In any case, the contrasts of above and below and of upper and lower do not figure predominately in the Yakut religion. More important is the division of the sky into east (good) and west (evil): This division allows for the classification of the spirits.
The Pantheon
The bright, creative spirits, aĭyys (from the Turkic root "ai," "to create"), assure the Yakuts their survival by granting them the souls of children and also of horses, cattle, and dogs, the Yakuts' only domesticated animals. However, the Yakuts must pay homage to the aiyys with milk offerings and prayers and must consecrate animals to them from their herd. The consecrated animal (yzykh) is not slain; it is sent back to the herd and is treated with respect, for it no longer belongs to humans but to the spirit to which it was consecrated. This spirit will reward the people for their care by granting fertility to the herd. The aĭyy cult, called "white shamanism," disappeared in the eighteenth century and never was studied properly.
The White Lord Creator, Iurung Aiyy Toion, is the master of all the aĭyys who are imagined to be like rich Yakuts and are organized in clans, as are the Yakuts themselves.
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