Among the
Nenets people
The Nenets ( yrk, ненэй ненэче, ''nenəj nenəče'', russian: ненцы, ''nentsy''), also known as Samoyed, are a Samoyedic ethnic group native to northern Arctic Russia, Russian Far North. According to the latest census in 2010, t ...
of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, the male Num was the sky god, the good creator of earth and the high god of the Nenets. Num is one of two
demiurge
In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term ''demiurge'' ...
s, or supreme gods. The Nenets believed earth and all living things were created by the god Num and every heavenly sphere is ruled by one son of the Num god.
Nga was his malevolent son.
According to one story, the world threatened to collapse on itself. To try to halt this cataclysm a
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...
sought the advice of Num. The shaman was advised to travel below the earth, to Nga's domain and call upon him. The shaman did as told and was wed with Nga's daughter. After that point he began to support the world in his hand and became known as "The Old Man of the Earth."
In another myth, Num and Nga create the world, collaborating and also competing with each other — the myth is an example of
dualistic cosmology.
[Vértes 1990: 104–105]
The word Num means heaven in
Nenets.
See also
*
Nga (god)
Among the Nenets people of Siberia, Nga was the god of death, as well as one of two demiurges, or supreme gods.
According to one story, the world threatened to collapse on itself. To try to halt this cataclysm a shaman sought the advice of the ot ...
*
Pole worship
Notes
Sources
* The title means: “Belief systems of our language relatives in Siberia”.
Nenets people
Siberian deities
Creator gods
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