Page 62 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 62
stone narratives
Baba – Old Baba) and she is linked to the two halves of the year (fertile, non-fertile). To-
gether with the four-partite fertile and non-fertile female and male pair of deities (named
in Prelože Deva/Devač and Baba/Dedec), the tripartite structure with this female figure
(linked also to the god Triglav – Three-Headed) forms the basic (pre-) Slavic mythical
structure (Pleterski, 2015, pp. 21–32; 2014).
Kissing the stone baba as a rite of passage controlling social
behaviour
Beside their mythical tradition, monolith Babas are interesting because of their role in the
movement within the landscape and in the social behaviour of children.
Parents from the Karst, the Vipava Valley, Istria and Kvarner told their children
frightening legends about the Baba: namely, that they would have to kiss or puff up the
buttocks of an ugly old Baba or swallow her snot on their first visit to a neighbouring town.
Children from almost the entire Karst would fear šmrkava Baba s Trsta (the snotty Baba
from Trieste) (Hrobat, 2010, pp. 183–96) or the one from Grobnik in Croatian Kvarner
(at the entrance of the town) (Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996, pp. 285–286). As stated in a nar-
rative from Rodik, a novice »has to fondle and smooch her snotty face /…/ has to puff up
Baba’s buttocks« (Peršolja, 2000, p. 27). In different locations children were thus fright-
ened of having to spit at the Baba, to beat her with a stick, to eat her snivel or to puff up her
buttocks (Hrobat, 2010, pp. 197–198; Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996, p. 286). A case of a similar
threat made to visitors was recorded in Ljubljana in the 18th century. When a person came
to Ljubljana for the first time they would have to kiss a statue of Eve on the top of the town-
hall (Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996, p. 289).
Examples of spitting at or beating a stone Baba with a stick upon traversing a certain
piece of land (Vipava Valley; Hrobat, 2010, p. 198) or kissing the snotty Baba in the form of
a hive upon entering the forest for the first time (Jasen; Pugelj, 2012, p. 107) indicate that
this kind of tradition was not meant just for entering a nearby town but also for entering
other territories for the first time. The following tradition, although not about kissing but
about donation to the Baba, connects the rite to mountain pastures. The herdsmen made
an offering of coins or a loaf of bread to the imaginary Baba at a place named after her (Bab-
ji trebuh, Eng. Baba’s Belly or Pasja peč, Eng. Canine stove) to avoid hail when they took the
animals to mountain pastures for the first time in a year (Cevc, 2006, pp. 132–133).
Although the traditions linked to Baba are widespread throughout the Slavic world,
the kind of grotesque children’s folklore about kissing the Baba when leaving one’s own ter-
ritory or passing by it on the way to another territory for the first time (in North Italy even
for entering somebody’s house for the first time) is restricted to a limited area extending
from the Upper Adriatic through North Italy to the Atlantic Sea: from Kvarner in Croa-
tia to Istria and the Karst, the Gulf of Trieste, North Italy (Ada and Mera Valleys, Liguria)
and France up to Bretagne on the Atlantic Coast (see Hrobat Virloget, 2013, pp. 154–155;
Bracchi, 2009, pp. 335–338; Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996).
These traditions indicate that the phenomenon of kissing the stone Baba cannot be
interpreted as exclusively Slavic, but that it was known also in the Romance world (and per-
haps also elsewhere). Although we are tempted to interpret the phenomenon as of pre-Slav-
ic origin due to its wide spatial diffusion, caution is needed (however, Miha Mihelič (2013)
60
Baba – Old Baba) and she is linked to the two halves of the year (fertile, non-fertile). To-
gether with the four-partite fertile and non-fertile female and male pair of deities (named
in Prelože Deva/Devač and Baba/Dedec), the tripartite structure with this female figure
(linked also to the god Triglav – Three-Headed) forms the basic (pre-) Slavic mythical
structure (Pleterski, 2015, pp. 21–32; 2014).
Kissing the stone baba as a rite of passage controlling social
behaviour
Beside their mythical tradition, monolith Babas are interesting because of their role in the
movement within the landscape and in the social behaviour of children.
Parents from the Karst, the Vipava Valley, Istria and Kvarner told their children
frightening legends about the Baba: namely, that they would have to kiss or puff up the
buttocks of an ugly old Baba or swallow her snot on their first visit to a neighbouring town.
Children from almost the entire Karst would fear šmrkava Baba s Trsta (the snotty Baba
from Trieste) (Hrobat, 2010, pp. 183–96) or the one from Grobnik in Croatian Kvarner
(at the entrance of the town) (Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996, pp. 285–286). As stated in a nar-
rative from Rodik, a novice »has to fondle and smooch her snotty face /…/ has to puff up
Baba’s buttocks« (Peršolja, 2000, p. 27). In different locations children were thus fright-
ened of having to spit at the Baba, to beat her with a stick, to eat her snivel or to puff up her
buttocks (Hrobat, 2010, pp. 197–198; Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996, p. 286). A case of a similar
threat made to visitors was recorded in Ljubljana in the 18th century. When a person came
to Ljubljana for the first time they would have to kiss a statue of Eve on the top of the town-
hall (Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996, p. 289).
Examples of spitting at or beating a stone Baba with a stick upon traversing a certain
piece of land (Vipava Valley; Hrobat, 2010, p. 198) or kissing the snotty Baba in the form of
a hive upon entering the forest for the first time (Jasen; Pugelj, 2012, p. 107) indicate that
this kind of tradition was not meant just for entering a nearby town but also for entering
other territories for the first time. The following tradition, although not about kissing but
about donation to the Baba, connects the rite to mountain pastures. The herdsmen made
an offering of coins or a loaf of bread to the imaginary Baba at a place named after her (Bab-
ji trebuh, Eng. Baba’s Belly or Pasja peč, Eng. Canine stove) to avoid hail when they took the
animals to mountain pastures for the first time in a year (Cevc, 2006, pp. 132–133).
Although the traditions linked to Baba are widespread throughout the Slavic world,
the kind of grotesque children’s folklore about kissing the Baba when leaving one’s own ter-
ritory or passing by it on the way to another territory for the first time (in North Italy even
for entering somebody’s house for the first time) is restricted to a limited area extending
from the Upper Adriatic through North Italy to the Atlantic Sea: from Kvarner in Croa-
tia to Istria and the Karst, the Gulf of Trieste, North Italy (Ada and Mera Valleys, Liguria)
and France up to Bretagne on the Atlantic Coast (see Hrobat Virloget, 2013, pp. 154–155;
Bracchi, 2009, pp. 335–338; Vince-Pallua, 1995–1996).
These traditions indicate that the phenomenon of kissing the stone Baba cannot be
interpreted as exclusively Slavic, but that it was known also in the Romance world (and per-
haps also elsewhere). Although we are tempted to interpret the phenomenon as of pre-Slav-
ic origin due to its wide spatial diffusion, caution is needed (however, Miha Mihelič (2013)
60
