Beliefs and rituals about death at Adana's Tahtacilar: The example of Nergizlik village

In the study, the meaning attributed to the death phenomenon by the Tahtacıs of Nergizlik village in Adana's Karaisalı district was evaluated in the context of the transitional periods of life. The subject of the research is how individuals make sense of death and the beliefs and rituals around death. In this direction, the cultural meanings of events, situations and objects that Adana Tahtacıs see as a precursor of death, and the social and cultural meanings of their rituals and practices to avoid death are emphasized. symbolic meanings of beliefs and rituals at the time of the death of the individual; The symbolic meanings of postmortem beliefs and practices and the cultural and social meanings of postmortem rituals are emphasized. The main purpose of the study is: How the Tahtacıs of Nergizlik village make sense of the beliefs, rituals and practices related to death; is to understand how these meanings about death are constructed and how all these interpretations have a place in the meaning world of the participants. The fact that the people living in the village of Nergizlik are a Tahtaci community living the Alevi faith, is a factor in the community's interpretation of death within the Alevi faith. The theoretical framework of the study is the symbolic interaction theory, since death is a transitional period and contains many symbols with its beliefs and rituals. The meanings of the Tahtacı community about death were handled with the qualitative research method. Purposive sampling technique was used as a sample in order to reach the participants from whom rich information can be obtained about death in Nergizlik village and to determine the sample. The sample of the study consists of a total of 16 participants, 10 female and 6 male, between the ages of 41 and 83, residing in the village of Nergizlik. One of the participants is the Cemevi grandfather. Thus, the total number of participants is 17. All of the sample have made a living by cutting trees in a certain period of their life and they are making a living. In the study, semi-structured in-depth interviews and semi-participatory observation techniques were used as data collection tools. The data obtained from the participants were subjected to the coding process and the data were analyzed with the thematic codes reached. According to this, it has been concluded that there are many symbolic meanings in the beliefs and rituals of Nergizlik village Tahtacıs before, during and after death, and that these symbolic meanings are formed within a certain process in social interaction. It has been observed that the group's beliefs and practices regarding death have preserved their original status from past to present, but some beliefs and practices have changed, albeit slowly, from past to present, and some are in danger of extinction.