Symbolic analysis of the water motif in Turkish folk stories of the Anatolian field

In nature, not only living beings but also inanimate beings need water to ensure sustainability. Water, which existed with God even before the universe was created and is one of the main elements of creation, has been accepted as a sacred entity that is respected in all cultures and beliefs because it is of vital importance for human beings and all other living species. The fact that water is of great importance for all living and non-living beings has made it superior to other elements of nature, and this superiority has enabled it to be attributed sanctity. In all cultures and beliefs, water is the symbol of creation and re-creation, purification and cleansing, death and immortality, God and holiness. The fact that water is given so much meaning in all cultures and beliefs not only makes it a universal value, but also creates the concepts of water symbolism and water cult. Water is an element of nature that has always been considered sacred and respected in the Turkish collective thought system. In this study, in which the traces of the water cult in Anatolian Turkish folk tales were identified and analyzed, the symbolic value of water and its place in the Turkish collective thought system were tried to be revealed in the stories in which the collective unconscious emerges at the conscious level. In this context, 72 folk tales from the Anatolian region were examined and the elements of the water motif were identified and analyzed. Anatolia has been examined in Turkish folk tales in the context of water, birth, purification and cleansing, death and immortality, transformative, initiating and complementary power.