Turkish Music therapy / Hüseyni Sema: for Happiness and against fever by Cantemir *1673

Turkish Music therapy / Hüseyni Sema: for Happiness and against fever by Cantemir *1673

Ottoman Turkish Healing/Sufi Music - Segah Peşrev - Osman Bey *1816 - against depressive disorder

Is music an efficient means of healing? Can disease be hindered by melodies? Music has been used as a means of therapy through the centuries to heal all kinds of diseases and disorders by various peoples, in spite of discussions about it. Turkish communities have also been practicing music therapy since the pre-Islamic era. Kam, the Turkish shaman tried to get into relation with the spirits of the other world by means of his or her davul, the drum and oyun, the ritual ceremony; hence they tried to benefit from their supernatural powers. The kam tried to affect the spirits by utilizing music, either driving evil spirits away, or attracting the help of good spirits so as to achieve treatment.

We find Ottoman books and pamphlets on the influence of sound on man and the effect of music in healing, both in works on medicine and music. Ideas of Al-Farabi, Al-Razi and Ibn Sina on music were followed by several Ottoman writers such as Gevrekzade (d. 1801), Şuuri (d. 1693), Ali Ufki (1610-1675), Kantemiroǧlu (Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, 1673-1723) and Haşim Bey (19th century). The study of music by these writers as a therapeutic means and comprehensive information given by them on the effects of music on man's mind and body note the existence of interest and curiosity on the subject during the Ottoman period. Ottoman medical writers such as Abbas Vesim (d. 1759/60) and Gevrekzade offered music to be included in medical education, along with mathematics, astronomy and philosophy, as in order to be a good physician one ought to have been trained in music. This recalls us that music had been included in the quadrivium, the Latin curriculum taught at universities until the late Middle Ages and whih included arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

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According to the earliest Turkish sources, the cosmos was created by the word kü / kök, the order of the creator, that is by means of sound. This means that the initiation of the cosmos was started by sound. This is an expression of the Creator's sound coming down and the "Godly sound approach" that is found in cultures of various ancient peoples. This being in accordance with the Islamic belief, which is based on several verses in the Koran, "when He decrees a thing, He only says to it 'Be', and it is" (Qur'an, Bakara 2/117). The Turkish peoples' idea on the divine character of sound was reinforced after conversion to Islam from the 11th century on. The belief that God was comprehended through words and sound being perceived as letter, the essence of existence was believed to be "sound". The number and differences of letters were related with the variety in the creation and existence. Hence, words were believed to be the cover of essence. This relation played an important part in fostering the belief that music therapy might re-establish the upset harmony of the patient, creating a sane balance between body, mind and emotions.