Kepe, goddess of fate and consort of Tură
Chuvash · deity · Chuvash traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Kepe is the Chuvash goddess of destiny, recorded among the celestial powers as the one who apportions the fates of human beings. The ethnographic tradition names her as the consort of the supreme god Tură and as the mediating figure who carries his judgements down to people, placing her at the head of a small cluster of fate-deities alongside Pülĕh. Her domain overlaps closely with that of Pülĕh — both are concerned with the granting of a person's lot — and the sources sometimes describe them as acting in concert under the authority of Tură. She belongs to the bright, heavenly side of the pantheon rather than to the ambivalent earth-spirits of the groves.
Domains
- fate and destiny
- mediation between gods and humans
Powers
- to allot the destiny and span of each human life
- to carry the decrees of the supreme god to humankind
Relations
- spouse: Tură, the supreme heaven-god and creatorRecorded as the wife of the supreme god Tură, beside whom she stands as the apportioner of fate and the messenger linking the divine and human worlds.Salmin, Anton K. Sistema religii chuvashey [The System of the Chuvash Folk Religion]. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2007. (secondary)
- ally: Pülĕh, the apportioner of fate and fortunePülĕh and the fate-goddess Kepe share the office of allotting human destiny and are described as acting together among the heavenly powers of fortune.Salmin, Anton. Savirs – Bulgars – Chuvash. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2015. (secondary)
Sources
- Kepe is the Chuvash goddess of fate, named as the consort of the supreme god Tură and as the intermediary who allots destinies and conveys divine decisions to people.: Salmin, Anton K. Sistema religii chuvashey [The System of the Chuvash Folk Religion]. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2007. (secondary); Salmin, Anton. Savirs – Bulgars – Chuvash. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2015. (secondary)