Crossing Without Dissolving: Ecumenical Magic in Ottoman Bosnia

Organizer: Cemal Kafadar, Department of History, Harvard University

Speaker: Amila Buturovic, York University, Toronto

In Ottoman Bosnia, occult practices in Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, and Judaism relied on their respective sacred texts and esoteric teachings to make talismans and amulets for healing and protection. Blurring the boundary between text and materiality, these inscribed artefacts forged pathways between sacred texts and ritual practice while also recording broader cultural currents circulating through Ottoman Bosnia. Although amulets and talismans retained distinct religious markers in their composition, they also facilitated forms of religious interaction that transcended communal boundaries without erasing them. This presentation will examine the ecumenical dynamic in the Ottoman Bosnian occult through several exceptional objects housed at the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Focusing on the prophylactic practice of crossing and 'double-dipping' across religious divides, it illustrates how religious boundaries in Ottoman Bosnia remained visible yet were routinely crossed in the pursuit of protection, healing, and well-being.

Here is a short bio:

Amila Buturović is a professor of humanities and religious studies at York University in Toronto. Originally from Sarajevo, she earned a B.A. in Arabic Language and Literature from Sarajevo University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from McGill University. Her research explores the intersection of religion and culture in premodern Islamic societies, particularly cultural history of Ottoman Bosnia. She is the author Stone Speaker: Medieval Tombstones, Landscape, and Bosnian Identity in the Poetry of Mak Dizdar (2002), Carved in Stone, Etched in Memory: Death, Tombstones, and Commemoration in Bosnian Islam (2016), and a co-editor, with I. C. Schick, of Women in the Ottoman Balkans: Gender, Culture, and History (2007), published in Turkish as "Osmanlı Döneminde Balkan Kadınları" (2008). Her current research investigates the written and material culture of health, magic, and the medical marketplace in Ottoman Bosnia. Her work emphasizes interconfessional transmission of medical knowledge, talismanic art, and herbalism. 

Amila is collaborating with the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina on an exhibition showcasing the museum's collection of magical objects and artifacts belonging to the esoteric tradition of Ottoman Bosnia. She is also writing a book with Bink Hallum of the British Library on several large talismanic charts found in the museum's collection.