most chapters {\ Global \ illage ot the Dead, Pay Now - Die Poorer, New Hope tor the Dead ...) Jessica Mi-
tford finished before her unexpected death from cancer in 1996 but what remained to be done was accomplished by
her research and investigative assistant Karen Leonard, Lisa Carlson and Jessica's husband Robert Treuhaft.
''http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPIate/1998-08/02/0281-080298-idx.html
^ .\ few of them are; The High Cost of Dying, Ruth Harmer (1963); The Truth .About Funerals: How to Beat
the High Cost of Dying, Donald Flynn (1993), Canada; Dealing Creatively With Death: A Manual of Death Education
and Simple Burial,'Ernest Morgen (1994), Profits of Death. Darrly J. Roberte (1997)...
189
Marta Gregorčič
aesthetic purposes they rearranged some deserted grave sites and discovered that they
can make a profit out of advance purchase of burial space.''
My own observations of the funeral industry, the literature and articles on the
subject, alongside with information available on the Web, have led me to a conclusion
that there is more to it than abiding to the market laws. The greediness of the funeral
industry and the growing increase of its profit find the support in the bereaved families
who wish to 'get it over with' as quickly as possible regardless of the price. They wish to
dispose of the body quickly, without much mourning and elaborate preparations; fol-
lowing the advice of the funeral director they do exactly so. Does in modern society
money assume the therapeutic role, healing the pain at the loss of a loved one? Would
funeral industry make such a large profit if its job were not to do the dirty work dealing
with the taboo of death, a dead body - over which people in contemporary society tend
to wash their hands by paying for it?
5. The postiitodepn societys iiitroduetion of new rites
and the newly established relationship between the
key moments of the- process
The changes of traditional funeral rites which are becoming more machine-like
and faster to adjust to the complex modern society and way of life, as wed as the emer-
gence of new rites (such as cremation and cybermemorials), brought about new rela-
tionships between the key elements of the process, both in the ceremony itself as well as
in dealing with the loss:
- (de)personalizadon
- (in)formality
- (active or passive) participation
- secularization
- inclusion/exclusiveness
- ritualization/re-ritualization/de-ritualization
- (de)territorialization.
Today's funeral ceremonies are as much about the process of personalization as
about depersonalizadon. In the U.S.A., where funeral industry is most developed, one
can order a specific type of music to be played at the funeral, or choose any type of ve-
hicle they want. Because death is the most personal and irreversible act, the family
wishes to honour the deceased by a respectful, personalized, spontaneous funeral.*"
The Chinese belief that dead are stdl 'living' in another world can be dlustrated by the
Taoist practice of burning paper-made necessities for the dead. These objects are for
the use of the deceased in the afterlife. People most order (paper)cars and houses and
=" More about Žale , Ltd. in "Mladina" (1998/40, pp. 24-25).
" In the U.S.A., while the ashes are being scattered, the mourners make impromptu speeches - are active and
creative in their approach to the service.
190
Out of Tears
even servants and that's not a question of being superstitious or not. Rather people re-
gard such practice as a necessary ceremony, through which they can show their care
and respect for the dead.*' The process of personalization is clearly observed in grave-
stones as well. Once religious symbols, today statues and sculptures are found there,
which symbolize the character traits of the deceased, their hobbies and things they en-
joyed.*^ These new symbols are here to emphasize the deceased as a person. This is es-
pecially true of chddren's graves which are often full of toys in different shapes in
forms; this would probably be regarded as improper by the traditional society.
This type of personalization is a sort of rebeUion against the routine funeral cer-
emonies and depersonalized, standardized society. It is more an example than the rule,
as it usually costs more than the standard ceremony. It is typical of celebrities' funeral
services, which abound with fareweU speeches and everything the funeral industry has
to offer*' On the other hand, personalized elements may be found in village funerals
as well. Alongside, and in accordance to the machine-like, serial burials and the ever-
present lack of time in modern society, there is an increasing process of depersonaliza-
tion. Funerals in Trieste take place every five minutes, and every half an hour at
"Zale". Family and relatives do not take part in the ceremony, but adapt to the stand-
ard pattern of behaviour let by a priest, a funeral director or an ordinary worker (as in
the case of Trieste Santa Anna cemetery). The ceremony itself is very brief, almost in-
stantaneous. With church funerals, the mass takes place a few hours after the funeral,
or not at all.
Depersonalization is paraUel to the increasing degree of formality concerning the
ceremony itself and the speeches. There is usually a standard pattern of the service
known only to the funeral director and his staff, while the family foUows it without
doubting it. Informal, spontaneous speeches while scattering the ashes or an exchange
of one's memories of the deceased is more an exception than the rule. On the other
hand, we can observe an increasing informality of dress and behaviour of the family;
also the setting of the service is no longer a church or a chapel but an outside setting,
especially for urn burials.
Contemporary funeral rites also show the trends of passive participation or the
lack of participation. Only seldom** the family wishes to participate in the service
actively and creatively. In U.S. some traditional rites have been modified to include
ways in which survivors can sing a special song, read a poem they've written for the
occasion, tell a story about the deceased, or share some special experience they had
*' http://www.cufik.hk/iournal/varsity/9503/dea(l.htni
" For instance, at Žale one can see statues and sculptures shaped as a football, an aeroplane, a violin, an ea-
gle, or the bust of the deceased. But this is rare in Slovenia. The graves at the Amsterdam cemetery are more persona-
lized, especially the recently built ones. There are not only gravestones but almost gardens, 1 m' large, with various
types of decorations: pebbles, flowers, statuettes, toys, sea-shells,... which are pleasant to look at and not at all kitschy.
" A funeral ceremony is personalized when the family can afford it.
" This is mostly the case in the U.S.A. In Slovenia, in accurs mostly in rural areas, in a village in the Brkini
area for instance, the whole village bids farewell to die deceased and organizer the funeral. Institutions play only a
minor part (arrange the transport of the body from the hospital, for instance).
191
Marta Gregorčič
with the deceased. In some instances today, especially in cremation ceremonies
where the ashes are scattered, the ceremony's officiator may do litde more than coor-
dinate the logistics of everyone's participation rather than be the center of ceremo-
ny. Yet again this is far less common than the everyday unparticipatory, machine-like
funerals. Jessica Mitford's texts show that it is the funeral directors that are often the
subject of the ceremony, not the deceased themselves or their families for whose sake
it actually takes place.
Another element of contemporary funeral rites, as well as gravestones, is secular-
isation. Funerals are held in secular locations, without the presence of clergy, without
religious liturgies, music, and symbols. No distinction is made between consecrated
and secular ground. Masses like The Seventh Day or The Thirtieth Day are rarely
served in the cities, usually by request only, and even then the church is more or less
empty.*' Opposed to secularization are fear of death, of the unknown, fear of God,
which was clear from the 1991 Public Opinion PoU: 73% considered some sort of reli-
gious service to be necessary at a funeral, even though only 23% claimed they believed
in life after death, 37% in the eternal soul and 55% believed in God.**
Reflecting our society's complex relationships and increasing religious, racial,
ethnic and cultural diversity, some of our ceremonies and memorials are today more
inclusive. Today's funeral processions are by far more heterogeneous than they used
to be; its participants are often strangers to each other or are even involved in some
'dispute' (e.g. the third husband, a half-sister, mixed families, co-workers from dif-
ferent jobs, etc.). With geographic and social mobility, integrated workplaces, an
increasing number of multiracial families and individuals, and immigration from all
parts of the world, survivors also are more likely to be of different religions, national-
ities, ethnicities or regions then the deceased. Social and geographic mobility
(globalization, re-territorialization) set distance between various parts of the family
and demand the understanding of social tradition. The changes allow or demand a
shift in cultural values. Ideologies and institutions were scrutinized and often found
lacking.
Deritualization or at least reritualization is another process which has its
source in the funeral industry, as well as serial, machine-like funerals. The change of
values concerning the funeral rites brings about people's view of a funeral as being
the necessary evd - this used to be a tradition, so we put up with it and carry it out
mechanically. Deritualization (or reritualization), depersonalization, formality, de-
participation, secularization, reterritorialization and exclusiveness are an integral
part of the modern and the postmodern society and as such of affect the course of
the funeral service as well. Contemporary, machine-like funeral rites with their
speedy, confusing 'ritualization' reflect the state of the modern society. To hold on
to the old forms and adjust then to the new circumstances, the lack of time and
*^ Nowadays, Christianity is facing the so-called "personal belief. A more individualized way of life deepens
this belief, which then affects the presence at the service, the symbols...
* Toš, Niko: Public Opinion Research Centre (Slovensko javno mnenje 1991/1).
192
Out of Tears
space, new processes, a new manner of accommodation, acceptance and dealing with
the loss. As the funeral itself, death does not hold our attention for long. Death used
to be the centre of life, as the cemetery used to be in the centre of the city. It was a
part of the everyday life. Death today does not exist!
6.  Ileatli - tlir taboo of postitioclernMy - as it shows
itself thpoMgli the act of the fp:neral.
Contrasted to the collective spirit of the traditional society (in which death is ex-
plained, classified, defined and placed under control) there is the individual; left en-
tirely to his own resources in operationalizing the phenomenon of death. Old explana-
tions appear to be obsolete, the new ones unconvincing. This brings about an existen-
tial crisis. Autonomy of nature and higher forces, dynamism, differentiation, complexi-
ty, formalization and univerzalization transform the dead into an obsession of the sub-
conscious. According to Geoffrey Gorer death is hiding behind closed doors; Aries sees
the shame and fear of death in its non-existence. Carl Gustav Jung treated people who
did not ask themselves questions about Death and its dramatic effects but pretended to
be 'mature',' modern' and 'smart' in believing that Death does not exist. Today Jung
would need to treat the entire society? And what would he say to the contemporary
therapy - money, which (un)successfully treats the sense of loss. Death is perceived as
frightening and shameful, one is not supposed to talk about it if one does not want to
be classified as a Frommian necrophde. Fromm's definition of a necrophde states that
one is attracted to everything dead, decaying; one is interested in disease, death and
funerals. Fromm characterized Hitler as an ideal of a necrophde, and claimed Carl
Gustav Jung was one, too.
"Radical" funeral rites and "the industry" behind them were the main focus of
this paper. They introduce new relationships between the processes occurring simulta-
neously with the changes in the society and to some extent resulting from them. Ma-
chine-like funerals, devoid of values and the shadow fareweU from the deceased cannot
be regarded as a future trend but as a warning that in the contemporary postmodern
society the processes of modernization and urbanization lead to unacceptance of death
and to denial (or, with the growing deritualization or re-ritualization, non-existence of)
of pain. There is, in fact, no sense of loss any longer. Finally, death ceases to exist as
itself. It is not an object to values, we do not speak about it, do not see the body - the
dead simply vanish, and the only consequence of it is the cost of the funeral.
"But if postmodernity transforms the way we approach dead, one might also ask
whether death chaUenges postmodernity? Can there really be a postmodern death,
characterised by irony, paradox and playfulness of postmodern life, or does death re-
veal a more serious need for meaning the undermines postmodernity? This should
surely be an important question for theorists of postmodernity, as well as for those con-
cerned to understand the social construction of death and dying" (Walter, 1993:267).
Deadi presents a chaUenge to die postmodernity. Will cemeteries turn into expensive
193
Marta Gregorčič 1
waste disposals? Will death be left to the mercy of hiper-modernization, its urban, cul-
tural, social and global effects? Are we going to go on gardening and competing about
the size, quality, etc. of gravestones, sculptures...? Or will the dead come to life in our
memory, with their dignity restored?
LITERATURE see page 177
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Marta Gregorčič, študentka 4. letnika socio-
logije (analitsko-teoretska sociologija, smer social-
na politika in socialni razvoj) na Fakulteti za
družbene vede Univerze v Ljubljani. ^
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marta Gregorčič is a fourth grade student
of sociology (analytical-theoretical sociology, the
programme: social politics and social develop-
ment) at the Faculty for Social Sciences, University
of Ljubljana.
194
VEROVANJE O VODI KOT O MEJI MED
SVETOVOMA ŽIVIH IN MRTVIH*
Mirjam Mencej
Ključne besede: smrt, dežela mrtvih, voda, ločnica med svetovoma živih in mrtvih, verovanja
V tem članku bom pisala o verovanju, ki je razširjeno v mnogih deželah sveta,
najdemo pa ga tudi pri Slovanih, namreč o verovanju, po katerem gre duša na svoji poti
na drugi svet prek neke vode, kar pomeni, da je voda pravzaprav ločnica med svetom
živih in svetom mrtvih.
To verovanje se kaže iz mnogih ljudskih pesmi, zagovorov, molitev, rekonstruira-
mo ga lahko tudi iz šeg ob smrti, na tem mestu pa se bom omejila prvenstveno na zapi-
se verovanj oziroma na tisto slovstveno folkloro in šege, ki so s tem verovanjem neposre-
dno povezani.
Eksplicitno lahko najdemo tako predstavo zapisano recimo v Bolgariji, kjer me-
nijo, da duša »potem, ko pride do polja, pride do neke široke in globoke reke, ki je že
meja med tem in onim svetom« (Marinov, 1994: 331). Prav tako poznajo Srbi predstavo
o Jovanovi strugi kot vhodu na drugi svet (Cajkanovič, 1994: 42). V vologodski pokraji-
ni pa so verjeli, da duša na štirideseti dan po smrti prečka t. i. »Pozabiti reko« in tedaj
pozabi vse, kar se je dogajalo na tem svetu (Uspenski, 1982: 56). Večinoma pa lahko
najdemo to verovanje povezano z določenimi šegami in raznimi sorodnimi verovanji.
Pogosto jo najdemo povezano s šegami prilaganja denarja umrlemu. Tako so v Odrancih
v Prekmurju v Sloveniji umrlemu otroku dali drobiž v pest, ker ga bo »potreboval za
brod, če se bo na onem svetu peljal čez vodo« (Rešek, 1979: 56). Tudi v Bosni, Srbiji in
Črni gori so prilagali kovanec umrlemu kot »plačdo za prevoz na otok blaženih«
(Drobnjakovič, 1960: 161). Na Poljskem vsi zbrani na pogrebu prestopijo potok in
vržejo v vodo kak kovanec za prevoz, da bi imel umrli s čim plačati prevoz na drugi svet
za morje. Prav tako v Ukrajini, ponekod tudi v Rusiji, denar darujejo za prevoz prek
reke (Fischer, 1921: 176).
* Članek je skrajšano poglavje iz knjige z naslovom Voda v predstavah starih Slovanov o posmrtnem življenju
in šegah ob smrti, ki je izšla v Ljubljani leta 1997.
195
Mirjani Mencej
Drugo področje, kjer lahko najdemo to predstavo, predstavljajo verovanja o mo-
stu, brvi oziroma dlaki, prek katerih gre duša na drugi svet. To je sicer zelo razširjen
motiv, ki ga najdemo tudi v krščanskih in islamskih apokalipsah in v tradiciji srednjeve-
škega Zahoda, najdemo pa ga tudi v Srbiji (na primer v banatski Klisuri, banatski Crni
gori, v južnem Banatu, pri Srbih v okolici Sikloša in v Romuniji ter južni Madžarski, v
Leskovački Moravi in okolici Svrljiga, v Užicah, okolici Kosjerića in vaseh okoli Požege)
in ponekod v Bolgariji (podonavske vasi), kjer verjamejo, da pride duša v raj prek mo-
sta/brvi/dlake (Zečevič, 1975: 151; 1982: 28, 29).
V teh verovanjih sicer ni eksplicitno povedano, da most/brv/dlaka vodijo prek
vode, lahko pa potrditev za to morda najdemo tudi v šegah zlasti v vzhodni Srbiji, če-
prav je po drugi strani res, da je prebivalstvo vzhodne Srbije narodnostno zelo mešano
in da iz poročila ni jasno, kdo so akterji te šege: tam namreč na štirideseti dan po smrti
(to je dan, ko duša po verovanju odide iz območja živih) oziroma kadar spuščajo vodo za
umrlega, polagajo brv prek vode, in sicer zato, da bi duši olajšali pot in bi lažje prišla na
drugo stran (Zečevič, 1975: 151; 1982: 29).
Deloma se verovanje o prehodu duše prek mostu/brvi/dlake na drugi svet na-
vezuje tudi na drugi sklop verovanj, v katerem je po mojem mnenju prav tako skrito
verovanje o vodi, ki ločuje oba svetova med seboj - to so deloma že krščansko obarvana
verovanja o peklu in nebesih, ki sta locirana drug ob drugem, duša pa prek pekla (vča-
sih spet po brvi/ dlaki/mostu) pride (ali ne pride - odvisno pač od teže grehov) v nebe-
sa. Taka verovanja najdemo na primer v Crni gori in Srbiji (Vukanović, 1935: 127-128;
Nodilo, 1981: 39; Zečevič, 1982: 28-29), razvidna pa so tudi iz nekaterih, tudi hrvaških,
ljudskih pesmi, kot na primer Ognjena Marija v peklu (Karadzic, 1969/2, str. 13-15; št.
4; Črna gora). Mati svetega Petra (Karadzic, 1969/1: 100-101; št. 208), Mačuha u peklu
(Hrvatske narodne pjesme kajkavske 1950: 279; št. 334; pri Ozlju) idr.
Toda, če v vseh teh pesmih in verovanjih o prehodu na drugi svet (raj) prek pekla,
ki je pred nebesi, voda ni omenjena, pa jo najdemo v predstavi o poti duše v onstranstvo
na praktično istem območju:
"[/ istočnoj Srbiji, gde je kult mrtvih do naših dana dobro očuvan u svojim starijim
varijantama, narod je verovao da se posle prolaska kroz opisani međuprostor (v katerem
človek vidi slike iz svojega življenja - op. M. M.) stiže do ulaza na drugi svet. Tu se prelazi
preko uskoga brvna koje premoščuje duboku provaliju. Kod mosta čekaju sudije koje re-
šavaju 0 daljnjoj sudbini prispelog pokojnika. Zatim duša stupa na brvno koje je ovde
nazivano i "rajski most". Ako je duša pravedna, lako prolazi u večito boravište, a ako je
grešna, gubi oslonac i pada u ambis. Na dnu provalije je "jad" - zagađerm voda purm
svakojake gamadi. U njoj se duša muči i čisti pa posle očiščenja i ona prolazi u večno bo-
ravište (...) Opisano verovanje bilo je opšte pozrmto kod svih etničnih grupa istočne Sr-
bije, a bilo je rašireno i medu srpskim življem u Mađarskoj i Rumuniji, gde se pod pri-
tiskom Turaka naselio."'
V teh pričevanjih se na tistem mestu, kjer se je v prejšnjih poročdih nahajal pekel
(prek katerega mora duša v nebesa), nahaja "jad" - voda, čeprav zastrupljena in polna
' S. Zečevič, 1982, str. 27-28.
196
Verovanje o vodi kot o meji med svetovoma živih in mrhih
golazni. Beseda jad, ad je izpeljanka iz starogrškega Had(es) - podzemni svet. Pri neka-
terih pravoslavnih Slovanih (npr Bolgarih, Rusih) je beseda postala sinonim za pekel
(Skok, 1971: 8). Enak pomen lahko zasledimo tudi v tem srbskem verovanju. Beseda
jad in hkrati z njo morda tudi voda (v grškem mitu mora tisti, ki bi rad dospel v Had,
prepluti reko v Haronovem brodu) v tej predstavi sta torej posledici grškega vpliva, ven-
dar pa je za nas zanimivo to, da je beseda jad (ki je tu predstavljena kot voda) postala
sinonim prav za besedo pekel. Zdi se, da je "pekel" prekril stare slovanske predstave o
vodi oz. onstranstvu. Jezikoslovno tega sicer ni mogoče potrditi. Beseda pekel, ki je vse-
slovenska in praslovanska, pomeni pa "smolo, katran", izhaja po Skokovem mnenju iz
indoevropskega korena *poi-, ki pomeni "Feuchtigkeit, Salt, Fett, Harzstrotzen itd."
(Skok: 1972: 58, 8), po mnenju F. Bezlaja pa iz ide. osnove *p-k- in ne kaže na etimolo-
ško zvezo z besedo voda (Bezlaj, 1995: 22). Po mnenju Pokornyja izhaja morda iz iste
ide. osnove *pi-k- kot pekel tudi beseda vig, vihe v srednje nižji nemščini s pomenom
"Sumpf, Bruch" (močvirje). To je edina jezikovna paralela med peklom in vodo (Pokor-
ny, 1959: 793-794; za podatek se najlepše zahvaljujem gospe Metki Furlan).
Domnevo, da sta se predstavi o peklu in vodi združili, pa morda potrjujejo prime-
ri iz slovstvene folklore, npr pesmi o Mikuli - Nikoli, ki je v ljudskem verovanju po-
nekod očitno predstavljal vodnika na drugi svet. V ukrajinski folklori, na primer, lahko
nastopa v vlogi vodnika duš (nekdaj Velesa) sv. Nikola ali hudič (Uspenski, 1982: 57):
V srbski različici Ilija pozove Nikolo:
"Ta ustani, Nikola,
da idemo u goru,
da pravimo korabe,
da vozimo dušice
s ovog sveta na onaj!..."
(Največi grijesi, Karadzic, 1969/1: 101-102, št. 209)
Medtem ko je v srbski različici omenjena voda, prek katere vozi Mikula duše na
drugi svet, pa se v hrvaških različicah smisel Mikulinega potovanja sicer izgubi, v vodi
pa se pojavi predstavnik pekla - hudič, ki prebiva "doh" - v vodi, o katerem ni v srbski
pesmi ne duha ne sluha:
"Sveti Mikula slatko spi Počne kamen tonuti
na srdajcu knjigu šti. i rumelje plivati
Njemu Diva dohodi Skoči Mikula na jarbor.
Pa Mikuh besidi: na jarboru huda stvar:
"Ustaj, ustaj, Mikula, "Hodi doh medu nas!"
uzmi teslu i bradvu, ""Očenaša ne umim,
pa ga hodi u goru, "Zdrave Marije " ne umim,
pa posid zelen bor, i hudog sam meštra bija,
pa ga nosi u Isusov dvor, i hudo me naučijo."
pa udilaj barkicu,
napuni ji kamena
i božjega rumena." (Delorko, 1982: 330; št. 52; otok Zlarin)
197
Mirjam Mencej
"Svet' Mikula sanak sni,
na srdajcu knjigu šti,
k njemu Gospe dolazi
i Mikuli govori:
"Stan, Mikula, sinko moj,
uzmi teslu i sikiru,
pa ti pojdi u goru
i prisiči zelen bor,
svetog Petra vičnji dvor,
pa uzimi korablju
i š njon plovi po moru!"
Kada Miko uz jarbol,
na jarbolu huda stvar:
"Sadi doli, huda stvar,
sadi doli medu nas
i govori Oče naš!"
"Očenaša ja ne znan.
Zdravu Mariju ne umin,
hudobna san meštra stala,
nisan mu se deletala!"
Pa je capa za kose,
pa je baca na brode
pa je siče na peče
pa je sunu u more;
kuj su peče padale,
pijavice igrale,
kuj Mikula idaše,
tu bonaca bijaše!"
(Sveti Nikola i sotona,
Delorko, 1969: 85-86; Dalmacija)
Deloma je morda ohranjena pot v raj prek vode, v kateri se pojavi "hudo stvor"
(prim, še slovenske različice pesmi Sv. Miklavž in hudoba; Slovenske ljudske pesmi,
1981/11., 420425; št. 125), še v razhčici z otoka Visa:
"Sveti Mike dite Use,
Sridu i petak zezinase.
Zato niko ne znadijaše
Nego mojka ko ga rodi
I babica ka ga doji.
Kad je Mike ponarasta,
Pa poj vodit rumuniju
Sveton Petru rojskin puten.
Vazme Mike sikiricu
I ubere jedan bur
Za napravit dvo vesliča!
Barkica se učinila,
Barkica se porinila.
Isol Mike s njon plovil.
Al barkica počne tonit!
Obazre se Mike najorbul,
Na jorhulu hudo stvor.
I govori Mike non:
Hodi doli, hudo stvor,
I molimo Ocenos
I Zdravo Mariju
Tad mu mojka progovara:
Idi, Mike, u goricu
Pa posici jedon bur
za izgradit moli brud,
I posici dvo boriča
Za udilat dvo vesliča,
Za Divicu Mariju!
Al govori hudo stvor:
Ne zjmn nwlit Ocenos,
A Mariju ne poznajen!
Jo son s huden mestrun stola
I hudu son skulu naučila.
Kad to cuje Mikula,
Unje isol najorbul;
Uze hudu stvor za vlose
I baci je u more.
Kako hudo stvor tonuse,
Tako barkica cvotuse!
Onda pojde vodit rumuniju
Sveton Petru rojskin puten.
' M. Oreb, 1979, str. 189-190 (otok Vis).
198
Verovanje o vodi kot o meji med svetovoma živih in mrtvih
Če bi hoteli dejansko potrditi domnevo o tem, daje pekel sčasoma izrind oziroma
nadomestil vodo kot vhod oz. prehod na drugi svet, bi morali seveda narediti o tem
širše raziskave, \endar pa je zanimiv že površen pregled krajevnih imen Pekel v Slove-
niji - kraji, ki nosijo to ime, so namreč zelo pogosto povezani z vodo.
LITERATURA
BEZLAJ France, 1995: Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika, Tretja knjiga, P-S, Ljubljana.
ČAJKANOVIČ, 1994: O vrhovnom bogu u staroj srpskoj religiji, Beograd.
DELORKO Ohnko, 1982: Narodne pjesme otoka Zlarina, Povijest i tradicije otoka Zlarina, Zagreb.
DROBNJ.\KO\TČ Borivoje, 1960: Etnologija naroda JugosUivije L, Beograd.
FISCHER Adam, 1921: Zuyczaje pogrzeboice ludu polskiego, Lwow.
HRVATSKE narodne pjesme kajkavske, 1950: Zagreb.
KARADZIC Vuk Stefanović. 1969: Srpske narodne pjesme, knjiga 14, Beograd 1969.
M.AR1N0V Dimiter, 1994: Narodna vjara i religiozni narodni običai, Sofija.
NODILO Natko, Stara vjera Srba i Hrvata, Split 1981.
POKORNY Julius, 1959: Indogermanisches Etymologisches Worterbuch, Bern.
REŠEK Dušan, 1979: Verovanja ob Muri in Rabi, Murska Sobota.
SKOK Petar, 1971: Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, I. knjiga, Zagreb.
SKOK Petar, 1972: Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, II. knjiga, Zagreb.
SLOVENSKE ljudske pesmi, 1981: Pripovedne pesmi, II. Knjiga (uredniki Zmaga Kumer, MUko Matičetov, Valens
Vodušek), Ljubljana.
USPENSKI B. A., 1982: Filologičeskie raziskanija r o6/as(i slavjanskih drevnostej, Moskva.
VUKANOVIČ Tatomir, 1935: Verovanje u drugi svet kod Crnogoraca u Kosanici, Glasnik etnografskog muzeja, knjiga
10, Beograd, str. 127-128.
ZEČEVIČ Slobodan, 1975: Kult mrtvih i samrtni običaji u okolini Bora, Glasnik etnografskog muzeja 38. Beograd, str.
147-168.
ZEČEVIČ Slobodan, 1982: Kuk mrtvih kod Srba, Beograd.
199
BELIEFS ABOUT WATER AS A BOUNDARY
BETWEEN THE WORLD OF THE LIVING AND
THE WORLD OF THE DEAD*
Mirjam Mencej
Key words: death, the country of the dead, tvater, the border between the worlds of the living and the
dead, the beliefs
In this article, I'm going to write about a belief that is widespread in many coun-
tries throughout the world and can also be found among Slavic peoples. According to
this belief, the soul, on its way to the other world, passes across some water, which
means that water is in fact a separating line between the world of the living and the
world of the dead.
This belief is evident in numerous folk songs, chants, and prayers and can also be
reconstructed from funerary rites and customs. In this article, 1 wiU confine myself pri-
marily to written accounts of beliefs or to that folk literature and folk customs that are
directly connected with this belief.
Such a notion can be found written down explicitly in Bulgaria, for example,
where people reckon that the soul, "after reaching a field, arrives to some kind of wide
and deep river, which is the boundary between this and the other world" (Marinov,
1994; p. 331). Similarly, Serbs are familiar with the notion of Jovan's river (Jovanova
struga) as being the entrance to the other world (Cajkanovic, 1973, p. 328). In the Vol-
ogodskaja region in Russia, it was believed that on the 40th day after death the soul of
the dead crossed the so-caUed "Forget River," diereby forgetting everything that had
happened in this world (Uspensky, 1982, p. 56). Most often, however, this belief can be
found in connection with particular customs and related beliefs. Frequently, this idea
is linked with the custom of giving money to the dead. In Odranci, in Slovenia's region
of Prekmurje, coins were placed in a deceased child's feast because the child would
need them "for the boat, if in the other world he or she crossed the water" (Rešek,
1979, p. 56). In Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro a coin was also given to the dead as
"payment for transportation to the island of the blessed" (Drobnjaković, 1960, p. 161).
* This paper is an abridged version of a chapter from the book entided Water in the Concepts about Life after
Death and Funerary Riles of Ancient Slaves, pubhsbed in Ljubljana in 1997.
200
Beliefs about Water as a Boundary between the World of the Living and the World of the Dead
In Poland, all the people gathered at a funeral cross a creak and throw a coin in the
water so that the deceased would have something to pay for being ferried across the sea
to the other world. In Ukraine and some parts of Russia, too, money is given to the
dead person for transportation across the river (Fischer, 1921, p. 176).
.Another area where dus notion can also be found is represented by the beliefs about
a bridge, a footbridge or a hair over which the soul of the dead passes to die other world.
This motif, which is very widespread in Christian and Islamic apocalypse narratives and
in Western medieval traditions, is also found in Serbia (for instance in Klisura and Crna
gora in the Banat region, in southern Banat and among the Serbs living in the vicinity of
Sikloš, in Romania and southern Hungary, in Leskovačka Morava, around Svrljig, in
Uzice, in die vicinity of Kosjerić, in the vdlages around Požega) and in some places in
Bulgaria (viUages along the Danube) where people believe that the soul comes to paradise
over a bridge/footbridge/hair (Zečević, 1975, p. 151; 1982, pp. 28, 29).
These beliefs do not state explicitly that the bridge/footbridge/hair leads over
water, but an affirmation of this may perhaps be found in the customs practiced chiefly
in eastern Serbia (although it is true that the population of eastern Serbia is highly
mixed ethnically and that the report in question does not make it clear who are the
practitioners of this custom). There is a custom in these parts to lay a footbridge across
water, on the 40th day after one's death or when water is AeU for the deceased, so as to
make it easier for the soid to reach the other side (Zečević, 1975, p. 151; 1982, p. 29).
The belief that the soul passes to the other world over a bridge/footbridge/hair is
partly linked with another body of beliefs that, in my view, also cloak the belief about
water separating the two worlds. These are beliefs, already partially tinted by Christianity,
about bed and heaven, located side by side, and through hell (sometimes over a foot-
bridge/hair/bridge) the soul goes to heaven (or not, depending on the gravity of its sins).
Such beliefs are found, for instance, in Montenegro and Serbia (Vukanovič, 1935, pp.
127-128; Noddo, 1981, p. 39; Zečević, 1982, pp. 28-29). They are also evident from some
Croatian and other folk songs, such as Fiery Marry in Hell (Karadzic, 1969/2, pp. 13-15;
no. 4; Montenegro), St. Peter's Mother (Karadzic, 1969/1, pp. 100-101; no. 208), Stepmoth-
er in Hell (Hravtske narodne pjesme kajkavske, 1959, p. 279; no. 334; near Ozelj), etc.
Whde in all these songs and beliefs about the passage to the other world (para-
dise) through hell, which is before heaven, water is not mentioned, the latter, however,
can be found in the notion about the soul's journey to die other world that was held by
people living in practically the same territory:
»In eastern Serbia, where the cult of the dead has been well preserved in its older
variations till the present day, people believed that after passing through the described
»interspace« (in which man sees the images of his life - note by M. M.) a deceased person
arrives at the gate to the other world. Here, the soul of the dead passes over a narrow
bridge across a deep chasm. At the bridge, judges are waiting who decide the future fate
of the deceased. Then the soul steps onto the bridge, which is also called -the bridge of
paradise<: here. If the soul is righteous, it can proceed to the eternal dwelling, but if it is
sinful, it loses support and falls into the abyss. At the bottom of the chasm, there is »jad« -
dirty water full of vermin of all kinds. In it, such a soul is tortured and purged, and when
201
Mirjam Mencej
it is purified it too can pass into the eternal dwelling... The described belief was generally
known to all ethnic groups in eastern Serbia, but it was also spread among the Serbian
population in Hungary and Romania, where it settled under the pressure of the Turks.-'
In these accounts, »jad« - water, although poisoned and full of vermin - is found
in places where previous reports mentioned hell (through which the soul must go in
order to reach heaven). The word jad or ad is a derivative from the old Greek word
Hades — the underworld. Among some orthodox Slaves (e.g. Bulgarians, Russians) the
word has become a synonym for hell (Skok, 1971, p. 8). The same meaning is also
found in this Serbian belief. The word jad and perhaps also water (in Greek mythology
the one who would like to come to Hades has to cross the River Styx in Charon's boat)
in this notion,_are therefore a consequence of Greek influence. For us, it is interesting
that the word jad (which is represented here as water) has become a synonym for hell. It
seems that »hell« has superseded the ancient Slavic ideas about water and the other
world. This, however, cannot be confirmed linguistically. The word »pekel« (which is
Slovenian for hell) is a pan-Slavic and ancient-Slavic word meaning »resin, tar« and de-
rives, according to Skok, from the Indo-European root *poi-, which means »Feuchtig-
keit, Saft, Fett, Harzstrotzen etc.« (Skok, 1972, pp. 58, 8). According to F. Bezlaj, howev-
er, it derives from the Indo-European basis *pi-k- and does not point to any etymologi-
cal link with the word water (Bezlaj, 1995, p. 22). In Pokorny's view, the word vi(g),
vibe, meaning »Sumpf, Bruch (swamp) in middle Low German, may derive from the
same Indo-European basis *pi-k- as the Slovenian word »pekel.« This is the only linguis-
tic paraUel between hell and water (Pokorny, 1959; pp. 793-794; for this data we thank
Ms. Metka Furlan).
The assumption that the notions of hell and water might have merged is perhaps
confirmed by examples from Slovenian folklore, e.g. from the song about Mikula -
Nikola, who in popular beliefs in some areas apparently represented the guide to the
other world. In Ukrainian folklore, for instance, either St. Nicholas or the devil can
have the role of the guide of souls, which was previously played by Veles, the ancient
Slavic god of death (Uspensky, 1982, p. 57):
In the Serbian version, Ilija summons Nikola:
»Ta ustani, Nikola,
da idemo u goru,
da pravinw korabe,
da vozimo dušice
s ovog sveta na onaj!...«
{Najveći grijesi, Karadzic, 1969/1, pp. 101-102, no. 209)
While the Serbian version mentions water, across which Mikula drives souls to
the other world, in the Croatian versions of the same song the sense of Mikula's travel is
lost but in water the representative of hell - the devil, who resides »down there,« in
water - appears, of whom there is no mention in the Serbian version:
' S. Zečević, 1982, pp. 27-28.
202
Beliefs about Water as a Boundary between the World of the Living and the World of the Dead
»Sveti Mikula slatko spi
na srdajcu knjigu šti.
Njemu Diva dohodi
pa Mikuli besidi:
»Ustaj, ustaj, Mikula,
uzmi teslu i bradvu,
pa ga hodi u goru,
pa posici zelen bor,
pa ga nosi u Isusov dvor,
pa udilaj barkicu,
napuni ji kamena
i božjega rumena.«
Počne kamen tonuti
I rumelje plivati
Skoči Mikula na jarbor,
na jarboru huda stvar:
»Hodi doli medu nas!«
» 'Očenaša' ne umim,
'Zdrave marije' ne umim,
i hudog sam meštra bija,
i hudo me naučija.«
(Delorko, 1982, p. 330; no. 52; 203]
the island of Zlarin).       ;
»Svet' Mikula sanak sni,
na srdajcu knjigu šti,
k njemu Gospe dolazi
i Mikuli govori:
»Stan, Mikula, sinko moj,
uzmi teslu i sikiru,
pa ti pojdi u goru
i prisiči zelen bor,
svetog Petra vičnji dvor,
pa uzmi korablju
i š njon plovi po moru!«
Kada Miko uz jarbol,
na jarbolu huda stvar:
»Sadi doli, huda stvar,
sadi doli medu nas
i govori Oče naš!«
"Očenaša ja ne znan.
Zdravu Mariju ne umin,
hudobna san meštra stala,
nisan mu se delatala!«
Pa je čapa za kose,
pa je baca na brode
pa je siče na peče
pa je sunu u more:
kuj su peče padale,
pijavice igrale,
kuj Mikula idaše,
tu bonaca bijaše!«
(Saint Nicholas and Satan,
Delorko, 1969, pp. 85-86; Dalmatia)
The path to paradise across water in which »hudo stvor,« a wicked creature, ap-
pears (see also the Slovenian version of the song called St. Nicholas and Fiend, in Kum-
er et al., 1981/11, pp. 420425; no. 125) is perhaps also partly preserved in the version
from the island of Vis:
»Sveti Mike dite bise,
Sridu i petak zezinase.
Zato niko ne znadijaše
Nego mojka ko ga rodi
I babica ka ga doji
Kad je Mike ponarasta,
Tad mu mojka progovara:
Idi, Mike, u goricu
Pa posici jedon bur
Za izgradit moli brud,
I posici dvo borića
Za udilat dvo vesliča.
Mirjam Mencej
Pa poj vodit rumuniju
Sveton Petru rojskin puten.
Vazme Mike sikiricu
I ubere jedan bur
Za rmpravit dvo veslića!
Barkica se učinila,
Barkica se porinila.
Isol Mike s njon plavit,
Al barkica počne tonit!
Obazre se Mike najorbul.
Na jorbulu hodo stvor.
I govori Mike non:
Hodi doli, hudo stvor,
I molimo Ocenos
I Zdravo Mariju
Za Divicu mariju!
Al govori hudo stvor:
Ne znan molit Ocenos,
A Mariju ne poznajen!
Jo son s huden mestrun stola
I huda son skulu naučila.
Kad to cuje Mikula,
Un je isol na jorbul;
Uze huda stvor za vlose
I baci je u more.
Kako hudo stvor tonuse.
Tako barkica cvotuse!
Onda pojde vodit rumuniju
Sveton Petru rojskin puten.«^
If we really wanted to confirm the assumption that hell gradually ousted or re-
placed water as the entrance or passage to the other world, we would have to make
more extensive research into this topic. But even a superficial survey of the places in
Slovenia bearing the name Pekel (hell) is very interesting: it reveals that these places
are very often linked with water.
REFERENCES see page 199
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Mirjam Mencej. mag., je magistrirala s po-
dročja primerjalne slovanske mitologije. Kot mla-
da raziskovalka je zaposlena na Oddelku za etnolo-
gijo in kulturno antropologijo Filozofske fakultete
v Ljubljani, kjer pripravlja doktorsko nalogo. Izda-
la je knjigo Voda v predstavah starih Slovanov o
posmrtnem življenju in šegah ob smrti (1997) in
objavila več člankov o slovanski mitologiji.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mirjam Mencej got her M.A. in the field of
the Comparative Slavic Mythology. She is em-
ployed as a junior research fellow at the Depart-
ment of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Fa-
culty of Arts, Ljubljana. She is preparing her
Ph.D. at the same department. She has published
a book Water in the Old Slavic Notions of Life af-
ter Death and in their Customs at Death (1997).
She has also published several articles about Sla-
vic mythology.
' M. Oreb, 1979, pp. 189-190 (otok Vis).
204
THE EARTHLY LOCI OF DEATH: THE COFFIN,
THE GRAVE, THE CEMETERY
Anna Plotnikova
IZVLEČEK
Zemeljski prostori smrti: krsta, grob, pokopališče
V pričujočem članltu avtorica preučuje različna ljudska verovanja in obrede, povezane s krsto, grobom in
pokopališčem. Tipično arhaično slovansko dojemanje življenja po smrti je delitev na dva svetova. Ljudje
verjamejo, da gre umrli "stran" na "drugi svet", kjer najde svoj prostor: "dom", "vas umrlega". Utelešenje
takšnih podob so prostori, povezani z umrlim: krsta, grob, pokopališče, ki jih označujejo poteze posamez-
nika in kolektivnega doma umrlega. Pogrebne šege, ljudska verovanja in uporaba besed, povezanih s smr-
tjo, potrjujejo tezo, da so krsta, grob in pokopališče slovanski simboli sveta na drugem svetu. Ujemajo se z
bivanjem v življenju.
Krsta (v ruskem dialektu - dom, domovina, domovišče, horominaj je včasih urejena kot hiša: ima luknje
ali okna ter sliko z izvezeno brisačo, ki je v njenem kotu. Grob je pogosto urejen kot hiša (rusko hatka), vrt
ali dvorišče. Vedenje, predpisano rm pokopališču, je pogojeno s tveganjem ostajanja na obmačju umrlega,
kjer vse pripada umrlemu: tla, rože, drevesa, sadje in drugo. Ljudje verjamejo, da umrli v določenem času
hodijo in obiskujejo drug drugega na ozemlju pokopališča. Tako je pokopališče kot območje umrlih v na-
sprotju z vasjo - naseljem živih. V članku avtorica opisuje tudi kompleksne odnose med prostori življenja in
smrti, pa tudi način njihove medsebojne povezave.
Ključne besede: pokopi, krste, grobovi, pokopališča, domovi, etnolingvistika
Key words: funerals, coffins, graves, cemetries, homes, ethnolinguistics
In Slavic folk perceptions man's departure from life has been understood as a pas-
sage to "another" world (going to the "other world"), where be is supposed to acquire his
place, his home and his socium (see eastern Slavic phraseology connected with the meta-
phor of death as the "way home", "preparations to go home": in the Polesye dialect идз
do дому, собираецца do дому, погллдае do дому - he is going home, he is preparing to
go home, he is looking homewards) in the sense 'he is dying'. Loci of the "other world"
are materialized in concrete "earthly" forms connected with burial places. According to
the folk view of the world, the coffin is understood as a symbol of the house, the grave as
a symbol of the dwelling, whereas the house, die courtyard or even the garden, as well as
205
Anna Plotnikova
the churchyard, are supposed to be the settlements of die dead. Such symbohsm runs
dirough the most diverse contexts of folk culture: it is reflected in burial vocabulary and
phraseology, in folkloric genres (fairy-tales, lyrical songs, burial lamentations, riddles,
proverbs), in folk beliefs and omens, burial customs and rituals.
For the Slavs the coffin, the grave and the graveyard are the symbols of home in the
"other world"; by a series of signs they correspond to the characteristics of die dwelling,
the person's home when he was stdl alive. Complex relations between the loci of man's
abiding in "this" and in the "other" world as well as different possible connections be-
tween them (ancient burials inside the house, keeping one's own coffin in one's house,
the living visiting the graveyard and the "walking" dead "coming back", protection of die
house or of the vdlage from a vampire and so forth) deserve special attention.
As is known, the most essential elements in defining the symbolism and semantics
of the Slavic burial and funeral rite are the themes of "fate", "path" and "home", ex-
pressed in their functional, objective, actional and terminological systems (see [Sedakova
1990: 54]). Rich in their content and mythological contexts, diese diemes have time and
again drawn the attention of scholars. We might mention just some of the works on these
issues written by Russian scholars in recent years. 0. A. Sedakova [Sedakova 1990] dedi-
cated one of her works to the theme of "fate", moreover, each of the enumerated seman-
tic blocks was described by her in her dissertation on rite terminology and structure of
rite text from the materials of die Slavic burial rite [Sedakova 1983a]. Conceptions of the
path to the next world in burial rites and in Russian funeral keening were explored by L.
G. Nevskaya and A. K. Chistyakov, [Nevskaya 1980, Chistyakov 1982]. The semantics of
the home in burial folklore and burial rites was addressed by L. G. Nevskaya [Nevskaya
1982] and A. K. Bayburin [Bayburin 1983:133-176]. The theme of "home" and the "way"
or the "way home" connected to it, as we can see, is not new in literature, yet nevertheless
it is so all-embracing that it deserves to be referred to whenever the folk conceptions of
the loci of deadi are being researched. In our case the subject is the material forms of "the
next world" - the coffin, the grave and the graveyard.
When researching the theme of "home" it should be mentioned that the func-
tions of the home in man's life are determinants for a number of family, calendar and
occasional rites. A very special role has been acquired by the symbolism of home in
burial rites, because in this case the greatest significance is held by the main features of
the division of man's world into two parts, the transition from one world to the other,
from one "home" to the other "home". Besides, the death of a member of the house-
hold, his "departure" from the home, according to Slavic beliefs devastates the home,
because the dead can take from the home a part of his property, wealth, the fecundity
of cattle and fertdity of fields.
The complex of omens and auguries about a person's death are, above all, con-
nected with the person's house, in particular with unusual events inside the house (the
walls of the house crack, crockery breaks etc.) or with any special animals, reptiles,
birds or insects appearing in the house (or near the house, on the roof, in the cellar, in
the courtyard, by the window). For eastern Slavs death is foretold by a swaUow or a bat
flying into the house. According to various omens, death is predicted by the following:
206
_The Earthly Loci of Death: the Coffin, the Grave, the Cemetery_
20T
a bird's knock on the window, the scream of an eagle-owl or an owl near the house, a
crow on the roof, a cuckoo appearing on the house or uttering three cries above the
house. The omen of the woodpecker pecking a wad or an angle of the house, and thus
predicting a deadi in the house, is widespread among all the eastern Slavs. With eastern
and western Slavs it is usual to think that a mole living in the house or burrowing in
the soil under the house, in the cedar, under the threshold, under the window or beside
die house signifies the death of one of the inhabitants [Gura 1997: 63, 271-272, 714].
According to the beliefs of the southern Slavs, a snake found in the house predicts that
of one of the family will die.
In the interpretation of dreams the symbolism of death is characterized by the
theme of building a house [Listova 1993: 50]. In the endre territory of Polesye a new
house in dreams, sometimes a house without windows and doors, foreteUs someone's
death [Svitelskaya 1995: 190]. In the Mogilevskaya oblast (province), Byelorussia, to see
a new house in one's dreams means death. In south-east Bulgaria, if a man in his
dreams cuts a tree, builds a house, plants flowers or starts a fire, it means he wiU die
soon [Strandzba 1996: 293].
The mythological similarity between the notions of 'the coffin' and 'the house' is
confirmed terminologically: Russian домовина, домовице meaning 'house', 'coffin',
'a structure in the form of a coffin, built on a grave'; Russian, in Pskov, Kostroma, Tver,
Smolensk дом, домовтца, хоромина meaning 'coffin', north Russian doMoebe
meaning 'coffin', particularly a coffin hacked from a tree trunk; in Polesye дом (уж
ему u дом привезли - they already brought him to his house), домоука, домовина,
дамауе, xama; улезусвоп дом - (he crawled into his house) meaning 'died', Bulgarian
КЂ1ца, Macedonian кука meaning 'coffin' etc. Moreover, the term дом (house) and its
derivatives are often expanded to the notion "the next world", "the other world".
The coffin, the grave and the graveyard as the symbols of the home of the dead on
Earth are contrasted with the home of the living (the coffin and the grave are contrast-
ed with the person's house and the graveyard with the village). This is also expressed in
funeral terminology, folklore, rituals and folk beliefs. In Russian proverbs based on the
play on words дом - домовшце, домовина, the house is contrasted with the coffin:
Дома mm, a домовице будет. (There is no house, but there will be a coffin^. Дом
строп, a домовину nadb, which means remember your "home" in the other world, in
die future [Dal 1:466].
A number of names for the grave express the perception of the grave as the "eter-
nal" refuge of man, which he finds after death, in contrast to the "temporary" (earthly)
one, for instance Serbian вечна кућа, Macedonian вечна кука (coffin), see also Polesy-
an вечнип дом (the eternal home) meaning 'the other world'. In Russian burial lamen-
tations the coffin is caUed вековое домовшцечко (the centuriesdong home),
вековечно хоромное строетице (the everlasting mansion). The Ukrainians call the
coffin Hoea xama (the new house), which has analogies in the burial lamentations
where the motif of a new home is present. Unlike the earthly human dwelling, the
house-coffin is characterized as "cold", "dark": Serbian ледна кућа 'coffin'; in Rus-
sian lamentations the coffin is a "cold mansion, not covered with moss", where "there
Anna Plotnikova
is no glazed stove" [Afanasyeva, Plotnikova 1995: 553-554], see [Nevskaya 1982: 108].
The most characteristic feature of Slavic keening over the dead is the darkness of the
new "home". In Polesye funeral keening the coffin is caUed xammoma темнепка
(the dark house) [Svitelskaya 1995: 190], in Russian keening темнан хороминка,
where "the windows look as if they have been drdled through, as if the light has been
brought in by a sieve"; "the triangular apertures have not been cut through, the litde
glass windows have not been made" [Chistyakov 1982: 115]. In Macedonian lamenta-
tions the grave and the coffin are грда кука (the ugly house), темна кука (the dark
house) with "no windows and no doors" [Risteski 1998: 255], In Russian riddles the
coffin is "a house without windows and without doors". A number of negative mean-
ings associated with the coffin continues with the characteristics of a "strange", a "dif-
ferent" house, according to the Russian proverb Ha чужбинке, словно в домовинке
(In a strange land it is like in a coffin.) [Dal 1: 466],
Making a coffin is often interpreted as building a new house: the Guzuls call it
поставзне хатн (building a house). In the north Russian, Carpathian and Polish re-
gions openings resembling little windows were made in the sides of the coffin at the
level of the deceased's shoulders and a window pane was put in them. In a child's coffin
the Guzuls cut out one window, and for an adult two. A small window, sometimes an
opening covered with a piece of wood was also made in the Russian log coffins. Accord-
ing to different explanations, the windows were made for the dead to see the living; for
the soul to see its body from time to time; for the dead person to see the other deceased;
for the dead person to "look out" from his "house" [Afanasyeva, Plotnikova 1995: 554].
The inner furnishings of the coffin and the grave often repeat the decoration and
furnishings of the earthly human dwelling. In eastern Polesye an icon decorated with
an embroidered towel was placed in the corner of the coffin, thus imitating the corner
with icons in the house {краснип угол) [Svitelskaya 1995: 190, 203]. Before laying the
deceased (the coffin with the deceased) in the grave, the Bulgarians sweep it like a
dweUing [Vakarelsky 1990: 125]. The elements of the interior of the deceased's previ-
ous dweUing and items he needed when he was alive are put in his coffin: food, a bever-
age, linen, a change of underwear, clothes, towels, shoes, a switch of green birch trees,
so that he will be able to take a steam bath in the other world, etc. The articles laid in
the coffin were either connected with the deceased's habits and liking, or they were
indispensable when he was stdl alive. For instance a lame man was given his stick or his
crutch, a smoker his pipe etc. Furthermore, the articles correspond to the deceased's
profession (a shoemaker gets an awl, a tailor is given a needle), and to his age and sex (a
woman gets a shawl and a needle, a child gets a toy etc.).
In accordance with the universal Slavic conception of death as a sleep, a bed was
made in the coffin. The eastern Slavs covered the bottom of the coffin with straw, hay,
chips, shavings, dry switches of birch trees or leaves. The Bulgarians make in the coffin
a specially prepared new bed or a homespun blanket, two beds or linen. The ancient
Slavs also used to cover the bottom of the graves with bedding (fabric) or they made a
kind of "floor" instead - from sand or colored clay and they strewed the bottom with
ashes from the home hearth [Vakarelsky 1990: 127].
208
The Earthly Loci of Death: the Coffin, the Grave, the Cemetery
The outside of the grave was also shaped like a house. The Byelorussians placed
rectangular wooden constructions on the graves - npuKiadbi, прикладзти. As a rule,
these were wooden buildings in the shape of a house, covering the whole mound: such
an erection resembled the cover of a coffin, it often had small windows and a roof, it
was called хатка (a little house) [Pahavanni 1986: 30]. The constructions on the graves
in the shape of a house, or logs resembling a house in form, were known in western
Polesye. The names of such constructions in the Byelorussian part of western Polesye
are characterized by lexemes formed from the xooi хором- (пршором etc.) [Svitelskaya
1995: 204-205]. Among the Russians, a cross with an icon on the grave covered with
double-pitch roofing is sometimes called a "little chapel". In some cases, the small
house on the grave with a double-pitch roof was crowned with a carved finial [Chistyak-
ov 1982: 115]. In the Russian North it is possible to see, beside the ordinary cross, an
oblong quadrangular construction (a "goloubets" or stuffed cabbage roll), open at the
top or with a flat roof, on which a cross is placed [Zelenin 1991: 351].
The eastern Slavic constructions on the graves correspond to the southern Slavic
burial rites. In north-west Bulgaria there is a custom of building on the grave a house-
like structure from bricks and mortar or placing on it a miniature model of a house
[Benovska-S'bkova 1995: 217]. As the researchers have noted, in eastern Bulgaria a "lit-
tle house" {кЂцичт) can be either wooden, ceramic or even specially made of tin-
plates, which is a product of local handicrafts. [EB: 198]. Building of simdar "houses"
and miniature models of houses on the graves is also known in southern Bulgaria and
Macedonia. In Strandzba over a period of 40 days the relatives of the deceased every
day bring to the graveyard 40 stones or tde plates, from which they build on the grave a
construction called КЂца, МЂртЂвската КЂца, the house of the dead. The grave is
often fenced with four big stones or stone plates, whde in the area of Malkotyrnovo a
"small house" {кЂцичт) is budt from four thick boards [Strandzba 1996: 300]. In the
Rhodope vdlages a housedike structure is build for the deceased twice. First, after low-
ering the coffin into the grave, it is covered with twigs, logs and stone plates. Afterwards
a wooden house [кукла, коштчш) is placed on the grave with candles inside which
are supposed to "light the dead person's way to the other world" [Rhodope: 202-203].
On the grave a peculiar garden is arranged: flowers and fruit-trees are planted
and the place is fenced with a paling, stones or sticks. Russians used to put turf round
the grave mound [Kremlyova 1993: 20]. In Polesye, in the region of Gomel, on the feast
of St. Radunits a tree had to be planted on the grave and birch sticks were driven into
the ground around it [PA]. In the region of Sofia, on the fortieth day the grave is fenced
with stones and sowed with wheat [Sofia region: 228].
The system of the Slavs' mythological conceptions connected with the grave as
the deceased's house can acquire specific forms in dreams and nocturnal visions. Ac-
cording to the records from Polesye, when the relatives take some sand from the grave
on the twelfth day after the funeral and consecrate it in the church in order to take it
back to the grave, in case of their forgetfulness, according to stories, the dead person
"comes" to them in their dreams and demands that diey return him "the corner of his
house". Бувае нк не однесеш топ песок, ноччу покоптк буде стцца, da шче
209
Anna Plotnikova !
скажз: "Чого тн моеп хатн вугол одорвала?" [PA, the Gomelskaya province, vil-
lage of Stodolichi, recorded by L.N. Vinogradova].
Similar rituals and beliefs are connected with the graveyard as a whole, being the
place where the dead or their souls abide. It is considered that the souls live in the
graveyard and keep the habits from the times when they were still alive. According to
the beliefs of the Bulgarians and Macedonians, at midnight the dead come out of their
graves to take a walk around the graveyard and visit each other. In Bosnia it was be-
lieved that a man who was forced to sleep in a graveyard should not he between two
graves because the dead in the two graves would quarrel about "which of them he came
to visit" and they could strangle the man for that [ZNŽO 27/1; 175]. The first deceased
person buried in a new graveyard is believed to be the forefather of the whole graveyard
community of "ancestors". It is supposed that the whole "community" has a malevo-
lent attitude towards those who had not died a natural death (those hanged or
drowned), and they are not accepted into the community. This can be one of the many
explanations of the typical burials of such dead outside the space of those deceased
who died a natural death (see [Zelenin 1995: 92]).
The names of graveyards often express semantics defining them as 'a dwelling, a
settlement of the dead'. M. Fasmer connects Russian dialectal names буп, бупво with
that adopted from the Old Swedish ho "dwelling" and Old Slavic hu "dweUing" [Fasmer
1: 234]. The Russian word погост (the original meaning of which was "a coaching
inn, where the prince and ecclesiastics stayed temporarily") is used in dialects in the
meanings 'church community', 'parish', 'the center of the village area', and also 'grave-
yard' [Fasmer 3: 295].
The plants and the trees within the boundaries of the graveyard are supposed to
belong to the dead, and it is therefore forbidden in the graveyard to break twigs, to pick
flowers or even inhale their fragrance lest one should loose one's sense of smeU. Such
prohibitions are particularly common among the western Slavs. In Silesia it is believed
that a man who smelled or picked a flower in a graveyard, will be visited at night by a
dead person who will remind him that this is his property [Fischer 1921: 353]. In the
Polish Beskidi it is thought that a person who picks flowers from graves wdl get sores
and boils on his body as a revenge from the dead [Wierhy 1981/41: 226]. Among the
Serbs it is forbidden to cut trees in a graveyard, otherwise the souls of the dead will not
be able to rest in the shadow of the trees and eat their fruit [SMR: 136]. According to
Bosnian beliefs, a man who has eaten fruit in a graveyard will fall dl with dropsy [GZM
1995/10: 133] etc.
Breaches of etiquette during any time spent in a graveyard (in other words, in a
settlement of the dead) entad a punishment, often in the form of the unexpected ap-
pearance of the dead in the setdement of the living. According to the behefs in Polesye,
if a housewife breaks a stick in the graveyard and sweeps the ashes from the stove with
it, the dead wiU roam inside the house and under the window for the whole night [Seda-
kova 1983b: 253].
At the same time, the graveyard as a sacred locus indicating the earthly location
of "the other world" becomes a legitimized place of meeting between the living and the
210
The Earthly Loci of Death: the Coffin, the Grave, the Cemetery
dead: people come to the graveyard on the days of remembrance of the dead in prayer,
they leave food for the souls; they bring them presents of clothes; they greet them as if
they were alive; they clean and decorate the graves, they bake a special sort of bread
and so on. h is characteristic to invite the dead to a meal which takes place on the
graves, as, for example, among the Byelorussians, on Tuesday of St. Thomas's week ded-
icated to the remembrance of the dead in prayer: "Свлтие радзицели! Ходзице к
нам хлеба-соли откушацв" (Holy parents! Come to us and have some bread with
salt.) [Tereschenko 1848/3: 122]. In a west Byelorussian ritual caUed 6ydumb
покопника (to wake a dead man), a dead relative was 'hailed' and 'entertained' to ritual
food in the graveyard on the second or third day after the funeral [PA]. In Ryazan prov-
ince, the ritual food which was brought to the graveyard on the feast called Radunitsa
(Tuesday of St. Thomas's week), seemed to be divided between the living and the dead,
who came "from the dark" and invisibly attended the feast together with the living un-
td sunset [Tereschenko 1848/5: 28-29].
The house is contrasted with the world ("home") of the dead and therefore it can-
not be the place of a new meeting between the living and the dead, with the exception
of the special feasts dedicated to the remembrance of the dead in prayer These feasts
are not celebrated on the graveyard but in the house to which the "ancestors" and "par-
ents" are invited. The same status of a sacred time, when a meeting with the dead takes
place inside the house, is connected with certain calendar feasts, above all the "svyatki"
(Christmas-time) and some other days. For instance, in Byelorussian Polesye the
"grandfathers" were invited to supper on the last day of "Maslenitsa" (Shrovetide - the
week before Lent): in the evening everyone sat at the festive table. The housewife
opened the window and called three times: "Дзлди, дзпди, ходзвце eH43paiib!"
(Grandfathers, grandfathers, come to supper!) [Pahavanni: 163].
In everyday life the appearance of the dead in the house, not to mention demons
such as vampires, was extremely undesirable. Therefore the protection of the house by
means of various ritual and magical acts began immediately after a deceased person
appeared in the house. Whde the dead person was lying in the house, it was forbidden
to do any work in the house or in the garden. At the moment when the deceased's cof-
fin - his "new house" was brought into the house, everyone went out, especially preg-
nant women. The carrying out of the deceased was done extremely carefully: they
knocked with the coffin on the threshold, so that the deceased bade farewell to his
"old" home and would not come back anymore; they turned over all the furniture in
the house, they poured out water, they gave the remains of bread and other food to
dogs, from the house they threw after the dead person a stone or smoldering pieces of
wood from the hearth, they swept or washed the floor, they opened all the windows and
doors, they took the deceased's effects out of the house and burnt them. In the Russian
North, after the coffin has been taken out, rubbish from the street is swept towards the
house so that all its inhabitants will stay in the house [Zelenin 1991: 349]. The Bulgar-
ians do not spend the first night in the house where the deceased is lying. In various
Slavic regions the fellow-vidagers do not take anything from such a house, especially
food (see, for example, [Romanov 1912: 309]). In the vicinity of Gevgelia (Macedonia)
211
Anna Plotnikova j
after the deceased has been buried, every villager pours out all the drinking water he
has (calling this water мртоеска 'belonging to the dead') and brings new water. The
housewives also change the leaven for bread every time somebody has died in the vil-
lage [Tanovich 1927: 258].
The path connecting two contrasted loci, the house and the grave (coffin), the vil-
lage and the graveyard, becomes the concrete incarnation of the path to "the other
world". A number of ritual and magical acts are carried out on the way to the graveyard
and from the graveyard towards home. To avoid negative consequences connected with
the returning of the dead to the house of the living, in various Slavic regions people
take another route home from the graveyard, and they do not turn back on the way to
the graveyard and from the graveyard home. On the way from the graveyard the Serbs
tried not to go to other people's houses in order not to bring misfortune to the house.
When they entered their own house they thoroughly shook off any soil from the grave-
yard. Graveyards are often situated on the other side of a river, a brook or another wa-
ter barrier which the souls of the dead cannot overcome [Zechevich 1982: 61]. Among
the Balkan Slavs, before going from the graveyard after the burial of the deceased it is
customary to wash ones hands in the nearest water source. In the south-west of Bulgar-
ia (the community of Petrich, vdlage of Gega, record of E. S. Uzeneva [MDABIA]), after
washing their hands each participant at the burial took a handful of water and threw it
behind his back over the left and the right shoulders, "so that the deceased would for-
get his way home". For the same purpose in that area a fire was lit in front of the house
entrance and everyone stepping over the threshold after the funeral took a piece of
charcoal and threw it behind his back. In Strandzba after the burial every participant
leaving the graveyard throws a stone behind his back, "so that the dead wiU not come
back" [Strandzba: 298]. In Rhodope, after the burial people do not take home any
items from the grave that had been brought to the graveyard [Rhodope: 202].
Special measures for protecting the house against visits from the walking dead,
vampires, can also be connected with the route. Thus in eastern Serbia (in the region of
Knjaževac, village of Donja Kamenica, record of the author [MDABIA]) people strew
the way from the home to the graveyard with mdlet. Then they bestrew the grave and go
on strewing millet on the way from the graveyard to the river in order to get rid of the
vampire who has been coming to the house; in this way "drowning" him in the river.
Here a quite typical system of protective acts is used: a demonic character from the oth-
er world, having visited the house of the living and going back to his dwelling-place,
counts the strewed grains, yet his path suggested by people continues goes from his
grave to the water.
Of course, the earthly loci of death understood as places connected with various
kinds of conceptions of death are not limited by concrete and real places of burial. For
instance, in Russian keening the localization of the other world envelopes the subterra-
nean sphere, unknown and inaccessible places, water, "the sky" (the latter is less often
expressed in lamentations) [Chistyakov 1982: 121-122]. In beliefs and rituals concern-
ing human dwelling, the places connected with "ancestors" are the threshold of the
house and the stove (see, for example, [Bayburin 1983: 138, 167]).
212
The Earthly Loci of Death: the Coffin, the Grave, the Cemetery
In this way, a complex of Slavic conceptions about the concrete (materialized,
earthly) loci of death is realized in completely different forms: from the ways of naming
the coffin, the tombstones and the graveyard to the beliefs and ritual or magical acts
connected with the places of burial. These conceptions are also reflected in the motifs
of oral folklore (mostiy in lamentations and keening) where they acquire a special my-
tho-poetical appearance. .\n archaic system of beliefs about death can be brought to
light through an analysis of the extensive body of Slavic ethnographical, linguistic, folk-
loric and general cultural contexts which are connected with the subjects themselves
(in our case: the coffin, the grave and the graveyard) as well as with that object of re-
search, whose concept constitutes the basic semantic dominant of the familiar beliefs
and rituals; i.e. the actual human dwelling. Complex correlations between the two
worlds (of the living and of the dead) are reflected in concrete rituals and beliefs con-
cerning their materialized substances, therefore the complex of ritual and magical acts
connected with the house on one hand, and with the coffin (the place of burial) on the
other hand, become significant. The real connecting link between them is the path, the
path from the village to the graveyard and back. Here an important role is played by
"the landmarks on the way", its main points: the threshold of the house, the gate of the
courtyard, the boundary of the viUage, crossroads, passages over water, the graveyard
gate; however this theme deserves separate research.
LITERATURE
AFANASYEVA, PLOTNIKOVA 1995 - N. E. Aphanasyeva, A. A. Plotnikova. The coffin // Slavic antiquities. Ethnolin-
guistic dictionary. (Гроб // Славннские древности. Зтнолингвистическии словарБ.) Vol. 1. Moscow,
1995, pp. 553-558.
BAYBURIN 1983 - A. K. Bayburin. The dwelling in the rites and conceptions of the eastern Slavs. (Жилише в
обрлдах и представленилх восточних славлн.) Leningrad, 1983.
BENO\ SK_\-S'BKOVA 1995 - M. Benovska-S'bkova. Contemporary burial rites in north-west Bulgaria // Ethno-cultur-
al collection. (СЂвременни погребални обреди в Северозападна Бт>лгарил // Зтно-културулошки
зборник.) 1. Svrlig, 1995, pp. 215-220.
CHISTYAKOV 1982 - V. A. Chistyakov. Conceptions of the way to die other world in Russian burial keening of the
XIX - XX centuries // Rites and ritual folklore. (Представленич o дороге в загробнБ111 мир в русских
noxopoHHbix причитанилх XIX - XX вв. // Обрндм и обрмдови!! фолвклор.) Moscow. 1982. pp. 114-127.
DAL - V. I. Dal. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language. (Толковн!! словарв живого
великорусского лзБжа.) Vol. 1-4. Moscow, 1978-1980.
EB - Ethnography in Bulgaria. T. Z. Spiritual culture. (Етнографил на Бмгарин. T. 3. Духовна култура.) Sofia,
1985.
FASMER - M. Fasmer. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. (ЗтимологическиИ словарв русского
лЗБ1ка.) Vol. 14. Moscow, 1964-1973.
FISCHER 1921 - A. Fischer. Funeral customs of the Polish people. (Zwyczaje pogrzebowe ludu polskiego.) Lvov, 1921.
GURA 1997 - A. V. Gura. The symbolism of animals in Slavic folk tradition. (Символика животнБ1х в славлнско!!
народно11 традиции.) Moscow, 1997.
GZM - Organ of the provincial museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. (Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja Bosne i
Hercegovine u Sarajevu.) Sarajevo, 1888 - \ol. 1.
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214
The Earthly Loci of Death: the Coffin, the Grave, the Cemetery
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Anna Plotnikova, dr., na Filozofski fakulteti
Univerze v Moskvi je diplomirala iz ruščine in ru-
ske književnosti, na Filozofski fakulteti Univerze v
Beogradu pa iz srbohrvaškega jezika in jugoslo-
vanske književnosti. Doktorirala je leta 1990. Je
višja znanstvena sodelavka na Oddelku za slovan-
sko etnolingvistiko in folkloro na Inštitutu za slo-
vanske študije Ruske akademije znanosti v Moskvi.
Ukvarja se z ljudsko kulturo, dialektologijo južno-
slovanskih jezikov, hngogeografijo in etnolingvi-
stiko. Objavila je okoli 100 znanstvenih člankov.
Njeno najpomembnejše delo je Gradivo za etno-
lingvistično raziskovanje balkanoslovanskih area-
lov (1996).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aima Plotnikova, Ph.D., graduated from the
Russian language and literature at the Facultv of
Arts, University of Moscow and from the Serbocroat ■
language and Yugoslav literature at the Faculty of
Arts, University of Belgrade. She got her Ph.D. in
1990. She is a senior research fellow at the Depart-
ment of Slavic ethnohnguistics and folklore of Insti-
tute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Science,
Moscow. She deals with the folk culture and dialec-
tology of the languages of the south Slavs, lingoge-
ography and ethnolinguistics. She has published
about 100 scientific articles. Her most important
work is The Material for the Ethnolinguistic Re-i
search on Balkan-Slavic Areas (1996). :
215
MULTIDISCIPLINARNI VIDIKI
PREUČEVANJA SMRTI
MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASPECTS
OE THE STUDY OE DEATH
217
o VSEBINI SUICIDALNIH ZAPISOV SLOVENSKIH
SAMOMORILCEV IN POSLOVILNIH PISEM
RODOLJUBOV, USTRELJENIH MED DRUGO
SVETOVNO VOJNO
Robert Oravecz
Ključne besede: smrt, suicidalni zapisi, analiza vsebine, zanikanje, dekonstrukcija
Petdeseta in šestdeseta leta našega stoletja so bda zlata leta sodobne suicidologije.
Shneidman, Farberow, Beck, Ringel, kot tudi mnogi drugi raziskovalci, so bdi prvi, ki so
prinesli nekaj svedobe v neraziskano temo presuicidalnega dogajanja. Zahvaljujoč njdio-
vim teoretičnim konceptom in empiričnim dosežkom je danes že splošno sprejeto, da ču-
stva in manifestacije suicidalnega posameznika niso naključna. Očitno je, da presuicidal-
ni proces kaže jasna pravda in ima določene vsebinske elemente. Torej lahko zagotovo
rečemo, da obstaja določen diskurz suicida, ki se sicer razlikuje od kulture do kulture. Ta
suicidni diskurz, v smislu "realnosti, ki se kaže v obliki znakovnega sistema" (Kezdi, 2)
pomeni (v določenih okoliščinah) edini možen način govorjenja, razmišljanja ali pisanja o
samomoru. Suicidološka tradicija določene kulture se kaže skozi semantične in sintaktič-
ne dimenzije tega diskurza. Presuicidalni proces torej ne vključuje le suicidalnega posa-
mezndia, ampak tudi vse "signifikatno" okolje, ki ga obkroža.
"Cry for help" fenomen (iskanje pomoči in podpore pred samomordnim dejanjem)
je dokaz za interpersonalno (konverzacijsko) naravo presuicidalnega procesa. Teoretični
koncepti, ki sta jih razvda Shneidman in Farberow, so v velUd meri prispevah k razvoju
določenih preventivndi in terapevtskih metod, vendar so se ti koncepti pokazah kot neu-
spešni za pojasnitev nekaterih pomembnih vprašanj suicidologije. Vseeno so raziskave
suicidalnih zapisov zelo pomemben del suicidološke tradicije 70-ih let.
Proti koncu 50-ih let sta Shneidman in Farberow konstruirala raziskovalni projekt
za primeijanje "pravdi" in "simuliranih" suicidalnih zapisov, ki so jdi napisali zdravi pro-
stovoljci. Na žalost rezultati teh sicer precej sofisticirandi raziskav niso veliko prispevah k
razumevanju pojava samomordnosti. Drugi avtorji so raziskovali demografske in druge
razldic med subpopulacijo samomordcev, ki so pustih za seboj suicidalne zapise, in tistih,
ki tega niso stordi. Tudi izsledki teh raziskovalcev so se pokazali nerelevantni.
Še najbolj zanimive so bde tiste raziskave, ki so temeljile na analizi vsebin suicidal-
ndi zapisov. Te študije so namreč nastale pod vplivom teoretičndi konceptov in episte-
219
Robert Oravecz
moloških značilnosti sodobnih humanističnih znanosti in pomenijo širitev teh paradigem
na področje suicidologije. Eden od najbolj kreativnih suicidologov, ki se je posvetd ra-
ziskavi suicidalnih zapisov, je vsekakor Antoon Leenaars iz Kanade. Je avtor več pomem-
bnih študij, ki potrjujejo prisotnost določenih kontekstualnih elementov in zrcalijo intrap
sihične in medosebne koncepte samomordnosti. Leenaars je pomemben tudi zato, ker je
eden od prvdi raziskovalcev, ki so se posvetdi transkulturalni analizi dokumentov, ki so
povezani s samomorom posameznika. Primerjal je suicidalne zapise iz Kanade,
Združenih držav in Madžarske. Suicidologija 80-ih in 90-ih let je prispevala tudi k razvoju
kulturnoantropološko utemeljene suicidološke paradigme. Raziskave, ki temeljijo na tovr-
stni paradigmatski zasnovi, se posvečajo samomordnim vsebinam, kot se manifestirajo v
medijih, v literaturi ter v presuicidalnih fenomenih. Zdi se, da transkulturna primerjava
postaja zelo pomembna metoda za razumevanje narave samomordnosti.
Kezdi je bil prvi (madžarski) suicidolog v zgodnjih 80-ih letih, ki se je posvetd ra-
ziskavi jezikoslovnih elementov v beseddih, ki so povezani s samomorilnostjo. Njegova
metoda analize vsebine temelji na teoretičnih konceptih "jezikovnega vedenja" (lan-
guage behavior), semiotike in semantike. Vzorec raziskave je vseboval zapise dialogov s
samomordnimi posamezniki, suicidalne zapise in fragmente različnih besedd, ki so re-
levantni za samomordnost. Kontrolni vzorec pa je vseboval zapise intervjujev z nesamo-
mordnimi posamezniki in besedila, nerelevantna za samomordnost. Kezdi je identifici-
ral zanikanje kot najbolj relevanten element samomorilnega diskurza. Pomemben del
njegove raziskovalne dejavnosti je tudi interpretacija diskurzivne vloge zanikanja v kon-
tekstu kulture in tradicije.
Eekete, drugi madžarski suicidolog, je uporabd Kezdijevo metodo za transkultu-
ralno primerjavo suicidalnih zapisov. Analiziral je madžarske, nemške in angleške zapi-
se. Kulturnoantropološko zasnovani suicidološki koncepti (med katere sodi tudi znan-
stveno delo Kezdija) so se pojavih v 80-ih in 90-ih letih, kot odgovor na pomanjkljivosti
moderne suicidologije in suicidološko utemeljenih konceptov. Že omenjene sociološke
in psihološke teorije, ki so se pojavile v 60-ih in 70-ih letih, so bde nesposobne zado-
voljivo pojasniti razlike v suicidalnosti kulturološko različnih populacij. Vsekakor pa so
te (moderne) teorije prispevale k razvoju novih, interdisciplinarno zasnovanih paradi-
gem, ki so sposobne odgovoriti na zelo pomembna vprašanja o naravi suicidalnega pro-
cesa. Na te koncepte so vplivale lingvistične teorije in hermenevtična znanost. Težišče
teh raziskav se je premestdo z značilnosti suicidalnega posameznika na fenomenologijo
samomordnega procesa, ki se pokaže v samomordnem diskurzu. Takšno razmišljanje
je vsekakor interdisciplinarno in multidisciplinarno ter usmerjeno v medosebni pro-
stor. "Opazovalec" ni več neodvisna in objektivna oseba, ampak je v času observacije
popolnoma involviran v dogajanja. Hkrati vplivajo nanj jezikovno preneseni elementi
"splošnega družbenega diskurza". Kot je namreč razvidno iz sodobnih konceptov kul-
turne antropologije, pripadniki določene kulture lahko izpeljejo določeno komunika-
cijsko dejanje o samomordnosti le v "harmoniji" s splošnim družbenim diskurzom.
Kezdi in Fekete sta potrdila, da je zanikanje značilnost besedil, ki so relevantna za
samomordnost. Zanikanje se lahko kaže kot element vsebine besedila, vendar ima ne-
gacija obenem tudi sintaktično vlogo znotraj besedila. Večkratno zanikanje (npr. nikoli
220
ne, niti ne itd.) je npr. prisotno prav tako v slovenskem kot tudi v madžarskem jeziku,
ne le v govorjenju suicidalno ogroženega posameznika. Iz kulturnoantropološkega zor-
nega kota je smiselno predvsem odgovoriti na vprašanje "Kaj je namen pisanja suicidal-
nega zapisa in kakšen je pomen tovrstnih besedil?" Primerjanje suicidalnih zapisov s
poslovdnimi pismi nesamomordnih posameznikov je metoda, ki se lahko izkaže kot
uspešna v razreševanju zgoraj omenjenih ugank.
Slovenska raziskava, namenjena preučevanju suicidalnih zapisov, je primerjala
50 tovrstnih besedil napisanih v slovenskem jeziku, s 45 poslovilnimi pismi slovenskih
rodoljubov, ki so bili ustreljeni med drugo svetovno vojno. Suicidalne zapise je zbrala
policije v letu 1994, poslovilna pisma pa so bda izbrana po naključju iz javno dosegljive
zbirke tovrstnih besedil. Po preliminarnem branju teh besedd je avtor ustvaril sistem
kriterijev, ki so se pokazali uporabni za detekcijo in interpretacijo psiholoških, seman-
tičnih in semiotičnih značilnosti obeh vzorcev. Ti kriteriji zrcalijo določena intuitivna
pričakovanja avtorja glede relevantnosti določenih variabel, vendar obenem zrcalijo
tudi pozitivno tradicijo več suicidoloških teorij.
Peslovilna pisma rodoljmbov
Kot je to razvidno iz predstavljene raziskave, so poslovilna pisma talcev kazala pre-
cej homogen vzorec. Vsi ti spisi so približno enako dolgi, vsebujejo iste strukturne in vse-
binske elemente, izražajo podobna čustva itd. Večina poslovilnih pisem je dolgih od 60 do
80 besed. Skoraj vsa so naslovljena na eno ali več znanih oseb in se končajo s frazo poslo-
vitve in s podpisom. Prvi stavek pisma po pravdu sporoča dejstvo, da je avtor obsojen na
smrt oz. da bo usmrčen. Emocionalna vsebina se deh na izraze ljubezni in krivde. Krivda
se večinoma pojavi v kontekstu trpljenja, ki ga je avtor pisma povzročd svojim bližnjim s
svojimi preteklimi dejanji. Avtor po tem velikokrat prosi za odpuščanje ali se tega odpove-
duje z izrazom "kako ni potrebno žalovati za njim". Večina izjav, ki tvorijo poslovilna pi-
sma (kar 60 %), se nanaša na avtorja oz. na naslovnika. Zanimivo je le, da pri tem upora-
bljajo relativno malo osebnih zaimkov. Kar precej izjav (20 %) se ukvarja z odnosi med
avtorji in naslovniki. Ti odnosi se pokažejo tirdi skozi naravo avtorefleksij in refleksij. V
kar 40 % vseh poslovilnih pisem se avtorji vidijo v negativni luči, vendar naslovnike skoraj
vedno pokažejo v pozitivni luči. Zanikanja se po navadi nanašajo na zanikanje trpljenja
avtorja ali na zanikanje namernosti v trpljenju, ki ga je domnevno povzročd svojim
bližnjim. Več kot 60 % poslovdndi pisem vsebuje eno ali več neposrednih izrazov za smrt
ali umiranje. Odgovornost za smrt se omenja zelo redko, če pa že se, potem le v smislu
nepredvidljive usode, ki se je "poigrala" z žrtvijo.
Na podlagi opisanih značilnosti se pokaže, da poslovilna pisma rodoljubov enako-
merno nosijo informativne izjave (o usmrtitvi, o zapuščini, o prisotnih osebah itd.) kot
tudi "vljudnostne" izjave, ki temeljijo na določeni lojalnosti, pripadnosti ali na gestah
"dobre volje". S pozitivno in z negativno samorefleksijo avtorji poslovdnih pisem spo-
ročajo, da se zavedajo relevance splošnega družbenega diskurza in da imajo svoje
(odporniško) delovanje za deviantno (v smislu greha ali napake). Na ta način se pravza-
prav odrekajo pravici do "svoje" resnice. Iz tega lahko sklepamo ne le na to, da so (pred-
0 vsebini suicidalnih zapisov slovenskih samomorilcev in poslovilnih nisem rodoliubov. ustrelienih
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Robert Oravecz
vsem mlajši ljudje) svojo konspirativno dejavnost opravljali proti volji svojih družin ah
skupnosti, temveč tudi na to, da so se kar precej zavedali gorja, ki so ga povzročali
svojim bližnjim.
Iz že opisanih značilnosti poslovdnih pisem jasno izhaja, da je večina teh spisov
namenjena rekonstrukciji odnosov med avtorjem in skupnostjo. Iz podatkov o stopnji
negativne avtorefleksije lahko sklepamo, da so se avtorji v precej visokem odstotku za-
vedali svoje pozicije "outsiderja" glede na diskurz družine, skupnosti oz. družbe. K tem
stališčem je zagotovo prispeval tudi proces sankcioniranja odporniškega vedenja.
Sankcije, nesorazmerne "krivdi", so spremende pomen manjših ali večjih odporniških
dejanj. Očitno se je večina avtorjev prepoznala kot kršitelji določenih pravd. Poslovdna
pisma lahko torej razumemo kot dejanja ponovnega povezovanja s skupnostjo, ki daje
gotovost pripadnosti določeni kulturi oz. tradiciji. Tovrstna dejanja verjetno prispevajo
k zlivanju individualnega Selfa s kolektivnim. Na ta način omogočajo neko vrsto varno-
sti, ki je potrebna, da bi pogledali smrti v oči, kar se kaže tudi v možnosti verbalizacije
teh besed oz. v integraciji ideje minljivosti. K integraciji smrti v diskurz poslovilnih pi-
sem je verjetno prispevalo tudi sprejemanje religioznega verovanja v obstoj "onstranske-
ga" življenja. Na ta način se namreč pokaže perspektiva, ki se v nekaterih pismih zrcali
v izjavah, češ da smrt pomeni srečanje s sorodniki, znanci.
Suicidalni zapisi
Interpretacija poslovdnih pisem rodoljubov je zaradi precejšnje homogenosti
vzorca dokaj preprosta. Podobne ugotovitve namreč veljajo skoraj za vse. Suicidalne
zapise bi bdo precej težko interpretirati na podoben način, že zaradi tega, ker je vzorec
poslovilnih pisem precej nehomogen. To se izraža tako v strukturnih raznolikostih kot
tudi v vsebini zapisov. Suicidalne zapise slovenskih samomordcev je možno razvrstiti
na podlagi več vzorcev. Iz podatkov, ki govorijo za "usmerjenost" besedil lahko razbere-
mo, da kar 60% zapisov vsebuje izjave informativne vsebine, ki izražajo sporočila samo-
morilca glede pogreba, zapuščine oz. nahajališča posmrtnih ostankov. Suicidalni zapisi
torej velikokrat funkcionirajo kot oporoke. Nekatere so podpisale tudi priče, iz česar je
mogoče sklepati, da posameznik takrat še ni verbaliziral svojih samomordnih name-
nov. Oporoke, sporočda itd. sledijo strukturnim značdnostim in vsebinam tovrstnih
besedil nesamomorilnih avtorjev. Ti zapisi kar precej odstopajo od zapisov, ki kažejo
večjo relevantnost za presuicidalno dogajanje.
Presuicidalni diskuz se očitno ne manifestira v jasnih skriptih suicidalnih zapisov.
Vendar iz nekaterih fragmentov lahko razberemo določene mehanizme, vzorce, kot tudi
smisel posameznih besedd. Tovrstno delo namreč ustreza logiki hermenevtične raziskave,
ki temelji na razumevanju drobcev, ki potem prispevajo k razumevanju celote, kar pa pri-
speva k razumevanju delov. V tem kroženju tudi sama interpretacija predstavlja le "šta-
cijo" spoznavanja in razumevanja, ki se samoumevno nikoli ne konča. Iz primerjave s po-
slovdnimi pismi je razvidno, da so suicidalni zapisi manj značilno usmerjeni in vezani za
določeno osebo (osebe) v vlogi naslovnika. To dejstvo podpira tudi pomanjkanje poslovil-
nUi fraz in podpisov vsaj v polovici zapisov. Medtem ko je zgradba poslovdnih pisem ro-
222
o vsebini suicidalnih zapisov slovenskih samomorilcev in poslovilnih pisem rodoljubov, ustreljenih , . .
223
doljubov precej "uniformna", pri suicidalnih zapisih ni možno zaslediti določenega vzor-
ca. Manjko naslovndca in podpisa ruši trojno zgradbo besedda, tako značilno za poslovd-
na pisma. Suicidalni zapisi pogosto dajejo vtis, da so v pisni obliki nadaljevani monologi,
vodeni v prisotnosti ali odsotnosti poslušalcev. Pisna oblika suicidalnih zapisov še bolj
ustvarja vtis dokončnosti in nespremenljivosti.
Madžarska suicidološka tradicija izpostavlja pomembnost zanikanj kot statistično
"trdih" značilnosti suicidalnega diskurza. V slovenskem vzorcu se je potrdila značdnost
visoke stopnje zanikanja v suicidalnem "znakovnem sistemu". Pravzaprav se značilni
suicidalni zapisi lahko ločijo od manj značilnih (testamenti, sporočila o nahajališču
posmrtnih ostankov itd.) po tem, da ti vsebujejo manj zanikanj kot tudi manj osebnih
zaimkov, ki se nanašajo na avtorja - samomordca oz. na "signifikantne" osebe iz okolja,
ki niso nujno naslovniki. Kot je razvidno iz podatkov, se zanikanja pojavijo približno v
tretjini vseh izjav. Značilno je tudi to, da je razlika med številom izjav, ki se nanašajo na
naslovnika oz. avtorja, in števdom osebnih zaimkov veliko manjša kot pri poslovilnih
pismih talcev. Iz tega lahko sklepamo, da je poudarjena uporaba osebnih zaimkov pre-
cej relevantna za suicidalni diskurz in je precej pogosto povezana z zanikanji. V poslovi-
lnih pismih talcev se namreč zanikanja po navadi nanašajo na zanikanje trpljenja
avtorja ali na zanikanje namernosti v domnevno povzročenem trpljenju.
Za suicidalne zapise to ni značilno, znotraj-tekstovno funkcijo zanikanj lahko za-
sledimo na več vzorcih.
Pomen zanikanja je v tem, da:
- zanika dejstva, na katerih sloni mnenje drugih oseb o samomordcu;
- ugotov nerazumavanje s strani okolja;
- zanika prej preferirana dejstva;
- zanika možnosti sprememb;
- naznani nezmožnost življenja.
Zanikanje ima pogosto namen dekonstruirati realnost, zgrajeno na določenem
"sistemu verovanj", ki je interpersonalno in kulturno utemeljen. Zanikanje je torej
zelo pomembno orodje samomorilnega diskurza. Je način, s pomočjo katerega je mo-
goče ambivalentnost spremeniti v določeno obliko gotovosti. Ambivalenca namreč po-
meni pomembno komponento kriznega in presuicidalnega dogajanja. Koincidence
okoliščin in preteklih osebnih izkušenj lahko spremenijo gotovost vsakdanjega življenja
v negotovost in rahljanje sistema pomenov, ki "vežejo" posameznika v splet odnosov in
realnosti. V tem obdobju je v središču pozornosti problem prihodnost v smislu "Kaj bo
z mano" ah "Kako bom živel v prihodnje...?" S časovnim potekom suicidalne krize
upanje v prihodnost kopni, s čimer se do neznosnosti povečuje stopnja anksioznosti.
Vsem suicidologom je dobro znano dejstvo, da se samomordci pred samomoril-
nim dejanjem velikokrat spremenijo. Na dan samomora ali kakšen dan prej postanejo
umirjeni, poglobljeni in gotovi vase. Glede na čas nastajanja bi lahko suicidalni zapisi
predstavljali pisne odtise tega stanja.
Zanikanje je izredno priročno sredstvo za hitro in učinkovito dekonstrukcijo real-
nosti. Izjava v smislu "Mene nikoli nihče ni ljubil" je pravzaprav idealen vzorec, kako
Robert Oravecz
se izogniti dvomu v pomene, ki izhajajo iz aktualnih ali osebno-historičnih povezav s
svetom. Na novo odkrita "Realnost" samomorilca, ki temelji na tovrstnih negativnih
sklepih, postane zagotovo trdna in nedotakljiva za ves zunanji svet. Vendar na ta način
ni mogoče ustvariti realnosti, ki bi prenesla izkušnjo prihodnosti. Tako nastalo stanje
se lahko imenuje "stanje odklopljenosti" ali "disconnectedness", referenčne vezi in
odnosi s "signifikantnim" okoljem so namreč pretrgani.
Simbolično je mogoče takšen konstrukt primerjati s središčem hurikana, v kate-
rem vladata blažen mir in tišina, vendar brez prihodnosti, "svoboda" in "prihodnost"
sta namreč na drugi strani neprehodnega viharnega prstana. Te predstave se precej
ujemajo z ugotovitvami Becka (23), ki trdi, da je izguba zaupanja v prihodnost bolj rele-
vantna za samomorilnost kot manifestna depresivnost oz. žalost posameznika.
LITERATURA
BECK A.T et al.: JAMA dec. 15 1975 Vol. 234 Noll L: 1148.
DURKHEIM E. (1967): Az ongyilkosság, Kozgazdasági és Jogi Kiadó 1982.
GEERTZ C: Az értelmezés hatalma Századvég kiadó 1994.
KÉZDI B.: Kódolási útmutató - kézirat 1986.
KÉZDI B.: Ongyilkosság, nyelvi kommunikáció, kultura - Disertacija 1990.
KÉZDI B.: Onpusztitás és lelki egészség. V: Devianciák Magyarországon Kozélet 1994.
KEZDI B.: A negativ kód, Pannonia konyvek 1995.
LEENAARS A., LESTER D.: Tbe Significance of tbe Method Chosen for Suicide in Understanding the Psychodynami-
cs of the Suicidal Individua, Omega 19 (4) 311-314, 1988-89.
LEENAARS A.: Suicide Notes, New York Human Sciences Press 1988.
LEENAARS A.: Suicide Notes from Canada and the United States, Perceptua land Motor Skills 74, 278.
LEENAARS A., FEKETE S,, WENCKSTERN S., OSVATH P.: Suicide Notes from Hungary and the United States
(rokopis).
LESTER D.: Accuracy of recognition of genuine versus simulated suicide, Personality and Individual Differences,
1991, 12, 765-766.
LESTER D.: Reliability of Naive Jugdes of Genuine Suicide Notes, Perceptual and Motor Skills 1991 73, 942.
LUNACEK M.: Etičnost retrogradnih študij samomora - Rokopis 1987.
MILČINSKI L.: Samomor in Slovenci, Ljubljana 1983.
MILCINSKI L.: Psihološka avtopsija da ali ne - (Misli k razmišljanjem M. Lunačka), Ljubljana 1988.
0'DONNEL L, Earmer R., Catalan J. (1993): Suicide Notes, British Journal of Psychiatry 163, 4548.
OSVÁTH R, FEKETE S., TIRINGER I. (1996): Szuicidium és szoveg. Addict. Hun. IV évf. 1. sz. 5-13.
POSLOVILNA pisma žrtev za svobodo.
SHEIDMAN E., FARBEROW N. (1957): Clues to suicide. New York Mc Graw - Hill.
TUCKMAN J., KLEINER R., LAWELL M.: Emotional Content of Suicide Notes, Am. J. Psych. 1959 116, 59-63.
TUCKMAN J., KLEINER R., LAWELL M.: Credibility of the Suicide Notes, Am. J. Psych. 1960 116, 11041106.
"WEINTRAUB E.: Verbal behaviour: Adaptation nad Psychopathology, Springer V. New York 1981.
224
ON THE CONTENTS OF SUICIDE NOTES AND
THE FAREWELL LETTERS OF PATRIOTS
EXECUTED DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Robert Oravecz
Keywords: death, suicide notes, content analysis, negation, deconstruction
The 60's and the 70's were the "golden era" of the modern suicidology. Shnei-
dman, Farberow, Beck, Ringel and many others were the first researchers, who brought
some light into the darkness of the presuicidal process. According to their theoretical
concepts and empirical findings, today it is evident, that the feelings and expressions of
the suicidal individuals are not arbitrary. The presuicidal process reflects some impor-
tant rules and contents. It seems that the existence of a suicide discourse, (which differs
from culture to culture), is obvious. The suicide discourse, in a sense of a "reality, ex-
pressing in signs" (Kezdi, 2) represents (in some circumstances) the only way of talking,
thinking and wridng about suicide. The tradition of the suicidogenity of a certain cul-
ture is occurring through the semantic, pragmatic and syntactic dimensions of the dis-
course. The presuicidal process involves the potential suicidal individual, and all the
"significant" environment around him.
The phenomenon of the "Cry for Help" (looking for help and support before
committing suicide) is an evidence for the interpersonal (conversational) nature of the
presuicidal process. The theoretical concepts of Shneidman and Farberow contributed
to the development of some preventive and therapeutic methods, but they were unable
to answer some very important questions of suicidology.
The researches found out that the suicide notes are an important part of the sui-
cidological tradition of the 70's. At the late 50's, Shneidman and Farberow constructed
a scientific project to compare genuine suicide notes to the simulated ones, written by
healthy volunteers. The result of the research was poorly relevant to the understanding
of the suicide phenomenon. Other authors examined the difference between the sub-
populations of suicide committing individuals, who left suicide notes behind and
those, who did not. Those results were irrelevant also. The most interesting studies
were those, based on the content analysis of the suicide notes. They reflect the influ-
ence of the theoretical concepts and the epistemology of the contemporary humanistic
sciences on the research of the suicide notes.
225
Robert Oravecz
One of the most creative suicidologists, working in the field of the suicide notes is
Antoon Leenaars from Canada. He is the author of many important studies, which con-
sider the presence of some textual elements, reflecting the intra- and interpersonal con-
cepts of the suicide. Leenaars is important also, because he was one of the first re-
searchers, working in the field of the transcultural analysis of the documents, relevant
to the suicide. He compared suicide notes from Canada and United States and from
Canada and Hungary. The suicidology of the 80's and 90's developed a cultural-an-
thropologically based paradigm also. This kind of studies discovered the appearance of
the suicide-related contents in presuicidal manifestations, in media and in literature.
The transcultural comparison seem to be very important method in the understanding
of the nature of the suicidal behaviour.
Kezdi was the first (Hungarian) suicidologist in the early 80's, who studied the
linguistic elements of the suicide relating texts. He made a content analysis, based on
the theoretical concepts of language behaviour, semiotics and semantics. The sample of
his research contained transcrited interviews, made with suicidal individuals, suicide
notes and fragments of texts, relevant to suicide. The control sample contained inter-
views with non suicidal people and texts, irrelevant to suicidal manifestations. He iden-
tified the negation, (denial) as the most relevant element of the entire suicide dis-
course. .An important part of his work was the interpretation of the discursive role of
the denial from the viewpoint of the culture and tradition.
Fekete, another Hungarian suicidologists used the method of Kezdi for transcul-
tural comparison of the suicide notes. He compared Hungarian, German and English
notes. The cultural-anthropologically based suicidological concepts increased in the
80's and 90's like the answer to the deficiency of the »modern«, sociologically and psy-
chologically determined concepts. Namely, the above mentioned sociological and psy-
chological concepts of the 60's and 70's were unable to sufficiently interpret the differ-
ence in suicidality of culturally different populations. But they supported the develop-
ment of a new, interdisciplinary based paradigm which is able to answer very impor-
tant questions about the presuicidal process. Those concepts are influenced by linguis-
tic theories and bermeneutics. The viewpoint of the researchers changed from the sui-
cidal individuals to the phenomenology of the suicidal process which appears in sui-
cide-related discourse. This kind of view is certainly inter- and multidisciplinary
based, oriented into the dimension of the interpersonal space. The »observer« is not an
outstanding and »objective« person, but he is at the time of the observation completely
involved in the situation and influenced by the language transmitted elements of the
»main discourse*. According to the theoretical concepts of the contemporary cultural
anthropology, the members of a culture are able to constitute a communicative act on
suicide just in harmony with the relevant discourse, which contains the elements of
»how«, »whom«, »when« and »why«.
Kezdi and Fekete confirmed the role of the denial like a »hard« marker of the
texts, relevant to the suicide. The denial (negation) can be imagined like an element of
the content, but at the same time the negation has a syntactic function also. For exam-
ple, the presence of the multiple negation is specific to some Middle-European cultures
226
On the Contents of Suicide Notes and the Farewell Letters of Patriots, Executed during the Second ^orld War
with high suicidal rate, like Hungary and Slovenia, not just to some suicidal individu-
als, belonging to those cultures. From the viewpoint of the cultural anthropology it
seems very important to answer the question: »What is the intention of someone writ-
ing a suicide note and what is the meaning of those kind of texts?« The comparison of
suicide notes and leave - taking notes of some non- suicidal individuals seems to be a
successful way to answer this questions.
The Slovene study on suicide notes compared the sample of 50 suicide notes and 45
leave-taking notes of patriots, executed at the time of the second world war, written in the
Slovene language by members of the Slovene ctdture. The suicide notes were collected by
die police in 1994, and the notes, written in the Slovene language were included in the
sample. The leave-taking notes were pubhshed in a coUection and those, included in the
research-sample were chosen randomly. After the preliminary reading of the texts, author
created a system of criteria for reflection and interpretation of the psychological, seman-
tic, semiotical significance of both samples. The questionnaire, used in research was de-
veloped on the ground of some intuitive expectations to the relevance of certain variables,
but they reflect the tradition of many suicidological theories also.
The leave-taking notes of patriots
The leave-taking notes of patriots are a very homogenous sample, according to the
length, formal structure and the dominandy expressed feelings. The leave-taking notes
contain 60 to 80 words in average. Almost ad of the notes were addressed to one or more
(identified) persons. At the and of the notes there is a kind of a leave-taking phrase and a
signature of the author Almost aU of the notes contain an information about the expect-
ed execution of the author (In a sense of »being kdled«.) The emotional content of the
notes reflects the expression of »love« and »guilt«. The »guilt« appears in the context of
pain, caused by the audior to they relatives, (by his illegal activity, seen from the view-
point of the enemy.) The author very often begs for pardon or denies the need for compas-
sion of the relatives. The leave-taking notes contain a great amount of utterances, (60%
of aU) relating to the author or to the addressee. Twenty percent of the utterances contain
mformation, relating to the relationship between the authors and dieir relatives. The na-
ture of the reflections and autoreflections is also indicating the perception of the relation
between the author and the »significant other«. The negative autoreflection of the au-
thors is present in 40% of the leave-taking notes. The majority of die authors reflect the
"significant other" positively. The negation is very often used to deny pain or fear of the
author, or to deny die intention of causing suffering and pain to the significant others.
More than 60% of the notes contain one or more direct expressions of death and dying.
The responsibility for the early and cruel death of the authors is not often mentioned. If it
is, than it is in the sense of a destiny.
The leave-taking notes contain utterances with informative values (about the ex-
ecution, the testament, the significant others etc.) but many phrases with polite content
also. This utterances speak about loyalty and "good will". Listening to the narratives of
the leave-taking notes becomes clear, that the conspirative patriotic activity was not a
227i
Robert Oravecz
value for the majority of the (almost rural) population standing behind the authors of
the leave-taking notes. The fear from consequences often divided the members of the
same family. To join the patriot movement meant being different in the sense of reject-
ing the traditional values of the family and community.
The main characteristics of the notes, for example the positive reflection (of the
others) and the negative autoreflection (of the authors) suggest an intent of reaccepting
the belief system, relevant to the main population by the authors of the leave-taking
notes. That means also rejecting the appurtenance to the discourse of the patriot move-
ment, to which they belonged before. The cause of the rejection are probably the feel-
ings of guilt and the irrelevance of their belief system in the circumstances of expecting
the execution. The main reason for writing leave-taking notes is probably an attempt
to reconstruct the original relationship between the authors and their famdies. The act
of confession (in the sense of accepting one's own mistake) may be seen like an act of
reconciliation. The result of reconcdiation is the harmonisation of the individual with
the family and community, what is necessary to accept the cruel fact of death. The
death was seen by the authors of the leave-taking notes like a chance to join some fam-
ily or community members expired before. The acts of harmonisation probably cause
confluence of the individual and the collective Self, resulting in the feelings of individ-
ual safetiness and in the possibdity to integrate the idea and the experience of transi-
ence. The belief into the life after death is an important fact in the process of integrat-
ing the death, but not the only one. The harmony, reestablished between the individual
and the community gives a feeling of immortality to the authors of leave-taking notes.
Suicide motes
The interpretation of the suicide notes seems more difficult, because of their struc-
tural and content inhomogeneity. The sample of the Slovene suicide notes contains vari-
ous types of texts, according to the length, structure, expressed emotion etc. More than
60% of aU notes contain utterances, expressing information about the funeral, the last
will of the author or about the location of the corpse. Some suicide notes are identified
like testaments. Some of those texts are irrelevant to the suicide of the individual, because
they were sometimes written before the increasing of the presuicidal process. The testa-
ments and messages are structured Idie the same texts of nonsuicidal individuals and they
differ from the suicide notes, because they are more relevant suicide process. From the
other hand, it is clear, that the discourse of suicide is not manifested through some clear
scripts. The relevant meanings are hidden in some fragments of the suicide notes. The
discovery of those fragments is the hermeneutic way of understanding. The hermeneutic
circle is built up from the process of comprehension of the partial, which contribute to
the understanding of the whole etc. Certain interpretation is just a station in the never
ending process of understanding.
Comparing the leave-taking and the suicide notes, it becomes evident, that the
suicide texts are less oriented toward the addressee. The lack of leave-taking phrase
and the signature supports this statement The structure of the leave-taking notes is
228
On the Contents of Suicide Notes and the Farewell Letters of Patriots, Executed durins the Second World Wa
more "uniform", the suicide notes do not contain specific structural elements. The
lack of utterances, introducing the addressee and the lack of the signature at the and of
the text destroys the trisequent structure, characteristic of the structure of the leave-
taking notes. The suicide notes often look like a monologue, written in the absence of
the audience. The written form of the suicide notes gives an impression of termination
and unchangeability.
The Hungarian suicidological tradition often accentuate the role of the denial as
very important and statistically "hard" determinant of the suicide discourse. The re-
search, made on the Slovene sample of the suicide notes confirmes the highly signifi-
cant presence of the utterances, containing denials. The less relevant suicide texts (tes-
taments, last wills, notes of funerals etc) contains less utterances, expressing denial.
Among the sample of suicide notes, the denial is present in the one third of all utter-
ances. The narrative function of the negation (denial) is different from those, described
in leave-taking notes.
The role of denial is multiple:
- denial of facts, which are important for the opinion of the significant others
about the author
- denial of facts, preferred before
- denial of the possibility of changes
- declaring the absurdity of life
- declaring the rejectedness from the significant others.
The main role of denial seems to be the deconstruction of reality, which is cultur-
ally and interpersonally determined. The deconstruction of reality is a process, strong-
ly connected with the presuicidal crisis.
The coincidence of the destructive and stressful circumstances and the personal
experiences of the individual can initiate the process, which leads to the destruction of
everyday feelings of safety, based on harmony of the meanings. The ambivalence is in
some way the expression of the distorted harmony of the meanings between the individ-
ual and the environment, resulting in the indecisiveness of the suicidal person. The
ambivalence is strongly connected to the changed, foreshortened perception of the fu-
ture in a way of "what wiU happen with me in the future"? When the crisis is deepen-
ing, the negative perception of the possible future is even more dominant and the anx-
iety of the indivitlual is increasing.
The denial is an important weapon of the suicide discourse. Namely, the denial is
a way to change the ambivalence into a special kind of "safetiness". An utterance, for
example: "Nobody, ever loved me," seem to be the perfect model for the understanding
the process of reality deconstruction. Ambivalence suggests the hesitation between the
"loves me or loves me not" - for example. This kind of hesitation is sometimes the
source of the anxiety of suicidal individuals. Solving the ambivalence in the above-men-
tioned way, the individual might construct a new reality, which reduces anxiety and
makes him virtually safe in front of doubt regarding the interpersonally based feelings.
The process of deconstruction causes the tearing of the referential connections be-
tween the individual and the social discourse, producing the state of disconnectedness.
229
Robert Oravecz
Sometimes, several hours or days before the act of suicide, the potentiady suicidal per-
sons changed the behaviour. They often became relaxed and more communicative than
before. The suicide notes are probably the written impressions of those periods. The
problem with the deconstruction of the interpersonally and culturally based reality is
the elimination of the future. Namely, the deconstructed reality can not give a positive
perception of the future. The disconnected individual is virtually safe and relaxed, but
the freedom and the future is unattainable to him. Metaphorically, the position of the
individual is just like at the "eye" of the hurricane. Safe, but without future.
230
BIBLIOGRAPHY see page 224
BESEDA 0 AVTORJU
Robert Oravecz. dr. med., rojen v Vojvodini
kot pripadnik madžarske manjšine. Medicinsko
fakulteto je končal na Madžarskem. Od leta 1988
živi v Sloveniji. Študiral je filozofijo in diskurzivne
znanosti, dokončal je specializacijo psihiatrije. Od
1995 živi v Ormožu, sicer pa je na doktorskem štu-
diju na Medicinski fakulteti v Budimpešti. Ukvarja
se s problematiko travme, žrtev in beguncev kot
tudi z adiktologijo in suicidologijo. Objavil je več
člankov iz omenjenih tem in sodeluje na nacional-
nih in mednarodnih znanstvenih srečanjih.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Oravecz, M.D., was born in Voivodi-
na as a Hungarian minority member. He gradua-
ted from Med. School in Hungarv. Since 1988 he
has been living in Slovenia, where he has been stu-
dying philosophy, discourse studies and has got a
certificate in psychiatry also. Since 1995 he has
been living in Ormož. He is also a Ph.D. student at
Medical University of Budapest. Robert Oravecz is
interested in the field of psychotrauma, victimhcH
od and refugees, also in addictology and suicidolo-
gy. He has many publications on related topics and
he has participated at many national and interna-
tional scientific congresses.
ARHEOLOŠKO NAJDIŠČE IN LEGENDA O
UMRLIH: PRIMER GORENJI MOKRONOG
Uroš Bavec
Ključne besede: mitična krajina, uhan s košarico, rekristjanizirana ali sveta krajina, ajdje
Eno od značdnih in morda najbolj očitnih materialnih manifestacij smrti je
vsekakor grobišče oz. pokopališče. Pri raziskovanju takšnih točk je sodelovanje med
nekaterimi na videz nezdružljivimi strokovnimi področji nujno. V mislih imamo predv-
sem področje varovanja kulturne dediščine, ohranjanje ostankov ustnega izročda ob
upoštevanju novih arheoloških in fizičnoantropoloških podatkov.
Nekatera stara pokopališča ali bolje grobišča v agrarnih okoljih osrednje Do-
lenjske imajo praviloma poseben status. Ponavadi gre za že znane lokacije, ki jih ljudje
označujejo s tipičnimi imeni. Tem mestom dajo včasih namensko pridih skrivnostnosti,
kar privede do postopne "mitizacije" celotne pokrajine (prim. Roymans 1995).
Lokalno prebivalstvo vsak devastacijski poseg na takšnem območju pravdoma
sprejme z neodobravanjem in odporom. Zanimivo, da je ta svojevrstna pieteta, ki se
kaže v odnosu do skeletnih ostankov prednikov, zelo spremenljiv pojav, ki ni skupen
vsem prebivalcem. Na nekem ozkem vzorčnem primeru se lahko giblje od precejšnje
indiferentosti do pravega "kulta mrtvih".' Čemu ta razlika? Zakaj niso v ljudski zavesti
vse lokacije s skeletnimi ostanki umrlih obravnavane enako? Zakaj dvesto let opuščeno
vaško pokopališče izginja iz ljudske zavesti, medtem ko se zgodbe o tisoč let starejšem
poznoantičnem grobišču ali stari romanski kostnici ohranjajo? Paradoksalno je dejstvo,
da domačinov na teh mitiziranih krajih celo prisotnost ne vedno najbolj priljubljenih
raziskovalcev - arheologov, ne moti.^ Naša teza je, da dobijo vrednost samo tisti elemen-
' Spremenljiv odnos do skeletnih ostankov pokojnikov, ki se kaže npr. v prekopavanju grobov, se pojavi že v
visokem srednjem veku in je znan iz pisnih virov (Makarovič G. 1995, 146). Potrjujejo ga tudi rezuhad izkopavanj na
srednjeveškem grobišču ob cerkvi Sv. Petra (slika 2-3). Za našo nadaljnjo obravnavo ostaja zanimiva lokacija poznoan-
tičnega grobišča, kjer je odnos do grobov povsem drugačen, in ni naklučje, da se večina legend veže ravno na to loka-
cijo (slika 1).
^ Zdi se, da "sved značaj" tovrstnih najdišč pomeni spregledan most med nepopularno državno službo (kot so
npr. lokalni zavodi za varstvo kulturne dediščine) in lokalnim javnim mnenjem, ki bi ga bilo vredno v prihodnosti bolj
spopularizirati
231
Uroš Bavec
ti (sem sodijo npr. tudi skeletni ostanki), ki sodijo v kontekst povrnitve nikdar povsem
izgubljene "stare slave" neke mitizirane pokrajine.
Arheologija s sodobnimi metodološkimi pristopi takšno "mitizacijo pokrajine"
praviloma preprosto spregleda ali le površno citira. Interpretacij skorajda ni. Morda
zato, ker imamo lahko precejšen del tega bogatega ustnega izročila v smislu postavke -
"resnične preteklosti" v strogem empiričnem smislu za diskutabilen.
To potrjuje tudi analiza na prvi pogled bogatega ustnega izročda, ki se veže na
arheološko najdišče Gorenji Mokronog na območju centralne Dolenjske. Vedenje o sve-
tem značaju določenih delov obravnavane pokrajine se v našem primeru neposredno
ohranja le v ledinskem imenu lokacije. Lokacija ob na novo odkritem poznoantičnem
grobišču (slika 1), se imenuje "Orajk" ali "Vrajski breg", kar je narečna izpeljava loka-
tiva imena "v raju" oz. v nebesih (krščansko) oz. v poganskem onstranstvu (SI. SKJ
1985, 311). Ta toponim je torej tista točka, ki bi jo smeli označiti za "resnično pre-
teklost" - potrjeno z empirijo arheoloških izkopavanj. Kljub prekinitvi izrabe tega pro-
stora v tradiciji (izkopavanja so pokazala, da je grobišče časovno ozko omejeno na ko-
nec 6. in začetek 7. stoletja) so poganski oz. slovanski prišleki "svetost" te krajine pono-
vno prevzeli od staroselcev; zatem je mitična krajina poznoantičnega grobišča ob vno-
vičnem pokristjanjenju zopet postala del krščanske kozmologije.
Zanimivo je, da si vse arheološke točke v prostoru ne "zaslužijo" mitizacije. V
neposredni bližini - ob nekdanji župnijski cerkvi sv. Petra - je bilo odkrito visoko in
poznosrednjeveško grobišče (slika 2). Rezultati izkopavanj kažejo, daje bilo grobišče
konec 18. stoletja dokončno opuščeno, kar sovpada z zgodovinskimi podatki, ki
kažejo, da se je dogajanje ob cerkvi po I. 1870 preneslo v novo župnijsko (nekdaj
podružnično) cerkev sv. Križa na Trebelnem (Golob 1994, 9). Tu je, kot kažejo rezul-
tati izkopavanj, odnos do mrtvih že precej podoben današnjemu. Grobove so zaradi
pomanjkanja prostora v zadnji fazi pogosto prekopavali. Rotunda sv. Mihaela pa je
služila kot kostnica, kjer so dolge kosti in lobanje iz teh prekopanih grobov odlagali.
Grobišče je namreč umeščeno pod romansko rotundo sv. Mihaela in je, kot kažejo
rezultati izkopavanj v kombinaciji z nekaterimi topografskimi podatki, zapolnjevalo
ves prostor okoli barokizirane cerkve sv. Petra {slika 2-3). Morda se je zaradi po-
manjkanja prostora v nekem trenutku spremenila celo lega mrliča v grobu, ki iz sta-
rejše tradicionalne usmeritve vzhod-zahod preide v smer sever-jug {slika 3). Značdno
in za nas zanimivo pa je dejstvo, da je vse ustno izročilo, ki se je spletlo okrog obrav-
navane lokacije, v bistvu vezano na mitizirano lokacijo bližnjega poznoantičnega
grobišča. Imeli smo srečo, da smo naleteli na gospoda Franca Hočevarja - mežnarja
in vaškega kronista iz Mokronoga, ki je prava zakladnica tovrstnih podatkov. Za cen-
tralno slovenski in jugovzhodnoalpski prostor je to danes že prava redkost. Vsi njego-
vi podatki kažejo, kako so lokalni prebivalci neki mitični krajini postopoma vračali
njen prvotni - očitno nikoli povsem izgubljen sveti pomen, ki se kaže v zelo konkret-
nem odnosu do skeletnih ostankov umrlih iz točno določene lokacije poznoantične-
ga grobišča. Romanska rotunda sv. Mihaela (iz prve polovice 13. stoletja) {slika 4), v
kateri naj bi po legendi maševala Cird in Metod in naj bi vanjo "še ajdje hodili", je
hkrati kostnica in je še danes polna človeških kostnih ostankov (Hitzinger P, 1863,
232
Arheološko najdišče in legenda o umrlih: primer Gorenji Mokronpo
19). Kosti so kot element tremendum et fascinam zopet vzbudile željo po mitizaciji,
sam izvor legende o maševanju Cirila in Metoda pa je bolj banalen.
Ugotovili smo, da je mitizacija v tem primeru povezana z nekakšno "mitično slova-
nizacijo", ki ima izvor v stari, tendenciozni časopisni objavi .Meksandra Kobeta alias Ju-
rija Sodevskega iz prve polovice 19. stoletja (Kobe-Sodevski 1844, 115-116). Še danes izre-
dno živa legenda, ki so jo domačini hvaležno sprejeli, se v tem primeru izkaže za reakcijo
na realne politične razmere v prvi polovici 19. stoletja. Tako je pod vplivom takrat na-
stajajočega panslavizma v visoko srednjeveško romansko rotundo - kostnico sv. Mdiaela
samovoljno vpeto maševanje Konstantina (Cirda) in Metoda - slovanskih apostolov iz 9.
stoletja. Ljudsko znanje smemo tu razumeti kot razumsko spoznanje sveta, kot ga
doživljamo, ne glede na realnost preteklih stanj, kar zopet ni v nasprotju z visoko empirič-
nim pristopom radikalno konstruktivistične perspektive (prim. Holtorf C. J. 1997, 80).
Globoka potreba po mitizaciji ali "rekristjanizaciji" takšne svete krajine je stalna
in se kaže v tem, da domačini vsako novost, ki sodi v ta kontekst, z veseljem sprejmejo.
Ze prihod tujca, npr. arheologa, in odkritje grobov sta lahko vzrok za nastanek novega
"mitičnega konstrukta". Starinokop J. Pečnik, ki je v teh krajih deloval v zadnji tretjini
19. stoletja, je odkril "čudne grobove, zložene iz kamnitih plošč in jako podobnih rim-
skim", kijih ni natančno lociral (Pečnik J. 1887, 28 in Pečnik F. 1989) {slika 5). Njego-
vo odkritje se je vtisndo v spomin nekaterih zdaj že pokojnih domačinov. Do točne lo-
kacije smo srečno prišli le na podlagi informacije, da je stari lastnik tega območja
naključnim popotnikom in romarjem (po cesti teče znana božja pot) prepovedal oprav-
ljanje potrebe po bližnjem gozdiču Vrajku z besedami: "Ali doma tudi po britofu ser-
jete?" Ta razlaga, pogojena s sedanjim oz. polpreteklim spoštovanjem do umrlih, torej
zopet ne izključuje resnice o obstoju nekega preteklega stanja.
Navadno izvor legende ni povsem jasen in ga celo empirični pristop, kot je npr.
interpretacija rezultatov arheoloških izkopavanj, ne more potrditi ali ovreči. Legenda o
prvem misijonu in leseni cerkvi ob njej, za lokacijo katere v ustnem izročdu ni točnih
podatkov, verjetno ni nepomembna.' Navezava na prej omenjeni panslovanski kon-
strukt seveda ni nemogoča. Vendar smo z izkopavanji odkrili ostanke jam za kole, ki
skupaj sestavljajo neko preprosto ovalno strukturo umetno izravnane površine ob
najvišjem delu izkopnega polja poznoantičnega grobišča {slika 1). .Misel, da so slovan-
ski, morda še poganski prišleki prepoznali poznoantično grobišče kot del mitične kraji-
ne, ki jo je potrebno označiti z nekakšno arhitekturo, po nekaterih analogijah ni neve-
rjetna, a je z ohranjenimi materialnimi ostanki žal ne moremo dokazati.*
Je pa stroka (npr. arheologija) v sodelovanju z drugimi vedami sposobna v mno-
gočem dopolniti legendo o "pervih kristjanih", ki naj bi bdi ob leseni cerkvi pokopani,
in s tem priskočiti na pomoč pri novodobni mitizaciji krajine. Dvajset pokojnikov je
bilo položenih v plitve jame brez grobne arhitekture in le z osebnimi pridatki {slika 1).
Da je šlo za zaprto samoskrbno skupnost, kaže obrabljenost in deloma celo unikatnost
najdenih pridatkov, značdnih za konec 6. in začetek 7. stoletja. Dva uhana s košarico,
' Podatek mi je posredoval g. Franc Hočevar, za kar se mu na tem mestu najlepše zahvaljujem.
* Funkcija podobnih vkopnih jam, ki so verjetno stojke skromne lesene arhitekUire, ostaja zvečina пeinterprf^
tirana; najdemo jih npr. na zgodnjesrednjeveškem najdišču v avstrijskem Gusnu (Tovornik V. 1985, 187 in priloga).
233
Uroš Bavec
izdelana v bronu, postaneta takoj bolj zanimiva, če povemo, da je prvega nosila neka
več kot štirideset let stara ženska pred tisoč tristo leti na desni strani glave kot del lokal-
ne noše, medtem ko je nekoliko mlajša ženska, morda sorodnica zgoraj omenjene (kar
kažejo antropološke analize), v približno istem času nosila slab lokalni posnetek neke
luksuzne starejše izvorno bizantinske narebrene oblike uhana, ki v tem nevarnem času
očitno ni bila več dostopna.
Zanimiva je tudi zgodba o preluknjanih odlomkih dveh poznoantičnih čaš, ki
sami na sebi ne pomenita ničesar Ce pa vemo, da sta bili položeni v naročje štiri do pet
let starega otroka, sta predstavljivi sliki neke daljne bolečine. Eden od njegovih
najbljižjih mu je na zadnjo pot položil v naročje njegovo ljubo igračo - ropotuljico.
Antropološko poročilo je pokazalo približno enakovreden odstotek žensk (7),
moških (6) in otrok (2). Ce hočemo, lahko iz suhoparnih podatkov s področja fizične
antropologije vedno izluščimo detajle, zanimive tudi za širšo javnost. Takšno je npr.
dejstvo, da so si bdi ti ljudje verjetno v sorodu, na kar kažejo nekatere fiziološke sorod-
nosti - npr. orlovski nos, ki se pojavlja tako pri moških kot pri ženskah. Zanimivo, da jih
je največ umrlo v dobi adultus II (3040 let), medtem ko starosd maturus II (50-60 let)
na vzorcu te sonde ni nihče presegel.''
Mitično krajino uspešno dopolnjuje še arheološki podatek o obstoju poznoantič-
ne naselbine, ki se je v ustnem izročdu že izgubd in se ni ohranil niti v toponimu. Na-
selbina je bda odkrita ob gradu Obernassenfuss, ali natančneje: na terasah pod njim
(slika 6). Možnost, da stika med staroselci in slovanskimi prišleki ni bilo, izključuje že
sam obstoj mitične krajine. Morda na mestu same naselbine ni sakralnega objekta s
svedmi močmi, ki bi bd vreden mitizacije. Sakralne objekte najdemo namreč na loka-
cijah večine poznoantičnih višinskih utrjenih naselij, ki imajo svoj poznoantični izvor
večkrat skrit v imenu (npr. Ajdna nad Potoki, Ajdovski gradeč). Tudi tu so izjeme, ven-
dar arheologi le redko prebiramo pravljice izpred stotih let. V primeru hriba Vipota pri
Celju se je npr nekoč zapisana zgodba "o vodini, kjer so se skrivali kristjani pred srdom
poganov", ki se je z najdbami zgodnjekrščanske cerkvene opreme potrdda kot zelo ve-
rjetna (SeidI 1881, 76). ^
Naj na tem mestu prekinemo pogovor o legendah ali o arheoloških podatkih. Ni
naša želja, da bi z interpretacijo skeletnih ostankov in arheoloških artefaktov sproždi nov
mitični konstrukt. Taje bd verjetno vzpostavljen že takrat, ko smo se na tem kraju pojavdi
prvič (naše delovanje je npr. postalo del gostdniških govoric). Temeljno voddo našega pri-
spevka je vendarle vzpostavitev novega odnosa do živdi. Ravno zato se zdi ob ukvarjanju z
umrlimi iz kateregakoh časa popularizacija sodelovanja med strokami nujna.
Izčrpno antopološko poročilo dr. Petre Leben-Selakove hrani ZVNKD Novo mesto.
' Za prijazen napotek se na tem mestu najlepše zahvaljujem dr. ,\ndreju Pleterskemu.
234
Arheološko najdišče in legenda o umrlih: primer Gorenji Mokronog
Slika 1 / Figure 1: Tloris dela poznoantičnega grobišča z ostanki vkopov za stojke neke ovalne in kasneje
odstranjene lesene konstrukcije (sonda 1) in grobni pridatki iz grobov 2, 5, 7, 14, 18. ♦ A plan of the Late Roman
cemetery and the remains of post holes for an oval wooden structure that was later removed (trench 1), as well as
the grave goods from graves 2, 5, 7, 14, 18.
235
Uroš Bavec
Slika 2 / Figure 2: Tloris dela poznosrednjeveškega grobišča (sonda 3) - faza 1. ♦ A plan of part of the Late
Medieval cemetery (trench 3) - phase 1.
236
Arheološko najdišče in legenda o umrlih: primer Gorenji Mokronog
Slika 3 / Figure 3: Tloris dela poznosrednjeveškega grobišča (sonda 3) - faza 2. ♦ A plan of part of the Late
Medieval cemetery (trench 3) - phase 2.
237
Uroš Bavec
Slika 4 / Figure 4: Romanska rotunda sv. Mihaela (prva polovica 13. stoletja), foto M. Kapus. ♦ The St Mihael
Romanesque rotunda (first half ot the 13* century), photo M. Kapus.
Slika 5 / Figure 5: Izsek karte iz dnevTiiških zapisov starinokopa Jerneja Pećnika. ♦ A section of a map from the
dady records of the treasure hunter, Jernej Pečnik.
238
Arheološko najdišče in legenda o umrlih: primer Gorenji Mokronog
239
Uroš Bavec
Slika 6 / Figure 6: Gorenji Mokronog - tridimenzionalni
(axonometricni) geodetski posnetek terena. Vidne so
naslednje lokacije: a) "Orajek" s poznoantičnim
grobiščem; b) romanska rotunda - kostnica sv. Mihaela,
kjer naj bi po tradiciji maševala sveta brata Ciril in
Metod; c) sistem teras pod ruševinami gradu
"Obernassenfuss"; d) fosilne poti. ♦ Gorenji Mokronog.
A three-dimensional (axonometric) geodesic plan of the
landscape. The following locations are visible:
a) "Orajek" with the Late Roman cemetery; b) the Sv.
Mihael Romanesque rotunda - ossuary, where Cyril and
Methodius supposedly held a mass; c) the system of
terraces below the ruins of the "Obernassenfuss" casde;
d) the old routes.
LITERATCRA
GOLOB T. 1994, Umetnostnozgodovinska topografija župnije Trebelno, Univerza v Ljubljani - FUozofska fakulteta,
Neobjavljena diplomska naloga (mentor Komelj M.), 8-25.
HITZINGER P. 1863, Stara kapelica pod Trebelnim, Novice gospodarske, obrtniške in narodne, 19.
HOLFORT C. J. 1997, Christian Landscapes of Pagan Monuments. A Radical Constructivist Perspective, v : Semiotics
of Landscape: Archaeology of Mind (Ed. G. Nash), British Archaeological Reports 661, 80-88.
KOBE-SODEVSKI J. 1844, Sled Cirilovega obreda (ritus) na Kranjskem, Kmetijske in rokodelske Novice 1 (Ljubljana),
115-116.
MAKAROVIČ G. 1995, Slovenci in čas. Odnos do časa kot okvir in sestavina vsakdanjega življenja, v: Knjižna zbirka
Krt 94, 145-164.
PEČNIK J. 1887, Shvenec 15 (Ljubljana) 28.
PEČNIK F. 1889, Karta in opis karte Novo mesto iz prazgodovinske dobe, Državni arhiv Slovenije, Priv. A XXXIX
fasc. 2.
ROYMANS N. 1995, The cultural biography of urnfields and the long-term history of a mythical landscape (with com-
ments and reply), v: Arcaeological Dialogues 1995, 2-38.
SI. SKJ 1985 - Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika IV, 311.
TOVORNIK V. 1985, Die Friihmittelalteriichen Graberfelder von Gusen und Auhoff bei Perg in Oberosterreich, Teil
I: Gusen, v: Achaeologia Austriaca 69, 165-250.
240
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE AND THE LEGEND
OF THE DEAD: CASE-STUDY OF GORENJI
MOKRONOG
Uroš Bavec
241
Keywords: mythical lamlscape, basket earrings. Christian landscape, indigenous romanised population
A cemetery is certainly the most characteristic and perhaps also the most conspic-
uous material manifestation of death. Cooperation among select, seemingly incompati-
ble professional fields is a necessity in the investigation of such sites. This largely refers
to the field of preserving cultural heritage and oral tradition, whilst taking into ac-
count new archaeological and physicalanthropological data.
Certain ancient cemeteries maintain a special status in the rural areas of the cen-
tral Dolenjsko region. These locations are known to the local population and as such
are designated by specific toponyms. A breath of mysteriousness is sometimes deliber-
ately bestowed upon these sites which consequently leads to the gradual 'mythization'
of an entire landscape (e.g. Roymans 1995). Each and every intervention, which dam-
ages such a region, normally encounters disapproval and resistance from the side of
the local inhabitants. It is fascinating that this peculiar piety should expressed towards
the skeletal remains of the ancestors. It appears to be a mutable phenomenon that is
not collective. In this specific case it ranges from extreme indifference to a genuine
"veneration of the dead".'
Why do some sites of human burials receive special consideration in local con-
sciousness, whdst others do not? How is it possible that a 200 year old village cemetery
can vanish from local's consciousness, whilst oral traditions of a thousand year older
Late Roman cemetery or a Romanesque ossuary survived? It is paradoxical that even
the presence of the somewhat less popular researchers, such as archaeologists, in these
' The capricious relationship to the skeletal remains, which is often exhibited in the digging up of graves, was
already present in the Middle Ages and is also referred to in the written sources (Makarovič G. 1995, 146). The prac-
tice is also reconfirmed in the results from the excavations of the Medieval cemetery by tbe church of St. Peter - Fig-
ure 2-3. In the continuation, tbe site of the Late Roman cemetery, where tbe relationship to graves takes on an entire-
ly different manner, is of some consequence. It is certainly not a mere coincidence that most legends refer precisely to
this location - Figure 1.
Uroš Bavec
'mythicized' locahties does not seem to be considered an intrusion by the locals.^ It is
suggested here that the only elements that gain in value are those (including skeletal
remains), which conform to the context of reinstating the 'old glory' of a 'mythicized'
locality, which was never entirely lost.
If archaeology only applies contemporary methodological approaches, it will sim-
ply overlook or inadvertently cite such 'mythization' of the landscape. Interpretations
are all but omitted. This may be because a large part of this rich oral tradition, denot-
ing "real past", is considered debatable in a strictly empirical sense. This is also con-
firmed by analyzing the seemingly rich oral tradition concerning the Gorenji Mokron-
og archaeological site in the central Dolenjsko. Only the toponym of the locality direct-
ly retains the 'sacred status' of certain parts of the discussed landscape. The area
around the newly discovered Late Roman cemetery - Figure 1, is referred to as "Orajk"
or "Vrajski breg", which is a dialect form of the locative name "v raju", in heaven
(Christian), in the pagan otherworld (SI. SKJ 1985, 311). This toponym is a point which
can be defined as "real past", and which is confirmed by the empiricism of archaeolog-
ical excavations. In spite of setdement discontinuity in this area (the cemetery dates to
the end of the 6* and the beginning of the 7* century), the incoming pagan population
appropriated the "sacred status" of the area from the existing population; the mythic
space of the Late Roman cemetery once again became a part of Christian cosmology
when the region was Rechristianized. It is interesting that not ad archaeological sites
within the area have "earned" mythization. A cemetery dating to the High and Late
Middle Ages was discovered in the direct vicinity to the former parish church Sv. Peter
- Figure 2. Results from the excavation indicate the cemetery was finally abandoned to-
ward the end of the 18* century. This coincides with the historical data, which indi-
cates that activity by the church was transferred to the new parish, and formerly subsid-
iary, church of Sv. Križ at Trebelno after the year 1870 (Golob 1994, 9). Results from
the excavations suggest a rather similar relationship to the deceased as at the present
time. Due to a scarcity of space, graves were often dug up during the final phase. The
Sv. Mihael rotunda, where long bones and skulls from these graves were then deposit-
ed, served as an ossuary. The cemetery is situated on the slope below Sv. Mihael, a Ro-
manesque rotunda. Excavations, in combination with certain topographic data re-
vealed that, it occupied the entire area surrounding the baroque style church of Sv.
Peter - Figure 2-3. The scarcity of space may also have been the reason why the orienta-
tion of the inhumation was adjusted from an older and traditional East-West orienta-
tion to a North-South orientation - Figure 3. A characteristic and significant fact is
that any and all oral tradition that concerns the above location is essentially bound to
the 'mythicized' site of the nearby Late Roman cemetery.
It was by a stroke of luck that Franc Hočevar, the parish clerk and a vdlage chron-
icler, was encountered; he contributed a treasure trove of such information. Today, this
represents quite a rarity in central Slovenia and the south-eastern Alpine region as a
^ It seems that the "sacred nature" of such sites represents a bridge between unpopular state offices (e.g. local
institutions for the preservation of cultural heritage) and local public opinion, which would be worth promoting in
the future.
242
An Archaeological Site and the Legend of the Dead: Case-Study of Gorenji Mokronog
whole. His entire collection of information illustrates how the local inhabitants gradu-
ally restored the initial - and evidently never entirely lost - 'sacred status' to a mythic
landscape. This was based upon a very specific relationship to the skeletal remains of
the deceased from a precise location at the Late Roman cemetery. According to the leg-
end, Constantine (Cyrd) and Methodius held a mass in the Romanesque rotunda Sv.
Mihael (from the first half of the 13* century), and to which 'ajdje' (indigetnous roman-
ised population) would also pay visits; at the same time, it served as an ossuary and even
today is filled with human skeletal remains (Hitzinger P, 1863, 19) - Figure 4. These
bones, as an element tremendum et fascinam, instigated the desire for 'mythization'
once again, whde the origins of the legend concerning Cyrd and Methodius are more
commonplace.
In this case, mythization is connected with same kind of the "mythic Slaviciza-
tion", which originated in the tendentious newspaper articles of Aleksander Kobet ali-
as Jurij Sodevski of the first half of the 19* century (Kobe-Sodevski 1844,115-116). The
stiU living legend from Gorenji Mokronog exhibits a reaction to real political condi-
tions in the first half of the 19* century, which were reflected by the local people. Thus,
under the influence of the nascent Pan-Slavism, the mass held by Constantine (Cyrd)
and Methodius, 9* century Slavonic apostles, was arbitrarily attributed to the Sv. Mi-
hael Romanesque Rotunda. This is not in opposition to the highly empirical approach
of radical constructivist perspectives, because this defines folk traditions as "knowL
edge and meaningful understanding according to cognitive and practical (that includes
social) viabdity in the world as we experience it, not according to correspondence to a
(past) reality" (see Holtorf C. J. 1997, 80). However, the deep need to mythicize or
'Christianize' such a sacred landscape is permanent and is reflected by the fact that the
local people accept each new element that fits into this context. Already the arrival of
strangers (archaeologists) and the discovery of graves can cause the construction of a
new "mythic construction". The treasure hunter J. Pečnik, who operated in the area
during the last third of the 19* century, discovered "strange graves, lined with stone
slabs and very similar to Roman graves" (Pečnik J. 1887, 28; Pečnik F.1989) - Figure 5.
His discovery was imprinted in the memories of certain now deceased locals. The pre-
cise location was rediscovered on the basis of information that the old landowner re-
fused to allow stray travelers and pilgrims (a well-known pilgrimage route follows the
road) to obey the call of nature in the Vrajk woods with the words: "Do you also urinate
on cemeteries at home?" This interpretation of the respective present reverence for the
deceased does not exclude the truth of the existence of a former state.
The common origins of the legend are so equivocal that even an empirical ap-
proach, such as an interpretation of resuhs from archaeological excavations, cannot
confirm or refute their genesis. The legend that refers to the first mission and a wood-
en church nearby, yet eludes a specification of a precise location, is most likely of litde
importance.^ A correlation with the above mentioned Pan-Slavic structure is of course
impossible. Nonetheless, excavations revealed the remains of post holes at the upper
part of the excavated area of the Late Roman cemetery, that in conjunction form a sim-
' 1 would like to thank Mr. Franc Hočevar for providing this information.
243
Uroš Bavec
244
pie oval structure with an artificially leveled surface - Figure i. It is feasible according
to certain analogies that the Slavic or even the pagan newcomers acknowledged the
Late Roman cemetery as part of a mythic landscape and felt the need for some sort of
an architectural structure to distinguish. However, the preserved material remains are
insufficient proof*
The combination of one discipline (e.g. archaeology) with other disciplines is ful-
ly capable of fulfilling the legend of the "first Christians", who were supposedly buried
by the wooden church, and thus contributes to the modern mythization of the land-
scape. Twenty individuals were placed in shallow graves, without any elaborate mortu-
ary construction, and furnished with grave goods - Figure 1. The worn condition, and
partially also the uniqueness, of the discovered artifacts, characteristic of the end of
the 6* and the beginning of the 7* centuries indicate, that the society was a closed and
self-sufficient one. The significance of two bronze basket earrings immediately increas-
es with the additional piece of information that they were worn by a 40 year old woman
on her right side as an integral part of a local attire 1300 years ago; at the same time, a
somewhat younger woman, perhaps even a relative of the above mentioned woman (as
indicated by the anthropological analyses), wore an inferior local imitation of an older,
an elaborate ribbed-shaped earring whose origins derived from the Early Byzantine pe-
riod, which was evidently not available anymore during this perilous age. Likewise also
the story of the perforated fragments of two Roman glass beakers, which in themselves
are inconsequential. When one is equipped with the additional information that they
were laid in the arms of a 4 or 5 year old child they become a reflection of some remote
anguish. One of his nearest and dearest placed his favorite toy - a rattle - in his arms
for his final journey.
The anthropological report determined approximately equal percentages of wom-
en (7), men (6) and chddren (2). Of course we deal with a small sample size with an in-
complete mortuary population. However, more engaging details for the wider public
can always be extracted from among the tedious information presented by the field of
physical anthropology. For instance, the fact that they were related to each other;
whereupon physiological affinities were also detected, e.g. aquiline noses, among the
men as well as the women. It is also interesting that the majority died during the adults
II age (3040 years), whde no cases were detected from this sample exceeding the ma-
tures 11 age (50-60 years)."
The mythic landscape is also successfully supplemented by the archaeological infor-
mation concerning the existence of a Late Roman setdement, already absent in oral tradi-
tion and not denoted in the toponym. The setdement was discovered near the casde Ober-
nassenfuss, or more precisely, on the terraces below - Figure 6. The chance that there was
no contact between the indigenous population and the Slavic newcomers is resolved by
the mere existence of the mythic landscape. And yet there is no sacral structure with sa-
* The function of similar pits, which probably represent post holes for a modest wooden structure, for the
most part have yet to be interpreted; they are present, for instance, at the Early Medieval site of Gusen in Austria
(Tovornik V. 1985, 187 and addition).
° Dr. Petra Leben-Selak's comprehensive anthropological report is kept at the ZVTVKD, Novo mesto.
An Archaeological Site and the Legend of the Dead: Case-Studv of Gorenji Mokronog
cred powers at the very location of the setdement worth mythization. Ecclesiastical struc-
tures are found at die majority of Late Roman upland setdement sites, which often fur-
nish their Late Roman origins in their names (e.g. Ajdna above Potoki, Ajdovski gradeč).
There are always exceptions, although archaeologists rarely read stories from centuries
ago. In the case of the "Vipota near Celje" hdl, the story written long ago "concerning a
cave where Christians hid from the wrath of pagans" was creddily corroborated by the
find of an Early Christian church accoutrements (Seidl 1881, 76)}
Let us conclude this discussion concerning legends or archaeological data. It is
not our intention to create a new mythic structure with the interpretation of skeletal
remains and archaeological artefacts. This was probably already established with our
first visit to the site itself (perhaps our ventures became the subject of a tavern gossip).
The main objective of this article is to contribute a new perspective to the living, pre-
cisely for this reason it seems that the promotion of the collaboration between disci-
plines is essential in taking an interest in the dead, from any point in time.
REFERENCES see page 240
BESEDA 0 AVTORJU
Uroš Bavec. arheolog, po diplomi na Uni-
verzi v Ljubljani je od leta 1992 deloval kot samo-
stojni kulturni delavec, kasneje je bil kustos za
arheologijo v Posavskem muzeju Brežice, zadnjih
nekaj let pa opravlja delo konservatorja za nepre-
mično dediščino na Zavodu za varstvo kulturne
dediščine v Novem mestu. Specializacijo - mikrore-
gionalne poselitvene študije: Sv. Jakob nad Do-
vškim (B.A.R 1988), Velike Malence (VS 1997),
aplicira na podiplomski študij, ki posredno zadeva
varovanje arheološke dediščine. Sodeluje tudi na
mednarodnih tečajih in simpozijih, ki zadevajo
dokumentacijo in rekonstrukcijo kuhurne dedišči-
ne (npr. CEU Summer University Hungary - Po-
land 1998).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Uroš Bavec. an archaeologist, after attain-
ing his degree at the University of Ljubljana in
1992, he worked as an independent cultural work-
er, he then became the archaeological curator of
the Posavski Museum in Brežice and more recent-
ly he works as a conservator of cultural heritage at
the Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Her-
itage in Novo mesto. Specialization - microregion-
al settlement studies: Sv. Jakob above Dovško
(B.A.R 1988), Velike Malence (VS 1997), applies to
his post-graduate studies which indirectly con-
cerns the preservation of the archaeological herit-
age. He takes part at international courses that
concern the documentation and reconstruction of
cuhural heritage (e.g. CEU Summer University
Hungary - Poland 1998).
' 1 would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Andrej Pleterski for his kind information.
245
FRESCOS AND GRAFFITOS AS WITNESSES OF
MASS DEATH
Zeljko Dugac
IZVLEČEK
Freske in grafiti kot priče mnoiične smrti
Avtor v članku proučuje odnos prebivalcev Istre do smrti v času velikih epidemij 15. in 16. stoletja. Ta odnos
je mogoče razbrati iz del lokalnih irwjstrov, slikarjev fresk v istrskih cerkvah, zlasti v delih mojstrov Vincen-
ta in Janeza iz Kastva in njuni slavni različici Plesa smrti - Mrtvaškega plesa. Drug tip dokumentarnih
virov so grafiti, ki so jih z glagolico rmpisali preprosti ljudje na omet cerkvenih sten. Ti grafiti na slikovit
način odsevajo okoliščine tistega časa, vsakodnevne dejavnosti preprostih ljudi, kljub temu pa niso nikoli
omenjeni v kronikah uradne zgodovine. Raziskave zgodovinarjev in zdravnikov odkrivajo načine in razširi-
tve določenih epidemij v Istri, načine zavarovanja pred njimi, posledice teh epidemij in status uradne zdra-
vstvene zaščite, ki se nanaša na bolnike. Ce primerjamo vse tri različne vire, si lahko na slikovit način pre-
dstavljamo sliko družbe v tem zgodovinskem obdobju, ki ga je zaznamovala hitra in številna smrt. To je bilo
obdobje, ko so se življenjske vrednote zelo hitro spreminjale, zmagoslavje smrti pa je bilo neogibno.
Ključne besede: smrt, kuga, epidemija, 15. stoletje, 16. stoletje, grafiti, freske, zgodovina medicine, Istra.
Keywords: death, plague, epidemics, iS" century, 16'^ century, graffitos, frescos, history of medicine, Istria
Iiitpoductioii
Regarding to this article, we will pay attention to the frescos from the churches in
villages of Beram and Hrastovlje, and to the graffitos carved in the churches in Lovran
and Pazin. We will also pay attention to the spreading of epidemics in Istria in fifteenth
and sixteenth century, and the presence of doctors at that time and their attitude to-
wards mass death and their own death.
247
Zeljko Dugac
Zdravnik in smrt - detajl s freske Ples smrti iz cerkve v Hrastovljah (iz knjige M. Zadnikarja Hrastovlje, foto M.
Smrke). ♦ The physician and death - a detail from the fresco Death dance from the Hrastovlje church (from the
book ot M. Zadnikar Hrastovlje, photo M. Smrke).
248
Frescos and Graffitos as Witnesses of Mass Death
Diseussion
There was a period of strong extensive epidemics in Istria in fifteenth and six-
teenth century (Bertoša 1977: 89-99). Very often old sources teU us about plague, but
today we know that the described epidemics were not just the product of plague but
also of variola, typhoid, malaria, syphdis and many other diseases (Attali 1984: 61). But
plague left the strongest trace because it caused death of an enormous number of peo-
ple in a very short period. Its causative organism, which today we call Yersinia Pestis
(Mihaljević 1994: 148-51), was at that time very virulent and as such it caused mass
death (Grmek 1962: 705). Due to bad hygiene, inadequate living conditions and deficit
knowledge about plague, pestdence spread very quickly. Istria as a transitive territory,
was extremely exposed to it. After the tragic experience of Black Death in the four-
teenth century, Venetian Republic in 1485 established a supreme institution (Provvedi-
tori alia Sanita) (Glesinger 1989: 109) for the control of ships that came to Istria from
suspicious territories. A special sanitary cordon was organizied and it was placed on the
border between Venetian and Austrian part of Istria (Muzur, Škrobonja 1996: 211). The
cities tried to protect themselves by controlling the ships and by die isolation of passen-
gers. But epidemics continued to spread quickly and strongly.
It is no wonder that in 15di century iconographic motives of Dance of Death ap-
peared on church walls. All through the Europe this motif was known in the shape of
wall paintings, graphic prints, literary forms and even live performances (Fučić 1997:
305-8; Delimo 1986: 103-122), The Dance of Death, in a wall painting form, appeared
in Istria in the village of Beram in 1474 (Fučić 1992: 95-102) and in the viUage of Hras-
tovlje in 1490 (Zadnikar 1988: 3741). Before the making of this frescos some strong
epidemics appeared. Today we know about the ones that appeared in 1427,1449, 1456,
1467, 1476, 1478, 1483, 1487 and 1497. All together in 15th century die plague was
presented nine times. Around 7000 people died during the epidemics in Trieste from
1477 to 1478. The death took the rich as well as the poor. So in 1497 in Trieste 120 re-
spectable people died as well as over 400 poor people (Glesinger 1989: 107-109).
Dance of Death iconographicly represents all social classes, from a begger to rich
salesmen, even cardinals, the Pope and the King. It is interesting that on the frescos in
Hrastovlje we can see a doctor. We can recognise him with a bottle of urine, hanging
around his waist (Schadewadt 1997: 188-189). This figure warns that the medicine is
helpless and that the death is inevitable. The medicine in I5th century was helpless
because of the unknown origin of the epidemics. Untd the sixteenth century there was
no scientific knowledge about the development of the epidemics.
Girolamo Fracastore in 1546 was the first one to notice that pestdence diseases
were caused by germs. He thought that the pestilence was caused by living germs which
were able to enter into the organism by contact with a sick person or through infected
objects or by flying contagious aerosol (Grmek 1962: 188-189). But Istrian doctors had
another opinion in I6th century. They had an old conception that the plague was
caused by miasma - the sick evaporation which came from swamps around the town
(Glesinger 1989: 109).
249
Željko Dugac
The theory about the origin of the plague was also connected with the way of pro-
tection. Even the Antique doctors Hypocrate and Galen didn't know a single rational
method for the protection from plague. What people thought best was to escape mo-
mentarily, quickly and to a far off place (Bazala 1963: 72). The doctor in Koper, Lean-
dro Zarotti, also used the method of escaping in 1554, when the plague appeared in
Koper He went to Venice and said that his contract was made only for normal situation
in the city, but not during the plague epidemics (Glesinger 1989: 87).
That was not the only case. For example, doctors were going away from the city
during the big plague epidemics in Dubrovnik in 1526 because they didn't want to take
care of plague patients, and they were afraid to go to any patients (Jeremić, Tadić 1939:
94). In those cases the barbers took the place of the doctors (Orlić 1962: 28-32). They
performed chirurgical actions on the plague buboes and we can only imagine how dan-
gerous that was. For example the barber from Koper caused the plague epidemic with
his doing in 1632 (Glesinger 1989: 111). The towns also lost doctors because of the lack
of money for doctors to pay.
After the epidemics in Pula in 1557 the town was so poor that it couldn't afford a
doctor The simdar situation happened at the end of the century in Koper (Glesinger
1989: 86). During the absence of preventive and therapeutical medical practice people
used their own methods of protection. People also expected help from God and that is
why a lot of prayers, processions, and gifts were common. A great number of vow
churches, altars and pictures came into existence. Some of them finished, but some
works were interrupted because of the new epidemics, and than the survivors finished
the rest.
In the churches we also find graffitos about death. These are graffitos written in
ancient Croatian letter - glagoljica and were carved into the walls at the holy place.
They were done by people who knew how to write, usually priests or their pupds, but
sometimes also by dliterate people who would carve pictures and symbols of their
prayers. That is how the graffitos became living witnesses of one whole "little history",
the history that was not taken down by historians and which didn't say anything about
the Kings, nor about the state but about a litde man and his preoccupations (Fućić
1997: 116-168; Rudelić 1984: 262). Especially interesting for this work are wall graffitos
which inform us about death. So in the parish church of St. Nicholas in Pazin we find
the foUowing graffito: "Ja pop Grgur Jerković peh moju mladu mašu rm let Gospodnji
1557. dan 2. maja miseca i tada hiše v Pazini velika morija". (1, the pope Grgur Jerko-
vić, made the service on the 2nd day of May 1557, and that day, in Pazin was a big
death.) (Fučić 1982: 278).
This teUs us that on the 2"'' of May 1557 there was a big death in Pazin, meaning
that there was an epidemic which kiUed a great number of people. A medical historical
research witnesses that in 1557 a great epidemic of plague caught Istria and that it was
especially strong in Trieste and Izola (Glesinger 1989: 110). Obviously it also spread to
the Austrian part of Istria, to Pazin. From the other graffito we found out about a pos-
sible course of the epidemic which is in parish church of St. George in Lovran; with the
foUowing content: "Va ime Božje i Devi Marije, amen. 1558, miseca sektembra na dan
250
Frescos and Graffitos as Witnesses of Mass Death
14. Ta dan se v Lovrane javi nagla smerti umre do 50 ljudi." (In the name of God and St.
Virgin Mary, Amen. The I4th of September 1558. The sudden death struck in Lovran
on that day, and almost 50 persons died) (Fučić 1982: 235).
This graffito shows us that the epidemic also spread even further to the east on
the other side of mountain Učka, to Lovran, on the 14* September of 1558, 50 people
died in that city. Nearly a year and a half passed between graffito in Pazin and the one
in Lovran. We don't know weather the pestilence was constantly present at that time or
was the Lovran death same kind of new pestilence or recidive, but those information
tell us a lot about frequent presence of mass death on that territory.
In the Lovran church we also find a graffito which was written a bit earlier in
1549 which was signed by his author priest pupd Marko: "To govore mrtvi živomu: 'Ča
me gledaš ale ča se čudiš? Ale ne znaš da sam bil i jas včera kako si ti darms, a ti očes biti
zutra kako sam jas danas' 1549, to pisa žakan Marko." (The dead speak to the living:
Why are you looking at me or why are you surprised. Don't you know that yesterday I
was what you are today, and that tomorrow you will be what I am today. 1549, this
wrote priest pupd Marko.) (Fučić 1982: 236).
In this graffito which obviously followed some tragic event in the city and which
is a prophetic announcement of future tragic events, shows us attitude of a young man
about death. Although the expressive form was taken from the famous theme of three
dead man and three living which was known aU through Europe in 15* century (Deli-
mo 1986: 94-103). Pupil Marko told us in a vernacular way about an almost friendly
talk of a dead man, as the one with more experiences, to a living one who was obviously
surprised. There is no sadness in that writing because the one who is being addressed
by a dead man knows how his life might end, but he also knows the words of Luke the
evangelist: "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has
been raised." Lk24, 5-6 (New Testament 1968: 223). In those tough times these words
of confidence were a salivation.
Conclusions
From these examples which mention graffitos of common people on the walls of
holy places, from expressive strength of the iconographic motif of Dance of Death and
from the researches about the numerous and powerful epidemics in Istria during the
time of the making of mentioned graffitos and frescos, and finally from the research of
the present doctors, their doctrines and relations toward the sick we can assume that
the sudden and mass death during the 15* and the 16* century has changed drastically
the social situation and the scale of life values.
Ethical relationship doctor - patient, has also changed drastically. The doctors
responsibdity had been replaced by the escape from duty and the escape from the sick.
So, on one hand we have the care for oneself under the cost of their reputation, whde
on the other hand, their is an oncoming death that turns the survivors toward the pro-
tection of God and religious hope.
251
željko Dugac
LITERATURE
ATTALI J., Kanibalski poredak - život i smrt medicine, Globus, Zagreb 1984.
BAZALA V., Calendarium Pestiš, Acta historica medicinae, pbarmaciae, veterinae 2, 1, Zagreb-Beograd 1963.
BERTOŠA M., Osvrt na etničke i demografske prilike u Istri u XV i XVI stoljeću. Bilten razreda za likovne umjetnosti
HAZU, Zagreb 1977.
DELIMO J., Greh i strah. Dnevnik, Novi Sad 1986.
EUClČ B., Terra incognita, Krščanska sadašnjost, Zagreb 1997.
FUČIĆ B., Vincent iz Kastva, Krščanska sadašnjost, Zagreb 1992.
FUČIČ B., Glagoljski natpisi, JAZU, Zagreb 1982.
GLESINGER L., Prilozi za povijest zdravstva u Istri, Rasprave i grada za povijest znanosti, HAZU, Zagreb 1989.
GRMEK M. D., Epidemija, in: Medicinska Enciklopedija, Ueksikografski zavod FNRJ, Zagreb 1962.
GRMEK M. D., Fracastoro Girolamo, in: Medicinska Enciklopedija, Leksikografski zavod FNRJ, Zagreb 1962.
JEREMlC R., Tadič J., Prilozi za istoriju zdravstvene kulture starog Dubrovnika, Biblioteka centralnog higijenskog
zavoda, Beograd 1939.
MIHALJEVIČ F, Specijalna klinička infektologija, Medicinska Naklada, Zagreb 1994.
MUZUR A., Škrobonja A., Kuga kolera i kuk svetog Roka u Istri, Medicus 4, 2/3, Zagreb 1995.
NEW TESTAMENT, Catholic Book PubUshing Co, New York 1968.
ORLIC Đ., Zdravstveni pomočnici u srednjovjekovnom Dubrovniku, Acta historica Medicine, harmaciae, Veterinae 2,
2, Zagreb-Beograd 1962.
RUDELIČ 1., Glagoljski grafiti kao svjedočanstva socijalnih i zdravstvenih prilika u Istri, Liječnički vjesnik 106, 6,
Zagreb 1984.
SCHADEWADT Н., Imago Mortis - katalog. Muzej za umjetnost i obrt, Zagreb 1997.
ZADNIKAR М., Hrastovlje, Družina, Ljubljana 1988.
BESEDA 0 AVTORJU
Zeljko Dugac. mag., dr. medicine, je končal
medicinsko fakulteto na Reki. Na Prirodoslovno-
matematični fakulteti v Zagrebu je na smeri Antro-
pologija magistriral z delom "Votivi kot pokazatelji
zdravstvene kulture". Zaposlen je na Oddelku za
zgodovino medicinskih znanosti na Hrvaški aka-
demiji znanosti in umetnosti. Ukvarja se z ljudsko
medicino, etnologijo in umetnostjo. Napisal je več
člankov o votivih, amuletih in medicinskih ele-
mentih na istrskih freskah.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zeljko Dugac. M.A., M.D., finished Medical
Faculty in Rijeka. He did the M. A. at the Faculty
ot Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Zagreb in
anthropology with the title "Votives as the Witness-
es of Health Culture". He is employed at the the
Department of the History of Medical Sciences on
the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He
deals with folk medicine, ethnology and arts. He
wrote several articles about votives, amulets and
medicinal elements on the Istrian frescos.
252
ANTROPOLOGIJA SMRTI
ШТШОРОШСУОГШЛТН
253
KOKOŠ, CACHIRU IN DRUGA LETEČA BITJA
Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
Ključne besede: smrt, mitična leteča bitja, človekovo telo, kulturni predmet, kognitivni horizont |
Ivod
Ena bolj zanimivih lastnosti človeškega mišljenja je, da ne more obstajati brez
nekega zunanjega predmeta, na katerega se v svojem delovanju nanaša. To pa ne pome-
ni, da mora biti predmet nanašanja vedno le meterialne narave. Prav tako je lahko tudi
mentalna slika v človekovi zavesti, čeprav moramo v tem primeru ločevati med mental-
no predstavo in mislijo, ki mentalno sliko tisti trenutek omogoča. Nastanek mentalne
slike sega v preteklost in ima vpliv na posameznikovo nadaljnje mišljenje. Ne glede na
to pa so naša življenja na splošno natrpana z vsakovrstno predmetno 'šaro', kajti posa-
mezniku je običajno veliko lažje vzpostaviti odnos z materialnim svetom kot pa izgradi-
ti kompleksno strukturo reflesije znotraj razuma. Morda lahko pravkar povedano po-
spremimo z obžalovanjem, toda biti moramo realni, kajti za povprečnega posameznika
je vsakdanje življenje pač predvsem in najprej materialno. Izmed vseh razlogov, zaradi
katerih je posameznik pretežno orientiran k fizičnemu svetu, je prav gotovo najpomem-
bnejši naslednji: v primeru, ko bi se stik med posamezniki, izvršen prek nosilcev mate-
rialnega sveta, prekinil, bi nastopdo popolno uničenje družbenega sveta. In ker je vse,
kar biva, v svojem bistvu družbene narave (glej na primer Mead 1962 in Schutz 1967),
lahko rečemo, da je tudi znanost družbeni konstrukt. Na podlagi tega spet lahko trdi-
mo, da družboslovna znanost ne sme zanemariti materialnih dimenzij družbenih pro-
cesov. Kajti v tem primeru znanost ne more odgovoriti na vprašanje, kako so interper-
sonalni odnosi med posamezniki v svetu vsakdanjega življenja sploh mogoči.
Temeljna zahteva sociološkega in antropološkega preučevanja človeškega fenome-
na leži v kvalitetno pridobljenem znanju o materialnem svetu. Povedano drugače: razla-
ga specifičnega družbenega ali kulturnega fenomena je odvisna od tega, koliko spret-
nosti premoremo pri določanju družbenega in kulturnega predmeta. Za sociologa, ka-
terega glavni cilj je določiti kognitivne pogoje človekovega razuma, je ta zahteva nema-
255
Maja Šiibic, Tomaž Krpic
ra neobičajna. Toda ne glede na to verjamemo, da je več kot le potrebna. Naša najpo-
membnejša naloga v pričujočem eseju je, da poiščemo, kar se le da veliko primerov
različnih živali, ki simbolizirajo smrt, in nato dobljene primere ustrezno klasificiramo
v različne kategorije. V nadaljevanju bomo pokazali, kako posamezniki skozi sebi la-
stno kulturno izkušnjo uporabljajo svoja telesa in kako pri tem pazljivo izbirajo med
različnimi tipi objektov, ki lahko nastopajo kot kulturni objekti v primeru simbolizi-
ranja smrti.
Klasinkacija živali
Ta prispevek je plod nekega navdušenja, ki ga je porodila Fantastična zoologija J.
B. Borgesa, knjiga, v kateri so brez ambicij po sistematizaciji in klasifikaciji zbrana bi-
tja, ki spremenijo zoološki v mitični vrt. Kot pravi njen avtor, bo ta knjiga vedno ostala
pomanjkljiva, enako pa velja tudi za pričujoč pregled krilatih bitij, ki jih je človek tako
ali drugače povezoval s smrtjo. Živalska simbolika je med seboj izredno prepletena,
zato so na tem mestu zbrana bitja oziroma božanstva ne glede na zgodovinske in geo-
grafske okvire. Izvzeti so angeli in zmaji, ki seveda zahtevajo poglavje zase. Predstavili
bomo le nekaj živali oziroma bitij, ki podpirajo antropološko razlago fenomena smrti.
Večina od njih ima, kakor je za simbole nasploh značilno, svoj pozitiven in negati-
ven pomen. Na tem mestu bomo izpostavili le slednjega.
Zakaj krila in smrt?
Ko leteče bitje izgine iz polja našega zaznavanja, ne pusti za seboj nobene
oprijemljive sledi, kot so na primer stopinje v pesku, rov v zemlji ali vzburkana voda.
Let pusti za seboj komaj zaznaven piš vetra, podoben hladni zoni, ki nas spreleti v tre-
nutku, ko se zavemo smrti.
Mnogo krilatih bitij nima sposobnosti letenja ali pa jo je že davno izgubilo. S tem
ko pripnemo nekemu bitju krda, ga povzdignemo med duhovna bitja. V svetu duhov-
nih bitij pa je let mogoč tudi s kamnitimi krdi. Pomen letenja je v osvobajanju od ze-
meljske težnosti, ki je vzrok za večino težav, s katerimi se otepamo v to - in onstranstvu.
Pri verovanju v posmrtno življenje je smrt sama le ovira, ki jo mora človek prema-
gati, da doseže nesmrtnost oziroma ponovno rojstvo. Oviro pa premagamo najlažje
tako, da jo preskočimo ali še bolje - da jo preletimo.
Kadar govorimo o paleolitskih grobovih z magijsko - religijskim pomenom, ne
moremo mimo dejstva, da vsebujejo ostanke živalskih kosti in rogovja. Iz tega lahko le
ugibamo o duhovni dejavnosti teh davnih pogrebcev in pri tem izhajamo iz opazovanj
nekaterih današnjih arhaičnih ljudstev (otrok, obkrožen s kozorogovim rogovjem iz
kraja Tešik Taš v Uzbekistanu, ali ženska lobanja, postavljena na čeljust in rog severne-
ga jelena v Mas d'Azdu).
Ni še dognano, ali gre po večini za ostanke pogrebnih pojedin ali pa za dejansko
'opremo' pokojnika, ki bi potrdila verovanje v posmrtno življenje. Vsekakor pa je bila
relacija človek - smrt - žival vzpostavljena na samem začetku človekovega zavedanja o
bivanju in njegovem prenehanju.
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Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
Vodilno načelo paleolitske umetnosti je: na svetu so samo ljudje in živali, lovci in
njihov plen: kar je vmes. ni bistveno in torej ne sodi v umišljen prostor, ki ga vidi umet-
nikovo oko. Točka na kateri se srečata lovec in žival, pa je smrt.
Ideologija lovskih kultur je pravzaprav šamanistična, saj je le šaman s svojim nad-
naravnim darom sposoben prodreti do izvira živalskega življenja. Samanistično ekstazo
omenjajo nekateri avtorji že v zvezi s paleolitikom. Kaže na vero v dušo, ki je sposobna
zapustiti telo in svobodno potovati. Na takšnem potovanju lahko sreča nadnaravna bitja
in jih zaprosi za pomoč. (V jami v Lascauxu naletimo na podobo na videz mrtvega člo-
veka, ki bi ga lahko interpretirali kot vrača v transu. Na obrazu ima kljun, poleg pa je
palica s ptičem, ki najverjetneje predstavlja duha zaščitnika.)
Dušo v podobi ptice, prav tako pa tudi ptico kot vodnico duš, srečujemo zelo po-
gosto: Egipčanska knjiga mrtvih opisuje 'mrtveca' kot sokola, ki vzleti; na prazgodovin-
skih spomenikih Evrope in Azije vidimo na vejah Kozmičnega drevesa ptice, ki najve-
rjetneje simbolizirajo duše prednikov; v Mezopotamiji so se pokojniki prdiazovali kot
ptice...
Smrt je edina, ki lahko človeka preobrazi v ptico, in tako lahko šamani s svojimi
nadnaravnimi sposobnostmi doživljajo usodo duše, ki je navadnim smrtnikom dostop-
na le v trenutku smrd.
Samanistični ekstatični vnebohodi porajajo občutek transcendence, vzvišenosti
in s svojo simboliko leta dajejo imaginarno izkustvo višine kot osvoboditve od težnosti
(Eliade 1985, 1996).
Ilesmičiio oljsl<»|eče živali
ARA - Kolumbijski Indijanci Bribi uporabljajo rdečo papigo kot pokojnikovega
vodnika. Indijanci Bororo verujejo v zapleten ciklus preseljevanja duš, med katerim se
duše za nekaj časa utelesijo v ari.
ČUK - '"Ne bo več dolgo, čuk ga je klical nocoj' ali pa 'Čuk ga je
izpel', tako in podobno modrujejo stare ženice, kadar glave vkup stak-
nejo, in žal se še celo od mož sem ter tja slišijo enake neslane besede. In
tako je ubogi čuk zaradi svojega žalostnega glasu prav po nedolžnem
razvpit kakor mrtvaški ptič. Marsikoga mrzel pot oblije, ko ga sliši v tihi
noči čukad. Bedak ugiba sem in tja, komu bi utegnila veljati čukova
pesem. Če nato noče nihče umreti, nobeden ne misli več na smrtnega
sla. Ce pa se res prigodi, da v soseščini kmalu kdo umrje, potem vražjim babjevercem
ne izbiješ iz glave, da čukovo petje ni 'pomenilo' smrti" (Erjavec 1995, 476).
Čuku pravijo tudi smrtni ptič. Če prileti v bližino hiše, pomeni to skorajšnjo smrt
za njene prebivalce. Podobno grozi, če ponoči slišimo čuka peti ali celo cviliti. Skoraj
povsod po Sloveniji se boje njegovega oglašanja. Zal pa ta živahna sova rada prebiva
blizu človeka - pod strehami, v sadovnjakih in cerkvah - zato vražavernim vsekakor
večkrat povzroča sive lase.
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Maja Subic. Tomaž Krpic
Čuki pa niso glasniki smrti le v Evropi, temveč jih srečamo tudi kot sle pogla-
varjev Xibalbe, dežele mrtvih pri Majih. V drugem delu svete knjige Indijancev Quiche
POPOL VUH naletimo na štiri čuke:
Chabi-Tucur - hiter kot puščica
Huracan Tucur - enonogi čuk
Caquix Tucur - čuk makao z rdečimi krdi
Holom Tucur - čuk, ki je imel le glavo in krila, nog pa ne.
Tudi dva varuha vrtov v Xibalhi sta bda čuka. Ker nista dobro pazda na tisto, kar
jima je bdo zaupano, so jima gospodarji razklali kljun in odtiej ima čuk razklan kljun.
Ponoči ga privabljajo razsvetljena okna, ki so bila večkrat znak, da ljudje bedijo
pri mrliču. Pravijo, da od tod njegova nesrečna povezava s smrtjo. Vendar pa tudi fizio-
nomija njegove glave z močno povečanimi očmi, ki nekoliko spominja na lobanjo, in pa
njegov nemiren zaletav let aplicirajo na človekove predstave o bližini smrti.
KOKOS - Kot večina domačih živali je verjetno tudi kokoš romala prek daritvene
sklede v kuhinjski lonec. Pri Grkih je bila kokoš priljubljena žrtvena žival revnih ljudi.
Tudi Rimljani so se baje skrbno in praznoverno držali napovedi kokošjega preročišča.
Po vsej črni Afriki je razširjeno žrtvovanje kokoši, potrebno zaradi komunikacije s
pokojnimi. V iniciacijskem obredu šamank pri Luluih kandidatki, po preizkušnji smrti
in preporoda v jami, obesijo okoli vratu kokoš. Z njo bo poslej lahko mamila duše po-
kojnih medijev v gošči.
Zelo razširjen je strah pred kokošjim kikirikanjem. Žensko bitje z moškimi lastno-
stmi je vedno povzročalo nelagodje in strah. Gre namreč za združitev lastnosti oziroma
moči dveh principov. Popolnoma smo sposobni razumeti, torej sprejeti, le enega. Taka
združitev nima prihodnosti, je oboje in hkrati ni nič. Ne more se nadaljevati, torej ji
grozi smrt.
Če začne kokoš peti kot petelin, grozi smrt gospodarju. Takšno kokoš - petelinko -
je bdo potrebno brž zaklati, saj lahko "izpoje gospodarja". Ce poje črna kokoš, izpoje
gospodarja, če pa poje bela kokoš, "izpoje gospodinjo". Petje črne kokoši pomeni ne-
srečo pri hiši, petje bele kokoši smrt, petje rjave kokoši pa požar.
KOLIBRI - Azteki verujejo, da se duše mrtvih bojevnikov vračajo na zemljo v po-
dobi kolibrijev ali metuljev.
KROKAR - "Črno perje, vodo krokanje, nenasitna požrešnost in
roparska predrznost ga delajo skrivnostnega, groznega in pošastnega.
Zato pa skoraj vsem narodom pomeni nesrečo, oznanja smrt" (Erjavec
1995, 398). Simbolika krokarja je dobila povsem negativen vidik šele
nedavno in skoraj izključno v Evropi. Na splošno velja, da krokar ne
obeta nič dobrega, da je glasnik nesreče in lahko napoveduje celo smrt.
Tudi v keltskem izročdu je krokar slabo znamenje. Njegovo podobo je privzela
Morrigan, kraljica strahov, boginja vojne in podzemlja. Morrigan se pojavlja še v dveh
podobah - kot "Norija" in "Poparjena vrana". Že pred bitko je oprala opremo tistih, ki
bodo padli, in s tem že določda poraženca. "Krokarje črna ptica romantikov, ki se spre-
letava nad bojiščem in kljuva trupla" (Chevalier - Gheerbrant 1993, 285).
258!
Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
Res je, da krokar zavoha mrhovino na zelo veliko razdaljo in se z njo tudi pogosto
hrani, torej dejansko "sluti" smrt že na daljavo. Ta smrt pa je njegova hrana, njegov
dejanski obstoj.
V Grčiji je imel krokar skupaj z orlom in labodom preroško funkcijo.
Pri nas pravijo, da lahko, kadar hišo preleti en krokar, računamo na smrt ženske-
ga člana družine, če pa jo preleti več krokarjev, grozi smrt moškim. Mornarji so verjeli,
da smrt prinašajo trije krokarji, ki letijo skupaj.
V Mahabharati krokarje primerjajo z glasniki smrti.
V večini verovanj je sončni vidik, pogosto demiurg, vodnik duš na njihovem posle-
dnjem potovanju, kajti kot psihopomp razkriva skrivnost teme, ne da bi ga to zmedlo.
Pozitivno vlogo ima pri nomadskih, ribiških in lovskih ljudstvih, medtem ko velja pri
stalno naseljenih in poljedelskih ljudstvih za negativnega. Alkimisti fazo gnitja in črne
snovi imenujejo krokarjeva glava.
KUKAVICA - Kukavica je ptica, ki je povezana s pomladjo in prebujenjem narave,
zato pri sibirskih ljudstvih pomaga šamanu in oživlja mrtve. V vedskem izročilu je
kukavica simbol človeške duše pred inkarnacijo in po njej. Telo je kot tuje gnezdo, v
katero pride duša. Ce kukavica sede na suho vejo in tam zakuka, bo pri hiši kmalu nek-
do umrl.
Kukavica v gnezdo, kamor odloži svoje jajce, prinese smrt, saj iz njega pomeče že
zasnovane oblike življenja. Za svoj obstoj potrebuje torej smrt.
LASTOVKA - Če si lastovka spomladi pri hiši naredi gnezdo in ga kasneje zapusti,
bo tamkaj gotovo nekdo umrl. Lastovka zato, ker je ptica selivka, simbolizira samoto,
selitev in ločitev.
NETOPIR - Pri Majih je netopir eno izmed božanstev, ki inkarnirajo podzemske
sde. V Popol Vuhu je netopirjeva hiša eno izmed podzemeljskih območij, skozi katera
pridemo do dežele mrtvih. Netopir je gospodar ognja, uničevalec življenja, požiralec
svedobe. Je emblem smrti. Pravijo mu "tisti, ki trga glave". Prikazan je z mrtvimi očmi.
Božanstvo smrti je tudi pri Mehičanih, ki ga povezujejo s severom. Pogosto je prikazan
z odprtim gobcem ali žrtvenim nožem namesto gobca. Dvoličnost hibridne narave, miši
in ptiča, v alkimističnem izročilu razlaga ambivalenco netopirjeve simbolike: netopir
predstavlja androgina, krdatega zmaja, demona. Njegova krda so krda peklenskega pre-
bivalca (hudič ima modra krda, podobna netopirjevim). Netopir mora mahati s krdi,
zato ne pozna počitka v mrtvem letu. Narava išče krilo, najde pa grdo kosmato opno, ki
vendarle deluje kot perut...
PETELIN - Tako kot kokoš tudi petelin po verovanju preprostih
ljudi ne pomeni nič dobrega. Ce je petelin sedem let star, znese jajce, iz
katerega se izvali hudič - bazdisk. Kot zaščitnika pred slednjim so ga
upodabljali na ščitih, amuletih in nagrobnikih.
Tudi petelin, čeprav v redkih primerih, napoveduje smrt - npr če
zakikirika malo pred polnočjo.
V Grčiji ima vlogo psihopompa. Pokojnikovo dušo naj bi napovedal na drugem
svetu, nato pa jo tja odpeljal; odprla naj bi oči v novi svedobi, novemu rojstvu. Dodelili
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Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
SO ga Hermesu, glasniku, ki potuje po treh ravneh kozmosa, od pekla do nebes. Pri
starogermanskih pogrebnih obredih so petelina darovali mrtvim.
Med očiščevalnimi in izganjalnimi obredi po smrti pri nekaterih altajskih ljud-
stvih privežejo petelina k pokojnikovi postelji: petelin predstavlja smrt, ki jo šaman nato
izganja.
SLAVEC - Ljudje verjamejo, da slavcev spev umirajočim omogoča blago smrt. Sla-
vec s svojim prelepim petjem opozarja na minljivost in z njo v zvezi na tenko steno med
ljubeznijo in smrtjo.
SOKOL - Podobo sokola, povezano s smrtjo, najdemo po večini v starem Egiptu.
Najpogosteje nastopa kot BA, ki predstavlja duhovno moč, dušo. Ba ima sokolje telo,
človeško glavo in božjo brado. Ko je telo ob posmrtnem obredu poveličano, ga ba zapu-
sti in se nato svobodno giblje. Podnevi sledi soncu na obzorju, ponoči pa se vrne v pod-
zemlje, v svoje telo, ki je njegovo pravo bivališče, in se nahrani s pogrebnimi darovi.
Sokar (tudi Seker), memfiški bog mrtvih, teme in razpadanja v zemlji, ima sokoljo
glavo, podobo sokola pa privzema tudi eden od štirih Horusovih otrok - Kebehsenef.
Gre za štiri zaščitnike trupla, ki so umrlega varovali pred lakoto in žejo. Vsak od njih je
bil zadolžen za eno od strani neba. V posebnih posodah, kanopah, so shranjevali no-
tranje organe. Kanopa s Kebehsenefovo podobo je vsebovala trebušne organe in je
predstavljala sever.
SOVA - "Sove so jeznorite, plahe, neumne in požrešne ptice. Zaprte sove se med
seboj koljejo in žro; razen nekaterih malih se s človekom nikoli ne sprijaznijo, zmeraj
ostanejo divje in togotne. Ce poleg tega pomislimo še na njihovo neprijetno zunanjost,
na tiho letanje in nočno dejanje ter na njihov neprijetni glas, bomo lahko razumeli, da
so vse sove človeku odurne, za neukega in praznovernega imajo pa še celo nekaj grozne-
ga, skrivnostnega in pošastnega. Vraža je sovo naredila za mrtvaško ptico in zato jo ba-
bjeveren in nespameten svet preganja" (Erjavec 1995, 470).
Sova je nočna ptica, povezana z luno, ne prenaša sončne svetlobe. Leta nizko, tiho
in počasi. Njena sposobnost videti v temi jo je naredila za simbol jasnovidnosti in je
zato atribut prerokovalcev.
Pri Indijancih Srednje in Južne Amerike je sova simbolična žival peklenskih
božanstev. V več azteških kodeksih je prikazana kot čuvarka zemeljske temne hiše. "Po-
vezana je s htoničnimi silami in je tudi avatar noči, dežja, viharjev. Ta simbolika jo po-
vezuje s smrtjo. Na predmetih predinkovske civdizacije Chimu je pogosto prikazan
žrtveni nož v obliki polmeseca, nad njim pa je podoba polčloveškega in polživalskega
božanstva v obliki nočne ptice - sove. Ta simbol, ki je očitno povezan z idejo o smrti ali
žrtvovanju, je okrašen z ogrlicami iz školjk in biserov. Prsi ima rdeče pobarvane, zraven
nje pa sta večkrat prikazana psa, katerih pomen psihopompa je dobro znan. Sova pogo-
sto drži v eni "roki" žrtveni nož, v drugi pa vrč, v katerega naj bi stekla kri žrtve. Sova
je še danes božanstvo smrti in čuvarka pokopališč pri številnih indijanskih ljudstvih"
(Chevalier - Gheerbrant 1993, 564).
Sova je poleg pajka in netopirja atribut azteškega boga smrti in podzemlja
Micdantecutlija. V vlogi glasnice nastopa pri majevskem bogu smrti, poosebitvi nesreč.
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Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
mraka in mraza ter gospodarju Mitnala, kraljestva mrtvih, Hunahau. V knjigi POPOL
VUH je vrač - sova eden izmed vračev, ki Stvarniku in Tvorcu pomagajo uničiti
nehvaležne ljudi, ki sta jih ustvarila. Vrač - sova jim polomi kosti, zdrobi živce, jih
zmelje in raztrese ostanke njihovih kosd.
Sova igra skupaj z golobom glasniško vlogo tudi pri vedski boginji Niriti.
Simbolna žival judovske nočne demonke, ki ogroža nosečnice in mori dojenčke
ter se podi po ruševinah, je prav sova, ki jo tudi dejansko lahko srečamo na zapuščenih
krajih.
Na Kitajskem je sova negativna protiutež feniksu in prav tako napoveduje ne-
srečo.
Simboliziranje sove kot glasnice smrti zaradi njenega samotnega življenja in za-
molklega zagrobnega oglašanja je že prastaro in dobro zasidrano v zavesti ljudi. Gorje,
če ima ta bolščeča ptica poseben glas in pri tem zaide v bližino hiše! Več sov skupaj
nesrečo še poveča, torej ni čudno, če sovo imenujejo tudi mrličeva kura.
VRANA - Ce se je vrana spustila na streho, je to pomendo, da bo v tej hiši moral
nekdo umreti.
ŽOLNA - Če v bližini hiše večkrat zapoje črna žolna (imenujejo jo tudi smrtni
ptič), bo v bližini zagotovo kdo umrl.
Izmišljena Mlja
BAZILISK - je nadnaravno mešano bitje judovsko - krščan-
skega izvora. Najpogosteje je upodobljen kot petelin z zmajevim
repom ali kot kača s petelinjimi perutmi in svetlo liso v obliki
krone na glavi. Število nog se na upodobitvah spreminja in
doseže celo število osem. Na začetku srednjega veka so ga upoda-
bljali kot štirinožnega petelina s kronico, rumenim perjem, velikimi bodičastimi krdi
in kačjim repom, ki se včasih konča tudi z drugo petelinjo glavo. Spočet je bil v pete-
linjem jajcu, položenem v gnoj, brez matere. Zvalila ga je krastača ali žaba. Prebiva v
vodnjakih in kleteh, po nekaterih virih pa v puščavi, ki jo sam ustvarja, saj k njegovim
nogam mrtve padajo ptice, okrog njega pa zgnijejo vsi sadeži. Reke, v katerih se napaja,
ostanejo še cela stoletja zastrupljene.
Je utelešenje zla in smrti. Njegov zli pogled ubija. Ubije ga le vonj po podlasici,
kikirikanje petelina ali ogledalo, iz katerega ga je zadel lasten pogled. Predstavlja smrt-
no nevarnost, ki je ni mogoče pravočasno zaznati. Popotniki so se za prečkanje nezna-
nih pokrajin oskrbeli z živimi petelini. Borges v zvezi z bazdiskom navaja Quevedovo
romanco, ki pravi:
Ce je živ tisti, ki te je videl,
je vsa tvoja zgodba laž,
kajti če ni umrl, te ni videl,
če pa je mrtev, nam tega ne more potrditi.
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Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
CACHIRU (tudi Cachuru) - zlobno božanstvo, ki ga poznajo na območju Santiaga
del Estera, Argentina. Prikazujejo ga kot nenavadnega skovirja z ogromnimi kremplji
in ostrim kljunom. Njegovo perje je temnosivo in raskavo, proti nogam pa prehaja v šče-
tine. Njegove ogromne svetlikajoče oči žarijo v senci kakor ognji. Ta luč in njegovi ne-
srečo naznanjajoči kriki so edino, kar izdaja njegov neslišen let. Pravijo, da lahko dvi-
gne človeka v nebo ali pa ga v hipu raztrga. Najpogosteje pa ugrabi dušo ob smrtni uri
in jo spremeni v grozljivo prikazen. Živi v najbolj nedostopnih predelih gozda, kamor
človeška noga ne more stopiti. Ker pa se gozdovi krčijo, se njegovo kraljestvo oži, če ni
že domala izgindo.
CHONCHON (tudi Chonchonyu) - božanstvo Indijancev Mapuche. Zli duh, prav-
zaprav človeška glava z ogromnimi uhlji, ki jih uporablja kot peruti. Kroži v bližini bol-
nikov in čaka na prdožnost, ko ni ob njih nikogar. Takrat jih ubije in jim popije kri...
Ta bizarna pošast se nam 1 ■ mogoče zdela manj tuja, če se spom-
nimo na demone z dolgimi ušesi v srednjeveškem kiparstvu in grafiki.
Taki "uhatci" se pogosto vrtijo okoli umirajočega. Prav tako pa poznajo
uhate demone v funkciji čuvarjev grobov na Daljnem vzhodu. Neizmer-
na ušesa so kakor krda ali školjke, v katerih odzvanjajo šumi sveta.
GORGONE - gr. skupina treh sester, pošasti z grozljivim obličjem. Ob pogledu
nanje je vsakdo okamenel. Živele so na skrajnem zahodu zemlje. K njim spadajo: Steno,
Evriala in Meduza. Upodobljene so z zlatimi krih, bronastimi rokami, s sikajočimi
kačami namesto las in merjaščevimi čekani v ustih. Gorgonina glava ob svetiščih in gro-
bovih odvrača zle moči.
HARPIJE - demonske viharne boginje stare Grčije. So krdate pošasti, mešana bi-
tja s ptičjim telesom, žensko glavo, dolgimi razpuščenimi lasmi, ostrimi kremplji in
kužnim zadahom. To so mrhovinarji v ženski podobi. Vse, kar vidijo, požro in oneča-
stijo s svojimi izločki. Napogostejše so: Viharna, Hitroleta in Mračna.
Harpije poosebljajo pohlepno lakoto. Mučijo duše, saj jim z nenehnim nadlego-
vanjem ne dajo miru. So vražji del kozmične energije, pekel polnijo z nenadno umrli-
mi. Veter, ki jih edini lahko prežene, je sapa duha.
KERONKEUKEN (tudi Keronkeidien, Kerol Kenk) - mitična žival Indijancev
Tehuelche. Nima natančno določene oblike, najpogosteje pa ga opisujejo kot velikega
ptiča s črnim repom, kot sovo ah celo kot žrebička. Je zelo hudobno bitje, pojmujejo ga
tudi kot čarovniškega odposlanca. Ce kroži ponoči okoli hiše, bo vzel življenje njenemu
stanovalcu tako, da bo le-ta ob zori zbolel in popoldne umrl.
Lahko ga primerjamo s krokarjem, ki prav tako večkrat z nič kaj prijaznim po-
slanstvom nastopa kot čarovniški sel oz. kot njegovo zločesto orodje.
LASE - etrušč. skupina mladostnih boginj služabnic, ki stražijo predvsem grobo-
ve. Upodobljene so večinoma s krdi in bolj ali manj gole. Njihova atributa sta venec in
ogledalo.
MANTUS - etrušč. vodndi mrtvih in čuvaj v podzemlju. Na sarkofagih so ga upo-
dabljali kot čokatega moškega, s krdi, divjimi obraznimi potezami, satirskimi ušesi in
velikim kladivom.
262.
Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
NASU - iran. demonka mrtve snovi, trupla in oskrumbe. Takoj po človekovi smrti
prdeti k truplu v podobi muhe in sosede okuži z boleznijo. V nosača trupla prodre sko-
zi eno od devetih telesnih odprtin.
NAVJE - psi. ime za umrle; po sprejemu krščanstva je bd pomen zožen na duše
prezgodaj umrlih, nekrščenih otrok. Včasih se navje pojavljajo kot velike ptice in napa-
dajo nosečnice. Ponekod navje pomeni deželo mrtvih. Beseda je nastala iz korena
*naHu" - ladja. Navezuje se na predstavo o deželi mrtvih nekje za morjem, do katere je
treba odpluti...
PAZUZU - akad. zli demon, ki prinaša vročino in mrzlico in pooseblja jugovzhod-
ni veter Upodobljen je s štirimi krdi, spačenim obrazom, dolgimi lasmi, levjimi šapa-
mi, ptičjimi kremplji na nogah in škorpijonovim želom.
PIHUCHEN (tudi Piguchen, Pihuechengu) - Mitično
bitje Araukancev, s kači podobnim podaljšanim trupom, ki je
pokrit s perjem. Ima peruti in včasih dve kačji glavi. Leta
samo ponoči in med letom žvižga ali pa oddaja srhljive piske.
V veliki vročini se drži drevesne skorje in pušča na deblu rdečo sled. To je kri, ki jo sesa
ljudem in živalim, dokler jih popolnoma ne izsuši. Njegov žvižg je zanesljiva najava
smrti, razen če nam pošast uspe videti prej, kot ona opazi nas. Pravijo, da si ljudje po-
krivajo ušesa, da je ne bi slišah, da pa je ne bi videli, je potrebno namočiti da.
SFINGA -1. egipč. pošast in mešano bitje večinoma moškega spola, s človeško gla-
vo in levjim telesom; 2. gr pošast in demonsko mešano bitje z žensko glavo in prsmi ter
krdatim levjim telesom. Sedeč na pečini pri Tebah je mimoidočim zastavljala uganko
in požrla vsakogar, ki je ni znal rešiti.
SIRENE - gr dve do štiri demonke škode, mešana bitja z žensko glavo in ptičjim
telesom. Živijo v Hadu, na rajskih poljanah ali na otoku ter s svojim zapeljivim petjem
privabljajo mornarje in jih nato požrejo.
ŠKOPNIK - leteči demon, znan v Alpah. Leti kot goreči snop slame (škop) ali
meda in skozi dimnik vdira v hišo. Po funkciji je podoben škratu.
ŠTRPED - polh, kije imel namesto prednjih nog sokolja krda. Iz ušes so mu rasdi
jesenovi hsti. Njegove oči so bde sokolje, dlaka pa bela (dobri Strped) ali redkeje črna
(Štrped, ki je prinašal nesrečo in smrt). Izlegel se je vsakih sedem let ob pomoči polne
lune in zlatoldjunega sokola Lunja. Bd je izredno plašljiva žival. Vse, česar se je črni
Štrped dotaknd, je izgindo v nič.
TANATOS - gr bog ter poosebitev naravne in nasdne smrti. Umrle nosi v Had.
Upodobljen je kot krdati demon s povešeno baklo.
TIFON - gr. 1. orjaška pošast v podzemlju s stotimi zmajskimi glavami in s kačami
namesto nog ter utelešenje uničujočih sil narave; 2. grozljiva pošast s kačami namesto
nog in s krdi, ki so zakrila sonce.
TOT - pomaga Ozirisu na onstranskem sodišču, zato je bog mrtvih. Nadzira
tehtanje src in zapisuje razsodbe. Ker pot do Ozirisa vodi mimo njega, dušam umrlih
utira pot in jih vodi v onstranstvo. Upodobljen je z ibisovo glavo ali kot ibis.
263
Maja Subic. Tomaž Krpic
TURMS - etrušč. božji sel in vodnik mrtvih v podzemlje. Upodobljen je s krilatimi
čevlji in glasniško palico (ustreza Hermesu in Merkurju).
V\NTH - etrušč. demonka podzemlja in mrtvih ter glasnica smrti in pomočnica
pri umiranju. Upodobljena je s krih. Njeni atributi so kača, bakla in ključ.
VELES - slovan. bog čred, imetja in podzemnega sveta. V Velesovem cesarstvu so
duše umrlih in pozimi ptice.
Шекај teoretičnih sklepov
Kaj lahko sklepamo na podlagi povedanega v prvem delu našega eseja? Predvsem
bi morala biti naša naloga poiskati kulturni pomen, ki ga imajo živali, ki simbolizirajo
smrt. Ali lahko gradimo na predpostavki, da so 'živali' pravzaprav kulturni objekti po-
sebne vrste? Za tistega, ki je posvetil svoje življenje iskanju poti, ki bi ga popeljala k
ustrezni razlagi človekove kulture, se bo nemara zdel predlog zgolj slaba šala. Vse tak-
šne antropologe in sociologe bomo spomnili na članek Roberta Wuthnowa, v katerem
posveča kar nekaj prostora opisu zgodovinskega razvoja dveh pojmov: 'kulture' in 'smi-
sla' (Wuthnow 1987). Po njegovem mnenju moramo ločevati med tremi različnimi ob-
dobji v razvoju teh dveh konceptov. V prvem obdobju je bda pozornost kulturnih teore-
tikov (Durkheima, Marxa in Webra), usmerjena k vzniku kulturnega pomena na podla-
gi delitve subjekta in objekta. Čeprav je kulturni objekt samostojen, pa ni nujno na-
rejen iz materialne substance. Za Durkheima je kolektivna zavest v pravem pomenu
besede samostojna družbena entiteta in je kot taka od posameznika ločena. Posamez-
niki so prisiljeni nositi breme lastne kulture in ne morejo ubežati družbeni prisili. Dru-
ga generacija kulturologov (neoklasicisti, kot so Berger, Luckmann, Bellah in Geertz) si
je prizadevala povrniti ustrezno zvezo med subjektom in objektom. V skladu z njihovo
namero so lansirali idejo družbene konstrukcije realnosti, deloma navdihnjeno z ideja-
mi fenomenologa A. Schutza (Luckmann in Berger 1991) in deloma z interpretativno
sociologijo Маха Webra (Geertz 1993). Kulturni pomen je dobd mesto temeljnega kon-
cepta v teoriji neoklasicistične paradigme, in ker je bda njihova teoretična pozornost
usmerjena k družbeni konstrukciji realnosti, so veliko pozornost posvečali položaju
jezika v vsakdanji komunikaciji. Kulturni objekt ni nekaj, kar bi bilo zunaj posamez-
nikovega horizonta. Nič čudnega torej, da so si svojo najbolj priljubljeno metodo izpo-
sodili od fenomenologov in hermenevtikov. Naslednja stopnja v razvoju kulturologije je
poststrukturalizem (Habermas, Foucault, Levi-Strauss). Če neoklasicisti še vedno verja-
mejo v aktivno vlogo posameznikov v procesu nastanka kulturnega smisla, pa so se po-
ststrukturalisti odpovedali aktivni vlogi akterja. \se svoje moči so vložili v razlago te-
meljnih principov družbe in kulture s pomočjo vloge jezika in komunikacij med posa-
mezniki. Tako se je kulturni objekt ponovno znašel onkraj dosega posameznikov.
Na koncu svojega članka Wuthnow ugotavlja, da je vpliv posameznikov na kultur-
ni smisel še vedno potrebno upoštevati, če želimo ustrezno razumeti delovanje človeške
družbe. Na žalost pa njegova teorija ne more zadovoljiti naše intelektualne radovedno-
sti. Ne glede na to, da so kulturni pomeni družbeno konstruirani, vendarle menimo, da
mora obstajati svet onkraj družbenega in kulturnega pomena, ki nam pomaga le-taga
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Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
konstruirati, pa čeprav se tega morda sploh ne zavedamo. Predlagamo torej, da resno
upoštevamo možnost, da kulturni predmeti obstajajo neodvisno od človekovega uma'.
Kulturni objekt razumemo kot materialni predmet, ki pa ima v procesu doživljanja
kulturnega izkustva to lastnost, da deluje kot nosilec družbeno konstruiranega kultur-
nega pomena. Zaradi določenih razlogov, ki pa zaradi vsebinskih omejitev tega eseja ne
morejo biti natančno pojasnjeni, bomo razdelili kulturne objekte v dva tipa kulturnih
objektov: telesa in kulturne predmete'. Metodološki okvir, ki bo omogočal naše razmi-
šljanje, pa si lahko ogledate na spodnji sliki:
Slika št. 1: Razmerje med akterji v kulturni produkciji in percepciji (mikro nivo)
Zgoraj opisani metodološki okvir za preučevanje kulturnih pojavov (glej sliko št.
2) bomo uporabili na predhodno dobljenih podatkih. Pri tem moramo odgovoriti na
naslednja vprašanja: Kateri je kulturni objekt v našem primeru? Kako pri tem pravdno
razumeti vlogo telesa? In nenazadnje, kakšno vlogo ima socialno kognitivni horizont
pri nastanku specifičnega kulturnega pojava, v našem primeru razumevanju smrti?
Slika št. 2: Metodološki okvir za preučevanje kulturnih fenomenov
Prepričani smo, da je potrebno pristopiti k analizi kulturnih fenomenov s stališča
njihovega izkustva. V primeru smrti pa trčimo ob skorajda neprehodno oviro, kajti smr-
ti ne moremo izkusiti več kot enkrat, če sploh lahko označimo te vrste dogodek z bese-
do 'izkustvo'. Ce si ogledamo pojav smrd z znanstvenega vidika, ne moremo veded, ali
nemara obstaja življenje po smrti. Morda obstaja, morda ne. Hipoteze, ki bi vsebovala
bodisi prvo bodisi drugo trditev, ni mogoče znanstveno preveriti. Zato je edino smisel-
no, da se v polju znanosd odpovemo takšnim hipotezami Toda v realnem življenju je
' Spomnimo se, kako je naša ideja o samostojnosti kulturnih predmetov v nekaterih niansah zelo podobna
Popperjevi ideji Sveta 3 (Popper 1997).
^ Novi pristop v razumevanju nastanka kulturnega smisla se močno naslanja na delo Strauss in Qiunn (1997)
ter na metodološki modeL ki ga je razvila Wendy Griswold (1987).
' Zahteva je v skladu s Popprovimi metodološkimi tezami, razviUmi v njegovo knjigi The Logic of Scientifw
Discovery (Popper 1992).
265
Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
situacija mnogo bolj zapletena, saj oseba, vpletena v fenomen smrti (najsi bo umirajoča
ali pa zgolj prisotna pri umirajočem), običajno nima ustreznega znanja in metod, da bi
takšno znanstveno odločitev sploh lahko sprejela. Se bolj pomembno pa je, da posamez-
nikom v vsakdanjem življenju takšne odločitve sploh ni potrebno sprejemati, kajti
način delovanja vsakdanjega življenja je značilno drugačen. Njegova prisotnost in
oblika sta posamezniku kot taka dana (glej Schutz in Luckmann 1974). To, kar posa-
mezniki v takem trenutku potrebujejo, je uporabno znanje, na podlagi katerega lahko
delujejo. Ce se posameznik znajde v situaciji, ko mora poskrbeti za truplo pokojnika,
mora biti seznanjen s posmrtnimi obredi. Vedeti mora, kako obrede pravilno izvajati in
kaj je potrebno storiti s truplom pokojnika, da se ne bi zgoddo, da bi bila duša pokojne-
ga prekleta ali kakorkoli drugače pogubljena. Seveda pod pogojem, da posameznik, ki
je postavljen pred takšno nalogo, verjame v posmrtno življenje. Telo pokojnika je lahko
pokopano, upepeljeno ali izpostavljeno na odprtem prostoru, kjer ga lahko pojedo divje
živali, itd.
V skladu z našim metodološkim okvirom, razvitim za potrebe raziskovanja kultur-
nih fenomenov, moramo poiskati tri elemente, iz katerih je kulturni fenomen sesta-
vljen (glej sliko št. 3). Ob smrti nekega posameznika je mrtvo telo edino, kar ostane za
njim. Nemara se sliši nenavadno, toda v primeru kulturnega fenomena smrti je edini
resnično obstoječi kulturni predmet truplo umrlega. Razlika med mrtvim in živim tele-
som je vse preveč očitna, da bi jo lahko zanemarili, zato so si ljudje prisiljeni izmisliti
primerno razlago za nastalo spremembo. Takšna razlaga lahko nastopi kot zgodba ali
mit, v katerem običajno najdemo tudi navodila glede postopanja v primeru smrti. Vse-
buje lahko tudi odgovor na vprašanje, kakšen je pomen smrti ali kam se preseli duša
umrlega in druge podrobnosti glede obstoja posmrtnega življenja. Tretji element, ki
nastopa v našem modelu, pa je telo posameznikov, ki fenomenu smrti prisostvujejo.
Delovanje slednjega je uganka posebne vrste. Zakaj?
Slika št. 3: Mikro situacija v primeru fenomena smrti
Med iskanjem odgovora na zgoraj postavljeno vprašanje moramo izpostaviti eno
izmed najpomembnejših družbenih značilnosti. Kultura in družba ne moreta uspešno
trajati, vsaj ne prav dolgo, če znanje in vedenje nista relativno uspešno prenesena iz ene
v drugo generacijo. V primeru prenašanja obredov, povezanih s smrtjo, z ene v drugo
generacijo, je vsakdanja izkušnja smrti običajno omejena na opazovanje naključndi
smrti v neki skupnosti. Ni običajno, da bi neko osebo ubdi, pa čeprav naključno, z na-
menom, da bi s tem nazorno prikazali smrt in poučili potomce, kaj smrt je in kako iz-
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Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
gleda. Vsekakor bi bila to draga odločitev, saj ima posameznikovo življenje vrednost za
skupnost, v kateri biva. V preteklosti je bil posameznik še posebno dragocen, saj je eko-
nomija temeljila predvsem na fizični moči človeških bitij. V moderni dobi pa je posa-
meznik dragocen predvsem zaradi občutja svoje enkratne individualnosti. Drugi
razlog, zaradi katerega je bilo ubijanje ljudi v večini kultur omejeno le na rehgiozni
obred, pa tiči v slabi razvitosti izobraževalnega sistema. Le od časa do časa so se v člove-
ški zgodovini pojavdi svedi otoki sistematičnega učenja. Prevladujoča strategija v pre-
nosu znanja med generacijami je bda utemeljena v osebni izkušnji učečega. Ce je situa-
cija, v kateri se je posameznik znašel, zahtevala neko določeno znanje, da bi lahko svojo
nalogo dobro opravd, potem si je potrebno znanje največkrat zagotovil neposredno*.
Seveda je od tistih časov preteklo mnogo vode in družbena struktura se je spremenda
tako temeljito, da neposredno preneseno znanje ni več najpomembnejša oblika učenja
(glej Schutz 1975).
Praktične težave, ki spremljajo socializacijo posameznikov v primeru fenomena
smrti, zahtevajo rešitve, ki jih lahko razdelimo v dve kategoriji. Temelj, na katerem slo-
ni naša odločitev, je prvi del našega eseja, v katerem smo se ukvarjali s konkretnimi
primeri živali, ki simbolizirajo smrt. Najbolj primerno se zdi, da zamenjamo kulturni
objekt, ki neposredno simbolizira smrt, s takšnim kulturnim objektom, ki predstavlja
smrt le simbolično. Ce si izberemo primeren kulturni objekt, ki za povrh še dejansko
obstaja (glej sliko št. 4), bomo morda lahko zgraddi zanimivo zgodbo, kjer bo na novo
izbrani kulturni objekt lahko dobd ustrezno mesto, s katerega bo uspešno simboliziral
fenomen smrti. V primeru, ko pripadniki neke skupnosti razumejo smrt kot skrivno-
sten pojav, je fenomen, s katerim si ga poskušajo razložiti, prav tako zavit v tančico skri-
vnosti. Vzemimo na primer zgodbo o kokoši. V primeru, ko kokoš brez pravega vzroka
zakikirika, kar se pričakuje le od petelina, velja, da je gospodar hiše v smrtni nevarno-
sti. Glavo si lahko reši edinole tako, da kokoš nemudoma zakolje. Kje v tej zgodbi je
primeren prostor za skrivnost? Ta tiči v razldd med običajnim obnašanjem izbranega
kulturnega objekta (kokoš vali jajca in kokodaka kot kokoš) in njegovim spremenjenim
načinom obnašanja (kokoš kikirika, kot da bi bda petelin).
Slika št. 4: Kulturni fenomen v katerem je kulturni objekt zamenjan z resnično obstoječim bitjem
* Lep primer tajnega obnašanja lahko vidimo v razmerju med srednjeveškim mojstrom in vajencem (Ha-
nawalt 1993).
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Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
Rekli smo že, da je tretji element v našem metodološkem modelu telo, v tem prime-
ru telo uporabnikov kulturnih pomenov in smislov. Kakšne vrste telesa lahko
pričakujemo v tej kulturni situaciji? \ tem primeru pričakujemo normalno delujoče telo.
Ko pravimo normalno delujoče, imamo pri tem v mislih telo, ki omogoča njegovemu upo-
rabndcu jasno percepcijo. S čistostjo percepcije pa se bomo v nadaljevanju še srečah.
Toda, kaj bi se zgoddo, če bi zamenjali dejansko obstoječi kulturi predmet (mrtvo
telo) s popolnoma izmišljenim kulturnim predmetom, kot je na primer Cachiru (glej
sliko št. 5)? V tem primeru bi se situacija spremenila, kajti posameznikova pozornost bi
se obrnila od dejanskega k izmišljenemu liku, v tem primeru k zgodbi. V uvodu v naš
esej smo poudardi, da človeška zavest vedno potrebuje za svoj obstoj neki predmet zu-
naj sebe, da bi si s tem zagotovila normalno delovanje. Izguba konkretnega predmeta
ima zanimive posledice za delovanje posameznikove zavesti. V primeru, ko možgani
posameznika ne dobijo zadostnega vzburjenja iz okolice, si izmislijo svoj lasten svet na
podlagi predhodno uskladiščenega znanja, spominov in hotenj (Dennett 1991). Iluzije
in halucinacije predstavljajo splošen simptom v laboratorijskih raziskavah, povezanih z
izpostavljanjem posameznikov nizki stopnji senzorne percepcije (Zubek 1969). Delitev
kulturnega objekta v dva različna tipa (primarni in sekundarni tip) se pokaže kot zelo
koristna. Jasno je, da um za svoje delovanje potrebuje neki svet onkraj sebe. Če mu je
odvzet primarni kulturni predmet, potem se razum zateče k edini možni rešitvi. Svoje
telo uporabi kot kulturni predmet, saj drugače ne more delovati dobro. Telo nam je
vendar vedno na razpolago, saj je z umom neločljivo povezano. Toda na žalost lahko
umu zagotovi le tiste informacije iz okolja, ki so že vskladiščene v spominu in genih.
Telo je brez svojega okolja pravzaprav nemočno, in prav zaradi te svoje občutljivosti
nam pogosto zagotovi 'napačne' informacije.
Slika št. 5: Kulturna situacija, v kateri je običajni kulturni predmet zamenjan z izmišljenim primerom živali
Pomanjkanje senzornih dražljajev (kulturni predmet) je le eden od načinov, da pri-
de pri posamezniku do pojava iluzij in halucinacij. Druga pot za dosego tega cilja leži v
namerni izpostavitvi posameznikovega telesa napačni percepciji zaradi specifičnega delo-
vanja posameznikovega telesa. V zgodovini človeštva je bdo nemalo takšnih primerov, ki
našo trditev dobro ilustrirajo. Včasih je nadnaravnim videnjem botrovala splošna po-
dhranjenost neke populacije. Posamezniki s posebnim položajem v družbi so se nameno-
ma izpostavljali uporabi halucinogenih substanc (glej Huxley 1979; Eliade 1985). Znanje,
pridobljeno s pomočjo telesa, je za nekatere kulture in družbe bistveno. Za srednjeveško
268
Kokoš, cachiru in druga leteča bitja
družbo je to vsekakor ključna oblika vedenja, toda kasneje je z upadom njegove pomemb-
nosti na piano prišla nova oblika vedenja: kognitivno razumetje (Mellor in ScbiUing
1997). Kulturni predmet v primeru smrti (truplo in proces samega umiranja) je bd poti-
snjen v posebna družbena polja (bolnišnice in sanatorije). Za moderno telo se poskrbi s
posebnimi oblikami tretmaja (sistematična zdravniška nega in športno udejstvovanje po-
sameznika), vsako njegovo zanemarjanje pa sprejmemo z neodobravanjem. Kognitivna
struktura modernega posameznika je 'polna' mladib teles, medtem ko je smrt in z njo
povezano staranje potiačeno v globine človekovega modernega mišljenja.
Ali je za mite in zgodbe, ki so nastali na podlagi narave, ob koncu iztekajočega se
tisočletja še kaj upanja? Prav gotovo perspektive niso dobre. Prepričani smo, da jib po-
sameznikova moderna kognitivna struktura ne odobrava. Pa ne zaradi tega, ker bi bila
slednja v primerjavi s tradicionalnimi pogledi mnogo bolj racionalna (glej Luckmann
1997). Poglavitni razlog za to leži drugje. Človeško okolje se je v zadnjem stoletju dra-
matično spremenilo. Danes je narava prav tako daleč stran od človekovega pogleda
kakor tudi sam mistični svet. Iz pepela starib mitov pa se je dvignil nov, moderen mit.
Slednji je mit o čudežnih ozdravitvah, ne pa o smrti (bioenergija). Modernega mda po-
smrtno življenje pravzaprav sploh ne zanima več.
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D'ANDRADE, Roy 1995. The Development of Cognitive Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univershy Press.
DENNETT, Daniel C. 1991. Consciousness explained. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
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ELIADE, Mircea. 1996. Zgodovina religioznih verovanj in idej. Ljubljana: DZS.
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FARSON, Daniel in Angus Hall. 1978. Mysterious Monsters. London: Aldus Book.
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ZUBEK, J. P. 1969. Sensory Deprivation: Fifteen Years of Research. New York: Appl. Century.
270
THE HEN, CACHIRU AND OTHER WINGED
CREATURES
Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
271
Key words! death, mythological flying creatures, human body, cultural object, cognitive mindscape
Forewertl
One of tbe most surprising characteristics of the human mind is how human
thought cannot exist without some fixation on external objects. That does not mean that
the object of fixation always has to be a material one. It can also be a mental picture in the
human mind, although in this case it needs to be understood as something separated
from what is experienced in that moment. This mental picture originates in the past and
it looks like it has its own will to influence on our way of thinking. Nevertheless, our lives
are generally filled widi all kind of material stuff, because for a person it is normally
much more simple to attain relationship to material world than to reach a complex state
of reflection inside the human mind. Some might express regret. But being realistic, for
an average person the everyday reality is mostly material. Beside aU other reasons why
human mind is mosdy oriented toward material world, especially one is important. If the
connection between individuals through the material world is interrupted, social world
simply faUs apart. And since everything is basically social (see Mead 1962, Schutz 1967)
the science is also the part of society. For that reason social science should not neglect the
material dimension of social life. For then we are no longer capable of proper scientific
explanation of how interpersonal contacts in everyday life are possible at all.
Preliminary condition for sociological or anthropological investigation is quality
knowledge about material world. In other words: the explication of specific social or cul-
tural phenomenon depends on how skdful we are when we trace down cultural object. For
someone whose primary intention is to elaborate cognitive conditions of human mind,
this demand may sound odd. Nevertheless, we beheve it is more than just necessary. Our
first goal is to find as many examples of different animals diat symbolize death as possible
and classify them into different categories. Our second goal is to show how individuals
through culture use dieir bodies and carefully choose among different types of objects
that could be properly used as cultural object in the matter of death.
Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
A classiilcatioii of tlie aiiimafe
This essay is a product of an enthusiasm caused by The Book of Imaginary Be-
ings by J. B. Borges, a book with no ambition to classify or systematize in which the
author collects those beings that turn the zoological garden into a mythological one.
Like the author says, the book will never be complete, the same goes for this survey of
the winged creatures that man has in this way or another connected to the death. The
symbolism of the animal world is closely interweaved, therefor this essay collects beings
and deities with no regards to historical or geographical frame. It does not include an-
gels and dragons, which should be dealt with in a special chapter Symbols usually have
double meaning and obviously, in this essay only the darker ones are discussed.
Why wings and death?
A flying creature does not leave behind a solid trace like footprints in the sand, a
tunnel in the ground or stirred water surface. The flight makes a tiny little breeze like
a cool shiver that dash through us in the moment when we become aware of death.
Many winged creatures do not have flying ability or they lost it long ago. By pin-
ning wings to a creature we elevate it amongst spiritual beings. In the spiritual world, it
is possible to fly with stone wings. The meaning of flying lies in freeing from gravity
why gravity is the cause of most troubles in this life and beyond it.
If we believe in life after death, the death is only an obstacle which an individual
must overcome to achieve immortality or resurrection. The easiest way to overcome an
obstacle is to jump over it, or even better, fly over it.
Palaeolithic graves contain remainders of animal bones and anders. That can
only give us an idea about spiritual rituals of the ancient undertakers (a chdd sur-
rounded by steinbock horns from a site in Uzbekistan or a woman's skuU placed onto a
jaw and antlers of a reindeer in Mas d'Azd).
It is not yet known whether these are remainders of funeral feasts or an actual
equipment of the deceased which would confirm the belief of the life after death. In
any case, the relation man - death - animal was established in the very beginning of the
human awareness of existence and its end.
The major principle of the Palaeolithic art is: in the world there are only people
and animals - hunters and their prey - nothing in between matters and does not belong
into the imaginary space as seen by the eye of an artist. And the point in which the
hunter and the animal meet, is death.
The ideology of the hunting cultures is actually shamanic. Only a shaman with his
supernatural power is capable of penetrating into the very source of animal hfe. It is con-
firmed that the shamanic ecstasy existed as early as in Palaeolithic. This ecstasy suggests
the beheving in the soul that is capable of leaving the body and wandering freely. On
these wanderings it can meet supernatural beings and ask them for help. (In a cave in
Lacaux there is an image of a man that seems to be dead - a shaman in a trance, with a
beak on the face, with a bird on the top of a stick, probably representing his protector).
Very often, we can meet a soul in the form of a bird, as well as a bird as the leader
of souls. The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes the dead man as a hawk that flies
272
The Hen, Cachiru and odier Winged Creatures
away, in prehistoric monuments in Europe and Asia we can see birds on the branches
of the Cosmic tree, which probably symbolize the souls of the ancestors and also in
Mesopotamia the dead appeared as birds...
Only death can transform a man into a bird and thus can shamans with supernat-
ural powers experience the destiny of the soul, to other human beings accessible only
in the moment of death.
Shamanic ecstatic ascensions bring about a feeling of transcendence, elevation
and, with its symbolism of the flight give an imaginary experience of the height as the
liberation from gravity (Eliade 1987, 1996).
273
Tlie animals thai really exist
ARA - Colombian Indians use a red Ara as guide for the death person. The Boro-
ro Indians believe in complicate migration cycle of souls, where souls are temporarily
embodied in the Ara birds.
SCREECH OWL - "He wdl not last long - the screech owl caUed him tonight." or:
"The screech owl cried him out". This is the wisdom of old ladies when they stick their
heads together and say these unbecoming words, and unfortunately men as well. And
thus the poor screech owl, due to its sad voice, became notorious as the death bird.
Many people get the creeps when they hear it screech. A fool is guessing for whom it
hoots. If then nobody wants do die, nobody thinks of the death messenger any more. If
somebody really dies in the neighbourhood, the superstitious women wdl forever be
convinced that the screech owl's screech brings death.
A screech owl is also called the death bird. If it stops close to a house, it is said
that somebody who lives there wdl soon die. The same thing threats to us if we hear it
sing or even cry at night. Almost everywhere in Slovenia, people are afraid of its sound.
This lively type of owl tends to dweU close to people's homes - under roofs, in orchards
and churches, therefore superstitious people often get some grey hairs.
The screech owls do not announce death only in Europe, they are also mentioned
as the messengers of the chieftains of Xibalba, Maya's land of the dead.
In the second part of the holy book of the Indians Quiche POPOL VUH we meet
4 screech owls:
Chabi-Tucur - quick as an arrow
Huracan Tucur - the one4egged screech owl
Caquix Tucur - screech owl makao with red wings
Holom Tucur - screech owl with a head and wings and no legs
Two guardians of gardens in Xibalba were screech owls. They did not do their
guardian job properly, so their masters cleft their beak and since then the screech owl
has a cleft beak.
At night the screech owl is attracted by dluminated windows that were often a
sign that people watch over a sick person or the deceased. It is said that its unfortunate
Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
connection with the death comes from this. The physiognomy of its head with enor-
mous eyes reminds us of a skull. Its restless flight is applied in human conception of
the nearness of death.
HEN - Like most domestic animals, the hen also made a pilgrimage from the sac-
rificing bowl into the kitchen pot. In the Ancient Greece the hen was frequently sacri-
ficed by poor people. Even Romans stricdy and superstitiously foUowed the prephecies
of the hen oracle.
In Black Africa the hen sacrificing is common, necessary for the communication
with the deceased. When a Lulu shaman woman undergoes the experience of death
and rebirth, she is hanged a hen around the neck to attract the souls of the deceased
mediums in the bush.
Fear from the hen crowing is very spread. The feminine with male characteristics
has always caused uncomfort and fear. Here the two principles and powers are united
in one. This kind of union does not have a future, it is both and nothing at the same
time. It cannot go on and therefore death or even extinction is inevitable.
If a hen starts to crow like a rooster, the master of the house is bound to die. A
"rooster hen" had to be slain at once. If a black hen crows, it cries out the master of the
house. A white hen, on the other hand, cries out the housewife. The crowing of the
black hen means bad luck for the house, the crowing of the white one death and the
crowing of a brown one fire.
HUMMINGBIRD - Aztecs believed that the souls of dead solders return beck to
the earth as hummingbirds or butterflies.
RAVEN - Black feathers, hollow croaking, insatiable ravenousness and predatory
boldness make him mysterious, awful and monster like. That is why to ad nations it
means unfortunate and foretells death. (Erjavec, 1995, p. 398). The Raven became a
negative symbol not long ago and almost exclusively in Europe. (...) It is general knowl-
edge that the raven does not promise anything good, that it is a herald of misfortune
and that it foretells death.
In the Celtic tradition the raven is a bad sign as well. Its image was adopted by
Morrigan, the queen of fear, the queen of war and underworld.
Morrigan appears in two other forms - as Nori and Dispirited crow. Before the
battle, she washed the equipment of those who were to die and thus determined the
loser "The raven is the black bird of the romantics which flies over the batdefield and
pecks the corpses." (Chevalier - Gheerbrant, 1993, p. 285). It is true that the raven
smells carcass from a great distance and feeds on it. Thus it really feels death at a dis-
tance. This death is his everyday bread, its actual existence.
In Greece, the raven had the function of a prophet, along with the eagle and the
swan.
In Slovenia it is said that if a raven flies over a house, we can expect one of the fem-
inine members of the famdy to die, whereas if a couple of ravens flies over the house, we
can expect the death of a male. Sadors believed that diree ravens bring death.
274
The Hen, Cachiru and other Winged Creatures
In Mahabharata ravens are compared to tbe heralds of death.
In most religions, the raven is a sun sign, a demiurge, a leader of souls on their
last journey. It reveals the secret of the darkness. Nomadic, fishermen and hunting
communities attach positive meaning to it, whereas agricultural and permanently in-
habited peoples attach a negative meaning to it.
Alchemists name the phases of rotting a "raven's head."
COOKOO - Cookoo is a bird, connected with spring and the awakening of the
nature, therefore it helps Siberian shamans to revive the dead. In the Veda tradition, a
cookoo is a symbol of the human soul before the incarnation and after it. The body is
like a strange nest in which comes the soul. If a cookoo sits on a dry branch and cries
there, soon somebody in the house wdl die.
The cookoo brings death into the nest where it leaves its egg, for it throws out the
already existing life. Therefor it needs death to exist.
SWALLOW - If swallow in the spring built the nest near the house and later aban-
doned it, someone living there wiU pass away soon for sure. Swallow symbolises loneli-
ness, migration and separation, for it is a migratory bird.
BAT - With the people of Maya, the bat was one of the deities which incarnated
the underworld forces. In Popol Vuh a bat's house is one of the underworld places
through which leads the way to the land of the dead. The bat is the master of fire, de-
stroyer of life, swallower of the light. It is an emblem of death. They call him "the one
that tears heads." The bat is depicted with dead eyes. It is a god of death with the Mex-
icans. They connect it with the North. The bat is often depicted with an open jaws or
with a sacrificing knife instead of the jaws. A duplicity of the hybrid nature, the mouse
and the bird, in the alchemist tradition explains the ambivalence of the bat symbolism:
the bat represents the androgyne, a winged dragon, a demon. Its wings are those of a
creature from the hell (the devil has blue wings, similar to the bat's). The bat must wave
with wings therefore it cannot rest during the flight. A nature seeks for a wing, but
finds only an ugly hairy membrane which, nevertheless, functions as a wing.
ROOSTER - Like the hen, the rooster is also believed to bring bad luck. If it is 7
years old, it lays an egg out of which the devd - Baselisk hatches. The rooster was used
as a protector against Basdisk on shields, amulets and tombstones.
On rare occasions, the rooster too foretells death - for instance, if he crows just
before midnight.
In Greece it announces the arrival of the soul on the other world and then take it
there. The soul would open its eyes to a new light, a new birth.
The rooster was assigned to Hermes, a herald that travels in three levels of the
cosmos, from hell to heaven. Germanic nations believed that a bright rooster greets
heroes on the bridge to Walhala, whereas on the door to the underworld there waits a
black rooster.
During purification and exorcism ceremonies after death some Altay nations
tie a rooster to the bed of the deceased. The rooster represents death which a sha-
man expels.
275
Maja Šubic. Tomaž Krpic
NIGHTINGALE - it is common believe that the singing nightingale helps dying
person to passing away easier. The nightingale reminds us on the transitoriness of life
and in connection with this on the thin line between love and death.
HAWK - The image of the hawk connected with death is found mostly in the old
Egypt. It mostly appears as BA, representing a spiritual power, a soul. Ba has hawk-like
body, human head and godlike beard. When the body is redeemed in the posthumous
ceremony, ba leaves it and then moves freely. During the day, it follows the sun on the
horizon, at night d returns into the underworld, into its body which is its real resi-
dence, and there it feeds with funeral gifts.
OWL - "Owls are quick-tempered, timid, stupid and greedy birds. The captured
owls bite and eat one another Except from some smaller species, they never tolerate
people. They are always wild and choleric. And if we only thought about their unpleas-
ant look, on their silent flight in the night, not to mention their awful sound they pro-
duce, we could understand easily why owls are detestable to ordinary people. For un-
schooled and superstition person the owl is something mysterious and monstrous (Er-
javec 1995, 470).
The owl is a night bird, and as such it is usually connected with the appearance of
moon, for owl do not suffer the day light well. It flights low and sdently and also very
slow. Its capability of seeing in the dark made of owl the symbol of the clear-sightedness
and it is an attribute of fortune-tellers.
The owl is also a symbolic animal of hellish divinities, worship by the Indians of
Middle and South America. It is showed in Aztecs books as guardian of earthy dark
house. It is connected with dark forces and it is also avatar of the night, rain and stormy
whether This is its connection to the death. On the artefacts of pre-lnca of Chimu civ-
ilisation, it can be seen wed the knife using for sacrifice with an owl depicted over it in
the shape of half human, half animal creature. The symbol, obviously bind with the
notion of death and sacrifice, is ornamented with the necklaces made out of pearls and
shells. Their breasts are purple, and there are some dogs lying by it. The owl sometimes
holds a knife in one hand and a jar for victim's blood in the other hand. Owls are stiU
divine creatures now days. They are guards of the graveyards by many Indian people
(Chevaher - Gheerbrant 1993, 564).
Using an 'owl' as a symbol for announcer in the matter of death is well known
fact, for owl usually live solitary life and at the same time owl produce dull sound. As
such the owl can call a misery upon the house if owl sing near it. The situation is even
worst if there is more then just one owl in the nearness. Small wonder than that people
sometimes call it the dead person's hen.
WOODPECKER - someone wiU pass away in the nearness of the place where a
singing woodpecker is seen if this is happening several times. That is why the wood-
pecker is often called a mortal bird.
276
The Hen, Cachiru and other ^ inged Creatures
FictitioMS Creatares
BASILISK - is a supernatural mixed creature of Jewish Christian origin. Most fre-
quently depicted as a rooster with the tale of a dragon or as a serpent with rooster's
wings and a hright crown-like spot on the head. The number of legs varies from two to
eight. At the beginning of the Middle Ages it was depicted as a four-legged rooster with
a litde crown, yeUow feathers, large spike - like wings and serpent tad that sometimes
has another rooster had at the end of it. It was conceived in a rooster's egg put into
dung, without a mother and brooded by a toad or a frog. It dwells in fountains and cel-
lars, and according to certain sources in the desert which is created by Basdisk itself.
Namely birds faU dead in front of it. All fruit around it rots and the rivers from which it
drinks remain poisoned for whole centuries.
It embodies deadi and the evil. Its evd look kdls. The only diings diat can kdl it are
the smell of a weasel, a rooster's crow or the look in its own face in die mirror. It repre-
sents life danger of which one cannot be aware in time. Travellers took alive roosters with
them when passing through unknown territories. Borges quotes Queved's ballad:
If the one that has seen you still lives
Your whole story is a lie
For if he had not died, he did not see you
and if he is dead he cannot confirm that.
CACHIRU (also Cachuni) - An evil deity known in the region of Santiago del Este-
ro, Argentina. It is depicted as an unusual owl with huge claws and a sharp beak. Its
feathers are dark grey and coarse and become bristies towards the legs.
Its immense phosphorescence eyes radiate like fires in the dark. This light and
his mischievous shrieks are the only thing that reveal its inaudible flight. It is said that
it can heave a man into the sky or tear him apart in an instant.
Preferably, it captures the soul at the hour of death and turns it into a horrible
apparition. It dwells in the most inaccessible parts of the forest where a man cannot
penetrate. Because the forests reduce, its kingdom is getting smaUer or has almost dis-
appeared.
CHONCHON (also Chonchonyu) - A deity of the Mapuche Indians. An evd spirit,
actually a human head with enormous ears used as wings. It circles around sick people
and waits for a chance when nobody is around. Then he kills them and sucks their blood.
This bizarre monster may seem less strange to us if we mention that long-eared
demons can easily be found in medieval sculpture and graphics. Such "earheads" often
flutter around the dying person. Eary demons are also known in the Far East as grave
guardians. Their vast ears are like wings or shells, echoing the noises of the world.
GORGONS - monsters from the Greek mythology. 3 sisters with dreadful faces.
Looking at them, everyone petrified. They lived in the extreme West of the Earth. They
caU diemselves Stena, Euriala and Medusa. They are depicted with golden wings,
bronze hands and hissing snakes for their hair and fangs of a boar. Around the temples
and tombs, a Gorgon's head chases away the evd powers.
277
Maja Subic, Tomaž Ki|i;
HARPIES - demonic storm goddesses of the Ancient Greece. Winged creatures,
mixed creatures with the body of a bird, head of a woman, long and loose hair, sharp
claws and plague breath. They are scavengers in the feminine form. They devour every-
thing they see and disgrace it with their excrements. The most frequent are The Stormy
One, The Fast-flying one and the Dark one.
The Harpies personify greedy hunger They torture souls and constantly annoy
them. They are a satanic part of cosmic energy and fill the hell with the unexpectedly
dead. The wind that can chase them away is the breath of the spirit.
KERONKEUKEN (also Keronkenken, Kerol Kenk) - mythic animal of the Te-
huelche Indians. It does not have a certain form but is usually described as a big black-
taded bird, similar ass the owl or even stallion. Keronkeuken is very evd, also consid-
ered as the magician's messenger If it circles around a house at night, it would like to
take life from somebody in it so that he or she would fad ill at dawn and die in the after-
noon. It can be compared to a raven.
EASE - Etruscan group of young goddesses servants guarding mostly graves. They
are depicted mostly with wings and naked. Their attributes are wreath and mirror.
MANTUS - Etruscan leader of the dead and guard in the underworld. On sar-
cophagi it was depicted as a stout man with wings, wdd facial features, satyre-like ears
and a big hammer
NASU - Persian demoness of inanimate substance, corpse and profanation. Im-
mediately after a man's death she flies in the shape of a fly and infects the neighbours
with a disease. She penetrates the pallbearer through one of nine bodyholes.
NAVJE - Preslavic name for the dead after the acceptance of Christianity, the
meaning was narrowed to the souls of yet unbaptized children. Sometimes navje ap-
pears like big birds attacking pregnant women. In certain places navje means the land
of the dead. The word originates in the stem "naHu" - ship - a notion of the land of
dead somewhere beyond the sea, where one has to sad to.
PAZUZU - acad. evil spirit which brings fever and shivers and personifies the
Southeast wind. It is depicted with 4 wings, deformed face, long hair, lion paws, bird
claws on the legs and scorpio sting.
PIHUCHEN (also Piguchen, Pdiuechengu) - Mythical creature of Arawakans with a
snake-like truidi, covered with feathers. It has wings and sometimes two snake heads. It
flies ordy at night and during the flight whisdes or produces thrdling whistles. In the heat,
it is attached to the bark of the tree and leaves a red trace of blood he sucks from people
and animals as long as it sucks them dry. Pihuchen's whistle is a reliable announce of
death, except if we see the monster before it sees us. It is said that people cover their ears
not to hear it and in order not to see it, it is recommended to moist the ground.
SPHINX - 1. Egyptian monster and mixed creature of mostly masculine gender
with a human head and the body of a lion. 2. Greek, monster and demonic mixed crea-
ture with a woman's head and breasts and winged lion body. Sitting on a cliff near Tebe
it posed a riddle to passer-bys and ate everyone that could not solve it.
278
The Hen, Cachiru and other ^ inged Creatures
SIRENS - Gr. 2 to 4 demonesses of harm, mixed creatures with woman's head and
birdhke body. They live in the Hades, on Paradise fields or on an island,
and with their seducing singing attract sailors and eat them in the end.
SKOPNIK - flying demon from the ,\Ips. If flies like a burning bale of straw or a
broom and forces its way into a house through a chimney. Similar to the goblin.
STRPED - a dormouse with wings instead of the front legs. Ash leaves grew out of its
ears. Its eyes were those of a haлvk its hair white (the good štrped) or black (itrped who
brought misfortune and death). It hatched every 7 years with the help of the moon and
die goldbeaked hawk named Lunj. A very timid animal. Everything it touched vanished.
TANATOS - Greek god and impersonation of natural and violent death. It carries
the deceased into the Hades. It is depicted as a winged demon with a lowered torch.
TIFON - gr. 1. a gigantic monster living in the underworld. It has hundred drag-
ondike heads and snakes instead of its legs. It is the incarnation of devastating forces of
nature. 2. horrible monster with legs replaced by snakes and with wings, which can
cover up the sun.
TOT - he helps Osiris with judgement in the underworld court, so he is the God
of dead persons. He supervises the balancing of the hearts and he write down the judge-
ments.
Whde the path to Osiris leading by him, he helps the dead one and leads them.
He is depicted with the head of Ibis or as Ibis him self.
TURMS - he is the messenger of God and leader of the dead person to the under-
world, depicted with winged shoes and the stick of announcer.
VANTH - Etr. the demon of the underworld and death. She is depicted as winged
creature, with snake, key and torch.
VELES - Slavic God of herds, property and underworld. In the empire of Veles
the souls are settled and also the birds in the winter.
A few theoretical conclusions
What can be said on the basis of our previous assignment? Above all, we should find
the cultural meaning of animals signifying death. Can we assume that the animals are in
fact cultural objects? For anyone who devoted their life to illuminating a way for proper
understanding of the human culture, this statement might sound as some sort of a bad
joke. We shall remind all those anthropologists and sociologists of an essay written by Rob-
ert Wuthnow where he elaborated the historical development of the notions 'culture' and
'meaning' (Wuthnow 1987). In his opinion the difference between three stages of that
development must be drawn. At the first step the attention of classical social theorists (Du-
rkheim, Marx and also Weber) were pointed toward the division between subject and ob-
ject from where the meaning originated. .Mthough culture object is independent, it is not
made ordy of material substance. For Emile Durkheim collective consciousness was liter-
ally a social entity and it was m some way separated from individuals. Persons are forced
279
Maja Šubic. Tomaž Krpic
to carry the burden of their cidture, but they cannot do much to reduce its power The
second generation {neodmsicists like Berger, Luckmann, BeUab and Geertz) endeavoured
to bring back the notion of united object and subject. In accordance with their intention,
they launched the idea of social construction of society, pardy inspired by the phenome-
nology of Alfred Schutz (see Luckmann and Berger 1991) and partly by interpretative so-
ciology of Max Weber (see Geertz 1993). Meaning became an important element of neo-
classicists' interests, but whde their theoretical attention was pointed toward social con-
struction of reality, they paid a lot of attention to symbolic language and its use in every-
day life. The cultural object is no longer something outside the human mind. No wonder
the preferred methodological approaches that emerged within the neoclassical tradition
were phenomenology and hermeneutics. The next stage in the history of cultural theory
is caUed poststructuralism (Habermas, Foucault, Levi-Strauss). If neoclassicists stdl be-
lieved in important role of the individual in the construction of society, the poststructur-
alists rejected the idea of the author They put aU their efforts in demonstration how the
basic principles of society and culture can be uncovered in language, communicadon,
speech and discourse. Once again the cultural object was put beyond the reach of human
individuals.
At the end of his article, Wuthnow concludes that the influence of individuals on
the origin of meaning is stdl necessary for understanding the human society. Unfortu-
nately his theory would not satisfy well our intellectual imagination. In any case, mean-
ing is socially constructed, but we still think that the world outside the meaning which
helps us construct it is necessary, irrespective of the fact that we might not be well
aware of it. So 1 suggest we seriously take into consideration the possibility that cultur-
al object exist independently from the human mind'. In this example we understand
the culture object as something material which in the process of experiencing culture
is able to carry socially constructed meaning. For the reasons that cannot be explained
here more precisely, the cultural object wiU be divided into two kinds of cultural ob-
jects (the body and other objects)-. The picture of our methodological framework
should be like it is depicted in the picture below (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: The relationship among actors in cultural production and reception (micro level)
It is time we used this methodological framework (see Figure 2) on our previously
got data, so the next few puzzles should be solved: What is cultural object in our situa-
' Later on we remembered, how close our idea of cultural object is to the notion of the world 3 in the philo-
sophy of Karl Popper (see for instance Popper 1975).
^ Our new approach towards understanding the constructig of meaning in culture and society is rudimentary
the same as it has been show n by Strauss & Quinn (1997).
280-
The Hen. Cachiru and other ^ inged Creatures
tion? How should the role of the body be understood? And last but not least, what is the
function of social cognitive mindscape in the origin of the cultural phenomenon of the
death?
Figure 2: \ methodological framework for cultural sociology
We believe the cultural phenomenon should be studied first from the point of its
experience. In the matter of death, we coUide into an insurmountable barrier, because
death can be experienced only once, if we dare to label such phenomenon with the
word 'experience' at all. Looking from the scientific point of view, we do not know if
there is life after death. Maybe there is, maybe there is not. Hypotheses that contain
whether the first or the second idea, cannot be tested scientifically. The only proper
conclusion would be to eliminate such hypotheses from the area of sciences But in real
life the situation is much more complicated, while the person involved in the process of
death (whether dying or just looking at someone dying) usually does not have an ade-
quate knowledge and methods to make such a scientific decision. And even more im-
portant is that people in everyday life do not have to make such a decision, whde the
logic of the everyday situation is characteristically different. Its presence and form are
'taken for granted' (see Schutz and Luckmann 1974). ^Tiat individuals need is a useful
knowledge on the basis of which an applicable action can be carried out. If someone
finds himself in a situation to find a dead body, that person should know which rituals
must be properly executed and what should be done with the dead body, unless the soul
of the dead is cursed or in some other way condemned. Of course, if that particular
individual believes in the supernatural world. The body can be buried, burnt or ex-
posed in the open to be eaten by animals, etc.
In accordance with our methodological framework developed for cultural investi-
gation, we must take into account three elements of culture (see figure 3). When some-
one dies, the other members of a group or a society are brought face to face with the
corpse. No matter how odd this might sound, in the matter of death, the dead body is
the only real cultural object. People notice very well the difference between alive and
dead person. They are forced by cognitive process in their mind to generate necessary
explanation. This explanation might have the form of a story or a myth in which some
basic knowledge about what should be done in the matter of death, or what is the essen-
tial meaning of the death, or where the soul of a dead person goes after the death, or if
there is any 'life' after death, should be proposed. The third element in our cultural
' In accordance with methodology presented in Popper's book The Logic of Science Discovery (1992).
Maja Šubic. Tomaž Krpic
model is the body of the participant in the cultural phenomenon of death. It remains
the key puzzle. Why?
bo
Figure 3: Micro siUiation in the matter of death
When we try to find the solution to this particular question, one specific element of
the nature of society must be taken under scrutiny. Culture and society can not success-
fully endure, at least for a long time, unless the knowledge is transmitted from one gener-
ation to another In the case of transferring rituals of death from one generation to anoth-
er, die everyday experience of passing away is limited to accidental death among the pop-
ulation. It is not usual to subordinate a person chosen at random to execution with inten-
tion to teach youngsters what death is or what it looks like. This would be a costly deci-
sion, because the individual's life has a specific value for society. In the past, the life of the
individual was precious, because the economy was mosdy based on physical power of hu-
man beings. Modern society is now concerned for the individual on account of a higher
self esteem. The second reason why the sacrifice of people in most cultures and societies
was restrained to religious rituals,, is revealed if we take into consideration the level of
development of the educational system. Although only from time to dme, in the history
there appeared a few bright islands of systematic teaching and learning. The prevading
strategy in transferring knowledge from one generation to another was basicaUy forced by
the structure of experience. If a situation required a specific knowledge for accomplish-
ing a task, the individual was given this knowledge directly*. Well, from those times social
structure has changed a lot. And the directly transmitted knowledge is no longer the most
important form of learning (see Schutz 1975).
The practical problems that accompany the socialization of individual person in
the matter of death demand solutions, which can be classified into two different catego-
ries. These two categories can be drawn on the basis of our inquiry presented in the
previous chapter of this essay. An elegant solution would be to change the cultural ob-
ject that directly presents death, with such cultural object that represents death only
symbolically. If we choose an object that really exists (see figure 4), maybe we wiU be
able to budd a nice story where the selected cultural object can find a nice place for
signifying the death. If the members of a society comprehend the phenomenon of
death as something mysterious, the proper cultural object signifying death should also
be a mysterious object or process. For example, the story of the hen. If a hen suddenly,
widiout any reasonable cause, crows like a cock, it means that death wiU come and take
* Like in such social institution as it was relation between master and apprentice.
The Hen, Cachiru and other ^ inged Creatures
the hfe of the master of the house, unless the hen is killed immediately. ^Ћеге in this
story is the place for mystery? The mystery rises out from the difference between what
is the primary role of the cultural object (hen hatches eggs, and cackles like a hen) and
what is the secondary role of the cultural object (hen crows like a cock, and thus sym-
bolizes death). The third element is the body of the users of cultural meaning. ^Tiat
kind of body is desired in this cultural situation? We believe that the body should be
the normal functioning body, and when we say normal functioning body we have in
mind a body with clear perception. We are going to explain more precisely why in the
continuation of our essay.
Figure 4: Cuhural situation, when the cultural object is replaced by a real existing animal
But what would be the result if we changed our cultural object (the dead body)
with fictitious cultural object, like for example Cachiru (see figure 5)? Then the situa-
tion changes, whde the centre of gravity is moved from a really existing cultural object
to fictitious cultural object, in this case to the story. In the foreword of our essay, we
assert how the human mind always needs a concrete object for its concentration in or-
der to assure its normal activity. The lack of a concrete object causes interesting conse-
quences in the case of the human consciousness. When the brain cannot get enough
stimuli from the outside, it produces its own world on the basis of previously stored
knowledge and aspirations (Dennett 1991). Illusions and hallucinations are general
symptoms in the experiments where the individual is subject to sensor reduction in lab-
oratory tests (Zubek 1969). The division of the cultural object into two separated kinds
of cultural objects (primary and secondary) is now showed as a very fruitful idea. Obvi-
ously, our mind for its acting necessarily needs an object outside the mind. If the pri-
mary cultural object is taken, the mind helps itself with leaning on the only possible
solution: the mind desperately looks for the body, otherwise it cannot function right.
The body is always here associated with its mind, but unfortunately it can provide only
the information about its environment which is already stored in the memory or in the
genes. The body is helpless without an environment, and sometimes because of its vul-
nerable position the body provides the 'wrong' data.
The lack of tiie sensory stimuli (cultural object) is only one mode to get the expe-
rience of illusions and hallucinations. .Another way to get a mystical situation is to de-
liberately manipulate the function of the body with the intention of wrong perception.
Through the history of the human mind, there have been a lot of examples that are
good illustrations of what has been just said. Sometimes a general deficiency of nour-
283
Maja Šubic, Tomaž Krpic
The Mistical Body
Figure 5: A cultural situation when the cultural object is replaced by a fictitious animal
ishment helps to cause a supernatural seeing. Individuals with a special position in the
society were deliberately exposed to hallucinogen substances (see Huxley 1979; Eliade
1985). The knowledge, acquired through the body, is essential for some cultures and
societies. The carnal knowledge was significant for medieval culture, but later with its
decline, the shift from carnal to cognitive comprehension can be traced (Mellor and
Schilling 1997). The cultural object (the process of dying and the dead body) was
pushed to a specific area of society (hospitals and sanatoriums). The modern body is
taken care of with special treatment (systematic medical care and participation in
sport). Its negligence should be disregarded. The cognitive structure of modern indi-
viduals is occupied with pictures of young bodies, whde the thought of death is being
oppressed deep in the human mind.
Are there any good prospects for myths and stories founded on nature at the end
of the millennium? It does not look good, that is for sure. We believe that the cognitive
mindscape of modern individuals does not permit it. Not that modern strategy of think-
ing is so much more rational in comparison to traditional (see Luckmann 1997). The
main reason lies somewhere else: the environment of human race has been drastically
changed in the last century. Today, the nature is as far away from human eyes as the
mythological world itselL A new kind of myth has been born from the ashes of the tra-
ditional believing. The story of the modern myth is the story of miraculous recovery
from dlness (bioenergy). Modern myth is no longer interested in posthumous life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY see page 269 •        j
i
BESEDA O AVTORJIH |
Maja Šubic. akademska slikarka, deluje kot,
svobodna umetnica.
!
Tomaž Krpic, sociolog, mladi raziskovalec
na Inštitutu za družbene vede Fakultete za^
družbene vede Univerze v Ljubljani. Ukvarja se s
problematiko kognitivne sociologije, metodologijo'
družboslovnih znanosti in kulturo poznega sre-l
dnjega veka. j
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Maja Šubic. painter, holds status of an artist
Tomaž Krpic. B.A. of sociology, working as
researcher at The Institute of Social Science, Fac-
ulty of Social Science, Ljubljana University. He is
working mainly in the field of cognitive sociology,
methodology of social science and culture of the
late Medieval Ages.
284
ODNOS DO SMRTI Z ZGLEDOM
HOMEOPATSKEGA TABUJA MED NOSEČNOSTJO
Irena Rozman
285
Ključne besede: tabu, homeopatski tabu, kontagiozni tabu, numinozno, sveto, nosečnost, nasilna smrt,
koline, nosečnica, kri, obred, rojstne šege
Ivod
Namen članka je nakazati nekatere dileme pri poskusih definiranja tabuja.
Razrešitev ni preprosta, kljub bogati etnološki, sociološki in antropološki tradiciji, na
katero se ta prizadevanja navezujejo. Da bi stopili na pot analize dilem, ki so povezane
s poskusi opredelitev tabuja, se je treba odločiti za smer obravnave. Najbolj problema-
tična se mi je zdela tista smer, ki tabu razume kot kategorijo svetega. Tako imamo že na
samem začetku opraviti z dvema neznankama, s tabujem na eni strani in svetim na dru-
gi. Zato se za začetek zgoščeno seznanimo z obema pojmoma.
Tabu in sveto
Tabu je polinezijska beseda, ki označuje z ene strani sveto, posvečeno, z druge
strani pa strašno, nevarno in nečisto (Freud 1969: 141). Izvirno označuje tisti moment
svetega, ki še ne ločuje med svetim in nečistim. Pri tem gre za svojevrstno občutenje
svetega, ki ga je Rudolf Otto imenoval numinozno. Prednost pojma je v tem, da oz-
načuje tako podvrste in razvojne stopnje svetega kot posebno občutenje nadnaravnega.
Sveto kot tako, numinozno, je brez moralne in racionalne prvine; moralnost in racio-
nalnost postaneta njegovi sestavini šele v razvitih, teističnih religijah.' Numinozno je
' V prispevku ne bom razpravljala o Ottovi trditvi, da je numinozno brez moralne in racionalne prvine. Antro-
pologi se npr. strinjajo v tem, da je pokojnik oziroma truplo pokojnika numinozno, tremendum et fascinans. Isto velja
za kršitelja religioznega tabuja "Ne ubijaj!". Njegovo numinozno naravo določata dva momenta. Ce upoštevamo
mebanizem okužbe, lahko trdimo, da je kršitelja okužila numinozna narava ubitega, kar nazorno pove rek, da ima
nekdo omadeževane roke s prelito krvjo. Tudi Levy-Brubl, raziskovalec tako imenovanih primitivnih družb, kjer še ni
sledu o teistični religiji, pravi, da numinozna narava bojevnika izvira iz madeža prelite krvi. Iz tega sledi, da tabuji ne
Irena Rozman
ambivalentno, je mysterium tremendum et fasdnans. Otto je mnenja, da obstaja poseb-
no čustvo, ki se izraža v človekovem občutenju lastne ničnosti, v tako imenovanem
občutju kreaturnosti (Otto: 1345).
Ottova definicija svetega omogoča, da tabu pojmujemo kot religiozni fenomen.
Mnogi antropologi so imeli tabu za magijski fenomen. Da bi se odločili, ali je tabu ma-
gijski ali religiozni fenomen, bi bilo treba najprej postaviti strukturno razliko med magijo
in religijo, kar pa presega namen referata. Vendar naj za nadaljnje razumevanje tabuja
povemo le to, da se obe praksi, magijska in religiozna, nabajata vedno le znotraj nam zna-
nega kozmosa in da tekmujeta, vendar pa tudi prebajata druga v drugo. V nadaljevanju ne
bomo govorili o razmerju med religijo in magijo oziroma religijo in tabujem, ampak se
bomo posvetili družbeni moči tabujev. Oprli se bomo na spoznanja Jeana Cazeneuva, ki je
v svojih delih sledil Durkheimovemu izročilu. Oba pripadata sociološki šoli, za katero je
značilno, da ne izhaja iz svetega kot svetega, kot na primer Rudolf Otto, ampak iz svetega
kot sakralnega; iz takšne svetosti, ki je sankcionirana z zakonom.
Preden se seznanimo z Cazeneuvevo opredelitvijo tabuja, je treba pojasniti še poj-
ma homeopatski in kontagiozni tabu. Delitev na homeopatske in kontagiozne tabuje je
vpeljal sir James Frazer, čeprav je zamisel Tylorjeva, kasneje pa so jo uporabljali in jo z
manjšimi pomenskimi odtenki še vedno uporabljajo tudi drugi. Za homeopatsko ma-
gijo velja tradicionalni zakon podobnosti, za kontagiozno magijo tradicionalni zakon
dotika (Frazer 1977: knjiga 1, 29). Frazer je na podlagi primerjalne metode z etno-
grafskim gradivom iz različnih kulturnih okolij prišel do ugotovitve, da so tabuji poseb-
na oblika magijske prakse, da je tabu negativna magija (Frazer 1977: knjiga 1, 29). Tak-
šno delitev je sprejel tudi Cazeneuve, vendar z razliko: nasproti homeopatskim in kon-
tagioznim tabujem je postavil tabu nečistosti (Cazeneuve 1986: 41-54).
Tabu nečistosti opredeli takole: »Predvsem tabu ne more biti prepoved, ki bi bda
lahko razumsko utemeljena. V tem je navsezadnje njegova specifika. Od drugih oblik
prepovedi se razlikuje po tem, da ni motiviran; represija, zaradi katere je obvezen, ni
posledica intervencije nekoga tretjega, in nevarnost, na katero opozarja, ni očitna.
Razloček med magijskim tabujem in tabujem nečistosti najbolje začrtamo, če kot
razločevalno načelo upoštevamo mehanizem sankcije« (Cazeneuve 1986: 41, 42). To je
pred Cazeneuvem storil že Durkheim (Durkheim 1937: 430). Kriterij med tabujem
nečistosti in homeopatskim tabujem je sankcija oziroma, bolje rečeno, oblika sankcije.
Medtem ko homeopatski tabu prepoznamo prav po podobnostnem razmerju med pre-
povedjo in posledico, pa v tabuju nečistosti ni skupnega merila za prepovedano dejanje
in posledico kršitve tabuja (Cazeneuve 1986: 43). Nadalje Cazeneuve pravi, da je pri
homeopatskem tabuju posledica kršitve individualna in materialna, pri tabuju nečisto-
sti pa splošna in kolektivna (Cazeneuve 1986: 46). Tabuje, kakor nasploh vse vrste obre-
dov, lahko proučujemo iz vidika njihove funkcije, pomena in učinka (Radcliffe-Brown
1994: 159-161). Cazeneuve se je osredotočd na raziskovanje učinkov tabujev, ti pa so
lahko psihološki in sociološki. Po tej delitvi bi veljalo, da so psihološki učinki pridržani
obstajajo najprej v obliki mitične zgodbe, iz katere se naknadno izlušči moralna prvina. Menim, da je ta neposredno
vsebovana v vsakem tabuju. Videnje iracionalne komponente zgolj v okužbi je navidezno. Že na tej stopnji je razum-
ska, moralna komponenta prisotna, vendar se kaže na drugačen način (prim. Cassirer 1985: 87-89).
286
Odnos do smrti z zgledom homeopatskega tabuja med nosečnostjo
homeopatskim tabujem, sociološki učinki pa tabujem nečistosti oziroma pravim ta-
bujem. Taka delitev pa seveda ni dopustna.
Prav tako se ne moremo strinjati s trditvijo, da je tabu prepoved, ki je ni moeoče
razumsko utemeljiti, pa vendarle v določeni družbi deluje (Cazeneuve 1986: 41). Ce se
strinjamo, da imajo tabuji družbeno funkcijo, pomeni, da so smiselni. In če so smiselni,
pomeni, da jih je razumsko mogoče utemeljiti. Seveda ni nujno, da jih raziskovalec ra-
cionalizira, bistveno je, da je takšen za njihove nosilce.
Homeopatski in kontagiozni tabuji za nosečnice tako izvirajo iz prepričanja, da
materino počutje, čustva, dejanja vplivajo na telesno in duševno zdravje ter značaj otroka.
Najdlje so se obranih v vaških okoljih. Številni etnologi jim niso prišli do dna in jih imajo
preprosto za nerazumljive prepovedi, ki so se kot prežitki arhaične ontologije ohrande
skozi ustno izročilo ali skozi kontinuiteto tradicionalnega življenja. Če se poglobimo v
preučevanje njihove družbene vloge, spoznamo, da razkrivajo nekaj več. Ta "nekaj več"
bi lahko imenovali življenjski koncept. Tabuji so odsev človekove težnje po varnem
življenju brez pretresov in anomalij.
Da bi se približali razumevanju tabujev, je skoraj neogibno, da skupaj z Marcelom
Maussom domnevamo, da so tabuji totalen družbeni fenomen, v katerem se vse vrste
ustanov izrazijo hkratno - religiozno, pravno, moralno in ekonomsko (Mauss 1970: 1).
Tabuji se največkrat izražajo v simbolih. V tem primeru moramo raziskovanje
usmeriti v razvozlavanje njihovih pomenov. Zgodovinsko gledano se simboli arhaičnih
ali tradicionalnih družb razlikujejo od simbolov tehnološko razvitejših družb. Da bi
razumeli povezave med pomenom in funkcijo tabuja, moramo poznati sistem verovanj
in mitičnih predstav, iz katerih izvirajo tabuirana dejanja, čustva, želje, živalske in ra-
stlinske vrste, predmeti, določene kategorije ljudi itn.
Kršitve različic homeopatskih tabujev med nosečnostjo imajo usodne posledice:
otrok bo krvolok, sadist ali celo morilec. Da se to ne bi zgodilo, nosečnica ne sme klati
perutnine, prestrezati krvi, ko koljejo prašiča, ne sme jesti krvavic ali mesa, iz katerega
se kri še ni povsem izcedila. Preden nadaljujem z razlago, bom navedla neko pripoved.
Prašiča so privlekli do praga svinjaka. Žival se je upirala, pa so jo strici trdno zgrabili
za ušesa in eden za rep, vlekli so ga, da je glasno zakrulil, če ne že grozno, potem pa, kot bi
že vse vedel, začel predirljivo cviliti, podobno kot ljudje, ko jih zares stisne. Medtem je teta
šla v hišo in iz zidne omare pograbila posodo z blagoslovljeno soljo. Iz posode je vzela ščepec
soli, jo vrgla v moder emajliran lonec in še predno je stekla ven, da ho stregla kri, mi je v
roke potisnila flašo šnopsa in štamperle z besedami:"Pa jim natoč pol." Na dvorišču pred
svinjakom je mesar zamahml in prašiča mojstrsko zabodel v srce. Drgeti, zadnji so prehaja-
li z umirajočega telesa v roke tistih, ki so ga držali Videla sem, kako mu je en uhelj visel na
odprto modro oko, ki je bilo presenetljivo podobno očem pripadnikov mojega plemena.
Pohištvo so v hm že zjutraj znosili nekam drugam. Sredi mrzle in izpraznjene sobe
so stale na ključ zložene tri mize, prekrite z brezhibno belimi rjuhami na njih pa so bih
zloženi kupi še krvavečega mesa in kri se je cedila po belih rjuhah. Tesnoben občutek me
je prevzel. Dosti let kasneje me je podoben občutek groze in tesnobe obšel, ko je na istem
mestu na belem odru ležala mrtva stara mama.
287
Irena Rozman
Pripoved je dovolj nazorna: pokaže, kaj omenjeni homeopatski tabu prepoveduje.
Kratko rečeno - prepoveduje ubijanje. Antropolog Robert Minnich, ki je raziskoval
furež v Halozah, pravi: »Uboj teh najbližnjih, v kmečki družbi udomačenih dru-
žabnikov, njenih svinj, je moralni prekršek, ki doseže vrhunec v dramatizaciji osnovnih
vidikov lokalnega družbenega in moralnega reda« (Minnich 1987: 136-143). To je seve-
da le eden od vidikov obravnave kolin, ki se razločno kaže v homeopatskem tabuju,
obstajajo pa še drugi, kot npr. ekonomski in eksistencialni. Slednji s stališča zakona
preživetja zakol prašiča, uboj, upravičujejo. Zakon preživetja vključuje diametralno na-
sprotje prepovedi, ker predvideva specifično situacijo, ki kršitev prepovedi upravičuje.
Ce navedeno apliciramo na značilnosti homeopatskih tabujev med nosečnostjo,
jih smemo po Cazeneuvovi opredelitvi tabuja (po podobnostnem razmerju med kršit-
vijo in sankcijo) imeti za homeopatske.
Na prvi pogled se tudi zdi, da prepoved ni razumska, da je kazen individualna,
konkretna in materialna, in ne splošna in kolektivna. Za marsdioga prepoved ni racional-
no utemeljena. To pa ne velja za nosečnico in vse tiste pripadnike skupnosti, ki verjamejo
v njegove učinke. Seveda je mogoče, da nosečnica tabuja ne bo kršda še iz drugdi razlo-
gov, npr iz strahu pred sankcijo, občutka krivde kot posledice kršitve iz malomarnosti, ali
drugih razlogov. V tem primeru je tabu kategorični imperativ. Pri življenju ga ohranja
bojazen pred sankcijo, ki je v tem primeru na eni strani materialna, konkretna in indivi-
dualna (otrok bo krvoločen, mordec itn.) in splošna na drugi (skupnost bo morala zaradi
kršitve tabuja v svoji sredi trpeti krvoločneža in bo tako omadeževana). Ugotovitev proble-
matizira Cazeneuvovo dehtev tabujev na prave in neprave oziroma homeopatske. Caze-
neuve namreč meni, da predmet homeopatskega tabuja ni numinozne narave (v našem
primeru so v določeni situaciji numinozne narave ubijanje, kri kot simbol življenja, kla-
vec), da je za razloček od pravega tabuja motiviran. Za zgled Cazeneuve navede pravi tabu
iz Nove Gvineje, ko kršitelja lastninskega tabuja doleti zelo splošna kazen (zaradi kršitve
postane nabuhel ali celo umre in tudi skupnost je prizadeta) (Cazeneuve 1986:43,44). V
tem primeru je kazen resda kolektivna, vendar je hkrati tudi individualna in materialna,
zato je vsakdo motiviran, da tabuja ne krši.
V našem primeru je bda vsaka nosečnica, ki je verjela v posledice kršenja tabuja,
motivirana, da ga ni kršda. Ce bi izčrpneje obravnavali vse tabuje, ki so veljali za nosečni-
ce, bi videli, da se dotdiajo vseh področij človekovega življenja in da je njdiova vloga ustva-
riti v vseh pogledih brezhibnega otroka. Naj si dovohm podmeno, da takšni tabuji posne-
majo vzorec božje stvaritve človeka, ki je popolna. Otrok se tako nahaja v materinem tele-
su še v nediferencirani, brezoblični modalnosti predstvarjenja, naloga matere pa je, da ga
ob spoštovanju tabujev ustvari. Na ta način se skozi tabuje kaže tako skrb skupnosti za
posameznika kot skrb posameznika, da stori za skupnost vse, kar je v njegovi moči. Skup
nost si želi zdravih otrok, ker je to neobhodno povezano z njenim obstojem in normalnim
delovanjem. Drugačni so anomalija vsake družbe. Zato omenjenega tabuja ne moremo
reducirati na higiensko ali medicinsko prepoved, kakor bi bdo mogoče, če bi pri njegovi
opredelitvi upoštevali le podobnostno razmerje med kršitvijo in sankcijo. Vedeti je treba,
da imajo včasdi pomembne stvari preprosto obliko. To velja tudi v primeru, ko spoznamo,
da tudi za kmete koline niso (bde) le veseh domači praznik, nujen za njihovo eksistenco,
ampak tudi moralno in religiozno neopravičljivo dejanje.
288'
Odnos do smrti z zgledom homeopatskega tabuja med nosečnostjo
LITERATURA
C.AZENEUAT:, j., I986: Sociologija obreda, Ljubljana.
CASSIRER, E., 1985: Mitsko mišlenje, Novi Sad.
DOUGLAS, M., 1966: Purity and Danger. .An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo, London.
DURKHEIM, E., 1937: Les formes elementaires de la vie religieuse, Le systeme totemique en Austrahe, Paris.
ER/\ZER, j. G., 1977: Zlatna grana L 2, Beograd.
EREUD, S., 1969: Totem i tabu. Novi Sad.
HRIBAR. T. 1990: O svetem na Slovenskem. Ljubljana.
HRIBAR, T, 1991: Tragična etika svetosti. Sofoklova Antigona v evTopski in slovenski zavesti, Ljubljana.
LE.\CH, E., 1983: Kultura i komunUsacija, Beograd.
LE\A-BRUHL, L., 1954: Primitivni mentalitet, Zagreb.
MAUSS, M., 1970: The Gift - Eorms and Eunctions of Exchange in .\rchaic Societies, London.
MINNICH, R., 1987: The Gift of Koline and the Articulation of Identity in Slovene Peasant Society, v: Glasnik Sloven-
skega etnološkega društva 27, št. 1-2, str. 115-122.
OTIO. R.. 1993: Sveto. O iracionalnem v ideji božjega in njegovem razmerju do racionalnega. Ljubljana.
RADCLIEE-BRO'JiA', A. R., 1994: Struktura in hinkcija v primitivni družbi, Ljubljana.
ROZMAN, I. 1992: Magijski in religiozni tabu. Diplomska naloga na Oddelku za sociologijo Filozofske fakultete v
Ljubljani. Tipkopis.
ROZMAN, L. 1989-1998: Terenski zapisi.
289
ATTITUDES TO DEATH WITH REGARD TO A
HOMEOPATHIC TABOO DURING PREGNANCY
Irena ROZMAN
Keywords: taboo, homeopathic taboo, contagious taboo, numinous, sacred, pregnancy, violent death, pig
slaughtering, pregnant wonmn, blood, ritual, birth customs
liilrednctieii.
The aim of this paper is to highlight certain dilemmas in attempts to define taboo.
The solution is not simple, in spite of the rich ethnological, sociological and anthropolog-
ical traditions, on which these efforts rely. It is necessary to decide on the direction of
analysis, before commencing the analysis of the ddemmas that are connected with at-
tempts to classify taboo. The most problematic direction would appear to be that which
understands taboo as a category of the sacred. Thus, it is necessary to deal widi two un-
known factors at the very beginning, with taboo on the one hand and with the sacred on
the other. It is therefore appropriate to begin with a summary of both concepts.
Taboo and sacred
Taboo is a Polynesian word, which can mean either sacred and dedicated, or terri-
fying, dangerous and unclean (Freud 1969, 141). It originally denotes the particular
moment of sacredness, which does not separate out the ideas of sacred and impure.
This a special way of relating to the sacred, which Rudolf Otto termed numinous. The
advantage of this concept lies in the fact that it denotes both subtypes and degrees of
sacredness as a special feeling of the supernatural. Sacredness as something numinous,
is without moral and rational principles; morality and rationality only become an inte-
gral part of this in developed theistic religions'. The numinous is ambivalent, it is mys-
' This paper will not discuss Otto's assertion that the numinous is without moral and rational principle. An-
thropologists, for instance, agree that the deceased or the deceased's body is numinous, tremendum et fascinans. The
same is true of the person who breaks the religious taboo "thou shalt not kill!". His numinous nature is defined by
290
Attitudes to Death with Regard to a Homeopathic Taboo during Pregnancy
terium tremendum et fascinans. According to Otto, there is a special emotion, which is
expressed in a person's feeling of his own worthlessness, in the so-called feeling of con-
temp tibility (Otto, 1345).
Otto's definition of the world permits us to characterise taboo as a religious phe-
nomenon. Many anthropologists define taboo as a magical phenomenon. In order to
decide whether taboo is a magical or a religious phenomenon, it would first be neces-
sary to define the structural difference between magic and religion, which exceeds the
parameters of this paper However, for the further understanding of taboo, it should be
stated that both magical and religious practices only take place within a cosmos, which
is known to us, and that they compete, but always merge into each other
The rest of the paper will not consider the relationship between religion and mag-
ic or magic and taboo, but will confine itself to the consideration of the social power of
taboos. The author finds support for this in the work of Jean Cazeneuve, whose work
followed the tradition of Durkheim. Both of them belong to the particular sociological
school, whose approach does not take the sacred as sacred, as Rudolf Otto does for ex-
ample, but from the sacred nature of something, which is sanctioned by the law.
Before further considering Cazeneuve's classification of taboo, it is first neces-
sary to clarify the concepts of homeopathic taboo and contagious taboo. The division
into homeopathic taboo and contagious taboo was undertaken by Sir James Frazer, al-
though it was originally conceived by Tylor Both concepts were later used with slight
conceptual changes by other writers. Homeopathic magic is characterised by the tradi-
tional law of similarity, whilst contagious magic utilises the traditional law of contact
(Frazer 1977, book 1, 29).
On the basis of comparison of ethnographic data from different cultural back-
grounds, Frazer concluded that taboos a specific form of magical practice, that taboo is
negative magic (Frazer 1977, book 1, 29). This definition was also accepted by Caze-
neuve, but with an essential difference: he placed the taboo of impurity in opposition to
the opposition of homeopathic and contagious taboo (Cazeneuve 1986, 41-54).
The taboo of impurity is defined as follows: a taboo, above all, cannot be a prohi-
bition, which is rationally based. This is its essential specification. It differs from other
forms of prohibition in its lack of motivation; the repression, which makes it obligato-
ry, is not the result of the intervention of a third party or entity, and the danger, of
which it warns, is not obvious. The distinction between magical taboos and impurity
taboos can be best defined, if the mechanism of sanction is respected as the defining
principle (Cazeneuve 1986, 41, 42). Durkheim defined this before Cazeneuve (Durkhe-
two elements. If one takes into account the mechanism of infection, then it may be asserted that the offender was in-
fected bv the numinous nature of the murdered person, which is well illustrated by the phrase that someone has their
hands stained with blood. Lew-Bruhl. the researcher of so-called primitive societies, where there is no trace of theistic
religions, also states that the numinous nature of the warrior derives from bloodstains. It thus follows that taboo does
not have a prior existence in the form of a mythic story, from which moral principles arc later derived. It is the au-
thor's opinion that this is directly encapsulated in every taboo. The visibility of irrational components merely as infec-
tion is more apparent than real. The rational, moral component is already present at this level, but it is shown in a
different way (e.g. Cassirer 1985, 87-9).
291
Irena Rozman
im 1937, 430). The criteria between impurity taboos and homeopathic taboos is the
sanction, or rather the form of sanction. \^Ћ1к1 homeopathic taboos are precisely rec-
ognisable by the similarity in the relationship between the prohibition and the conse-
quence, the impurity taboo does not have a defined relationship between the prohibit-
ed action and the consequences of breaking the taboo Cazeneuve 1986,43). Cazeneuve
further states that the consequences of breaking a homeopathic taboo are individual
and material, but the consequences of breaking an impurity taboo are general and col-
lective (Cazeneuve 1986, 46). Taboos like all other forms of ritual can be studied from
the point of view of their function, meaning and effect (Radcliffe-Brown 1994, 159-
161). Cazeneuve concentrated on research into the effect of taboos, which can be psy-
chological and sociological. It is asserted in this division that psychological effects are
confined to homeopathic taboos, whilst sociological effects are confined to impurity
taboos or true taboos. However, such a division is insupportable.
Equally one cannot agree with the assertion that a taboo is a prohibition, which
cannot be logically explained, but which functions in a certain society (Cazeneuve
1986, 41). If it is agreed that taboos have a social function, then it follows that they are
logical. If they are logical, then it follows that they have a reasonable foundation. It is
not necessary that they can be rationalised by the researcher, because it is important
that they can be rationalised by the person, who practices them.
Homeopathic and contagious taboos for pregnant women as such derive from the
belief that a mother's welfare, emotional state and activities have an effect on the phys-
ical and mental health and character of her child. These beliefs survived longer in the
village environment. Numerous ethnologists have not fully understood them and have
simply classified them as inexplicable customs, which are relicts of an archaic ontology
that survived through oral tradition or through continuity of traditional ways of life. A
deeper analysis of their social role leads to the realisation that they reveal much more.
That "much more" might be termed a lifestyle concept. Taboos are a reflection of the
human inclination towards a stable life without conflicts and anomalies.
One is almost unavoidably led to the presupposition reached by Marcel Mauss, in
order to understand taboos. This is that taboos are an all encompassing social phenome-
non, in which all types of institutions, religious, legal, moral and economic, are expressed
at the same time (Mauss 1970,1). Taboos are most frequendy expressed through symbols.
In this case research must be directed towards the unravelment of their meaning. The
symbols of an archaic or traditional societies often differ from those of technologically
developed societies from an historical point of view. The understanding of the connection
between the meaning and function of taboos can only be achieved through knowledge of
the system of beliefs and mythic conceptions, from which tabooed actions, emotions,
wishes, animal and plant species, objects, certain categories of people, etc., are derived.
The transgression of various homeopathic taboos during pregnancy has impor-
tant consequences: the child will be bloodthirsty, a sadist or even a murderer. In order
to avoid this, the expectant mother must not slaughter chickens, or catch blood, when
pigs are slaughtered. She must not eat blood sausage or meat, which has not been com-
pletely drained of blood. A story will be related before the discussion is continued.
192
_Attitudes to Death with Regard to a Homeopathic Taboo during Pregnancv
293
Пеу dragged the pig to the threshold of the pigsty. The animal struggled against
them, hut the uncles held it firmly by ears and tail, dragging it so that it squealed loudly,
if not even horribly Then it began to squeal piteously, like a person in great agony, as if it
knew what fate awaited it. While this was going on my aunt went into the house and took
a vessel of consecrated salt from the wall cupboard. She took a pinch of saUfrom the pot
and threw it into a blue enamelled pot. Just before she ran out to catch the blood from the
pig, she pressed a bottle of spirit and a shot glass into my hands and said: "pour them
half " In the courtyard in front of the pigsty, the butcher struck once and expertly stabbed
the pig through the heart. Tlie last shudders from the dying body passed into the hands of
those, who held it. I saw how one ear hung over an open blue eye, which ivas surprisingly
like the eyes of my kind.
That morning, the furniture in the house had already been taken elsewhere. Three
tables stood in the centre of the cold, empty room. They were covered with spotless ivhite
sheets. Heaps of bloody meat ivere laid on the table, blood running from them, over the
white sheets. I was seized by a feeling of tightness. Many years later, I felt a similar feel-
ing of horror and tightness, when my dead grandmother lay in the same place on the
white platform.
The tale is self-explanatory: it shows, what the above-mentioned homeopathic ta-
boos forbid. It can be summed up as the prohibition against killing. The anthropologist
Robert Minnich, who studied pig slaughtering (furež) in the Haloze hills, states: " The
killing of the closest of domesticated companions in a peasant society, the pig, is a mor-
al transgression, which reaches its climax in the dramatisation of the fundamental
views of the local social and moral order (Minnich 1987,136-143).Naturally, this is only
one view of the study of pig slaughtering, which is clearly places emphasis on homeo-
pathic taboo. There are others, however, e.g. economic and existential studies. The lat-
ter excuse the slaughtering, or kiUing, of the pig from the standpoint of the law of sur-
vival. The law of survival combines two diametrically opposed prohibitions, which fore-
sees a specific situation, in which the transgression of the prohibition can be excused.
If the above is applied to the characteristics of homeopathic taboos during preg-
nancy, then they can be taken as homeopathic taboos in the Cazeneuve classification of
taboos (the simdarity in the reladonship between transgression and punishment).
It also seems, at first sight, that the prohibition is illogical and that the punish-
ment is individual, concrete and material, not general and coUective. The prohibition
is seen to have an irradonal foundation by many people. However, this is not true of
pregnant women and all members of a particular group, who believe in their efficacy.
It is also possible that a pregnant women will not break the taboo for other reasons, e.g.
for fear of sanctions, a feeling of gudt, as a result of transgression through carelessness,
or other reasons. The taboo is categorically imperative in this case. It is kept alive by
fear of sanction. In this instance, d is, on the one hand, material, concrete and individ-
ual (the chdd will be bloodthirsty, a murderer, etc.), but on the other hand it is general
(because the taboo was broken, the group will suffer the presence of a bloodthirsty in-
dividual in its midst and wiU, thus, be compromised). These conclusions highlight
problems with Cazeneuve's division of taboos into true taboos and fictitious or homeo-
Irena Rozman
pathic taboos. Cazeneuve is of the opinion that the object of a homeopathic taboo is
not numinous in nature (in this case, kilhng, blood as a symbol of life and the knocker
have a numinous nature in certain situations), that it can be differentiated from a true
taboo, because it is motivated. Cazeneuve uses an example of a true taboo from New
Guinea. Here, the transgressor of a property taboo suffers a very general punishment
(the transgressor becomes swoden and may even die and the entire group suffers) (Ca-
zeneuve 1986, 43, 44). In this case, the punishment is genuinely collective, as well as
being individual and material, so everyone is motivated to keep the taboo.
In the case under consideration, all pregnant women, who believed in the conse-
quences, were motivated to avoid breaking the taboo. An exhaustive study of taboos,
relating to pregnant women, would show that they touched on all aspects of human life
and that, to all intents and purposes, their aim was to create a perfect chdd. It is the
authors opinion that the model for such taboos is the divine creation of man, before
his fall from grace. The chdd, thus, exists in its mother's body in a stid undifferentiat-
ed, formless modality and the mother's task is to create it through the proper respect of
taboos. The care of the group for the individual and the desire of the individual to do
his utmost for the group is expressed through the medium of taboos. The group desires
a healthy child, because such an individual is intimately connected with the continued
existence and functioning of the group. The different, the other is anomalous in all
societies. For this reason, the taboo under consideration cannot be reduced to a hygien-
ic or medical prohibition. This would be possible, if the only factors under considera-
tion were the similarity in the relationship between the transgression and the sanction.
One should remember that important things sometimes take a relatively simple form.
This is also true in the case, when it becomes clear that peasants did not simply regard
pig slaughtering as a local holiday, which was vital to their existence, but also a morally
and religiously inexcusable act.
BIBLIOGRAPHY see page 289
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Irena Rozman. dipL etnologinja, mlada ra-
ziskovalka in asistentka na Oddelku za etnologijo
in kulturno antropologijo Filozofske fakultete v
Ljubljani. Ukvarja se s problematiko kulture roj-
stva, smrti, družinskega in spolnega življenja v
vaških skupnostih v 19. stoletju in v prvi polovici
20. stoletja z vidika socialne in duhovne kulture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Irena Rozman is an ethnologisL young rese-
archer and assistant at the Department of Ethno-
logy and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts,
Ljubljana. She studies the problematic of the cul-
ture of birth, death, family and sexual life in villa-
ge communities in the 19th century and the first
half of the 20th century from the stand point of
social and spiritual culture.
294
SMRT IN SODBA ŽIVIH V
PAPUANOVOGVINEJSKI SKUPNOSTI*
Borut Telban
Ključne besede: umiranje, sodba mrtvih, smrt kot kazen, Ambomvari (Sepik, Papua Nova Gvineja)
Uvod
Že dolgo je tega, kar so ljudje odkrili moč posmrtnih obredov in spoznali, da smrt
ni le problem, pač pa je hkrati priložnost tako za poglabljanje družbenih, kulturnih in
političnih sporazumov kot tudi za spodbijanje obstoječega reda s strani tistih, ki imajo
drugačne poglede in interese (Taylor 1989:149). Kot analitiki se ne bi smeli osredotoči-
ti zgolj na neka navidezno stalna pravila ali navade in proučevati, kako jih ljudje kršijo
ali spreminjajo; naša naloga naj bi bila predvsem pokazati, kako normalni dogodki -
prepiri, pretepi, kraje, prešuštvo, smrt, in tako naprej - oblikujejo, preoblikujejo in
celo izumljajo pravila, ki jih morajo potem ljudje stalno preučevati in premlevati v
ustvarjanju in poustvarjanju svojega življenjskega sveta.
Ta članek govori o smrti in sodbi - tako o sodbi mrtvih kot o sodbi živih. Človekov
pogled na svet je odvisen od kulture, iz katere izhaja, zgodovinskega obdobja, posamezne-
ga kraja in tiste konkretne skupnosti, s katero se kot analitiki ukvarjamo. V starem Egiptu
(in kasneje v krščanstvu, v katerega so prodrle tako židovske kot egipčanske eshatologije)
so na primer, soddi posameznikovo moralo (v egipčanskem podzemlju so posameznikovo
srce dajah na tehtnico in ga primerjali s peresom) ah dejanja (Budge 1967[1895]). V Egip
tu je moral pokojndc nagovoriti 42 božanstev in v posebnem monologu - kot je na primer
tisti iz Anijevega papirosa - ovreči vsa svoja pregrešna dejanja. Po drugi strani pa je člo-
* Terensko delo v vasi Ambonwari sem opravljal v letib 1990 -1992 in 1997, skupaj dvajset mesecev. Del tega
članka sem predstavil na mednarodnem simpoziju "Etnološki in antropološki vidiki proučevanja smrti", kije potekal
med 5. in 8. novembrom 1998 v Ljubljani; celoten članek sem 23. novembra istega leta odpredaval na etnološkem
inštitutu heidelberške univerze. Zahvaljujem se Bobu Tonkinsonu za njegove pripombe in predloge, ki so prispevali k
izboljšanju prvotne različice tega članka. Članek je bil najprej napisan v angleščini. Pri slovenski verziji se nisem tru-
dU za dobeseden prevod, pač pa sem svojo angleško različico, ne da bi kaj dodal ali odvzel, preprosto poslovenil.
295
Borut ТеЊап
vekova prava vera tista, ki so jo sodili in jo še vedno sodijo v islamu in zoroastrianizmu
(Brandon 1967: 145, 148, 155). Se več, obstajata dve vrsti posmrtne sodbe, ena takoj po
smrti in druga v trenutku pričakovanega konca sveta, ki sta značdni za mnoge svetovne
religije, kot so zoroastrizem, islam in krščanstvo.
V vasi Ambonwari, ki se nahaja v provinci Vzhodni Sepdi v Papui Novi Gvineji, lju-
dje sobivajo z duhovi. Ker .\mbonwarijci ne prisegajo na nobeno vrhovno božanstvo - če
za trenutek pozabimo na stalen proces pokristjanjenja - jim le-to ne more soditi. Zato mr-
tve objokujejo kar sami in jih le redko sodijo. Prav tako pa, kot trdi Mimica za Iqwayce,
"tam ni smrti kot take, tam je le nešteto pogosto naključnih načinov umiranja, postajanja
mrtev in biti po smrti" (1996:216). Ljudje se lahko zavedajo svojega lastnega umiranja in
lahko žive svoja življenja v pričakovanju svoje lastne smrti. "Toda v nasprotju z navadami v
zahodnih urbanih kulturah, v življenjskem svetu Iqwaycev smrti niti ne izkusijo niti si je
ne zamišljajo kot radikalno tuj dogodek ... Smrt ni bitje, ki preži na ljudi in jih iztrga iz
življenja. Pač pa so ljudje tisti, ki sami sebe živijo v svoje smrti skozi svoja lastna dejanja ali
skozi dejanja nekoga drugega' (ibid.:215, 216; moj poudarek). Umiranje med Iqwayci
kakor tudi med Airdjonwarijci je način bivanja; umiranje je družbena dejavnost ali medo-
sebna izkušnja. Tako kot življenje, katerega neločljiv del sta tudi umiranje in smrt. Smrt je
za posameznika in za njegovo bližnje okolje kazen in treba je najti tiste, ki so za smrt odgo-
vorni. Po ustrezni kompenzaciji in obnovitvi odnosov se ponovno vzpostavi navidezna -
pa čeprav Uuzorna - harmoiuja. Kasneje bom v člaidiu predstavd nekatere zadeve, ki se
nanašajo na ambomvarijsko razumevanje njihovega umirajočega načina bivanja in sodbe
tistih, ki jih spoznajo - po pravici ali po krivici -, da so krivi za bolezen in smrt njihovih
bližnjih sorodnikov. Da pa bi lahko ambonwarijsko kozmologijo vsaj malo primerjali z
večjimi svetovnimi religijami, bom najprej preletel tista kulturna okolja, pri katerih se
predstava o posmrtni sodbi že dolgo pojavlja. Splošno je uveljavljeno mnenje, da najbolj
zgodnje pričanje o ideji o posmrtni sodbi prihaja iz Egipta. Ta zamisel - ki združuje etiko
z eshatologijo - "predstavlja končno overovitev tradicionalne etike Zahodne družbe"
(Brandon 1967: ix).
Sodni prizor \ starem Egiptu
Ze davno je, kar so Egipčani sonce poimenovali Ra - kot vidno predstavo boga,
kateremu so darovali in žrtvovali. Ko se je v trenutkih stvaritve sveta Ra pojavil, se je čas
začel. Šele mnogo kasneje se je pri Egipčanih "pojavda moralna zamisel o soncu, ki je
odsevala zmago pravice nad krivico in resnice nad lažjo" (ibid.:cxi). Če to povemo z dru-
gimi besedami, lahko ugotovimo, da vse kaže na to, da podobe srečnega posmrtnega
življenja izvirajo iz piramidnih tekstov in da je "doktrina kaznovanja zlobnih in nemo-
ralnih, vključno s sodbo, ki nastopi po smrti, produkt razvoja, ki je značilen za kasnejše
obdobje" (Budge 1967:cvi). O sodbi in o tistih, ki jim ni uspelo zagotoviti življenja
blaženosti z bogovi, piramidni teksti ne povedo nič.
Tebansko različico Knjige mrtvdi (oziroma pert em hru, kar so prevedli v "prika-
zano v luči" ali "prihajanje iz dneva") so napisali na papirusu v hieroglifih okoli leta
1500 pred našim štetjem. Starejše oblike Knjige mrtvih pa so Egipčani uporabljali že
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Smrt in sodba živih v papuanovogvinejski skupnosti
od leta 4500 p.n.š. Tekst je razglasil vstajenje duhovnega telesa od mrtvih in nesmrt-
nost duše. "Vsako poglavje in molitev iz te različice naj bi človek izgovoril v drugem
svetu, kjer so pravilno izrečene besede omogočile pokojniku, da je premagal vse na-
sprotnike in dosegel življenje dovršene duše, ki je bivala v duhovnem telesu na domu
blaženih" (ibid.:xxx). V stopetindvajsetem poglavju Knjige mrtvih pokojnemu povedo
tiste besede, ki naj bi jih izrekel ob prihodu v Maatijevo dvorano oziroma v sodno dvo-
rano - dvorano dvojne pravice in resnice, kjer pokojnika očistijo - tam naj bi se srečal
z bogom in tam naj bi stehtali njegovo srce ter ga v prisotnosti dvainštiridesetih velikih
božanstev ločili od njegovih pregreh (ibid.:xi, xxx, xli, cxix).' V starem Nebsenijevem
papirusu se teža srca primerja kar s pokojnikom, medtem ko je v Anijevem papirusu na
eni strani srce, na drugi pa pero, simbol Resnice in Zakona, simbol boginje Maat
(ibid.:261).^ Prisotni bogovi naj bi bili "vodiči in zaščitniki ter darovalci življenja in
sreče pokojnim v novem življenju" (ibid.xxxviii). Hkrati pa je očitno, da so Egipčani že
od nekdaj verjeli v obstoj drugih sil, ki so nasprotovala mrtvemu, in ki jih na mnogih
mestih v knjigi imenujejo njegovi "sovražniki".
Pokojnike so poistovetili z Ozirisom, to je s soncem, ki je zašlo na zahodu in se je
potem ponovno vzpelo na vzhodu. Na enak način so polagali mrtve v njihove grobove
na zahodnem bregu Nila. Potem ko so šli skozi sodno dvorano, so pot nadaljevali proti
vzhodu in tam pričeli s svojim novim bivanjem (ibid.:247 f.n. 2). Vlogo boga mrtvih
Ozirisa so določili mnogo prej kot pa so napisali piramidne tekste, ki jih poznamo da-
nes. V kasnejšem obdobju pa je prišlo do spremembe: Egipčani so Ozirisu pričeli pripi-
sovati tiste značilnosti in kvalitete, ki so jih v zgodnjih dinastijah pripisovali Raju ali Ra-
Tmuju (ibid.:cxiii). Oziris je postal simbol večnega bivanja in nesmrtnosti. Postal je bog
mrtvih in bog živih. Na tega "gospoda večnosti" so se pokojni obrnili in ga prosili, naj
njihova telesa reši pred razpadom (ibid.). Tovrstna "doktrina nesmrtnosti... se ni spre-
menila najmanj štiri tisoč let" (ibid.:cxiv).
Krščanstvo
Ce pogledamo v Staro zavezo, vidimo, da sama smrt izvira iz sodbe in kaznovanja.
V rajskem vrtu človek še ne pozna ne smrti ne nesmrtnosti; izbira lahko med sadeži z
drevesa življenja in tistimi z drevesa znanja. Ker ga kača zavede, si izbere drevo znanja
- drevo smrti (Choron 1963: 82). V Stari zavezi ni rešitve pred smrtjo - vsakdo umre.
Drugega in drugačnega življenja ni. Ljudje lahko najdejo kvazi-nesmrtnost zgolj skozi
svoje otroke. Šele v \>\\ zavezi prično verniki govoriti o zmagi nad smrtjo, ki naj bi jo
dosegli v času poslednjega sodnega dne, ko naj bi se odprli grobovi in ko naj bi vsakdo
stopil pred Božjega sina, da bi ga ta sodd. Ne smemo spregledati pomembnega dejstva,
' Boginja Maat je bila Rajeva hčerka. Maat je pomenilo odkrit, resničen, "zaresen", pristen, pošten, pokončen,
pravi, neomajen (Budge 1967:cxix). V resnici naj bi obstajali dve boginji Maat, ena naj bi bila poosebljanje fizičnega
zakona, druga moralne pravičnosti.
' Egipčani niso imeh srca Ic za bistven telesni organ, pač pa tudi za središče zavesti, za "boga", ki naj bi bil v
vsaki osebi. Ljudje so se bali dveh stvari: da jim je lahko srce odvzeto ter da lahko deluje kot neodvisna priča proti njim
na sodnih procesih po smrti (Brandon 1967:37, 38-39).
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Borut Telban
da gre pri tem za vstajenje telesa, in ne za nesmrtnost duše; duša je namreč poganski
koncept, in ne krščanski (ibid.:84).
Zdi se, da v zgodnjih letih krščanstva niti sodba niti prekletstvo posameznika ni-
sta obstajala, prav tako pa ni bdo individualne odgovornosti. Vsi mrtvi, ki so pripadali
Cerkvi, naj bi spali vse do trenutka Kristusove velike vrnitve ob koncu sveta, ko naj bi se
- v nasprotju s tistimi, ki niso bili člani Cerkve - prebudili v raju.
V enajstem in dvanajstem stoletju so drobna prilagajanja počasi spreminjala
človekov pogled na svet, vključno z njihovimi izkušnjami in navadami. Človekova raz-
mišljanja in navade so se počasi odmikale od kolektivne predstave o človekovi usodi,
od sprejemanja smrti z ravno pravšnjo količino dostojanstva in brez kakršnekoh mi-
sli o njenem poveličevanju ali možnosti, da ji človek pobegne, ter od tiste socializa-
cije, ki ni ločevala človeka od narave. Nov poudarek na individualnosti vsake osebe je
pomend, da je - čeprav je bda smrt kolektiven obred, ker ji pač nihče ne more pobe-
gniti -, sodba postala svojstvena vsakemu posamezniku. Vsakogar naj bi sodili, posa-
mezne duše naj bi dali na tehtnico, dobra in slaba dela ločdi med sabo ter na koncu
ločili še pravične od prekletih. "Varnost kolektivnega obreda" se je soočda z "bojaz-
nijo pred osebnim zasliševanjem" (Aries 1974:37). Poslednjo sodbo ob koncu sveta je
zamenjal zaključni test ob koncu vsakega posameznega življenja. V trenutku smrti
naj bi se - to mišljenje se je v štirinajstem in petnajstem stoletju le počasi prikradlo v
zavest - celotno življenje kot preblisk pojavilo pred očmi umirajočega (ibid.:38). Indi-
vidualizacija smrti je s seboj prinesla še druge posledice: zanimanje za fizično razpa-
danje, poosebljanje grobov in - tako kot v starem Rimu nekaj stoletij prej - ponoven
pojav pogrebnih napisov. "Od zgodnjega srednjega veka je zahodni človek pričel gle-
dati sam nase skozi svojo lastno smrt: odkril je la mort de soi, svojo lastno smrt" in
kasneje, v začetku osemnajstega stoletja, "/a mort de toi, smrt druge osebe" (Aries
1974:52, 56).
Budizem
V hindujski in budistični konceptualizaciji človekove eksistence sodbe nimajo
za zadnje dejanje po smrti, temveč jo vidijo kot nenehen proces skozi nešteta
življenja, nekatera že minula in druga še v prihajanju (Brandon 1967: x, 165).
Življenje je bilo za Budo čisto trpljenje; zaradi reinkarnacije so bdi rojstvo, bolezen,
smrt in ponovno rojstvo - v bistvu prav vse - samo trpljenje. Zato je Buda pogledal
vase, da bi našel pot, na kateri bi spoznal način, ki bi mu omogočil, da preseže oboje:
tako življenje kot tudi smrt. Našel je pot, in ko je premagal svoja hrepenenja,
poželenja in lakomnosti, svoja sovraštva, pohotnosti in ljubosumja, je postal raz-
svetljen. Medtem ko Kristus obljublja rojstvo, ki mu smrt ne bo več sledda, pa Buda
obljublja tisto smrt, po kateri ne bo več ponovnega rojstva niti ponovne smrti (Land-
sberg 1966:198). Tako v hinduizmu kot v budizmu je zakon karme tisti, ki določa
"usodo posameznika po smrti za obdobje pred njegovo inkarnacijo ter hkrati po-
vzroči to inkarnacijo in pogojuje njeno obliko" (Brandon 1967:175). Budizem, v na-
sprotju s krščanstvom, ne stremi k nesmrtnosti, temveč išče poti, da bi jo presegel.
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Smrt in sodba živih v papuanovogvinejski skupnosti
Hinduizem, budizem
- življenje se ponavlja na tem svetu, ne-
skončen niz življenj
- končno razsvetljenje - nirvana
- ni božanstva ali najvišjega boga, temveč
neoseben proces - karma
- sodba je stalen proces; stalne reinkarna-
cije
- čas in življenje sta zamišljena ciklično
Judaizem, Egipt, krščanstvo, islam, zoroa-
strizem
- življenje je enkratno, v tem svetu se ne
ponavlja
- končna sodba, ki ji sledi večna posmrt-
na eksistenca
- posameznika sodi vrhovno božanstvo,
bog
- sodba ob smrti in poslednja sodba
- čas in življenje sta zamišljena linearno
Morda je najbolje, če si glavne razlike med hindujsko-budističnimi pogledi in tistimi,
ki prevladujejo pri drugih religijah, pogledamo kar na tabeli.
Seveda obstaja več različnih budističnih tradicij. Medtem ko na primer mnogi te-
ravada budisti iz Sri Lanke in Indokine verujejo v "takojšnje ponovno rojstvo" po smrti,
vajrayana budisti, še posebej tisti, ki žive v Tibetu in pa v odmaknjenem himalajskem
Ladakhu, svojim umirajočim in umrlim berejo navodila (opisana v Tibetanski knjigi
mrtvih, Evans-Wentz 1960[1927]) in jih vodijo skozi vmesno obdobje, ki ga imenujejo
barda (prehodno stanje). To obdobje med smrtjo in ponovnim rojstvom traja tja do de-
vetinštirideset dni (Gielen 1997:75). Medtem ko teravada budisti poudarjajo, daje odre-
šitev odvisna predvsem od osebnih nepopustljivih poskusov, duhovnih navad in mno-
gih let meditacije, tibetanski budisti in tisti iz Ladakha (vajrayana budizem poudarja
ceremonije in iniciacijske obrede) zagovarjajo mnenje, da so molitve ljubljenih in pa
spretno vodstvo njihovega lame enako pomembni (ibid.:90). Po drugi strani pa pripad-
niki nekaterih sekt v vzhodni Aziji verjamejo, da človekove zadnje misli pred smrtjo do-
ločijo njegovo nadaljnjo usodo. Ce se ljudje v trenutku smrti popolnoma zaupajo Budi
Amitabi, se bodo ponovno rodili v zahodnem raju ne glede na njihove pregrehe za časa
življenja (ibid.).
Pomembno je, da so sodni prizori v egipčanski knjigi mrtvih podobni tovrstnim
prizorom v Tibetanski knjigi mrtvih. Kralj resnice Dharma-Raja (ki ga teravada budisti
kličejo Yama-Raja), ki nastopa kot kralj in sodnik mrtvih v tibetanski različici, se ujema
z Ozirisom v egipčanski (Evans-Wentz 1960:35). V obeh razlagah poznajo simbolično
tehtanje. Pred Dharmo-Rajo se beli kamenčki merijo s črnimi - belo predstavlja dobra
in črno slaba dejanja. "V egiptovski sodni sceni nastopa opičjeglavi Thoth (redkeje
štorkljeglavi), bog modrosti, ki nadzira tehtanje; v tibetanski sodni sceni nastopa
opičjeglavi Sbinje; v obeh prizorih najdemo poroto božanstev, od katerih imajo eni
živalske in drugi človeške glave" (ibid.:36). Spočetniki zla morajo trpeti karmične posle-
dice v peklenskem svetu očiščenja. Tipične kazni - od katerih pa nobena ne traja večno
- so prikazane na samostanski poslikavi tibetanskega sodnega prizora, ki ima kljub
temu, da je bda narejena leta 1919, svoj izvor v starih freskah (v tako imenovanem "ko-
lesu življenja"), ki so jdi našli v templjdi na tem območju.
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Borut ТеЊап
Za mnoge svetovne kulture in družbe majhnega obsega velja, da duhovi tistih po-
kojnikov, ki so nedavno umrli, še naprej komunicirajo z živimi in se vmešavajo v njiho-
va življenja. Odnos med umrlimi in živimi je nenehen proces, ki je izredno pomemben
za ohranitev reda in morale v določeni družbi. Primer iz vasi Ambonwari iz province
Vzhodni Sepik na Papui Novi Gvineji, kjer sem opravljal dolgotrajno terensko delo,
nam to nazorno pokaže.
Smrt v Ambonwariju - študija primera
Ambonwari je največja karawarijsko govoreča vasica v provinci Vzhodni Sepik na
Papui Novi Gvineji. Ambonwarijska kultura si z drugimi sepiškimi kulturami, kot so na
primer latmul, Chambri in Yimas, deli mnoge skupne elemente. Karawarijščina je
jezik, ki pripada družini spodnjega Sepika; ta je del večje skupine tako imenovanih pa-
puanskih jezikov (Foley 1986). V vasi je dvanajst totemskih klanov in petintrideset patri-
linearnih rodov. Način bivanja je patri-virdokalen. Največ smrti v vasi nastopi zaradi
malarije in uvoženih bolezni dihalnih poti: tuberkuloze, pljučnice, influence. Čeprav je
v vasi bolnišnična postaja in čeprav bolni včasih obiščejo bolnici v Angoramu in
Wewaku, se ljudje v veliki meri zanašajo na zdravljenja dveh vaških zdravilcev, ki si s
sovaščani delita skupno razumevanje sveta in kozmologojo.
Smrt pri Ambonwarijcih ne pomeni konec bivanja; raje pomeni nov način bi-
vanja, medtem ko sama bit ostane nespremenjena, ena in ista. To je tisti način bivanja,
kjer nekdo še naprej potrebuje sorodnike, hrano, bivališče, oblačila, okrasje, hiše mo-
ških, predmete, ki jih uporablja, in tako naprej. Podobno je razmišljal Ernst Cassirer,
ko je govord o začetkih človekove kulture. Zapisal je, da je smrtnost tista, ki jo je treba
dokazati, in ne nesmrtnost (1965[1955]:37).
V nadaljevanju bom predstavil primer bolezni in smrti osebe, ki mi je bda v Am-
bonwariju najbližja: mojega "brata" iz rodu Kumbranggawimari iz klana Rajske ptice.
Novica o njegovi smrti avgusta 1998 me je močno pretresla.
Bil je večer prvega avgusta 1997. Z mojim vaškim "bratom" Tonijem Simiwarijo
Andiyapijem, njegovim približno 18 let starim sinom Jackom Makanom, Jackovim
prijateljem Terrencom in mojim prijateljem Julianom Kapyamarijem smo sedeli v moji
novi koči, ki jo je v času moje petletne odsotnosti zgradil (iz dobro ohranjenih stebrov,
lubja in listov, ki so ostali od moje predhodne hiše) in uporabljal Jack. Sproščeno smo
se spominjali tistega obdobja, ko sem bil zadnjič v vasi, in razglabljali o tem, kaj vse se
je od takrat zgodilo. Nenadoma je v kočo priletel majhen netopir. Zaletel se je v Tonija
in hitro, kot je prišel, izginil skozi odprtino pod streho. Pogovarjali smo se do enajstih,
potem pa odšli spat. S Tonijem sva odšla v njegovo družinsko hišo, Juhan je odšel v
svojo. Jack in Terrence pa sta ostala v moji. Tonijeva žena je spala z otroki - vključno s
hčerama, ki sta imeli vsaka svojega dojenčka - ob zadnji hišni steni, midva s Tonijem
pa sva imela najini mreži proti komarjem razpeti ob vhodu. Komaj sem zaprl oči, ko
sem zaslišal najprej čudno pokašljevanje, potem pa še počasno, votlo tuljenje, ki je
prihajalo iz gozda z južne strani vasi. Nekaj trenutkov kasneje se je podobno tuljenje
zaslišalo še na drugi strani vasi. Ker tovrstnega glasu še nikdar nisem slišal, sem vprašal
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Smrt in sodba živih v papuanovogvinejski skupnosti
Tonija, kaj je to. Najprej ni odgovoril, po kratki tišini pa je vendarle tiho dejal: "To so
velike kače, udavi. Jutri ti bom povedal, kaj vse to pomeni". Vedel sem, da je bilo to sla-
bo znamenje, pokazatelj, da lahko nekdo umre. Nismo še dobro zaspali, ko me je pre-
buddo Tonijevo stokanje. Sklonjen je sedel ob ognju. Vsakih pet minut je zapustil kočo.
Vsakokrat se je vrnil šibkejši in bolj zaskrbljen. Povedal mi je, da ima neustavljivo dia-
rejo. Bd je prepričan, da izgublja kri. Sel sem za njim, da bi se sam prepričal o resnosd
njegove bolezni, a nisem odkril ničesar Toni je govoril o netopirju - slabem duhu -, ki
ga je zadel, o dveh udavih - slabih duhovih, ki naj bi se pogovarjali o njem - in veliki
možnosti, da bo umrl. Čeprav je sedel tako blizu ognja, da si je skoraj opekel noge, se je
še vedno tresel. Zgodaj zjutraj sem ga odnesel v hišo moških. Ponovno sem pregledal
njegovo tekoče blato in videl, da gre iz njega sama voda. O krvi ni bilo ne duha ne
sluha. Ob zori je prišel vaški zdravdec Tobija in iz Tonijevega telesa izvlekel dve ptičji
koščici. Sele po mojem vztrajnem nagovarjanju je vaški bolničar prinesel tablete proti
diareji. Toni je legel in zaspal.
Sedeli smo okoli ognja v hiši moških in razglabljali o tem, zakaj je Toni nenado-
ma zbolel. Nekateri možje so misldi, da bi morali urediti prepir s sosednjimi Imanme-
rijci in jim vrniti motor, ki so jim ga po prepiru sneli s čolna in ga skrili v svoji vasi.
Tobija je videl glavni razlog za Tonijevo bolezen v dogodkih iz preteklih dni, ko je Tony
pretepel ženo in hčerke. Elias pa mi je naštel še druge vzroke, ki naj bi bili po njegovem
odločilni za Tonijevo bolezen: čeprav Toni ni mogel podedovati vloge "očeta svojega
klana", pa se je po mnenju mnogih ves čas obnašal, kot da mu ta vloga pripada. Gospo-
dard je celo z motorjem, ki je v resnici pripadal celotnemu klanu. Elias je dodal, da ima
Toni na grbi mnoge pregrehe, med drugim tudi to, da nobena izmed njegovih hčera ni
poročena, čeprav sta obe pred kratkim rodili. To pa seveda ni bilo združljivo z vaško
moralo in je naletelo na obrekovanja. Nekateri vaščani so menili, da Toni še vedno objo-
kuje smrt svojega najmlajšega sina, ki naj bi ga sedaj vabil k sebi v svet duhov. Možje iz
klana Rajske ptice so postali jezni na Konggunyapana, glavnega duha-krokodila, češ da
Tonija slabo varuje. Glavni razlog za Tonijevo bolezen - vsaj večina ljudi je tako mislila
- pa je bilo prešuštvo, ki so ga nedolgo tega odkrili med Tonijem in Rito, Avgustovo
ženo. Ta odnos sta ljubimca skrivala več desetletij, o njem pa se je razvedelo šele pred
nedavnim, ko je Rita resno zbolela. Ker se je ustrašda, da bo umrla, je svoje prešuštvo
priznala. Novica o tem prepovedanem odnosu je vas zadela kot bomba.
Devetnajstega avgusta 1998 je Toni Simiwaria Andiyapi nenadoma umrl. To se je
zgodilo le nekaj dni pred tem, ko sta vas obiskala dva moja slovenska znanca. Čeprav ne
vem, kaj so v vasi govorili po Tonijevi smrti, in čeprav ne vem, ali so opravili posmrtno
divinacijo, si lahko predstavljam opravljanje, ki je sledilo njegovi smrti, in vse tiste vzro-
ke, ki so se vaščanom zdeli kar najbolj verjetni. Nekatere najpomembnejše sem omend
že prej.
Glavni pokazatelj bolezni v vasi Ambomvari je sprememba v človekovih vsak-
danjih navadah, v tem, da njegov ali njen kay (način, običaj, navada) ni tak, kot bi mo-
ral biti. Oseba diha drugače kot običajno, njena koža je bodisi mrzla bodisi vroča, tak
človek več časa spi in ne opravlja svojih vsakdanjih dejavnosti. Ljudje pravijo, da je taka
oseba bolna, da je "skupaj z boleznijo" (min mari ngandikin), da jo "bolezen drži" (min
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Borut Telban
mariyan sarinyan). Tako kot mnogi drugi jeziki tudi karawarijscina nima glagola "ime-
ti". Z držanjem in "uporabo" osebe postaneta bolezen in oseba eno, delita si isti kay,
isto bit, isto telo (glej Telban 1998 a, b). Da bi se mu stanje izboljšalo, mora bolnik od-
straniti (odrezati) bolezen kot del njegove biti. Le na ta način si bo oseba povrnila svoj
predhodni kay (način življenja). Da pa bi to dosegel, ni dovolj le jemanje zdravd (ljudje
pravijo, da že niso bili resno bolni, če so ta delovala), temveč je treba pogledati v pre-
teklost in obravnavati tista dejanja in tiste vzroke, ki so krivi za bolezen. Ljudje pravijo,
da so zdravljenja v zdravstvendi centrih in bolnišnicah sicer učinkovita, žal pa ne mo-
rejo pomagati Ambonwarijcem takrat, ko je bolezen najhujša, ko imajo tako imenovano
"tradicionalno bolezen" (bolezen, katere vir so njihove šege), ker zdravniki v bolnišni-
cah ne delijo z njimi njihove kozmologije, njihovega življenjskega sveta, ki ga napol-
njujejo tako živi kot mrtvi. Sele tedaj, ko se s spoznanjem vzrokov in krivcev ter s kom-
penzacijo tistih, ki so bili oškodovani, razrešijo pretekli prekrški, ima bolni možnost, da
se bo njegov kay povrnil v normalno stanje in da bo bolezen izginila.
Pri obredih zdravljenja poskuša zdravilec najti vzroke bolezni (tako da se pogo-
varja z duhovi in z najbližjimi sorodniki) in odstraniti tiste predmete (kosti, školjke,
kamne, žeblje), ki predstavljajo utelešenje bolezni. Zdravilec poskuša povrniti bolnikov
kay v predhodno, zdravo stanje. Ker pa kay vsakega posameznika vključuje različne
skupinske kay-e in kay-e raznih posameznikov, s katerimi je bolni pogosto v stiku, po-
stane bolezen kolektivni problem (določene družine, rodu ali klana), ki vključuje pre-
tekle in sedanje odnose, vključno tiste z njihovimi najbližjimi duhovi. Kar je najbolj
očitno pri teh zdravdčevih dejanjih, je, da ga postavijo v vlogo začasnega vmesnega čle-
na med živimi in pa tistimi duhovi, ki so z živimi že bili v neki povezavi. Da bi nekdo
postal zdravilec, mora biti sposoben priti v stik ne le z duhovi umrlih, temveč tudi s
klanskimi duhovi-krokodili, duhovi-bobni in drugimi duhovi divjine, ki pripadajo bol-
nikovemu klanu ali pa žive na njegovi zemlji. Duhovi nadzorujejo zdravilčeva dejanja in
ga vodijo na njegovih zdravdnih poteh. Vaškega zdravilca Tobija sem večkrat povprašal
o tem, kako lahko sliši glasove duhov. Odgovoril je: "Ravno tako kot sedaj tebe. Ti mi
govoriš in jaz te slišim. Duh mi govori naravnost v uho in jaz ga slišim." Še vedno rado-
veden sem ga vprašal, če ni bolj res, da se glas duha preprosto pojavi v njegovi glavi?
Odgovord je:
"Ne. Glas pride naravnost v moje uho. Ko žvečim ingver, se mi oči obrnejo
in moja ušesa se zablokirajo. Ne morem več razumeti, kaj govore ljudje okoli
mene. Slišim le še duhove. Tako vsakemu rečem: "Bodi že tiho. Rad bi slišal, kaj
mi hočejo duhovi povedati. Zakaj so jezni?" Njihov odgovor bo prišel naravnost v
moje uho. Prisotnim povem, da vsi ti odgovori niso nastali v moji glavi, temveč da
sem slišal glas duha. Tako bom zvedel, kateri je glavni razlog za slabo počutje bol-
nega in o tem povprašal otrokovega očeta, ali pa moža, katerega žena je bolna, ali
pa njo, če je njen mož bolan. Povedal jim bom, kaj duhovi hočejo, kdaj in kako
lahko poravnajo "dolgove". Ce me ne poslušajo, lahko bolni umre."
Tisti, ki so grešili, se morajo "odrezati" od dejavnosti, ki je bolezen povzročda. To
narede s plačilom kompenzacije tistemu, ki so ga prizadeli, z osamitvijo, z umivanjem,
z darovanjem hrane duhovom v hiši moških in tako naprej, .\mbonwarijci pogosto pou-
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darjajo, da morajo pravilno paziti na svojo kožo in pravilno opravljati svoja dela. Iz do-
sedanjih spoznanj lahko potegnemo nekaj sklepov. Zdravega človeka odlikujejo tako vi-
dno zdrava koža kot njegova dejanja, ki so običajna tako zanj kot za druge; nasprotno
pa bolnega človeka spoznamo po nezdravi koži in neobičajni dejavnosti, vključno s pasi-
vnostjo. Zatorej se zdravilec v zdravilnem obredu posveti trem bistvenim stvarem: prvič,
ekstrakciji sprva nevidnih kamnov, školjk, zob, kosti in trnov izpod nezdrave kože; dru-
gič, povrnitvi kay-a v predhodno stanje tako, da odkrije prekrške, ki so bolezen po-
vzročili; in tretjič, ureditvi odnosa med živimi in tistimi duhovi (družinskimi, rodovni-
mi, klanskimi), ki si z bolnikom delijo kolektivno identiteto.
Maziiimevaiije aiiAomwarijskili pogledov na umiranje in
smrt
V nadaljevanju bom orisal štiri pomembne vidike, ki pripomorejo k boljšemu
razumevanju ambonwarijskih pogledov na umiranje in smrt: a) poistovetenje smrti z
boleznijo in starostjo (vsaka od njih je proces, v katerem duhovi nastopajo kot sodniki
živih); b) telo je treba razumeti skozi njegove navade, ki ga povezujejo z drugimi telesi;
c) smrt zadeva skupnost; d) bit-k-moji-smrti naj bi bila značilna za krščanski zahodni
svet, medtem ko je bit-k-skupnemu-začetku ilustrativna za ambonwarijsko kozmologijo.
Najprej, približevanje smrti moramo razumeti v smislu približevanja starosti ali
stanja "biti bolan". Smrt ali umiranje v Ambonwariju je prej neka trajajoča pozicija kot
pa dogodek ali trenutek (cf. Hertz 1960[1909]:28; Rivers 1912:405). Zaradi tega moramo
smrt v Ambonwariju razumeti kot proces, v katerem naj bi "paznik" umrlega (angndar
kivanar) prevzel novo breztelesno obliko duha, ki bi ga lahko še bolje okarakterizirah, če
bi ga označili za brezmesnega in brezkožnega ("same kosti") duha (wundumbunar, če je
moški in ivunduma, če je ženska), ki ostane "povezan" s svojimi živečimi sorodniki. Vse,
kar duh stori, vpliva na ljudi in vse, kar naredijo ljudje, duha bodisi zadovolji ali pa
razjezi. Duhovi nedavno umrlih - običajno so to moški, najpogosteje pokojni oče ali brat
- vidijo tudi najbolj prikrite dogodke, varujejo rodovne, klanske in vaške zakone in mora-
lo ter kaznujejo krivce, njihove partnerje in otroke. Vaški duhovi ne ustvarjajo zakonov,
temveč sodijo. Zakon so ustvarili in sprejeli živi za žive. Toda duhovi - v kozmologiji Am-
bonwarijcev - so vedno prisotni kot tisti sodniki in izvrševalci, ki uveljavljajo zakon in mo-
ralo, ki temeljita na modrosti starcev in vaških prednikov. Mrtvi, vključno s tistimi, ki so
živi, a zelo stari, postanejo sodniki in prezgodnja smrt postane kazen.
Drugič, če hočemo razumeti ambonwarijska stališča o smrti, moramo razumeti
njihova stališča o telesu. Ambonwarijci razumejo svoje telo, za katerega nimajo besede
v svojem jeziku, skozi njegovi dve vitini značilnosti: kožo in dejavnostjo. Telo je določe-
no s fcaj-em (načinom delovanja) in je podaljšano na predmete, ki jih človek uporablja
pri posameznih dejavnostih (Telban 1998a:58). Na primer "veslo in oseba postaneta
eno v smislu kay-a, načinu veslanja kanuja" (ibid.:59). Na kratko bi lahko rekli, da ob-
staja tesna povezava med živečim telesom neke osebe (in ne le vidno kožo) in hrano, ki
jo ta oseba zaužije, predmeti, ki jih uporablja, navadami in načini, na katere opravlja
določene dejavnosti, ljudmi, s katerimi komunicira in se jih dotika, ter načini, na kate-
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re so ti kontakti realizirani. Ker je način, na katerega se določeno dejanje izvede, zelo
pomemben, je treba upoštevati vpliv enega na drugega. Ta konceptualizacija sveta
priskrbi okvir za različne tabuje; na primer, moški ne gre zjutraj na lov, če je noč pred
tem spal s svojo ženo (ibid.:60). Ustrezno vzporednico lahko potegnemo s fenomenolo-
gijo Jeana-Paula Sartra, ki je dejal: "Telo je celota pomembnih odnosov do sveta"
(1956:452; glej tudi Telban 1998a:67 op.3).
Tretjič, smrt v Ambonwariju in z njo povezana sodba tistih, ki so odgovorni zanjo,
vključno s pokojnikom, je stvar skupnosti, in zadeva družino, rod, klan in vas. Smrt ni
nekaj, kar bi zadevalo zdravnike ali bolnišnico, ne glede na to, da nekdo v njej umre.
Ne gre za vprašanje biomedicinskega vzroka in z njim povezane utemeljitve: influenca,
pljučnica, malarija, tuberkuloza, meningitis, in tako naprej. Raje se postavlja staro
vprašanje: "Zakaj on ali ona?", "Zakaj jaz?"; postavlja se vprašanje "Kako živimo?",
"Kaj smo storili narobe?", "Čigavi načini (čigave slabe navade) so povzročdi, da je nek-
do umrl?" Gre za vprašanja "načina vasi" {imnggan kay), "načina starcev/prednikov"
{kupambn kay) in mnogih /caj-ev (načinov, navad, običajev, zakonov) posameznih vašča-
nov (Telban 1998 a,b). Ker se kay (navade, načini) vsakega posameznika prepleta z
različnimi kolektivnimi kay-i (navade, načini), postaneta bolezen in smrt tudi kolektiv-
ni zadevi (gospodinjstva in rodu, na primer), ki vključujeta pretekle, sedanje in celo
predvidene in pričakovane prihodnje odnose, tudi tiste, ki jih imajo s svojimi domačimi
duhovi (Telban 1998a:61).
Četrtič, bit-k-(moji ali tvoji)-smrti ima v krščanstvu svoj izvor v linearni konceptua-
lizaciji sveta in poudarku na individuumu. Bit-k-(skupnemu)-začetku v Ambonwariju
ima svoj izvor v ciklični oziroma regenerativni konceptualizaciji sveta s poudarkom na
kozmogoniji pri vseh pomembnejših obredih in v spoznanju, da je vsak individuum
družbeno povezan in odvisen od drugih.
Ker smrt znotraj ambonwarijskega pogleda na svet ni trenuten pojav, ampak pro-
ces, v katerem gre za stalno interakcijo med živimi in mrtvimi, ker "telo" ni nikdar telo
osamljenega posameznika, temveč je podaljšano in prepleteno z drugimi sorodnimi "te-
lesi", ker smrt v Ambonwariju vedno zadeva skupnost in ni nikoli zasebna zadeva, je
iskanje in sodba tistih, ki so odgovorni za človekovo bolezen in smrt, prav tako trajajoče
in spreminjajoče se stanje skupnosti in ni nikdar trenutna, zasebna zadeva.
Kljub temu da smrt zadeva celotno skupnost, pa je hkrati edinstven proces v kay-
u (bit, eksistenca) vsakega posameznika. Tako kot človek ne postane zavedajoča se am-
bonwarijska oseba zgolj z rojstvom, temveč mora najprej skozi otroštvo, pa potem skozi
iniciacijo, pa poroko, pa starševstvo, da postane taka oseba, prav tako človek zgolj s
smrtjo in prečkanjem "mostu" na breg mrtvih ne postane kar avtomatično del pred-
nikov. Skozi otroštvo je oseba le podaljšek svojih staršev in se le postopoma oblikuje v
individualno družbeno bitje (Telban 1997, 1998 a,b). Na podoben način pokojnik še
vedno obstaja, vendar pa zgolj kot podaljšek živih. Le postopoma se ti umrli posamez-
niki pridružijo antropomorfni masi ambonwarijskih prednikov. Prav tako kot mora
otrok pretrgati vez s svojimi starši (a še vedno ostane njihov otrok), morajo mrtvi pretr-
gati svoje vezi z živimi (in vice versa) in hkrati z njimi ohraniti tesen kozmološki stik.
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Med vaškimi prepiri ali tedaj, ko se Ambonwarijci prerekajo z ljudmi iz drugih
vasi, človek pogosto sliši moške, ki radi povedo, da jih umiranje ne skrbi, ker vedo, da
jih bodo njihovi bratje, očetje in mamini bratje maščevali. Zdi se, da sta celovitost in
bogastvo mreže družbenih odnosov - preteklih, sedanjih in tistih, ki jih pričakujejo v
prihodnosti - tista, ki ne ustvarjata le posameznikovega življenja, temveč tudi njegovo
smrt. Ljudi, ki nimajo veliko sorodnikov, in tiste, katerih rodovi nimajo moških po-
tomcev, bolj skrbi osamljenost v življenju in smrti kot pa sama smrt.
Tako kot mnogi drugi so tudi Ambonwarijci prepričani, da potem ko oseba umre,
njen ali njegov duh ohrani njeno ali njegovo osebnost. Posamezniki se ne skrčijo v nič-
nost. Se več, pokojnim ni treba dokazovati svoje nedolžnosti ali priznati pregrešna
dejanja. Cisto mirno lahko še naprej ostanejo zlobni in slabi. Nihče jih ne bo sodd, še
posebej ne v smislu kakršnekoli poslednje sodbe, ki bi jim določila, kako bodo preživeli
preostanek svoje eksistence. Poleg tega pa, kot pravijo Ambonwarijci, človek ne more
kar tako zamenjati svoje kože. Ce je nekdo slab, še ne pomeni, da njegova slabost ni
uporabna in da je drugi vaščani ne občudujejo. Človekova slabost je na koncu lahko
celo dobra (glej Harrison 1993:120-1). Zakaj bi pokojnika sploh sodili, ko pa ne more
poplačati - v dobrinah in denarju - tistih, ki jih je prizadel? Ambonwarijci so dovolj
sociocentrični in egocentrični, da sodijo živim, ki so sposobni svoje prekršitve tudi po-
plačati. Na ta način se družbeni in moralni red vedno na novo ustvarja.
Laži, opravljanje in kraje so stalno na dnevnem redu in nihče se jim ne more izo-
gniti. Zato takrat, ko nekoga kljub nedolžnosti obsodijo, nihče - razen seveda najbližjih
sorodnikov obtoženega - ne meni, da so mu stordi grozno krivico. Ljudje sploh ne vi-
dijo, da je oseba nedolžna. Pravijo, da je obtoženi v preteklosti stord druga krivična
dejanja. Ker pa takrat niso imeli dokazov niti niso sklicali vaškega sodišča, je obtoženi
pobegnil kazni. Ne glede na človekovo nedolžnost, njegova preteklost - in sploh ne do-
godek, zaradi katerega mu sodijo - mnogim upraviči trenutno kaznovanje. Nihče ne
misli, da bi se ljudje morali strinjati glede grešnikove krivde. Ko je človek bolan, ali še
slabše, ko umre, ljudje špekulirajo o možnih vzrokih. Pogosto se zgodi, da imajo različ-
ne skupine in različni segmenti ambonwarijske skupnosti tudi različne poglede na člo-
vekovo krivdo in vzroke za bolezen ali smrt. Trenutni sporazum lahko za nekaj časa
potlači vse te različne resnice, ki pa potem ponovno privrejo na dan kot možni vzroki
pri novih prepirih, boleznih in smrtih. Končna resnica je redko ena sama.
Sklep; špekttlaeija o modermizaciji
V dosedanjem razglabljanju lahko opazimo občutne razlike med krščanstvom in
ambonwarijsko kozmologijo: prvič, Ambonwarijci menijo, da niso samo njihove lastne za-
blode in pregrehe tiste, ki jim lahko škodijo, pač pa je lahko nekdo drug tisti krivec, ki s
svojim dejanjem prizadene nedolžnega sorodnika, pogosto otroka, ter povzroči njegovo
bolezen ali smrt; drugič, tisti Ambonwarijci, ki so resno bolni, in tisti, ki umirajo, običaj-
no priznajo svoje grehe, pa ne zato, da bi bih rešeni v posmrtnem življenju, temveč zato,
da bi bili - skupaj s svojimi partnerji in otroki - rešeni v tem življenju. Z drugimi beseda-
mi, njihovo priznanje in njihova pripravljenost, da kompenzirajo vse tiste, ki so jim stordi
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Borut Telban
krivico, kaže na njihovo željo po preživetju. Njihovi sodniki so njihovi družabniki, ljudje
in duhovi (duhovi umrlih in pomembni rodovni, klanski in vaški duhovi), in ne neko višje
božanstvo. Vsaka smrt - zaradi spremljajočih priznanj, divinacije in sodbe - reorganizira
družbene odnose med živimi. Namen vsega tega ni, da bi umrlemu priskrbeh boljše mesto
v nekem "drugem svetu", pač pa, da bi obnovih - za nekatere na boljše, za druge na slab-
še - življenjske razmere tistih, ki preživijo, ter zagotovili, da ne bo še kdo od sorodnikov
umrl. V ambonwarijski kozmologiji ni posmrtne sodbe dobrih in slabih dejanj, v njej ni
raja niti pekla, ni pričakovanja poslednje sodbe niti odrešitve. Celotna ambonwarijska koz-
mologija, ne glede na vse spremembe, ki se stalno dogajajo, temelji na želji po ohranitvi
"ambonwari-jskosti", tako v smislu "načina vasi" kot tudi "načina starcev/prednikov".
Koncept biti-k-skupnemu-začetku, ki ga najbolj očitno prepoznamo v kozmogonskem ka-
rakterju iniciacijskih obredov, prežema ambonwarijsko kozmologijo, v kateri življenje in
smrt sobivata kot dva načina iste eksistence.
Ali je te poglede res mogoče tako jasno razmejiti, kot sem jih predstavil? Krščan-
stvo na sepiškem območju obstaja več kot sto let, tako da nihče ne bi bil presenečen, če
bi nekakšna mešanica ambonwarijske kozmologije in papuanovogvinejske različice ene
od glavnih verskih usmeritev ubrala neko svojo smer. Med mojim zadnjim bivanjem v
vasi med julijem in septembrom 1997 so me vaščani pogosto spraševali o možnostih
konca sveta, o vsemogočih govoricah in različnih prerokih ter o preroškem letu 2000.
Pred nekaj leti so Ambonwarijci zgradili novo cerkev, večjo in bolj spektakularno od
njihove zadnje glavne hiše moških, Yanbonman. Neke vrste karizmatično glosarično
krščanstvo je zajelo vas - ne pa drugih karawarijskih vasi - in danes je v njej precej
takih, ki slišijo glas Boga in v transu podobnem stanju govore v čudnih, nerazumljivih
jezikih.^ In potem so tu še drugi, moški in ženske, ki trdijo, da jih razumejo in pre-
vajajo njihov čudni jezik v karawarijščino in melanezijski tok pisin.
Ker vsakdo ve, kako so se tako imenovani kargo kulti pojavdi in ponovno pojavlja-
li v Novi Gvineji in Melaneziji od konca prejšnjega stoletja, si lahko le predstavljamo,
kako zlahka bi Ambonwarijci združdi svoje lastne "tradicionalne" poglede s svojo
različico krščanstva. Na ta način bi lahko misel, ki jo vodi bit-k-skupnemu-začetku, za-
menjala misel, v kateri bi prevladovala bit-k-skupnemu-koncu/smrti, kar za Ambonwa-
rijce niti ne bi bd tako neznan pojem. Njihova mitologija namreč govori o peščici
preživelih iz dveh nekdanjih vasic, ki sta nekoč ležali nedaleč stran po reki navzgor.
Vasi sta bili popolnoma uničeni, ker je neki mož prelomd več resnih tabujev in žen-
skam in otrokom izdal skrivnosti iz hiše moških. Peščico preživelih so Ambonwarijci
sprejeli medse in ti so kasneje oblikovali zadnja dva ambonwarijska klana. Zgodbe o
skupni preteklosti pa niso nikdar pozabdi. V takih in podobnih primerih ni samo sod-
ba živih tista, ki je prisotna v ambonwarijski kozmologiji, pač pa se njihov pogled na
svet že spogleduje s predstavo o sodbi umrlih, še bolj pa z idejo o poslednji sodbi, ki
lahko Ambonwarijce v prihajajočih letih še bolj obsede.
^ V izvrstnem globalnem pregledu milenarističnih gibanj ter bojazni in upanj, ki spremljajo apokaliptična
pričakovanja skozi zgodovino zabodne družbe, Thompson pravi: "Sodobni pentekostalizem, katerega pripadniki
izkusijo ekstatični krst duha, ki ga pogosto spremlja govorjenje v različnih jezikih, je gonilna sila pri osupljivem napre-
dovanju protestantizma v Ladnski Ameriki in Tretjem svetu .. . Karizmatiki. .. verjamejo, da so karizmata - darila
svetega duha, podeljena učencem ob Pentekostu, kot na primer govorjenje v različnih jezikih - dostopna modernemu
človeku" (Thompson 1997: 122, 143).
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307
DEATH AND THE JUDGEMENT OF THE LIVING
IN A PAPUA NEW GUINEAN COMMUNITY*
Borut Telban
Key Words: dying, judgement of the dead, dead as punishment, Ambonwari (Sepik, Papua New Guinea)
Imtrediirtioii
Humans have long since discovered the power of death rituals and the fact that
death is not only a problem, but also an opportunity and an occasion - both for fur-
thering social, cultural, and political arrangements and for the existent order to be con-
tested by aU those with differing perspectives and interests (Taylor 1989:149). As ana-
lysts, we should not focus simply on some apparently permanent rules or practices and
examine how they are transgressed or changed; rather, our task is to show how normal
events - disputes, fights, stealing, adultery, death, and so on - construct, reconstruct
and even invent the rules which have to be continually negotiated in the production of
the on-going life-world.
This paper is about death and judgement - judgement either of the dead or of the
living. A people's view depends on culture, a period in their history, a particular place
and a specific community with which we, as analysts, are dealing. In old Egypt (and lat-
er in Christianity, which both Jewish and Egyptian eschatologies penetrated), for exam-
ple, it was an individual whose morality (weighing one's heart against a feather in
Egyptian underworld, for instance) or deeds were judged (Budge 1967[1895]). In
Egypt, after a person had died he or she had to address 42 gods and in a special mono-
logue - such as the one from The papyrus of Ani, for instance - refute ad his or her
possible wrongdoings. On the other hand, it was a person's correct faith that was and
* Fieldwork in Ambonwari village was done in 1990 - 1992, and 1997, totalling twenty montbs. Part of tbis
paper was presented at tbe International Symposium "Tbe Ethnological and Anthropological Approaches to the Stu-
dy ot Death" held in Ljubljana, 5th - 8th November 1998, and the whole article was read on 23rd November at the
Institut fiir Ethnologic, University of Heidelberg. 1 thank Bob Tonkinson tor bis helpful comments and suggestions
regarding the improvement of the initial version ot this paper.
308
Death and the Judgement of the Living in a Papua New Guinean Communitv
Still is judged in Islam and Zoroastrianism (Brandon 1967:145, 148, 155). Moreover,
there are two forms of post-mortem judgement, the one immediately after death and the
other at the anticipated end of the world, which characterize many world religions,
such as Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Christianity.
In Ambonwari (East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea) where people and spirits
coexist, and where there is no supreme diety - if we ignore for a whde an ongoing process
of Christianizadon - those who die are mourned but seldom judged. Also, as Mimica has
argued for die Itjwaye, "there is no death as such, but only a myriad of often contingent
ways of dying, of becoming dead and of being after deatii" (1996:216). People can be con-
scious of their own dying and can live their lives in expectation of their own death. "But
unldic die situation in Western urban cultures, death in the Itpvaye life-world is neither
experienced nor ideologized as a radically ahen event... Death is not an entity that preys
upon people and snatches them from life. Rather, it is humans who live themselves into
their deaths through their own or somebody else's actions" (ibid.:215,216; italics mine).
Dying among the Icjwaye as well as among the Ambonwari is a mode of life; it is a social
activity, an intersubjective experience, just as life itself, of which both dying and death are
an inseparable part. Deadi is a punishment, of an individual and of a particular section of
a community, and those responsible should be found out, and after a proper compensa-
tion and restoration of relationships, a seeming - though illusory - harmony is restored.
Later in the article 1 wiU present several matters pertaining to Ambonwari understanding
of their dying mode of existence and their judgement of those who are found - rightly or
wrongly - to be responsible for sickness and death, either of themselves or of their close
relatives. But first of all, for the comparative reasons, 1 am going to oudine how the no-
tion of a post-mortem judgement is present in some of the world's most important reli-
gions. It is considered that the earliest evidence of the idea that judgement awaited people
after deadi is found in Egypt. This notion of post-mortem judgement - joining ethics with
eschatology - "constitutes the ultimate audientication of tiie traditional ethic of Western
society" (Brandon 1967:lx).
The Judgement Scene in Ancient Egypt
Already in a remote antiquity the Egyptians gave the name Ra to the sun, as a vis-
ible representation of God to whom offerings and sacrifices were made. With Ra's ap-
pearance at the creation, time began. It was only later that the Egyptians "invented the
moral conception of the sun, representing the victory of right over wrong and of truth
over falsehood" (ibid.:cxi). In other words, it seems that the images of a happy life after
death had their origin in the pyramid texts, and that "the doctrine of punishment of
the wicked and of the judgement which took place after death is a development charac-
teristic of a later period" (Budge 1967:cvi). Of judgement and of those who faded to
secure a life of beatitude with the gods, the pyramid texts say nothing.
A Theban version of the Book of the Dead (or pert em hru which has been trans-
lated as "manifested in the light" or "coming forth from the day") was written on papy-
ri in hieroglyphics about 1500 B.C., though early forms of the Book of the Dead have
309
Borut Telban
been in use among the Egyptians from about 4500 B.C. The text proclaimed the resur-
rection of a spiritual body and the immortality of the soul. "Every chapter and prayer
of this version was to be said in the next world, where the words, properly uttered, ena-
bled the deceased to overcome every foe and to attain to the life of the perfected soul
which dwelt in a spiritual body in the abode of the blessed" (ibid.:xxx). In Chapter
CXXV of the Book of the Dead, the deceased is told the words which should be uttered
when arriving at the Had of Maati or the Had of Judgement - the had of double right
and truth where a deceased person is purged - where one wid see God and where one's
heart will be weighed in a balance separating him or her from his or her sins, in the
presence of the forty two great gods (ibid.:xi, xxx, xli, cxix).^ In the ancient Nebseni
papyrus the heart is weighed against the dead man himself, whde in the Ani papyrus,
the heart is weighed against a feather, the symbol of the Truth and the Law, Maat
(ibid.:261).^ The present gods were "the guides and protectors and givers of life and
happiness to the deceased in the new life", but, "from the earliest times it is clear that
the Egyptians imagined the existence of other powers who offered opposition to the
dead, and who are called in many places his 'enemies'" (ibid.xxxviii).
The deceased were identified with Osiris, that is, with the sun which has set in the
west and then rises again in the east. In a same way, the dead are laid in their tombs on
the western bank of the Nde. After they go through the Had of Judgement, they pro-
ceed to the east and begin a new existence (ibid.:247 f.n.2). Osiris, the god of the dead,
was fully defined long before the known versions of the pyramid texts were written. In a
later period, however, a change occured: the Egyptians began to attribute to him those
characteristics and qualities which were in early dynasties regarded as belonging to Ra
or to Ra-Tmu (ibid.xxiii). Osiris became a symbol of eternal existence and immortality.
He became the god of the dead and the god of the living. To this "lord of eternity . . .
the deceased appealed to make his flesh to germinate and to save his body from decay"
(ibid.). This "doctrine of immortality . . . had remained unchanged for at least four
thousand years" (ibid.xxiv).
Cliristianitv
If we examine the Old Testament we see that death itself has its origin in judge-
ment and punishment. In the Garden of Eden man appears to be created neither mor-
tal nor immortal; he was given the choice between the fruits of the tree of life and the
tree of knowledge. Misled by the serpent, he chose the tree of knowledge - the tree of
death (Choron 1963:82). In the Old Testament there is no escape from death, everyone
dies, and there is no other life. People can find a quasi-immortality only through their
' Maat, a very ancient goddess, was the daughter of Ra. Maat meant straight, right, true, real, genuine, upri-
ght, righteous, just, steadfast (Budge 1967:cxlx). There are actually two Maat goddesses, one of whom is perhaps the
personification of physical law, tbe other of moral rectitude.
' Egyptians considered the heart not simply a vital organ of tbe body but a centre of conscience, "the god"
which is in every person. People feared both that it might be taken away from them and that it might act as an inde-
pendent witness against them at their trials after death (Brandon 1967:37, 38-39).
310
Death and the Judgement of the Living in a Papua New Guinean Community
children. It is the New Testament where believers claim victory over death on the Last
Day of Judgement, when the graves will be opened and everyone will stand before the
Son of God and be judged. We should not overlook an important fact, that "[i]t is the
resurrection of the body, and not the immortality of the soul; this latter is not Chris-
tian, but pagan" (ibid.:84).
During the early years of Christianity, no judgement or condemnation of an indi-
vidual seemed to exist, there was no individual responsibility. All dead who belonged to
the Church went to sleep until the day of the Christ's great return at the end of the
world when they - in contrast to those who were not the members of the Church -
would awaken in Paradise.
In the eleventh and twelve centuries, subtle modifications gradually altered peo-
ple's worldview - their experiences and practices - away from a collective notion of des-
tiny, acceptance of death with just the proper amount of solemnity and no thought of
escaping it or glorifying it, and from socialization which did not separate man from
nature. A new emphasis on the individuality of each person meant that though death -
because no one could escape it - was a collective rite, the judgement became peculiar
to each individual. Everyone was going to be judged, the individual souls would be
placed on the scale, good and bad deeds separated, and finally, the just and the damned
would be separated. "The security of a collective rite" became confronted with "the
anxiety of a personal interrogation" (Aries 1974:37). The Last Judgement at the end of
the World was displaced by the final test, the judgement at the end of each life, to the
precise moment of death, when - apparently, this notion took root slowly throughout
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - "each person's entire life flashed before his eyes at
the moment of death" (ibid.:38). The consequences of the individualization of death
had other important implications: an interest in physical decomposition, the personal-
ization of tombs, and - as in Ancient Rome many centuries earlier - the reappearance
of funeral inscriptions. "Since the Early Middle Ages Western man has come to see
himself in his own death: he has discovered la mart de soi, one's own death" and later,
beginning witii the eighteenth century, "/a mart de toi, the death of the other person"
(Aries 1974:52, 56).
Buddhism
In Hindu and Buddhist conceptualizations of human existence, judgement has
not been seen as a final act following death but rather as an unceasing process through
coundess lives, some past and others to come (Brandon 1967: x, 165). For Buddha, life
was pure suffering; because of reincarnation birth, illness, death, and rebirth - in fact,
everything - was suffering. He looked within himself to find a path which would show
him bow to overcome both life and death. He found the path and by overcoming his
longings, cravings and greediness, his hate, lust and jealousy, he became enlightened.
While "Christ promises a birth which shall be followed by no death ... Buddha promis-
es a death which shall be followed by no birth and thus by no further death" (Lands-
berg 1966:198). Both in Hinduism and Buddhism the law of karma determines "the
311
Borut Telban
fate of the individual after death for the period before his next incarnation, and it also
causes that incarnation and conditions its form" (Brandon 1967:175). In Buddhism, as
opposed to Christianity, the aim is not to gain immortality, but to transcend it. It is
probably best to make use of a chart to show the main differences between Hindu-Bud-
dhist views and those of some other religions.
Hinduism, Buddhism
- life is repeated in this world, infinite se-
ries of lives
- final enlightenment - nirvana
- no deity or supreme God, but imperso-
nal process - karma
- judgement is a continuous process; con-
tinuous reincarnations
- time and life are seen as cyclical
Judaism, Egypt, Christianity, Islam, Zoroa-
strianism
- life is unique, it is not to be repeated in
this world
- final judgement followed by eternal
post-mortem existence
- judgement of an individual by a supre-
me deity, God
- judgement at death and the Final Jud-
gement
- time and life are seen as linear
There are several different traditions of Buddhism. While many Theravada Bud-
dhists of Sri Lanka and Indochina, for example, believe in 'instant rebirth' after death,
Vajrayana Buddhists, especially those living in Tibet and the remote Himalyan corner
of Ladakh, have to read the instructions to the dying and the dead (described in The
Tibetan Book of the Dead, Evans-Wentz 1960[1927]) and guide them through an inter-
mediate bardo period (transitional state) lasting up to forty-nine days between death
and rebirth (Gielen 1997:75). Whde Theravada Buddhists emphasize that salvation de-
pends above all on the person's own relentless eforts, spiritual practice and many years
of meditation, Tibetan Buddhists and those from Ladakh - Vajrayana Buddhism em-
phasizes rituals and initiation rites - argue that the prayers of loved ones and the skiL
ful guiding hand of their lama are of equal importance (ibid.:90). Some sects of East
Asia, on the other hand, believe that a person's last thoughts before his or her death
determine his or her future fate. If at the moment of death people fully confide them-
selves to the Buddha Amitabha, they wdl be reborn in the Western Paradise regardless
of their sins during their lives (ibid.).
It is significant that the judgement scenes in the Egyptian Book of the Dead and
The Tibetan Book of the Dead are very much alike. In the Tibetan version, Dharma-
Raja, the king of truth (whom the Theravadists call Yama-Raja) as the king and judge of
the dead, corresponds to Osiris in the Egyptian version (Evans-Wentz 1960:35). In both
versions there is the symbolic weighing. Before Dharma-Raja white pebbles are
weighed against black pebbles, symbolizing good and bad deeds. "In the Egyptian
Judgement Scene it is the ape-headed (less commonly the ibis-headed) Thoth, god of
wisdom, who supervises the weighing; in the Tibetan Judgement scene it is the mon-
key-headed Shinje; and in both scenes there is the jury of deities looking on, some ani-
mal-headed, some human-headed" (ibid.:36). The evil-doers have to suffer karmic con-
sequnces in the hell-world of purgation. Typical punishments - none of which are ever-
312
Death and the Judgement of the Living in a Papua New Guinean Community
lasting - are depicted on the monastic painting of the Tibetan Judgement Scene, which
though made in the year 1919 has its origin in the old frescoes (within the so called
Wheel of Life) found in the temples in the area.
In many small scale cultures and societies around the world the spirits of the
dead, especially shortly after the death, continue to communicate and interfere with
the living. The relationship between the dead and the living is a continuous process,
extremely important for the preservation of law and morality of a particular communi-
ty. I will continue with a case study from Ambonwari village, Papua New Guinea, where
1 have conducted extensive fieldwork.
Death in Amlioiiwari — A Case Stud v
Ambonwari is the largest Karawari speaking village in the East Sepik Province of
Papua New Guinea. Ambonwari culture shares many elements in common with other
Sepik cultures, such as latmul, Chambri, and Yimas. The Karawari language belongs to
the Lower Sepik Eamily, part of a larger group of Papuan languages (Foley 1986).
There are 12 totemic clans and 35 patrilineages. Residence is patri-virilocal. Intro-
duced respiratory diseases - tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza - along with malaria,
take a heavy toll of Ambonwari people. Though there is an Aid Post in the village and
though people sometimes visit hospitals in Angoram and Wewak, they continue to seek
treatment from the two village healers, who reflect people's understanding of their
world - that is, their cosmology - and their well-being.
Death for the Ambonwari is not the end of a being; it is the beginning of a new
mode of being while the being itself is one and undifferentiated; it is a similar mode of
being where one still needs relatives, food, shelter, clothing, decorations, men's houses,
things to use, and so on. As Cassirer argued for the beginnings of human culture, "it is
not immortality, but mortality that must here be 'proved'" (1965[1955]:37).
Below 1 present a case study of sickness and death, of someone who has been for
many years person to whom 1 was closest in Ambonwari village: my "brother" from the
Kumbranggawimari lineage of the Bird of Paradise clan. News of his death in August
1998 came as a great shock to me.
It was nightfall on the first of August 1997. My village "brother" Tony Simiwaria
Andiyapi, his about 18 years old son Jack Makan, Jack's friend Terrence, my friend
Julian Kapyamari and I were all sitting in my new house, which during my five years
absence had been built (from still very solid material of my old house) and used by
Jack. Relaxed, we talked about common memories and of what had happened during
my years away from the village. At one point, a flying fox suddenly flew into the house,
hit Tony, and as fast as it had entered, disappeared through the opening in the roof We
talked till eleven o'clock and dien went to bed, Tony and I into his family house, Julian
to his, whde Jack and Terrence remained in mine. Tony's wife slept with their chddren
- including her two daughters with their own children - at the back of the house, while
Tony's and my mosquito nets were next to the door 1 hardly closed my eyes when a
strange coughing noice followed by slow, dud howling spread through the night from
3d
Borut Telban
one side of tfie vdlage. A few moments later, a similar howling came from the other
side. Because 1 had never before heard this kind of a sound, 1 asked Tony what it was.
He didn't answer immediately, but after a short period of sdence he said quietly:
"These are large snakes, boas. I'd ted you tomorrow the meaning of it." 1 knew that it
was a bad omen, indicating that someone might die. We had not been asleep long when
hearing Tony moaning next to the fire, 1 woke up. Every five minutes, he left the house,
only to return weaker and more concerned. He explained to me about his diarrhoea.
He thought that he was losing blood. 1 fodowed him to check his stool but could not
find anything. He talked about the flying fox - a bad spirit - hitting him, about two boa
snakes - bad spirits talking to each other about him - and the strong possibdity that he
was going to die. Though he sat very close to the fire, he was still shivering and nearly
burned his legs. Early in the morning 1 carried him to the men's house. Again, 1
checked his excrement and saw that there was no blood, just water. Tobias, a vidage
healer, arrived at dawn and extracted two bird's bones from his body. After 1 insisted,
an aid post orderly brought some tablets for diarrhoea. Tony lay down and fell asleep.
We were all sitting around the fire in a men's house discussing why this sickness
befeU Tony. Some men said that they should have setded a dispute with neighbouring
Imanmeri and given them back an outboard motor which was now kept in Ambonwari
but was not theirs. Tobias said that Tony had beaten up his daughters and wife, so now
the punishment came on him. Elias told me that there were other reasons for Tony's
sickness: Tony was not the "father of the clan", less so the "father of the vdlage", yet he
behaved as one. He even kept the clan's outboard motor all the time. Elias said that
Tony's wrongdoings were many. Another reason, Ehas said, lay in the marriage situa-
tion of his two daughters at that time. Both were single but had a baby. This was -
along with acompanying embarrassment and gossip - not what fathers expected from
their daughters. Some vidagers remarked that Tony was stdl mourning the death of his
youngest son, who was now cading him to join him in the world of ghosts. The men
from the Bird of Paradise clan became angry with Konggunyapan, the main spirit-croc-
odde of their clan, cursing him for not protecting Tony. The main cause for Tony's sick-
ness - at least the majority of people thought so - was an adultery, discovered not long
before between Tony and Rita, the wife of August. This relationship was kept secret for
many decades, but became public when Rita became seriously sick. Afraid of dying,
she had confessed her adulterous relationship, which shocked the whole village like a
bomb.
On 19th August 1998 Tony Simiwaria Andiyapi, the closest person to me in the
whole village, suddenly died, just a few days before two Slovenian friends of mine visit-
ed the vidage. Though 1 do not know what the villagers thought about the cause of his
death, and though 1 do not know if they performed divination, 1 can imagine ad the
gossip that arose and how the villagers would have discussed all possible causes, some
of which 1 enumerated earlier in this story.
The main sign that someone is sick is that her or his kay (way of doing things, man-
ner, habit) is not as it should be. A person's breathing is different from usual, their skin is
hot or cold, she or he sleeps more, or does not perform their usual activities. People say
314
Death and the Judgement of the Living in a Papua \ew Guinean Community
that a person is "with sickness" (min mari ngandikin), that is, she or he "has sickness" (in
Karawari language as in many other languages there is no verb "to have"). Sickness "has
taken hold of a person" (min mari yan sarinyan). By holding and "using" a person, the
sickness and person become one; they share the same body/being (see Telban 1998 a, b).
To get better, a person has to remove (cut off) sickness as a part of the body/being. Only in
this way will she or he rehabilitate their previous kay. But to cure the sickness one cannot
just take medicines (if tablets, pills and so on work, people say that they were not really
sick); it is necessary to look at one's past and address those issues which caused the sick-
ness. People say that those healing practices that are part of medical treatment in Hospi-
tals and Healdi Centres are powerful. They cannot, however, help Ambonwari people
when they are seriously sick, that is, when they have soK^aUed "custom sickness", because
medical doctors do not share and so cannot address the Ambonwari life-world of the living
and spirits. Only by addressing the causes, the aUeged wrongdoings, can the kay of a sick
person return to normal and the sickness be cured.
In healing ceremonies, the specialist tries to find the cause (so that he speaks with
closest relatives and spirits) and remove the objects (bones, sheds, stones, nails) that are
the embodiment of sickness. A healer tries to restore the kay to its previous condition.
As kay of an individual incorporates different collective kay, the sickness also becomes
the concern of a collective, such as a household or lineage which incorporates past and
present relationships, including those with their own familiar spirits. What is apparent
from the practices of the healers is that they are able to perform an intermediary role,
creating a temporary link between people and spirits. To become a healer, one has to
come in contact not only with spirits of the dead, but also with bush spirits, in particu-
lar those of the patient's own clan (such as spirit-crocodiles and spirit-slit-drums) and
land. The spirits supervise the healers' practices and guide them on their healing
paths. 1 asked one of the healers, Tobias, how he could hear the voice of the spirit. He
answered: "Just in the same way as you are talking to me now and 1 can hear you. The
spirit talks into my ear and 1 hear him." Stdl curious, 1 asked him whether in fact the
voice simply occurs in his head? He answered:
"No. The voice comes straight into my ears. When 1 chew ginger, my eyes
turn around and my ears become blocked. I am unable to understand what peo-
ple around me say. I hear only spirits. So 1 say to everyone: "Shut up, 1 want to
hear what they have to say. Why are they angry?" Their answer wdl come straight
into my ear 1 ted those around that 1 did not get these answers inside my own
head but that 1 have heard the voice of the spirit. So 1 would know the cause and
would ask a chdd's father, or a husband if his wife is sick, or her, if her husband is
sick. 1 would ted them when the spirit had asked for matters to be setded and tell
them how this can be done. If they do not listen, the sick person can die."
The wrongdoers then have to "cut themselves off from the practice which
caused the sickness by foUowing procedures such as payment of compensation, seclu-
sion, washing, food presentation, and so on. Ambonwari people often say that they have
to look after their skin properly and accurately perform their acts. In regard to sickness
we can make some common observations: a healthy person is defined by visible healthy
315
Borut Telban
skin and her or his hahitual activity; a sick person is defined by unhealthy skin and
aberrant activity. Thus, a healing ritual is concerned with the extraction of invisible
stones, sheds, teeth, bones and thorns from beneath the unhealthy skin, the restitution
of kay by identifying the cause of sickness in wrongdoings, and finally by addressing
the spirits of the household, lineage or clan who share coUective identity with the sick
person.
Understanding Ambonwari Attitudes towards Dying
and Death
In what follows 1 outline four important issues that contribute to a better under-
standing of Ambonwari attitudes towards death: a) the equation of death with sickness
and old age, each of them seen as a process, with spirits as judges of the living; b) body
perceived through habits that associates it with other bodies; c) death as a community
affair; d) being-towards-(my)-death as distinctive of a Christian Western World while be-
ing-towards-(collective)-beginning is illustrative of .Ambonwari cosmology.
First, approaching death should be understood in terms of approaching old age,
or being sick. Death or dying in .\mbonwari is a state, a condition, rather than an event
or an instant (cf. Hertz 1960[1909]:28; Rivers 1912:405). Therefore, we should see
death in Ambonwari as a process in which a dead person's "watchman" angndar kwa-
nar has to take a new form of a disembodied, or better fleshless and skinless (i.e.
"bones only") spirit - wundumbunar if male and wunduma if female - who remains
"connected" to his living relatives. What he does affects them, and what they do makes
him either angry or pleased. The spirits of the recently dead - usually male, that is, a
deceased father or brother - see even the most hidden affairs, protect lineage, clan and
village morality and law, and punish wrongdoers, their spouses and their children. The
vidage spirits are not the law, they are the judges. The law is the one made by the living
for the living. But spirits - in the cosmology of Ambonwari people - are always there as
those judges and executors who enforce the law and village morality based on the wis-
dom of the elders and the ancestors. The dead, including those who are very old, be-
come judges and a premature death becomes punishment.
Second, if we want to understand Ambonwari's views about death we have to under-
stand their views about the body. For the Ambonwari, their human body, for which they
do not have a vernacular word, is perceived through its visible skin and its activity. "It is
defined by kay (the way of doing things) and extended to the things that are used in partic-
ular activities" (Telban 1998a:58). For example "A paddle and a person become one in
terms of kay, the way of paddling a canoe" (ibid.:59). In short, one could say that there is
a close connection between a person's living body - not just the visible skin - and the food
one eats, the things one uses, his or her habits, the ways one performs his or her activities,
the people one communicates with and touches, and the ways these contacts are effected.
One has to consider the impact of one upon the other, since the manner in which a partic-
ular practice is done is very important. This conceptualization of the world supplies a
framework for different taboos; for example, a man does not hunt the morning after he
316
_Death and the Judgement of the Living in a Papua New Guinean Community
317
has slept with his wife (ibid.:60). An appropriate parallel here is provided by the phenom-
enology of Jean-Paul Sartre, who said: "The body is the totality of meaningful relations to
the world" (1956:452; see also Telban 1998a:67 e.n.3).
Third, death in Ambonwari - and the related judgement of those responsd)le, in-
cluding the deceased - is community business, diat is, an affair of a family, a lineage, a
clan and a viUage. It is not a matter of medical doctors or a hospital, regardless of a person
dying in one. It is not a question of biomedical cause and related justification: influenza,
pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, meningitis, and so on. It is the old question "why him
or her", "why me"; d is the question "how do we live", "what did we do wrong", "whose
ways of doing things - that is, whose bad habits - made someone die". It is the question of
imnggan kay ("die way of the viUage"), kupambn kay ("the way of die elders/ancestors")
and the many kay (way, manner, habit, custom, law) of viUage individuals (Telban 1998 a,
b). As kay (habits, ways) of an individual incorporates different coUective kay (habits,
ways), a sickness and death also become a coUective issue (of household or lineage, for
example) that incorporates past, present, and even anticipated future relationships, in-
cluding those with their own famdiar spirits (ТеШап 1998a:61).
Fourth, being-towards-(my or your)-death in Christianity has its source in a linear
conceptualization of the world and an emphasis on the individual, whde being-towards-
(coUective)-beginning in Ambonwari has its source in a cyclical conceptualization of
the world with the emphasis on cosmogony in all important rituals and the recognition
of the individual as socially dependent.
Because death in Ambonwari worldview is not an instantaneous occurrence but a
process in which there is a continual interaction between the living and the dead, be-
cause "body" is never the body of an isolated individual but always extended to and
spread over other closely related "bodies", because death in Ambonwari is always a
community business and never a private affair, the search for and judgement of those
responsible for someone's sickness and death are also community business and never a
private affair
Though a matter of a community, death is at the same time also seen as a unique
process in everyone's kay (being, existence). Just as one is not simply born into a con-
scious Ambonwari person, but has to go through childhood, then initiation, then mar-
riage, then parenthood, to become one, so one does not simply die and traverse the
bridge into the world of the ancestors. Throughout one's chddhood, a person exists as
an extension of his or her parents and only gradually as an individual social being (Tel-
ban 1997,1998 a, b). When a person dies, he or she, likewise, still exists but only as an
extension of the living. Only gradually do these deceased individuals join the anthropo-
morphic mass of Ambonwari ancestors. Just like a chdd has to sever the bond with its
parents (but stiU remains their child), so the dead have to sever their bonds with the liv-
ing (and vice versa), while at the same time still preserving a close cosmological contact
with them.
During vUlage disputes, or when the Ambonwari quarrel with people from other
viUages, one often hears men saying that they do not worry about dying as they are well
aware that their brothers, fathers and mother's brothers wiU revenge them. It seems
Borut Telban
that it is the wholeness and the richness of the network of social relationships - past,
present, and those anticipated in the future - which constitutes not only the life of an
individual but also his or her death. Those who do not have many relatives and those
whose lineages have no male descendants are more concerned with loneliness in both
life and death than with their own death as such.
The Ambonwari, like many others, hold the conviction that after a person dies
their ghost retains her or his personality. Individuals are not reduced to nothingness.
Moreover, the deceased do not need to prove their innocence or admit their wrongs.
They can still be nasty and bad. No one is going to judge them, less so in terms of any
kind of final judgement that would then determine how the rest of their existence
would be spent. Besides, as the Ambonwari say, one cannot change her or his skin just
like that. Also, being bad does not mean that badness is not useful and admired by oth-
er vidagers, and therefore, in some sense, even good (see Harrison 1993:120-1). Why
would the deceased be judged at all when they cannot repay - in goods and money -
those they wronged? The Ambonwari are sociocentric and egocentric enough to judge
the living, who can then repay their wrongdoings. In such a way, the social and moral
order is always established anew.
Lies, gossip and stealing are daily matters, something engaged in almost by every-
one. Therefore, when in a particular case someone is innocent but nevertheless ac-
cused, people - not of course that person's closest relatives - do not view the whole
thing as a terrible injustice. They do not even see the person as being innocent. They
say that there were other wrongs done in the past by the accused but because at the
same time they had been unable to prove them, or because there had been no vdlage
court, he or she escaped the punishment. Now, regardless of one's innocence, the past
- not necessarily a particular event that has just happened - justifies, for some, the
present punishment. No one thinks that people should agree about someone's wrongs.
When a person is sick, or worse, when he or she dies, people speculate about the caus-
es. It often happens that different groups in the vdlage, and different segments of Am-
bonwari community, hold different views about someone's guilt and the causes for
someone's sickness or death. A temporary agreement can suppress these different
truths for some time, simply to recover them again as possibilities in the event of subse-
quent disputes, idnesses or deaths. The final truth is seldom one.
Cemcliision: Speculation on. Medepiiizatieii
We can discern here some significant differences between Christianity and Am-
bonwari cosmology: first, in Ambonwari it is not only people's own wrongs which can
harm them but someone else's wrongs can inflict sickness and death on otherwise in-
nocent relative, often a chdd; and secondly, in Ambonwari cosmology those who are
severely sick and dying, and their closest relatives, confess their wrongs not to be saved
in an afterlife but to be - they, their spouses and their children - saved in this life. That
is, their confession and their willingness to compensate ad those who were wronged
show their wid to survive. Their judges are their consociates, people and spirits (ghosts
318
_Death and the Judgement of the Living in a Papua New Guinean Communitv
319
and important lineage, clan and village spirits) and not some supreme deity. Every
death - because of accompanying confessions, divination, and judgement - serves to
reorganize social relationships among the living. The purpose of all this is not to secure
a better place for a dead person in any kind of "other world", but to reconstruct - for
better or worse (for some) - the living conditions of those who stay alive and to ensure
that no other close relative will die. In Ambonwari cosmology, there is no post-mortem
judgement of good and bad deeds, no heaven and no hell, no anticipation of the Last
Judgement, and no salvadon. The entire Ambonwari cosmology, regardless of all the
changes constandy taking place, is based on a wid to preserve Ambonwari-ness, both as
"the way of the village" and as "the way of the elders/ancestors". The concept of being-
towards-(collective)-beginning, most obviously recognized in the cosmogonical charac-
ter of their initiation rituals, pervades Ambonwari cosmology in which life and death
coexist as two modes of the same existence.
Are these views, however, as clear cut as I have presented diem? Christianity has
been in the Sepik Region for over 100 years, so no one would be surprised if the blending
of Ambonwari's cosmology with the Papua New Guinean version of one of the major reli-
gious orientations took a specific direction. People often asked me, especially during my
last stay in the viUage between July and September 1997, about the possibdity of the end
of the world, about aU the rumours and aU different prophets, and about the prophetic
year 2000. Ambonwari had just a few years ago built a new church, larger and more spec-
tacular than their last major men's house Yanbonman. A kind of charismatic glossalalial
Christianity has swept die village - but not the other Karawari vdlages - and today there
are many who hear voice of God and in a trance-like state speak in strange, uninteUigible
tongues.* And then, there are a few others, male and female, who claim to understand
them and translate their weird language into Karawari and Tok Pisin.
As everyone is aware of how so-called cargo cults have appeared and reappeared
throughout New Guinea and Melanesia since the end of the last century, one can imag-
ine how easy it would be for Ambonwari to merge their own "traditional" views with
their version of Christianity. In such a way, being-towards-(collective)-beginning orien-
tation could become replaced by being-towards-(collective)-end/death, which for Am-
bonwari would not be an unfamiliar notion. Their mythology refers to a handful of sur-
vivors from two upriver vdlages that had been totally destroyed because one man broke
several serious taboos by revealing the secrets of the men's house to women and chil-
dren. Those few who survived were accepted and accommodated by Ambonwari and
later formed the last two clans in the viUage. Yet the story of their past was never forgot-
ten. In this and other similar cases not only the judgement of the living but the judge-
ment of the dead and the Einal Judgement could become the prevailing obsessions of
the Ambonwari people in the years to come.
' In a superb global survey of millenarian beliefs, and fears and hopes accompanying apocalyptic expectations
throughout the history of Western society, Thompson writes: "Modern Pentecostalism, whose adherents experience
an ecstatic Spirit baptism often accompanied by speaking in tongues, is the driving force behind the stunning advance
of Protestantism in Latin America and the Third World ... Charismatics... believe that charismala - the gifts of the
Holy Spirit bestowed on the disciples at Pentecost, such as speaking in tongues - are accessible to modern man"
(Thompson 1997: 122, 143).
Borut Telban
BIBLlOGRAPH'i see page 307
320
BESEDA O AVTORJU
Borut Telban. dr., docent, je znanstveni so-
delavec na ZRC SAZU. Po 38 mesecih antropolo-
ških raziskav na Papui Novi Gvineji je leta 1994
doktoriral na Australian National University v
Canberri. V letih 1995-1996 je kot štipendist Royal
.Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ire-
land raziskovalno delal na Univerzi v Manchestru.
Njegovo najpomembnejše delo je Dancing through
Time: A Sepik Cosmology, Oxford University
Press, 1998.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Borut Telban. Ph.D., is Research Fellow at
the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovene Aca-
demy of Sciences and Arts. After 38 months of an-
thropological research in Papua New Guinea he
completed his Ph.D. in 1994 at The Australian Na-
tional University, Canberra. For the academic year
1995-96, he was appointed to the Leach/RAI Fel-
lowship in Social Anthropology at the University
of Manchester. He is the author of Dancing throu-
gh Time: A Sepik Cosmology, Oxford University
Press, 1998.
SMRT IN ŽALOVANJE V BEGUNSTVU:
BOŠNJAKI, BOŠNJAKINJE V SLOVENIJI
Natalija Vrečer
Ključne besede! žalovanje, (kulturna) ovdovelost, Bošnjaki, Bošnjakinje, begunci, begunke, Slovenija
Uvod.
V pričujočem članku se nameravam osredotočiti na smrt in žalovanje Bošnjakov
in Bošnjakinj, ki so v Sloveniji v begunstvu. Po mojem mnenju je njihovo življenje težko
razumeti, če se izognemo njihovemu srečanju s smrtjo, ki so ga doživeli kot grožnjo
svojemu lastnemu življenju, saj so bila v domovini njihova življenja pogosto ogrožena
ali pa so jim v vojni umrli sorodniki in prijatelji. Prav tako ne moremo razumeti ljudi v
begunski situaciji, če se ne soočimo z različnimi simbolnimi smrtmi, ki so značilne za
vse begunce in begunke, ki sem jih spoznala. Vsi so namreč doživeli več naslednjih iz-
gub: izgubo domovine s socio-kulturnim okoljem, jezika, zaposlitve, šolanja, drastično
so se jim spremenile socialne mreže, doživeli so padec standarda itd. Trdimo lahko to-
rej, da so procesi žalovanja za življenje v begunstvu značdni in da potekajo na osebni in
kolektivni ravni.
Šege Bošnjakov ob smrti so zelo specifične. Razlikujejo se od slovenskih. Moja
teza je, da odsotnost integracije beguncev in begunk v Sloveniji povzroča negativne po-
sledice tudi v procesih žalovanja beguncev in begunk. Bošnjaki lahko v Sloveniji šege
ob smrti v skladu s svojo tradicijo izvajajo v večji ali manjši meri. Na nekaterih pokopa-
liščih jim ne dovolijo končati pogrebih šeg v skladu z njihovo tradicijo, kot bom pokaza-
la v sklepnem delu članka. Menim, da bi jim možnost dokončanja pogrebnih šeg v skla-
du s tradicijo omogočila, da bi procese žalovanja bolj učinkovito predelali, poleg tega
pa to za slovensko državo ne bi pomenilo dodatnih stroškov.
V tem članku bom predstavila nekaj statističnih dejstev o beguncih in begunkah
v Sloveniji, opisala metodologijo, analizirala literaturo o smrti, žalovanju in ovdovelo-
sti, ki je vplivala na istovrstno literaturo v begunstvu, analizirala literaturo na
omenjeno temo v begunstvu in na kratko opisala šege Bošnjakov in Bošnjakinj v Slove-
321
Natalija Vrečer
niji ob smrti. V besedilu bom poskušala dati tudi napotke za izboljšanje politike reše-
vanja begunskega vprašanja v povezavi s sfero smrti, zlasti za primer Bošnjakov, Bo-
šnjakinj v Sloveniji. Pisala bom tudi o kulturni ovdovelosti, ki jo Eisenbrucb (1990)
opredeljuje kot izgubo kulture in družbe in obsega procese kolektivnega žalovanja.
Nanaša se torej na različne simbolne smrti in na izkustvo begunstva kot celote.'
Begunci, begunke w Sloveniji in metodologija
Prvi begunci, beguidic so bdi Hrvati in Hrvatice, ki so začeli prihajati v Slovenijo
kmalu po njeni neodvisnosti v juniju 1991. Bošnjaki in Bošnjakinje so se jim pridružili,
pridružde leta 1992. V septembru 1993 je bilo v Sloveniji 35.000 beguncev in begunk in
nekaj tisoč tistih, ki niso bili evidentirani.- Status bosanskih beguncev in begunk je bil in
še vedno je začasen. Po slovenskem Zakonu o zatočišču iz leta 1997 jih imenujejo iskalci
začasnega zatočišča. V Sloveniji smo status begunca po Ženevski konvenciji o statusu be-
gunca iz leta 1951 podeldi le trem osebam. Po omenjenem zakonu se lahko zaposlujejo le
osem ur na teden. Repatriacija iz Slovenije poteka prostovoljno, ne prisdjeno. Aprila 1999
je v Sloveniji približno 3500 beguncev in beguidi iz Bosne in Hercegovine, približno 80 %
je Bošnjakov in Bošnjakinj. Približno polovica jih živi v desetih begunskih zbirnih cen-
trih, drugi pa v zasebnih namestitvah. Poleg njdi je v Sloveniji še 2500 beguncev in be-
gunk s Kosova brez ustreznega pravnega statusa. Niso namreč niti begunci, begunke po
Ženevski konvenciji o statusu begunca iz leta 1951 niti iskalci začasnega zatočišča po slo-
venskem Zakonu o začasnem zatočišču, temveč tujci pred odstranitvijo.'
Za Slovenijo je značilna odsotnost integracije beguncev in begunk. Otroci in naj-
stniki obiskujejo šole in se na ta način v večji meri integrirajo v slovensko družbo kot
druge socialne skupine. Na ta način imajo možnost, da se naučijo slovenščine, medtem
ko večina njihovih staršev ostaja v begunskih zbirnih centrih in nima toliko možnosti
vključevanja v kulturo države gostiteljice. Begunci in begunke v Sloveniji ostajajo torej
v negotovosti svojega začasnega statusa in v "praznini" čakajo na repatriacijo. Njihova
situacija spominja na Beckettovo čakanje na Godota, saj so njihove hiše v Bosni in Her-
cegovini uničene ali pa so jih zasedli Srbi (zlasti tiste v Republiki srbski). Možnost vrni-
tve je nejasna, postavljena nekam v daljno bodočnost.
Metoda mojega raziskovanja je bila etnografska. Od avgusta 1992 do decembra
1994 sem opravljala terensko delo v Celju, od januarja 1995 do zdaj v Ljubljani. Obiska-
la sem tudi begunski zbirni center v Mariboru.
' angleško: cultural bereavement
Zahvaljujem se Uradu za priseljevanje in begunce za statistične podatke.
^ V aprilu 1999 se je Slovenija odločila, da bo sprejela še dodatnih 1600 beguncev in begunk s Kosova, ki po-
stopoma prihajajo v Slovenijo, in da bo reaktivirala Zakon o začasnem zatočišču tudi za kosovske begunce in begunke.
322
Smrt in žalovanje v begunstvu: Bošnjaki, Bošnjakinje v Sloveniji
Smrt, žalovanje in ovi,ovelost v medkultiirni
perspektivi: štii.i.ije, ki so vpli%'al.e na tiste ж Isto temo v
begnnstvM
Zaradi omejenega prostora, ki mije na voljo za pričujoč članek, se bom osredotočila
le na glavne avtorje in avtorice, iz katerih so črpali tisti in tiste, ki so pisali, pisale o smrti,
žalovanju in ovdovelosti v begunstvu. Eden izmed najzgodnejših in še vedno eden izmed
najpomembnejših je bd nedvomno Ereudov esej Žalovanje in melanholija (1917). V njem
Freud uporablja izraz melanholija za to, kar danes imenujemo depresija. Eden izmed
najpomembnejših Freudovih doprinosov je, da je posvečal pozornost intrapsihičnim pro-
cesom, ki se dogajajo ob izgubah. Po Freudu je žalovanje proces, ki ga je potrebno prede-
lati, da bi se lahko končal, postopen umik libida ali emocionalne energije od izgubljenega
objekta je potreben, da bi se lahko ta emocionalna energija vezala na nov objekt. Freudov
esej je za begunske študije pomemben zaradi naslednjih ugotovitev:
1. Žalovanje je normalen proces, za katerega je potreben določen čas, da se tako
imenovani posli žalovanja lahko predelajo. Torej ni patološka reakcija. Freud
poda tudi zelo dober vpogled v situacije, v katerih so procesi žalovanja ovirani.
Dejstvo, da ljudje, in še zlasti begunci in begimke, potrebujejo čas za žalo-
vanje (poudarek N. V.), so omenjali in omenjale tudi kasnejši avtorji in avtorice
kot, na primer Englund (1998), Eisenbruch (1984), Harrell-Bond in Wdson
(1990). Po njihovem mnenju bi morali to upoštevati zlasti tisti zdravstveni dela-
vci in delavke, ki so se usposabljali na Zahodu, in ne bi smeli patologizirati re-
akcij, kot se to še vedno prepogosto dogaja. Dojemanje žalovanja kot bolezni je
zlasti prisotno med psihologi in nekaterimi psihiatri, kot, na primer, pri Engelu
(1961), Sandersevi (1989) in drugih. Sanderseva opredeljuje čustva žalovanja kot
simptome, in na žalost ni edina, ki ima tak pristop.
2. Po mnenju Freuda je depresija "na določen način povezana z izgubo objekta,
ki ni v sferi zavednega, v nasprotju z žalovanjem, kjer izgube so v sferi zaved-
nega" (1917: 245). V begunski situaciji, kjer veliko izgub nastopi naenkrat, je
zelo verjetno, da nekatere, in zlasti način njihovega prepletanja (prim, z
Malkki 1995), lahko begunčevemu, begunkinemu zavednemu ostajajo skrite
in jih zato težje predelajo.
Da bi pojasndi stopnje pri procesih žalovanja, vehko avtorjev in avtoric posega po
psihologiji. Baškauskas (1981) piše o beguncih, begunkah iz Litve v Združenih državah
Amerike in sledi Marrisovim stopnjam v procesu žalovanja, ki so konzervatizem, ovdo-
velost in inovacija. Po psihologinji Sandersevi (1989) so te stopnje naslednje:
1. šok
2. zavedanje
3. konzervativna stopnja - umik
4. zdravljenje - preobrat
5. obnovitev.
Ne glede na to, da je takšna analiza občasno uporabna, moramo biti previdni, da
je ne posplošujemo. Te stopnje se namreč od kulture do kulture in tudi od posamez-
323
Natalija Vrečer
nika do posameznika razlikujejo (prim, z Stroebe, v: Firth 1997: 9/10). Vsak posamez-
nik v vsaki družbi doživlja v svojem življenju izgube, ki so posledice izgube objektov, na
katere smo bili čustveno navezani. Torej je žalovanje značilno za vsako kulturo. Ne gle-
de na to pa je v procesih žalovanja veliko medkulturnih razlik. Prav tako različni so
načini izražanja čustev žalovanja.
Rosenblatt, Walsh in Jackson so delali raziskave v 78 kulturah na podlagi etno-
grafskih opisov. Ena izmed njihovih ugotovitev je, na primer, da imajo podačitev čustev
v nekaterih kulturah za normalno (Bali), medtem ko se v nekaterih drugdi kulturah
zdi pomembno, da se vezi z umrlimi ohranjajo (Egipt).
Večina literature se osredotoča na vlogo obredov pri žalovanju. Flammov pregled
daje teoretsko ozadje te problematike in se osredotoča na antropološko in psihološko
literaturo (1994 a).
Eden izmed pogosto citiranih avtorjev je Hertz, ki je pojmoval "šege ob smrti kot
refleksijo socialnega reda, ki pa je objektivni izraz konceptov in vrednot družbe" (citi-
rano v Elamm 1994 a: 4). Bloch in Parry pa, na primer, trdita, da obredi ustvarjajo
družbeni red, in gledata na te rituale kot na politično dejanje, ki pomaga legitimizirati
obstoječo avtoriteto v družbi (1982, citirano v Elamm 1994 a: 6).
Rosenblatt, Walsh in Jackson se opirajo na Van Gennepa. Po njihovem mnenju
šege ob smrti omogočajo statusni prehod, tako za mrtve kot ovdovele. Skozi ciklus šeg
ob smrti se mrtva oseba preseli iz zemlje živih v zemljo mrtvih, ovdoveli osebi pa pre-
neha status žalujočega in dobi status tistega, tiste, ki ne žaluje več" (1976: 7).
Leach je bil mnenja, da obstaja prepričanje, da je obred univerzalno dejstvo. Na
obred gleda kot na socialni fenomen, ki posreduje temeljne koncepte in vrednote dane
družbe. Pogrebne šege pomagajo žalujočim, da se ponovno reintegrirajo v družbo in
omogočajo širši družbeni skupini, da vzdržuje kontinuiteto in znova utrdi svoje vredno-
te in verovanja (v: Elamm 1994 a: 8-9).
Mnogi avtorji opozarjajo, da pomanjkanje šeg ob smrti, ko so pogrebne šege
končane, na Zahodu ustvarja nadaljnje probleme za ovdovele, saj ni sklepnih obredov,
ki bi določili časovno mejo žalovanja. Na ta način se žalovanje podaljšuje (Rosenblatt,
Walsh & Jackson 1976, Eirth 1997 itd.).
Drugi pomembni avtorji in avtorice so: Van Gennep (1908), Durkheim (1915), Go-
ody (1962), Radcliffe-Brown (1964), Gorer (1965), Turner (1969), Munroz (1984), Blo-
ch in Parry (1982), Bloch (1988), itd.
Medkulturna literatura o žalovanju in (kulturni)
ovdovelosti v begunstvu
Začela se je pojavljati v osemdesetih letih, ko so se begunske študije uveljavile kot
samostojna akademska znanstvena disciplina. Dejstvo, ki ga pogosto omenjajo, je, da
odsotnost obredov žalovanja v begunstvu podaljšuje žalovanje. Za nobeno kulturo
namreč ni znano, da bi imela posebne obrede za kulturno ovdovelost. Zdi se, daje med-
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Smrt in žalovanje v begunstvu: Bošnjaki, Bošnjakinje v Sloveniji
kulturno dejstvo, da drugih šeg pri procesih žalovanja kot zgolj tistih za umrlimi oseba-
mi, ni.
Eden izmed glavnih avtorjev je nedvomno Eisenbruch, ki je psihiater in antropo-
log. Opozoril je, da so procesi žalovanja beguncev in begunk, ki nimajo možnosti
izvajanja primernih obredov ob smrti, lahko ovirani (1990). Po njegovem mnenju je
vzdrževanje tradicionalne kulture pomemben prilagoditveni mehanizem v begunstvu.
Eisenbruch je raziskoval begunce in begunke iz Kampučije v Združenih državah .4me-
rike in Avstraliji in ugotovil, da je "zdravstveno stanje beguncev in begunk izboljšano,
kadar imajo možnost uporabljanja svojih verovanj skozi obrede, skladne z njihovo kul-
turo in vedenjem" (1990: 193). Sege ob smrti imajo torej, poleg drugih obredov, po-
membno vlogo v procesih žalovanja beguncev in begunk. Pomembno je tudi Eisenbru-
chovo opozorilo, da morajo vsi, ki se ukvarjajo z begunsko problematiko, razumeti
"kulturno konstrukcijo realnosti beguncev in begunk". Veliko beguncev in begunk
namreč upa, da se bodo vrnili, in želijo živeti v preteklosti ter nočejo zgubiti stika z, na
primer, domovino (1990: 200). Na ta način "življenje v preteklosti" zelo pogosto pono-
vno vzpostavi občutek identitete, ki ga je razrvala vojna.
Mnogi avtorji in avtorice poudarjajo potrebo po tem, da se šege ob smrti izvajajo
in končujejo v skladu s kulturno tradicijo beguncev in begunk, in opozarjajo, da v mno-
gih predelih sveta ni tako. Harrell-Bondova in Wilson poročata o takih primerih v
Afriki. Po njunem mnenju je umiranje tisti del socialnega življenja, pri katerem so se
ljudje manj pripravljeni prilagajati novim vzorcem (1990: 230). Zatorej se avtorjema zdi
pomembno proučevati, kako humanitarni programi določajo, na kakšen način se lju-
dje soočijo s smrtjo, in dajati predloge za izboljšanje teh programov. Zdi se, da je me-
dkulturno dejstvo, da humanitarna pomoč ne vsebuje hrane za srečanja ljudi po pogre-
bu in drugih šegah ob smrti. To je značilno tako za Slovenijo kot tudi za Mriko, kot
poročata Harrell-Bondova in Wilson. V Sloveniji večino stroškov za pogreb prispeva vla-
dni Urad za priseljevanje in begunce, v mnogih krajih po svetu ni tako - na primer v
Afriki. Harrell-Bondova in Wilson (1990) predlagata tudi, da bi humanitarne organiza-
cije, ki pomagajo beguncem in begunkam, sponzorirale vojne spominske svečanosti v
begunskih centrih in naselbinah, če te obstajajo v njihovih državah.
Ker begunci in begunke najpogosteje bežijo zaradi sociopolitičnega in militari-
stičnega preganjanja, je tradicionalna kultura v njihovi domovini pogosto zadušena in
ogrožena. V medkulturni literaturi o smrti, žalovanju in ovdovelosti v begunstvu najde-
mo primere, kjer je begunstvo pomenilo edino možnost nadaljevanja tradicionalne kul-
ture. Takšen primer so, na primer, begunci in begunke iz Litve v Združenih državah
Amerike po drugi svetovni vojni. Medtem ko so bili za Sovjetsko zvezo po drugi svetovni
vojni značdni procesi rusifikacije, so imeli begunci in begunke iz Litve v Združenih
državah Amerike priložnost izvajanja in ohranjanja njihove tradicionalne kulture
(Baškauskas 1981). Podoben primer so razseljeni Kampučijci v Avstraliji in Združendi
državah .Amerike, ki so bežali pred Pol Potovim režimom v sedemdesetih letih.
Tradicionalni zdravitelji in religiozni inštruktorji imajo pomembno vlogo pri
ohranjanju tradicionalne kulture v begunstvu. Tradicionalni zdravitelji izseljendi Kam-
pučijcev se imenujejo kruuji. Ljudem pomagajo predelati kulturno ovdovelost in
325
Natalija Vrečer
funkcionirajo kot "viri kulturnega znanja" (Eisenbruch 1991: 2). Delujejo kot posred-
niki med ovdovelimi posamezniki in družbo. Poleg tega, da pomagajo ovdovelim, da se
ponovno integrirajo v družbo, nadzirajo tudi javno artikulacijo osebnib čustev žalo-
vanja. Tudi Bošnjaki, Bošnjakinje v Sloveniji imajo religiozne inštruktorje, ki opravljajo
to vlogo, kot bom pojasnila kasneje v besedilu.
Zgoraj navedeni primeri nam dokazujejo, da so procesi žalovanja v begunstvu lahko
tudi konstruktivni, rezultat katerih je lahko, na primer, tudi ohranitev v domovini
ogrožene tradicionalne kulture. To je še en dokaz, da so čustva žalovanja normalne re-
akcije in jih ne moremo patologizirati. Pridružujem se besedam Malkkijeve, ki pravi, da
"... čeprav je mnogo beguncev in begunk preživelo nasilje in izgube, ki dobesedno prese-
gajo predstave večine ljudi, ne smemo predvidevati, da begunski status sam po sebi pome-
ni prepoznavno psihološko stanje, ki ga lahko posplošimo" (Malkki 1995: 510).
Nekateri drugi avtorji in avtorice, ki se ukvarjajo s problematiko žalovanja in
(kulturne) ovdovelosti v begunstvu, so: Eastmond (1988), Elamm (1994 a, b). Woodcock
(1991) itd.
Šege ob smrti bošnjaških beguncev in begunk v
Sloveniji
Pogrebi Bošnjakov, Bošnjakinj v Sloveniji so podobni tistim v Bosni in Hercegovi-
ni, razlikujejo pa se v sklepni stopnji pogreba. Vendar na različnih slovenskih pokopa-
liščih dopuščajo Bošnjakom in Bošnjakinjam, da v večji ali manjši meri končajo pogreb-
ni obred v skladu s svojo tradicijo, kot bom opisala na koncu besedila. Poudariti moram
tudi, da tisti Bošnjaki, ki niso preveč religiozni (zlasti komunisti, komunistke), niso po-
kopani v skladu z bošnjaško tradicijo. Med njimi so pogosti zlasti tisti, katerih otroci so
živeli v Sloveniji že pred vojno v Bosni in Hercegovini, in želijo, da bi njdiove starše
pokopali po slovenskih šegah. Sorodniki umrlih določajo, po kateri kulturni praksi bo
potekal pokop. Prav tako nekateri begunci in begunke, ki so se že akulturirali v sloven-
sko družbo, sprejemajo njene šege ob smrti.
\ečina Bošnjakov, Bošnjakinj v begunstvu v Sloveniji pa pri pokopu upošteva nasle-
dnje obrede: Ko umre moški ali ženska, ostane telo v hiši en dan.^ Za pripravo telesa
umrlega in za same pogrebne šege je značdna delitev dela po spolu. Ce umre moški,
njegovo truplo pripravita hodža, religiozni učitelj v srednji šoli, ali imam, prav tako reli-
giozni vodja. Oba opravljata enake naloge.' Ce umre ženska, njeno telo pripravi bula, reli-
giozna inštruktorica za ženske. Telesa umrlih umijejo in ovijejo v čefm, tkanino. Pomen
čefimi je v tem, da pridejo vsi enaki, vse enake pred boga. Žalujoči ne nosijo črnine. Vča-
sih so ženske nosile ruto, danes jo le nekatere. Po bošnjaški tradiciji na grobove ne nosijo
rož, saj menijo, da so dejanja Muslimanov tista, ki so najpomembnejša. Pod vplivom slo-
venskih pogrebnih obredov nosijo rože na grobove tudi nekateri Bošnjaki in Bošnjakinje.
* Pomanjkanje prostora v begunskih centrih je včasih preprečilo navado, da je umrla oseba ostala doma en dan.
' Beseda imam izvira iz arabščine, beseda hodža pa ima nacionalno, poUučno konotacijo.
326
Smrt in žalovanje v begunsUTi: Bošnjaki. Bošnjakinje v Sloveniji
Pogreb imenujejo dženaza. Udeležujejo se ga labko le moški. Hodža uči koran na
grobu, vsi molijo, na primer, kabursko dovo, ki je posebna molitev za to priložnost. Ženske
včasih počakajo ob pokopališčih ali pripravljajo hrano doma. Ko se moški vrnejo po po-
grebu, imajo tevhid, to so po opredehtvi Bringe "islamske kolektivne molitve za duše
umrlih" (1995: 256). Zraven pijejo sokove in jedo. Sedem dni po pogrebu je še en tevhid,
enako po štiridesetih dneh. Končni obred po štiridesetih dneh se imenuje četeresnica in
označuje konec intenzivnega procesa žalovanja. Ženskam je po tem dnevu dovoljeno, da
gredo iz hiše, moškim pa tako in tako ni bOo potrebno ostati v hiši 40 dni. Po tem času se
moški lahko spet poročijo, zlasti če imajo otroke. Za ženske pravijo, da se jim ni treba po-
novno poročiti, čeprav včasih se. Po letu dni je proces žalovanja končan.
Ponovni pokopi so se začeh kmalu po koncu vojne, takoj ko je bilo spet varno po-
tovati po Bosni in Hercegovini. Vendar pa prekopavanja niso prav pogosta. Večino be-
guncev in begunk, zlasti starejših, ki so umrli v begunstvu v Sloveniji po koncu bosan-
ske vojne, so pokopali v njihovi domovini. V pogovorih, ki sem jih imela s pripadniki,
pripadnicami te socialne skupine, so pogosto izrazili, izrazile željo, da ne želijo biti po-
kopani, pokopane v tujini. V okupiranih območjih Bosne in Hercegovine, kot je, na
primer. Republika srbska, Bošnjakov in Bošnjakinj še vedno ne morejo pokopavati v
njihovih vaseh in mestih, zato jih pokopljejo v krajih, ki so najbližji njihovim domovom.
Glede na religijo muslimanov se po smrti začne večno življenje. Tisti, ki je delal
dobra dela, bo šel v dženet, nebesa, tisti, ki pa je delal slabe stvari, bo šel v džehenen,
pekel. Sojenje bo potekalo pred bogom, ki bo presojal o dobrih in slabih delih. Na sod-
ni dan bodo mrtvi spet oživeli. Smrt je božja volja, zato se moški ali ženska proti njej ne
moreta boriti. Ker pa je smrt le pot na drugi svet, naj je ne bi jemali preveč dramatično,
zato preveč čustveno izražanje žalosti ni kulturno zaželeno. Hodža, bula in imam
obiščejo žalujočega po pogrebu. Spomnijo ga, da je smrt posledica božje volje. Njihova
naloga je tudi, da nadzirajo čustva žalosti in spomnijo žalujočega, da je življenje večno
in je smrt le prehod na drugi svet. Naslednji govor, katerega namen je povezati življenje
in smrt, včasih govorijo pred ali po dženazi:
"Dragi bratje! Danes smo se zbrali, da pospremimo našega brata ali sestro, in vsi
tukaj prisotni moramo to razumeti kot sporočdo, da smo vsi smrtniki in da bo za vsake-
ga od nas prišel čas smrti. Danes se naš brat (sestra) vrača svojemu Stvaritelju. Vsak je
kdaj grešd in potrebuje halaf', zato dragi bratje, ali ste pripravljeni halaliti našemu bra-
tu vse? Alah je z njim zadovoljen."
Begunski zbirni centri v Sloveniji funkcionirajo kot prostori kolektivnega žalovanja.
Kar nekaj ljudi se je preseldo v zbirne begunske centre iz zasebnih namestitev, da so
lahko deldi izkušnje vojne in begunstva in dobdi socialno podporo. To je bdo še zlasti
značdno za obdobje vojne v Bosni m Hercegovini, ko so se čustvene vezi v skupnosti okre-
pde. Sohdarnost so izražali, izražale na različne načine. V enem izmed begunskih zbirndi
centrov v Ljubljani, na primer, ženi niso povedali, da ji je na fronti v Bosni in Hercegovini
umrl mož, saj so menili, da fizično in psihično ni dovolj močna, da bi lahko sprejela žalo-
stilo novico. Počakali so, da postane močnejša in sposobnejša prenesti izgubo.
halah oprostiti komu
327
Natalija \rečer
Sklep
Največja razlika med tradicionalnim pokopom v Bosni in Hercegovini in v Sloveniji
je, da morajo Bošnjaki, Bošnjakinje v slednjem uporabljati krsto namesto tabuta, ki je, če
si spet sposodim opredelitev Bringe, "krsta brez pokrova, ki jo uporabljajo Bošnjaki, Bo-
šnjakinje, ko nesejo telo umrlega h grobu" (1995:256). Na nekaterih pokopališčdi, kot na
primer na ljubljanskem, ne smejo obrniti kaburja, groba, in mejta, trupla, z desno stranjo
proti Meki. Na nekaterdi pokopališčih jim dovolijo, da dajo nekaj zemlje pod krsto, v Lju-
bljani, na primer, jim to ni dovoljeno. Mesto Maribor je lahko v tem primeru za zgled, saj
tam Bošnjaki in Bošnjakinje lahko dokončajo pogrebne obrede v skladu s svojo tradicijo,
izjema je le obvezna uporaba krste. Prav tako je Maribor eno izmed redkih mest v Slove-
niji, v katerem so grobovi Bošnjakov in Bošnjakinj skupaj, kot to določa njihova tradicija.
Multikulturni pristop tega mesta v smislu pogrebnih obredov Bošnjakov in Bošnjakinj
dokazuje, da upoštevanje kulturne različnosti ni grožnja 'homogenosti' družbe, temveč
pomeni korak bližje k enakopravni civdni družbi.
Upam, da sem tudi s svojim pisanjem dokazala, da upoštevanje kulturne različno-
sti ni ekonomski problem (in tudi, če bi včasih bil), temveč problem razumevanja, tole-
rantnosti in spoštovanja tujih kulturnih praks.
Sklepne šege ob smrti Bošnjakov in Bošnjakinj nas lahko marsikaj naučijo o obre-
dih, ki olajšujejo procese žalovanja. To pa je nekaj, kar bi bilo vredno iskati v naši na
pol izgubljeni tradiciji, ki bi jo bilo mogoče potrebno na novo izumiti - zlasti, kot se
zdi, v mestih.
LITERATURA
BRINGA Tone (1995), Being Muslim the Bosnian Way: Identity and Community in a Central Bosnian Village, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press.
B.\SK.\USK.4S Liucija (1981), "The Lithuanian Refugee Experience and Grief, v: International Migration Review,
Vol. XV, No. 1-2, str. 276-292.
EISENBRUCH Maurice (1984), "Cross-Cultural Aspects of Bereavement. I: .\ Conceptual Framework for Comparative
.Ajialysis", v: Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 8, str. 283-309.
EISENBRUCH Maurice (1990), "Cultural Bereavement and Homesickness", v: Fisher S. and Cooper C. L. Ore the
Move: the Psychology of Change and Transition, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., str. 191-205.
E1SENBRU(T1 Maurice (1991), "The Survival of Cambodian Culture through the Traditional Healer: A Responsibili-
ty in International Mental Health", Plenary session paper on 21 August, 1991 World Congress, World Federa-
tion for Mental Health, Mexico 18-23 .\ugust 1991.
ENGLUND Harri (1998), "Death. Trauma and Ritual: Mozambican Refugees in Malawi", v: Social Science Medicine,
VoL46, No. 9, str. 1165-1174.
FIRTH Shirlev (1997). Dying. Death and Bereavement in a British Hindu Community, Leuven: Peeters.
FLAMM Paul (1994 a), "Tbe Role of Ritual in Mourning: A Theoretical Background", Oxford: Refugee Studies Pro-
gramme, neobjavljeno gradivo.
FLAMM Paid (1994 b), "Tbe Role of Ritual in Mourning in die Rwandan Oisis", Oxford: Refugee Studies Program-
me, neobjavljeno gradivo.
FREUD Sigmund (1917), "Mourning and Melancholia", v: The Standard Edition of the Complete Psycholagical Works of
Sigmund Freud (\dlume       London: The Hogardi Press and the Institute of Psycho-.\nalysis, str. 239-261.
H ARRELL-BOND Barbara E. and WUson Ken B. (1990), "Dealing with Dying: Some Anthropological Reflections on
the Need for .Assistance by Refugee Relief Programmes for Bereavement and Burial", v: Journal of Refugee
Studies Vol. 3, No. 3, str. 229-243.
328
Smrt in žalovanje v begunst\4i: Bošnjaki. Bošnjakinje v Sloveniji
MALKKI Liisa H. (1995), "Refugees and Exile: From 'Refugee Studies' to the National Order of Things, v: Durham
William H. (ed.), Annual Revieiv of Anthropolog,- 24: str. 495-523.
ROSENBLATT Paul C, Walsh Patricia R., Jackson A. Douglas (1976), Grief ami Mourning in Cross Cultural Perspec-
tive, Združene države Amerike: Hraf Press.
SANDERS Catherine M. (1989), Grief: The Mourning After: Dealing with Adult Bereavement, New York: John Wiley &
Sons.
329
DEATH, GRIEF AND MOURNING IN EXILE:
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS IN SLOVENIA
330
Natalija Vrečer
Key words; grief, mourning, (cultural) bereavement, exiled Bosnian Muslims, refugees, Slovenia
Introduction
For the purpose of this article 1 decided to focus on death, grief and mourning of
Bosnian Muslims in exile in Slovenia. 1 think that any understanding of people in exile
in Slovenia would be incomplete, if we do not take into account their encounter with
death, whether as a threat to their own life which was very often present when they
escaped from their home-country, whether the encounter with death was in a loss of
relatives and friends or whether we decide to face various symbolic deaths that were
characteristic for all the refugees that I met, as all of them suffered many of the fol-
lowing losses: the loss of the home-country with its sociocultural environment, the lan-
guage, employment, school, drastically changed social networks, decrease in standard
etc. Therefore, we can say that mourning processes are characteristic for the life in exi-
le and they occur on personal and collective levels.
The mortuary rituals of the Bosnian Muslims are very specific, they differ from
the Slovenian ones. My thesis is that the absence of integration of refugees in Slovenia
causes some negative consequences also for the mourning processes of refugees. Na-
mely, Muslims in Slovenia can perform the mortuary rituals more or less according to
their cultural tradition, but in some cemeteries they are not allowed to complete those
rituals in accordance with their tradition as 1 wid explain in the concluding part of my
paper. 1 argue that the completion of funeral rituals in accordance to their tradition
would enable them to work through the grieving processes more effectively and besi-
des, it would not represent additional costs for the Slovenian state.
In this paper 1 would like to present you some statistical data on refugees in Slove-
nia, to describe methodology, to give definitions of the concepts used, to analyse litera-
ture on death, grief, mourning and bereavement, which influenced literature of the
same topic in exile from the cross-cultural perspective, to analyse literature on death.
Death, Grief and Mournins; in Exile; Bosnian MusUms in Slovenia
grief, mourning and cultural bereavement in exile and to describe briefly mortuary ri-
tuals of Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia. Through the text I will also try to give some re-
commendations for the improved policy toward refugee question regarding the sphere
of death, especially regarding the situation of Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia.
Keftigees in Sleveiiia amtl Methodology
First refugees (Croats) started to come to Slovenia soon after its independence in
June 1991. Bosnian Muslims joined them in 1992. In September 1993 there were 35.000
refugees in Slovenia and a few thousand of those whose status was illegal.' The status of
Bosnian refugees was and still is considered temporary. In legal terms, according to the
Slovenian Law of Temporary Asylum from 1997, they are considered asylum seekers, na-
mely, Slovenia has only three refugees according to the Geneva Convention about a Status
of Refugee from 1951. The Law of Temporary Asylum allows them to be employed only
eight hours per week. Repatriation from Slovenia is gradual, it is not forced. Nowadays
(April 1999), there are about 3500 refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Slovenia, appro-
ximately 80% are Bosnian Mushms. Approximately half of them live in ten refugee cen-
tres, the rest of them live in private arrangements. There are additional 2500 refugees
from Kosovo without a legal status yet, namely, they neither have a status of refugees ac-
cording to Geneva Convention from 1951, neither of asylum seekers according to the Slo-
venian Law of Temporary Asylum, but of foreigners before deportation.^
The absence of integration of refugees is characteristic for Slovenia. Children and
adolescents attend schools, therefore, they integrate into the Slovenian society more than
other social groups. Thus, they have the opportunity to learn Slovene, while most of their
parents remain in the refugee collective centres and do not have many opportunities to
mix with the host population. The refugees in Slovenia are left in the uncertainty of their
temporary status, in the so called "limbo" and wad for die repatriation. Their situation
resembles Waiting for Godo's story as their houses in Bosnia-Herzegovina are destroyed
or occupied by die Serbs (especially in the Republika srbska) and die prospects for the re-
turn are unsure, fixed somewhere in the distant future.
The method of my research was ethnographic. From August 1992 to December
1994 I did the fieldwork in Celje, from January 1995 untd now in Ljubljana, 1 also visi-
ted refugee camp in Maribor
Definitions
Let me first define the concepts grief, mourning, bereavement and cultural berea-
vement that 1 use in the paper The concepts grief, mourning and bereavement are of-
ten used interchangeably. However, there are differences in meaning. By grief I mean
' I would like to thank the governmental Office for Immigration and Refugees for the statistical data.
^ In AprU 1999 Slovenia decided to accept another 1600 refugees from Kosovo who are entering the Slovenian
state gradually and to reactivate the Slovenian Law of Temporary Asylum which will be valid also for die refugees
from Kosovo.
331
Natalija Vrečer
different emotions that arise from the response to loss. Among these emotions Rosen-
blatt, Walsh and Jackson (1976; 9) enumerate sorrow, anxiety, guilt, loneliness, anger,
fear, numbness and general tension. According to Firth, mourning is the way in which
such emotions are expressed, "often in a culturally determined ways, and often for a
specified time in a particular society" (1997: 9). To define bereavement 1 will use Rosen-
blatt, Walsh and Jackson's definition: bereavement is ..."the period of time following a
death, during which grief occurs, and also the state experiencing grief (1976: 2). Ei-
senbruch defines cultural bereavement as a loss of culture and society (1990). In this
way cultural bereavement encompasses collective grief and refers to various symbolic
deaths and to the experience of exde as a whole.
Death, Grief, MoMrning and Bereavement in Cross-
Cnltural Perspective: Studies that Influenced those
with the Same Topic in Exile
For the purpose of this article I will mention only the main authors who influen-
ced the literature on death, grief, mourning and bereavement in exile. One of the ear-
liest and StiU one of the most important was definitely Freud's essay on Mourning and
Melancholia (1917). In this essay he uses the word mourning interchangeably with grief
and melancholia refers to what is now called depression. One of the main contributions
of Freud's work is that he paid attention to the intrapsychic processes which occur du-
ring the losses. According to Freud grieving is a process that has to be worked through
in order to be completed and gradual withdrawal of libido or the emotional energy is
needed from the lost object in order to be reinvested into a new object. The main impli-
cations of Freud's work for the refugee studies are the following:
1. Grieving is a normal process and certain lapse of time is needed for this the so
caUed grief work to be worked through, therefore it is not a pathological reac-
tion. However, Freud also gives a very good insight into situations in which the
inhd)ited grief would appear. That people and particularly refugees need time
to grieve' is a finding which is echoed later also by many authors as, for exam-
ple, (Englund: 1998, Eisenbruch: 1984, HarreU-Bond and Wdson: 1990) who
emphasized that especiaUy western trained health professionals should give
time to the refugees to work through the grieving and mourning processes and
not to pathologize their reactions as it is stid too often the case. However, the
belief that grief is an dlness, is still present, especially among psychologists and
some psychiatrists as, for example, Engel (1961), Sanders (1989) etc. Sanders
describes the emotions of grief as symptoms and, unfortunately, she does not
seem to be the only one who approaches normal reactions as symptoms.
2. In Freud's opinion depression is "in some way related to an object-loss which is
withdrawn from consciousness, in contradistinction to mourning, in which die-
re is nothing about the loss that is unconscious" (1917: 245). In refugee situa-
^ The emphasis is mine.
332
Death, Grief and Mourning in Exile: Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia
tion when many losses occur at the same time, we can suspect that some of them
and the way of their intertwining (cf to Malkki 1995) might be hidden from re-
fugee's consciousness and therefore even more difficuk to work through.
In order to explain the stages of the grief processes, many authors draw on
psychology. Baškauskas (1981) writes about the Lithuanian refugees in the USA and
follows Marris's stages in grief process which are conservatism, bereavement and inno-
vation. According to die psychologist Sanders (1989), these stages are the following:
1. shock
2. awareness
3. conservation-withdrawal
4. healing-the turning point
5. renewal
In spite of the fact that such analysis is sometimes useful, we have to be careful
not to apply these generalizations universally. They differ from culture to culture and
we can expect that also from one individual to another (cf to Stroebe, in: Firth 1997:
9/10). Every individual in every society experiences losses during his life time as conse-
quences of lost attachments, therefore grief is present in every culture. However, there
are many differences in mourning processes in different sociocultural environments.
There are also differences in the emotional expressions of grief as well.
Rosenblatt, Walsh and Jackson did the research in 78 cultures on the basis of eth-
nographic descriptions. One of their findings is also, for example, that the repression of
feelings is in some cultures considered normal (Bali), while in some other cultures it is
important to retain ties with the deceased (Egypt).
Most of the literature focuses on the role of ritual in mourning. Flamm's review
gives a theoretical background of this topic and focuses on the anthropological and
psychological literature.
One of the most frequently quoted authors is Hertz who saw "mortuary rites as
reflections of the social order which in turn is the objective expression of the concepts
and values of a given society" (quoted in Flamm 1994 a: 4). However, Bloch and Parry
claim that the rituals bring about the social order and view these rituals as a political
exercise used to legitimate the existing authority within a society (1982, quoted in
Flamm 1994 a: 6).
Rosenblatt, Walsh and Jackson drew on Van Gennep and viewed mortuary rituals
as "providing status passage, both for the dead and for the bereaved. A dead person,
over the cycle of deatb ceremonies, is passed from the land of the living to the land of
the dead; a bereaved person is passed from the state of the mourner to the state of the
nonmourner" (1976: 7).
Leach wrote that there seems to be an agreement that ritual is an universal featu-
re of human societies. According to him, ritual is a social phenomenon which commu-
nicates the basic concepts and values of a given society. Funeral rituals also help the
mourner to re-integrate into society and enable the wider social group to maintain its
continuity and to re-affirm its own values and beliefs (in: Flamm 1994 a: 8-9).
333
Natalija Vrečer
Many authors also emphasize that the lack of mortuary rituals once the funeral is
over in Western societies creates further problems for the bereaved as there is no final
ceremony which would put a time limit on the bereavement period and in this way grief
is prolonged (Rosenblatt, Walsh & Jackson 1976, Firth 1997 etc.).
Other important authors are Van Gennep (1908), Durkheim (1915), Goody
(1962), Radcliffe-Brown (1964), Gorer (1965), Turner (1969), Munroz (1984), Bloch
and Parry (1982), Bloch (1988), etc.
Tlie Cress-Cnltmral Literature on Grief, Moiiriiimg and
(Ciiltiiral) Bereaveiiieiit in ЕжИе
It started to appear in the 80's, when refugee studies were established as a special
academic discipline. A fact that is very often mentioned is that the absence of the insti-
tutionalized mourning processes in exde prolongs the duration of grief as no culture is
known to have special rituals for cultural bereavement. Namely, it seems to be a cross-
cultural fact that there are not known any mourning practices other than those regar-
ding death of relatives.
One of the key authors is definitely Eisenbruch, a psychiatrist and an anthropolo-
gist, who warned that refugees who are deprived of adequate mortuary rituals might expe-
rience arrested grief (1990). He considers the culture maintenance an important adjust-
ment mechanism in exde. Eisenbruch researched Cambodian refugees in the USA and
Australia and found out that "the well-being of refugees was improved when they were
allowed to validate their beliefs through culturally appropriate rituals and behaviour"
(1990:193). Mortuary rituals, beside other rituals, therefore, play a very important role in
the grief processes of refugees. Eisenbruch's another important point is his plea for aU
involved in refugee matters to try to"understand the refugee's cultural construction of
reality", namely, many exiles nurture a hope of return and wish to live in the past and do
not want to loose their attachment to, for example, homeland (1990: 200). Thus "living in
the past" very often reconstitutes the sense of identity which was disrupted by war.
Many authors emphasized the need for mortuary rituals to be performed and com-
pleted according to the cultural tradition of refugees and that in many parts of the world
it is not so as, for example, HarreU-Bond and Wdson report for Africa. According to these
authors dealing with dying is an area of social life in which people are less wdling to
adjust to new patterns (1990:230). They, therefore, consider it important to investigate
how refugees cope with death under assistance programmes in order to help to imple-
ment them. It seems to be a cross-cultural fact that there is no food given by humanitarian
aid for social gatherings around funeral and other mortuary rites. This is true also for
Slovenia and also, for example, Africa as HarreU-Bond and Wdson report. In Slovenia re-
fugees get almost ad the costs of the funeral covered by the Slovenian Office for Refugees
and Immigrants, but in many places in the world they have to pay themselves (Africa).
HarreU-Bond and Wdson (1990) also suggest that refugee assisting agencies should spon-
sor war memorials in refugee camps and setdements if they exist in their country.
334
Death, Grief and Mourning in Exile: Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia
As refugees most usually escape from sociopolitical and military persecution, the
traditional culture in their home country is often suppressed and endangered. In the
cross4;ultural literature on death, grief and bereavement in exile we find examples,
where the exile represented the only possibility for the continuation of traditional cul-
ture. Such an example are the Lithuanians exiled in the USA after the second world
war While in post second world war Soviet Union intensive processes of rusification
were occuring, the Lithuanians in the USA had a chance to practice and preserve their
traditional culture (Baškauskas 1981). Another example are resettled Cambodians in
Australia and the USA fleeing from Pol Pot regime in the seventies.
Traditional healers and religious instructors play very important role in preser-
ving traditional culture in exile. The traditional healers of exiled Cambodians are cal-
led kruus. They help people to overcome cultural bereavement and function as "reposi-
tories of cultural knowledge" (Eisenbruch 1991: 2). They function as mediators, bro-
kers between the bereaved individual and the society. Beside helping the bereaved to
become integrated into the society, they also control public articulation of private emo-
tions of grief Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia also have religious instructors who perform
that role, which I will explain later on in the text.
The above-mentioned examples show us that grief processes in exile can also be
very constructive processes that result, for example, in preserving the endangered tra-
ditional culture. This is another proof that the emotions of grief are normal reactions
and can not be pathologized. 1 would echoe Malkki's words that "...although many re-
fugees have survived violence and loss that are literally beyond the imagination of most
people, we must not assume that refugee status in and of itself constitutes a recogniza-
ble, generalizable psychological condition" (Malkki 1995: 510).
Some other authors who dealt with the theme of grief, mourning and (cultural)
bereavement in exile are: Eastmond (1988), Flamm (1994 a, b). Woodcock (1991) etc.
Mortuary Rituals of Bosnian Muslim Refugees in
Slovenia
The funerals of Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia resemble those in Bosnia-Herze-
govina, but very often with the exception of the final stage of the funeral. However,
in some Slovenian cemeteries, they adow Bosnian Muslims to finish their funeral
practices according to their tradition to a greater extent and in some to a lesser ex-
tent as 1 win explain at the end. 1 also have to emphasize that those Muslims who are
not very religious (especially communists) do not practice all of the traditional prac-
tices. Among them are also children of some refugees who lived in Slovenia for deca-
des before the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and want to have their parents buried near
them and sometimes according to the Slovenian practices. Namely, the relatives of
the deceased decide which cultural practices will be followed at the burial. Some of
those refugees who have already acculturated to the Slovenian society sometimes ac-
cept its mortuary practices.
335]
Natalija Vrečer
However, most of the Bosnian Mushms in exile in Slovenia follow the following
mortuary rituals. When a man or a woman dies, the body stays in the house one day.^ A
gendered division of labour is characteristic for the preparation of the dead body and
also for the funeral. If a man dies, hodža, a religious secondary school teacher or imam,
who is also a religious leader, prepare the body for the funeral. Their roles are inter-
changeable.^ If a woman dies, bula, who is a female religious instructor, prepares her
body. Bodies are washed and wrapped in ćefin, a shroud. The meaning of čefin is that
everybody will come in front of god the same. Those who mourn do not wear black, it
was a tradition that women wore scarf, nowadays only some women wear it. According
to the Muslim tradition, flowers are not to be put on the grave as it is believed that the
deeds of the Muslims are the most important. However, because of the influence of the
Slovenian mortuary rites, some Bosnian Muslims also bring flowers on graves.
The funeral of Bosnian Muslims is called džeimza, only men are aUowed to attend
it. Hodža teaches Koran on the grave and they teU prayers, as, for example, kaburska
dova, which is a special prayer for this occasion. Women sometimes wait outside the ceme-
tery or prepare food at home. ^Tien men return home after the funeral, they have tevhid,
which are, according to Bringa's definition, "Islamic collective prayers for the souls of the
dead" (1995: 256). They also drink juices and eat. Seven days after the funeral there is
another tevhid, as well as on the 40"' day and very often after a year. The final ceremony
forty days after the burial is called četeresnica, which marks the ending of the intensive
mourning process. Women are aUowed to go out of the house now, however, it was not
necessary for men to stay in the house for 40 days. After that time men are adowed to re-
marry, especially if they have chddren, women, they say, do not need to remarry again,
although they sometimes do. After one year the mourning process is supposed to end.
Reburials started to occur soon after the end of war, when it became safe to travel
to Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, reburials are not very frequent. Many refugees who
die in exde in Slovenia after the Bosnian war are buried in their home country, espe-
cially the elderly. In our conversations the members of this social group frequendy ex-
pressed a wish that they do not want to be buried in a foreign country. In the occupied
places of Bosnia-Herzegovina as it is the Republika srbska, for example, they still can
not be buried in their villages and towns, therefore they bury diem in the places which
are nearest to their real homes.
According to Muslim religion the eternal life starts after death. The one who did
good deeds will go to dženet, heaven, the one who did bad deeds will go to džehenen,
hell. Judgement will occur in front of God, where good and evil deeds will be judged.
When the judgement day will occur, all the dead wid become alive again. Death is god's
destiny, a man or a woman can not fight against death. As death is only the way to the
other world, it should not be taken very dramatically, therefore too many emotional
expressions of grief are not culturady appropriate. Hodža, bula and imam visit the be-
reaved after the burial. They remind the bereaved that death was a consequence of
* The lack of space in refugee centres sometimes prevented the custom that a dead person stayed at home
for a day.
^ The word imam derives from .Arabic, while the word hodža is a national notion, with a political connotation.
336
Death, Grief and Mourning in ЕхЦе: Bosnian Muslims in Slovenia
god's will. It is the task of hodža, bula and imam to control the emotions of grief and to
remind the bereaved that life is eternal and death is merely a passage to another world.
The following speech, the intention of which is to connect life and death, is sometimes
spoken before or after dženaza:
"Dear brothers! We have gathered today to see our brother or sister off and all of
us present here should take that as a message, that we are all mortals and the time of
death wdl come for us, too. Today our brother (sister) is returning to his (her) Creator
Everybody has once sinned and he (she) needs halaf, so dear brothers, are you wiUing
to halaV our brother for everything? Allah is satisfied with him".
Refugee collective centres in Slovenia function as places of collective grief. Quite
a number of people moved to the centres from private arrangements in order to share
their war and exile experiences and get social support. This was especially characteri-
stic during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina when the feelings of community were stren-
ghtened. Solidarity was expressed in different ways. In one of the refugee collective cen-
tres in Ljubljana, they, for example, did not tell a woman that her husband died on the
front in Bosnia-Herzegovina, because they considered her physically and psychologicaL
ly too weak. They waited that she would get stronger and would be able to face the loss.
Comeliisioii
What differs from the traditional burial from Bosnia-Herzegovina is that in Slove-
nia they have to use coffins instead of tabut, which is, if 1 borrow Bringa's definition
again "a lidless coffin used by Muslims for carrying a dead body to the grave" (1995:
256). In some towns as, for example in Ljubljana, they also can not orient kabur, the
grave and mejt, which is the body of the dead person with their right sides towards Mec-
ca. In some cemeteries they are allowed to shovel the earth underneath the grave them-
selves, not in Ljubljana, for example. Maribor can set an example, because refugees the-
re are allowed to compTlete all the mortuary rituals according to their cultural tradi-
tion, the only exception is the obligatory use of the coffin. Maribor is also one of the
rare towns in Slovenia, in which the graves of Muslims are together as their tradition
demands. This city's multiculturalist approach regarding mortuary rituals of Bosnian
Muslims proves that acknowledging cultural diversity is not a threat to the 'homogenei-
ty' of society, but a step toward more egalitarian civil society.
I hope that I have proved once again diat acknowledging cultural diversity is not
a financial matter (and even if it would sometimes be so), but a matter of understan-
ding, tolerance and respect for foreign cultural practices.
The final ceremonies of Bosnian Muslims can also teach us about very appropria-
te mortuary rituals for working through the grief and this may be something important
to search for in our half-forgotten tradition, maybe to reinvent it again, as it seems it
would be needed at least in the cities.
' halal = that we forgive him
in original: hakiliti
337
Natalija Vrečer
LITERATURE see page 328
3381
BESEDA O AVTORICI
Natalija Vrečer. mag., piše doktorat o antro-
pologiji beguncev in begunk na Oddelku za etnolo-
gijo in kulturno antropologijo, Filozofska fakulte-
ta, Ljubljana. Zaposlena je na Mirovnem inštitutu
v Ljubljani. Njen strokovni interes je zlasti v pre-
pletanju psihološke in feministične antropologije z
begunskimi študijami in problematiko človekovih
pravic. Objavila je številne članke iz omenjenih
(pod)disciplin in uredila zbornik Vsakdanje živ-
ljenje beguncev in beguidi v Sloveniji. ^
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natalija Vrečer. M. A. is in the writing pha-
se of the Ph.D. about the anthropology of refugees
at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural An-
thropology, Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana. She is em-
ployed at the Peace Institute, Ljubljana. Her scien-
tific interest hes in the intertwining of psychologi-
cal anthropology, feminist anthropology, refugee
studies and human rights issues. She has pu-
blished several articles from the above (sub)disci-
plines and edited a miscellany The Everyday Life
of Refugees in Slovenia.
THE PROBLEM OF LONGEVITY AND DEATH IN
DAOISM
Maja Milčinski
IZVLEČEK
Problem do^oiivosti in smrti v daoismu
Članek obravnava odnosa Zhuang Zija in Lie Zija do resnice na primeru njunih pojmovanj smrti in njune
opise intuitivnega razumevanja Poti, do katerega sta pogosto prišla prek razsvetljenja. Poleg razumevanja
jezika sta postavila v ospredje zanimanja smrt, saj njuni filozofski diskurzi ne gradijo na izkušnjah resnic
pri razmišljanju o svetu, temveč na bivanju v svetu, ki pa, seveda, vključuje tudi probleme dolgoživosti,
življenja in smrti (kot pomembnega dela procesa življenja) ter različnih praks, povezanih z eksistenco tele-
sa, postajanja, spreminjanja in izginjanja. Zhuang Zi-jeva in Lie Zi-jeva pojmovanja so soočena z evropski-
mi modeli soočanja s smrtjo. Za slednje so značilni usodna zanemarjenost neznana magičrm sila, ki napra-
vi človeka nemočnega, ko se sooči s smrtjo; na smrt se gleda kot na božjo kazen; proces je mogoče racional-
no opazovati, vendar le, ko umira nekdo drug, ne mi sami; zadržani poskusi asimiliranja idej o smrti.
Predstavljene so različne podobe smrti iz kitajskih filozofskih in religijskih virov. Posebna pozornost je
usmerjena v Lie Zi-jevo sedmo poglavje, kjer poteka pogovor med mojstrom in enim izmed njegovih ucerwev
o temeljnih dilemah človeške eksistence. Poudarek je na treh stopnjah te debate, kije še vedno tako aktual-
na kot takrat, ko je bilo besedilo Lie Zi napisano:
- prva stopnja: o nezmožnosti doseganja nesmrtnosti
- druga stopnja: o absurdnosti poskusov doseganja dolgoživosti
- tretja stopnja: o danih perspektivah čhveške eksistence in smislu ter nesmislu samomora.
Kljucne besede! kitajska filozofija, daoizem, smrt, samomor, nesmrtnost
Key words: Chinese philosophy, daoism, death, suicide, immortality
The stories known under the names Zhuang Zi and Lie Zi present the masters as
mystics to whom the emptiness and silence are their homeland and again next time as
wise men who confronted with the basic existential questions that vividly burn every-
one are staying very much down to earth while confronting the disciples who grow
dumb at their answers.
This second side of Lie Zi - be it a real man of flesh and blood, or just a imaginary
group of wise and unknown people who most probably at the time of their lives have not
339
Maja Milčinski
even known for one and the other - wdl be presented here on the basis of one of the sto-
ries, or better a dialogue, which is given in the text known as Lie Zi.' 1 shad aUow myself
to construct also a commentary to the story in his style, not as an abstract phdosophical
tractatus, but as into our time (and into European world) moved image of a human being
who is writhing with burden of existentials, which are not spared to anyone of us.
As for the problem of life in death, 1 would like, before moving to Lie Zi mention
also two Zhuang Zi's understandings of life and death.
"So it is said, with the sage, his life is the working of Heaven, his death the trans-
formation of things. /.../ His life is a floating, his death a rest. He does not ponder or
scheme, does not plot for the future. A man of light, he does not shine; of good faith, he
keeps no promises. He sleeps without dreaming, wakes without worry. His spirit is pure
and clean, his soul never wearied. In emptiness, nonbeing, and limpidity, he joins with
the Virtue of Heaven."^ or:
"Life is the companion of death, death is the beginning of life. Who understands
their workings? Man's hfe is a coming togehter of breath. If it comes together, there is
life; if it scatters, there is death. And if life and death are companions to each other,
then what is there for us to be anxious about."'
To reach the point where life and death become "unimportant" to us, so that we
look upon them with equanimity, we have to dive into the Void. This idea we also meet
elsewhere. With the Daoists and in Buddhism, it is not directly connected with the dia-
logue about Emptiness; instead, the debate is about Dao, Nothingness, the search for
truth, and the meaning of life and death. At the beginning of all these quests, the illu-
sion of a stable Ego that continues on and on appears as an obstacle. Around this illu-
sion, a system of categorizing phenomena builds up, trapping a person in stereotyped
evaluations of things and events.
This is also the case in the dialogue from the Lie Zi* in which two persons appear:
Yang Zi - a learned and experienced man and Meng Sun Yang who could be also
somebody from todays world, who might, although healthy, entering the advanced age
feel and anticipate that his bodily and mental functions are slowly drying up. After the
years spent in prosperity and in accumulation of learning, the life events have remind-
ed him of a "a very simple, clear, and rather foolish truth, the truth, that is not easy to
discover, and very painful to bear, namely, 'that the people die and are not happy'".^
When on horizon the death appears he starts the search for immortality. This is where
the story begins:
"Meng Sun Yang asked Yang Chu:
'Suppose that a man values his live and takes care of his body;
' Lie Zi ji shi. Zhonghua shuju. Beijing, 1985. The quotations for this paper are taken from the English tran-
slation of Lie Zi: The Book of Lieh-Tzu, A.C.Graham (trans.). Columbia University Press, New York, 1990.
^ Chuang-tzu. The Inner Chapters, A.C.Graham (trans.). Unwin Paperbacks, London, 1981, p. 168-169.
' Ibid., p. 235.
♦ Ibid. 1., p. 147-148.
^ Camus, A., Caligula. GaUimard, Paris, 1984.
340
The Problem of Longevity and Death in Daoism
may we hope by such means to hve for ever?'
'It is impossible to hve for ever.""'
Meng Sun Yang might have, ahhough with anxiety expect such an answer As
much as the religious Daoism (daojiao) after all its alchemical undertakings could not
offer the magical elkir, which would enable the human being to reach immortality, did
also the European science, although in a more concealed manner, nurture such aspira-
tions. They were as unsuccessful as the ones of Daoists.
Ereud has shown how deeply rooted this aspiration is':
"Our relation (towards death) has not been sincere. During conversation we have
been prepared to defend the standpoint that death is an unavoidable outcome of every-
thing alive, that everybody of us by one's nature is bound for one's death and has to be
prepared to settle the debt, since death is something natural and cannot be denied or
avoided. However in everyday reality we usually behave as that it would be completely
different. We have been very open to disclose the tendency to shove the death aside, to
exclude it from hfe. We have tried to conceal it; since there exist even a proverb: 'I have
been thinking about this as much as about my own death.' Namely, not at all. Our own
death cannot even be imagined and as soon as we try it, we realize, that we are just the
observers. According to this, in the psychoanalytic school we would risk such a formula-
tion: In essence, nobody really believes in one's own deatb, which is actually the same
as: Subconsciously we are all sure into our own immortality."
i\nybody who is able to assimilate such an insight is alreadv quite far. however we
are not sure if Meng Sun Yang succeeded in it, since he continues with his questions to
the master, who padently keeps on answering him:
'"May he hope to prolong his life?'
'It is impossible to prolong life. Valuing life cannot preserve it, taking care of the
body cannot do it good. Besides, what is the point of prolonging life? Our five passions,
our likes and dislikes, are the same now as they were of old. We have heard it already,
seen it already, experienced it already. Even a hundred years is enough to satiate us;
could we endure the bitterness of still longer life?"^
Could Meng Sun Yang realize that with such questions he is still - although
through the back door - pushing for immortality. In this regard one of Bible's story.
The Book of Job, is very instrucdve. It starts as:
"There lived in the land of Uz a man of blameless and upright life named Job,
who feared God and set his face against wrongdoing. He had seven sons and three
daughters; and he owned seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, five hun-
dred yoke of oxen and five hundred asses, with a large number of slaves. Thus Job was
the greatest man in all the East"''
' Ibid. 4. f)
■ trend. S.. Zeitgeniiisses iiber Krieg und Tod. Gesainmelte Werke. S. Fischer V.. Frankfurt/M, 1972, X., p.
323-355.
» Ibid. 1.
" Study Bible. Rev. stand, version. Fyre Spottiswoode. London. 1980. The Book of Job.
341
Maja Milčinski
God took a liking to him, but the evil spirit Satan, persuaded God to test Job
again. Satan assumed that the man was showing honesty, justice and piety only to keep
the big estate that he had been given, and together with this also the reputation which
he was enjoying amongst his people. God followed Satan's inspiration.
Calamities now overcame Job: First, Caldeans stole аП the catde, the thunder bolt
killed all the stablemen, a hurricane destroyed the house and kiUed the children that were
playing there. However, this immense misfortune did not weaken the righteous Job.
"At this Job stood up and rent his cloak; then he shaved his head and fed pros-
trate on the ground, saying:
Naked 1 came from the womb,
naked 1 shall return whence 1 came.
The LORD gives and the LORD takes away;
blessed be the name of the LORD.
Throughout all this Job did not sin; he did not charge God with unreason.'""
This test still did not satisfy Satan. He persuaded God to strike Job also bodily. In
the illness that followed. Job suffered many ulcers over his entire body. He could not
remain in the house and retired to the rubbish-heap. Even his wife made fun out of
him "Are you stid unshaken in your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he answered,
"You talk as any wicked fool of a woman might talk. If we accept good from God, shad
we not accept evil?" Throughout all this. Job did not utter one sinful word.
His friends came for a visit to make some wise statements, such as, "he must have
some heavy sins upon him", that he was so heavily stricken by God. They scolded him
when he begged God to tell him what his guilt was and they said to fear God was wise
and inteUigent and if he did this he would avoid misfortune. He suffered such pains
that he regretted the day he was born.
Finally God in his omnipotence was revealed to Job. "Who is blaming God is re-
sponsible", and to this Job could only answer: "I know now, that you are omnipotent.
That is why 1 relent and 1 repent in dust and ash." The Bible concludes: "Furthermore,
the LORD blessed the end of Job's life more than the beginning; and he had fourteen
thousand head of small catde and six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and as
many she-asses. He had seven sons and three daughters; and he named his eldest
daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Kerenhappuch. There were no
women in all the world so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an
inheritance with their brothers.
Thereafter Job lived another hundred and forty years, he saw his sons and his
grandsons to four generations, and died at a very great age.""
The lesson of this naive story, for which it is not clear how it came into the Bible
is: you wid live long and be blessed on the earth, if of course you will obediently believe
into the anthropomorphic God, who not only is absolutely omniscient and omnipotent,
'«Ibid.
" Ibid.
342
The Problem of Longevity and Death in Daoism
since he has all the time by his side advisor Satan, who can order various additional
tests for the devotedness of single individual to the God. The reward for good behavior
is, as we see, longevity and material prosperity. In Job's story the possibility that Job
might have been rewarded for his loyalty with a period of longevity and prosperity, one
hundred and forty years of life, several thousands of camels, and that die death would
be moving ad calendas Graecas, is not denied.
This in fact, is wed known psychodynamic mechanism of shoving aside of the
unpleasant notions from the field of consciousness, which we saw was very famdiar also
to Meng Sun Yang. Once again Yang Zi placed him on ground while showing him, how
monotonous everything what happens with us in this world from day to day and year to
year is, especially if one sees the world and life from a litde higher perspective. It is
even harder for a person captured into the fringes of intrusive banalities which keep
him in the whirlpool from which one cannot see any outiet.
Such was also Meng Sun Yang's situation who said:
"If it is so, and if destruction is better then prolonged life, you can get what you
want by treading on blades and spearpoints, rushing into and boihng water
Seneca, as we know offered this model and has used it himself "It is not impor-
tant, if a person dies sooner or later, but only if one dies with dignity and has therefore
all the rights to choose the death, which is most convenient for oneself, wrote Seneca
in his 70* letter to "his friend Lucilius".''
However, if we imagine Meng Sung Yang as our contemporary who followed pro-
fessional and social trends, we would know how the suicide rate, especially in Central
Europe is growing and is becoming an entirely legitimate cause of death. Even suicidi-
ologists have started to talk about the right to suicide and recall a booklet with the title
"Suicide, Mode d'Emploi-Histoire-Technique-Actualite?!'* Even International Associa-
tion for Suicide Prevention (lASP) cannot do anything against such trends. Meng Sun
Yang would know that the dictum by St. Augustine (354430) "Qui se ipsum occidit
homicida est'"^ and ad the reprisals, that have been carried in this early Christian era,
are not of any use today.
Yang Zi has transcended such approaches by:
"No. Whde you are alive, resign yourself and let life run its course; satisfy all your
desires and wait for death. When it is time to die, resign yourself and let death run its
course; go right to your destination, which is extinction. Be resigned to everything, let
everything run its course; why need you delay it or speed it on its way?'"^
Yang Zi's views on life cannot be limded to a medical pragmatics which governs
today's debate on life, death and suicide. He thinks, that when one is freed from doubts
■2 Ibid. 1.
Seneka, Pisma prijatelju. Obzorja, Maribor, 1966; VIII/70, p. 201-206.
^'^ Soubrier, J.P., La prevention du suicide, est-elle encore possible depuis la publication autorisee d'un livre
intitule: "Suicide. Mode d'Emploi-ttistoire-Technique-ActuaUte?". Crisis, 1984; 5/2, p. 119-124.
^' Agostino, S.A., La citta di Dio, C.Costa ed. Soc. editrice Internationale, Torino, 1939; I., p. 17-27, 91.
" Ibid. 1.

Maja Milčinski
of a kind under which Meng Sun Yang has suffered, also the questions of life and death
(and hy it also of suicide) are transcended. By this one is also ready to accept ad what is
left when the question of life and death are transcended. This, however, is a long path.
In the 7th chapter of The Book of Lie Zi (Yang Zhu) the basic problems of existence
in classical China are discussed as relevant as we see them today. To ask a daoist philoso-
pher for advice on how to become immortal might not have been, at the time when this
was happening, naive or obviously absurd. Welch'' stated that although the daoist move-
ment has always been a mixture of heterogeneous elements among which were phdoso-
phy, everyday hygiene, church duties and especially alchemy, they never ready became a
compound. In the realm of alchemist elements we can count also the stories about a mys-
tical island Pen Lai, which at the time was searched for by various expeditions. It was be-
lieved that the people who lived there, did not know death, because they possessed the
elixir of Ufe which had been discovered by alchemist sciences. It is supposed that it was
the otherwise poisonous compound of cinnabar and mercury-sulphide.
C.G. Jung described the attitude towards death'* as: "Life is energy stream, which
is in principle irreversible and very clearly orientated /.../ on standstiU as its aim. /.../
As the curve of the projectile ends in its aim, the life ends in death, which therefore is
the aim of aU life. Even its ascent and climax are but the steps and means for reaching
this aim, death namely." This is logical and acceptable.
In the time of classical Chinese philosophy there lived in Palestine an unknown
teacher who described himself as Qohelet, which would mean in Hebrew "gatherer".
He wrote a book which has been accepted into Biblical canon as "Ecclesiastes" and is
since then an important chapter of the Old Testament. The frame of the book is the
insight that everything is nothingness and that death is the border which destroys and
unpredictably crosses ad human plans and endeavors. The direct consequences of this
are hatred to life and desperation". In this connection it might be instructive to quote
some of the thoughts from Ecclesiastes which are very close to Yang Zi's arguments
against the striving for longevity:
"What do people gain from ad the tod
at which they tod under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun goes down,
and hurries to the place where it rises.
The wind blows to the south,
and goes around to the north;
round and round goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
" Welch, H.: The Parting of the Way. Beacon Press, Boston, 1957, p. 216.
'»Jung, C.G.: Seele und Tod (1934). In: Jung, CO.: Wirldichkeit der Seele. DTV, Munchen, 1992, p. 117-127.
" Sveto pismo. Stara zaveza II, Pridigar, 595-616. Levantinski škofijski ordinariat v Mariboru, 1958; The Holy
Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1990, p. 614-626 (Ecclesiastes).
344
The Problem of Longevity and Death in Daoism
All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they continue to flow.
All things are wearisome;
more than one can express;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
or the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what wiU be,
and what has been done is
what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun."^°
Consequently Ecclesiastes discovers the vanity of the seeming values which are
worshiped by people: Wisdom? "What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why
then have 1 been so very wise?"^' Effort? "I hated all my tod in which 1 had toded un-
der the sun, seeing that 1 must leave it to the wise who come after me - and who knows
whether they will be wise or foolish?"^^ Anyway: "For everything there is a season, and
a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;"^' "a time
for war and a time for peace;"^* "nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from
it;"^^ "for the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies
the other"The same fate comes to all, to the clean and the unclean."^''
The rich man, Ecclesiastes, has started to indulge in debauchery. No experience
could reform his final judgement: Vanity beyond all vanity. Everything is vain!
Such certainly is one of the typical situations which invite thoughts of suicide.
How would the doctors today perceive such a suicidal intention? If Meng Sun Yang
would really commit such an act, they would describe it as "rational suicide", commit-
ted in a lucid mental state. Medicine against the wid of that person has no right to in-
tervene. If it is so, we can ask ourselves if the real prevention of suicide is not actually
in the field of philosophy and religion. This however cannot be put directly in the spirit
of moral condemnation and prohibition, as it was in the case of St. Augustine. The
reprecussions of such an act were therefore extremely shameful in regard to the body
of the deceased as well as to his family. It is strange, but true, that nowadays even the
"International Association for Suicide Prevention" has to take a more tolerant ap-
proach to the phenomenon of suicide in a society which proceeds even to the gradual
2" Ecclesiastes 1/3-9.
Ibid. 2/15.
Ibid. 2/18, 19.
Ibid. 3/1, 2.
Ibid. 3/8.
Ibid. 3/14.
* Ibid. 3/19.
" Ibid. 9/2.
345
Maja Milčinski
liberalization of euthanasia. All kinds of pragmatic approaches in regard to the preven-
tion of suicide, as can be grasped from the statistical standpoint, remain sterile.
How did Master Yang Zi deal with Meng Sun Yang's provocation?
"Be resigned to everything, let everything run its course; why need you delay it or
speed it on its way?"^*
It is worth analyzing these final words: the point of this final wisdom is that anyone
who is about to retain one's essence and dignity has to accept one's own impermanence,
without restraining the earthly pleasures when there is time for them. To combine these
two approaches one has to take fareweU of ones life at the time of one's life. Yang Zi how-
ever does not mean that one should commit suicide whde stiU young but rather some-
thing close to Meister Eckhart's^'' "Abgescheidenheit" (or "Abgeschiedenheit"), translat-
ed as "detachment", but might be explained with the sense of separation, objectivity, self-
reliance, equanimity. Some would describe this as a complete standstdl, rest in oneself; to
be with oneself in the soul, in regard to the people and the world to remain withdrawn.
However this state is not the same as that practised by a stoic who has withdrawn from life
and is keeping oneself far from the reach of any emotion, joy or suffering. "The detached
person", according to Meister Eckhart is the way Jesus Christ was able to live his passion
in complete detachment. He was able to live, suffer and rejoice whde remaining detached
(germ, "ledig") to everyday outer reality.
In the same way we can read Ecclesiastes in its basic lamentation. Not to deny
reality as it is offered to us, but to accept it with a certain reserve. When we already
think that Ecclesiastes transcended his pessimism, namely when he gives his toast to
the young, encouraging them to take joy in hfe, he darkens this very stimulative pasus
with the perspective that one has to pay for the joys:
"Rejoice, young man, whde you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the
days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but
know that for aU these things God will bring you into judgement.'""
He remains bitter to the end of his life. The joys of life are darkened in advance
with the perspective of death and final judgement after it. Since he was not able to ac-
cept the endless cycle of life and impermanence, the one that has been so clearly de-
scribed by Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian philosopher and poet (1861-1941): " /.../
And because I love this life, I know I shad love death as wed. The chdd cries out when
from the right breast the mother takes it away, in the very next moment to find in the
left one its consolation.'"'
As Meng Sun Yang has thought - when death approaches one has to perceive it as
unimportant, as wed, and give in. We can borrow the iUustration of this phase in hu-
man life from the final days of Socrates as described in Platon's Phaidon''. When ac-
Ibid. 1, p. 148.
V: Maitre Eckbart; Du detachement et autres textes. Jarczyk, Laborriere ed. Rivages poche. Payot, Paris, 1995.
™ Ibid. 20, 11/9.
" Tagore, R.: Gitanjali. Macmillan, London, 1913, 87.
Platon: Poslednji dnevi Sokrata. Slovenska matica, Ljubljana, 1988; Faidon, 117-238.
346
The Problem of Longevity and Death in Daoism
cused by the traditional, conservative stream in Athens in 399 b.Ch., it is obvious from
his defense that his attitude is to let himself be kiUed and thereby fulfill his last mis-
sion.*'^ That was the door into the Essential - the Real - aU that for which he was striving
in his life. However he did deny suicide and kept to the notions of orphics and Pitagore-
ans'* that the people should be like guardians in life - and never leave the place untd
we are dismissed. His attitude was that one should not kdl oneself undl God notifies
you, which was the situation that he himself was in. It is time to die - that was also what
his inner voice (daimonion) had been telling him.
As to Yang Zi, who had been trying to describe the situation "when the death is
approaching" to Meng Sun Yang, one could understand it also in the way how Socrates,
under the influence of hemlock, was expecting his death and yet kept teaching, some-
times also in a very ironic way as when he told pragmatist Crito: "Crito, I owe a cock to
Asclepius, will you remember to pay the debt?"^^ Why should he have any debts toward
the god of medicine Asclepius and his subordinates? Because they found such a practi-
cal method of euthanasia?
The above patterns of approaching human existence are although distanced in
time and space, very similar in certain basic conceptions about life, death and suicide.
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Maja Milčinski. dr., je poučevala in raziskova-
la na več univerzah v Aziji, Evropi in Kanadi. Sedaj
je izredna profesorica za azijske filozofije in religije
na Oddelku za filozofijo Filozofske fakultete v Lju-
bljani in na Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani.
V slovenščino je prevedla devet knjig iz klasične ki-
tajščine in japonščine. Je avtorica del Kitajska in ja-
ponska modrost (1999), Kitajska in Japonska med
religijo in fdozofijo (1995), Pot praznine in tišine
(1992) ter številnih člankov, objavljenih v Evropi,
ZDA, na Kitajskem in Japonskem.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maja Milčinski, Ph.D., bas held teaching
and research positions at various universities in
Asia, Europe and Canada. Currently she is Asso-
ciate professor of Asian philosophies and rebgions
at the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of
Art and Theological Faculty of Ljubljana Universi-
ty. She has translated nine books from classical
Chinese and Japanese and is author of Chinese
and Japanese Wisdom (1999), China and Japan
between Religion and Philosophy (1955) and The
Way into Voielness and Silence (1992) and nume-
rous articles and book chapters published in Euro-
pe, USA, China and Japan.
" Guardini, R.: Der Tod des Sokrates. Rowohk, Hamburg, 1958, p. 171.
« Pitagora (570496 b.Ch.).
^ The works of Plato, p. 189. The Modern Library, New York, 1956.
347
_I
POJMOVANJE SMRTI V STARI MEHIKI IN
RELIGIOZNI SINKRETIZEM V DANAŠNJIH
ORREDIH OB SMRTI
(s posebnim poudarkom na kulturi zoque, Chiapas)
Marija Mojca Terčelj
Ključne besede: Mehika, smrt, humor, obredi
IDime cómo mueres y te diré quién eres!
(Povej mi, kako umreš in ti povem, kdo si!)
(mehiški pregovor)
Tujec, ki ne pozna mehiškega predkrščanskega izročila in njegovega specifičnega
odnosa do smrti, ostane v dneh pred prvim novembrom več kot osupel ob pogledu na
skladovnice sladkornih okostnjakov in mrtvaških glav, ki krasijo poulične stojnice
večjih mest v osrednji Mehiki. Dobrih štirinajst dni pred 1. novembrom kupujejo
Mehičani posebne sladke kruhke v obliki okostnjakov, mrtvaške igrače in čokoladne
lobanje, ki jih poklanjajo prijateljem in sorodnikom. S pisanih lobanj se smejijo imena
"Jorge", "Pepe", "Oscar" itd. Obdarovanje in uživanje lastne smrti spremlja poseben
humor. Prijatelji si med seboj poklanjajo tudi lističe z duhovitimi in pikrimi domislica-
mi na račun človeških napak, življenja in smrti, kot na primer':
Mojca vino a los zoques estudiar,
para lograr un sabio doctorado,
más, nunca se puso a pensar,
que su sapiencia aquí ha fracasado.
Más un día arribó la Calaca
y la llevó a pasear entre tumbas
sin saber que le gustaba la maraca
y el ritmo de sabrosas cumbias.
' Mojca je prišla študirat Soke,
da dosegla bi učeni doktorat;
a nikoli ni pomislila,
da bo znanost njena tu propadla.
In že jo Smrt, priliznjenka, povleče,
da skupaj z drugimi skeleti zdaj uživa
vsa svoja umna dela in ves študij -
v temni luknji pleše svoj danzón.
Prišla je neki dan Lobanja,
jo peljala med grobove na sprehod,
ne da bi vedela, da tudi ples ji všeč je
in ritem vroče kumbije.
349
Marija Mojca Terčelj
Ya que, zalamera, la Muerte la atrajo,
y, junto a otros esqueletos disfruta
de grandes estudios y mucho trabajo
bailando danzón en tenebrosa gruta.
V Mizquicu, majhnem kraju blizu glavnega mesta, prirejajo vsako leto 1. novem-
bra tako imenovani "festival mrtvaških glav", na katerem podelijo nagrade za najboljše
kostume in igrače. Zadnji dve desetletji se po Mizquicu sprehajajo tudi "Batmani",
"Drakule" in podobni filmski junaki, uvoženi iz Združenih držav Amerike. Izdelovanje
sladkornih mrtvaških glav je pravzaprav mehiška izpeljanka anglosaksonskih buč na
vse svete - Halloweena, le da je uživanje tovrstnih sladkarij povsem mehiška specifič-
nost. Prav tako je mehiška specifičnost, če na eni najprometnejših avenij Ciudada de
Méxica doživite naslednje: široka povorka spremlja okrašeno krsto, pred katero stopajo
elegantni mariachis v blišču in zvoku glasnih trobent, promet pa usmerjajo veseli klov-
ni v živopisanih oblačilih, ki s konfeti obmetavajo mimoidoče.
Ce se oddaljimo od večjih urbanih središč, bomo spoznali malce drugačno podo-
bo praznovanja 1. novembra. Mehiško podeželje ne pozna sladkornih mrtvaških glav,
povork in festivalov, goji pa bogat repertoar tisočletja starega kulta prednikov, ki si je v
zadnjih petsto letih nadel sinkretično podobo "vseh živih in vseh mrtvih". Praznovanje
smrti, s specifičnim poudarkom na obredju pokojnih prednikov, zavzema v mehiškem
prazničnem letu posebno mesto. Ponekod se začne že na dan svetega Luke (18. okto-
ber) in traja vse do svetega Andreja (30. november), kulminacijo pa doseže L, 2., in 3.
novembra. Za različne avtohtone etnične skupine, kot tudi za mestiško prebivalstvo, vsi
sveti niso le spomin na umrle, ampak resnično srečanje dveh svetov: sveta živih in sveta
rajnih. Pokojniki v prvih dneh novembra obiščejo svoje domove, na kar se živi skrbno
pripravijo. Različne avtohtone skupine in tudi mestici olepšajo hišne oltarje in pripra-
vijo praznična jedila, med katerimi ne sme manjkati tamales ^, sladkega kruhka in
kuhane čokolade"*.
Sokeji* in Maji iz Chiapasa okrasijo hišne oharje, na katerih so podobe družinskih
zaščitnikov in pokojnikov. Čez oltarje obokajo zeleno vejevje, med katerim prednjačijo
veje ameriškega visokogorskega bora (ocote), ki ga tudi sicer najpogosteje uporabljajo v
obredne namene. Med cvetjem, ki ga prejmejo pokojniki so najbolj zastopane naslednje
^ Tarnal: koruzna masa z dodatkom fižola, pikantne omake, mesa in (ali) zelišč, zavita v koruzni ali palmov list.
' Sladko čokoladno pijačo, caco, cocao (soke) ali chocolatl (nahua), pripravljajo v Mehiki na star, srednjeame-
riški način: v litru vode vrejo tri kroglice surove kakavove mase (vsaj pol ure do uro), ki ji dodajo nekaj sladkorja. Ko
je pijača dovolj homogena, jo v majhnih bučkah ponudijo. Beseda coco, ki izvira iz proto mixe-zoque-popoluca jezika,
se je oblikovala približno 1400 pr. Kr. na obali Soconusca (Chiapas), kjer je predolmeško prebivalstvo začelo udomače-
vati koruzo, fižol, buče, čilsko papriko in kakav, ki so postali glavne živilske sestavine stalno naseljenih visoko razvitih
poljedelskih civilizacij Srednje Amerike: Olmekov, Majev, Toltekov in Mexikov.
* Praznovanje vseh svetih sem v Mehiki opazovala štirikrat: oktobra in novembra 1990 in 1991 v vaseh Pante-
pec in Tapalapa v severovzhodni kordiljeri Chiapasa (Soke), 1996 v Pantepecu in v Zahodnem chiapaškem visoko-
gorju (Maya-Tzotzü) in 1997 v Tuxtii Gutiérrezu (Soke).
Pojmovanje smrti v stari Mehiki in religiozni sinkretizem v današnjih obredih ob smrti
cvetlice: tagetes% lilije, kale, marjete in krizanteme." Pred podobami prednikov prižgejo
sveče ter copaP in vmes postavijo obredno hrano in pijačo. Tla pred oltarji posipajo z bo-
rovimi iglicami. Sveče in kadila morajo biti prižgane ves čas praznovanja, tako kot je tudi
hrana izpostavljena na njem ves čas od 31. oktobra do 3. novembra. Jedi, ki jih navadno
ponudijo pokojnikom, so: tamales, narejeni iz palmovih hstov, mali sladki kruhki, kuhana
čokolada, kava ter žganje in cigarete, če je pokojnik kadil in užival alkohol. Poleg vsega
tega ponudijo pokojniku tudi tisto jed, ki jo je najraje užival. Sokeji pravijo, da duše sicer
ne morejo jesti te hrane, vonjajo pa jo, kar da je isto.
Medtem ko poteka domača priprava na srečanje Sokejev in njihovih prednikov že
nekaj dni pred prvim novembrom, pa čiščenje, barvanje in krašenje grobov poteka šele
prvega dopoldne. Podobno je tudi med gorskimi Maji. Pokopališč skozi vse leto ne
obiskujejo (prednike imajo doma na oltarjih), tako da je treba prvega novembra zjutraj
najprej zavihteti mačeto in počistiti grmovje, da se nato lahko začne okraševanje gro-
bov. Nagrobno okrasje je podobno oltarnemu: čez grob obokajo veje ocoie-ja, ki so jih
okrasili s cvetjem, pod to pa naslednji dan postavijo hrano, sveče in kadila, enako kot
na domačih oltarjih."
Prvega novembra popoldne preživijo Sokeji doma, kjer se ob hišnih oltarjih sreča
vsa družina. Šele 2. novembra gredo na pokopališče. Pokojnikom igrajo na instrumente
- navadno na jarano, doma izdelano violino in kitaro - se z njimi pogovarjajo, jedo in
pijejo.' 3. novembra obiskujejo Sokeji iz Chiapasa grobove svojih otroknekateri In-
dijanci pa ta dan počastijo pokojnike, ki so umrli nasilne smrti. Med umrlimi vlada
namreč posebna hierarhija in temu primerno je praznovanje: samo dušam odraslih in
pošteno umrlih pripada osrednje praznovanje. Ker duše umrlih lahko škodijo zdravju
in psihofizični harmoniji živih, se je treba od njih pravočasno posloviti."
Po predkrščanskem izročilu Sokejev zaznavajo duše umrlih (kot vsa druga tran-
scendentna bitja) realnost živih samo prek vonja in zvoka, zato je edina možna komu-
^ "Flor de muerto" ali cvet pokojnika, kakor tej močno dišeči oranžni cvetlici pravijo mestici, imenujejo Sokeji
anima joya, Indijanci Nahua pa sempuchi aH cempasuchi.' Dišeče oranžne cvetove tagetesa uporabljajo Sokeji, Maji in
Nahuaji tudi pri zdravljenju, zlasti pri t.i. limpias ("čiščenjih": v primeru, ko zdravljenec "izgubi dušo") in vročih ko-
pelih (v primeru podhlajenja).
' Kale, marjete in lilije rastejo v Sierri de Pantepec (pribl. 1300m nadm. viš.) kar v gozdu in v okolici naselij,
medtem ko jih gorski Maji z območja San Cristóbala de las Casasa posebej gojijo.
' Skupno ime za smolo različnih dreves iz družine Burseracaee, kateri dodajo lokalna zelišča, suhe vejice ci-
meta in druge dišavnice.
* V Pantepecu ima le nekaj grobov kamnite nagrobnike. To so grobovi tako imenovanih kdinos (akulturirano
avtohtono prebivalstvo), vse drugo so parcele, zaznamovane s svetlimi modrozelenimi lesenimi križi, ki jih Indijanci
vsakega prvega novembra zjutraj na novo prebarvajo.
' Nekatere mehiške indijanske skupine poznajo tudi nočne obiske grobov; na primer Taraski iz okoHce jezera
Pátzcuaro v Michoacanu. ki se v razsvetljenih čolnih ob polnoči spustijo z obale na pokopališče otoka Janitzio.
Obstaja veliko etničnih in lokalnih različic; Totonaki iz Veracruza, na primer, počastijo umrle otroke na
octavo, osmi in deveti dan po vseh svetih.
" Ponekod, npr. v Veraeruzu, ob koncu praznovanja posipajo pot med domovi in pokopališčem s tagetesom,
da se duše lažje vrnejo na tisto mesto, ki tostranost povezuje z onstranostjo. Sokeji in gorski .Maji poznajo različne
zaščite pred nevarnostjo duš, med drugim prav tagetes uporabljajo kot terapevtsko sredstvo.
351
Marija Mojca Teréelj
nikacija med živimi in mrtvimi - med tostranostjo in onstranostjo - prek glasbe, di-
šav in kadil.'- Uporaba številnih vonjev v obredju za rajne (cvetje, kadila, aromatična
hrana in pijača, zlasti pa alkohol in tobak) postane s tem povsem jasna. Avditivne in
olfaktorične stimulanse, značilne elemente tako imenovanih obredov prehodnosti (ri-
tes de passage), so antropologi našli med vsemi kulturami sveta, vendar jim nekatere,
med njimi prav srednjeameriške, dajejo še posebej visoko označevalno vrednost.'^ Čut-
ni efekti postanejo konkretni simboli tranzicije, ker že sami po sebi vsebujejo (ali pa
nakazujejo) spreminjanje. Obredna glasba, ropot, kadila in pijača pripomorejo k preho-
du v "drugo" stanje in s tem označijo tudi prehod ključnih življenjskih in socialnih ka-
tegorij. Po ugotovitvah kanadske antropologije čutil pa obstaja še posebno tesna pove-
zava med vonjem in prehodnostjo oziroma pojmom spremembe. Vzrok naj bi bil v
sami vonjalni anatomiji in karakteristiki vonjav. Vonj je vedno v prehajanju, v spre-
minjanju, "that is because smells constantly escape from their objects, and because of
the way they normally signal processes of transformation,that they are used to me-
diate (and manage transition) between social categories"'*.
Reli^ozni sinktretizem
Da bomo bolje razumeli današnja sinkretična obredja smrti in pokojnikov, mora-
mo nujno poznati pojmovanje smrti v predkolonialni Mehiki. O njem pričajo različni
viri: materialni ostanki, predkolumbovski kodeksi in zgodnje kolonialne kronike. Če
združimo drobce tega mozaika, dobimo le približno podobo predkolonialnega pojmo-
vanja, saj so Spanci temeljito počistili s pisanim gradivom. Tako je dal na primer prvi
škof in kronist na polotoku Yucatán, Diego de Landa, zažgati vse majevske knjige, ka-
sneje pa sam spisal zgodovino Majev.'"' Da jo je prikrojil, ni dvoma, saj je gledal z dvoj-
nim predsodkom: evropejskim racionalnim (partikularističnim) načinom mišljenja, ovi-
tim še v misijonarsko strast pokristjanjevanja.
Natančna določitev predšpanskih religioznih prvin je velikokrat nemogoča.'* Pri
tovrstnih analizah nam je v veliko pomoč metoda pokristjanjevanja. Substitucijska poli-
tika Katoliške cerkve je bila načrtna in premišljena: iskala je čim ustreznejše analogije,
nadomeščala pomembnejše avtohtone kulte z obredjem pomembnejših svetnikov, pri
Podobno vlogo glasbe, cvetja in dišav, prek katerih pridejo Sokeji v stik z zaščitniki rodovitnosti, smo poka-
zali na drugem mestu; glej: '7oyo naque, joyo soc toe-flor costurada, flor amarrada. Flor y el simbolismo de los florea-
dos". Cultura y etnicidad zoque, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, México, 1'N1CACH-LN.\CH, 1998, pp. 129-136.
" Prav zato so postali obredi prehodnosti med mehiškimi Indijanci, kot tudi med ljudstvi Indonezijskega arhi-
pelaga (Molucca) in Indije, najbolj priljubljen predmet tako imenovane antropologije čutil.
'* David Howes, "Olfaction and transition: an essay on the ritual uses of smell", in: The Canadian Review of
Sociology and Anthropology 24 /3, 1987, p. 398.
Diego de Landa: Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, 1557. (Ponatis v: Editorial Porrúa, México, 1986).
" Pri sestavljanju preteklosti moramo upoštevati kar najrazličnejše informacije; pri opiranju na enovrstne vire
se rado zgodi, da zaidemo v zmotne razlage. Tako se včasih zgodi, da iščemo izvor v starih srednjeameriških kulturah,
nazadnje pa odkrijemo, da ima religiozni element korenine v Evropi. Španci so skupaj s krščanstvom zanesli na novo
celino tudi predkrščanske prvine iberskega polotoka in v Mehiki je prišlo do večkratnega sinkretizma.
352
_Pojmovanje smrti v stari Mehiki in religiozni sinkretizem v današnjih obredih ob smrti
353
Čemer je lahko prišlo do naključnih prekrivanj ali pa do koledarske spremembe evrop-
skih praznikov.
Praznik vseh svetih je v cerkveno praznično leto vpeljal papež Bonifacij IV v 7.
stoletju.'^ Število mučencev je bdo tako naraslo, da jim Cerkev ni mogla pravično
razdeliti godov. Zato je določila 13. maj za dan, ko se je spominjala vseh mučencev sku-
paj. Papež Gregor IV je iz praktičnih razlogov prestavd praznik s 13. maja na 1. novem-
ber, kjer se je srečal s starodavnimi obredi za rajne duše. Verne duše (2. november) je
uradna zahodna Katoliška cerkev priznala kot liturgični dan šele ob koncu 13. stoletja.
Cerkev si je namreč ves srednji vek močno prizadevala ločiti uradno liturgijo od predkr-
ščanskega obreda smrti in izkoreniniti poganski "kult prednikov". Že leta 390 je hotel
Avguštin odpraviti šege uživanja hrane in pijače na grobovih, Amalarij iz Metza (780 -
850) pa je prvi vpeljal bogoslužje za umrle 2. novembra z utemeljitvijo, da je poganska
obredja bolje nadomestiti kot pustiti nenadzorovana. Kljub dolgotrajnim prizade-
vanjem za reformo poganskih obredov so se ti v Evropi ohranili skozi stoletja, sprva na
grobovih, kasneje kot hišni običaji. Danes spominjajo nanje le še prižiganje sveč in kra-
šenje grobov. Darovanje hrane, pijače in kadd se je z grobov umaknilo na domove."* Po
vsej Evropi je bila še dolgo ohranjena vera, da se rajni te dni vračajo na svoje domove ali
pa na grobovih opazujejo žive.
Lahko bi torej sklepali, da je obredno uživanje hrane, obilica kadil in prisotnost
glasbe na pokopališčih mehiških Indijancev morebiten vpliv Evrope. Da ni tako, bomo
videli v nadaljevanju. Španci so, na podoben način kot v Evropi, hoteli izkoreniniti kult
prednikov tudi na novi celini. Zakaj pa se je tam obdržal kljub petsto letom pokri-
stjanjevanja, pa je naše nadaljnje vprašanje.
V 16. stoletju se je krščanstvo, pomešano s starimi iberskimi elementi, preselilo
na novo celino in v Mehiki našlo še plodnejša tla. Tukaj so se bila med seboj oplodila že
različna kulturna in verska izročila Srednje Amerike in se stalila v tisto obliko, ki so jo
spoznali osvajalci in misionarji ob svojem prihodu.
Prvi kronisti šestnajstega stoletja: Bernardino Sahagiin, Bernal Diaz de Castillo
in Diego Duran poročajo o različnih praznovanjih v čast umrlih. Ta praznovanja so bila
razporejena čez vse obredno koledarsko leto, največ pa jih je bilo med Azteki v njiho-
vem 9., 10., 13., 14. in 18. mesecu." Najpomembnejša praznika umrlih sta bila Mic-
caihuitl, praznik "velike smrti" ali spomin na vse odrasle pokojnike, in pa Mkcalhui-
tontli, praznik "male smrti" ali vseh umrhh otrok. Duran poroča, da je bil slednji praz-
nik vseh nedolžno umrlih, pravkar rojenih ali mrtvorojenih otročičev, od tod pomanjše-
valnica v imenu. Miccailhuitl so začeli praznovati 3. avgusta in ga nadaljevali 23. avgu-
sta, ko so rajnim na grobove prinašali naslednje darove: tamales, kuhano čokolado,
purane, sadje, cvetno okrasje, kadda ter podobe božanstev posmrtnega življenja in
" Niko Kuret, Praznično leto Slovencev, Družina, Ljubljana, 1989, str. 92-93.
" Mimogrede naj omenim, da sem pri terenskih raziskavah na Dolenjskem in Kozjanskem še pred dobrimi dese-
timi leti srečala običaj, da so v noči s 1. na 2. november pustili rajnim kozarec vina in kozarec vode na kuhinjski mizi.
" Azteško sončno leto je bilo razdeljeno na osemnajst časovnih enot po dvajset dni in se je končalo s petimi
posebnimi presežnimi dnevi. Maji so poznali dva koledarja: sončnega, ki je bil prav tako razdeljen na osemnajst časo-
vnih enot po dvajset dni, in obrednega, ki ga njihovi potomci v Chiapasu in Gvatemali še uporabljajo.
Marija Mojca Teréelj
rodovitnosti, narejene iz ščirovih semen in lubja. Duran tudi omenja, da so na grobo-
vih obredno plesali in igrali. Ti obredi so bili v kolonijalnem obdobju prestavljeni na 1.
november, a so do današnjega dne ohranili veliko elementov, na primer: uživanje iste
obredne hrane, glasba, cvetni darovi, kadila itd.
Pojmovanje življeiija in siiirti
Religije in ideologije različnih civilizacij stare Mehike so temeljile na splošni koz-
mološki razlagi sveta in človeka v njem. To razlago je pogojevalo dobro in natančno
opazovanje naravnega okolja, vremena in nebesnih teles. Stvarstvo so uravnavale sile
nasprotij, katerih temeljno je bilo - tako pri Majih kot pri Nahua: Praoče - Pramati. Iz
tega prvega para sledi vsa nadaljnja dialektika: moško - žensko, svetloba - tema, vroče -
hladno, močno - šibko, rojstvo - smrt, stvarjenje - uničenje itd.
Pojmovanje življenja je bilo v cikličnem ponavljanju: izničenje rojeva vnovično
stvarjenje, smrt omogoča novo rojstvo. Rojstvo nosi seme smrti, tako kot smrt že vsebuje
svoj antipod. Zato so bili isti bogovi udeleženi pri stvarjenju sveta (Quetzalcóatl, Tezca-
tlipoca) in pri njegovem izničenju. Bili so stvarniki in uničevalci hkrati. V tem tiči skri-
vnost nerazdružljivega prepletanja simbolov in obredij rodovitnosti in smrti.
Deseti mesec azteškega koledarja, v katerem so prebivalci Tenochtitlana obhajali
enega svojih številnih praznikov smrti [Miccailhuitl), se je imenoval xócotl huetzi ali
"pobiranje sadežev". V tem mesecu so se vrstila obredja rodovitnosti: darovanju cvetja
(tlaxochimaco) in prazniku ognja je sledilo obredje "velikega drevesa", ko so posekali
drevo s petindvajsetimi vejami in ga okrasili s plodovi "matere Zemlje" (koruza, sadje,
cvetje, tamales). Drevo je moralo sprva ležati (horizontalna raven), kasneje pa so ga po-
staviK pokonci in ga okrasili še s podobami bogov (vertikalna raven).
Elemente rodovitnosti in umiranja je vsebovalo tudi praznovanje boginje Teteo in-
nan, imenovane Toči (kar pomeni "naša stara mati"). Teteo inmin je büa mati vseh
mehiških bogov, tudi stvariteljev, nekakšna "pramati". V enajstem mesecu so ji darovali
plodove zemlje v obliki sadežev in hrane, hkrati pa tudi cvetove smrti campoakóchitl aU
tagetes. V štirinajstem mesecu aU quecholli so so spomnili boga Mixcóatla. Darovali so
mu sužnje, hrabrim vojščakom (bog je bil povezan z bojem) pa so na grobove postavili hra-
no, ki so jo nato zažgali (po naključju so to obredje izvajah okoli 1. novembra). Darovi in
obredno uživanje hrane ob praznovanju mrtvih je bilo več kot le pomoč dušam v onstran-
stvu - bilo je simbol življenja oziroma vnovičnega življenja v smrti.
O nerazdružljivi povezavi življenja in smrti in njeni veliki simbolni vrednosti pričajo
daritve človeških življenj, ki so jih namenjali vsem pomembnejšim bogovom stvarnikom.
Obredna smrt je nosila poslanstvo prenavljanja oziroma vnovičnega vstajenja, zato so da-
rovalci lastnih življenj pojmovah svojo smrt kot najvišji, transcendentni cüj. Umirali so s
ponosom, saj so predstavljah samo božanstvo, kateremu so bili darovani. Sahagún poroča,
da so se veselili tudi njihovi sorodniki, v trdni veri, da gredo žrtve neposredno k bogu.
Ženska, ki so jo darovali boginji Toči, je poosebljala samo boginjo. Oblečena v
njena oblačila je igrala božjo namestnico, zato so vsi njeni deli pomenili relikvijo. Tudi
354
Pojmovanje smrti v stari Mehiki in religiozni sinkretizem v današnjih obredih ob smrti
sužnji, ki so jih prvega dne xócotl huetzi žive in z zvezanimi rokami in nogami pometali
v ogenj, so predstavljali boga ognja Xiuhtecutli. Pobarvali so jih rumeno. Še preden so
izdihnili, so jih izvlekli iz plamenov in jim izrezali srca. Ta so predstavljala božjo hrano,
torej seme ali zametek novega ognja. Enako pomembno vlogo so imela srca (semena,
sadeži) novega dežja in novega sonca. Določena božanstva so tudi uživali: darovane
žrtve so razkosali, jih razdelili in pojedli, kar je pomenilo prilaščanje božje moči.
Religiozna simbolika stare Mehike je bila zelo figurativna in konkretna, vsaj ko je
šlo za resnična človeška telesa. Azteki so poleg tega poznali tudi abstraktnejšo, simbol-
no obliko uživanja božjega telesa. Lomljenje ščirovega kruha, ki so ga bojevniki užili
pred vojskovanjem, presenetljivo spominja na krščansko obhajilo. Z uživanjem tega
kruha so vojščaki prejeli moč boga Huitzilopochtlija. V tem primeru gre za isto simboL
no obliko, ki jo pozna današnja krščanska evharistija.
Napak bi büo, če bi trdili, da so vse srednjeameriške kulture poudarjale življenje
in smrt na tako drastično ekspliciten način, kot sta ga poznala vrhunca dveh izrazito
ekspanzivnih imperijev, azteškega in majevskega, ki sta fenomen človeškega darovanja
vpeljala relativno pozno in bolj iz politično-ideoloških vzrokov, seveda z religiozno pre-
vleko. Arheološke najdbe dokazujejo, da je izrazito poudarjanje človeških žrtev v večji
meri prisotno šele v postklasičnem obdobju (900-1520 po Kr.).^"
Kozmiéiii model
Vsaka mehiška piramida, ki je bila za podstavek templju, je upodabljala majhen koz-
mični model. Razvitejše civilizacije Srednje Amerike so si kozmično realnost predstavljale
kot geometrijsko telo stopničasto piramidalne oblike, zgrajeno iz več horizontalnih ravni
stvarnosti ali svetov, ki jih med seboj povezujejo vertikalne kozmične osi. Središče stvar-
stva je bil svet dane zemeljske realnosti. Imel je obliko pravokotnika, ki ga je na vsakem
vogalu podpiral en božji steber (štirje Tkiloki pri Aztekih). Vsako stran neba je simboUzi-
ralo eno božanstvo, ena barva, lastnost itd. Središčno, navpično os so navadno upodabljah
v obliki ceibe, svetega drevesa ali drevesa življenja. Središča vasi (trgi) gorskih Majev iz
Chiapasa imajo še danes pravokotno obliko. V sredini trga stoji ceiba, na vsakem izhodu
pa stoje po trije svetlo modri križi. Ti niso krščanski znak, temveč ostanek majevske de-
diščine. Križ je predstavljal štiri strani neba z vsemi njihovimi religiozno-simbolnimi po-
meni. Prostor je v stari Mehiki igral več kot geometrijsko vlogo. Bil je svet.
Pod ravnjo tuzemske stvarnosti so si Maji predstavljali štiri spodnje svetove, Azteki
pa v poznem obdobju kar devet. Vsak svet ali raven je igrala posebno vlogo in imela
svojega božjega zaščitnika, navadno par. Enako so si predstavljali tudi zgornje ravni ali
svetove. Maji so poznali devet zgornjih svetov, Azteki so jim dodali še štiri, tako jih je
bilo skupaj trinajst. Najvišji zgornji svet je bil svet boga Omeotla, ki je imel moški in
ženski značaj hkrati, najnižji spodnji svet pa je bilo kraljestvo smrti.
Predhodne arheološke najdbe, razen nekaj izjem, ne upodabljajo človeških žrtev. Protoolmeške reliefne skulp-
ture okostnjakov, ki so jih našU v Izapi v Chiapasu, so tako za svoj čas (8. st. pr. Kr.) prava izjema. Tudi v zgodnjeklasičnem
obdobju (200-900 po Kr.) je tovrstnih upodobitev malo, saj so v Teotihuacanu našli le dve treski, ki predstavljata smrt.
355
Marija Mojca Terčelj
Bog življenja in bog smrti ler posmrtno življenje
Zemlja, kot štirivogalna ravna ploskev, je ljudstvom stare Mehike predstavljala sre-
dišče stvarstva. Vladali so ji tako imenovani "gospodarji zemlje", z najstarejšo boginjo,
iz katere so izšla vsa druga božanstva staromehiškega panteona. V neposredni povezavi
s tem svetom so bili tudi bogovi, ki so podpirali zemeljsko ploščo in njene štiri vogale.
Zgornje svetove so si stara mehiška ljudstva predstavljala kot "goro sveta" ali piramido s
trinajstimi stopnicami, šestimi na vzhodu, šestimi na zahodu in eno središčno na vrhu
neba. Različnim nebesnim ravnem so vladala različna božanstva, stvarniki človeka,
živali in rasdin. Spodnji svetovi so v skladu z zgornjim oblikovali podzemno piramido z
devetimi stopnicami spodnjega stvarstva, štirimi na zahodu, štirimi na vzhodu in sre-
diščno, ki ji je vladalo božanstvo podzemlja.
Sonce je v štiriindvajsetih urah obšlo vse stopnice: vsako jutro se je po vzhodnem
stopnišču vzpelo do zenita in popoldne po zahodnem spustilo za obzorje. Od tod se je
odpravilo na nočno pot. Tako kot mora ponoči sonce obiti vseh devet spodnjih svetov,
so morale tudi duše umrlih na dolgo pot po devetih podzemljih, da so prišle v Mictlán,
svet mrtvih ali senc (pri Aztekih), ki mu je vladal MictlantecuhtU, bog smrti. Potovanje v
Mictlán je bilo težko. Duše so šle najprej prek gora, potem prek osmih puščav, nazadnje
pa so morale prebroditi široko reko. Celotna pot je trajala štiri leta, duše pa so bile ves
ta čas izpostavljene nevarnostim: lahko so jih poškodovale krušljive skale, zadele stru-
pene puščice ali ostri obsidianovi noži. Zato so poznala nekatera ljudstva stare Mehike
posebna obredja za duše pokojnikov, ki so trajala natanko štiri leta po smrti svojcev.
Tovrstna obredja so se v prirejeni obliki ohranila do danes. Sokeji jih po špansko ime-
nujejo cabo del ano. Ob vsaki obletnici smrti postavijo pred pokojnikovo sliko na hi-
šnem oltarju cvetje, kadila, sveče in hrano. Tla posipajo z borovimi iglicami, kamor
pokleknejo poklicane žene molivke. Osem večerov zapovrstjo molijo rožni venec, deveti
dan zjutraj pa vse darove s hišnega oltarja odnesejo na grob, kjer ponovijo deveti obred.
Vse duše pa niso šle v Mictlán - ta je bil le za tiste, ki so umrli normalne smrti.
Junaška smrt je pokojnika vodila neposredno v nebo, v Tonatiuh ichan. Duše umrlih
vojščakov so tam spremljale boga sonca na poti od vzhodnega obzorja do zenita, duše
žena, umrlih pri porodu {moliihua quetzque ali "hrabre žene"), pa so ga spremljale od
zenita do zahodnega obzorja. Po štirih letih so se spremenile v kolibrije. Duše umrlih v
nesrečah (utopljenci, zadavljenci itd.) in po hudih boleznih so šle v Tlalocan, svet boga
dežja Tlaloca. V Tlalocanu je vladala večna pomlad, trpljenja pa niso poznali. Otroška
smrt je vodila v kraj blizu Tlalocana, v Chichilmacuauluo, kjer so morale duše čakati
na uničenje tega sveta in reinkarnacijo v nova človeška bitja. Medtem so se hranile z
mlekom, ki je kapljalo z vej svetega drevesa huahuahuete.
Medtem ko je dan rojstva (konstelacija zvezd in vpliv bogov) določal usodo življenja
na zemlji, je usodo posmrtnega življenja določal način smrti. Mehiški pregovor še danes
pravi: Dime cómo mueres y te dire quien eres ("Povej mi, kako umreš, in ti povem, kdo si!").
Zaslužno življenje na zemlji in moralne vrline, ki so še kako pomembne za posmrtno
življenje kristjanov, niso imele nobenega vpliva na posmrtno življenje starih Majev in
Mexikov. Prihodnost je bila v umiranju samem. Zaslužnejša smrt je določala zaslužnejše
356
Pojmovanje smrti v stari Mehiki in religiozni sinh-etizem \ današnjih obredih ob smrti
posmrtno življenje. Sicer pa tudi navadna smrt ni vodila v pekel, temveč v Mictlán, kraj,
kamor pridejo duše sicer res po dolgi in naporni poti, a ko pridejo, so deležne gostoljublja
njegovega gospodarja Mictlantecuhtlija. Ljudstva stare Mehike niso poznala pekla in
njegovega terorja kazni. V Mictlánu (ali Metnali pri Majih), ki je bil zadnji svet podzemlja,
je tudi ponoči sijalo sonce in duše so živele podobno kot na tem svetu.
Ko govori o pojmovanju starosti, razlaga Laureano Reyes Gómez primerjavo sonč-
nega obhoda s človeškim življenjem v današnjem izročilu Sokejev"'. Sonce ima šestnajst
različno poimenovanih dnevnih faz: vzhod, tri dopoldanske faze med vzhodom in ze-
nitom, zenit, tri popoldanske faze med zenitom in zahodom, zahod, tri nočne faze med
zahodom in polnočjo, polnoč ali čas nič in tri temne jutranje faze med polnočjo in
vzhodom. Analogno sončnim fazam imenujejo Sokeji en zdrav življenjski cikel, na pri-
mer: noman pijtu jama^^ (dete), kimun jama (otrok pri osmih-devetih letih), yujk jama
(adolescent - "ko sonce žge"), kujk jama (sončno poldne ali tudi "človekovo poldne"),
jama dsue (zrelost), tsaVa, pitse'a, notjeykah jama (zaton), tsu'an itd. - adolescent je ra-
stoče sonce, mladenič je poldne, zrel človek je rano popoldne, pozna srednja leta so več
faz zahajajočega sonca (do devetinpetdesetega leta), s šestdesetim letom je človek vstopil
v noč; od tega leta pa do petinosemdesetega poznajo Sokeji tri faze noči, ko nastopi
"mrk" ali rizična točka odhoda. Opolnoči pride že na vrsto zanostitev, novo seme son-
ca, ki mu sledijo tri embriološke faze do rojstva ali vzhoda. Ta ekliptični obhod sonca
(človeka) kaže na predkolumbovsko izročilo sončnega obhoda okoli piramide in na pre-
pletanje smrti in novega rojstva. Smrt je torej prehod v novo rojstvo.
Sklep
Naj sklenem svoj prispevek z naslednjimi mislimi:
Na območju današnje Mehike je kljub prepletanju več predkolumbovskih religioz-
nih izročil in preplastevanju le-teh s krščanstvom mogoče ugotoviti, da so se med
omenjenimi etničnimi skupinami ohranili tisti bistveni elementi, ki so povezani s pre-
dkolumbovskim, predazteškim in celo predmajevskim kultom rodovitnosti: življenja
in smrti hkrati.
Medtem ko je načrtna španska evangelizacija uspela zabrisati meje med elementi
razhčnih kulturnih izvorov in izkoreniniti marsikatero predšpansko religiozno prakso, so
na dejanskem obrednem kot tudi miselno-simbolnem nivoju ostale zelo evidentne tiste
kulturno-religiozne sestavine, ki so neposredno vezane na najbolj temeljno eksistencialno
bistvo fizičnega in kulturnega preživetja določene (čeprav transformirane) družbe: njeno
nadaljevanje. To je predvsem vidno v kultih rodovitnosti in kultih prednikov med
preživelimi avtohtonimi skupinami. Navsezadnje je vidno tudi v dejstvu, da je mnogo ele^
mentov avtohtonih kultur prevzela mehiška mestiška in urbana sredina. Umreti v Mehiki,
pa čeprav v tridesetmilijonskem glavnem mestu, ni isto kot umreti v Evropi.
Laureano Reyes Gómez, "Gradación zoque de la edad". Cultura y etnicidad zoque, San Cristóbal de las Ca-
sas, Chiapas, México, UNIC.4CH-UNACH, 1998, pp. 167-187.
Jama (hama) pomeni sonce.
357
Marija Mojca Terčelj
VIRI IN LITERATrR\
CARMICHAEL, Elizabeth and Chloe Saver
1991 The Skeleton of the Feast. British Museum Press, London.
CLARK, John E.
1994 "Antecedentes de la cultura olmeca", v: Los olmecas en Mesoamérica, México, 3143.
DÍAZ DEL CASTILLO, Bernal
1992 Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España. Editorial Porrúa, México.
DURAN, Diego
1984 Historia de las Indias de la Nueva España. Editorial Porrúa, México.
HOLLAND R., William
1989 Medicina Maya en los .Mtos de Chiapas. INI, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, México.
HOWES, David
1987 "Olfaction and transition: an essay on the ritual uses of smell", v: The Canadian Review of Sociology
and Anthropology 24 /3, 1987.
KURET, Niko
1989 Praznično leto Slovencev. Družina, Ljubljana.
LEE, Thomas
1989 "La lingüística histórica y la arqueología de los zoque-mbce-popoluca", v: 1. Reunión de Investigadores
del Area Zoque, Tecpatán, Chiapas, 1986, CEI-UNACH, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México, 7-36.
LEON PORTILLA, Miguel
1986 Tiempo y Realidad en el Pensamiento Maya. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas de la UNAM, Serie
de Culturas Mesoaméricanas: 2, México.
LÓPEZ-AL'STIN, Alfredo
1984 Cuerpo Humano e Ideología. Las concepciones de los antiguos nahuas. Instituto de Investigaciones
Antropológicas: Serie Antropológica 39, 2 vols., México.
PAZ, Octavio
1975 El Laberinto de la Soledad. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.
REYES GÓMEZ, Laureano
1988 "Introducción a la medicina zoque, una aproximación Etnolingüística", v: Estudios recientes en el área
zoque, CEI-UNACH, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, 158-382,
1997 "Los zoques de Chiapas: salud, enfermedad y atención en la viejez", v: 2. Reunión de Investigadores del
Area Zoque, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México, 1997, CEI-UNACH, v tisku.
1998 "Gradación zoque de la edad", v: Cultura y etnicidad zoque. Nuevos enfoques en la investigación social
de Chiapas. San Cristóbal de los Cases, Chiapas, México, UNICACH-UNACH, pp. 167-187
SAHAGÚN, Bernardino
1989 Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España. Editorial Porrúa, México.
TERČEU, Marija-Mojca
1990 Terenski zapiski / Field notes: Pantepec, Tapalapa - Chiapas, Mehika.
1991 Terenski zapiski / Field notes: Pantepec - Chiapas, Mehika.
1992 Medicina in magija med Sokeji v Chiapasu (Mehika). Magistrska naloga. Oddelek za etnologijo in kul-
turno antropologijo FF, Ljubljana.
1996 Terenski zapiski / Field notes: Pantepec, Chamula, Tuxtla Gutiérrez - Mehika.
1997 Terenski zapiski / Field notes: Tuxtla Gutiérrez - Mehika.
1997 "Vovo rmque. joyo soc toe - flor costurada, flor amarrada. Flor y el simbolismo de los floreados",
2. Reunión de Investigadores del ,Vrea Zoque. CEI-UNACH, San Cristóbal de las Casas. Chiapas, México, 1997,
v: Cultura y etnicidad zoque, uevos  enfoques en la iniestigación social de Chiapas. San Cristóbal de los Cases,
Chiapas, México, UNICACH-UNACH, pp. 129-136.
WESTHEIM, Paul
1983 La calavera. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.
358
THE CONCEPTION OF DEATH IN ANCIENT
MEXICO AND THE RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM OF
PRESENT-DAY DEATH RITUALS
(With Special Emphasis on the Zoque Culture, Chiapas)
Marija Mojca Terčelj
Key words: Mexico, death, humor, rituals
!Dime cómo mueres y te diré quién eres!
(Tell me, how you die, and FU tell you, who you are!")
(Mexican proverb)
A foreigner who is not acquainted with Mexican pre-Christian tradition and its
specific attitude to death, could be surprised during the days preceding November 1
when he is confronted with the stacks of candy skeletons and skulls which embellish
the street stalls of all major towns in central Mexico. About a fortnight prior to Novem-
ber 1, Mexicans buy special sweet bread with coils of dough depicting skeletons or
skulls baked on top, toy skeletons and chocolate skulls, to present their friends and re-
latives with them. From these multi-coloured skulls names like "Jorge". "Pepe",
"Oscar" smile at you. These presents and the indulgence in one's own death are accom-
panied by a particular kind of humour. Friends exchange little notes with witty and
pungent ideas about human errors, hfe and death, like for instance':
Mojca vino a los zoques estudiar,
para lograr un sabio doctorado,
más, nunca se puso a pensar,
que su sapiencia aquí ha fracasado.
Más un día arribó la Calara
y la llevó a pasear entre tumbas
sin saber que le gustaba la maraca
y el ritmo de sabrosas cumbias.
' Mojca Oiime to study the Zoques.
to become a learued doctor;
but never did she think.
that all her science would fall thro\io:h here.
One dav the Skull came,
and took her for a walk anioug the »n\\t'f.
not knowino; that she likes dancing too and the
hot rhythm of the cinnbia.
And look, the sweet talking Death is already dragging Mojca.
To join the other skeletons and indulge
in her highbrow works and bookish study -
in a dark pit she now dances her danzón.
359
Marija Mojca Terčelj
Ya que, zalamera, la Muerte la atrajo,
y, junto a otros esqueletos disfruta
de grandes estudios y mucho trabajo
bailando danzón en tenebrosa gruta.
In Mizquico, a small place close to the capital, every year a "Festival of Skulls " is
organised on November 1, during which prizes are given to the best costumes and toys.
In the last two decades Mizquico has seen an invasion of "Batmen", "Draculas" and
similar movie characters , imported from the USA. The making of sugar skulls is ac-
tually a Mexican derivative of the Anglo-Saxon Halloween pumpkins, but that the swe-
ets are actually eaten is an exclusively Mexican phenomenon. .Another entirely Mexican
feature is the following scene on one of Mexico City's main avenues: a large parade ac-
companies a decorated coffin, in front of which elegant mariachis march in the glitter
and sound of loud trumpets, while traffic is directed by merry clowns in multi-coloured
clothes who sprinkle the spectators with confetti.
But as soon as we leave behind the major urban centres, we get to know a rather
different kind of celebrations November 1. In the Mexican countryside there are no su-
gar skulls, parades or festivals: here people foster the rich repertoire of a millennia old
ancestor cult which in the course of the past five hundred years has taken the syncretic
image of "all living and all dead". Celebrating death with special emphasis on the ri-
tual of the deceased ancestors occupies a special place in the Mexican festival calendar.
In some places activities start as early as St Lucas' Day (October 18) and last until St
Andrew's Day (November 30), culminating on November 1, 2 and 3. To the various au-
tochthonous ethnic groups and to the mestizo population All Saints Day does not only
remind them of the dead, but also of the real encounter of two worlds: the world of the
living and that of the deceased. During the first days of November the deceased visit
their homes and the living prepare for this occasion very carefully. The different auto-
chthonous groups and mestizos ornate their house altars and prepare festival dishes
which always include tamales ^, sweet bread and cacao^.
The Zoques* and Mayas from Chiapas decorate their house altars on which we
find portraits of the family's patron saints and of the deceased. Over the altars arches
of green branches twigs are set up among which the major role is reserved for branches
of the American high-mountain pine (ocote) which is generally used for ritual purpo-
' Tamal: maize dough with added beans, spicy sauce, meat and/or herbs, wrapped in a maize or palm leaf.
' Sweet chocolate drink, caca, cacao (Zoque) or chocolatl (Nahua) is prepared in Mexico in the old, Mesoame-
rican way: three cubes of raw cacao are boiled in one litre of water, to which some sugar is added (boiling takes half an
hour to one hour). When the drink is homogenous enough, it is served in small cups. The word caen is derived from
the proto Mke-Zoque-Popoluca language which formed around 1400 BC on the coast of Soconusca (Chiapas), where
a Pre-Olmec people domesticated maize, beans, pumpkins, Chilean peppers and cacao which later became the staple
food of the permanently settled, highlv developed agricultural civilisations of Mesoamerica: the Olmecs, Mayas, Tol-
tecs and Mixtees.
' I have been able to witness the celebration of .Ml Saints in Mexico four times: in October and November of
1990 and 1991 in the villages of Pantepec and Tapalapa in the north-eastern cordillera of Chiapas (Zoque), in 1996 in
Pantepec and in the western high mountains of Chiapas (Maya-Tzotzil), and in 1997 in Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Zoque).
360
The Conception of Death in .Ancient Mexico and the Religious Syncretism of Present-day Death Rituals
ses. Among the flowers given to the deceased the most commonly used are: tagetes^, li-
lies, marigolds and chrysanthemums.* In front of the images of the ancestors candles
and copaP are lit and in between ritual food and beverages are placed; the floor before
the altar is strewn with pine needles. The candles and incense must remain lit during
the entire celebration period, and the food too is set before the altar from October 31 to
November 3. The dishes usually offered to the deceased consist of tamales, made of
palm leaves, sweet rolls, cocoa, coffee, brandy and cigarettes, if the deceased was a smo-
ker and enjoyed alcohol. Beside all this the deceased is also offered his favourite dish.
The Zoques say that though the souls cannot eat the food, Üiey can smell it and that
amounts to the same.
Whde the domestic preparations for the meeting of the Zoques and their ance-
stors are under way already some days prior to November 1, the cleaning, painting and
embellishing of the graves has to wait until the morning of November 1. A similar se-
quence is observed among the mountain Mayas. Cemeteries are not visited during the
year (since people have their ancestor on the house altars) and as a consequence in the
morning of November 1 they first of all have to swing the machete to clean the shrubs
before they can start decorating the graves. The grave ornamentation is similar to those
on the house altars: over the grave an arch of ocote branches is erected, decorated with
flowers and under this arch food, candles and incense will be placed during the fol-
lowing days, just as it is done with the home ahars.^
The Zoques spend the afternoon of November 1 at home and the whole family
congregates around the house altars. On November 2 the cemetery is visited. There
they play for the deceased on instruments - usually on a jarana, a home-made violin
and guitar - they talk to them, eat and drink.' On November 3 the Zoques from Chia-
pas visit the graves of their children , while some Indians worship on this day the de-
ceased who were the victims of a violent death. Among the dead a special hierarchy is
indeed observed and celebrations are adapted to it: the central celebration is dedicated
exclusively to the souls of adults and to those who died honestly. Because the souls of
^ "Flor de muerto" or flower of the dead as the mestizos call the strongly scented orange flower, is called mi-
ma joya by the Zoques, sempuchi or cempasuchi by the Nahua Indians. The strongly scented orange flowers - tagetes -
are used by the Zoques, Mayas and Nahuas also for beahng purposes, especially for so-called limpias ("cleansing",
when a patient has "lost his soul") and in hot baths (in case of hypothermia).
' Marigolds and lilies grow wild in the woods in Sierra de Pantepec (approx.. 1300m a.s.l.) and close to settle-
ments, whereas the mountain Mayas from the area of San Cristóbal de las Casas have to grow them.
' Common name for resin of different trees from the family of Burseracaee, to which local herbs are added,
dry cinnamon sticks and other aromatics.
* In Pantepec only a few graves have tombstones. They are the graves of the so<;alled ladims (autochthonous
population turned mestizo), the rest are lots marked by light blue-and-green wooden crosses, which the Indians re-
paint on the morning of every November 1.
' Some Mexican Indian groups also visit the graves at night; for instance the Tarasca from the environs of
Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacan, who in lighted boats set out at midnight from the coast to the cemetery on the island of
Janitzio.
There are many ethnical and local varieties; the Totonaca from Veracruz, for instance, worship dead chil-
dren on octavo, on the eighth and ninth day following All Saints.
361
Marija Mojca Terčelj
the dead can do harm to the heahh and psychophysical harmony of the living, it is ne-
cessary to take leave from them in time."
.According to the pre-Christian tradition of the Zoques the souls of the dead (like all
other transcendent beings) can perceive the reality of the living only through smell and
sound and therefore the only possible communication between the living and the dead
- between this world and the other world - is through music, smell and incense.'' The
abundant use of smells in the rituals for the dead (flowers, incense, aromatic food and
drinks, and especially alcohol and tobacco) is thus quite clear. Auditory and olfactory sti-
muli, characteristic elements of so-called rites of passage (dies de passage), have been di-
scovered by anthropologists among all cultures of the world, but some of them, and
among them precisely the Mesoamerican ones, attribute a particularly high significance
to them.'^ Sensory effects change into concrete symbols of transition, since all by them-
selves contain (or refer to) change. Ritual music, noise, incense and beverages are instru-
mental to the transition into the "other" state and also denote the transition of the essen-
tial vital and social categories. According to the findings of the Canadian anthropology of
senses there exists a particularly close connection between smell and the transition or
the concept of change. The reason for this seems to be in the very olfactory anatomy and
in the characteristics of smells. A smell is continuously in transition, changing, "that is
because smells constantly escape from their objects, and because of the way they normally
signal processes of transformation,that they are used to mediate (and manage transi-
tion) between social categories'*.
Religious syncpetism
In order to better understand the present-day syncretic rituals of death and the
deceased, we have to know about the conceptions of death in pre-colonial Mexico.
There are several sources on this issue: material remains, pre-Columbian codices and
early colonial chronicles. If we combine the pieces of this mosaic, all we get is an appro-
ximate idea of pre-colonial conceptions, because the Spaniards thoroughly eradicated
all written material. Take for instance the first Bishop and chronicler on the peninsula
of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, who had all Mayas books burned and later wote a history
" In some places, for instance in Veracruz, the end of the celebrations is marked by strewing the road from
home to the cemetery with tagetes, to make it easier for the souls to return to the place which connects this world with
the other world. The Zoques and mountain Mayas have various protective means against the dangers the souls threa-
ten them with, among others tagetes are used for therapeutic purposes.
" How a similar role is played by music, flowers and aromatics, through which the Zoques enter into contact
with the protectors of fertility, is discussed elsewhere, see: '7oyo naque, joyo soc toe - flor costurada, flor amarrada.
Flor y el simbolismo de los floreados". Cultura y etnicidad zoque, UNICACH-UNACH, 1998, pp. 129-LS6., San Cristó-
bal de las Casas, Chiapas, México.
" For this very reason the transition rites among the Mexican Indians as well as among the peoples of the Indone-
sian .Archipelago (the Moluccas) and India have become the favourite subject of the so-called anthropology of senses.
'* David Howes, "Olfaction and transition: an essay on the ritual uses of smell", in: The Canadian Review of
Sociology and Anthropology 24 /3, 1987, p. 398.
362
The Conception of Death in Ancient Mexico and the Religious Syncretism of Present-dav Death Rituals
of the Mayas himself.'^ There is no doubt that he faked this history for he have viewed
it with a double prejudice: that of a European rationalist (particularist) way of
thinking, wrapped in addition in his missionary zeal to christianise.
Accurate determination of religious elements as pre-Spanish is often impossi-
ble.'^ In analyses of this kind we can, however, deduce quite a lot from the method of
evangelisation. The substitution policy of the Catholic Church was systematic and pre-
meditated: it always looked for the closest possible analogy, replaced major autochtho-
nous cults with the rituals of major saints, and in this process accidental overlapping or
calendar modifications of the European festivals may have occurred.
The festival of All Saints was introduced in the church festival year by Pope Boni-
fatius IV in the 7''' century.'' The numbers of martyrs had increased to an extent the
Church was no longer able to award every saint his own day. May 13 was therefore de-
termined to be the day to remember all martyrs. For practical reasons Pope Gregory
moved the festival from May 13 to November 1, where it met with the ancient rituals for
the deceased souls. All Souls (November 2) was accepted by the official Roman Catholic
Church as a liturgical day only toward the end of the 13* century. Throughout the Mid-
dle Ages the Church engaged in huge efforts to separate the official liturgy from the
pre-Christian ritual of death and to eradicate the pagan "ancestor cult ". As early as
390 AD Augustine wanted to abolish the custom of consuming food and drinks over
graves, and Amalarius of Metz (780 - 850) was the first to introduce mass for the dead
on November 2, with the justification that it was better to replace pagan rituals than to
leave them unsupervised. In spite of centuries of efforts to reform pagan rituals they
survived in Europe throughout the centuries, in the beginning at the graves and later
as house customs. Nowadays only the lighting of candles and decorating of graves re-
mind us of those customs. Offering food, beverages and incense moved from the graves
to the homes.'* Throughout Europe the belief survived for a very long time that the
deceased return to their homes on these days or to watch the living from their graves.
The above short survey might induce us to conclude that the ritual consumma-
tion of food, the abundant incense and the presence of music in the cemeteries of Mexi-
can Indians might be the result of European influences. We shall see below that this is
not so. The Spanish wanted to eradicate the ancestor cult in the New World in the same
way as they had done in Europe. Our next question must then be: how did it manage to
survive five hundred years of christianising efforts?
Diego de Landa: Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, 1557. (Reprinted in: Editorial Porrúa, México, 1986).
" In recomposing the past we have to take account of the most different information sources: relying on a sin-
gle section of sources often leads to erroneous explanations. It often occurs that the origin is searched for in ancient
.Mesoamerican cultures, and that in the end we discover that the religious elements have their roots in Europe. To-
gether with Christianity the Spanish brought with them pre-Christian elements from the Iberian peninsula to the New
Continent and this caused a range of syncretic developments in Mexico.
Niko Kuret, Praznično leto Slovencev. Družina. Ljubljana. 1989, pp. 92-93.
" It is worth mentioning that field research which I carried out in Dolenjsko and Kozjansko some ten years
ago among others revealed the custom that during the night between November 1 and 2 a glass of water were left for
the deceased on the kitchen table.
363
Marija Mojca Terčelj
In the 16* century Christianity, mixed with ancient Iberian elements, was tran-
sferred to the New World and found an even more fertile soil in Mexico. Here indeed
the different cultures and religious traditions of Mesoamerica had already fertilised
one another and melted into the specific form the conquerors and missionaries met
with upon their arrival.
The first chronicles of the sixteenth century: Bernardino Sahagún, Bernal Diaz
de Castillo and Diego Duran report on different celebrations in the honour of the
dead. These celebrations were spread all over the ceremonial calendar year, among the
Aztecs most of them were concentrated in the 9*, 10*, 13th , 14* and 18th months."
The principal festivals of the dead were Miccaihuitl, the festival of the "great death" or
the memory of all deceased adults, and MiccalhuitontU, the festival of the "little dea-
th", that of all deceased children. Duran reports, that the latter was the festival of all
innocent who died immediately after birth and of dead-born babies, which explains the
name's diminutive form. The celebrations of Miccailhuitl commenced on August 3 and
were continued on August 23 when the following offerings were brought to the graves
of the deceased: tamales, cocoa, turkeys, fruit, flower ornamentations, incense and
images of the deities of life after death and fertility, made of foxtail grass seeds and
bark. Duran also reports that people used to dance and play music on the graves. Du-
ring the colonial period these customs were transferred to November 1, but even today
they still preserve many ancient elements, for instance: consummation of the same ri-
tual food, music, flower offerings, incenses etc.
The conception of life and death
The religions and ideologies of different civilisations of ancient Mexico were ba-
sed on a general cosmological explanation of the world and man in it. This explanation
was determined by reliable and accurate observation of the natural environment, the
weather and the celestial bodies. The creation was governed by opposite forces, who -
with the Mayas as well as with the Nahuas had their origin: in the first Father - the first
Mother. From this first pair all the remaining dialectics follow: man-woman, light-dark-
ness, hot-cold, strong-weak, birth-death, creation-destruction etc.
The conception of life lay in its cyclical repetition: destruction gives birth to new
creation, death enables rebirth. Birth carries in it the seed of death, as much as death
already contains its antipode. Therefore, the same gods were involved in the creation of
the world (Quetzalcóatl, Tezcatlipoca) and in its destruction. They were creators and
destroyers at the same time. Here lies the mystery of the inseparable interconnected-
ness of the symbols and rituals of fertility as well as of death.
The tenth month of the Aztec calendar, during which the inhabitants of Teno-
chtitlan celebrated one of their numerous festivals of death (Miccailhuitl), was called
" The Aztec solar year was divided into eighteen time units counting twenty days each and ended with five
special surplus days. The Mayas had two calendars: a solar one which was similarly divided into eighteen time units of
twenty days each, and a ritual calendar, which is still used by their descendants in Chiapas and Guatemala.
364
The Conception of Death in .Ancient Mexico and the Religious Syncretism of Present-day Death Rituals
365
xócotl huetzi or "picking the fruit ". During this month a number of fertility rituals
took place: offering flowers {tlaxochimaco) and the festival of fire was followed bv the
ritual of the "big tree", when a tree with twenty-five branches was cut down and decora-
ted with the produce of "mother Earth" (corn, fruit, flowers, tamales). The tree first
had to be stretched out flat (the horizontal level), later it was erected and decorated
with images of the gods (the vertical level).
Elements of fertility and dying were also incorporated in the celebration of tiie god-
dess Teteo mnan, called Toci (meaning "our grandmother"). Teteo innan was the mother
of all Mexican gods, even of the creators, some kind of "the Mother". During the eleventh
month she was offered the produce of the earth in the form of fruit and food, but also the
flower of death campoakóchitl or tagetes. During the fourteenth month or quechoUi the
god Mixcóatl was remembered. To him slaves were sacrificed and food was placed on the
graves of brave warriors (the god was connected with war) and then burned (accidentally,
these rituals were performed around November 1). Offerings and ritual consummation of
food as part of celebrating the dead represented more than only assistance to the souls in
the other world - it symbolised Hfe or die new life in death.
The inseparable connection between life and death and its high symbolic value is
witnessed to by the sacrifices of human lives, dedicated to all the major gods, the crea-
tors. Ritual death carried in it a message of renewal or resurrection and therefore those
who sacrificed their own lives viewed their death as the highest, transcendental goal.
They died proudly since they represented a deity to which they were sacrificed. Saha-
gún reports that their relatives too rejoiced, firmly believing that the sacrificed beloved
would join god directly.
A woman sacrificed to the goddess Toci personified the goddess herself. Dressed in
the goddess's clothes she acted as god's deputy and all her parts were therefore reliqua-
ries. Even the slaves who were thrown into the fire alive and with tied arms and legs on the
first day oi xócotl huetzi represented the god of fire Xiuhtecutli. They were painted yellow
and before they actually died they were dragged out of the fire and their hearts were cut
out. The hearts represented divine food, that is die seed or embryo of new fire. An equally
significant role was played by the hearts (seeds, fruits) of the new rain and the new sun.
Certain deities were also consumed: the sacrificed victims were cut to pieces, divided
among the people and eaten and this act amounted to taking possession of divine power.
The religious symbolism of ancient Mexico was highly figurative and concrete, at
least when real human bodies were involved. But the Aztecs also knew a more abstract,
symbolic form of consuming god's body. The sharing of foxtail bread which warriors
ate before going to battle cannot fail to remind us of the Christian holy communion. By
eating this bread the warriors were endowed with the strength of the god Huit-
zilopochtli. In this case the same symbolic form is involved as is known in present-day
Christian Eucharist.
It would, however, be erroneous to claim that all Mesoamerican cultures focu-
sed on life and death in such drastic and explicit ways as was the case with the peaks of
two notably expansive empires, those of the Aztecs and the Mayas, which both introdu-
ced the phenomenon of human sacrifice relatively late and primarily for political and
Marija Mojca Terčelj
ideological reasons, though, of course, under a religious cover. Archaeological findings
prove that the striking focus on human sacrifices was not really common to any greater
extent prior to the Post-classical period (900-1520 BC).^^
The cosmic .niiodel
Every Mexican pyramid which functioned as the base of a temple represented a
small cosmic model. The more developed civilisations of Mesoamerica imagined co-
smic reality as a geometric body of terraced pyramidal shape, constructed with several
horizontal levels or worlds, interconnected by vertical cosmic axes. The centre of the
universe was the world of the given earthly reality. It had the form of a rectangle, sup-
ported at every corner by a divine pillar (four Tlalocs with the Aztecs). Every side of the
sky was symbolised by one deity, one colour, one property etc. The central vertical axe
was usually depicted in the form of a ceiba, a holy tree or the tree of life. The centres of
the villages (markets) of the mountain Mayas in Chiapas still have a rectangular form
today. In the centre of the market stands a ceiba and at each exit from it stand three
light blue crosses. These are not Christian signs though, but belong to the Mayan heri-
tage. The cross represented the four sides of the sky with all their religious and symbo-
lic meanings. In ancient Mexico space played more than a geometric role. It was holy.
Below the level of earthly reality the Mayas imagined four underworlds, and the
Aztecs in their late period even nine. Every world or level played a special role and had
its divine protector, usually a pair of them. Similar was the idea of the upper levels or
worlds. The Mayas knew nine upper worlds, the Aztecs added four more so that there
were a total of thirteen. The highest upper world was that of the god Omeotl, who had a
male and female nature alike, and the lowest underworld was the realm of death.
The god of life, the god of death and life after death
Earth, a four-cornered flat surface, meant to the peoples of ancient Mexico the cen-
tre of the cosmos. It was ruled by the so-called "masters of the world", including the oldest
goddess from which all other deities of the ancient Mexican pantheon stemmed. Directly
connected with this world were also the gods who supported the eartii plate and its four
corners. The upper worlds were imagined by the ancient Mexican peoples as "the moun-
tain of the world" or as a pyramid with thirteen steps, six to the east, six to the west and a
central one on top of the sky. Different celestial levels were ruled by different deities, the
creators of man, flora and fauna. In accordance with the upper worlds the underworlds
formed an underground pyramid with nine levels of the subterranean creation: four to
the east, four to the west and a central one ruled by the deity of the underworld.
^" Previous archaeological findings, with few exceptions, do not depict death nor human sacrifices. Proto-
Olmec rehef sculptures of skeletons found in Izapa (Chiapas) were a high exception in their period (S""' century BC).
During the Early Classical Period (200-900 AD) there are few such depictions: in Teotihuacan only two frescoes were
found which represent death.
366
The Conception of Death in Ancient Mexico and the Religious Syncretism of Present-day Death Rituals
367
In the course of twenty-four hours the Sun travelled across every step: every mor-
ning it climbed the eastern steps up to the zenith and in the afternoon descended by
the western steps behind the horizon. From there on it went on its nightly journey. In
the same way the Sun has to travel all nine underworlds, the souls of the deceased had
to cover the long road through the nine underworlds to arrive at Mictlán, the world of
the dead or shadows (with the Aztecs), ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death. The
journey to Mictlán was very hard. The souls first had to cross mountains, than eight
deserts, and finally they had to wade across a wide river. The whole journey lasted four
years and all the time the souls were exposed to various dangers: they could be injured
by falling rocks, hit by poisonous arrows or by sharp obsidian knives. Some peoples of
ancient Mexico therefore had special rituals for the souls of the deceased which lasted
exactly for four years after their death. Such rituals have been preserved into the pre-
sent, though in a modified form. The Zoques call them (in Spanish) cabo del ano. Upon
every anniversary of his or her death they place flowers, incense and food in front of
the deceased's picture on the house altar. The floor is strewn with pine needles and
women prayers kneel there. Eight nights in a row they pray the rosary and on the ninth
day they carry all the offerings from the house altar to the grave where the ninth ritual
is repeated.
Not al souls, however, went to Mictlán, because is was reserved to those who died
a normal death. A heroic death sent die deceased straight away to heaven, to Tonatiuh
ichan. The souls of fallen warriors there accompanied the god of the Sun on his way
from the eastern horizon to the zenith, and the souls of women who died in child birth
(nwhihua quetzque or "brave women ") accompanied him from the zenith to the we-
stern horizon. After four years they changed into humming-birds. The souls of those
who died in accidents (drowned of suffocated etc.) or in great pain went to Tlalocan, the
world of the rain-god 7Ia/oc. In Tlalocan eternal spring reigned and no suffering ever
occurred. A chdd's death took it to a place near Tlalocan, to Chichihuacuauhco, where
the souls had to wait until the destruction of this world and to be reincarnated into new
human beings. Until then they were fed by mük which dripped from the branches of
the holy tree huahuahuete.
While the day of birth (the constellation of the stars and the influences of the
gods) determined a person's fate on Earth, the fate of a deceased's life after death was
determined by the way he died. A Mexican proverb of the present still says: Dime cómo
mueres y te dire quien eres ("Tell me how you die and I'll tell you who you are!"). A de-
serving Hfe on Earth and moral virtues which are of the upmost significance to life af-
ter death of a Christian, did not have the least impact on life after death of the ancient
Mayas and Mixtees. The future was harboured in the act of dying. A more deserving
death led to a more deserving life after death. But even a quite normal deatii did not
lead to hell, but to Miction, the place at which the souls arrive only after a long and
hard journey, but when they get there, they enjoy the hospitality of its master, Mictlan-
tecuhtli. The peoples of ancient Mexico did not have to fear hell or the terror of punish-
ment after death. In Miction (or Metnal with Mayas), the last world of the underworld,
the sun shone even at night and the souls lived similarly as in this world.
Marija Mojca Terčelj
Laureano Reyes Gómez explains the comparison of the Sun's jorney with man's life
in the present-day tradition of the Zoques^'. The Sun has sixteen differently named daily
phases: sunrise, three morning phases between sumise and the zenith, three afternoon
phases between the zenith and sundown, sundown, three nightíy phases between sun-
down and midnight, midnight or zero time and three dark morning phases between mid-
night and sunrise. In analogy with the Sun's phases they call one healthy life cycle for in-
stance: nomaii pijtu jama-' (chUd), kimun jama (child from eight to nine), ju/Tí jama (ado-
Iescent-"when the sun burns", kujk jama (high noon or "man's high noon"), jama dsu'e
(maturity), tsai'a, pitse'a, notjeykah jama (sundown), tsuan etc.. - an adolescent is a rising
sun, a young man is high noon, a mature person early afternoon, and the senior middle
years are several phases of the setting Sun (until the age of fifty-nine), upon his sixtieth
birdiday a person enters the night; between sixty and eight-five years of age the Zoques
know three phases of the night; when "solar eclipse" occurs or the risky point of departu-
re. But when midnight comes new insemintion already occurs, the new semen of the Sun,
which is followed by three embryological phases up to birth or sunrise. This ecliptic jour-
ney of the Sun (and of man) indicates that there must have been a pre-Colombian tradi-
tion of the Sun's passage around the pyramids and to the interconnectedness of deaüi and
rebirth. Death is thus the transition into rebirth.
Coiiclwsion
I would like to conclude this article with the following reflections:
In the area of present-day Mexico despite the presence of several interwoven pre-
Columbian religious traditions and overlaying Christianity it is possible to establish
that among the mentioned ethnic groups those essential elements have been preser-
ved which are connected with Pre-Columbian, pre-Aztec and even pre-Mayan fertility
cult of life and death alike.
Whereas the systematic Spanish evangelisation succeeded in erasing the boundaries
between the elements of different cultural origins and eradicate many pre-Spanish reli-
gious practices, on the actual ritual as well as mental and symbolic level those cultural
and religious elements have remained quite evident which are direcüy connected with the
most fundamental existential essence of physical and cultural survival of a certain (thou-
gh transformed) society, that is its continuation. This is quite evident from the fertility
cults and ancestor cults among the remaining autochthonous groups. And, after all, it is
also evident from the fact that many elements of the autochthonous cultures were adop
ted by the Mexican mestizos and urban centres. To die in Mexico, even in a capital which
counts thirty million of inhabitants, is not the same as to die in Europe.
Laureano Reyes Gómez, "Gradación zoque de la edad". Cultura y etnicidad zoque, San Cristóbal de las Ca-
sas, Chiapas, México, UNlCACH-l N.ACH, p. 167-187.
^ Jama (hama) - the Sun.
368
The Conception of Death in Ancient Mexico and the Reheious Syncretism of Present-dav Death Rituals
SOURCES AND LITERATURE see page 358
BESEDA 0 AVTORICI
Marija Mojca Terčelj. mag., etnologinja in
filozofinja, je kustosinja Slovenskega etnografske-
ga muzeja za stike Slovencev z neevropskimi kultu-
rami. Kot nova raziskovalka Oddelka za etnologijo
in kulturno antropologijo Filozofske fakultete v
Ljubljani je med letoma 1988 in 1994 v presledkih
raziskovala kozmologijo, medicino in obredja ro-
dovitnosti med Indijanci Zoques v Mehiki. V Slo-
venskem etnografskem muzeju je zaposlena od
leta 1996. V letu 1997 je v muzeju pripravila štu-
dijsko razstavo z naslovom Baragova zbirka pred-
metov iz Severne Amerike, leta 1998 pa razstavo in
obsežni katalog z naslovom Iz dežele sončnega
sijaja in mesečevih senc : Beblerjeva indonezijska
zbirka. Vzporedno pripravlja doktorsko nalogo z
naslovom Sokejevska kozmologija kot interpreta-
cijski model in kot predmet etnološke (antropolo-
ške) razlage.
ABOLlT THE AUTHOR
Marija Mojca Terčelj is an M.A. in ethnolo-
gy and phUosophy and curator at the Slovene Eth-
nographic Museum for the Relations between the
Slovene and Foreign Cultures. .\s a new resarcher
at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural An-
thropology of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana she
studied with intervals from 1988 to 1994 the co-
smology, medicine and fertihty rites among the
Zoques Indians of Mexico. She has been employed
at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum since 1996.
In 1997 she prepared in the museum a study exhi-
bition entitled The Baraga Collection of objects
from North America, and in 1998 the exhibition
and extensive catalogue entitled From the land of
sun shine and moon shadows: The Bebler Indone-
sian Collection. She is also working on her docto-
ral dissertation on the subject "Zoques cosmology
as an interpretation model and as the object of
ethnological (anthropological) explanation."
369
SODELAVCI / CONTRIBUTORS
370!
Uroš BAVEC, Institute for tlie Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Skalic-
kega ulica 1, Grad Grm, 8000 Novo mesto, Slovenia.
Zeljko DUGAC, MA, Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, Department of the Hi-
story of Medical Sciences, Demetrova 18, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Branko DAKOVIĆ, Ph.D., Eaculty of Arts, Department of Ethnology, Ivana Lukića 3,
HR-Zagreb 10000, Croatia.
Marta GREGORČIČ, Brezovica 28, 8233 Mirna, Slovenia.
Mateja HABINC, Cesta bratov Cerjakov 22, 8250 Brežice, Slovenia.
Tomaž KRPlČ, Institute of Social Sciences, Eaculty of Social Sciences, Kardeljeva plo-
ščad 1, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Urszula LEHR, Ph.D., Polish Academy of Sciences, Department of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Ethnology Workgroup, ul. Slawkowska 17, Cracow, Poland.
Helena LOŽAR PODLOGAR, MA, Institute of the Slovene Ethnography ZRC SAZU,
Gosposka 13, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Mirjam MENCEJ, MA, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Ethnolo-
gy and Cultural Anthropology, P. 0. Box 580, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maja MILČINSKI, Ph.D., University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Phi-
losophy, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Robert ORAVECZ, MD, Rakuševa 8, 2270 Ormož, Slovenia.
Anna PLOTNIKOVA, Ph.D., Institute for Slavic Research of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Leninsky pr 32-A, RU-117334 Moscow, Russia.
Ljupčo S. RISTESKI, MA, Ul. Volgogradska 4, A-3,111/11, 91000 Skopje, Macedonia.
Irena ROZMAN, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Ethnology and
Cultural Anthropology, P. 0. Box 580, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Biljana SIKIMIĆ, Ph.D., BaU^anological Institute SANU, Knez-Mihajlova 35, 11000
Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Inja SMERDEL, MA, Slovene Ethnographic Museum, Metelkova 2, 1000 Ljubljana,
Slovenia.
Marija STANONIK, Ph.D., Institute of the Slovene Ethnography ZRC SAZU, Gosposka
13, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maja ŠUBIC, Mestni trg 8, 4220 Škofja Loka, Slovenia.
Borut TELBAN, Ph.D., Scientific Research Centre of the Slovene Academy of Sciences
and Arts, Gosposka 13, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Marija Mojca TERČELJ, MA, Slovene Ethnographic Museum, Metelkova 2, 1000 Lju-
bljana, Slovenia.
Iveta TODOROVA-PIRGOVA, Ph.D., Institute of Foddore-BAS, Akad. G. Bonchev Str.,
hl. 6, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria.
Svedana M. TOLSTAYA, Ph.D., Institute for Slavic Research of the Russian Academy
of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 32-A, RU-117334 Moscow, Russia.
Lyudmda N. VINOGRADOVA, Ph.D., Institute for Slavic Research of the Russian Aca-
demy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 32-A, RU-117334 Moscow, Russia.
Natalija VREČER, MA, The Peace Institute, Metelkova 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Yekaterina YAKUSHKINA, Ul. .4ngarskaja 57-3-2, 127412 Moscow, Russia.
371
Etnolog
Glasnik Slovenskega etnografskega muzeja
Letnik 9 (60), leto 1999, št. 1
ISSN 03540316
UDK 39(497.4)(05)= 163.6+-111U= 133.1
Lektura (slovenščina) / Slovene language editing:
Mirjam Mencej
Oblikovanje / Design:
Mojca Turk
Tehnična ureditev, stavek / Layout:
T2 studio d.o.o., Ljubljana
Izdal in založd / Published by:
Slovenski etnografski muzej
zanj
mag. Inja Smerdel
Tisk / Printed by:
Sitograf trade d.o.o., Ljubljana
Naklada / Print run:
600 izvodov / copies
Ljubljana 1999