“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…”
Prophecies, Horoscopes, and the Politics of the Paranormal in Serbia
(1992–2000)
It could be argued that, in any given society,
the feelings of isolation (social, political or cultural) of a group
and its members, and the helplessness that often derives from such
isolation can create and condition a paranoid-like perception not
only of one's own reality and immediate environment, but of the world
as well. Through a complicated web of causalities, such feelings
can also gradually induce feelings of one's particular importance,
grandeur and generally superiority in regard to others, as well as
a belief that the group in question is the subject of others’ hate,
persecution and conspiracy. Such convictions are often employed in
a community “under siege” as modes of explaining the state of affairs
and are used for bringing together (preserving) goals and motivations
of individuals, thus enhancing a sense of togetherness in the members
of the group. Moreover, as the case of Serbia will show, they are
employed as tools for rationalizing a political or economic crisis
(or both), and for sustaining persons in power. Such a way of thinking
and perceiving the world, in turn, calls for and legitimizes (within
its own narrowly defined sets of references) violent reactions against
those perceived as the enemy. Given such modes of behavior and perceptions
of reality, it is understandable why the diplomatic efforts of a
third party towards easing the tensions between the contesting parties
are usually doomed to failure. Such political mediation and crisis
management represents, in most cases, an effort to find suitable
solutions based on a pragmatic evaluation of the available options
and an assessment of the consequences, but often does not take into
account the particular character and construction of the problem
itself.
Even though such patterns of behavior could be
illustrated with numerous examples throughout the world and throughout
history, we consider it important to draw attention to the situation
of modern day Serbia. Much has been written about the recent political
developments in Serbia and the purpose of this essay is to shed some
light upon an aspect of Serbia‘s political system and its mechanisms
of deception which has not received the attention it deserves. We
will show a contemporary mechanism of deception used by the elite
in Serbia in order to rationalize the chaotic social conditions and
preserve its authority. The multithemed character of this essay is
an indication that the findings presented here are only an initial
phase of research into a much broader topic. What then is this sinister
and apparently effective mechanism? Nothing less than the use of
occult, paranormal and prophetic themes by both the state-controlled
media and by some of the media that champions the cause of the opposition
political parties.1 These interpretative resources are
used to explain everyday occurrences within Serbia, as well to interpret
political and economic changes on a global scale.
What makes this case interesting is not the fascination
with the paranormal, with horoscopes, numerology, prophecies, and
the occult among the general population in Serbia, but the efforts
of the elite to sustain such infatuation. The widespread popularity
of the unknown and the other side of reality seem to be part of a
carefully constructed mechanism of deception and control.
Public opinion polls in Belgrade and in Serbia
in general have become monthly occurrences over the last ten years
or so. These “general checkups” of the nation's health by various
sociologists and psychologists have mostly been used to project the
size of an electoral body and to indicate the political preferences
of individuals. A study of this sort showed that the citizens of
Belgrade and Serbia were generally in a negative psychological frame
of mind. The most common feelings expressed were those of fear, anticipation
and disappointment. Some 80% of the citizens of Belgrade feared a
civil war, while 70% were afraid of hunger in the future.2 The
same opinion poll concluded that some 38% of the sample group felt
constant fatigue and exhaustion, 32% were constantly nervous and
angry, while 37% felt that they had had enough of everything. The
least number of complaints had to do with sleep and eating disorders.
The most common problems appeared to be fatigue, lack of energy and
a lack of self-confidence.
These findings reflect a common theme in any society
that has been through a stressful period of war or some other form
of prolonged crisis. What is intriguing are the responses to the
questions about individual beliefs in numerology and astrology, prophecy
and horoscopes, as well as in the inevitability of punishment (in
the forms of an epidemic or a natural catastrophe) for NATO countries.
Approximately 50% believed that events of cataclysmic proportions
would take place in NATO countries, while 11% regarded the question
as utter nonsense. The level of education was a variable in the answers.
For instance, 60% of those with an elementary school education believed
in the doomsday scenario and the suffering of NATO countries, and
no one discounted the possibility. Among university graduates, 30%
expressed their firm belief that some kind of punishment will
be imposed upon NATO countries in the future (but by what or
whose agency is unclear).
Furthermore, those who are believers and devoted
practitioners of Eastern Orthodoxy have shown a greater inclination
towards believing in supernatural phenomena than non-believers. This
might raise a different set of general questions about the nature
of Eastern Orthodox religious practices among the Serbs and lend
certain credibility to the theories of an incomplete or inadequate
process of Christianization of South Slavs. Moreover, an emphasis
on the inclination towards occultism and superstition on the part
of Eastern Orthodox South Slavs (in comparison to Catholic South
Slavs) could be a convenient argument for those wishing to emphasize
(and castigate) the oriental character of their culture and perception
of reality, thus removing them from the European cultural and political
context all together. However, turning towards superstition and horoscopes
in times of hardship is neither specific to the South Slavs, nor
a characteristic solely of Eastern Orthodoxy, but rather a common
reaction by people in times of crisis. It is, nevertheless, possible
to argue over the means, levels and methods of its presentation within
any given society.
Naturally, one could also say that such beliefs
are the result of frustration and hopelessness that, in turn, creates
the need to employ the tools of superstition in order to ease anxiety.
One could expect people to act angrily and in an irrational fashion
after so many lost battles and broken dreams, as is the case with
Serbia and its people. A vengeful attitude towards NATO countries
is to be expected and is easily explainable. What should be kept
in mind here is the fact that the elite in Serbia has an instrumental
role in nourishing such attitudes. On a more general note, as theorists
of the authoritarian state (eg. Adorno, et al.) have pointed out,
superstition is considered to be one of the generic components of
the authoritarian personality, which derives from the need of an
individual to ascribe responsibility to external agents that he/she
cannot control in any way.3 To fully grasp the significance
of this calculated irrationality in Serbia and to analyze its impact
on the population, we should address the issue of the government‘s
involvement in advocating, endorsing and manipulating such a perception
of reality.
Keeping in mind the authoritarian character of
the government and the fact that the Serbian public sphere is entirely
controlled by it, and judging by the type of literature produced
in Serbia these days, and the fact that the market is flooded with
books on “formulas of light,” prophecies, horoscopes, numerology
and conspiracy theories, one would readily suspect the involvement
of the state apparatus in all this. Various healers and prophets
are constant features on almost every TV show and it is difficult
to find a newspaper or a magazine in Serbia that does not have a
section with horoscopes. Moreover, there are specialized magazines
devoted to occultism and the paranormal, such as Trece Oko (The
Third Eye), Tajne (Secrets), Sesto Culo (The
Sixth Sense), Cudo (Miracle), Zona Sumraka (Twilight
Zone), Nostradamus (Nostradamus), Horoskop (Horoscope)…
This flourishing market can also be explained
in a less dramatic fashion. One could argue that these magazines
were designed as a form of entertainment and a way of escaping the
gloomy reality of everyday existence. Moreover, they could be viewed
as a counterbalance to the all-encompassing and constant politicization
of Serbian society. Furthermore, the attraction of the supernatural
and paranormal, and of literature devoted to these subjects, could
be seen as a marginal activity, as an insignificant segment of the
publishing industry and its market in Serbia. This argument is particularly
appealing if one favors the view that the state apparatus and the
party in power is busy battling its political opponents and, thus,
not likely to devote much time and energy to regulating the publishing
activities of such fringe groups. Both arguments imply that the population
is being manipulated by the sources and powers that reside outside
of the system and that the system, once relieved of the pressure
of everyday political and economic struggle, will deal effectively
with these issues.
One might agree with the view that literature
of this kind is a convenient way of escaping the reality of a devastated
country, especially if such a view refers to individual members of
a group and their need to transcend the profanity of their everyday
existence in an unconscious and collective way. However, the falsity
of these claims about its non-political content and fringe character
can be easily detected upon closer examination. First, what is apparent
from the pages of these magazines is the dominance of political themes
and content. To illustrate this point, we will mention a handful
of titles such as “Programming the Brain in American Schools – The
Demonic Project of the American Government,” “The Era of Aquarius
and the New World Order,” and “Americans Admitted that their Army
is Using Black Magic,” as well as “The U.S. Government Sold its Soul
to Aliens in Order to Become the Only Superpower and Subdue Other
Nations on the Planet,” and “Nemanjic Dynasty and the Third World
War.”4 Moreover, these articles mention Serbian politicians
more often than Serbian folk singers and other local celebrities.
The magazine Horoskop repeatedly publishes profiles of prominent
political figures such as Slobodan Milosevic, Dobrica Cosic, Vojislav
Seselj and many others. The content of such publications performs
the important political function of expressing, reinforcing and canonizing
a belief that the local power structure and its exponents are the
true representatives of a Serb collective being.
The strength of the argument about the peripheral
nature of those publications and the lack of government influence
on them is somewhat diminished if we know that Trece Oko (The
Third Eye) is published by the government-controlled Borba Inc.
In turn, Borba Inc. was originally established
and is funded at present by the federal government of Yugoslavia.
The magazine Horoskop is published by Politika Inc.,
yet another government-funded and controlled publishing corporation.
On the other hand, television shows featuring various prophets and
astrologists are prime-time events on the state television and TV
stations closely connected to the government of Serbia. At one point
in early 1992, the Belgrade daily Politika, in its supplement TV
Revija (TV Review), began publishing photographs of a local healer
and prophet, claiming that he was able to project positive energy
through his printed image to readers who managed to gather a substantial
collection of his photos.
Long before magazines such as Zona Sumraka (Twilight
Zone) came into existence (1995), the biggest Serbian daily, Politika,
introduced regular sections on astrology and Chinese horoscopes.
In March of 1992, the science editor of Politika organized
(and his newspaper sponsored) a unique event in Belgrade – the transfer
of mental images from the Russian city of Novosibirsk to Belgrade.5 The
same editor continued to cover similar issues, and in one of his
articles claimed to have discovered an unusual scientific study that
successfully solved a number of cases of alien abduction.6 At
the beginning of 1992, amidst the constitutional, political and economic
crisis in the former Yugoslavia, Politika began publishing
a series of articles about the miracles of parapsychology in the
former Soviet Union.7 While Slovenia was seceding from
SFR Yugoslavia and Croatia was bracing itself for war, and while
the politics of nationalism and populism were on the rise in Serbia,
readers of Politika were presented with details of
paranormal occurrences in the former Soviet Union. For example, the
author of that series of articles claimed that the former General
Secretary of the Soviet Union, Leonid Breznev, had died of some sort
of telepathic aggression rather than of cancer.8 There
was also a lengthy and detailed description of the case of a “flying
woman from Moscow.” The connection between the paranormal and politics
finds its illustration in a story about Andrei Gromiko, the former
Soviet Foreign Minister. According to Politika, every time
someone would mention the name of Viktor Grishin as a potential candidate
for the position of the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist
Party, the flowers in Gromiko‘s office would begin to wilt.9
More recently, the editorial policy of Politika has
changed and shifted towards putting less emphasis on paranormal activities
involving individuals and devoting more space to unveiling various
conspiracies by Western historians and philosophers. A common theme
in these articles is secretive groups that control the planet, and
people who carry the “sign of beast,” as well as the magical significance
of the numerical combination 666, that was, according to findings
by Politika, placed in the new EU passports.10 Conspiracy
theories do not necessarily fall into the category of superstition
but both spheres share certain common features. First, they both
place an individual in the position of a helpless toy in the hands
of mighty and invisible forces. Such positioning implies that the
methodological apparatus of history, sociology or economics is insufficient
for the analysis of one's private situation. Only through the analysis
of these mighty forces can one explain and rationalize one's daily
existence. It goes without saying that the only people who possess
such analytical tools and are blessed with secret knowledge are experts
in occultism and the paranormal. Second, the content and framework
of conspiracy theories have many elements of pseudo-rational forms
of thinking which, in turn, are the basis of superstition.
How are we to interpret the fact that the mainstream
media in Serbia devotes so much time and space both to endorsing
irrational modes of thinking and to actively encouraging them? It
seems that such encouragement is based on the existing beliefs in
superstition and the paranormal, and that the structures of power
are taking advantage of that fact.11 One can argue that
what we are seeing in Serbia today is the process of rehabilitating
the imaginary at the expense of the rational and that such state-sanctioned
rehabilitation is the direct product of the economic, social, political
and cultural crisis in the country. Manipulating a population that
is already displaying a considerable attachment to supernatural mode
of thinking seems to be a rather pragmatic move on the part of the
elite. Moreover, such manipulation is not, in essence, based on coercion
and force, and does not provoke resistance within the population.
It is relatively easy to fabricate a prophecy; one does not have
to follow rules and regulations, nor are there any restrictions in
that respect. The truthfulness of prophecies (or the perception of
it) is almost never questioned and debated after the designated deadline
regardless of the actual outcome. Its acceptance by the general public
depends entirely on the popularity and the media profile of the prophet.
The fact that a particular prophecy, its message and the messenger
are being presented through and endorsed by the state-controlled
media lends them a certain credibility. Visions of the future and
prophecies are far removed from any factual base and that characteristic
might be where their strength lies. The further removed a prophecy
is from the social context, the more credible it becomes. Furthermore,
a prophet is perceived as a medium that only conveys a message initiated
by an unknown (cosmic or divine) source. The personal responsibility
of the prophet is never an issue, since he/she is not perceived as
the one who generates the message. If need be, the falsity of his/her
claims can be easily explained by emphasizing the frailty and unreliability
of human nature. It is possible to compare the role played by modern
day prophets in Serbia with that of medieval sorcerers. Both were
seen as mediums through whom a higher power spoke, and the truthfulness
of their words was never questioned. Moreover, in the case of modern
day Serbia, these extraordinary personalities are thought to represent,
and through their messages convey, the purest expression of the spirit
of Serbhood.
The fact that in present day Serbia the entire
mechanism for creating such an environment and controlling its structure
is in the hands of those in power makes this transition towards the
realm of irrationality less obvious and less traumatic for the average
citizen.12 It seems that the structures of power in Serbia
went even a step further than merely promoting various prophets through
the media. According to some reports in the local press, a number
of those predicting the future via TV screens have been instructed
not to say anything detrimental to the image of the party in power
or its leaders. There we may find the reason why in many prophecies
broadcast or published in Serbia Slobodan Milosevic is seen as its
president until the year 2010.13
There is yet another element to the prophecies
that more or less guarantees their acceptance by the general population
– the relative value of their truthfulness. False predictions, in
general, are not taken as a sign of fraud and lies but can be easily
explained, again within a particular cognitive framework. Failure
to predict the future correctly can be seen as the result of a loss
of energy on the part of the prophet or as the product of some strange
and unwanted psychic intervention from outside sources. On the other
hand, one could say that a particular prediction has not been understood
correctly and that the instructions given by the medium were misread.
Furthermore, no matter how spectacular and wrong a particular prophecy
might be, what turns it into sancta facta is the notion that
the population has developed, in time and with the generous assistance
of the ruling elite, rather significant short-time memory loss. In
the process of lobotomizing the minds of the entire population of
Serbia, those in power have managed to elevate the concept of short-term
memory loss to the level of a virtue.
Another method used for prolonging the state of
detachment from reality and for ignoring the mistakes of the past
has been the frequent replacement of visionaries and prophets. Every
once in a while a new face appears on the TV screens and on the pages
of newspapers. It is interesting to notice that such “substitute
psychics” are called upon only in the time of an immediate crisis,
and only when the existing psychic network proves to be grossly inaccurate
in its predictions. These replacements, however, must strictly correspond
to particular rules and must conform to a clearly delineated field
of action. Naturally, minor variations are acceptable but, in general,
there cannot be any compromise in regard to their social status,
place of birth, and educational and cultural background. They are
representatives of a “common folk,” usually older (and predominantly
male) peasants from the heartland of Serbia, whose education consists
of their life experience and whose cultural background is closely
interwoven with traditional Serbian culture. In other words, they
are representatives of that acclaimed “Slavic soul” – the people
of simple means that are blessed with an uncommon gift. They are
perceived as being spiritually strong and independent because they
draw their energy from that deep well of the pure and generous tradition
of the Serbian collective being and announce their visions in a traditional
manner using the language of the common people. One example of such
a “substitute prophet” in Serbia is Grandfather Miloje, a prophet
from the Morava valley. His profile closely corresponds to those
just enumerated and despite the fact that none of his visions materialized
in any way, his name still commands respect. Miloje’s prophecies
were published in Belgrade in 1993, and the book became an instant
bestseller despite persistent rumors that its contents were entirely
constructed by its editor and that a man by the name of Miloje never
really existed. Moreover, the prophecies published were out and out
wrong. For example, Grandfather Miloje had predicted that Bill Clinton
would die on May 19, 199614 and that former Russian president
Boris Yeltsin would be defeated by Mikhail Gorbachev and would end
up being assassinated.15 The fascination with an allegedly
fabricated text and with its allegedly non-existent author only proves
the effectiveness of the use of archetypes in manipulating the public
perception of reality. The real purpose of introducing (or inventing)
Grandfather Miloje seems to be the need to legitimize the present
rather than to call upon the past in order to predict the future.
His authority as a prophet was needed to ultimately strengthen the
charisma of Slobodan Milosevic, since Miloje had made specific references
to the Serbian president and his role in shaping the future of his
people. Miloje tells us that Milosevic “is the only one capable of
battling the Devil,” and that “he must not fall from power under
any circumstances.”16
Salman Rushdie, when talking about nationalism
and its mechanism of recalling the past, makes mention of a “return
to the absolutism of the pure.” In the case of modern day Serbia
and its population’s attraction to the supernatural, those voices
from the past, visions and fantasies that belong to the times when
“there was no time yet”17 will ultimately have a negative
impact on the mental health of the nation. Their function is to displace
an individual, at least temporarily, from the envelope of everyday
life and to try and position him/her on the ethereal levels of an
aesthetic existence. Such visions and fantasies make it less difficult
for an individual to step out of his/her own reality of daily existence
and cross the boundaries between two worlds: to inhabit that other
reality even for a brief moment. The appeal of such a voyage is so
strong that people live and re-live those special moments, waiting
for them to happen again.18 This is what constitutes
the nostalgic feeling about the “good old days.” People in Serbia
live in multiple universes while not being ready (or refusing) to
recognize and battle the horrid conditions of their immediate political
and economic environment. Occasional flashbacks of rational thinking
only bring about feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and that
could, in time, amount to a particular kind of karmic overload that
might result in an uncontrollable explosion. Such temporary awakenings
only reinforce the feeling – as noted some time ago by a cynical
(deluded) Danish prince – that our world is more than the stuff that
dreams are made of. The mysticism of geopolitics that is being carefully
nourished by the structures of power in Serbia can only produce further
isolation, irrationality in dealing with the problems of everyday
life, and the inability to project one's aspirations in an objective
manner.
For now, the elite is able to control events and
to carefully measure the occasional injections of new miracles. Some
say that the impact of numerology and astrology upon Serbian daily
life is so forceful that the system feels secure at present, while
claiming the right to maintain such security at any cost. It seems
that a significant portion of the population in urban centers is
organizing its daily schedules according to the advice provided in
horoscopes, and that the government in Belgrade is conscious of this
fact. For example, it has been noted that every astrological sign
in the horoscope published in Politika on March 9, 1992,
carried the same message. People were advised to stay at home and
spend time with their families rather than venture outside.19 March
9, 1992, was the day on which mass political rallies took place in
Belgrade, rallies which had been organized by the opposition parties
and the student organizations. That was the day known as “Picnic
at Dedinje,” one of the most significant challenges to the power
of Slobodan Milosevic during his regime. That was also the day when
people‘s hopes for political change and a better life in the future
were running high.
To use the horoscope section in the biggest daily
in Serbia to utter threats in such a blatant way indicates two things.
First, it shows how serious the challenge by the opposition was,
since the government resorted to appealing to people's supernatural
beliefs and their fears of the unknown. Second, it indicates how
important these beliefs were in an unstable political climate and
speaks of the government’s readiness and ability to manipulate those
aspects of human life for its own benefit. Influencing the beliefs,
feelings, and behavior of individuals seems to be the intended effect.
As a rule, prognoses for the future are bright and always encourage
supporting the regime. On several occasions, readers have been presented
with an abbreviated version of the scenario for achieving the centuries-old
political dream of Greater Serbia:
Astrologist Soka from Vukovar spoke yesterday.
She said that the Republic of Srpska Krajina will cease to exist
as an independent state because it will become a part of the union
of Serbian states whose capital will be in Ohrid! That big new state
will be a monarchy and its monarch will come from the Nemanjic family.
In the future, the world will call this war a world war, and Croats
will be of Eastern Orthodox faith, and will respect and celebrate,
as the Serbs do, the family saint.20
What is important to notice here is the timing
of this revelation and its source. This vision of a future Serb state
appeared in the Serbian press during the London Peace Conference
(May-December 1992), at a time when the popular sentiment in Serbia
was that of an approaching victory on the battlefield, as well as
of an imminent and favorable political settlement. Even Slobodan
Milosevic, during his flight to London, remarked that the Serbs “are
the winning party.”21 The astrologist was a woman from
Vukovar, a Croatian town that was obliterated by Serb artillery and
ethnically cleansed of its Croat population.22 Throughout
the fighting over Vukovar and its surrounding areas, the Serbian
propaganda machine claimed the city and referred to it as ancient
Serbian land. Such claims were partially based on the notion that
the former SFR Yugoslavia was somehow a gift from the Serbs to other
nations in the region and that they had the right to claim back their
territory. Moreover, those claims reinforced the feeling that wherever
Serbs live that territory should become a part of Greater Serbia.
Such sentiments were clearly defined in a speech given by then president
of Yugoslavia, Dobrica Cosic, during his brief visit to the front
line with Croatia in late May 1992. Among other things, Cosic stated
that wherever there is a Serbian house and wherever there is a Serbian
cemetery that will become Serbian land.23 Judging by
this prophecy, Macedonia was also destined to become a part of that
new Serb kingdom. The formation of this state was to be followed
by the conversion of all infidels to Eastern Orthodoxy, since that
religious affiliation is perceived as the only true faith.24
As Theodor W. Adorno indicated, constant exposure
to this model of thought inevitably creates a special form of pseudo-rationality.
In this context, astrology can be seen as a tool in promoting totalitarian
ideology.25 A decade-long promotion of the paranormal
and occult by the media in Serbia indicates constant and substantial
dissolving of rationality. Prophets and people who perform miracles
have replaced astrologists and parapsychologists, and even the quasi-scientific
façade is slowly disappearing. Once induced, such a psychotic mode
of thinking becomes the magnifying glass for assessing private life,
the economy, history, social relations, international politics, etc.
There are indications that those in power in Serbia
are also susceptible to supernatural beliefs and one might argue
that the popular fascination with the paranormal is not only and
exclusively the result of manipulative tactics. In the spring of
1999, some senior members of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) political party
established in Belgrade the Yugoslav Committee for Coherence and
Invincibility.26 The role of this committee was to work
according to the instructions of Maharishi Mahesh on training some
one thousand yoga-flyers to protect Yugoslavia with the power of
their positive energy.27 Among the project’s many supporters
were the Yugoslav Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health.
It seems that the Yugoslav Ministry of Defense
has been interested in projects of this nature for some time. In
January 2000, Serbian newspapers published several articles dealing
with this phenomenon. Journalists have alleged that in the early
1990s the Yugoslav Army established Group 69, a secret organization
that was to deal with the issues of psychological warfare and paranormal
activities. According to the report, this group consisted of various
specialists for parapsychological phenomena, a number of high profile
politicians, prophets, astrologists, intellectuals, opponents of
the New World Order and a number of army officers.28 Further
reports on the activities of this group appeared on the pages of Zona
Sumraka (Twilight Zone), where the author states that he has
been cooperating with the group since 1993.29 According
to this article, Group 69 was formed as a section of the General
Headquarters of the Yugoslav Army with the purpose of researching
and eventually using new weapons for defending the country. The author
tells us that the group was sending positive signals to the outside
world from the very beginning of the Yugoslav crisis and pledging
peace and cooperation. However, once attacked, these Yugoslav yoga-flyers
fought valiantly against the intruders and emerged victorious. Moreover,
the group successfully used a special procedure called the “Serbian
Mirror.” Readers are given no details about the nature of the weapon
itself other than that it had been based upon the past inventions
by the Serbian-born physicist and inventor Nikola Tesla.30 The
practical results of the use of the “Serbian Mirror” were such that
some of the enemy died (Turgut Ozal, Francois Mitterand, Yitzak Rabin),
some lost members of their immediate family (former German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl lost his son, and the Czech president Havel lost his
wife), while others got away with minor injuries (Bill Clinton only
broke his leg).31 Speculations on the validity of claims
made in the articles were put to rest in an interview with the spokesperson
for the Yugoslav Army (VJ), Colonel Svetozar Radisic, that appeared
in Politika. In this interview, Colonel Radisic refers to
the use of the paranormal, black and white magic and the “Serbian
Mirror,” as well as yoga-flyers, as a “multidimensional defense against
the New World Order and a struggle that, besides the army, must encompass
all state institutions.”32
This trend has continued more or less unchanged
through the late 1990s, and the end of the millennium has served
as a convenient context for venturing further into the unknown and
into the world of prophecies. More recent predictions were intended
to have a soothing effect upon the population, as well as to reinforce
Milosevic‘s grip on power. All predictions dealt with the current
state of affairs in Serbia and closely corresponded with one other.
For example, a certain grandmother Vuka predicted that Milosevic
would stay in power while Clinton would “fall as a rotten pear”33 while
another prophet, Zorka, stated that no one would be able to harm
Milosevic and that Kosovo “will be ours again.”34
Such rosy visions of the future were supported
by yet another prophet, Vanga IV, who said that the KFOR troops would
withdraw from Kosovo and that Serbia would be successfully ruled
by “a group of wise people, including one woman.”35
The usage of prophecies and prophets as tools
in gaining and strengthening one‘s political status acquired a new
dimension during the presidential election campaign in Serbia in
the fall of 2000. This campaign indicated, among other things, that
the ruling coalition in Serbia does not possess the exclusive right
to rely on ingrained notions of superstition among the general population
in order to gain the political upper hand. The leaders of the opposition
parties and some of the independent media (Danas daily, for
example) have adopted the tried and true tactics of the ruling elite.
The new player in this field of dreams and fantasies is the Serbian
Democratic Opposition.
In the midst of the presidential campaign, the
presidential candidate for the Serbian Democratic Oposition (DOS),
Vojislav Kostunica, made a point of visiting the village of Kremna,
the birthplace of the late Tarabic brothers, well-known Serbian prophets.
His stay in Kremna featured prominently on the pages of several independent
newspapers. Upon his arrival at Kremna, Kostunica was greeted by
Jovan M. Tarabic, a descendant of famous prophets. “Welcome Mr. President!
It was said that a man of the people would come and bring prosperity,
and that he would save our people from misery.”36 When
asked who that man might be, Jovan M. Tarabic replied: “Mr. Kostunica,
of course!”37 The author of the report took it upon himself
to describe not only Kostunica's visit to the village, but to present
his readers with a brief but effective historical account of the
entire region. While praising the natural beauty of Kremna, the author
repeatedly referred to it as the “Serbian Delphi”38 and
as a place where people live long and prosperous lives. He even managed
to incorporate into his narrative a part of the title of one of Milan
Kundera's books:
Fertile land. In the foothills of the mountain
Tara, in a landscape so beautiful as if it has been created by a
divine hand, lies hidden the village of Kremna. Shielded by pine
trees. From every rock a mountain spring flows. People say that when
the sun rises it does so first over Kremna and only then over the
rest of the world… A snake-like dirt road leads to this Serbian Delphi,
the homeland of Tarabici’s… Even though it might not seem that way,
there are no miracles here. Here, human spirit and nature have been
establishing a relation of mutual respect for centuries and have
acquired the fine balance of ‘the lightness of being.’ 39
Kostunica’s visit to Kremna was depicted as nothing
short of a religious experience and as the ultimate confirmation
by the late prophets’ descendant of Kostunica’s worthiness to become
the future president of Serbia. He traveled to Kremna to be embraced
by a spiritual authority as the victor in the upcoming elections
and as the savior of Serbia. However, his comments regarding the
visit and the treatment he got confirm the general attitude of the
elite towards the other segments of Serbian society. Kostunica’s
response to Tarabici’s enthusiasm was that “the upcoming elections
are our last chance to save Serbia and we will make sure to do that.
These elections are not simple ones because only after the elections
Serbia will show its real face.”40 This entire episode
could be analyzed within the category of the so-called “well-intended
deception,” that is, a sophisticated, manipulative tactic used for
centuries by many rulers and institutions (religious and civic) in
order to gain the necessary support among the populace. Judging by
the final results of such tactics in the past, it is not entirely
clear how “well-intended” these deceptions have been. Similar suspicions
could be cast upon the modern day Balkan version of Pia Fraus:
What is important to me is the fact that people
in Serbia are ready for a change. They are determined to follow a
new course and they know that what we need is a normal state. Anything
that could help in this process is a good thing… I have great respect
for the symbolic connection to one's homeland but the most important
thing is to be among your own people.41
Given the examples presented in this paper, one
might wonder whether the population in Serbia has been the object
of manipulation and mind games by the elites, or whether the representatives
of the power structure believe in and are guided by the rules of
the paranormal. There is no definitive answer to this and one can
only speculate. I am inclined to believe that the two options are
not mutually exclusive but complement each other in an effort to
preserve the status quo in Serbia. The homology between the individual
and the group in modern day Serbia only reinforces the idea of such
a merger. The ideological construction that is offered as an explanation
of the political events, economic and social changes is analogous
to the construction that tries to explain and rationalize those same
occurrences on an individual level. Only by means of such a mental
framework could an individual manage to rationalize the constructed
image of the unjust and unprovoked punishment of Serbia and Yugoslavia
by the international community. The economic sanctions imposed by
the United Nations are presented to the population as an event that
has been initiated and conditioned by outside forces. Following the
same logic, it has been suggested to the citizens of Serbia that
their own personal life experience and future prospects cannot be
controlled, but are subject to various stellar occurrences and magical
powers. It should be added that such a mode of thinking and frame
of reference are, at the same time, a product of the reality of Serbia’s
economic, political, social and cultural isolation. In an unprecedented
environment of isolation, paired with a series of lost military conflicts,
it seems that the paranoid perception of the world is the main characteristic
of public discourse in Serbia. To make matters more complex, such
discourse is being constructed and applied in order to justify isolation
through the reinforced notions of superiority over others and hatred
by the rest of the international community. This discourse is present
within both categories in Serbian society: those who are being manipulated
and those who are manipulating.
It would be rather difficult to find an example
of a modern government adopting similar practices in order to rationalize
its own political and economic shortcomings in as open a way as is
the case with the Serbian government. One could attempt to draw parallels
with Nazi Germany and Hitler‘s fascination with the occult and the
paranormal. However, such a connection could be made only on a superficial
level and only in view of the principle of relativism that is shared
by both systems of governing. Moreover, relativism as the philosophical
corollary to a particular nationalism is a common feature of nationalist
movements around the world.42 The case of Serbia is not
an exception. It could further be argued that the basic defining
element of its system of governing is fascist. Comparisons have also
been made between Milosevic‘s regime and that of Mussolini.43 Ideological
similarities aside, what makes the political system in Serbia unique
among modern states is the extent to which the elite in Serbia creates,
orchestrates and controls elements of new-age culture for its own
purposes. In Serbia today, one might argue, such a mechanism of deception
has been fully adopted by mainstream society, and one is tempted
to define the system of governing in Serbia today as kind of new-age
fascism.44 Naturally, one also finds evidence of numerology,
occultism and prophetic themes in many cultures and societies in
the West. The difference, however, lies in the circumstances that
nourish such popular beliefs, the manner in which they are employed
and presented, and, above all, the fact that such sets of references
exist on the far end of the periphery of Western cultures.
Notes
1 Even though many would argue that this
tactic is exclusive to the state-controlled media in Serbia, sources
indicate that those media outlets in Serbia that advocate the political
programs of the opposition parties, as well as the opposition politicians
themselves, have recently adopted similar methods in manipulating
public opinion. The fact that the examples of such manipulative tactics
on the part of the Serbian opposition are less numerous does not
minimize the importance of the general trend. Moreover, it indicates
clearly the attitude of the elite towards power, its political credo
and its relationship with the electoral body.
2 These findings and all subsequent figures/percentages
were taken from an opinion poll conducted in Autumn 1999 in Belgrade.
The complete report was published as: “Srecko Mihailovic.” Ed. Javno
Mnjenje Srbije: Izmedju Razocarenja i Nade, CPA/CPS. Beograd,
2000. See also: Popadic, Dragan. “O mentalnom zdravlju naroda.” Republika br.
233. Beograd, 2000.
3 Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik,
Daniel J. Levinson, and Nevitt R. Stanford. The Authoritarian
Personality. New York, 1950. 236
4 These titles are from the following magazines: Trece
Oko (August issue, Beograd 1993), Sesto Culo (June
issue, Beograd 1996), and Horoskop (April issue, Beograd
1998).
5 Politika Daily (17th March, Beograd
1992).
6 Politika Daily (14th May, Beograd
1995).
7 Politka Daily (January-February,
Beograd 1992).
8 Politika Daily (op.cit. Beograd
1992).
9 Colovic, Ivan. Kad Kazem Novine.
Samizdat, Free B92. Beograd, 1993. 11-17.
10 Vasic, Biljana. “Srbija Pod Gigantskom
Sljivom.” Vreme (Beograd 4.03.2000).
11 One of the most significant books of
prophecies that has never lost its charm and appeal among the reading
public in Serbia is Kremansko Prorocanstvo: sta je bilo, sta
nas ceka, edited by Dragoljub Golubovic and Dejan Malenkovic.
(third edition Beograd, 1987). The book has gone through numerous
editions in various publishing houses in Serbia. The book is the
collection of prophecies by two brothers, Milos and Mitar Tarabic,
from the village of Kremna in central Serbia. It would be safe to
say that this collection of prophecies is still the central reference
point for anyone in Serbia who ventures into the realm of the unknown
and represents a blueprint against which the accuracy of all new
prophecies is measured.
12 It should be kept in mind that the phrase
“those in power” refers to both the government and to political parties
in the opposition in Serbia. Even though the pubic discourse in Serbia
is almost entirely created and controlled by the government, one
should not forget the fact that the opposition parties are able to
exercise a certain amount of control over segments of the society.
13 Matic, Pavle. “Deda Miloje Prorok
iz Pomoravlja – Bice Tumbanje po Celom Svetu.” II dopunjeno izdanje.
Beograd, 1993. 230.
14 Matic. op.cit. 96.
15 Matic. op.cit. 154.
16 Popadic, Dragan. “Zvezde – Putokaz Nebeskom
Narodu.” Republika (br. 41-42. Beograd, 1992)
17 L’Anthropologie. Marabout, 1974.
39.
18 Caillor, Roger. L’homme et le sacre.
Paris: Gallimard, 1950. 125.
19 Politika Daily (Beograd, 9 March
1992)
20 Politika Daily (Beograd, 22 November
1992)
21 Silber, Laura and Allan Little. The
Death of Yugoslavia. Revised edition, London, 1996. 258.
22 The author had the opportunity to review
a confidential report by the Yugoslav Army Special Forces operating
in and around Vukovar. According to that report, during the eighty-plus
days of the siege the Special Forces units fired 1,485,000 rounds
of mortars and artillery shells at the town. The ferocity of this
attack and the level of destruction of the town becomes more obvious
if we remember that St. Petersburg (Leningrad) was hit by some 24,000
shells during the nine hundred day siege in the Second World War.
(This information is displayed on the Memorial Plaque at the Piskarevski
Bridge in St. Petersburg.)
23 The author personally witnessed the event
and recorded the speech for the Montenegrin independent magazine MONITOR (Podgorica).
Even though some of the recordings had been confiscated and destroyed
by the members of the Serbian paramilitary units operating in the
area (‘Arkan’s Tigers’ led by Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan and and ‘White
Eagles’ led by Dragoslav Bokan), a brief article on the subject appeared
in the magazine MONITOR (Podgorica, June 1992).
24 Devotion to Easter Orthodoxy and the
insistence on its absolute connection to the Serbian heritage, tradition
and history is a constant theme in the mainstream media. Belgrade
writer Momo Kapor wrote that “Even the cosmonauts have noticed from
space how our sacred places such as Patriarchy of Pec together with
Hilandar are illuminated by some strange light. That is the positive
energy which is ours, eternal and indestructible” (Borba Daily,
Beograd, 14-15 August 1999).
25 Adorno, Theodor W. “Zvezde Silaze Zemlji.” Treci
Program (br.28. Beograd, 1976).
26 The Yugoslav Left (JUL) political party
is led by Mirjana Markovic, the wife of Slobodan Milosevic. Mrs.
Jara Ribnikar, former communist leader and Prvoslav Markovic, the
Executive Director of Laza Lazarevic Mental Hospital, both senior
members of the Yugoslav Left were instrumental in establishing the
committee.
27 The closest comparison in North America
to those Serbian yoga-flyers is the Canadian Natural Law Party. In
Serbia, however, even before the formal establishment of the committee,
members of this group took part in several local election campaigns
and acted on behalf of the ruling political parties (Socialist Party
of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left).
28 Glas Javnosti (Beograd, 4 January
2000). According to the report, one of the members of Group 69 is
army colonel Svetozar Radisic who is the Editor-in-Chief of the Yugoslav
Army monthly Vojno Delo and a regular contributor to Trece
Oko. At present, Colonel Radisic is the spokesperson for the
Yugoslav Army (VJ).
29 Zona Sumraka (Beograd, 30 November
1999).
30 Zona Sumraka. op.cit.
31 Ibid.
32 Politika Daily (Beograd, 27 September
1999).
33 Politika Daily (Beograd, 15 January
2000).
34 Politika Daily, op.cit.
35 Ibid.
36 Kovacevic, Nenad. “It Was Said.” Danas (Beograd,
14th September, 2000. No. 1080).
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid.
40 Ibid.
41 Ibid.
42 For a brief but insightful analysis of
Serbian nationalism, see: Kis, Danilo. “On Nationalism.” in Why
Bosnia? Writings on the Balkan War. ed. Rabia Ali & Lawrence
Lifschultz. Stony Creek, Conn. 1993. 126-128.
43 For more details on the nature of the
political system in Serbia, see: “Separating History from Myth: An
Interview with Ivo Banac.” Why Bosnia? Writings on the Balkan
War. ed. Rabia Ali & Lawrence Lifschultz. Stony Creek, Conn.
1993. 134-164; Bakic-Hayden, Milica. “Nesting Orientalisms: The Case
of Former Yugoslavia.” Slavic Review, 54-4 (Winter 1995);
Jelavich, Charles. “Nikola Pasic: Greater Serbia or Yugoslavia?” Journal
of Central European Affairs XI (July 1951); Stokes, Gale. Legitimacy
Through Liberalism: Vladimir Jovanovic and the Transformation of
Serbian Politics. University of Washington Press, 1975; Pavlovic,
Aleksandar. The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: Nationalism in a
Multinational State. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997); Basic,
Husein and Milika Pavlovic. Smrt Duse / Podrum Podgorica,
1992 (Montenegrin PEN Center). For more general analysis of the issue
of nationalism and national consciousness among the South Slavs,
see: Banac, Ivo. The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins,
History, Politics. Ithaca and London: Cornell, 1984.
44 The author is indebted to Dennis Sweeney
for pointing out a possibility of such a characterization and for
elaborating on the broader connotations of the term “new age fascism.”