The Fourth Section of the Procession of the Guilds was headed by the Chief Physician of the Saray, and Evliya tells us that he was followed by one thousand doctors of medicine. According to Evliya: ‘At the public procession they adorn their litter with all the instruments of their profession, with clysters, draughts, pills, etc., feel the pulse of sick men, and give medicines to them. The Prophet said, “Science is twofold, the science of bodies and the science of religions.” The science of medicine is very old, and in the earliest time it was patronised by Pythagoras the Unitarian, and by the divine Plato, Hippocrates, Socrates, Aristotle and Galen, who split a hair into forty parts, and raised a ladder for science to ascend to heaven; but finding no remedy against death, they were obliged to leave this world.’

The Physicians were followed in the Procession by the Oculists, eighty in number. As Evliya tells us: ‘Their first patron was a Jewess of the time of Moses, who was directed by God to apply to her for relief for his sore eyes. This woman took dust from under the right eye of Moses and put it into his eye, by which means he was cured. The patron of Oculists in the Prophet’s time is buried in Isfahan, and the dust of his tomb is reckoned as a specific against sore eyes. The Oculists make a show upon litters of all their unguents, medicines and instruments, giving physic to men with diseases of the eye.’

And the Oculists were followed in turn by the Merchants of Collyrium, the Confectioners of Electuaries, the Apothecaries, and the Surgeons, who ‘parade at public processions with litters full of instruments to draw teeth, as well as saws, lancets, and other instruments of surgery. They pass with jests as if they were dressing wounded heads, broken arms or feet.’

Although modern science has come to Stamboul since Evliya’s time, many of the conservative Anatolians who live here still swear by more traditional medicine. In the poorer quarters of the town the sick often have recourse to folk-healers called büyücü, who make use of cures and remedies reminiscent of those which Evliya describes. And since, as Evliya wrote, science is twofold, many of the complaints from which the poor seek relief are not physical but psychic or spiritual, which is to say that the büyücü serves as a folk-magician as well as a quack salver.

Many of the most common maladies from which the superstitious of Stamboul suffer are thought to be brought on by nazar, or the evil-eye. Nazar is not such a serious problem as it was in the old days, but there are still a few ancient, snake-haired witches who may dart their malevolent glances at you as you pass beneath their windows. If you have the misfortune to fall under the spell of one of these wrinkled crones, forget about modern medicine and psychiatry, and, instead, place yourself in the care of your neighbourhood büyücü.

The büyücü agrees with more conventional practitioners of medicine in advising sensible precautionary measures. To ward off the evil-eye wear a blue-eyed bead called the nazar boncuğu. Young children are especially susceptible to the evil-eye, and so when admiring them be sure to say ‘Maşallah!’ (What wonders God hath willed!). (The ramshackle folk-buses of Stamboul must constantly be in danger from the evil-eye, for they are all festooned with nazar boncukları and other protective amulets, and all bear the pious slogan ‘Maşallah!’ But alas! from the number of wrecked buses one sees around town, it would appear that even the most potent talismans are ineffective in Stamboul traffic.) It is also advisable to avoid the known haunts of evil spirits, such as graveyards, ruined houses, abandoned hamams, and junkyards. Above all, never urinate or defecate in those places for that is sure to infuriate the resident ghosts. If your business takes you to such spooky places, arm yourself with protective beads and amulets and repeat propitiatory expressions such as ‘Bismillah!’ (In the name of Good) and ‘İyi saatte olsunlar!’ (Let them be at a good time). And one last warning: avoid the glance of blue-eyed people, for they are most likely to have the power of the evil-eye. (If you are blue-eyed yourself, you may find peasants avoiding your glance in certain backward sections of Stamboul.)

But even if you are stricken by the evil-eye all hope is not lost, for your local büyücü may still be able to rid you of the spell. In one of the most effective treatments for evil-eye infection, the patient is fumigated while the büyücü pronounces the following incantation: ‘White eye, black eye, blue eye, green eye, yellow eye, brown eye; whichever was the evil-eye disturb and overthrow its magic!’

Some of the wizard fuels used to generate this sorcerer’s smoke are listed below:

It is quite possible that in his course of treatment for ridding one of the evil-eye the büyücü may recommend other remedies. Some of the most effective (and most bizarre) of these are the following:

The büyücü of Stamboul have also a vast library of magical inscriptions to be used for various purposes. These formulae are written by the büyücü in Arabic script and are to be used in certain prescribed ways. A few of these prescriptions are listed below (given without the pertinent Arabic inscriptions, of course, since if these were written down, even in a serious essay like this, they might still work their magical purposes and so cause unpredictable mischief).

The büyücü is also qualified to perform black magic for malevolent purposes. The fees are somewhat higher in these cases because of the risk which the büyücü takes in the event that his practices are discovered by the irate victim.

The büyücü of Stamboul also possess a bizarre but effective pharmacopoeia of folk-medicines. Some of the most highly recommended remedies are the following:

For boils: Place a poultice of hen-droppings on the boil.

For headaches: Take three sliced lemons or potatoes and place one on forehead and one on each cheek. Or, crush horse-chestnuts, inhale, and sneeze away the headache.

For bloodshot eyes: Take the warm white of a boiled egg and place it on each eye in turn.

For eye infections: Take the milk of a woman who has just given birth to a daughter and add to it garlic-powder and bay leaf and drop into eyes.

For constipation: Take the white part of a rose, boil and drink.

For stomach ache: Eat the inside of a peach-pit. Or, take a piece of bread and dip into vinegar, sprinkle with powdered dandelion leaves and place on stomach.

For earache: Take a baby mouse without fur, place in a bottle of olive-oil and wait until the mouse has dissolved. Then drop into ear.

For coughs: Put honey on your back and sprinkle with black pepper.

For falling hair: Take ashes or tar from an old pipe and place on balding head.

For hepatitis: Take camel-urine, mix with water and drink. (Some may prefer the disease to the cure.)

For warts: Go out on the roof between the fourth and fifth occasions of daily prayer and say: ‘Tonight is the night of warts and stars, tomorrow where will be only stars.’ Repeat this for three nights and the warts will disappear.

For a contraceptive: Let the man boil an earthworm and drink the water. (This may put more sensitive lovers off their game entirely.)

For sterility: Take the hair of an Arab, mix with limestone and arsenic, roll into small balls and use. (Use how? Sometimes these folk-prescriptions are a bit vague; surely one should use this remedy externally, but where? Perhaps on the Arab himself.)

For nightmares: Walk naked to a crossroads and there sprinkle your head with the dust of seven shops. (If you are arrested for indecent exposure you can always produce your büyücü’s prescription.)

One of the most common methods by which büyücü effect their magical cures is through the ritual of lead-pouring. Lead-pourers are invariably büyücü kadınlar (literally lady-magicians), old women who have inherited their quack-practice skills through the female line. There is also a rival guild of sherbet-pourers, who claim great influence in the spirit-world, citing as evidence the known predilection of spirits for sweets.

But, sorry to say, these old-fashioned practitioners of folk-medicine are fast disappearing from the life of modern Stamboul. Soon we will be left in the scientific hands of doctors and psychiatrists, and the neglected ghosts of Stamboul will have to find a less enlightened town to haunt. But with the büyücü nearly extinct, do not feel that you are helpless against the evil-eye. If you are ever stricken by a sinister, witch-shot glance, you can always gather the dust of seven shops and dose yourself.