A book about the tradition of sicanje

Sicanje

A story of faith and identity, passed down through generations Told through the voices of 24 women of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Marija Maračić & Josipa Karača

24 stories — available in 3 languages

Book launch: September 6th 2026, Prozor / Rama

I.About the book

Sicanje, or the poking of a needle into the surface of the skin using a dark mixture, according to Mara Bojić, went all the way down the bone. Mara received her first sicanje at the age of 7 and her last at the age of 10. She was at minimum the fourth generation of women in her family to carry this tradition. Before her, her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all did as well. Later in Sunday school, Mara would come to understand the significance of the tradition she upheld: that they were Croats and that they were Catholic!

Within the pages you will find more of Mara’s story, along with the story of 23 other women who, in their own words, give us insight into the tradition of sicanje; a custom so everlasting, that it has been traced by scholars to the time of the Illyrians and the Thracians. The interviews contained within these pages were conducted in the summer of 2019 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in their regional vernacular of Croatian and Bosnian, and are offered alongside their English and German translations. The authors welcome you to meet each one of these women for yourselves and to learn more about this tradition, so very near and dear to the hearts of many.

Interviews Recorded in the original vernacular and presented together in one book, in Croatian, German, and English.

2026

Year of publication

II.Authors

Marija Maračić

Cleveland / Kraljeva Sutjeska

Marija Maračić comes from Kraljeva Sutjeska near Kakanj. During the war, she and her family fled to Germany, and in 1999 she emigrated to the USA, where she earned a master's degree in art history at Cleveland State University. She wrote the book to preserve the voices of women whose stories history so rarely records.

“What makes me proud is not the book itself, but what it preserves within its pages: a rich cultural heritage and a tradition passed from one generation of women to the next.”

Josipa Karača

Austria / Rama

Josipa Karača was born in Donja Vast near Prozor/Rama. She has lived in Austria since 1990, where in 2014 she graduated in education from the University of Innsbruck. Today she works as a trainer at an educational center for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and through her writing she keeps the stories of her homeland from being forgotten.

What sets me apart is multilingualism, a strong bond with my homeland, and a creative way of working.

Through twenty-four intimate conversations, authors Maračić and Karača document a fading tradition, creating a space for these women to share their experiences in their own words. Their voices offer a powerful record of memory, identity, and heritage, ensuring that their stories endure for generations to come.

II.Order book