The words of propitious omens are the shorter forms of benedictions used for expressing the best regards and happiness in people’s daily routine works and practices. The words of propitious omens are regarded as respect for others and widely used for greeting purposes. The words of omens are predicting the good things that can be happened in the future, and this makes the omens similar to benedictions but its function and use is different. The words of omens do not have different parts, as shorter as possible, words or poems which does not have any melody. The words of omens associated with any actions are always said same and its meaning has a connection to that actions. For instance: if somebody is writing a script, the omen word is said as “May the brush would sharpest”, if somebody is churning the Airag, the omen is said as, “More butter comes to the Airag” and so on.

The culture of flatbread making and sharing, represented with the names Lavash-Katyrma-Jupka-Yufka, is a set of traditional knowledge, views, skills and rituals related to preparation, baking, storing, using and sharing of traditional thin bread that performs specific cultural and social functions within the related communities in Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey and is transmitted from generations to generations. Flatbread tradition is a symbol of shared cultural identity and serves expression of mutual respect among communities. The five countries share a number of common features, skills and knowledge related to preparation and use of the flatbread. Tradition bearers usually prepare the flatbread from unleavened or leavened dough based on flour, salt and water, while also adding sometimes milk, butter, sesame and poppy seeds. Communities use different types of crops to prepare the dough, such as wheat and rye. The dough is rolled by hand or using a dough roller into round or oval shape. In Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey and some communities of Kyrgyzstan, flatbread is baked in earthen or stone ovens called “tandyr” or “tanūr” buried into the ground. Some communities in Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkey bake the flatbread (yufka or lavash) on a metal plate known as “sac” (“saj” or “sāj”) over the fire. Communities in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan bake the flatbread by laying out rolled dough in big cauldrons (‘kazan’) heated on fire. As a result of this baking style, practitioners manage to maintain nutritious qualities of the flatbreads and store them for several months without refrigerator. Various methods, techniques, instruments and substances are used by flatbread-preparing practitioners. The preparation of flatbread involves traditional practices based on collective labour and sharing within family and neighbourhood. As expression of social solidarity in rural areas, families prepare and bake flatbread together with their neighbours, especially as a preparation for winter. The flatbread is baked both at homes by family members and flatbread bakers, who learn the practice through a master-apprentice relationship. The flatbread preparation bears a great variety of social and cultural functions for its communities in terms of its usage at special occasions and its relation to transition between seasons. Communities of five countries consider flatbread preparation places sacred. In Kazakhstan, communities believe preparing flatbread at funerals helps the deceased get protection from the burning Sun, while waiting for decision of the God. To wish prosperity and wealth to newly-married couple, in Azerbaijani and Iranian weddings the flatbread lavash is often put on shoulders of the bride, while in Turkish weddings dried flatbread yufka is crumbled over the head of the bride. In Kyrgyzstan, tradition bearers believe that flatbread helps sick people. In some religious ceremonies and traditional weddings in Iran flatbread is served as a component of the sacred offering. During the preparation of flatbread, it is shared with all passers-by as a sign of hospitality. Flatbread culture is expression of belonging to common cultural roots. It reinforces cultural links and serves as marker of hospitality, conviviality and friendliness within the societies of five countries.

Azerbaijan,Iran,Kyrgyzstan,Kazakhstan,Turkey 2016

Suyunchu Suyunchu is a tradition of sharing good news. When baby is born one of the family members shares this news with other relatives. The one who communicates good news receives a gift for sharing good news. When seeing a baby for the first time, the family members also give korunduk, a gift for seeing a baby. At koiuu A ritual of naming a baby is called At koiuu in Kyrgyz. Usually, it is not the baby’s parents but paternal grandparents who get to give a name to the baby. Sometimes, this right is given to the most respect person in the community or to one who has seen the baby first. Kyrgyz people believe that name is very important and can influence the person’s destiny. When selecting a name for the infant, elders look carefully at the baby and try to pick the name that suits the baby best. Beshikke saluu A ritual of placing a baby into a cradle called Beshikke saluu is one of the major rituals followed by a feast. On a seventh day after a baby’s birth when baby’s belly button is healed, a baby is placed in a cradle. Cradle is very convenient for taking care of a baby, feeding and putting baby to sleep. According to Kyrgyz traditions, a maternal grandmother of the baby brings a cradle. All relatives, neighbors and friends are invited to a feast. Jentek toi After some time after baby’s birth, family makes a feast for relatives and neighbors. This fest is called Jentek toi. Those who come to Jentek toi give blessings to the baby and the family. Often times a sheep or a larger domestic animal is slaughtered for the feast. The clean bones of a sacrificed animal are buried in the ground. It is considered to be a sacrifice for Umai ene, the protector of women and infants. Kyrkyn chygaruu Kyrgyz people mark the 40th day after the birth of a baby - Kyrkyn chygaruu. To perform this ritual, the women take forty spoonful of water and dissolve some salt in it. Salt is beneficial for baby’s body and washes off various things. The baby’s hair is cut and is buried at a place where people do not step on. While conducting the ritual, elderly women are invited to give blessings to the newborn. Then, a first shirt is quilted for a baby from 40 pieces of fabric. The shirt is put on inside out. It is the maternal grandparents who conduct this ritual for a baby. The person who cuts the hair must be a respected person in a community. As a sign of gratitude, baby’s parent give that person a gift such as a sheep or its equivalent. Tushoo kesuu This ritual is dedicated to the first steps made by a baby. For this ritual, elders prepare a special rope made out of white and black wool. The baby’s ankles are tied with this rope. Tushoo kesuu means cutting those ropes. The combination of black and white symbolize the struggle of two eternal energies of light and darkness, good and evil. Then, young boys from the neighborhood are gathered for a race. They are put in some distance from a baby and race towards him. The one who comes first to the baby cuts the rope on baby’s ankles. The winner and the person who came second take the baby by hands and help him or her walk. According to Kyrgyz beliefs, this ritual will help the baby to walk his or her path in this life well.

Nowadays, almost everyone misunderstands that Chol Mlub, which is a traditional rite of passage for Cambodian women has disappeared, and even the purpose of the ceremony is also somewhat confused, because it is understood that women during rite of passage learn to be housewives, mainly to lighten the skin or whiten the skin, learn female law, learn the five precepts, the eight precepts until the ten precepts and sew embroidery. The fields of housing and education mentioned above belong to women, but that does not mean that woman has to learn while she is in the rite of passage. She can know before or after. The main purpose of the "Rite of Passage" is to be ready to be a man's wife in the future (ready to have a husband). Traditionally, every family always wants their sons and daughters to live as adults with honor in society. For sons to be ordinated as monks to show gratitude towards parents while daughters to enter the rite of passage to show gratitude toward mother. These factors motivate families with daughters to have at least one of their siblings to be in rite of passage. If you make the eldest daughter, youngers daughters will be accompanied, so when they reach puberty too, there is no need to organize a rite of passage, which saves the cost of the family. In fact, parents love and want their children to do the same. With this in mind, some locals still implement and practice rite of passage tradition, even in modern society. According to previous research, the villages and districts that still practice this tradition are in Boeung Preav commune, Sre Ambel commune, Dong Peng commune, Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong province, Tumnup commune, Taing Krasang commune, Batheay district, Kampong Cham province, Kien Sangke commune, Sot Nikum district, Siem Reap province. Rite of passage is women’s most important subject that they have to learn and there are many stages of the rite. The first stage is to prepare themselves for "first menstruation" that will last for 2 to 3 days, a ceremony called "Sen Chhol", will be commemorated to inform the ancestors about the rite of passage of their daughter. The second stage is the period of "Staying in the rite of passage”, women will be obligated to be on a proper diet such as eating vegetarian food, no sunlight exposure as well as other tasks that must be done every day for an average of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or There are also 9 months. The third stage is "Leaving rite of passage" it is the last stage but there are many more tasks to be completed, the ceremony has to be held similar to a wedding ceremony (one night and two days). The symbolism of the work in the first stage is compared to "sperm" that propel in the mother's womb. Second stage is compared to a baby in the womb ready to be born. Stage 3 is compared to a mother is "having a contraction" waiting for the birth of a baby to come out of the womb. The whole ceremony is quite similar to a wedding; it is somehow called a single wedding or sometimes there is an escort who represent the husband. These are the wedding trials which women have to experience before a real one that take place in the future. The rite of passage that prepare women to get ready to be a wife has a tough discipline than men. Women are secluded in a room whereas men are in pagoda, focusing on the study but they are free to chat or meet people on holy days. The pagoda area for the venerable symbolizes the mother's womb and during a monkhood, men seems to be more relaxed than women, there is sunlight all over the large courtyard, but during rainy season, the monks are not allowed to leave the pagoda. In order to study dharma and other subjects for one year (equal to one Vorsa), which is equivalent to one quarter, the monks rushed to study only dharma (literature). But if monks want to continue to study for many years, they can learn more skills such as lime carpenter, carpenter, and sculptor. After leaving monkhood, they will be able to earn money with their skills and start a family. Beside, studying in pagoda monks also follow a strict diet which they can eat only two meals a day which is morning and noon (fish-meat) and in the evening only tea, milk only. For women, when they are in the rite of passage, they do not leave the room or outside the house, generally speaking, no sun exposure except at night when they shower or use toilet, because a dark sky represents mother’s womb, and the daughter in the rite of passage represents the baby in the mother's womb. That's why they try to keep the baby in the womb out of the sun until it is born. If the mother expose with sun, baby will pre-maturely born, it will definitely be worse for the baby. Strictly speaking, two-course meal like the monks, but a vegetarian dish without meat, such as porridge or rice with salt, soy, cucumber, sesame, ripe coconut, ripe banana, ripe mango, watermelon. Some foods are avoided such as bacon fat or fish sauce. At this point, it is not considered that rite of passage is when women learn to be housewife, because they don’t eat or anything. In fact, a woman knows how to cook before she enters the rite, and so does sewing, embroidering, and sweeping the house, these skills are important for women when they have husbands. The study of the five precepts, the three precepts, or the ten precepts deeply, is not seen at all, that is, only the chanting of the Dharma of worshiping God (Vantea Preah) every morning and evening. Some of the work women do while in the rite of passage are just to get rid of boredom. Others say that they Chol Mlub to exfoliate their skin complexion, because they have not been applied makeup or any powder, only wearing a long sleeves shirt to cover her body and staying in a mosquito net. Wearing a multi-layered shirt is not just for the sake of a bright skin, it represents a baby in a mother's womb covered by a few layers of belly. If women have only one layer of belly, it will affect the baby when the mother eats spicy or hot. Generally speaking, staying in the rite of passage is a way of guiding women during their puberty to get ready to be a wife. They do not have to get married immediately, at least wait two to three years The symbol of leaving the rite of passage is like a mother during a contraction of childbirth delivery, because on the first day of the ritual, the woman is not yet exposed to the sun. Even though she leaves the room in the house but she needs to use an umbrella and still be in mosquito net, waiting for the next task, with the Khmer grandmother as the guard next to the mosquito net. In some villages in Sre Ambel district, Khmer grandmothers who know how to give birth midwives called (Daun Khner) are obliged to monitor the baby's movement by taking care of the mother's womb, such as touching or waiting for the baby to be born. Next important task, an old single man called (Jas Komlos) will dance with a movement of digging (Daun Khner) with a traditional music, which metaphorically means to ease the process of child delivery to be quick. Then, Daun Khner will hold the woman’s hand out of the room to a ceremony hall. This represents a baby who was just born and it will be covered by a piece of while cloth and the body of a baby is compared to the mother’s placenta. At that time, it was old, hot, dancing, digging, digging, Daun Nhe (Daun Khmer) accompanied by the traditional song titled, "Kors Daun Nher". The process of carrying a child by the Khmer grandmother from the room to the ceremony hall on the ground is the process of being born from the surface or out of the abdomen one step at a time with a piece of white cloth as a way or covering the body of the child is like the placenta of Mother. Waiting until a next sunrise, it is assumed that the baby is successfully born. There are many following rituals such as cutting hair, ear piecing, tver tmenh (), which serve as a confirmation the woman is ready for a wifehood. The rite of passage process is almost the same as a wedding, which includes: Krong Peali ritual (Sen Krong Pali), Sen Chong Dai, Bok Lak (game to find Lak). All work is done continuously from the evening until Acha tied the hand of the Cho Mlub child with his sister and cousin to participate in the ceremony (Photo: San Phall, 2016) 1AM, Kors Duan Nher ritual will be done at midnight. On the morning of the second, the child will be accompanied to the ceremony hall to worship the sun, get haircut, do teeth, get ears pierced, reav ang kor reab, porpil rotate and tie hands as a finale. This Chol Mlub tradition plays an important role in educating people in society by showing the process of a woman in her puberty who has to go through the rite of passage in order to be qualified for wifehood and to become mothers. Women is considered as a land for sowing seeds and the gender roles they inherited include housekeeping, child care, in general, to manage the family economy. For men, they pick up profession or skill to earn money for the female to manage. Men and women are always in pairs, one of which cannot be missed, that is how society created.