GTurkiye

Author: tur

  • Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Special Days

    – Sewing, cutting down trees and plants or killing animals are not allowed on Hidirellez day.
    – A person who lost a relative on arefe (the day before a religious festival) never sews.
    – Working is not allowed on arefe.
    – Trees are not cut down on arefe or during festivals.
    – Closed flour sacks are opened on arefe.
    – Bringing firewood to the house on arefe is considered bad luck, as the belief is that a snake will come to the house with it.
    – Soap may not be used on arefe.
    – On Hidirellez, yogurt can be made with water brought to the house early in the morning. The use of yeast is not necessary.
    – Anyone who takes bath in the river before the sun rises will be healthy.
    – A jug of water should be taken inside the house before the sun rises on Hidirellez. This water is supposed to bring good health to the house.
    – On aşure (pudding made with cereals, sugar and raisins) month (during fasting) young trees are not allowed to be cut down.
    – Lambs are not counted until hidirellez.
    Popular Beliefs Related to Stone and Water:
    – It is unwise to enter a lake at night. It is believed that genies and pixies bathe in lakes at night and may people’s steal souls.
    – Anyone urinating outside at night will be paralyzed by pixies.
    – Knives are not put into boiling water.
    – Spitting on water brings bad luck.
    – Sleeping near fountains attracts the devil.
    – Sleeping on a big stone with deep roots is not advised, since it is believed that the devil will come.
    – Jumping over water in which clothes are washed is ill advised since it is believed that the devil lives in it.

  • Good Luck – Bad Luck in Turkey

    Certain beliefs among the members of a society sometimes arise out of fear, sometimes from helplessness and sometimes by chance. These are generally referred to as “superstitions.” These beliefs have existed since the earliest days of mankind. Many of them have no scientific basis and are not linked to any particular religious faith. Although they often appear illogical or unreasonable, they are still an integral part of peoples’ hearts, brains and minds. In the emergence of such beliefs, peoples’ psychological make-up, the words of the, often illiterate, elderly as well as those of religious officials have all played a role. These beliefs have even revealed differences between individuals, yet they all have certain aspects in common.

    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Spirits, Graveyards, Holy Tombs and Visits
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Animals
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to the Stove and Fire
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Parts of the Body
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Special Days
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Darkness and Light
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Events in the Atmosphere
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to the Sexes
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Roads and Travelling
    – Popular Beliefs in Turkey Related to Belongings

  • Turkey’s Southern and Eastern Villages

    Many of the farmers in the villages of the South and East are descendants of nomadic herders who have settled in the past 100 years. Groups of these people formed tribal units. Social and political relations were largely feudal and the measure of strength was the number of warriors at the command of each group. Weak tribes depended on the strong and gave them economic and military support in exchange for protection.

    Because of the changes through government settlement programs and modernized farming, families are being detached from traditional structures in order to compete with others for jobs. Therefore these kinds of villages are losing their typical characteristics.

  • Turkey’s Forest Village

    In forest villages, life is much more difficult than in normal villages, because of the daily living difficulties and transportation problems. The villages also cause a certain amount of destruction in the forests. That is why, these villages are supported by the state and villagers are encouraged to use coal for heating instead of wood, and other animals instead of goats whose grazing habits are harmful to the trees.

  • Turkey’s Coastal Village

    Villages in European Turkey, along the Black and Aegean Seas and to a lesser degree along the Mediterranean Sea have long been in contact with urban and western influences. Coastal villages have almost always lacked the self sufficient subsistence patterns of the Anatolian villages. Economic rather than traditional kinship considerations tend to pattern social relations.

    Most coastal villagers have a broader social awareness than other Anatolian villagers and are more susceptible to national influences. In these villages, large landowners, by providing employment and land for tenants and by serving as an economic link between the village and the outside at world, are the primary holders of power and prestige.