Saya or Sayaqan is a summer feast and festival Turkic Tengriism and Altai folklore. [1] Arranged for the god that called Saya Khan (Turkish: Saya Han or Zaya Han). So this is a blessing, fertility and abundance ceremony.
Saya (Zaya) was mythological male character associated with summertime in early Turkic mythology, particularly within Altai, Anatolia and Caucasus. He was associated with rituals conducted in rural areas during summertime. Turkic peasants celebrated the Summer Solstice on June 23 by going out to the fields.
In Anatolian folklore, a familiar spirit called "Saya Han" lived in mountains who protects sheep flocks.
Saya Play and songs have an important role in the emotional, and moral development of children in rural areas. They learn about solidarity and co-operation. Also, an old tradition is continued with this game. Children wander homes and collect food, for instance.
The Saya festival (literally it can be translated as abundance) is related to a cult of a solar deity, with a fertility cult.
Ancient Yakuts celebrated the New Year at the Yhyakh (23 June) festival. Its traditions include women and children decorating trees and tethering posts with "salama" (nine bunches of horse hair hung on horse-hair ropes). The oldest man, wearing white, opens the holiday. He is accompanied by seven virgin girls and nine virgin boys and starts the ritual by sprinkling kymys on the ground, feeding the fire. He prays to the Ai-ii spirits for the well-being of the people who depend on them and asks the spirits to bless all the people gathered.
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. A variety of traditions have developed, linked to regions as well as religious practice.
Jarylo, alternatively Yaryla, Iarilo, Juraj, Jurij, or Gerovit, is a East and South Slavic god of vegetation, fertility and springtime.
Blót and blōt or geblōt are terms for "blood sacrifice" in Norse paganism and Anglo-Saxon paganism respectively. A comparanda can also be reconstructed for wider Germanic paganism.
Georgian mythology refers to the mythology of pre-Christian Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. The mythology of the Kartvelian peoples is believed by many scholars to have formed part of the religions of the kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia.
Yılgayah or Ulugh-Kun was the spring festival of Tengrism. It was celebrated on or about March 22, and marked the first day of the Turkic month of Oshlaq-ay. The holiday was celebrated with feasting and probably with sacrificial rites. The name of the holiday appears in the medieval dictionary Divan-i Lughat-it-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari, written in the 1070s.
Erlik, Erlig, Erlik Khan, Erleg or Yerleg is the god of death and the underworld, sometimes referred to as Tamag (hell) in Turkic mythology. Er means Earth, in the depths of which Erlik lives in. From the underworld, Erlik brings forth death, plague and evil spirits to torment humans and take their souls into his realm. Since Tengrism is not based on a written corpus but encompasses the experienced spiritual life of Turkic people, there are no unanimous beliefs among all Turkic people. Erlik has already been mentioned in the Orkhon writings and shows a consistent pattern as the lord of the underworld among Turkic belief systems.
Bai-Ülgen or Ülgen is a Turkic creator-deity, usually distinct from Tengri but sometimes identified with him in the same manner as Helios and Apollo. His name is from Old Turkic bay, "rich", and ülgen, "magnificent". Ülgen is believed to be without either beginning or end.
Burkhanism or Ak Jang is an indigenist new religious movement that flourished among the Altai people of Russia's Altai Republic between 1904 and the 1930s. The Russian Empire was suspicious of the movement's potential to stir up native unrest and perhaps involve outside powers. The Soviet Union ultimately suppressed it for fear of its potential to unify Siberian Turkic peoples under a common nationalism.
Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrist and Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and warrior way of life of Turkic and Mongol peoples in ancient times. Turkic mythology shares numerous points in common with Mongol mythology. Turkic mythology has also been influenced by other local Asiatic and Eurasian mythologies. For example, in Tatar mythology elements of Finnic and Indo-European mythologies co-exist. Beings from Tatar mythology include Äbädä, Alara, Şüräle, Şekä, Pitsen, Tulpar, and Zilant.
Green week, or the green holidays, is a traditional Slavic seasonal festival celebrated in early June. It is closely linked with the cult of the dead and the spring agricultural rites. In Eastern European villages, the seven weeks following Easter have historically been a time of festivity. Green week takes place during the seventh week leading up to the Pentecost, and includes the seventh Thursday after Easter, called Semik.
Bayram is the Turkic word for a nationally-celebrated festival or holiday, applicable to both national and religious celebrations.
Aksu is a small village of Dereli District of the Giresun Province of Turkey. Its population is 169 (2022). It is located in the upper basin of the Aksu Deresi stream.
Hıdırellez or Hıdrellez is a folk holiday celebrated as the day on which the prophets Al-Khidr (Hızır) and Elijah (İlyas) met on Earth. Hıdırellez starts on the night of May 5 and ends on May 6 in the Gregorian calendar, and April 23 in the Julian calendar. It is observed in Turkey, Crimea, Gagauzia, Syria, Iraq, the Caucasus, and the Balkans and celebrates the arrival of spring.
Yhyаkh is the festival that celebrates the rebirth of nature after a hard winter, the triumph of life, the beginning of a new year in the Sakha Republic. Historic celebration is observed on the 21st June, the day of the summer solstice.
Yel iyesi is the Turkic spirit or deity of wind. The name comes from the Turkic words "Yel," which means wind, and "iye," the familiar spirit of any natural asset.
Payna or Paynaqan is a winter feast and festival Turkic Tengrism and Altai folklore. Arranged for the goddess that called Payna. So this is a blessing, fertility and abundance ceremony.
Kosa or Qochaqan is a spring feast and festival Turkic Tengrism and Altai folklore. Arranged for the god that called Kocha Khan. So this is a blessing, fertility and abundance ceremony.
Pakta or Paqtaqan is an autumn feast and festival Turkic Tengrism and Altai folklore. Arranged for the god that called Pakta. So this is a blessing, fertility and abundance ceremony.
Lower mythology is a sphere of mythological representations relating to characters who have no divine status, demons and spirits, as opposed to higher gods and the official cult. This opposition is particularly pronounced in world religions.