A Kurdish ritual: Şalûngê şalûngê, ewrên reş û tarî, ne dirûzî ne dibarî…

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Like every nation, Kurdish has many traditions. However, because of economic situations people had to move to other places. That is why most of their traditions and rituals have been forgotten.

It is also accepted that there are many factors such as where communities live, the standard of living, climatic conditions, and belief in forming traditions and rituals.

Botan Times also collected some Kurdish rituals.

Şalûngê

In Sanliurfa, the vast plains are a great advantage for agriculture. The summer drought hurts agriculture.

Dursun is 80 years old and lives in a village in Suruc. She talked about an old ritual to make it rain. In their village, women and children did the ritual called “Şalûngê” together.

We had no water, it was very difficult for us to live in the village. Cultivating the lands is the life source for us. We couldn’t cultivate our lands so we went to the highlands with our camels and animals and spend all summer there. We returned to our village in autumn. Although it was winter, there wasn’t rain. With old women of the village, we put a sleeper of an old woman on a monkey and closed its eyes.

There was a river from the Euphrates river near our village and it is still there. We used to go there with our donkeys and children. Then they went from a house to another. We bought bulgur, rice, onions, and oats from the houses, prepared lunches, and ate them. We both said prayer and also sang. We used to think it would rain.

Şalûngê şalûngê

 ewrên reş û tarî (dark and grey clouds)

 ne dirûzî ne dibarî (neither thunder nor rain)

 em hatine qulîng e (we came for asking our needs)

 tasek bulgur me din ku (give a bowl)

 bila xwedê rahmeta xwe bide we (for god give the rain)

White rope and sewing needle

Another ritual that is still performed in Suruc is the “white rope and sewing needle”.

The old women there are sharing two sewing needles and some white ropes. They believed, when they give these, they receive other blessings.

We live in a village, there is no shop. Sometimes there is no always food like bulgur, sugar, or tea at home. Sometimes we could not bring them to Suruc. We used to get food from our neighbors. Sometimes we forget to give back to them. People forget many things when they get old.

I bought two meters of sewing needles and some sewing needles and shared them with every woman in the village. It is done only once. I don’t know what our elders did so we do so. They believed, when they give these, they receive other blessings.

If we don’t pay or share then after death, they will ask us for bulgur and sugar. White rope and sewing needle replace bulgur and sugar. In this way, we say our goodbyes.

This news was translated by Yonca Sarsilmaz