The labyrinth

The symbol of the labyrinth or the spiral, as it is commonly represented, is one of the most recognizable European symbols, which was popularized in the mass culture and was part of the European artistical development since ancient times.

Newgrange, Ireland

By looking at the symbol you can without any deep studies and analysis immediately understand that it wants to represents some kind of repetitiveness and infinite pattern, it is almost hypnotic. The symbol of the labyrinth can be found carved on stone age cave walls and as we will learn these places were not chosen randomly.

Gotland, Sweden

The word Labyrinth can mean “house of the double axe”, the Labrys is according to Plutarch (Quaestiones Graecae 2.302a) is the Lydian word for the double-bitted axe, (Greek: πέλεκυς, pélekus). As we already know by analysing our mythology and tradition the double-axe is the symbol of the rekindled fire/life, therefor is also a symbol for the heart itself and can be reconnected with the reincarnation ritual and the neanderthal burial practice. Not everyone is worthy to find the path that leads to the solution of the labyrinth, not everyone will be chosen to escape its dark rooms, numerous walls and difficulties. 

Theseus and the Minotaur in the Labyrinth

The patterns in our mythology may appear all disconnected and chaotic to a modern untrained eye, but if we look more carefully, we can actually understand that they are just different stories that always have the same meaning. The labyrinth is the symbolical representation of the womb from which we are reborn that is why only few are able to solve the labyrinth and escape from it, regaining the ancient treasure at the centre of the maze that represents the forgotten memories of past lives.

We can also note that the shape of the labyrinth in some cases resembles a human fingerprint, this reaffirm the exclusivity of the symbol, finger prints are unique for every individual, this explains why our forebears used to paint hands on cave walls, it was a way to symbolize the reincarnation of the ancestor.

Human Fingerprint

Gavrinis, France

After all this talk on symbology and mythology, the existence of this depiction on the Bosnian tombstones should not surprise us, they are connected to our common European tradition.

The Eternal Dance

Dancing has always been an important practice in our European culture, every ethno-linguistic region have its own unique type of dance, although dancing have a social component that accompanied the daily life of our ancestors especially during the most important festivities throughout the year, we will also learn that some type of dances are very ancient and a deep mythological meaning is hidden behind them.

An exemple of  kolo dance from northern Croatia

I want to talk about a specific dance that is mostly spread in the Balkans: this dance is called Kolo or Horo, which literally means circle, because it is danced by forming a ring. The dance is usually fast paced, and the type of movements differs from region to region. It is performed at weddings, but also during funerals in some traditions, this show us the importance and binding force of this apparently simple practice. The Dance is supposed to be repetitive and to put those that are in the circle almost in a state of trance. This kind of atmosphere is made on purpose, and it wants to create a certain unity between the dancers, separating them from everything else by making them become one body and letting them reconnect with their primordial instincts and shared collective unconsciousness.

It is no coincidence that scenes of people dancing can be found on the tombstones in Bosnia, the repetitive patterns/rhythm all point out to the process of reincarnation. Ancient Greek Philosophers like Plutarch pointed out that circular dances in ancient Greece mimicked the shape of a labyrinth (in future posts I will explain how the symbol of the labyrinth can be connected to the process of rebirth.) Often on the depicted scenes you can see the dancers holding a clover trefoil in their hands, in our European culture the clover is a symbol of luck, it represents the vital energy that is transmitted from one individual to another. The number three is a magical number in our tradition, it stances for the three symbolical pregnancies that are part of the reincarnation ritual. 

In this image carved on a tombstone, we can see the previous mentioned clover and we can also see a leading figure of a man riding a deer. The deer represents the ancestor/placenta that is “rode” by the man/initiate/fetus that was chosen to be reborn.

In this other refiguration we can see a leading figure carrying another important symbol: the sword (it is often replaced simply by a sun ring), which, as mentioned in previous posts, represents the rekindling of the fire/vital energy.

This type of dances are not only fun activities to do with your family and friends but are also living expressions of our mythology and spiritual traditions handed down by our ancestors to us. In some sense dancing is a way to make the barrier of time much thinner, at least until the music is playing.

Sun and Moon

Sun and Moon

The combination of these two symbols (the sun can also be depicted as a star or a flower) is very common in the European tradition, the meaning behind these two very simple symbols is of course rebirth.

coat of arms of the illyrian region from the
Fojnica Armonrial

The moon symbolizes the primordial night, since the moon is connected to the female reproductive cycle, therefore this is the darkness of the cave/womb. This symbol is also part of a deep concept of duality since it represents death. The myth of the werewolf explains this symbology perfectly: the werewolf represents the female reproductive system, the creature in the myth undergoes a metamorphosis every full moon, which corresponds more or less to the female ovulation period, with the moon also being a symbol for the egg.

Werewolf Howls (Varulven uler) i magasinet Weird Tales, november 1941.

The sun is the life force that sustain all life, and it is a clear symbol of the reincarnated ancestor/fetus, the rekindled fire/life. The flower is the exact same symbol since flowers are the manifestation of the solar energy in nature. In our European tradition the sun stands always for a symbol of youth and motion.

Statue of one of the Dioscuri twin brothers from greek mythology 
with some sort of  phrygian cap.

This Polarity of life and death can be also seen on the Stećci, the way these symbols are put together using this concept of duality is always to show in a simplified form the process of rebirth.

 The Sword

In appearance a very simple symbol, which might tempt us to think that it is only a way to represent the status of a deceased person, but there is much more underneath the surface.

The sword was always an object with an important role in our legends; the most famous example being the Arthurian stories, but what does this faithful steel companion of ours hide?

The answer is to be found directly in our tradition, it was common practice the passing of a sword from father to son, it was not only a simple inherence of an object, but with it the accumulated honor was also transferred, this sword would be connected with the deeds of the possessor, by committing a dishonorable act the name of all those who have carried the sword would have been stained.

The sword is a symbol of the ancestral energy also called Honor (Hamingja from old norse that can also mean luck) that can be transmitted exclusively through a specifical bloodline.

The Knighthood initiation (the accolade in French, deriving from the Latin ad "to" + collum "neck", this term was later used generally to mean "praise" or "award" or "honour") is another example of a common medieval tradition with a deep meaning: the king lays its sword on the shoulder on the kneeling initiate, only then the initiate arises and the king gives him the honor of the new role. This elaborated ritual is clearly symbolical: the king represents the Sky God (the crown is a symbol of the sun rays), with his sword which is as well a symbol of the sun/vital energy/thunder/divine light is transferred to the initiate/fetus/newborn. This ceremony is used as a symbolical rebirth.

It was a common practice to bury someone with a sword on his chest, this custom was not only a way to show the prestige and the warrior class of the deceased person, but it is an ancient tradition that can be traced back to the European Bear-Cult, where instead of a sword a biface stone/axe was placed on the heart of the buried person. During the period of today’s Halloween feast, a group of initiates around the seventh year of age descended in the Burial mount (that was often a cave) to dig up the dead and collect the previously mentioned stone with which they would light a fire. This ritual symbolized the rekindling of life and thus the rebirth of the ancestor, the biface stone represented the heart that was revived symbolically because the fire is an avatar of the blood in our mythology.

Near the tombstones archeologist have found traces of fire used for ritualistic purposes, some have thought about a possible cremation practice, which could be possible, but I think it is also connected to the previously mentioned stone age tradition that can also be found in the symbol of the sword, which represent the rekindling of the fire/vital energy and thus it represents rebirth.

 

The Golden Apple

Bili stećci ispod Šuvara, danas ih nema. Na jednom bila zlatna jabuka. Krali je, ali se preko noći vraćala. Dosjeti se jedan mladić ukrasti stećak i jabuku. Podigne jabuku lagana, pa je stavi na pod. Podigne stećak, lagan i on, ali kako sad dohvatiti jabuku. Stavi on jabuku na stećak, ali ih ne može uopće podignuti pa odnese jabuku i vrati se po stećak kad na njemu jabuka. Donese onda torbu pa stavi u torbu jabuku, a stećak ispod ruke. Kad bi nadomak svoje kuće, ispred ga dočeka starica. Upita je tko je i koga čeka, a ona mu kaže: “Čekam mladoženju već 50 godina”.

Once upon a time there were some tombstone near Šuvar, on one of them there was a golden apple. People were always traying to steal it, but the apple reappeared in the same spot every night. A young man came up with the idea to steal both the stone and the apple; he tried to lift the apple and it was light, so he put it on the ground, then he tried to lift the stone and it was also light, but now he had not hands to carry the apple, he then put the apple back on the stone but he was not able to lift both, so he decided to take the apple and return later for the tombstone. When he came back, the apple had reappeared on the stone, he then took a bag and put the apple in it and carried the stone with his hands. When he returned to his home, an old lady was standing in front of the door and he asked her “Who are you? Who are you waiting for?” She responded, “I’ve been waiting for my husband for 50 years.”

European myths are full of stories about golden apples; for example: in Greek mythology with Paris and his choice of the most beautiful Goddess and in Germanic mythology with the goddess Idun and the golden apples of youth. From our myths and fairy tales we can say that the golden apple is always a symbol of youth, beauty but also marriage. We can say that whenever there is a golden apple, there is also a choice, not everyone is worthy to have one. We can also connect it to a common European tradition in which a young man asks his maiden to marry him by giving her an apple.

Our story starts with the information that on one of those tombstones there was once a golden apple, people used to steal it, but the apple returned always in the same spot. We can see that not everyone is worthy to possess the apple, we can draw a parallel with the Arthurian legend of the sword in the stone. A young man has come up with the idea to steal both the apple and the tombstone, here we have two objects: the stone and the apple, but in fact they symbolize the same thing, which is the ancestral knowledge. The apple and the stone (which also symbolizes the womb) can’t be separated because the ancestral knowledge is tied to pregnancy and thus the process of rebirth. The young man tries to lift both the objects without success (from the previous fairy tales we have seen that when the stone is heavy this symbolizes that the pregnancy have started), he then brings a bag to put the apple in; this is again a symbol of the womb and the amniotic bag which in our mythology is symbolized by the Phrygian hat. The young man/fetus has been chosen and now he is ready to be reborn. The bag and the stone are both the womb, only in different physical/mythological stages.

The chosen one is now on his journey home when he meets an old lady that has been waiting for her husband for 50 years, she obviously symbolizes the ancestor that is waiting to be reborn. Marriage is often used in our myths to symbolize the birth process; for example: the Slavic myth of the divine marriage between the twins Jarilo and Mara (they are twins because they represent the ancestor and the fetus, they are in reality the same person). In conclusion we can say that the ancestor is giving himself to himself and through the conquest of his lost knowledge, symbolized by both the apple and the stone, he is now reborn.

 The Hall

This symbol on the tombstones is always overlooked, since it is believed not to be relevant in confront to other more characteristic ones, but I do think this symbol is worth being researched.

As we have already discussed in the previous posts, the tombstones are connected to the symbology of the house, this is evident if we look to the architectural constructions, like columns and arches, carved on the stones.

In the Germanic tradition this connection can be seen in the mythical place of the Valhöll, which literally means "hall of the slain". So, it is no coincidence that this symbology is present also on the Bosnian tombstones; the symbol of the house was in our European tradition always connected to the chthonic aspect of our mythology, where there is death there is also rebirth, and the eternal house as the place in between them represents nonetheless then the womb of the mother.

I want to recall your attention to a little detail, often on the stones there is a sense of repetition from one arch to the other, the same image is showed multiple times, or there is a sense of movement like a film, with scenes that move through the screen. This could not only be an artistical choice but also a way to describe some kind of rebirth. The scene is always the same because we thought our previous lives to be practicing the same traditions over and over again; these repetitions can help us regain our lost memories like a process to cure some kind of amnesia.

In the same way as a sequence of scenes represents movement from one point to the next, so do these images on the tombstones in a symbolical way, from a “dimension” to the next, as a way to represent the process of rebirth.

 The fairy and the stone

Once upon a time the fairies carried those heavy

Stones, a young fairy was carrying one

But she got tired, so to rest she put it on a hill,

But when the fairy tried to lift the stone, she couldn’t.

driven by her anger she scratched the surface,

from there came the signs on the stone which

can also be seen today.

Nekada davno vile su raznosile to

kamenje. Mlada vila nosila je onaj teški

kamen i kad se umorila.

spustila ga na uzvišenje da se odmori.

Poslije ga nije mogla podići, pa je od

ljutine grebla po njemu. Otuda i danas

tragovi na kamenu.

 

This is apparently a very short and simple story and probably is not even complete, because of its simplicity would have been probably overlooked by most of us but we can find a few very important details in this story that can help us to understand it deeply.

Vila is the local name for fairy it’s derived from the PIE*uel that means Death, tear or wound, many figures and deities in our European mythology that are connected to death and the underworld share the same root name like for example “Veles” the chthonic god in Slavic mythology or the “Valhöll” (hall of the slain) in Norse mythology, from this example we can understand that fairies are directly connected to the chthonic aspect in our tradition and represent the ancestral spirits ( they carry the identical symbology as Elves).

Little details are always important , in the tale it is said a Young fairy was carrying a stone, the fact that she is young could make us think that she is still a maiden a virgin ( not in the modern interpretation of the word) so in this situation the stone is light and easy to carry, suddenly it has become heavy so the Fairy put it on a hill/mount to rest but when she tries to lift it, she couldn’t do it anymore.

When in our tales appears the symbol of the mount it has always a very precise meaning, it is no coincidence that burial sites in Europe were often literal mount (hence the name “burial mount”), the mount is like the tombstone itself a symbol for the womb, the stone that the fairy is carrying has become heavy because that is the symbology used to explain that now she is pregnant with her child.

The tales continues by saying the fairy gets angry because she is not able to lift the stone anymore, so driven her fury she scratches the surface of that same stone leaving some marks on it, the story use the emotion of anger in a symbolical way in reality it wants to represents adrenaline, this hormone is very important for child birth (in our myths Gods like Pan and Veles are supposed to be scary because they symbolize this special hormone, when we experience fear or anger we release high levels of adrenaline).

The fairy is going through a metamorphosis, from the beautiful young girl she is transforming in a ferocious creature and with her claws she scratches the bare rock as if she had become a troll or maybe the best option would be a bear since cave bears in Europe used to leave marks of their claws on the walls of the caves, so we are now like transported inside the cave or better inside the womb and we need adrenaline/fear/ anger to be born.

If the tale was not yet clear to you well this tales is symbolically showing a childbirth so in conclusion we can say the story alludes to some kind of rebirth/reincarnation, the fairy symbolize the ancestor that metaphorically enters in a metamorphosis becoming a she-bear when she start her pregnancy (the tombstone and the hill symbolize the womb) he needs the spark of life, the adrenaline to give birth to himself and be reborn.