Page 57 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 57
Mythical tradition in the stone:
The snooty Babas as elements of rites
of passage and social control
Katja Hrobat Virloget
Stone Babas as animate mythical beings
Although much has been written about the folklore of the stone Babas (Eng. Hags) (see
Hrobat, 2010; Hrobat Virloget, 2010; 2012; 2013, 2014), when discussing the meaning of
stone, the subject of stones as mythical beings cannot be ignored. It is not merely the per-
sonification of mythical beings into the elements of the landscape and a kind of longue
durée memory spatialized in the stones and the landscape, but what I wish to stress in this
article are the traditions connected to the passage by those stones and their influence on the
social behaviour of children.
At the beginning of my research into the monolith Babas, there were two such mon-
oliths known from the folklore of the Karst in southwestern Slovenia: one in Rodik (Fig-
ure 1) and one in Opicine-Opčine above Trieste (Hrobat, 2007, pp. 41–43; 2008a; 2008b;
Hrobat Virloget, 2012). People from the Karst recognized the Baba from Trieste in differ-
ent ways: as a fountain, a place by the »sacred rock« (Škala šanta), and in its primary form
as a stone monolith. Throughout the area, stone Babas were represented as personifications
of a woman; a repulsive old woman. Similarly to other stone Babas, in Sežana and in other
parts of the Karst, the Baba from Trieste was perceived as »an ugly and snotty woman with
large warts, a nose dripping of snot, and ugly, ugly as hell (Hrobat, 2010, p. 187).« In Rodik,
Baba was represented by a large stone monolith in which the local children saw »a shape of
a woman’s buttocks and breasts« (Hrobat, 2007, pp. 41–43; 2008a; 2008b; 2010, pp. 183–
196). A Baba with a large head and pronounced hips and breasts, carved in rock at the en-
trance to the old town of Grobnik in Croatian Istria, stands as proof that these stone mon-
oliths represented the personification of a woman (Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996).
Talking about stones, perceived in Western culture as inanimate objects, it should
be noted that in traditional perceptions certain stones represented personifications of old
women, Babas, therefore animate beings. It was by these stones, which children were afraid
of, that certain rituals were performed when passing by. Stones can therefore become ani-
mate beings also in our so-called Western perceptions, as had already been established for
other non-Western cultures, for example by Peter Jordan in his study of hunter-gatherers in
55
The snooty Babas as elements of rites
of passage and social control
Katja Hrobat Virloget
Stone Babas as animate mythical beings
Although much has been written about the folklore of the stone Babas (Eng. Hags) (see
Hrobat, 2010; Hrobat Virloget, 2010; 2012; 2013, 2014), when discussing the meaning of
stone, the subject of stones as mythical beings cannot be ignored. It is not merely the per-
sonification of mythical beings into the elements of the landscape and a kind of longue
durée memory spatialized in the stones and the landscape, but what I wish to stress in this
article are the traditions connected to the passage by those stones and their influence on the
social behaviour of children.
At the beginning of my research into the monolith Babas, there were two such mon-
oliths known from the folklore of the Karst in southwestern Slovenia: one in Rodik (Fig-
ure 1) and one in Opicine-Opčine above Trieste (Hrobat, 2007, pp. 41–43; 2008a; 2008b;
Hrobat Virloget, 2012). People from the Karst recognized the Baba from Trieste in differ-
ent ways: as a fountain, a place by the »sacred rock« (Škala šanta), and in its primary form
as a stone monolith. Throughout the area, stone Babas were represented as personifications
of a woman; a repulsive old woman. Similarly to other stone Babas, in Sežana and in other
parts of the Karst, the Baba from Trieste was perceived as »an ugly and snotty woman with
large warts, a nose dripping of snot, and ugly, ugly as hell (Hrobat, 2010, p. 187).« In Rodik,
Baba was represented by a large stone monolith in which the local children saw »a shape of
a woman’s buttocks and breasts« (Hrobat, 2007, pp. 41–43; 2008a; 2008b; 2010, pp. 183–
196). A Baba with a large head and pronounced hips and breasts, carved in rock at the en-
trance to the old town of Grobnik in Croatian Istria, stands as proof that these stone mon-
oliths represented the personification of a woman (Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996).
Talking about stones, perceived in Western culture as inanimate objects, it should
be noted that in traditional perceptions certain stones represented personifications of old
women, Babas, therefore animate beings. It was by these stones, which children were afraid
of, that certain rituals were performed when passing by. Stones can therefore become ani-
mate beings also in our so-called Western perceptions, as had already been established for
other non-Western cultures, for example by Peter Jordan in his study of hunter-gatherers in
55
