Kou-nyamy (Sun Mother)
Nganasan · deity · Nganasan traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Kou-nyamy, the Sun Mother, is one of the Nganasan 'mothers of the world' (nguo). The sun was personified as a maternal deity who confers warmth, light and life-energy on the world; like her sister-powers she was held visible but too great for direct human approach, and appeals reached her through sacrifice and the mediation of the shaman. Her name preserves the Nganasan word kou 'sun', and she is recorded in the standard ethnographies of the Taymyr Samoyeds.
Domains
- sun and daylight
- life energy and warmth
Powers
- to warm and illuminate the world as the living sun
Epithets
- Kou-nyamyPopov, A. A. (1984). Nganasany: Sotsial'noe ustroistvo i verovaniya. Leningrad: Nauka. (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: Mou-nyamy (Earth Mother)The Sun Mother is reckoned among the great cosmogonic 'mothers of the world' together with the Earth Mother.Gracheva, G. N. (1983). Traditsionnoe mirovozzrenie okhotnikov Taymyra. Leningrad: Nauka. (secondary)
- sibling: Tuy-nyamy (Fire Mother)The Sun Mother and the Fire Mother are paired as kindred powers of warmth and light within the company of elemental mothers.Popov, A. A. (1984). Nganasany: Sotsial'noe ustroistvo i verovaniya. Leningrad: Nauka. (secondary)
Sources
- Kou-nyamy is the Nganasan Sun Mother, one of the elemental nguo 'mothers of the world' who personifies the life-giving sun.: Popov, A. A. (1984). Nganasany: Sotsial'noe ustroistvo i verovaniya [The Nganasans: Social Structure and Beliefs]. Leningrad: Nauka. (secondary); Helimski, E. & Kosterkina, N. T. (1992). Small Séances with a Great Nganasan Shaman. Diogenes 40(158): 39-55. (secondary)