Su Iyäse
Tatar · numen · Tatar traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Su iyäse, the 'master of the water', is the presiding spirit of every distinct body of water in the Tatar landscape — a river, a lake, a spring, a mill-pond — which he owns as a householder owns his yard. His goodwill governs whether fishing prospers and whether those who ford or bathe come home safe, and he was placated with small offerings, especially at mills and crossings where drownings were feared. In the ethnographic accounts of Kayum Nasyri and Yakov Koblov the su iyäse stands at the head of the water-people, paired with the su anasy, the water mother, as the male and female powers of a single spirit-family dwelling beneath the surface.
Domains
- water
Powers
- governs the waters and their creatures
- demands offerings from mill and ford
Relations
- companion: Su AnasyThe water master and the water mother are recorded together as the male and female powers of one water-spirit household.F. I. Urmanche, Татар мифологиясе, s.v. Су иясе, Су анасы. (secondary)
Sources
- Su iyäse, the 'master of the water', is the owning spirit of a given river, lake, spring or mill-pond, propitiated with offerings and blamed for drownings; he heads the family of water-people alongside the su anasy.: K. Nasyri, Поверья и обряды казанских татар, Kazan, 1880. (primary); Ya. D. Koblov, Мифология казанских татар, Kazan, 1910. (secondary)