Cosmic Elk
Evenki · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Spirit-class cosmic animal (classed as deity, a personified celestial being). Sex given as female because the chased elk (kheglun, the cow-elk) is typically the dam pursued with her calf in the cosmic-hunt versions; the hunter is the bear Mangi. The elk is the central Evenki sky-image: constellation, sun-bearer, and quarry of the primordial hunt.
Domains
- sun and day
- heavens constellation
Powers
- carries the sun away on her antlers each night
- wheels across the night sky as the four stars of the Great Bear
Relations
- enemy: Cosmic Bear AncestorReciprocal of evenki_mangi.enemy — In the cosmic hunt the bear-ancestor eternally pursues the elk who carries off the sun, restoring daylight.A.F. Anisimov, 'Cosmological Concepts of the Peoples of the North', in H.N. Michael (ed.), Studies in Siberian Shamanism (1963) (secondary)
Sources
- Heglun (Kheglen) is the Evenki cosmic elk who carries off the sun on her antlers and is identified with the constellation of the Great Bear, pursued by a cosmic hunter.: G. M. Vasilevich, 'Early Concepts about the Universe among the Evenks', in Studies in Siberian Shamanism, 1963 (secondary); Evenk astronomy, talkingstories.uoregon.edu (secondary)