Naran- Mongolian GodDeity"Sun Goddess"
Also known as: Naran Tengri and Наран
Description
Each dawn she rises in the east and crosses the dome of the sky. Her warmth melts winter snow. Her light makes grass grow for the herds. At night Naran passes beneath the world, yielding the sky to her brother Saran the moon, until dawn returns her.
Mythology & Lore
The Eastern Door
Ger doors face east because Naran appears there first. Each morning, herders greeted her by flicking drops of fresh milk toward the rising sun, a libation for warmth and growth. Her name means simply "sun" in Mongolian. She was not a figure enthroned above the world but the sun itself. She moved through Tengri's domain, and her light was his warmth reaching the earth.
She rose each dawn, crossed the dome of the sky at noon, and descended toward the western horizon before passing beneath the earth to light the underworld through the night. Gold, the metal of sunlight, was hers. It appeared on sacred objects and in religious imagery, catching her light even after she had gone.
Sister of the Moon
Naran shared the sky with her brother Saran, the moon god. She took the day; he took the night. When she descended in the west, he rose in the east to keep the world from darkness. Herders counted months by Saran's phases and years by Naran's path along the horizon. Between the two of them, no hour went unlit.
Relationships
- Serves
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