Ugrian The Ugric or Ugrian languages ( or ) are a proposed branch of the Uralic language family. The name Ugric is derived from Ugrians, an archaic exonym for the Magyars (Hungarians) and Yugra, a region in northwest Russia. Ugric includes three s ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

, Kaltes-Ekwa (

Khanty The Khanty (Khanty: ханти, ''hanti''), also known in older literature as Ostyaks (russian: остяки) are a Ugric indigenous people, living in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together ...

, Kaltes Ankw) was the mother of the hero Mir-Susne-Hum and the wife of the god Num-Torum, who defeated her in heaven. She was also a goddess of the moon associated with the month April; a birth giving

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

(she is called upon by women in child-birth); goddess of fate; goddess of dawn and a

shape-shifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited ...

, often shown manifested as a

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

. An animal sacred to her, the hare appearance shows her lunar nature, for the hare is a lunar creature; many cultures, when looking at the moon see the outline of the hare, who lives in the moon. The hare is often seen as an intermediary between lunar deities and humans, so the appearance of Kaltes in this form indicates her accessibility to her people. Kaltes is known as a

fertility goddess A fertility deity is a god or goddess associated with fertility, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, and crops. In some cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences; in others they are more abstract symbols. Fertility rites may a ...

and a goddess of rejuvenation. She is called upon by women in

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...

, for she is especially venerated as a promoter of the beginning of the

life cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...

. Although she is somewhat feared because she can determine people's destinies, she is mostly revered for her gentle wisdom. She is a compassionate guide to the mysteries of life.This paragraph dedicated to this article by Susan Boulet and Michael Babcock, Goddess Knowledge Cards, Pomegranate, Rohnert Park, CA

External links and references

"A rise of Mir-Susne-Hum." Graphic cycle dedicated to a national Ugrian (Ostyak - Hant and Vogul - Mansi) hero.World view of the Hanti
Ob-Ugrian gods Lunar goddesses Childhood goddesses Fertility goddesses Time and fate goddesses Shapeshifting Mythological rabbits and hares {{Siberia-myth-stub