Tengri
Tengri symbol - crescent and pole
A short while ago I ran into an acquaintance who is very active in trying to preserve and develop traditional Kyrgyz Crafts. Whilst we were talking the topic of conversation drifted toward the environment and ecology, global warming and pollution … and it was then that she let drop her “bombshell” … well, to me it came as a bombshell.
She told me that she followed “the old religion”: Tengrism.
Although most of the Kyrgyz are nominally Muslim in that they consider themselves adherents of Islam, even if they are not particularly devout or scrupulous in following the practices, there are a number who belong to different confessions. There are, for example, a small number who are members of the Russian Orthodox church, but only a handful. More prominent are those who have converted to one of the protestant churches. Sometimes news items appear about conflicts that have arisen in rural communities when some Kyrgyz family have converted to evangelical Christianity, (for example the Baptists), or become Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Although I was well aware that there many aspects of the old religion that were bound up in the culture, and the traditional customs and practices of the Kyrgzy that are reflected even in the daily lives of ordinary people today, this was the first time I had met someone who professed to be a follower of the ancient religion. I felt that it was if I had encountered a Wiccan, a Pagan.
Tengrism, (sometimes it is referred to as Tengiism or Tengrianism), is the ancient religion of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. Having said that, it found its way into Europe with the Huns, the marauding nomads who were just one of the many waves of invaders that would periodically sweep West into Europe from out of Asia.
The religion incorporates elements of Shamanism, Animism and Totenism as well as ancestor worship. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been a revival of interest in several circles and even the odd politician has advocated adopting certain elements in what seems to be an attempt to define a clear national identity, role and inheritance for certain Central Asian nationalities.
Here in Kyrgyzstan, for example, there are some who have seen the influence of Tengrism in the philosophy and iconography of Manas which was adopted and popularised under Askar Akaev’s presidency. Following the 2005 revolution, it was even promoted by an ideological committee chaired by the then State Secretary, Dastan Sarygulov.
According to tradition, Tengri was the name of one of the primary entities, or deities: the Sky Father. His counterpart was, Umai, Mother Earth.
The name seems to date from about or before the fourth Century BC as it is appears in the Chinese annals describing the Xiongnu, the nomadic hordes that descended from the North to cause disruption and havoc in the empire.
Tengri was the Sky Father, and the name of the Tien Shan mountain range, (the Sky High or Celestial Mountains), may be derived from the name. We have very little concrete knowledge of the ancient belief, although there are some inscriptions and fragments from authors such as Mahmud Kashgari, which tell us for example how man was created between the blue sky and brown earth, and it seems that Tengri was considered to be the source of all creation. He stands behind, (and controls), all of nature … including the myriad of spirits and minor deities that inhabit the world
One of the central tenets of the religion which strikes a chord with many in today’s world is the emphasis on living in harmony with the natural world in which we find ourselves. We are sustained and protected by Tengri and Umai, (Father Sky and Mother Earth), and the spirits of nature and ancestors.
Although the traditional nomadic Kyrgyz society is basically a patriarchal one, where women were assigned a subordinate status, (they were dependent upon their fathers, and then on their husbands – who had “bought” them with a “kalym” (a dowry or bride price) and apparently some Kyrgyz even practiced polygamy), there is a centuries old tradition of respect and honour accorded to women – which is especially notable in the shamanistic belief in Umai Ene – the the goddess of fertility and protector of the newborn and was a symbol of femininity.
This deity was esteemed by the ancient Turks, who considered that she protected the dwelling and people, (especially babies and women), from malicious spirits. There are petroglyphs, however, depicting her or her symbols across the Eurasian continent which predate the rise of the Turks. In the Altai region of Russia, for example, she is depicted as a formidable woman wearing a three-horned tiara. The image of Mother Umai is found on many ancient objects discovered in Kyrgyzstan by archaeologists, especially on amulets.
A symbol of Umai Ene was a bird and bird feathers were an important form of decoration … Owl feathers, for example, were used in wedding hats to ward of the influence of the “evil eye”.
Although women were sometimes thought to be “unclean” the influence of Umai Ene meant that they were also granted special regard and considered to have special powers – especially in healing. There are a number of proverbs and sayings that reflect this special position that tradition accorded to women, such as:
- The nature of women requires respect;
- The first wealth is health, the second is a wife;
- A flower is a decoration of the land, a girl is a decoration of the nation;
- Paradise is where you mother has stepped;
- If God condemns you then He might forgive you, but if your mother condemns you then you will never receive forgiveness;
Bishkek