Alazhan
Talysh · numen · Talysh traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Alazhan, 'the Red Woman', is reckoned the most dangerous spirit of Talysh belief, a demoness who preys on women in childbirth and on newborn infants. She is pictured as a black-skinned woman with enormous eyes and pendulous breasts that she throws back over her shoulders, an image that links her to the Al or Albasty, the childbirth demon feared across the Caucasus and the Iranian plateau. The birth chamber was guarded against her with iron, with watchfulness and with prayer during the perilous days after delivery. Her prominence reflects the high stakes of infant and maternal mortality in traditional Talysh society, where the dangers of the childbed were personified in a single, vividly imagined adversary.
Domains
- childbirth peril
- disease affliction
Powers
- afflict mothers and newborns
Epithets
- Alažan — the Red WomanWikipedia contributors, 'Talysh mythology,' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (secondary)
Sources
- Alazhan, 'the Red Woman', is the most dangerous Talysh spirit, attacking women in childbirth and newborn children, and is imagined as a black woman with great eyes and enormous breasts tossed over her shoulders.: Alexandre Bennigsen, 'Talysh,' in Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. VI: Russia and Eurasia / China (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1994) (secondary); Wikipedia contributors, 'Talysh mythology,' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (secondary)