The cults of nature in Tunceli

Ancient Turkish communities believed that the entities existing in nature carried a latent property. There was a common belief that these entities could hear the people as well as they could do good or harm on them. These beliefs dissappeared mostly after Islam, but they didn't go out of our lives completely. In Anatolia, especially, the beliefs in natural cults such as tying clouties to sacred trees or drinking water that was said to have healing powers and making a wish afterwards persisted. In this study, the answers to questions of how the natural cults in Tunceli have survived until today, how they are dwelling in the present, and through what kind of rituals they progress. Being in touch with nature thanks to its geography, this land still nurtures the natural cults inside of it. Locals respect the mountains, water, trees as in the past and expect goodness from them in several occasions. In order for their wishes to come true or not to get any harm from the elements of nature, they perform various rituals, take a vow or visit the sacred locations. Due to the fact that the amount of material about natural cults will be high in Tunceli, it was chosen as the field of study here.