THE MAGICAL INITIATION JOURNEY OF THE TRADITIONAL TURKISH BRIDE Cover Image

GELENEKSEL TÜRK GELİNİNİN BÜYÜSEL ERGİNLENME YOLCULUĞU
THE MAGICAL INITIATION JOURNEY OF THE TRADITIONAL TURKISH BRIDE

Author(s): Turan Demir
Subject(s): Customs / Folklore, Culture and social structure
Published by: Motif Halk Oyunları Eğitim ve Öğretim Vakfı
Keywords: Transition Periods; Magic; Sympathetic Magic; Marriage; Turkish Bride;

Summary/Abstract: Human who is trying to find a place for himself/herself in social and individual life, passes through various stages throughout his/her existence in the world. These stages, that take place to adapt to the world both psychologically and sociologically, start with birth, continue with marriage and end with death for human. These phases are generally named as transitional periods/rites. The human is prepared for these transition periods with ceremonies/rituals that have magical and mythological characteristics since primitive times. Transition periods are a process full of crises and in addition to his/her biological competence, the human overcomes the psychological initiation processes and attains his/her new status in society with an acceptance ceremony. Marriage is an important process that prepares birth and death in transitional periods. While the continuation of the lineage is ensured by marriage knitted with cultural codes, this process has a function that integrates the transition periods, since the death of every living being will occur. In the transition period that takes place in the context of marriage, the initiation process of women includes many magical meanings and rituals. Marriage is the farewell ceremony of traditional Turkish bride's to the virginity. The bride candidate is the center of the crisis in the marriage process and the bride-to-be girl leaves the place where she was born and grew up and then passes into a new area where she will raise her child, by transforming into another individual. Many magical rituals are performed to get through this crisis period easily. In this study, the magical initiation journey of the traditional Turkish bride is discussed.

  • Issue Year: 16/2023
  • Issue No: 41
  • Page Range: 270-289
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Turkish
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