Uçmag (also spelled: Uçmag, Uçmak, Ocmah, Uçmah) is

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

in Turkic mythology. It is the opposite of

Tamag Tam (also ''tam'', ''tamuk'', ''tam'' or ''tamu'') is the name of hell in Tengrism and Turkic mythology. It is the place where criminals go to be punished after they die. There are several depictions of Tamag, but the common point in almost all vie ...

. The souls of the righteous people dwell in heaven after death.

Etymology

Since the soul reaches heaven by flying up to it, for example by taking the appearance of a bird or carried by a spirit sent by

Ülgen Bai-Ülgen or Ülgen (Old Turkic: 𐰈𐰞𐰏𐰅𐰣; Cyrillic: Үлгэн) is a Turkic creator-deity, usually distinct from Tengri but sometimes identified with him in the same manner as Helios and Apollo. His name is from Old Turkic ''bay' ...

, will be carried to heaven after death, heaven carries a connotation of flying. Since the Turkic word for flight (''uç'') combined with the infinitive verbal suffix ''-mak'' means ''to take flight'', from the eleventh century onwards, this word served to designate this particular region of the

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

. However, another possibility is Sogdian word '' (paradise).

Description

Tengrism Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is a belief-system originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on shamanism and animism. It generally involves the titular sky god Tengri. According to some scholars, adherents of ...

, heaven resembles the earth, but as undefiled by humans with an untouched nature. It is much brighter than the earth there and the natives of this world have never deviated from the traditions of their ancestors.

Shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

s can visit this place in their rituals.

References

Conceptions of heaven Turkic mythology {{mythology-stub