Ak Ana- Turkic PrimordialPrimordial"The White Mother"

Also known as: Ak Ene and Aq Ana

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Titles & Epithets

The White Mother

Domains

creationprimordial waterscounsel

Symbols

white lightcosmic waters

Description

From the boundless waters before creation, a white radiance rises and takes the form of a woman. She speaks once to the creator hovering above the deep, counsels him to make the world, and sinks back beneath the surface. The cosmos begins with her word and her absence.

Mythology & Lore

Before Creation

Verbitsky's Altai informants told it this way: before earth or sky, there was water and nothing else. The creator hovered above it. He had the power to make the world. He did not begin.

From the water a white radiance rose and took the form of a woman. Ak Ana, the White Mother. She spoke to the creator and told him to begin. Then she sank back beneath the surface.

Everything that came after started because she said to start. She had no part in what followed. No offering and no shaman's drum could reach her. She existed for one moment, and that was enough.

Relationships

Associated with

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