Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Milli Folklor, cilt.9, sa.69, ss.5-14, 2006 (Scopus)
What is the name of this festival? "Mayis Yedisi" (seventh of May), "Su Bayrami" (Water festival), "Deniz Bayrami" (sea festival) or just "Yedi" (seven) as it is well-known in Turkey. This festival is commonly seen in every village or district of Ordu, Giresun and Trabzon regions. The name "seven" comes from the ancient Anatolian calendar which is called "Rumî Takvim". Rumî Calendar is two weeks behind the current calendar. Because of this difference 7th of May corresponds 20th of May in the Gregorian calendar. Thus, the seventh of May festival usually celebrated in the 20th of May. Nearly in all of these regions, this festival is celebrated officially. Among them, Giresun, Beşikdüzü, Gölköy and Perşembe have already started to celebrate as an official festival of their region. And "the international festival of Giresun-Aksu" is the best known of all. (F: 1) Beside the official ceremonies, the natives of this area, gather periodically and organize the festival as a ritual of their cultural and traditional heritage, by themselves. The places of the festival are known for centuries, by the natives. It is like a common decision. As a characteristic of the ritual, these places have to be on the shore. When we look at the festivals attentively, it is easy to understand the importance of the water coast or especially the seashore for this ritual. Rituals in Giresun took place near the river Aksu delta. During the ritual the natives take a boat tours around the Giresun Island. The number of the tours has to be exactly seven. If there is no island near the ritual place, then people prefer to swim or sail. Answers for this can be found in legends or myths told in the region. Legends tell us that in the ancient times the Amazons used to live either in Samsun or in Giresun Island. They kidnap the young men and rape them, just for reproduction. After pregnancy the young men destined to die. And if the pregnancy ends with a "boy" baby, he has the same destiny with the father. The current seventh of May rituals are remainders of those ceremonies. There are three practical and very important beliefs during the ceremony of the festival: 1) Passing three times under "Sacayak" (a cooking stuff which has three feet to put a boiler on fire). There is a belief that if an infertile women passes three times under this Sacayak, they will have the baby. In Turkish culture, this stuff is the symbol of the hearth. And the hearth is a symbol of the family and children. Therefore, to pass under Sacayak means to increase fertility of the family and abundance. (F: 2-3) 2) Throwing stones to the water is the second essential practice of the ritual. People perform seven double and one single throwing to the lake, river or sea. During the stone throwing ceremony one says "my pain and my misfortune run in the sea" as a prayer. According to some scholars the meaning of this practice is either a remainder of the old Anti-Amozon rites or comes from the Turkish shamanism which had a stone worshiping. (F: 4-5) 3) To walk around the island or seaside: We see this practice in Giresun that people circles the island seven times. We can find this practice in other coast regions but, rounding the island can be seen mostly in Giresun. This is because the Giresun Island is unique in the region. If a person circles the Giresun Island -seven times- by boat, God accepts his wish unless he or she keeps his wish as a secret. (F: 6), (F: 7) Other practices of the seventh of May rituals: a) If a person drinks the tea of a forty different herb, he or she can stay healthy whole year. b) If one enjoys the day, the happiness will be with him whole year. c) If one gets into the sea with the right step he will be healthy whole year. d) If a person sacrifices a sheep near by the sea, God will accept his wishes. e) If the sick one takes a bath, in that water he will heal. f) If there is no sea near by the region one can obtain the water from seven different fountains. It will have the same effect. g) Seventh of May is the day, Hizir who brings the summer to the ground and Ilyas who brings the summer to sea, comes together. The preparation for the seventh of May begins days before the festival. But, women prepare traditional foods last night. (F: 8) Between young men and women some competitions are made: a) Greasy stick game, for the young men (F: 9) b) Women sing traditional songs called "Atma Türkü", to beat each other. c) Performance of the traditional folk theatre like, "Deve Oyunu," Bakir Dövme "," Arap Oyunu "," Kalayci ","İǧne "," Deǧirmenci "etc. d) Performance of the some regional folk dances like, "Ordu Karşilamasi", "Halay", "Horon" etc. e) Traditional greasy wrestling races. f) Rope pulling game between boys and girls. g) Putting thread to the needle game. h) Kite flying. When we consider the day for the ritual, it is obvious to see the joy of the spring behind it. In Turkish shamanic mythology the winter and spring symbolizes the death and the life. In the North hemisphere most cultures celebrates the spring as the first day of the year. Therefore, the first day of the year is hope, salvation, blessing and joy. The importance of this festival is because that it is the rebirth for both men and the nature. This natural event transforms differently in every culture. For instance in Turkish culture the rituals like Nevruz (21st of March), "Hidirellez" (6th of May) and, "Sabantoy/Habantoy" (10th of June) are the celebration of the New Year. Every culture accepts one day as the first day of the year, according to its climate and geographical location. We can think that all rituals in the North hemisphere that celebrated in the fist half of the year is related with the primitive rituals of offspring, rebirth of the nature and sacrifice. The "Hizir" and the "İlyas" motives in the "seventh of May" rituals are related with the well known Hidirellez cult, among Asian and Balkan Turks. It is also the first day of New Year in mythological and traditional calendar. We can also find the same tradition in "Nevruz" celebrations (21st of March). It is also the celebration of the first day of the year, rebirth of the nature. Giresun-Aksu "7th of May" rituals became an official festival in 1970 and now its known and recognized internationally with the efforts of both natives and the administrators. However, in 2000 there occurred a disaster during the celebrations in Beşikdüzü (a sub-prefecture of Trabzon), killing 38 people in a boat trip. Ironically this incident increased the popularity of the festival among Turkish people and media. Recently, certain prefectures, sub-prefectures and municipalities focused their efforts to organize the practices of the festival, so that participants do not become victims of similar disasters. After 5 years, considering the administrative interference and positive improvements which were made to safeguard this beautiful tradition within the people of the area, is not sufficient. It is necessary to encourage people, the system of education and the media so that the respect increases among people on the intangible cultural heritage. Certain journalists and branches of media believe that the festival of the seven of May is out of modernity, and these critics are strengthened after the catastrophe of Beşikdüzü. However, it shall be understood that what is meant by "modernity" with such insights endanger the multi-dimensional cultural environment. Thanks to UNESCO for the convention of the intangible cultural heritage which was signed in 2003.