| Umay | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Newborn Children and Souls | |
 | |
| Abode | Sky |
| Gender | Female |
| Ethnic group | Turkic peoples |
| Genealogy | |
| Siblings | Erlik Koyash Ay Tanrı Ülgen |
| Spouse | Tengri |
| Turkic mythology |
|---|
 |
Umay (also known as Umai; Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰢𐰖; Kazakh: Ұмай ана, Ūmai ana; Kyrgyz: Умай эне, Umay ene; Russian: Ума́й / Ымай, Umáj / Ymaj, Turkish: Umay (Ana)) is the goddess of fertility[1] in Mongol mythology and Tengrism and as such related to women, mothers, and children. Umay not only protects and educates babies, but also may separate the soul from the dead, especially young children. She lives in heaven and is invisible to the common people. Souls of babies-to-be-born are kept in her "temple" of Mount Ymay-tas or Amay. The Khakas emphasize her in particular.[2] From Umai, the essence of fire (Od Ana) was born.[3]
- ^ Cotterell, Arthur; Rachel Storm (1999). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology. New York: Lorenz Books. pp. 466, 481. ISBN 0-7548-0091-1.
- ^ Funk, Dmitriy (2018). "Siberian Cosmologies". The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Callan, Hilary (ed). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. 3-4. doi:10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea2237.
- ^ Sultanova, Razia. From shamanism to Sufism: women, Islam and culture in Central Asia. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.