Su Anası- Turkic SpiritSpirit"Water Mother"
Also known as: Su İyesi, Su Ana, Suw Anası, Suw İyäse, and Su Anasi
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Symbols
Description
At the lake's edge she sits combing her long hair in the moonlight, beautiful and still. The traveler who shows respect may pass; the one who fouls the water or speaks carelessly will feel hands close around his ankles in the shallows, pulling him down where the Su Anası keeps what she takes.
Mythology & Lore
At the Water's Edge
She sits at the edge of the lake combing her hair. In Tatar accounts the hair is golden; among the Bashkirs it may be black or green. The comb never leaves her hand. Folk narratives across the Turkic world return to this image: a beautiful woman, still and silent, at the place where land meets water.
The comb matters. In many tellings, a mortal finds or steals it, and what follows depends on how the thief behaves. Return it with respect and she lets you go. Keep it, and the water has a way of finding you.
She drowns the careless. The one who fouls her river, the one who swims alone at dusk. Children are warned most often. The Su Anası pulls her victims beneath calm water, and what she takes, the water does not give back.