The cosmology of the steppe.
The plains and steppes of Eastern Europe and Central, North and East Asia are home to plenty of nomadic tribes. While the Mongol people have become more (in)famous historically as fierce conquering barbarian hordes with the help of Genghis Khan, these people like everyone else also have their own religion and culture. This page deals with the mythology of the Altaic people which also includes the Huns, Turks, Xiongnu and Tungusic peoples. However while the existence of a genetic Altaic language family is widely discredited, there was clearly a common mythology among the peoples of the steppes, who mingled with one another during the thousands of years in the very long and shared history.
Worth knowing is that originally the belief practice consisted of totemism, animism, shamanism and ancestor worship, however eventually it incorporated elements from other religions as well such as Daoism, Shinto, Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and even Judeo-Christianity. Good source of knowledge also provide the pages for the Ainu, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Tibetans in finding out interesting tropes about the religions and mythologies of the other East Asian civilizations, and the Scythians for the religion and mythology of another nomadic group of people which are an older Eastern European and Central Asian culture.
Altaic mythology provides examples of:
- The Creator: Bai-Ulgen or Ulgan who created the universe and believed to be without either beginning or end.
- Everybody Hates Hades: Erlik Khan, who was originally a god of death and the underworld, was eventually re-interpreted as a demonic Big Bad to oppose Tengri, Lord of the Eternal Blue Sky.
- Food God: In Pi Shashin, a strain of Tengriism found in parts of Mongolia, the deity Pi is often associated with baked goods.
- God of Good:
- Bai-Ulgen in Turkic mythology is the god of goodness, welfare, abundance, and plenty.
- Two of his sons might qualify as well: Karshyt Han and Bakhty Han, the gods of purity and blessing, respectively.
- Heaven Above: The sky is considered the realm of Tengri, whose name literally translated means "heavenly or sky father".
- Hell: Mongolian shamanism has Kasrygan, where those whose bad deeds in life outweigh their good ones are sent. It is a giant cauldron filled with boiling black tar where sinners float. The worst ones sink to the bottom and suffer there forever, while those who have committed at least some good in their life have a chance to reach the surface. Those in Heaven who benefited from these sinners' good deeds can send spirits to the surface of Kasrygan to pull them up by the hair and bring them to paradise.
- An Ice Person: Ayaz Baba, whose name literally translates to "frost father" is a god of frost and snow associated with winter seasons, depicted commonly as an old man with a long white beard and the blue-robes of a shaman. Depending on which versions of the myths you read, he is either a son of Tengri (the Thunderer and Top God of Altaic myth), or is simply another aspect of him.
- The Marvelous Deer: The deer is a sacred animal in tengrist religion. Certain people claim that their distant ancestors centuries ago followed a golden elk or a stag with golden antlers into the Carpathian Basin.
- Mother Goddess: Umay is the goddess of nature and the earth, as well as virginity, fertility, child care and motherhood. She looks over and protects all women and children.
- Noble Bird of Prey: The raptorial birds (eagles, hawks and falcons) are all considered sacred animals alongside wolves, tigers, deer, bulls, horses, sheep and boars. The Kazakhs and other nomadic people of Central Asia are experts at hunting wild animals using raptor birds even in the present, explained more in detail here: [1]
. - Noble Wolf: In old Turkic mythology, the wolf was the Turkic people's ancestor and the Turks' primary symbol throughout the centuries. Even today the gray wolf is Turkey's national animal.
- Our Dragons Are Different: While calling them "dragons" is more of a result of a naming convention rather than them being the same creatures, Hunnic dragons are very different from both their eastern and western counterparts, being closer to hydras. They are described as giants with multiple heads. The number of their heads relates to the amount of power they possess as well as several motifs relating to them (the number of towers on their castle, the number of miles distance they can throw their weapons, the number of days it takes for an opponent with equal power to defeat them). They traditionally come in groups of three brothers with three, seven and twelve heads respectively, with the twelve-headed brother being the oldest and most powerful, and undefeatable by conventional means. If there's only one dragon around, it usually has three or seven heads, and takes the role of the twelve-headed dragon as the major antagonist. The naming is most likely result of their Hunnic name (sárkány) denoting two completely different creatures, one being the above described giant-like being, while the other is a storm-demon that usually hides in clouds and often takes the form of a giant flying snake, which most likely resulted in the word being applied to the western (European) and eastern (Asian) dragons as well.
- Playing with Fire: Alaz is the god of fire. He is also called "Alas Batyr" or sometimes "Alaz Khan".
- Sand Worm: The Olgoi-Khorkhoi (Mongolian Death Worm), a legendary beast said to inhabit the Gobi Desert, is a 2-4 foot long worm capable of spitting acid and able to electrocute prey.
- Satanic Archetype: Erlik was originally simply the god of death and the afterlife. However, with the introduction of Abrahamic religions and Buddhism, he was eventually turned into a God of Evil.
- Shock and Awe: Some of the deities including Tengri himself are associated with thunder and lightning.
- The Mongolian Death Worm is often said to be capable of shooting electric volts that can kill livestock. However most scientists and even some cryptozoologists cast heavy doubt on this particular ability.
- Top God: Tengri the Sky Father, to the point that the religion (tengrism) is named after him.
- War God:
- Turko-Siberian mythologies have Kyzaghan, 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.
- Tengri was often prayed to by Turks and Mongols for success in battle. Some Turkic dastans (sagas, essentially) describe Tengri taking the form of a white wolf in the mortal world, which was heralded as a sign of victory in a coming fight.
- Warrior Heaven: Uchmak, the preferred afterlife for Mongols and pre-Islamic Turks, was said to be a battlefield ruled over by Tengri the Skyfather.
- World Tree: The Világfa, which literally translated means "world tree".
