مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Ritual as a creative field of experience for the dersim alevi-the encounter between the zahir and bâtin and healing

Abstract :

For the Alevis of Dersim,the field of interaction constructed during ritual plays a central role in regulating daily life in the temporary world (Dinâ),and in communicating with the eternal world (a-dinâ),described as the counterpart of the mortal world. A field of intera-ction is constructed between the ultimate Truth (Hakk),the saint who became one with the ultimate truth (evliya),and the community of truth seekers (talipler). Interaction is also constructed between individuals and their community and even between the world of the wild existing outside the community and the domesticated world. Who are the subjects constructing and bringing to life the ritual field? What are the ritual symbols giving meaning to the ritual experience and transmitting it to newcomers? How the interacting subjects and fields separated from each other are,how are the lines of demarcation drawn? The answers to these questions have been investigated in Dersim,with a specific focus on the healing functions of ritual symbols and ritual spaces. The findings are based on recordings from fieldwork in the city of Tunceli and the districts of inner Dersim,such as Hozat,Nazimiye,Pülümür and Ovacik and also in districts of Erzincan such as the Erzincan city,Ulalar,Çayirli,Bük,Abige,Göbürge,where the Alevite population predominantly lives. In the article,the subjects,symbols and fields of ritual as a creative experience are defined and discussed. As an overall statement,in the traditional Dersim Alevi community,the tension between what is Temporary (the daily world) and what is Permanent (true being,existence) is overcome through harmonizing Change (Felek) with the laws of the Permanent (Ultimate truth,law and will of truth). However,it is suggested that the Permanent being acquires awareness of its existence and expresses itself,goes through an experience,through the Temporary. The places and times where the crisis between the Permanent and the Temporary gets resolved and where,so to say,a new synthesis is reached,are make up the ritual process. The ritual process,through organizing Change and Repetition,movements in time and space provides continuity to the community.