Ajyyhyt (Aysyt, Ajsyt or Ajyhyt; ; ) is a Turkic goddess of the

Yakut Yakut or Yakutian may refer to: * Yakuts, the Turkic peoples indigenous to the Sakha Republic * Yakut language, a Turkic language * Yakut scripts, Scripts used to write the Yakut language * Yakut (name) * Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ...

people from the

Lena River The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob (river), Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basi ...

region of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and is an important figure in

Turkic mythology Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrism, Tengrist and Shamanism in Central Asia, Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and wa ...

. The name means "birthgiver" and she may also be called the "mother of cradles". Her full name is given as Айыыһыт Хотун, meaning "birth-giving nourishing mother". Aisyt brings the soul from heaven at the birth of a baby and records each one in the Golden Book of Fate. She is the daughter of Yer Tanrı.

Role

Ajysyt was responsible for conducting the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

of a newborn child to its birth and attended every birth. Women would

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

Ajysyt, believing that doing so would relieve them of pain during childbirth. She kept a golden book in which she recorded each one. She is said to have lived on a mountain top in a house with seven stories, from which she controlled the fate of the world.

Versions

The Yakut revere a variety of (). The primary manifestation, (), is responsible for the birth of children. () governs the reproduction of horses, () is responsible for oxen, and Noruluya manages dogs and foxes. When referring to the deity for the births of male animals, such as stallions or bulls, the word ' is understood to be male. However, when relating to the birth of a mare or cow, the word is feminine.

Legends

One legend recalls how she appeared from the roots of the cosmic tree (alternatively the world pillar of () to a pale young man; the tree stood beside a lake of milk. By

suckling Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO ...

the youth she caused his strength to increase a hundredfold.

Contemporary representation

Ajysyt is a featured figure on

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

's installation piece ''

The Dinner Party ''The Dinner Party'' is an installation artwork by American feminist artist Judy Chicago. There are 39 elaborate place settings on a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine, ...

'', being represented as one of the 999 names on the '' Heritage Floor.''

References

Animal goddesses Childhood goddesses Time and fate goddesses Turkic goddesses Yakut mythology {{Siberia-myth-stub