CIRCULAR MOVEMENT AS AN ARCHETYPE AND SYMBOL OF THE NOMAD TURKS

Abstract

Dance is a natural part of religious rites and a unique form of human communication with God, as well as the highest form of expression of inner experience, the search for divine unity. In the dance of early man, planetary and cosmic rhythms and processes were expressed. A man came into contact with the forces of nature, feeling part of a huge, living cosmos. Dance as a symbolic form of culture is closely related to magical rituals. Circular dances
are known as a means of expressing collective identity and communicating with the spirits of nature. These are the original thoughts of a primitive man about the world, which develops in a circle in the symbolism of circular dance. In the circular dances of nomads, there is a message of thought through gestures and movements. Dance is an art, a ritual. The symbols of the ritual dance contained information as a structural idea of animism. In Kazakh art, dance has a sacred meaning, concealing itself the magic of nomadic rituals. The circular dance of Sufis is closely related to shaman worship. The religious systems of the Turks cannot be considered as successive types. As a rule, in specific historical periods, religious systems appear simultaneously with each other, in syncretism. The ritual of circular movement according to the above procedure was performed to unite participants around one specific symbol. It was a public act of a symbolic nature, while the shaman was a figure who knew and carried out its deep meaning. The relationship between the shamanic system and Islam was ambiguous. Formed because of the struggle with idolatry, Islam was viewed with suspicion by henotheistic beliefs.