The Motıfs of Shahmaran and the Language of These Motıfs In the Tradıtıonal Folk Art / Geleneksel Halk Sanatında Şahmaran Motifleri ve Bu Motiflerin Dili

• Main Author: Birsel Çağlar Abiha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cyprus International University 2016-11-01
• Series: Folklor/Edebiyat
• Subjects: Shahmaran; moon; snake; pearl; horn; arborvitea.
• Online Access: http://www.folkloredebiyat.org/Makaleler/1670827141_fe-88-7.pdf

It’s a very common belief in Anatolia that each home has an owner with the shape of a snake and it protects the household from various diseases and evil eye. It is also believed that this owner provides abundance for the home. It’s described with the face of a young and beautiful girl and its body mostly with a giant snake whose feet in the form six snakes. Today Shahmaran is believed in many parts of Anatolia to provide abundance fort he households. It can be seen that the roots of the figure of Shahmaran which is drawn almost identical by local artists have symbolic features from mythlogy. The local artists may not even know this symbolic language; but they continue to imprint the Sahahmaran on paintinas under glass, carpets, copper and silver. When we examine the local art motives of Shahmaran, we see there’s crescent on its crown, which is the symbol for fertilitiy of the moon and abundance. The words of famele, snake and magic were being used together during the history of mankind and this was explained as moon symbolism. The snake which was believed that it given wisdom, fertilitiy and immortality took its feature from moon and mother Godness; Shahmaran paintings are seen as the motifs of symbolizing fertilitiy. Pearl which is the symbol of love and marriage with its cosmological and magical features, symbolizes the moon Goodness and the birth of generation. Pearl is the another symbol that we can see on Shahmaran pintings. On Shahmaran paintings pearl, moon and snake can be seen together. Another symbol that we can see on Shahmaran paintings are plant and flower motifs which symbolizes immortality. On the study we are going to trace the symbols which are on Shahmaran motif and comen us from the world of myth.