Umay

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.