The fireplace among the South Slavs was revered until modern times. When moving, the landlord took fire from the stove of the old house and carried it in a pot to the new fireplace. He addressed the fire with the following words: “We request you, Grandfather, to enter the new home”. Here is a connection between the hearth fire and ancestor worship. It was believed that the guardian spirit of the family lived in the ‘ovin’.

(Vyncke, 1969)