Umay

Umay (also known as Umai; ; , Ūmai ana; , Umay ene; , Umáj / Ymaj) is the goddess of fertility in Turkic mythology and Tengriism 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. Umay resembles earth-mother goddesses found in various other world religions and the angel of life and death. From Umai, the essence of fire (Od Ana) was born.
Etymology
In Turkic mythology, earth was considered a "mother" symbolically. Her color was brown, like the Earth's soil, as opposed to Tengri, whose color was blue, like the sky. The Turkic root umāy originally meant 'placenta, afterbirth', and this word was used as the name for the goddess whose function was to look after women and children, and she is associated with fertility. In Old Turkic, the word “eke” means 'mother', and she is often compared to the Old Turkic Yağız Yir ("brown Earth") goddess. In Mongolian, Umai means 'womb' or 'uterus', possibly reflecting acculturation of Mongols by Turks, or ancient lexical ties between Mongols and Turks, and the mother Earth is likewise personified as a brown-skinned woman in Mongolian culture.
Goddess of Children
The name appeared in the 8th-century inscription of Kul Tigin in the phrase Umay teg ögüm katun kutıŋa 'under the auspices of my mother who is like the goddess Umay'.
Umay is a protector of women and children. The oldest evidence is seen in the Orkhon script monuments. From these it is understood that Umay was accepted as a mother and a guide. Also, khagans were thought to represent Kök Tengri. Khagan wives, katuns or hatuns, were considered Umays, too. With the help of 'Umay, katuns had babies, and these babies were the guarantee of the empire. According to Divanü Lügat’it-Türk, when women worship Umay, they have male babies. Turkic women tie strings attached with small cradles to will a baby from Umay. This belief can be seen with the Tungusic peoples in Southern Siberia and the Altay people. Umay is always depicted together with a child. There are only rare exceptions to this. It is believed that when Umay leaves a child for a long time, the child gets ill and shamans are involved to call Umay back. The smiling of a sleeping baby shows Umay is near it and crying means that Umay has left.
Potapov states that, as protector of babies, deceased children are taken by Umai to the heavens.
In the view of the Kyrgyz people, Umay not only protects children, but also Turkic communities around the world. At the same time Umay helps people to obtain more food and goods and gives them luck.
As Umay is associated with the sun, she is called Sarı Kız 'Yellow Maiden', and yellow is her colour and symbol. She is depicted as having sixty golden tresses that look like the rays of the sun. She is thought to have once been identical with Od iyesi. Umay and Ece are also used as female given names in the Republic of Turkey.
See also
Tengriism
References
External links
Kuyash ham Alav (Sun is also Fire)
Bibliography
Turkish Myths Dictionary (Türk Söylence Sözlüğü), Deniz Karakurt PDF
Özhan Öztürk. Folklor ve Mitoloji Sözlüğü. Ankara, 2009 Phoenix Yayınları. s. 491
Tengriism
Siberian deities
Turkic deities
Fertility goddesses
Childhood goddesses
Virgin goddesses