An examination on religious magical and taboo practices in the book of dede korkut [Dede korkut kitabi’nda dinsel büyüsel ve tabusal uygulamalar üzerine bir inceleme]

Religion, magic and taboo being concepts with belief factor at their core have created their private spaces within human life and have been effective in leading life. The life of the Oghuz Turks which is told in the Book of Dede Korkut was framed by certain boundaries as well. The concepts of religion, magic and taboo are also among the elements creating these boundaries. In this article, the religious, magical and taboo practices in the Book of Dede Korkut are handled. The practices in the book reflect the world-view of the peoples of the era and provides us with some detailed information of the Turks who lived during that era. Firstly, information on religion, magic and taboo is given in the article, then some examples in the book for these practices are analysed. The answer to the question “To what extent the religious, magical and taboo practices existed in the lives of the Oghuz Turks?” was sought through this analysis. The practices determined in the book were classified under four titles as religious, religious-magical, magical and taboo. The questions “Are there any religious, magical or taboo practices in the Book of Dede Korkut, if so how much do they affect the social life?” which caused us to prepare this article in the first place were answered via the examples from the text as well. In addition to this, under what circumstances Oghuz Turks applied these practices was revealed. The world-view that the religious, magical and taboo practices were based on and took nourishment from in the Book of Dede Korkut was also given during the analysis. Also the questions “On which values did the Turks of the era led their social lives and to what extent did they harmonised their old and new beliefs?” were answered. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the Oghuz Turks told in the Book of Dede Korkut had religious, magical and taboo practices in their lives and they shaped their lives in accordance with these practices. © 2015, Milli Folklor Dergisi. All rights reserved.