Rituals related to 'child' in Karaite Turks

Abstract

Although the beliefs and rituals of transitional periods in human life such as birth, marriage and death are performed in different ways in societies around the world, they still maintain their importance in our age. As it is believed that the newborn child brings hope and happiness in every nation, in the Karaites, it is believed to bring happiness, joy and abundance to their nation so many cultural and religious practices were made from birth. In the first part of the study, which is divided into two main parts, under the title of "Practices Related to Birth, Puerperium and Infant", important rituals such as "cradle, naming, circumcision, breastfeeding" are mentioned. In the second part, under the title of "Practices Related to the Growth of the Child", the prayer of the child who goes to the place of worship for the first time and the prayer texts for the child who will start education are included. Thus, the rituals that the Karaite Turks combined with the Jewish belief and combined with the culture and beliefs brought from the roots of the Turkishness tree will be shown together. The importance of this phase in the transition period in Karaite Turks will be shed light with the prayer examples to be given from the Karaite religious texts.

Keywords

• karaite turks
• karaite faith
• transition period
• birth rituals
• child