We are all part of nature, and therefore closely interconnected. Essentially, we feel the energy of the Sun, the Sky, the Earth, Water, the Mountains, etc. Through prayer, we establish friendly relations with the silent “natural giants” so that we and our loved ones do not perish in natural disasters, or, for example, so that the harvest is bountiful. That’s roughly how I understand Tengrianism!
Umay, Ymay (Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰢𐰖) is the oldest female deity of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples, ranking second only to Tengri. Among modern peoples, she is known to the Altai, Bashkirs, Buryats, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Tatars, Khakass, and others. The earliest references to the deity are found in Old Turkic writings. A particularly revered earthly female deity, a benevolent (bayan) spirit, and the patroness of children and women in childbirth. Before childbirth, to protect the mother and the infant, Umai would take her place at the entrance on the left side of the yurt, which was considered pure. The embodiment of the feminine principle is also reflected in the very name Umai, which meant the mother’s womb, the uterus, and even the severed umbilical cord.
In honor of Umai, a doll sewn from blue fabric was hung in the front corner of the yurt; this doll was “fed” porridge if the child fell ill. Newborns and infants were under her protection; she rocked their cradles and then safeguarded the child until the age of six, until the child could stand on their own two feet. The child’s life and health depended on her, as she protected them from evil forces and spirits. In the stele honoring Kyul-Tegin, the relevant line, as transcribed and translated by P.M. Melioransky, reads: “Umay-tag ögam katun kutyna inim kyl-tagin ar at boly” (“For [that is, to the joy of] Her Majesty my mother-katun, like Umay, my younger brother, Kül-Tegin, came to be called a husband.”
P.M. Melioransky provided the following note to the translation: “In the translation, I took the word ‘kut, happiness’ as a title. Grammatically, it is also possible to translate it as ‘for the happiness of my mother,’ etc. ‘Umay’ is a well-known deity, still revered by shamans in Altai (see the dictionaries of V. Radlov and V. Verbitsky).” In Khakassia, the word Umay (Ymay), in addition to the goddess, also referred to the soul of a child from birth until the moment it began to walk. V.V. Bartold also considered Umai a female deity and the patroness of children.
Various states of children were associated with Umai’s actions. If a child smiles in their sleep, it means that Umai is speaking to them; if they cry, it means they are being frightened by evil spirits, and Umai has temporarily left. A child’s illness is a sure sign of Umai’s absence. In such cases, people turned to a shaman, who, during a ritual, would determine whether the child’s soul had been stolen by an evil spirit, as this threatened the child’s death. The Shors revered “Mother Umai” (Mai-iche) as the patroness of children and believed in the evil spirit Kara-Umai, whom they associated with the illness and death of children.
Symbolic representations dedicated to Umai (Mai-iche) among the Shors include a small bow with an arrow, which was hung above the cradle, and a birch bark cradle pierced by an arrow (for a boy) or a spindle (for a girl). The Teleuts depicted Mai-ene as a young woman with silver hair who descended from the heavens on a rainbow and protected children with a golden bow. The Kyrgyz turned to Umai-ene at the birth and during the illness of children. The Kumandins believed that Umai-ene (like the female deity of fire) feared water.
Pure Umai (Mai-Ene) descended from Ak-Ulgen. She was depicted as a mother goddess with golden hair, styled in a comb-like coiffure. Her festivities took place on Surun Mountain; she ruled over the Milk Lake (Sut Kyl), in which the ancestral spirits of shamans are washed and the souls of people are purified. Among the Altai Telengits, the functions of Umai were performed by Dyaachy, whose name means “creator” (a collective name). Among the Shamanists, Umai serves as the patroness of women in childbirth, assisting them during labor and cutting the baby’s umbilical cord with a white splinter.
But she is not only a benevolent spirit but also the angel of death who takes the soul of the dying. Furthermore, fertility depended on her. Childless and child-poor couples turned to Umai, asking for a blessing for children. Umai also personified fertility. A woman was the earthly embodiment of Umai. It is believed that Umai descended to earth with two birch trees. Some researchers believe that one of the earliest depictions of Umai is found on a boulder from the Kudyrge burial ground (the Kudyrge motif). According to Sh.R. Shakurova and V.G. Kotov, the goddess Umai is related to the bird Khumai of Bashkir folklore.