Kou-nyamy (Sun Mother)
Nganasan · deity · Nganasan traditional religion; continuing · deity
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-nyamy
Relations
- sibling: Mou-nyamy (Earth Mother)
- sibling: Tuy-nyamy (Fire Mother)