The origin of reincarnation and its effect on esoteric sects

Thoughts about death and afterlife are as old as human history. The human mind and conscience, which do not accept non-existence after death, have tried to explain this with various theories and beliefs. The belief in tanasukh is an idea developed in parallel with this desire of mankind. In the introduction part of our thesis, the concepts and theories on death, soul, life after death and resurrection were analyzed. In this context, the general outlines of the journey of tanasukh through various beliefs and cultures from the Iranian Plateau to India, from Egypt to Ancient Greece and the Far East have been tried to be revealed in order to establish the historical background of the related issues. Research has been conducted on the subject of Bâtınism and movements such as Esotericism, Hermetism, Gnosticism, Orphism and Spiritualism have been discussed. The introduction also includes. Bâtınism in Islamic societies, its antecedents and the reasons for its emergence are evaluated. In the first part of the study, the conceptual and historical dimensions of tanasukh are examined. Since this is a conceptual study, words that are similar to tanasukh have been introduced to the extent deemed necessary. In the light of the preliminary findings, it has been concluded that tanasukh is a cultural-religious phenomenon and that it has spread among civilizations as a result of social interaction. However, whether this preliminary conclusion is valid or not through readings on ancient Hellenic, Indian, Iranian and Egyptian civilizations has been analyzed. In the second part, we will analyze how the belief in tanasukh has been integrated into Islamic culture and sects. The research was conducted in the context of the Nusayris, Yazidis, Druze and Alevi-Bektashis. Some examples from other superstitious sects are also given. In general, it has been observed that there are various versions of tanasukh in the esoteric sects. This is because each of them is influenced by different ancient religions and cultures. In this study, the transition of this belief to the esoteric sects is discussed and how it finds expression in which sect is revealed. The determination of these will make it easier to look at the esoteric sects holistically and to see to what extent they have benefited from ancient religions and cultures and what they have added to themselves. Keywords: Tanasukh, Ġnitiation, Bâtınism, Esotericism, Nusayris, Yezidis, Druze and Alawite-Bektashis.