Vainakh Mythology - Divine Beings

Divine Beings

• Deela or Dela. The supreme god. Creator of heaven and earth and man and woman.
• Hela. God of darkness.
• Deela-Malkh. The sun god. In honor of this deity Vainakhs organized festivals every year on December 25.
• Mel-Deela. The supreme goddess.
• Seela or Sela. The god of the stars, thunder and lightning. Sela has night, storm and cold tied in his skeins. He lives on the top of Mount Kazbek. Rainbow conceived as huntingbow of Seela.
• Sata or Sela Sata, either wife or daughter of Seela, according to different versions; a goddess of artisanship and especially female crafts, corresponding to Northwest Caucasian Satanaya. Her face is described as shining like the sun with beauty. She helps Pkharmat steal Sela's fire for the Earth's inhabitants by guiding him to hell on the peak of Mount Kazbek.
• Maetsill. God of agriculture and the harvest and protector of the weak.
• Ishtar-Deela. Lord of life and death and ruler of the underworld ("Deeli-Malkhi"), responsible for punishing the wicked.
• Molyz-Yerdi. The war god who brought the Vainakh victory.
• Elta. God of the hunt and animals and - before Maetsill took over his role - the harvest. He was blinded in one eye for disobedience by his father, Deela.
• Amgali(-Yerdi). A minor deity.
• Taamash(-Yerdi) ("lord of wonder"). Lord of fate. Usually tiny in size but becomes gigantic when angered.
• Tusholi. Goddess of fertility, protector of the people in front of his father Deela. She is living in sacred Lake Galain-Am. According to scholars, in the earlier beliefs Tusholi was the dominant deity. People asked from her for a healthy offspring of a rich harvest and growth of cattle. Later Tusholi was mainly the object of worship of childless women.
• Dartsa-Naana ("Blizzard mother"). Goddess of blizzards and avalanches. She lives on the top of Mount Kazbek. Dartsa-Naana inscribed on a snow cone Kazbek magic circle, through which no mortal dares to cross. The ones who stepped this circle Dartsa-Naana drops into the abyss or floods the ice mountain. It scares people with a cock.
• Mokha-Naana. Goddess of the winds.
• Seelasat ("Oriole"). Protectress of virgins (possibly identical to Sata / Sela Sata, see above).
• Meler Yerdi. God of plants and cereal beverages.
• Gal-Yerdi. Patron of cattle breeders.
• Aira. Patron of eternal timeline.
• Mozh. Evil sister of the sun and moon. Mozh ate all their relatives in the sky, and now constantly chasing the sun and the moon. When she catches up with them and obscured, the eclipse occurs. Mozh releases the sun and the moon only after it has been so requested by the innocent first-born girl.
• Bolam-Deela. Not much is known about him/her. He/she may or may not have been equivalent to Deela-Malkh.
• Khagya-Yerdi or Maetskhali. Lord of the rocks.
• Mattir-Deela. Another little known deity.
• P'eerska (Friday). The keeper of time.
• Baini. The ancient god of agriculture. Later replased by Maetsill.
• Unu. The goddess of contagious diseases
• Higiz or Hegiz. The goddess of smallpox.
• Falkhan. Ancient god of magic and wisdom.
• Susan. Protectress of woman and of maternity.
• Agoi. The protector of girls.