Özet:

It is ordinary for ancient people or for those preserving old habits to believe that religiously authorised men had the authority to solve laic issues, too. Those men were always social leaders in societies, and mostly the most significant owner or sharer of the political power. In the old Turkic society, political power was clearly kept aside from the religious power, but the former was widely open to religious influences and to the men of religion. Indeed, the fact that people expected the latter to help them even in such an extreme case as to win battles shows that the concerning influence and interaction had no borders. This role was assumed by the men called kam/bahşı/sagun among the ancient Turks. The essential word, however, defining the function is ‘bögü’. It seems this word meant ‘priest’ in the ages about which historical sources are silent. In the known period, two meanings were derived from the same word. Once it signified magic and, on the other hand, it meant wisdom, without any clear reference to magic. The second one was used especially in qaganal titles. People did not use to expect magical activities from those who had distinquished with their wisdom. They were guides with their advices for true behaviours and true path, as in the example of Dede Korkut. We guess that the word ‘sagun’ got also the meaning ‘wise’ in some historical periods and dialects. As stated above, the old/traditional society always hope and seek from men of religion or from those claiming spiritual power to find solutions for their problems, especially in health. Since the adressed men would lose prestige if they did not carry out what was wanted from them, they would make use of magic in great abundance for curing people. We should consider that the phsychological dimention of the cure, that is, self-confidence of the patient to heal is a half-way in recovering. Thus the magicians were likely successful at least in half of their cases. On the other hand, they knew well that what they did was not cure in medical sense, therefore they used medical ways, too, as a paralel remedy, as much as they knew. For this reason, we see also factual intervention besides magic and pray words. Namely, the priest performed the jobs of magician and physician simultaneously, but under the pressure and demand of the society to a great degree. It would not be wrong to tell that the ‘hodjas of jinn’ are today inheritors of that old professon and tradition

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