Abstract
TRANSITIONAL PERIODS IN MALATYA FOLK CULTURE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
In human life, there are three important transition periods: birth, marriage and death. Beliefs and practices related to this transition period have a very important place in human life. As in many regions of Anatolia, there are various beliefs and practices in transition in Malatya. The practices at birth include normalization of life, health of the child, protection from evil spirits; practices in circumcision, giving status to the child; while the practices applied in marriage are made for the healthy and happiness of the marriage to be carried out; it is applied for the easy passage of the dead to the other world, for the soul not to harm the rest of it, and to respect the spirit of the ancestors. In short, purposes of the beliefs and the practices during the transition periods are to ensure a healthy transition of the person to the next period of his life and to protect him from various dangers.
The subject of our research is the description and analysis of the practices related to birth, marriage and death in the province of Malatya. The data were obtained by participant observation and interview techniques and the description method was used. Thus, it is aimed to transfer the beliefs and practices related to birth, marriage and death to the future generations and contribute to the cultural studies in the province of Malatya.
Keywords
Malatya, transition period, birth, marriage, death.
