Baksi Dance
In primitive shamanism, it is generally accepted that the shaman and the healer are one and the same person.(1) The Turks of East Turkestan, like the Yakuts, refer to a male shaman as “oyun.” Among the Kyrgyz and Kazakhs, the person who takes the place of the shaman and performs his duties is called a “baksi” (seer, one who sees, observer) or “bahşı.”
Turks generally do not use the word “shaman.” The term “baksi” or “kam”—also known as “bahşı” or “bahşa”—is used by Turks to mean “one who sees” or “one who perceives,” just as the term “shaman” is generally used worldwide to refer not only to ancient healers but also to sorcerers. Research has shown that spiritual vision functions are concentrated more intensely in the brainstem—the most archaic part of the brain, as we mentioned earlier. The perceptual stages of mediumship—referred to in parapsychology as “clairvoyance”—are associated with this region. Consequently, the term “Baksı,” meaning “one who sees,” refers to a person who, while in a trance-like state, is able to perceive and access information that others cannot see.
06.06.2026
BAKSI DANCE
In ancient times in Central Asia, the Baski, Kam—people we might call healers or therapists—used music and dance to enter a trance and attain enlightenment, with the aim of maintaining balance within the community, responding to needs, healing the sick, and determining future events through divination to gain the knowledge needed to put these predictions into practice. This improvised music, performed for the purposes of trance and healing, could last for days.
Among the Turks, healing through music and dance is not merely a medical practice, but a sociocultural and spiritual phenomenon. Healers known as “Baksı” or “Kam” have been an integral part of Turkish culture and daily life since ancient times. In their communities, these individuals have taken on many other roles in addition to healing. The Baksı appears to be an artist through the music, rhythm, and dance they perform, but they are also a medium, as they speak from a place of intuitive knowledge while in a trance. Because they address the needs and questions of the community, they also take on the roles of sociologist, educator, and psychologist. Given the depth of knowledge derived from the intuitive insights gained during his trance, his ability to guide people’s emotions makes him a healer, and his capacity to address spiritual needs, along with his position in this regard, allows him to serve as a spiritual guide. As in the example of Dede Korkut: Dede Korkut, on the one hand, offers advice; on the other, recites epics; on yet another, plays the kopuz; heheals the sick; and prays for favorable outcomes in various matters. According to the beliefs of the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, Korkut Ata is considered one of the greatest saints. It is also believed that Korkut Ata invented the Kazakhs’ stringed instruments, such as the kopuz, tombure, and dombra.(2)
Particularly the Altai, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Siberian (Yenisei, Abakan) They would enter a trance-like state (3) using musical instruments such as the Kopuz, Topşuur, Komuz, and Kıyak—played with a bow, on a mountain pasture, or with the fingers—along with various percussion instruments, and strive to connect with “Ataruhu” to attain this intuitive knowledge. Dances performed to music generally took the form of imitations of certain sacred figures. As an example of healing through music and dance among the Kazakh and Kyrgyz Turks, the Karacorga—a dance that has been practiced since ancient times—symbolizes the gait of a horse. The eagle, wolf, bear, deer, swan, the seven saints, the horse, and the goose are some of these symbols. According to ancient beliefs, these figures represent Ataruhu. Using the knowledge they gained, they treated the sick, foretold the future, and provided solutions to community issues. For these healer-poets—known as “Kam,” a term later changed to “Bahşı” or “Baksı” under the influence of Islam—attaining inspiration and intuition was no easy task. However, Ataruhu made this selection, and the task was entrusted to the most suitable person or persons.
Baksı Dance App
The Baksi Dance, which is still practiced today among the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Altai Turks—and is known as Karacorga or a baksi healing session—begins with the baksi turning to Ataruhu in prayer.
The goal of the Baksı dance is to enter a trance and, through this trance, connect with the spirit of the ancestors. To achieve this, one must activate the spiritual energy within the body and gradually increase its intensity. The levels of this energy are the arms, shoulders, and head. The dance then continues with improvised movements involving the entire body. The most important point is the ground contact at the beginning and end.
As he slowly rises to his feet from the spot where he first established the connection, he concentrates on spiritual energy through spiral-like arm and hand movements, striving to channel that energy into his arms. Meanwhile, musicians accompany him with instruments such as the dombra, kılkopuz, and şangobız, as well as the sound of water.
In the second phase, the energy mentioned is directed toward the shoulders, and the rhythm and melody change in tandem with the shoulder movements. When the head movement—the final stage in the physical body—begins, the musicians perform the rhythm and melody appropriately.
The next section is the most important part of the session; in this section, the baksı turns to his intuition through free rhythm and melody and enters a state of trance (ecstasy, absorption, the elevation of emotions) through improvised dance (as it comes naturally to him). During the trance, the patient perceives and applies the necessary information regarding what needs to be done for the patient through their intuition. This section is described as a state of oneness with infinity, immortality, and unchanging knowledge.
Next, the return phase begins; head, shoulder, and arm movements are performed in sequence, and the session concludes with the participant sitting down as a result of the ground connection. The duration of the session is generally determined by the baksı.
We see examples similar to the Karacorga (baksı dance)—a therapeutic dance based on the aforementioned horse gait that has survived to the present day—in the figures carved into the Gobustan rock formations in Azerbaijan; this serves as significant evidence that this tradition dates back as far as 12,000 years.(4)
Today, the Baksı dance is used by R. Oruç Güvenç and his students in active music therapy sessions as part of the Turkish tradition of music and movement therapy. Physical therapists who have observed these sessions have reported that the practice—which begins slowly, gradually accelerates, and then slows down again; starts with a specific body part, spreads throughout the entire body, and then returns to that specific body part before concluding—is consistent with modern physical therapy principles.