A Cem and a Lesson in a Village of Dersim in the 1960s

In this video, Pir Hüseyin Elmas recounts a cem ritual that took place in a village of Dersim in the 1960s, together with a personal memory he experienced during this ritual, thereby rendering visible the social fabric and belief practices of the period. At a time when processes of modernization and external social influences were still limited, cems appear not merely as religious ceremonies but also as collective experiences that reproduced the village community’s modes of coexistence, mutual responsibilities, and shared values. The narrative conveys a vivid picture of the sincerity, etiquette, and practices of guidance within the cem setting, offering insight into the talip–pir relations and the sense of communal consciousness of that era.

The video was recorded within the framework of the Pirler–Analar Workshop hosted by the Dortmund Alevi Cultural Center – Rıza Şehri Academy (DAKME) on 10–11 May 2025. Collected as part of the Alevi Encyclopedia project, such narratives contribute to Alevi oral history by transmitting collective experiences intertwined with individual memories, and aim to make the social functions of past cem rituals accessible to today’s researchers and the wider public.