Erlik

Erlik is the ruler of the lower world in Shor religion, the sunless Aina-çer, and master of the malevolent aina spirits. Known also simply as Aina, he is the sender of sickness and misfortune and the receiver of the souls of the dead, and together with Ülgen he fixes the destinies of the people of the middle world. The tradition presents him as Ülgen's younger brother who assisted in raising the earth from the primal water but was cast down after seeking a domain of his own; his hoarded and spat-out soil is said to have produced the mountains of Shoria. Shamans were understood to journey to Erlik's realm to negotiate over the sick.

Domains

• death and underworld
• disease and misfortune

Powers

• rules the lower world and its evil spirits
• receives the souls of the dead

Epithets

• Эрлик Кан — Erlik the KhanA. V. Anokhin, Materialy po shamanstvu u altaitsev, Leningrad, 1924. (secondary)

Relations

• sibling: ÜlgenPresented as the younger brother of Ülgen who helps raise the earth and then becomes his adversary.V. I. Verbitskii, Altaiskie inorodtsy, Moscow, 1893. (secondary)

Sources

• Erlik is the lord of the lower world (Aina-çer), master of the evil spirits, sender of disease and receiver of the dead, and the cosmic antagonist of Ülgen.: L. P. Potapov, Ocherki po istorii Shorii, Moscow-Leningrad, 1936. (secondary); V. I. Verbitskii, Altaiskie inorodtsy, Moscow, 1893. (secondary)