In Turkic cosmological accounts Umay is a primordial maternal principle who dwells in heaven and keeps the souls of babies-to-be-born in her charge; sources report that these souls are kept in her 'temple' on Mount Ymay-tas (Amay). Lexical evidence ties her name to the afterbirth/placenta (Old Turkic umāy), and comparative notes record Mongolian umai meaning 'womb,' linking the personified figure to the bodily elements of parturition. One source line records that Od Ana, the female essence of fire (Od iyesi), was born from Umai or at times was identified with her, situating Umai among creative female principles connected to elemental forces. Politically and socially, Umay's favor was invoked in relation to dynastic fertility: wives of rulers were ideologically associated with her auspices and royal inscriptions invoke maternal imagery likening the khatun/katun to the goddess Umay.
Umay is described in the sources as a celestial, generally invisible figure to ordinary people rather than a commonly encountered apparition. Folkloric descriptions depict her in solar terms — she is called Sarı Kız ('Yellow Maiden'); yellow is her color and symbol. Iconographic details recorded in the sources portray her with "sixty golden tresses" resembling rays of the sun, and she is typically shown together with a child. These descriptions emphasize a radiant maternal figure rather than a corporeal being encountered in daily life.
Sources ascribe to Umay guardianship of unborn and newborn souls, protection and nurturing of infants and mothers, and influence over communal abundance and luck. She is reported to keep unborn souls in her heavenly temple and to guide or take deceased children to the heavens (Potapov, as cited). Cultural interpretations read infant behavior as indicators of her presence: a sleeping baby's smile is taken to show Umay is near, while prolonged crying is interpreted as her absence and thought to presage illness; in such cases shamans are said to be called to "call Umay back." Divanü Lügat’it-Türk records a belief that worship of Umay produced male babies, and household/royal cultic practices linked katun/hatun identities to Umay's favor for fertility. Umay is also reported to grant material prosperity — helping people obtain more food and goods — and in Kyrgyz formulations is described as protector of Turkic communities more broadly.
Alaz
Alaz is the Turkic god of fire associated with hearths, flame, and the Great Fire (Ulugh Od). He is described as a powerful fire-being who sends protector-spirits (İye) to household hearths and can cause destructive fires when angered; fire under his authority is also a purifying force.
Archura
Archura (Arçura) is a Turkic woodland chura — a shapeshifting forest spirit associated with particular woodland tracts and wild animals. Traditions portray Archura as a protector of wildlife and a trickster-like figure that can be dangerous to humans.
Ay Ata
Ay Ata (Ay Dede) is the personified Moon in Turkic myth and traditional Tengrism, commonly glossed as 'Moon Father.' He is paired with the sun-being (Gun Ana / Kün Ana) in a layered sky cosmology and figures in folk tales, epic traditions, and shamanic prayer contexts.
Ayaz Ata
Ayaz Ata is identified in the provided source as a winter-associated figure originating from Tengrism and also as a fictional tale character who serves as the Turkic counterpart to Santa Claus and Ded Moroz. The single source presents both a religious origin (Tengrist) and a later folkloric/seasonal role without further detail.
Burkut
Burkut (also Bürküt, Merküt) is a sacred eagle figure in Turkic mythic cosmology associated with the sun, rulership, and protective authority. Treated as an emblematic or quasi-divine bird rather than a mundane animal, it appears in shamanic rites, world-tree iconography, folk performance, and modern heraldic motifs.
Erkliğ Han
Erkliğ Han is a Turkic–Altai celestial lord associated with space, stars, meteorites (falling stars), and the planet Venus. Traditionally titled a Han (ruler), he is described in source material as responsible for visible stellar phenomena, linked in some lists with virility and read as a martial symbol by analogy to his action at sunrise.
Erlik
Erlik (Erlig, Erlik Khan; Mongolian Erleg/Yerleg) is the chthonic ruler of the underworld in Turkic and related steppe mythologies, associated with death, disease, and malignant spirit-agents. He functions as judge and lord of the lowest realm (Tamag), opposes upper-world figures like Ülgen, and demands sacrifices to avert his taking of souls.
Etügen Eke
Etügen Eke (also Etügen, Itügen, Etügen Ekhe) is an earth-mother goddess in Turkic and Mongolic Tengrism traditions, personifying the earth, fertility, homeland and natural forces. She is described in the sources as occupying a high place in the cosmic order, subordinate only to Kök‑Tengri, and is propitiated with seasonal sacrifices tied to pastoral and agricultural cycles.
Ev İyesi
Ev İyesi is a Turkic household spirit (İye) that functions as the unseen guardian and possessor of a house. It maintains domestic order, may assist with chores, and is placated by offerings and good household upkeep; it becomes hostile only when offended by neglect or profanity.
Grey wolf (mythology)
The Grey wolf is both the biological species Canis lupus and a mythic/symbolic animal in several Eurasian traditions. In Turkic, Mongolian, and broader Altaic contexts it is described as a sacred animal and national symbol; in other Eurasian mythic corpora wolves also appear as powerful mythic figures (e.g., Norse Fenrir) though those are distinct literary entities.
Kayra
Kayra (also Kaira; Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰖𐰺𐰀) is the supreme creator-being in Turkic mythic cosmology. Presented as the originative power who orders the world, plants the tree of life (Ulukayın), and directs fate from the seventeenth heaven, Kayra appears in some accounts as a non-human, liminal creator and a parent of other divine figures.
Komur Han
Komur Han is a named underworld functionary in Turkic myth, listed among the nine sons or subordinate 'hans' of Erlik. He is associated symbolically with coal/charcoal and darkness and is described in popular summaries as commanding evil entities and mediating between Erlik and 'dark shamans.'
Community Record
- [1]Umay (Wikipedia entry, summarized extracts). Wikipedia: 'Umay' entry (as summarized in provided research notes)wiki
- [2]Divanü Lügat’it-Türk (as cited in summaries). Divanü Lügat’it-Türk (historical lexicon entry as cited in provided notes regarding worship producing male babies)other
- [3]Potapov (as cited in summaries). Potapov, cited in provided notes stating deceased children are taken by Umai to the heavensacademic