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.
Abzar İyesi
A Turkic iyesi (possessive/guardian spirit) of the courtyard, outbuildings, and farmstead grounds; ambivalent in nature, it protects its domain but may harm livestock and cause mischief, often appearing in animal forms.
Ak Ana
Ak Ana (also Ağ Ana, Ak Ene) is the primordial water-mother of Turkic and some Siberian (Khanty, Mansi) traditions: a holy maternal creator principle associated with the pre-earth expanse of water, fertility of the land, and the threshold to the spirit world.
Al (Alı)
No folkloric or ethnographic evidence for a supernatural entity named "Al" or "Alı" is present in the supplied source set. The available materials are modern biographical, political, linguistic, and religious texts that do not describe a Turkish spirit, demon, or other supernatural being by this name.
Alaz
Alaz is the Turkic god of fire associated with hearths, flame, and the Great Fire (Ulugh Od). He is described as a powerful fire-being who sends protector-spirits (İye) to household hearths and can cause destructive fires when angered; fire under his authority is also a purifying force.
Alp Er Tunga
Alp Er Tunga is a legendary heroic ruler of Turan in early Turkic tradition, remembered as an ideal warrior-king and ancestral figure invoked in medieval dynastic genealogies. He also appears in Iranian epic tradition under the cognate name Afrosiyab/Afrasiab, where the figure is framed differently.
Amazons
A society of women-warriors in ancient Greek myth and legend, depicted as skilled horsemen and archers who inhabit the periphery of the Greek world and act as recurring opponents and counterparts to Greek heroes. Treated by ancient authors as a past people and by modern scholars as a mythic construct possibly inspired by Eurasian female warrior burials.
Amrak
Amrak is not attested in the provided sources as a supernatural being. The lexical string "Amrak" appears across unrelated secular contexts — as a historical regnal name (Amrak Khagan / Ashina Anluo), a Turkish place-name (Çamrak / amrak), titles in modern Arabic-language music, an institutional name/acronym (AMRAK Institute), and as a modern brand/typeface/project name. No folkloric, ritual, or mythological descriptions of an entity called "Amrak" are present in the cited material.
Antimachus
Antimachus is attested in the provided sources primarily as a classical Greek personal name borne by historical figures (notably Antimachus of Colophon, a poet and grammarian ca. 400 BC, and Antimachus I Theos, a Greco-Bactrian king). The name is also reused in modern contexts (a Wikidata taxon entry and small-press fictional/divinatory pages). The sources do not present Antimachus as a supernatural or folkloric entity.
Apa Qaghan
Apa Qaghan (阿波可汗, Ābō Kèhán) is an historical Ashina prince and mid-6th century claimant to the Göktürk khaganate. Sources portray him as a political and military actor involved in the succession disputes after Taspar Qaghan's death, ruling contested steppe territories and engaging with both western Turkic allies and Sui China.
Aq Bars
Aq Bars (Tatar: Ак Барс, 'White Leopard') is an ancient Bulgar tribal totem and heraldic emblem historically used in Volga Bulgaria and the Khanate of Kazan and adopted in the modern era as the official symbol of the Republic of Tatarstan (formally since 7 February 1992). It functions as a dynastic/tribal mark of identity (derived from the Barsil tribe) and as a political-state emblem rather than a personal supernatural being.
Archura
Archura (Arçura) is a Turkic woodland chura — a shapeshifting forest spirit associated with particular woodland tracts and wild animals. Traditions portray Archura as a protector of wildlife and a trickster-like figure that can be dangerous to humans.
Asena
Asena is a mythic she-wolf who functions as the ancestress in the Göktürk foundation myth; she rescues an injured child after a battle, becomes pregnant by him according to the legend, flees across the Western Sea to a cave near the Qocho mountains, and gives birth to progenitors of the Ashina clan. The figure legitimizes the ruling lineage of early Turkic polities and has been revalorized in modern Turkish nationalist symbolism under the related label Bozkurt ('gray wolf').
Community Record
- [1]Umay (Wikipedia entry, summarized extracts). Wikipedia: 'Umay' entry (as summarized in provided research notes)wiki
- [2]Divanü Lügat’it-Türk (as cited in summaries). Divanü Lügat’it-Türk (historical lexicon entry as cited in provided notes regarding worship producing male babies)other
- [3]Potapov (as cited in summaries). Potapov, cited in provided notes stating deceased children are taken by Umai to the heavensacademic