FINAL EXCHANGE AND LAST MEETING : C5 and R5 in 2018

International coordination note A27 * FM 5 _ 27/12/2017

C5 FINAL EXCHANGE AND R5 MULTIPLIER EVENT 

Exhibition to be prepared for C5

French students will have to confront their own productions with yours in order to produce pannels to show the impact of a transnational approach on learning

About Study of TOTALITARIANISM
Cesme team had sent us a power point and files were given to us by Cluj team during C04. So we are now waiting for Latvian contribution or/and other files from other partners, if you want to do more.

....

Italian students were focused on Global warming and fears about.. Edda did put on line pics and informations in Facebook : I 'll show part of its in our blog wich is supposed to be our common Journal. (Official Monitor)

REMINDER : DEADLINES FOR NEXT STUDIES

About US neutralism and fears for Europe (and the World) to see America no more interested in global affairs... works must be finished and sent to French ccordinator before the 1^st of february

About nukes and deterrence we ll wait for your works till the 1^st of March.

Note that these informations were already put on line as R4 results: http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/CLUJreport.html

If we have time enough, French students will send you a feedback before to use your files (mixed to their own productions) in order to implement the exhibition.

REMINDER: 
-ABOUT YOUR SHOW DURING C5
We are praying you not to forget  if it was not still done, to give us files 

and informations that J-M Toto does need to prepare your national show: 

before the 20th of january.
You can also send me a list with your students'names and the characters they will 

play in the transnational dialogue (Vladut's Trip)
as it was written in FM4/A26 note !
-ABOUT QUALITY CONTROL
Next Check Point in January !

-----to be continued------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DEADLINES FOR NUITS BLANCHES C5 PREPARATION

AGENDA - reminder

C5 from the 24th of April (Tuesday) to the 28th of April (Sunday) : 5 days.

R5 from the 10th of June (Sunday) to the 12th of June (Tuesday) : 3 days.

FESTIVAL MANAGEMENT

Note FM 4

International coordination note KA 26

I - Regarding the shows (both the transnational dialogue and the national drama that your team will play alone) thank you for sending me before 01/20/18 all materials that J-M Toto

is asking us to organize the event..

1. The music files and / or sound effects 

you want to use (if it seems necessary to you) during 

your national show or during the part of the common dialogue performed by your students. 

Please specify for which of the two shows you 

need this audio illustration !
2. A note you may write to specify the particular mood of light you want: night, day, dim lighting, etc.
Thank you to specify for which of the two shows you want  these atmospheres.

3. The text of your  national dialogue or a  description of the show if it
 is mime and / or if some dances are included (and only under these conditions).

I I– CASTING TO DO asap
Please you to check your lists of people implicated in the mobility C5 and compare 

with students supposed to play a role, because we need these informations to do the 

rooming now. That's the reason why we are waiting for a list with your cast (even if you 

did no change) and all the names of people who  will come to France.



Festival and project ON LINE
Website http://ilargia.franceserv.eu/ is designed for a large audience
Please you not to try again to  upload but give us your files
if you want show more about your productions using this portal.

R4 NUITS BLANCHES results and report

On Google play 

now, a little vidéo:

 

SLIDE ON

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gJeu4lrt8C6s026J3

pic above: Closing Dinner at Hanul Dacilor

*
And from the 15th of november, find on Nbe+ website: 

ALL THE RESULTS AND OUR  DECISIONS
about C5 organization and R5 planning

R4 aims : last NUITS BLANCHES transnational meeting before Festival C5 and multiplier event R5

You can find the R4 agenda in the coordinator's website

(International Coordination Note A 25 - FM 3)

http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/CLUJ.html
and click to download  the "Agenda"

PHOTOGRAPHIE OFFICIELLE DE L'EQUIPE NUITS BLANCHES

Elèves et professeurs ont fêté le 6 octobre la troisième et dernière année du partenariat Erasmus+ "Nuits Blanches NBE+".  L'occasion d'inaugurer officiellement le "corner" européen du lycée, mais aussi d'annoncer le Festival qui se déroulera en Avril prochain à Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Les cinq lycées partenaires interpréteront notamment dans ce cadre une réécriture parodique du mythe de Dracula...

VAMPIRES TRIP : our common dialogue

LE TEXTE DU SPECTACLE TRANSNATIONAL A ETE ECRIT 

PENDANT L'ECHANGE BILATERAL C04 

à partir de toutes les contributions nationales

FICHIER DISPONIBLE SUR http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/programC04.html

*

Festival management Note FM2

TEXT FOR

THE TRANSNATIONAL SHOW IS READY

(Feedback 1)

A transnational narrative in the form of dialogues has been written. It must allow to play together a piece showing the fears of today and how we can sometimes fight/overcome them. The text is ready and will be sent to partners tonite or tomorrow morning (the translation into English to be finished). The piece is of a rewrite of Dracula's legend and takes into account the synopsis you sent us before C04. Thanks to all the teams for providing interesting narratives or sketches, which we were able to link in one another.The outcome seems appropriate and there is therefore no reason to assume that significant changes need to be made by the time we discuss Cluj-Napoca in the R4 Seminar.

THANK YOU TO THE CASTING: what students to play the characters?

Reminder  :the text will be accessible from the Twinspace where comments can be filed. If rearrangements occur by early November, a new edition of the dialogue narrative would be produced in view of R4 (FEEDBACK 2).

ABOUT NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS: We believe that the final text of the Dialogue that you will play in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (only your team on the stage!) does not need to be ready in early November. Thank you for coming to Cluj with a synopsis, and some detailed indications on your needs (light, decor ...) to talk with Jean-Marc. A deadline for the transmission of the text will be set, in order to allow a translation in French, so that the non-English speaking public can appreciate your work !

R4 Some partners did not ever say how many teachers or people would be involved in this meeting. Please you to give the missing informations to Ramona Zetea in order the hotel to know how many males or females will be present, and how many rooms you want !

TRAVEL TO TRANSYLVANIA'S REPORT WAS PUBLISHED TODAY

Since no student from Saint-Jean-de-Luz had come to Cesme for C4 meeting (it was unfortunately forbidden for them to be implicated in the mobility), 11 french students and three teachers went to Cluj-Napoca from the 9th to the 13th of October, 2017, willing to study Dracula's myth. They had also activities with Colegiul Economic Iulian Pop's team about fears in totalitarian regimes.

This bilateral exchange was a way to produce the definitive draft for the common narative all the partners will have to play together  in april (the synopsis/pitch was fixed during C4 in Cesme and the plan to write dialogs was done  in Riga).

FEEDBACK 1 is now finished. The Romanian team is just ending the english translation before to edit it.

Find a report for this bilateral short-term exchange on
http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/programC04.htm

INAUGURATION

Official inauguration of the Erasmus+corner in Lycée Ravel was done the 6th of october. The projects we are leading were presented by Headmaster and Teachers to students and municipality with the support of Mrs Dutoya, regional deputy. We have also shown a film about Romanian study travel C3 (november, 2016) since we'll go back to Cluj-Napoca from the 9th to the 14th of october to make local field reports (Peurs, Guerre et Totalitarisme ; Impact économique et social des Mythes).
There was a little cocktail aftter the photo session and a video projection.

We also celebrated in advance the #erasmusdays and the Thirty Years of the Erasmus program : thanks to the support provided by the European commission for education and youth....

French contribution to the common play

Here is our contribution for the common play. The title could be "How Dracula met Izen Gabea".
Dracula would not be the name of the main character : we will change it as soon as possible.

Vivienne Peraudeau-Haro.

FESTIVAL in 6 months !

A23+ FM1

We need to obtain early in october (or before) the definitive drafts for national tributes to the common narrative we have to write and play together. 
Why ?
Because a rewrite to link its will be done from the Romanian synopsis during the french romanian meeting in Cluj (from the 9th to the 14th)..... it will be putted on line to your attention.
After this first feedback operation, local project holders (but also students if they are interested in) will have to make an opinion about and to give proposals to change or adopt the draft.
A second feedback according to your observations will be done just before R4 (november) to have a brainstorming (during this mobility) made from concrete texts and try to approve a final text at this time.
Soon : FM2 (about number and name of characters we want).

First International coordination note 

to manage ILARGIA NUITS BLANCHES FESTIVAL

A23 * 27/09/2017 * the 27th of september, 2017 * FM1

Hello everybody

I wish to all of you to bevery  happy at school... and elsewhere

- Do not forget, please, that  we have to do some little things together before November :

First, you know we must edit  a definitive draft for a common transnational story in early October. As Romanian project is supposed to be used as a mainstream  this work will be done during Romanian-French meeting in Cluj (October) : it's what was called FEEDBACK 1 in our plan.

Your national texts (you wrote in order its to be linked together in a single transnational story, called our common narrative)  were already given in may, 2017. But if you want to change something in, you can still do it NOW, but before the 1st of october (as it was planned in Riga during R3 meeting and published on our Gantt Chart / Turkey did it several days ago).

From October to the November seminar, the project will be changed or not according to your observations, leading to the final version of the FEEDBACK 2, before the five teams in Cluj are consulted (all operators are asked to use the Twinspace - your students can give opinion and make proposals if you decide to do so).

Second, some of us have to study together totalitarism (works to be achieved for Christmas). It could consist to compare national experiences of this sort of ideology exchanging powerpoint ?

[...]

In attachement our last international note (july)

FIND

Our planning for this scolar  year

 http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/PHASE2CHARTE-chart.html

Our transnational synopsis with selected local stories

http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/resultsR3page2.html

The first draft for it (May, 20147)

http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/synopsis.html

BEST REGARDS FROM FRANCE

Pierre-Laurent  Vanderplancke

VERSION FRANCAISE

- Veuillez ne pas oublier que nous avons quelques petites choses à faire ensemble avant novembre :

Tout d'abord, comme vous le savez, nous allons éditer le projet définitif pour notre histoire transnationale commune à la mi-d'octobre. (dans la mesure où le synopsis roumain doit servir de fil conducteur à ce récit théâtralisé, il est prévu que ce travail de rédaction intervienne lors de l'échange bilatéral Franco-Roumain programmé à Cluj du 9 au 14). Cette production correspond au FEEDBACK 1.

Vos textes  (les contributions de chaque pays censées être liées ensemble dans une histoire unique) ont été choisies en mai 2017. Si vous voulez changer quelque chose à votre texte, vous pouvez le faire MAINTENANT, avant le 1er octobre (la deadline a été adoptée durant le séminaire R3 et est publiée dans notre diagramme de Gantt / La Turquie vient de procéder à un remaniement il y a quelques jours de cela. Entre octobre et le séminaire de Novembre, le projet sera remanié en fonction de vos observations pour aboutir au FEEDBACK 2, version ultime avant la concertation des cinq équipes à Cluj (tous les opérateurs censés intervenir sont priés d'utiliser le Twinspace ; il peut s'agir de vos élèves si vous le décidez).

Deuxièmement, certains d'entre nous doivent travailler ensemble sur le totalitarisme (une tâche à accomplir pour Noël au plus tard).

[...]

OUR TRANSNATIONAL OPEN WORKING SPACE IS AVAILABLE

From now, our Twinspace ILARGIA must be considered like a common office on line, to make together the transnational narrative we'll have to play together in April, 2018 (Festival C5).

Read the international coordination note A22 (direct link from right column,in "General supervision" folder) to well understand the process.

Teachers and authorized students would have to connect themselves to ILARGIA in order to take part...

NUITS BLANCHES FOLLOW UP: CP5 is on line (Quality Control and survey)

Fifth Check Point was done (about period from March to June, 2017)

and is published in our SURVEY folder

 (Follow up)

Deadlines and productions were checked
(and also our spends).

- A schedule agenda / for the Festival (C5) and all remaining mobilities

- A rewrites roadbook / for the transnational narrative we'll have to write and to play together 

are now on line with a questionaire about participants' satisfaction

http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/cp5.html

BIG DISSEMINATION EVENT IN TURKEY

NBE+ presentation today in Izmir by Cesme Maritime High School ! Erasmus, "a story of 30 years"...

 best greetings

NOTE A21 and FIRST LEADS FOR NUITS BLANCHES INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS

It was the first point of the Riga roadbook made after our study travel in Turkey.

Our Gantt Chart was produced after brain stormings in Latvia

and is now on line.

First things to do for project holders are:

- reporting for Check Point  5 

- and insertion of texts in our open space

(Ilargia Twinspace).

Click below to download the full coordination note:

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AlpaeIyucZ7XgXlTxovg7Gm04h5C


INTELLECTUAL OUTPUT
LIST OF STUDIES BY PROJECT HOLDERS
1. Olga and Sanita: How to make students work about ancient myths /
Baltic peoples protection signs, rituals
2. Ramona and P-L:  How to implement a transnational study /
Fears and Totalitarism
3. Serife: How to make students work about ancient myths /
Turkish people protection signs, rituals and objects
4. Ramona and P-L: Evaluation issues in Transnational projects
5.Vivienne: How to implement workshops to make students rewrite / Dracula myth
6. Alessandra and Edda :  How to exploit and to confront some texts  /
about old fears (Italian traditions) and modern fears (terrorism and Natural Hazards) / learning English and French as L2.
7. Şerife : How to make students tell their stories in cartoons or animation.
8. Şerife : How to make students create computer games related with Turkish customs and rituals.
9. P-L: How to manage and to live a transnational Festival and a meeting with young foreigners involved in Erasmus+ program.

NUITS BLANCHES INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION NOTE A20

R3 meeting results are published in the NBE+ coordinator's website and a note about Rewrite Roadbook has been sent to project holders (in this blog : GENERAL SUPERVISION page, right column)..

A click on the link below the picture  to see the synopsis draft for the common narrative :

https://1drv.ms/p/s!AlpaeIyucZ7XgWqxkPfmf0h0MvNZ

NUITS BLANCHES R3 REPORT IS ON LINE

Pics and workshops'abstracts are in the coordinator's website.
Most of decisions were prepared by talks during C4 and projectholders did agree with.
R3 results will be put on line as soon as possible...

Local story to be inserted in the transnational tale are focused on specific fears

For ROMANIA: Fears of travels and foreigners, different people (stereotypes)

For ITALY: Fear of global warming and the bad impact of human activities on nature

For LATVIA: Fear not to be popular enough (beloved)

For TURKEY: Fears or death (the main one) and (a second idea that Italians espressed also) Fear to become poor or to  loose social rank/esteem

For FRANCE : Fear to loose specific cultural  identities (Izen Gabea)

2017, MAY: MARBLING ART (EBRU) with Çesme students, Sanita, Olga.. and co

CESME SOUVENIRS Against fears : Music and Dance, a show and some NUITS BLANCHES

A18 and A19 INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION NOTES FOR NUITS BLANCHES ERASMUS+

A 19 International coordination note * 22/05/2017

The meeting in Latvia R3 should mark a turning point. The switch
seminar's main goal is: to make the time table of our last school year ( the second phase of the project, which began in May and will last 16 months).
http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/downloads.html
THREE TASKS TO DO TOGETHER

1°) First, to build a Gantt chart to plan the three types of job we'll
have to manage
A - each of the partner has to prepare a theatrical performance
and to play it during C5
B - a transnational performance must be written in order to be
played all together as the Festival main event
C - studies on contemporary fears and perhaps on future ones
will be done in classroom
deadlines :
Nov. 2017 (Seminar R4) for A and B,
April 2018 for C
2 °) Second, to divide the responsibilities for the intellectual
production to be rendered before the summer of 2018. 10 lessons
or articles have to be written and shown at the dissemination last
event in Cesme.
deadline will depend on the date of the last seminar in Turkey.
3 °) And to collect C4 results. A narrative has been
selected, and a transnational synopsis has been devised
from this base, which will serve as a thread to the common
transnational narrative we must write.. Each country must
give during R3 a list of characters and the fear on which it
intends to focus in the context of its contribution to the
transnational - See note A 18 in the international coordination page
or go to
http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/synopsis. html.
_______________________________________
Letters of approbation of French reports were
sent by our National Erasmus+ Agency.
The last one does insist on the following point
point. As the international coordinator, I ll have
a specific questionaire to fill and need
informations on what is done in foreign schools
to fill it. So, thanks to all project holders to send
me informations about the local activities for
each follow up survey period (next till July,
beginning from March). As we did for cp4 for
all the first pedagogic phase (SURVEY pages in
NBE+ website)

A18 note consists in the Rewrites guide : earlier post or most complete version in NBE+ website: 
http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/resultsC4.html

REWRITES GUIDE / Nuits Blanches Erasmus+ Intellectual Output

Inside  the C4 report, you can find the results of Turkish study travel and decisions we took 

about the final rewrite. 

We did choose in Cesme the synopsis in order to play a transnational narrative together 

in Saint-jean-de-Luz (C5). Students and teachers can read these pages or download the guide  : 

we must now implement the plan !
(Each team is also free to make its own show and to perform it)
click on this picture to go to the NBE+ website's pages dedicated to C4

http://nbeplus.franceserv.eu/downloads.html

C4 NUITS BLANCHES REPORT IS ON LINE

CESME STUDY TRAVEL
The schedule timetable and the results were uploaded in the French Coordinator's website ( click on the picture below to open the link). You can find many more pics and movies in the Facebook Group NBE+

STUDY TRAVEL C4 mobility report

Foreign Participants : 6 teachers, 14 students

From Roma : 0 (a teacher's mobility was canceled at the last moment for health reasons) 

From Saint-Jean-de-Luz : 1 teacher (the international coordinator was involved in the event ; but French pupils could not be present, due to exceptional security measures at home)

From Riga : 3 teachers and 5 students ( Latvian team had initially planned 6 students mobilities but one pupil was sick and could not come to Cesme) 

From Cluj-Napoca : 2 teachers and 9 students 

Welcome to CESME for the NUITS BLANCHES multiplier event

A big dissemination for a big event from the 8th to the 13th of May

C4 NUITS BLANCHES: The Agenda / CESME MAY, 2017

Let's find the plan of workshops and all the meeting's activities

made by Ulusoy team

  in the coordinator's website

A movie made before C4 by Vivienne and PREMIERE L students involved in NUITS BLANCHES partnership

RECALL

MAIN GOALS FOR NEXT MOBILITIES 

SUMMER, 2017

Cesme, Turkey

Study Travel C4 / Two big issues :

- students will choose among rewrites they did at home
one common story (or several) in order to play it together

- the travel is also devoted to the study of the Anatolian and

Mediterranean traditions and the rites in intend to ward off fears

Deux objectifs : 

confronter les réécritures travaillées dans les différents 

pays, sélectionner et/ou fabriquer un récit commun à jouer 

tous ensemble, et des récits à mettre en scène 

par des équipes nationales -  mais également :

étudier les mythes anatoliens et méditerranéens

Riga, Latvia

Transnational Meeting R3/ Two big issues :

-  teachers  should plan studies about contemporary fears (even

fear of the future) they want to do during school year 2017-2018 

- project holders  must select 10 items in order to product pedagogic tools 

as intellectual outputs and would have to dispatch the responsibilities

(works to be finished before summer, 2018)

Deux objectifs :

planifier lesquelles des études sur les peurs contemporaines (voire futures)

 seront menées en Terminale en 2017-2018 dans le cadre des cours 

et, surtout, préparer la production d'une dizaine d'outils pédagogiques 

que l'équipe s'est donnée pour objectif de présenter comme 

production intellectuelle finale 

(définition des thèmes et répartition des responsabilités : 

désignation du ou des auteurs de chaque article envisagé)

C4 results could be reviewed during R3 but the

Festival organisation is to be designed during R4 (November, Cluj-Napoca).

OPEN DAY IN LYCEE RAVEL...

NUITS BLANCHES PLANNING: FIRST PEDAGOGIC PHASE ENDING

Published on Sunday, the 19 th of March

Our Gantt Chart joined to the applicant form :

Mobilities during the 20 months first period 

according to our original schedule time table :

click and... See our definitive planning chart

List of Mobilities

R1 delayed (not in september, 2015 but in november)

main reason : it was too early because

the project implementation and all administrative 

tasks were not finished, the first fall (european funds) was later 

C1 on time / has been slignthy deffered (only 10 days later)

R1 was delayed, so C1 too.. but not so much

and it was eventually impossible for Cesme team to fund it

C2 on time / had been slightly advanced (only 15 days earlier)

main reason : after C2 we wanted a suitable date for everybody

and this one was choosen
in order to satisfy everybody

R2 just on time

A new schedule timetable for the following mobilities was elaborated and put on line
("Monitoring" page was opened in the coordinator's website)

C3 a little delayed (not in october but in november)

main reason : nobody wants a mobility next to the "back to School" days

C4 on time/ has been slightly deffered (only 10 days)

R3 was implemented in June (not in November)

because it becomes a switch meeting
between first and second pedagogic phase

(R2 issues)

Uploads on the new website to do, old fears are no more our main target....
Our eTwinnning is to be definitively closed

A review of the

First 20 months period

will be done during R3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remaining 3 mobilities 

R4 will be advanced in november (not in april)
This schedule was decided during R2 to avoid any problem about preparations in the case 
we would be obliged to advance the Festival C5
(We were afraid to be obliged to advance it because 
we didn't want to disturb exams' preparation)

E1/R5 in Cesme : in summer

NUITS BLANCHES DISSEMINATION: F5 NOTE

DISSEMINATION AND C4 PREPARATION 

I would like to ask you that the students' stories should be loaded to Ilargia website or to NBE+ Blog till the end of April. By your precious help, C4 Cesme study travel will be much more efficient. Please don't be late. 

Other Dissemination transnational pages are edited in the F page (right column). 

YOUR FUTURE IN A CUP OF COFFEE

Drinking Turkish coffee is a centuries-old ritual, enjoyed best in company and sometimes followed by some fortune telling.

 As the poet says,

"Not the coffee, nor the coffeehouse is the longing of the soul

A friend is what the soul longs for, coffee is just the excuse".

Turkish coffee is unique because it allows your fortune to be told by looking at the cup. This custom of coffee cup reading is at least as old as Turkish coffee itself, and it is repeated with each and every cup consumed. While this can be done casually among friends, it is also possible to consult professionals. So how a coffee cup is read, how can shapes trapped in a tiny cup reveal the future?

Firstly, the coffee should be drunk only from one side of the cup. When the coffee is finished, the saucer is placed on top of the cup, and a wish is made. With the saucer still covering the top, the cup is held at chest level and turned counter-clockwise a few times. Following this, the cup is turned upside down onto the saucer, and left to cool. Sometimes a coin may be placed on top to make the cup cool faster and to dispel bad omens that could be read from it. When the coffee cup is cool enough, someone other that the person who drunk the coffee opens the cup, and starts interpreting the shapes for divination.

Coffee cup reading is a widespread and popular fortune telling method, which speaks of both the past and the future. For divination purposes, the coffee cup is considered in two horizontal halves. The shapes in the lower half talk of the past, whereas shapes in the top half talk of the future. The shapes that feature on the right side are usually interpreted positively, while shapes on the left are interpreted as signs of bad events, enemies, illnesses, troubles, and the like. According to another belief, the coffee cup can tell the past but it can only foretell forty days into the future. Hence the practice of coffee cup reading cannot interpret the future that lies beyond forty days. In addition, if, at the reading stage, the cup and the saucer are firmly stuck, and the person is having trouble separating them, it is believed that this particular cup should not be read. This is a case of “prophet’s fortune telling,” where it is assumed that the person who has drunk from the cup is lucky, and does not need to have their fortune read. Similarly if a large chunk of coffee grounds should fall to the saucer as the cup is being separated, the interpretation is that the owner of the cup will soon be rid of all troubles and sadness. According to another standard interpretation, if coffee drips onto the saucer as the cup is opened, the person who drunk is to soon shed tears.

After the interpretation of the shapes within the cup, it is time to interpret the shapes in the saucer, where the majority of the coffee grounds have dripped. The saucer is generally interpreted as the home of the person whose cup is being read, and it is said to give clues about their domestic life. If there are large blank areas on the saucer where the coffee has not touched, the interpretation is a sense of relief that will be experienced in the person’s home. If however the shapes on the saucer are confused and disorderly, this is taken to mean that there will be a funeral or illness-related crowd in this person’s house. During the reading, the reader holds the saucer straight and waits for coffee grounds and coffee to flow. At the end of the reading, the saucer is flipped over once. At this stage, if a drop of coffee manages to get behind, and half way into the saucer’s radius, this is taken as a sign that the wish made will come true. Another important consideration while reading someone’s coffee cup is not to say things that will make a person too happy or too sad.

Whether it happens spontaneously after a meal, or delivered by a professional, the ritual of having one’s coffee cup read is a widespread divination practice characteristic to Turkish coffee. Today, in Turkey, the number of coffeehouses which employ professional coffee cup readers is on the increase. Hence you enjoy a fine cup of Turkish coffee, and get mystical glimpses into your future.

Reference: Yesim Gokce (Bilkent University)

“Funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. However, European Commission and Turkish National Agency cannot be held responsi­ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”

An Ancient Vampire/Demon From Turkish Culture

The Oldest One “Yek”

Supernatural beings like vampires or demons attract a great deal of our attention. So how do we define these beings? Of course, there are many studies on this . As you can guess, as a Turkish researcher, I pursued the possibility of the existence of such vampiric beings in Turkish culture. Thus, my main aim in this artictle is to study the oldest vampire/demon concept in Turkish culture. I will leave other vampire/demon concepts of Turkish culture like Obur or Yalmavuz for a another time. 

Vampires and demons also point out an interactive world of creatures. As you all know, vampire is a supernatural creature which drinks blood. It exists in almost every culture in the world. Vampire concepts such as Lamashtu, Lilith and Striga are ancient. What is the oldest vampire/demon in Turkish culture then? Let’s answer this question.

Yek is a demon that is mentioned in the Old Turkish dictionaries and the oldest Turkish texts. “Yek” finds place in the Middle Age dictionaries, one of the oldest Turkish dictionaries Divânü Lugâti’t-Türk (around first years of 11th century) and some of the Buddhist Uygur texts (8th to 10th cc).

According to the knowledge from Divânü Lugâti’t-Türk, the word “yek”  means “devil, satan”. Also,  Jean Paul Roux kindly gives  us hints that yek means “demon, devil, satan, iblis” in Old Turkish. The word “yek” is actually derived from the verb “yemek (to eat)” and, as you can guess, it has cannibalism in its nature. In an Arabic-Kıpçak dictionary, it’s also a dangerous creature in the form of powerful winds that accompany  dust clouds.

 The word “yek” is explained as “fairy, satan, devil, iblis” in dictionaries about Old Turkish. Also it means “obur” and while this denotation means “someone or something that eats a lot, appetent, glutton”, it’s also the name for a type of vampire in Turkish culture. So, if you are a person who loves eating much and someone bullies you about that, just remember that you may be a vampire incognito.  In old Turkish texts the word “yek” takes place in the form of “yek içkek” which is a name for another vampire type In Karaçay-Malkar and Kazak Turkish, this word appears in the form of “cek” and means demon, devil, satan, as well. Altay Turks have “cek” word in their language and this word means glutton, appetent; also it’s one of the epithet of Erlik the arch-devil. Imagine, the arch-devil, the prime antagonist of the

Turkish beliefs, i mean pre-Islamic, Islamic and the other beliefs of different Turkish tribes around the world, actually carries vampiric features! This fact itself alone can show how important of a figure the vampires are for Turkish myths. In old Turkish, the word “yek” is used as the general denotation of evil spirits in the nature. 

One of the oldest Turkish texts that belong Uygur Turkish (8th to 10th cc), has   descriptions of the hell in detail; creatures in it and what kind of punishments there are for sinners. It also contains the demons called Yek, who are a kind of hellhound, demon of the hell; they throw the sinner people, who fell  down into the hell, to the boilers and they are monsters that have got stern and sullen faces.

There is “yek” in an another old text Çaştani İlig Beg (The Story of Çaştani Bey, 8th to 10th cc) that belongs to Uygur Turkish, too. Çaştani Bey, the hero of the story, fight againts these demons that send sickness to his people and harm them; he saves his people. 

In this text the demons that called “yek” are demons/monsters that wait at the crossroad, eat human flesh and drink human blood, wrap the guts of humans to their bodies, horrible faced, shout with ugly voices, hold tridents and flags in their hands, in the shape of a black giant, with fire-colored and tressed and beautify their bodies with venomous snakes.

Based on the knowledge that we presently have, it can be said that yek is the oldest demon/spirit/vampire in Turkish folklore.

Seçkin SARPKAY 
Lecturer/ PhD StudentA

Ege University,  Institute for Turkish World Studies

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