The deities and mythical characters worshipped by the Mongols and other nomadic tribes that inhabited central Eurasia.
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Gök Tengri
Tengri (Old Turkic: 𐰚𐰇𐰚:𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, romanized: Kök Teŋri/Тeŋiri, lit. 'Blue Heaven'; Middle Turkic; تآنغرِ; Ottoman Turkish: تڭری; Kyrgyz: теңир; Turkish: Tanrı; Azerbaijani: Tanrı; Bulgarian: Тангра; Proto-Turkic *teŋri / *taŋrɨ; Mongolian script: ᠲᠩᠷᠢ, T'ngri; Modern Mongolian: Тэнгэр, Tenger; Old Uyghur: Old Uyghur alphabet - tankry (tängri).jpg tängri；Uyghur: تەڭرى tengri) is one of the names for the primary chief deity of the early Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Worship of Tengri is Tengrism. The core beings in Tengrism are the Heavenly-Father (Tengri/Tenger Etseg) and the Earth Mother (Eje/Gazar Eej). It involves shamanism, animism, totemism and ancestor worship.
- Heaven Above: His doman, Tengri is associated with the prototypical "sky father" type god.
- Top God: There is a good reason the pagan Mongol religion is called tengrism.
Erlik
Erlik, Erlig, Erlik Khan, Erleg or Yerleg (Turkish: Erlik Han; Hungarian mythology equivalent to Ördög) is the god of death and Tamag (hell) in Turkic mythology. He is the son of Ülgen, the nephew of Yer Tengri and the grandson of Kayra Han.
- God of the Dead: Was originally just a god of the afterlife and the underworld.
- Hijacked by Jesus: When the shamanistic pagan Mongols adopted other faiths like Islam and Buddhism, Erlik was turned into a God of Evil and Satanic Archetype to explain all the suffering in the world.
Umay
Umay (also known as Umai; Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰢𐰖; Kazakh: Ұмай ана, Umay ana; Russian: Ума́й / Ымай, Umáj / Ymaj, Turkish: Umay (Ana)) is the goddess of fertility in Turkic mythology and Tengriism and as such related to women, mothers and children. Umay resembles earth-mother goddesses found in various other world religions.
- Mother Goddess: Umay is the female divine personification of childbirth and motherhood.
Etugen Eke
Etügen Eke ("Mother Earth", also transliterated variously as Itügen or Etügen Ekhe) is a Mongolian (Mongolian: Этүгэн эх — Etügen ekh) and Turkic earth goddess. She was believed to be perpetually virginal. In Mongolian language, the word "etugen" associates with woman and daughter of Kayra. Also her name may have originated from Ötüken, the holy mountain of the earth and fertility goddess of the ancient Turks. Medieval sources sometimes pair Etugen with a male counterpart named Natigai or Nachigai (Natikai, Natıkay), although this is probably a mistake based on a mispronunciation of Etugen. In Mongol mythology Etugen is often represented as a young woman riding a grey bull.
- Mother Earth: She is the oppossite of Tengri and his consort, which symbolizes femininity plus the earth and land.
Bai-Ülgen
Bai-Ülgen or Ülgen (Old Turkic: Bey Ülgen; also spelled Bai-Ulgen, Bai-Ülgen, Bay-Ulgan, Bay-Ulgen, or Bay-Ülgen; Khakas, Shor and Altay: Ӱлген; Mongolian: Үлгэн; Russian: Ульге́нь) is a Turkic and Mongolian creator-deity, usually distinct from Tengri but sometimes identified with him in the same manner as Helios and Apollo. His name is from Old Turkic bay, "rich", and ülgen, "magnificent". Ülgen is believed to be without either beginning or end.
- God of Good: Considered the god of goodness, welfare, abundance, and plenty.
Kayra
Kayra or Kaira, (Old Turkic: 𐰴𐰖𐰺𐰀) is creator god in Turkic mythology. He is the god who planted the tree of life called Ulukayın. He is the supreme god of the Tatars and the Son of the sky deity (Gök Tengri). This son, Kara Han (the black king or ruler of the land - Kara may mean land, earth or in a sense strong, powerful), left his father's home in the heaven and went to live in the underworld. On occasion, identified as Kara-Khan (black king), he was the primordial god and his father was the ancordial god called Tengri.
- Divine Birds: In ancient Turkic belief, Tangri (God) Kara Han is neither male nor female nor even human in form, but a pure-white goose that flies constantly over an endless expanse of water (time), the benign creator of all that is, including the other, lesser gods.
Burkut
Burkut (Bürküt or Merküt) is the eagle god in Turkic mythology. The eagle god Burkut symbolizes the sun and power. The eagle is considered to be the icons of the khagans and khans or the symbols of the guardian spirit and justice. In Sakha (Yakut) culture, the eagle is portrayed on top of the Ulukayın (Tree of Earth). It is either as the symbol of Tengri (sky god). In the ceremony of sacrifice, a kam (shaman) chants verses of prayer and summons all the spirits he knowns. The eagle is referred to as the "bird with copper talons, its right wing covers the sun, the left covers the moon" and son of Kayra.
- Light Is Good: He's a Noble Bird of Prey that symbolizes the sun and power.
Kyzaghan
Kyzaghan (Turkish: Kızağan; Azerbaijani: Qızağan; Russian: Кызыган, Kyzygan) is a Turkic deity of war. Kyzaghan is often depicted with a sword or bow in one hand and a horn in the other. Other important symbols included the red horse and red color. He is associated with war and depicted as a strong and powerful god. Kyzaghan is the son of Kayra and the brother of Ulgan. And lives on the ninth floor of sky. He was portrayed as a young man with a helmet and a spear, riding on a red horse.
- War God: An example whose name basically translates to the word for "fury" in most Turkic languages. He's also described commonly as wielding a spear and riding upon a red horse. This makes him somewhat reminiscent of Odin, who also embodies these aspects of combat.
