Abstract
BELIEFS AND PRACTICES RELATED TO EVIL EYE AMONG ALANYA YURUKS
Evil eye which means gazing, glancing, looking is commonly defined as a bad effect of people whose glances are believed to bring bad luck and damage on living and nonliving creatures. It is believed that people or a variety of objects that are touched by evil eye will face a negative situation and the effect of evil eye will lead to bad events. In Alanya where yuruk culture prevails, beliefs and practices related to evil eye continue to exist especially in mountain villages and highlands. Alanya nomads call the evil eye to be hit.
The present study will discuss the beliefs of people of Alanya related to evil eye, their ways of protecting from evil eye and their practices against evil eye. The study will give information about evil eye societies and practices performed to repel evil eye such as pouring lead, spinning salt and melting candles. In addition, the study will reveal the factors affecting evil eye belief in Alanya. In the study, the researchers used the field research method and obtained information from the resource people related to the subject via interview technic. The researchers made participatory and nonparticipatory observations, took photos of practices related to evil eye in the villages and highlands and included them in the study.
Keywords
Evil eye, folk beliefs, ritual, exposure to target, Yuruk tradition.