Abstract:

Fire, which has an important place in the cultures of various nations in human history, has been perceived as God by some nations; but in some nations it has also manifested itself as a cult, ascribed to fire a sacredness, used for purification, cleanliness, expulsion of evil spirits, and the proclamation of desires to heaven. Fire; In many civilizations such as Babylonians, Egyptians, Hindus, etc.; In Christianity, Taoism has become an important sacred asset in religions such as Buddhism. In this article, the use of incense used all over the world in various civilizations will be tried to be explained and it will be explained where the incense tradition brought to the Anatolian geography is based on its historical origin. In this study, which states that incense is a continuation of the fire cult that has been living for centuries in the cultural memory of humanity, documents related to fire and incense were examined and a comparison was made with the incense tradition kept alive in Anatolia and the incense practices in other civilizations. At what points the incense tradition living in Anatolia resembled the fire cult belief applied in pre-Islamic periods was examined using the comparative mythology analysis method. In all civilizations and cultures, beliefs about the cult of fire have played an important role in various rituals. The beliefs and practices related to the fire cult in Turkish mythology have undergone a change in the form of candle burning or incense tradition in Anatolia with the influence of Islam. The use of incense or candles around the tomb in Anatolia is a continuation of the pre-Islamic fire cult. In Anatolia, incense became the symbol of purification by cleansing people from physical and spiritual diseases as a continuation of the fire cult belief in the ancient Turkish faith, and the symbol of transcendence by conveying all kinds of prayers and requests to God.

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