Folklor/Edebiyat (Feb 2023)
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
Abstract
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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