Keloğlan and Turkish Folklore: A Mini-Essay

     As anthropologist Joe Pierce explains, Turkish folklore, mainly that in the Demirciler region, is broke into three categories: Hoca stories, which catalog the comedic tales of Nesreddin Hoca and typically center around some type of religious parable; Keloğlan stores, which chronicle the mythical adventures of a young man; and miscellaneous stories about animals who behave as humans and usually function as how-to manuals for the listener.[1] While Hoca and the miscellaneous stories deal with everyday human life, the Keloğlan stores center around the fantastical and supernatural. In these narratives, Keloğlan, a young man whose name translates into “the boy with no hair,” encounters a variety of mythological beings who lead him on fanciful journeys. In one, the youth encounters three magical horses who each give him a strand of hair and instruct him to burn them whenever he needs a wish, with Keloğlan using each one as a way to win the Sultan’s three daughters for him and his two ungrateful older brothers.[2] In another, Keloğlan is tricked by his brothers into finding gold at the bottom of a well and finds a hidden world tormented by a giant who demands a human sacrifice each year to keep the village’s water supply flowing. After defeating the monster, Keloğlan is granted anything he wants by the appreciative Sultan.[3] In another, Keloğlan defeats a snake threatening to attack the chicks of a magical bird, who, in gratitude, helps Keloğlan seek revenge on his two thankless brothers, with a truce finally drawn that ends in a feast lasting forty days and forty nights and Keloğlan’s marriage to the Sultan’s youngest and most beautiful daughter.[4] Interestingly, much of Turkish folklore commonly begins with the phrase Bir varmiş, bir yokmuş (one there was, one there was not), which is the equivalent of the English “Once upon a time.”[5]

 

Works Referenced

 

Pierce, Joe. Life in a Turkish Village. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.

____________________

[1] Pierce, 93.

[2] Pierce, 94-95.

[3] Pierce, 95-96.

[4] Pierce, 96.

[5] Pierce, 93.

Skinned Lab Monster

$20 - $25 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes one frame 

 

To accompany the framed lab monster, I created this skinned lab monster to hang in the laboratory and add to the plethora of maniacal experiments conducted by the mad scientist. Using the same monster mask for both, I created one wrapped in bloody bandages and one covered in a skinned human face.

• One 8” x 10” picture frame
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat brown*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in metallic silver*
• One yard of white fabric
• At least four tablespoons of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the cloth
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One plastic monster mask
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat cream*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat white*
• One latex mask
• One 0.3 fluid ounce bottle of red food coloring*
• One 4 oz. bottle of clear, all-purpose tacky glue gel*

1. Remove the backing and any glass from the frame and, on a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, apply two even coats of silver spray paint. Although I used two coats, you may want more or less depending on your desired coverage.

2. To add a uniform level of age and distress, dust the frame with a light coat of black and brown spray paint. You can also apply a flecking of black paint and smears of brown to enhance the weathered appearance.

3. Boil enough water to completely submerge the cloth and pour it into the pan. Add the coffee. The longer you allow the coffee to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of coffee will produce a richer stain. Submerge the fabric in the coffee mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for eight hours (long enough to give it a slight tint) and scattered the coffee grounds over the top to add spots. Remove the cloth from the water and allow it to dry.

4. Trim the fabric to 14” x 24”, stretch it across the frame’s backing, and glue it in place. I found it works best to glue one side to serve as an anchor and then work the fabric from there, ensuring the surface is as smooth as possible. Although I gave myself a one-inch border to work with, you may want to leave additional fabric to give you more leeway.

5. Remove the elastic band and mesh lining from the mask and cover the eyes and nose openings with cardstock, gluing the paper in place.

6. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the mask an even coat of black spray paint. Although I only used one coat, you may want more depending on your desired coverage. Keep in mind, though, that this is the base coat and much of the black will be covered by the other paints.

7. Gently drybrush three coats of white paint over the mask, leaving the openings for the eyes and nose entirely black. Then, once the paint has dried, accent the raised areas with cream-colored paint, focusing on the areas around the major facial features.

8. Cut apart the latex mask, creating jagged edges to enhance the visual appeal. What portions you choose to separate is entirely up to you and your desired aesthetics for the prop.

9. Starting at the front of the monster mask, glue the latex mask to the prop. I found this step works best if you move in stages: apply a layer of glue to one section, hold the latex down until it sticks, and repeat the process. As you do so, ensure parts of the monster mask are still visible.

10. Position the monster mask on the backing and glue it in place. It might help to temporarily reattached the frame to guide its positioning and ensure it is properly centered.

11. In a plastic container (because the food coloring will stain, use something disposable or that you won’t mind dying), pour in your desired amount of clear glue gel and slowly add red food coloring to the solution until it achieves the sanguine hue you desire. To give the blood further density, add blue food coloring and mix well.

12. Apply the blood glue to the prop. You can use an old spoon or plastic utensil to strategically dribble the liquid along chosen areas (around the edges of the mask) or pour it haphazardly for a gory mess.

13. Once the blood glue has fully dried, reattach the backing to the frame. If you plan to display the prop outside in windy conditions, consider gluing the backing in place for additional support. You can also fabricate a loop with steel wire or utilize a store-bought version to hang the prop on a wall. 

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

"The Burial" (A Poem)

In his poem, “The Burial,” Reverend James Wills uses the cláirseach, a triangular harp traditional to the Celtic nations, as a symbol for the coming of death, with its melodic tones bringing sorrow.[1]

 

A faint breeze is playing with flowers on the hill,

The blue vault of summer is cloudless and still;

And the vale with the wild bloom of nature is gay,

But the far hills are breathing a sorrowful lay!

 

As winds on the Clairseach’s sad chords when they stream,

As the voice of the dead on the mourner’s dark dream!

Far away, far away, from grey distance it breaks,

First known to the breast by the sadness it wakes.

 

Now lower, now louder, and longer it mourns, –

Now faintly it falls, and now fitful returns;

Now near, and now nearer, it swells on the ear,

The wild ululua, the death-song is near!

 

With slow steps, sad burthen, and wild-uttered wail,

Maid, matron, and cotter wind up from the vale;

And loud lamentations salute the grey hill,

Where their fathers are sleeping, the silent and still!

 

Wild, wildly that wail ringeth back on the air,

From that lone place of tombs, as if spirits were there;

O’er the silent, the still, and the cold they deplore,

They weep for the tearless, whose sorrows are o’er.[2]

 

Works Referenced 

 

Vallely, Fintan, ed. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. Washington Square, NY: New York University Press, 1999.

 

Wills, James. “The Burial.” The Book of Irish Ballads. Ed. Denis Florence MacCarthy. Dublin: James Duffy and Sons, 1881. 71-72.

____________________

[1] Vallely, 177.

[2] Wills, 71-72.

Jarred Fingers

$10 - $15 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes three jars 

 

I wanted a prop in the laboratory that showcased the different stages of decomposition and decided to do this with six fingers in jars. They were relatively quick and easy to make. Although I kept them rather basic, you can embellish them further, staining the labels and ageing the bottles and their caps.

• Three 8 oz. clear plastic bottles with metal caps
• One 0.3 fluid ounce bottle of red food coloring*
• One 4 oz. bottle of clear, all-purpose tacky glue gel*
• Two corpse fingers (learn how to make them here)
• Two decomposing fingers (learn how to make them here)
• Two severed fingers (learn how to make them here)
• Four sheets of colored paper (green, red, white, and yellow) with specimen labels printed on them
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the bottles. If there is any sticker residue, use rubbing alcohol to remove it (soak a paper towel in the solution, let it sit over the area for a few minutes, and wipe away the remaining glue).

2. In a plastic container (because the food coloring will stain, use something disposable or that you won’t mind dying), pour in your desired amount of clear glue gel and slowly add red food coloring to the solution until it achieves the sanguine hue you desire. Then, poor the blood glue into the bottles. For visual interest, make the blood in increasingly darker hues for each bottle to correspond with the different stages of decomposition.

3. Evenly divide the fingers and place them inside the bottles, positioning them so they are as visible as possible. Although I paired them together (two corpse fingers in one jar, two decomposing fingers in another, and two severed fingers in the last), you can mix them up.

4. Cut the labels out from the paper, leaving a slight border around each one. To give the prop more visual appeal, use different colors for each label: white for the identifying tag, red for the biomaterial stamp, and yellow for the protective seal.

5. Once the blood glue has dried, reattach the caps and glue the labels to the bottles, ensuring they do not cover too much of the fingers. 

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.