Grandmother of the Sky
Buryat · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Spirit-class grandmother goddess (classed as deity). 'Toodei' is the Buryat term for grandmother. The romanization Manzan Gürme follows Mongolian Cyrillic; documentation rests mainly on Buryat oral tradition recorded in the Geser epic and the Buryat-American shaman Sarangerel.
Children
Domains
- fate record
- ancestral origin
- wisdom knowledge
Powers
- watches all that happens on earth and sky in two shaman mirrors
- reads the great book in which all that was, is, and will be is written
- sustains the fifty-five tengri with her silver cup
Epithets
- Manzan Gurme The wise old grandmother-goddess who keeps the book of the gods’ fatesBuryat (Mongol) shamanic tradition (secondary)
Relations
- ancestor of: Father SkySky-grandmother Manzan Gurme is the maternal ancestress of the sky-god Esege Malan, who already registers her as parent; mirrored as ancestor-of to preserve his deity tier.Hangalov, M. N. (Khangalov), 'Sobranie sochinenii' (collected Buryat ethnography); Heissig, W., 'The Religions of Mongolia' (1980) (secondary)
- ancestor of: Lord of the Western SkyHeissig, W., 'The Religions of Mongolia' (1980); Buryat shamanic-epic tradition (secondary)
Sources
- Manzan Gurme Toodei is the highest goddess and ancestress of the gods in Buryat shamanic religion, keeper of the book of fate, with two shaman mirrors and a silver cup.: Sarangerel (Julie Ann Stewart), Chosen by the Spirits, 2001 (tertiary); Abai Geser epic invocation, buryatmongol.org (tertiary)