Yel İyesi

Sources record multiple strands: within the broad class of iyes, Yel İyesi functions as the owner/guardian of wind. Some accounts describe female Yel İyesi as spirits of women who were frivolous in life and now float between the physical world and the afterlife; other presentations treat Yel Ana/Yel Ata as personalized deity-forms of the wind (Wikipedia: Yel iyesi; İye article).

Accounts vary by region and register: Yel İye are often portrayed as female, fairy-like spirits living in wilderness or clouds—described as beautiful maidens, sometimes naked or wearing sparkling white dresses and special robes. The deity-forms Yel Ana (Wind Mother) and Yel Ata (Wind Father) appear in some traditions; Yel Ana can be an old wise woman in certain Hungarian accounts, while Yel Ata may be depicted as a long-haired, bearded male, warrior-like and associated with silver armor or weapons in some regional notes (Wikipedia: Yel iyesi).

Yel İyesi govern winds and weather and are associated with storms, gusts, and seasonal wind-related misfortune. Folklore ascribes to their voices the power to form large gusts—said in one source to be capable of lifting houses (Wikipedia: Yel iyesi). They are morally ambivalent: capable of bringing disease or stealing a person’s kut (spiritual energy) when angry, yet sometimes possessing healing and prophetic powers and able to help humans. Strong shamans (kams) were described as able to possess or control wind and thus negotiate with or avert harmful wind effects (Wikipedia: Yel iyesi; Wikipedia: wind in Turkish folklore).