Author of all texts about mythology on these web-pages is Lidija Bajuk:

   lidija.bajuk@posluh.hr
   scena.hgu.hr/lidija-bajuk/


  1. PERUN
      - The Sky
      - The Mountain
  2. PERUNIKA
      - Leluya
      - Ball lightning
  3. AQUARIUS
      - Candlemen
      WATER MAID
      - Fairies
      - Witches
  4. DRAGON
      - Water
      SNAKE
      - Bogorodica
        (Rainbow)
  5. GREEN GEORGE
      - The Moon
      - Corn Spirit
  6. LEPA MARA
      - Hair
      - Embroidery
  7. GRABANCIJAŠ
      - Light
  8. PESJANEK
      - Forest
  9. LITTLE RED HAT
       (DWARF)
      - The Cap, Little Hat
  10. STRAHE & MRAKI
        (GIANTS)



HAIR (lasi/kosa/vlasi)

The centre of life and soul. It circles the head. If it is yellow, gold or red it is an image of the sun rays and thus connected to the heaven.

That is why it must not be combed after sunset, but, also, because it grows during the night. Perhaps this is the reason it is called ''vlasi'', after the ancient deity Volos (Veles, Vlasin, Vlašic, Vlas, etc.) Fairies can braid their hair to make a golden fishing-net to catch magic fish. If you put these nets on your hair you make decorative hats and they become a part of the women's festive costume. They can become crowns.

When gods of the daytime become gods of the night, their hair becomes darker. Autumn gods' hair is the colour of the earth and winter gods' hair is grey. If you comb your hair too often, or if you cut it, you take away your strength. That is why the hair of the newborn babies was cut and sacrificed to their life's judges and oracles, called ''suđenice''. Long hair and beard were a sign of a higher rank and independence so men in Medjimurje used to have long hair. But, it was also a sign of disregard for the norms of society.

Wearing your hair undone or cut short is a sign of mourning or devotion, i.e. submissiveness. It is best to cut your hair on Shrove Tuesday or during the waxing moon. Boys should not have their hair cut before they reach their seventh year or they will lose their courage. This belief has something to do with the superstition that the Sun loses its good qualities after July. When a child had its first haircut there was a feast and the child was given presents. The boy or the girl had a godfather who was considered a more important person in a child's life than the godfather at your christening or wedding (best man) who became a more important figure in a child's life later.





If a woman has only one braid it is a sign of virginity. A sign of an acceptable, but discreet courting (seduction) was the fact that single girls did not have to cover their hair and married women had to wear hats or caps and comb their hair in a certain way to hide it. In sothern Medjimurje it was a wedding custom for the groom to partly unbraid the bride's tightly braided hair. It is a custom similar to the one in Herzegovina where the best man unbraided the bride's hair after the exchange of the rings as a symbol of her giving up her freedom that she had as a single woman and becoming a married woman and therefore not free, but a part of a union with her husband.

It was forbidden to wash your hair during the so called ''dog days'' (in August) when it was believed that the water was poisonous because the dragon spilled its poisonous seed in it. People who farmed land gave special meaning to the hair because they connected it to the earth's hair, i.e. plants. You welcomed somebody into your house by combing their hair. It was a sign of love and trust to let your hair be combed by somebody else. Owning somebody's hair meant owning and having power over that person. If you comb somebody's hair they can fall asleep. Women who had babies shouldn't comb their for a fortnight after the delivery or it will fall off. The custom of holding your eyelash that you found on your cheek and blowing onto it to make a wish is a remnant of old customs of telling your fortune by looking at your hair.