Baq'
Andi · deity · Andi traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
In the sky-lore of the Andi and their Andic and Avar neighbours the sun is a luminous woman, the elder of two heavenly siblings. A widely told etiological tale explains the dark markings of the moon as the trace of a quarrel between the sister sun and the brother moon, when the sun flung dough, soot or a handful of earth into her brother's face. The dimming of the sun in eclipse is understood as the moment the sky-dragon overtakes and swallows her, a crisis that villages met with noise and prayer to force the monster to release her.
Domains
- sun
- daylight
Powers
- give daylight and warmth
Relations
- sibling: Mots'Sun and moon are sister and brother in the etiological myth of the moon's markings.Халидова М. Р. Мифологический и историко-героический эпос народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 1992. (primary)
- enemy: AzhdahaEclipse is explained as the dragon seizing and swallowing the luminary.Сефербеков Р. И. Пантеон языческих божеств народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 2009 (представления о затмениях). (secondary)
Sources
- The sun, personified as a woman and the elder sibling of the moon; her seizure by the sky-dragon accounts for solar eclipses.: Халидова М. Р. Мифологический и историко-героический эпос народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 1992. (primary); Мифы народов мира. Ст. «Кавказско-иберийская мифология». М., 1980–1982. (secondary)