Lebien-pogil (Master of the Earth)
Yukaghir · deity · Yukaghir traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Lebien-pogil, 'Master of the Earth', is the most fully personified of the Yukaghir masters of nature. He is pictured as a dark-faced, black-bearded man tall as a larch who strides across the land, rich and generous yet strict and just. He owns the earth and its game, rules over the lesser master-spirits ('patrons') of individual animal species, and rewards hunters who keep the unwritten laws of the chase while punishing those who kill beyond need. He is the chief addressee of hunting ritual in the middle world.
Domains
- earth land
- game and hunting grounds
Powers
- to rule the master-spirits of individual animals
- to reward or punish hunters according to whether they keep the laws of the hunt
Epithets
- lebie-podʼilOnline Kolyma Yukaghir Documentation, 'The master of the earth', Finno-Ugrian Society, Helsinki (secondary)
Relations
- ally: Odzhin-pogil (Master of Fresh Water)One of the three parallel masters of nature of the middle world, alongside the master of fresh water and the master of the sea.Waldemar Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirized Tungus, Memoirs of the AMNH XIII (1926) (secondary)
- ally: Chobun-pogil (Master of the Sea)Counterpart master of the sea; together with the masters of land and fresh water they divide the domains of the middle world.Waldemar Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirized Tungus, Memoirs of the AMNH XIII (1926) (secondary)
- subordinate to: PonAs a master-spirit of the earthly middle world, Lebien-pogil ranks below Pon, the supreme Owner on the firmament.Waldemar Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirized Tungus, Memoirs of the AMNH XIII (1926) (secondary)
Sources
- Lebien-pogil is the Yukaghir Master of the Earth, a giant black-bearded owner of the land who protects game animals, governs the master-spirits of individual animals and rewards or punishes hunters.: Waldemar Jochelson, The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirized Tungus, Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History XIII (1926) (secondary); Online Kolyma Yukaghir Documentation, 'The master of the earth', Finno-Ugrian Society (Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura), Helsinki (secondary)