Hello everyone, how are you? I’m Arith Härger
and today I’m going to talk about and show you the similarities between some Balkan Religious
Symbols with the Icelandic Magic Symbols or staves. Our first video with decorations
to celebrate the season of Mariah Carey, and I’m not sure if you can see it, also a tree,
which is the most pagan way of celebrating the birth of the baby boy of a fictional character.
One of my previous videos in relation to galdrastafir, Icelandic magic staves, was
precisely showing the similarities between Umbanda symbols with the galdrastafir, especially with
the Ægishjálmur and such other similar symbols. On that video I’ve presented a cultural background
from which such symbols have had their origins. However, today, I would like to show you
some religious symbols of the Balkans, from southeast Europe, and you will certainly find many
similarities with the Icelandic Magic Staves. The symbols I will show you today from the Balkans
are mainly a religious tradition from Northwest of the Balkan Peninsula, and even though it’s
a tradition mostly associated with Croatia, other countries also share this tradition, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and former Yugoslavia. It is an interesting set of symbols part of a tradition
of tattooing these symbols on one’s body.
Before we delve into this, let me show
you already some of the similarities. Here, somewhere, I present to you the symbol named Kolo which refers to family and community because of its circular shape, and in some of the sources I've
gathered it seems to also be a symbol related to the fir tree. I take the opportunity to say that Kolo is
also a traditional dance from Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Which is a collective folk dance where
those involved are interlinked to form a chain, usually moving in a circular line holding
hands with their arms down. As you can see, there's undoubtedly similarities with
these Icelandic Magic staves, and further ahead we shall see a lot more similarities.
Kolo is an important religious symbol of the Balkans, with an integrative social function.
It is a symbol of national identity which helps to reinforce regional communal identities.
But we shall see more of this further ahead, don’t worry. So, with no more delay, let’s
start our today’s video, shall we? Please. Well then, in case you haven’t watched my video
concerning the common misconception in relation to Icelandic Magic symbols, I suggest you do
that just to have a better understanding of the cultural basis associated to such
symbols. However, I will, once again, specifically focus on a few points because
I think it’s important so we may understand the original cultural historical point from
which these symbols have originated from and developed, because this will also help
us to understand the cultural background that gave origins to the Balkan religious
symbols I’m presenting here today.
The Icelandic magic staves are often
thought to be of pagan origins, specifically of the Viking age, but they are not.
The galdrastafir, magic symbols of Iceland, are symbols that have appeared in Icelandic Grimoires
(“spell books”) since the 1500s, so we are talking about a symbolic tradition that only appears in
Iceland at the beginning of the 16th century CE. Half a millennium (not a century) after the end of the Scandinavian Iron Age, commonly known as "Viking Age". The oldest manuscript containing -let’s say- a
proto-galdrastafir is the small manuscript known as the Lækningakver, "Book of Physicians". It is
from the early 1500s and is kept in Copenhagen. Here in this manuscript we find
a mixture of herbal remedies, cures for illnesses, spells for misfortunes
and more, it suggests that magic and medicine were pretty much the same thing at the time,
and usually the administration of a substance to heal the patient was often accompanied by
symbology and prayers and even invocations, which was quite common throughout Europe still.
Here we have already been able to identify the type of symbol that would give rise to the more complex Icelandic magic symbols, later on, and a development of these symbols until at least the 18th-19th centuries. As you can see, we can also see here the similarity with the Kolo symbol, symbol of the community and also
the Croatian-Bosnian tattooed sign of protection. We also have this other Icelandic symbol from the
same time, to discover the identity of a thief. I won't repeat myself, so if you can and have
patience, then, please, watch the video I mentioned a moment ago, but we must remember that associated
with this specific symbol is a Christian belief, to be more precise a dualistic view that is typically
Christian. This is what we must understand: that we are facing a non-pagan but rather a Christian
tradition associated with these symbols. Eventually in Iceland these symbols will develop
and evolve, reaching the present form of the famous Ægishjálmur that appears in the 17th
century paper manuscript, known as Galdrakver, “book of magic”, kept in the
national library of Iceland. As I said earlier in other videos, to understand
the origins of this symbolic development it is necessary to search for what was happening
in other European countries at the same time, in the field of occult sciences, and not just
focus on a single historical-geographic reality. In the Renaissance, a new type of
esotericism spread across Europe, based largely on a tradition that appears to
have Jewish origins, and which- let's say- contemplates the summoning of demons controlling them and
making them do a variety of different things. The demonic evocation is carried out
through the use of specific seals or sigils, collected in large numbers in one of the
most widespread texts of European esotercism: the Clavicle of King Solomon, or simply
known as the Key of Solomon (Clavicula Salomonis). Many were the magical treatises that
emerged and circulated based on these texts. Texts that contain instructions and the sigils
associated with each demon, and how to supposedly summon demonic entities for the most diverse
purposes, what is known as Goetia or Goezia, which became quite famous even within the Catholic
Church in the practices of necromancy in the very late Medieval Period and throughout the Modern Period.
Therefore in Europe a magical knowledge circulates that will influence the creation of the
Icelandic magic symbols, which draw an inspiration from the source of continental esotericism, and
not from some pagan tradition of which there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever. But I explored this in more depth in the video that I’ve mentioned previously, and in that video I also present to you the sources (the bibliography I have used) so you can explore for yourselves. In the 1400s in Greece, a very interesting
manuscript appears, the Harley 5596, which contains one of the oldest surviving witnesses of
King Solomon's sigils found in the famous Key of Solomon. I think you can notice something quite
curious and familiar with the Icelandic symbols, especially with the Ægishjálmur and Vegvísir.
So we must retain this, in the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire collapsed with the Turkish
advance. Greek scholars took refuge in Europe and brought with them a considerable amount of
classical knowledge which would help triggering the Renaissance. These scholars brought with them
new forms of occultic magic and medicine based on Jewish, Classical and Christian beliefs, which
eventually influenced Icelanders into creating galdrastafir, especially in the creation
of Ægishjálmar-type of symbols, influenced by symbols such as the ones on the Harley 5596
manuscript from the 1400s, in Greece, containing one of the oldest surviving documentations
of the tradition of the “Key of Solomon”, You can see the picture right here, somewhere. Some aesthetic elements of the Solomonic-inspired demonic seals would be reassembled, remade and developed to produce
a new Icelandic idiosyncratic tradition. At the beginning of the modern era, Icelanders were
able to elaborate elements inherited from European occult culture, integrating them into a unique
local tradition. And this is probably exactly the same thing that has happened in the Balkans:
a development of a series of symbols brought by Greek refugees when the Turkish advance brought
down the Byzantine Empire. So let’s see. So, in the north-western region of the
Balkans there are very interesting symbols which are part of the tattoo tradition of
Croatia, Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia. Although this is a tradition for all genders,
the great majority of these tattoos are carried by women, on the hands and arms, mostly, of
Croatian women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The symbols in question are of Christian
tradition, and this tradition originates precisely from the places once occupied by
the Turks in the time of the Ottoman Empire. As said before, these symbols match those of the
Key of Solomon of Jewish and Christian traditions, and when the Turkic advance brought down the
Byzantine Empire by the late 15th century, these symbols were brought by Greek refugees and so such
symbols were adopted by many peoples, Icelandic included later on, but also people from Croatia, Bosnia
and such regions of Northern Western Barkans. The purpose of tattooing these symbols in the Balkan
traditions was to prevent the kidnapping of young (Christian) women and to prevent their conversion to Islam.
Of course, I'm speaking about these specific symbols and not the tradition of tattooing
one's body with magical symbols and symbols of protection, because this tradition of tattooing, specifically around these parts, in the Balkan Peninsula, possibly has its origins since the Iron Age, from Illyrian and
Celtic traditions. But these specific symbols we are dealing with today, are most likely a
tradition brought by the Greeks during the 1400s CE. These symbols are Christian symbols, the same
way they were Judeo-Christian symbols within the Byzantine Empire. And such symbols served
as protection against the Ottoman invasions and occupation of these territories. In fact this
tradition was widespread among eastern Roman Catholics within the Byzantine Empire, so indeed
it makes sense the similarities with the symbols of the Key of Solomon in Greece in the 1400s.
The traditional symbols are crosses, sometimes tattooed around the women's wrists, which are
called narukvica by the way, bracelet or wristband, which are quite similar to some Icelandic Magic Staves.
We are in the presence of Christian crosses. The cross-symbol also has other variations, of course, that
resemble pine/fir trees. But it isn't solely Christian or Judeo-Christian motifs, obviously, because these cross
symbols are inserted in compositions that are part of the traditions of these peoples, related to traditional dance as previously spoken, as an example. We are in the presence of a fusion of religious
motifs from different religious belief systems, some older, some more recent, in a beautiful
combination of patterns and motifs that are part of a cultural identity of the Balkan’s history.
I think we can place these tattoos- - these symbols - into at least 4 main categories according to their
meanings and purposes. I've already mention kolo, and the kolo-type symbols which are
inserted in different compositions, which are the circles representing the community;
There is the ograda, which represents the fence, as in a protective barrier;
Another one is jeličin križić, the fir cross, which is a cross with ornaments;
And the other one I've already spoken about, narukvica, the bracelet (or wristband).
This tradition of tattooing these symbols was almost lost at a certain point, but it was
still very much alive in central Bosnia until the late 50s of the XX century at least. After the
Second World War, it was forbidden because of the Yugoslav relation towards religion, but forbidden
doesn't mean that people stopped doing it, obviously but indeed there was a considerable decline in
this tradition after the Second World War. But this tradition is coming back, actually, being revived
quite recently. While I was making my research on these symbols and tradition I've stumbled
upon some modern tattooists who are bringing back this tradition and many people with Croatian and Bosnian roots, and from former Yugoslavia, are progressivity developing an interest in their cultural traditions and
having these tattoos done on their skin. The origins and purpose of these traditional
tattoos take place in former Yugoslavia occupied by the Turks in the time of the Ottoman
Empire, and as said before the purpose was to prevent the kidnapping of Croat Christian
young women in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to avoid their conversion to Islam. Protective symbols;
protection against enemies. But also to protect their identity and culture. This is quite curious
as we see many European cultures using a lot of forms of expression to maintain and remember their
Christian cultural identity while under the rule the Ottoman Empire, even before that, actually.
We see similar behaviours when Southern Europe was occupied by the Islamic Caliphate during the
Middle Ages, and although people were converted to Islam and they had been integrated into the
Islamic Medieval Kingdoms, and the Islamic Caliphate of the Middle Ages was actually quite benevolent
and many Christians were allowed to keep their faith and customs actually, but even so
there's a series of motifs and behaviours, from generation to generation, to preserve
their Christian pre-Islamic cultural identities, and this is quite noticeable in archaeology.
Because the process of conversion to Islam or being under Islamic rule, often made people
adopt Muslim names, so to avoid forgetting the previous cultural identity, or self-identity, there’s a series
of hidden motifs that helped to remember. But let's not drift away from the subject a go into
the Middle Ages. Let's move forward again. Here in the Balkans the Ottoman invasions, between the
15th and the 19th centuries, has this specific impact upon these peoples and the tradition of
tattooing their bodies with these symbols was augmented to preserve their Christian identity.
The intention wasn’t merely to ornament the body, but to protect women from being kidnapped
but also just in case they were kidnapped these symbols would help them to remember their Christian faith if they were forced to convert to Islam, eventually. Anyway, I though you would enjoy knowing about
this subject and once again yet another cultural background that helps us to understand the origins
of these symbols that in the late 15th and throughout the 16th centuries finally reached Iceland and in there the
symbols have had a series of developments until at least the 19th century, giving rise to the most
famous symbols of Icelandic esoteric and occultic history, such as the Ægishjálmur and Vegvísir,
which are not pagan at all, they are not from the Viking Age, but are in fact Judeo-Christian
symbols developed in Eastern Europe within the Byzantine Empire, being influenced by Jewish
and other Near Eastern cultural developments and belief systems that formed the signs
and sigils within the Key of Solomon. Thank you so much for watching,
see you on the next video, and as always, Tack för idag!
Thanks for today. Obrigado por hoje.
You see life through distorted eyes