Abstract
The Capricious and Inconsistent Creature of Turkish Mythology: Biçura
The recognition of a mythological “being”, or, more specifically, a mythological “element”, helps us to reveal the historical psychology of a society, its understanding of being, its philosophy, and the origins of actions in the cause-and-effect relationship. While standing mountains, flowing springs, rains falling on the earth, even the natural elements and order of the world affect the life-death relationship of a society, eating habits, hunting and moral rules, it is unthinkable that the mythological figures standing next to them would not affect and shape the same life. As a matter of fact, since the unknown ages, people have seen their houses and the elements belonging to the house (stove, barn, well, bathroom, threshold, etc.) related to "other" beings and believed that they lived together with these beings. Here, one of these "other" beings is Bichura. In our paper, we will examine Biçura by revealing its external (physical characteristics, action sequence, mythological status) and internal (psychology, sympathy) structures. Distinguished from home, stove, forest, water, mountain, etc. black and white spirits (iyes) in both written and oral sources, Biçura is a mischievous inhabitant of the house it enters. Especially among Tatars and Bashkirs, the creature called Biçura is moody, capricious and inconsistent in its character. It likes to annoy people. Brings richness to the house it lives in, and poverty to the house it leaves. Its mythological position is also unclear, but it is neither totally feared of himself like the underground black spirits, nor is he a heavenly and wholly good being. We will try to reveal Bichura, which we discussed in this study, with all its features, by identifying it from the first and oldest written sources that mention it.
Keywords
biçura; mythology; house spirit; character analysis; iye
