It could be posited that women are gatekeepers of the rites of passage in traditional societies. Nonetheless, feminist research is necessary to write the history of women in traditional professions such as healers, midwives, matchmakers, storytellers, lament singers, and fortune tellers.

Traditional healing combined both medicine and magic: the kurşun dokücü women had small pieces of lead heated in small pots and poured the liquified lead into a pot filled with cold water. This took place above the body of the sick person, who would be covered …