The “Selling the Child” Tradition as a Ritual in the Context of Turkic and Slavic Folk Beliefs / Türk ve Slav Halk İnançları Bağlamında Bir Ritüel Olarak “Çocuğu Satma” Geleneği
Mankind believes in the magical power and protection of names and search for ways to harness this power to keep their newborn babies alive. One outcome of this pursuit is the Turkic ritual of “selling the child.” This ritual is performed to protect the newborn from evil beings. This ritual, which...
| Главные авторы: | , |
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| Формат: | Статья |
| Язык: | English |
| Опубликовано: |
Cyprus International University
2023-02-01
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| Серии: | Folklor/Edebiyat |
| Предметы: | |
| Online-ссылка: | https://www.folkloredebiyat.org/Makaleler/1857948753_t%c3%bcrk%20ve%20slav%20halk%20inan%c3%a7lar%c4%b1%20.pdf |
| Итог: | Mankind believes in the magical power and protection of names and search for ways to harness
this power to keep their newborn babies alive. One outcome of this pursuit is the Turkic ritual of
“selling the child.” This ritual is performed to protect the newborn from evil beings. This ritual,
which can also be seen in Slavic folk beliefs and practices, is the subject of this study. The objectives
of this study are to compare similar and varied aspects of thise ritual as observed in two different
cultural circles and arrive at a conclusion regarding human attitudes and behaviors, pertaining to
this ritual during the transition from archaic to modern times. The material, belonging to different
cultures and languages needs to be examined by researchers specialized in different fields. The study
has been limited to scientific works in printed and digital media of the Turkic and Slavic cultures.
Researchers found relevant resources for the study by searching for keywords related to the topic.
After finding the resources, they reviewed the documents and subsequently conducted content
analysis. People believe that the mythological female character called “Albastı/Alkarısı” among the
Turks and “Boginka and Veştitsa” among the Slavs, as well as demonic beings, haunt pregnant and
postpartum women and intend to kill the embryo or fetus during pregnancy and the newborn during
puerperium. According to this research, the purpose of the “selling the child” ritual among the Turks
and the “obman” ritual implying “misleading/deception” among the Slavs is to pretend to change the
parents of the newborn and thus to protect the newborns from the evils that are thought to be caused
by the hostility of the evil spirits toward their parents. Researchers discovered a striking connection
in the meanings of the names given to the child at the end of the ritual, such as Satı, Satılmış, Prodan
(sold), Kuplen (purchased), Nayden (found), Nenaş (not ours), and Kraden (stolen). |
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| ISSN: | 1300-7491 2791-6057 |