Cataloged from PDF version of article.The aim of this study is to explore the formation of Alevi syncretism by examining
historical facts and religious interactions. By understanding how Alevis adapted
various cultural, religious and social phenomena, and how they have reflected these
phenomena on their practices and social representation, almost ten-century-old
heterodox Alevi syncretism’s nature will be comprehended. Since the Cem
Ceremony signifies the reflection and representation of all influential features’
unification, it has a significant role in Alevi understanding. The concept of
syncretism, which indicates Alevis’ opposition to the concepts like ‘true faith’ and
‘absolute Truth’ of orthodoxy, reveals itself throughout the study. Like in the notion
of birlik (oneness) of God-human-universe, with its inextricable components
Alevism represents the ‘unity’ of all religious and political features that contributed
to its formation.Selmanpakoğlu, CerenM.S
