Traces of Shamanism in Turkish Culture and the Facts We Unknowingly Apply

In fact, it would not be wrong if we define "TURKS, a nation caught between Shamanism and Arab culture".

There are many RITUALS that most of us unknowingly practice... This comes from the ancient culture of the Turks, but we don't know because we don't question them... I'm pretty sure most of you don't know(!)... Just like a child asks his elders... Why( ?), How(?) and Why(?) questions, I would like to share with you the facts that I have come across in Turkish customs and culture... We encounter their practices in our SOCIAL life, but never question(!)... those rituals belonging to... Today, there are many customs and traditions left from SHAMANISM... In this article, I would like to mention a few of them:

Farewell by pouring water:

Pouring water after the departed is a tradition bred by the water cult of old TURKS...

Candle:

Burning candles in mosque courtyards, attaching CLOTH and CAPUT to trees are also traditions that have been transferred from the SHAMANISM period to the present day.

Hitting the board:

Again, hitting the WOOD THREE times when an undesirable event is heard is an ancient SHAMAN belief to ward off evil and prevent EVIL SOULS from hearing it... It is a past custom for some AMERICANS... Must have used the Bering Strait in the Arctic Ocean in the past. Because the Americans say "knock on the wood" and hit the wood 3 times...

Lead Casting:

Casting Lead is also a tradition left over from the SHAMAN traditions. Shamans called this ritual "Kut Kuyma", which means "Pumping KUT"... The magic practiced in ancient times to remove the negative effect of the EVIL SPIRITS that infested man was a ritual of ORIGIN...

Red ribbon:

The RED RIBBON tied to the head of the puerperal women is a tradition that has survived from the SHAMAN period... It is believed that this ribbon protects the MOTHER and the newborn CHILD against the DEVIL called alabiza, especially the RED ribbon tied to the head of the grave observed in Bektashilik. .

Moon:

During the appearance of the new moon in Anatolia, prayers are made by Kneeling on the ground, looking at the sky, the moon and the earth... It is thought that the new moon will be instrumental in new hopes and new beginnings.

Number 40:

According to the old Turkish belief, the SOUL leaves the physical body after 40 days... In Turkish epics, the number forty is very common and forty valiant and forty girls pass quite a lot... As in the MANAS epic, forty braves are seen in the DEDE KORKUT stories... In the Kyrgyz TÜREYİŞ legend. In addition, one daughter of Sağan Han and thirty-nine maids and forty girls went to the edge of a lake and became pregnant from water... At the feast given by OĞUZ, the length of the poles he had erected was forty KULAÇ long... In stories and tales, forty DAYS and 40 NIGHTS weddings , forty thieves, forty LINES and forty MULES are too late... There are some dragons that are invincible and do not die, but they die if their talisman is broken... DRAGONS like these have a forty-day sleep time... This is the time when you go to the dragon, If forty hairs are plucked from it and burned in the fire, the DRAGON dies too... The number 40 is also a belief from the totemist era... Seeing the symbolism of 40 in all religions, including the heavenly religions, gives an idea about the evolution process... In ISLAM, 40 days after death, the customs of reciting the Qur'an and MEVLIT, the fact that MUSA took GOD's orders on the mountain of Tur in 40 days and 40 nights, and forty days after Pharaoh's death in ancient EGYPT It is likened to the shaman or totem traditions from those times in the origin of having to fight a bull in order to go, the Christians' preparation for Easter by fasting for 40 days, the 40 columns on the ground floor of the Hagia Sophia church and the 40 windows in the dome...

Tombstone:

The SHAMAN uses his helping spirits during the ritual... It is accepted that the spirits of the dead, the deceased elders of the family, the spirits of the old Shamans, the helping spirits of the forest, water and earth also help the Shaman. and it is believed that this will guide the shaman with the help of others...

These spirits, thought in the form of BIRD, help the SHAMAN in his journey to the sky... After the death of people who are accepted as the LORD in the society, seeking help from their souls blessed the graves and these places became places of hope... hoping for help from these also emerged as a continuation of this belief system... There is no tradition of hiding the tombs in the old Turks, on the contrary, special tombs of the elders were built and a bark was built on them. 

its walls are decorated with pictures showing the scenes of war in which the dead participated while he was alive... In addition, Balbals were erected on the grave or tomb structure, and the graves of ordinary people were shaped like a mound for clarity... There are no tombstones in the Arab world... The integration of the dead with the land and its disappearance in time It is a sin to be blessed... It is only seen in ANATOLIA in the Islamic geography that stones are planted on the graves and this stone is decorated enough to turn it into a work of art.

Don't make a wish:

In the belief of SKY-GOD, there are also bloodless sacrifices...

Death:

In SHAMANISM, the dog can announce that the SPIRIT is approaching with a bitter howl from afar... If an ordinary person sees this SPIRIT, it is considered to be a sign that he will die soon. In ANATOLIA today, the howling of a dog is considered unlucky. credible...

Drink:

SHAMANS (kams) scatter arak (raki) hair for GOD and guardian spirits, which is considered a bloodless sacrifice... However, drinking alcohol is strictly prohibited in ISLAM... Drinking alcoholic beverages is a common tradition in the old Turkish culture... Especially on WEDDINGS and happy holidays. There is a tradition of drinking DRINKS accompanied by MUSIC these days.

Dome:

In addition, the “DOME” we have added to the mosque architecture is a condition that we carry from the RELIGION of the SKY GOD...

Evil eye:

The phenomenon of "evil eye" is a very common belief among the people in ANATOLIA... It is believed that some people have unusual features and that their gaze causes discomfort and harm to the people around them. EYE BEAD” vs. the evil eye phenomenon is also one of the old Turkish beliefs...

Carpet rug patterns:

It was believed that by drawing the shapes of wild and harmful animals such as snakes, scorpions, centipedes, beavers on the clothes that the SHAMAN wore, they would be abducted... Today, the carpets and rugs woven in TURKMEN villages in ANATOLIA bear the traces of SHAMAN clothing...

Music:

Shamans used DAMUL and KOPUZ in their rites... A ritual is unthinkable without music... However, in ISLAM, it is a sin to recite religious works other than the Qur'an with music... As a continuation of the SHAMAN tradition, Hz. Mohammed, St. Ali's lives are read with music... MEVLIT and hymns are musical expressions applied only in ANATOLIA...

This is a RESEARCH article, no comments have been made as much as possible... I say stay with RESPECT and love...

Reference

Shamanism (kams) and Turkish culture publications.