Bibi Fotima
Yaghnobi · numen · Yaghnobi traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Bibi Fotima, identified with Fāṭima, the daughter of the Prophet, is invoked across the Tajik-speaking world, the Yaghnob valley included, as the guardian of women — of the spinner at her wheel, of the bride, and above all of the woman in childbed, whose bedside she is called to attend against the demoness Ol. Her hands are named in blessings over women's work, and she stands beside Bibi Seshanbe in the sacred-feminine complex of Central Asian domestic religion.
Domains
- protection women
- childbirth protection
- womens craft
Powers
- stand at the childbed
- bless the spinner's hands
Epithets
- Бибӣ Фотимаи Зуҳро — Lady Fatima the Radiant'Fertility and the sacred feminine in Central Asian healing' (medanthro.ru). (secondary)
Relations
- companion: Bibi SeshanbeStands with Bibi Seshanbe in the sacred-feminine domestic complex.'Fertility and the sacred feminine in Central Asian healing' (medanthro.ru): the shared complex of women's patronesses. (secondary)
- enemy: OlInvoked to drive the birth-demoness from the childbed.P. Delaini, 'Traditional medicine in the Yaghnob Valley' (protective invocation against the childbirth demon). (secondary)
Sources
- Bibi Fotima, identified with the Prophet's daughter Fatima, is folk-venerated across Tajik Central Asia including the Yaghnob valley as guardian of women, of spinning and of the childbed.: 'Fertility and the sacred feminine in Central Asian healing and ritual practices' (medanthro.ru). (secondary)
- She is invoked at childbirth against the demoness Ol.: P. Delaini, 'Traditional medicine in the Yaghnob Valley: notes on body therapy, pregnancy and birth care'. (secondary)