Old Social Beliefs of the Berzeris

This is a short post about some of the beliefs and taboos that distinguished the Berzerî babik of the Miran tribe, as recorded by Dr. Ali Salih Mirani in his book The History of the Miran Tribe and its Social and Political Role.

The quotation

It should be noted that superstition and pessimism about certain things were not common throughout Mirani pastoral society; rather, each babik was distinguished by its own particular taboos. For example, the (Berzerî) babik was wary of three things and kept to this until recent times:

• Not boiling wheat and turning it into bulgur — had it not been for some people of other babiks living among them, they would not have been able to eat bulgur all the time.
• Not letting their men go out to spend their time and attend to their duties beyond the bounds of their tents on Friday — since their going out was a bad omen.
• Not wearing the socks set aside for prayer — since wearing those socks was believed to bring bad luck and impending danger, and they excused themselves with “Lê me naye / it does not suit us”.

Three taboos, three memories

What is striking about these three taboos is that they were not common to all the Miran; rather, they were specific to the Berzerî babik — each babik had its own “taboo”, almost like a cultural fingerprint distinguishing each branch of the tribe.

• Bulgur: Boiling wheat and turning it into bulgur was considered ill-omened among the Berzeris, so much so that they could only eat bulgur thanks to neighbours from other babiks who lived among them and prepared it for them.
• Friday: Men going out beyond the tents to attend to their affairs on Friday was considered a bad omen, so they kept to their tents that day.
• Prayer socks: Wearing the socks set aside for prayer was believed to bring bad luck and impending danger, and they excused themselves with a well-known Kurdish phrase: “Lê me naye”, meaning “it does not suit us”.

Where did these beliefs go?

Today, with settlement in towns and villages and a different way of life, most of these beliefs have faded or barely retain any presence. Some survive in the memory of the elders as a story to be told, and others are now mentioned only in books and memoirs.

A light note

And since family memory allows for a little humour, perhaps the married members of the family would do well to revive the belief about having to stay home on Friday — but this time, from their own houses!