Grandfather Creator
Hmong · deity · Hmong/Miao creation time; living cosmology · Recorded classification
Deity (the remote creator-god). English title leads (Yawm = 'grandfather/respected elder'); native RPA Yawm Saub in alt/transliterations. Hmong has no traditional script, so the term is given in the standard Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA).
Domains
- creation of the world
- shamanic power
Powers
- Endows chosen humans with the powers of the shaman
- Advises the flood-surviving siblings how to repeople the world
Epithets
- Saub The benevolent creator-sage who counsels humankind and renews the world after the floodHmong oral tradition (secondary)
Relations
- mentor: Flood-Surviving Brother and SisterIn the flood tales the surviving pair seek the sage-creator's sanction to wed; their offspring, cut into pieces, become the Hmong clans.Charles Johnson, Dab Neeg Hmoob: Myths, Legends and Folk Tales from the Hmong of Laos (1985) (secondary)
Sources
- Yawm Saub is the kindly Hmong creator of the world who endows shamans with their powers and saved/guided humanity after the great flood.: Nicholas Tapp, 'Hmong Religion', Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 48, no. 1, 1989 (secondary); Jean Mottin, History of the Hmong, Odeon Store, Bangkok, 1980 (secondary)