Buga (deity)

For the Tungus the term buga (also buya, boya, boga) refers to the greatest, omnipotent, eternal being.{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|loc = 39. Buga}} The same word also means either "sky", "universe", and may also refer to terms corresponding to "world" or "locality". The word is not taboo and is used in common speech.{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|loc = 39. Buga}} According to Shirokogoroff the term is an old one, and was not introduced by Christian missionaries.{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|ps= 39. Buga, quote : "The inference which can be made from these facts is that the conception of «highest being» and the term for it buga (with modifications), are very old and they are accepted by the Tungus groups who are not at present under a very strong alien influence."}}

For the eastern Tungus buga is a remote figure whom they have no description of, and nor do their shamans connect with it/him.{{sfn|Bonnefoy|1993|p=345}}{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|loc = 39. Buga}} The buga forms an exception in that it is one spirit than cannot be mastered by a shaman.{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|loc = 52. General Characteristics Of These Spirits}} Shirokogoroff states that all Tungus know how to pray/make sacrifices to buga and that activity is done without the intercession of shaman.{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|loc= 100. Hypothesis: Shamanism Stimulated By Buddhism}}

Furthermore, bugady are a tribe's sacred places.{{sfn|Bonnefoy|1993|p=349}} Equivalent names for a supreme deity are Es (Ket language), Nga (Enets language), and Turum or Torym (Khanty language).{{sfn|Bonnefoy|1993|p=345}}

The Tungus term 'buga' is similar to the Mongolian term bogdo (holy), Old Persian language baga (god), and the Kassite language bugas (god).{{citation|title= Shamanism : An Introduction | first = Margeret | last = Stutley | page = 64 | year =2003 }}{{sfn|Shirokogoroff|1935|loc = 40. Construction Of The World }}

The Even language term for the highest deity (the creator) is/was Nalban Omgo Ogyn Buga, the proper name in the same language is Hovky-Sovky; in the Evenk language the god's name is Shavaky-Savaky. The "upper" and "lower" worlds in those people's shamanic worldview are also referred to as Dulyn Buga and Harpy Buga.{{citation| title = Shamanic Cosmology Among the Tungus People of Eastern Siberia, Russia | first1 = Sardana A. | last1 =Alexaeyeva | first2= Anatoliy A. | last2 = Alexeyev | journal = The Northern Review | number= 22 | date = Winter 2000 | pages = 95–96 | url = http://journals.sfu.ca/nr/index.php/nr/article/download/457/461 }}

{{main|Tungusic creation myth}}

In a Tungusic creation myth Buga creates both the earth (using fire to create it within a watery void), as well as creating man and woman from fire, earth, iron, and water.{{sfn|Y.Z.|1824|p=595}}{{sfn|Holmberg|1964|p=371}} In the myth he is opposed by Buninka, a devil figure, who becomes responsible for evil persons after death.{{sfn|Y.Z.|1824|p=595}}

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• {{citation| url = http://www.litrossia.ru/article.php?article=775 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005042338/http://www.litrossia.ru/article.php?article=775 |archive-date=October 5, 2006 |number = 39| date = 29 Sep 2006| title =ЭВЕНКИЙСКИЙ ТРИПТИХ | trans-title = Evenk Triptych | language = russian | first = Александр (Alexander) | last = ТРАПЕЗНИКОВ (Trapeznikov) }}, citing the monograph Evenks of Galina Varlamova
• {{citation| title = The Mythology of All Races | volume = 4 Finno-Ugric, Siberian |editor-first = John Arnott | editor-last = MacCulloch | editor-link = John Arnott MacCulloch | editor-first2 = George Foot| editor-last2= Moore|editor-link2=George Foot Moore | first = Uno | last = Holmberg | authorlink=Uno Harva | url =https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra41gray |publisher = Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., New York| year= 1964 }}
• {{citation |last=Y.Z. |title=Some Account of the Tungousians in general and the Transbaikal Tungousians in particular |date=June 1824 |journal =Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register |volume=17 |publisher=Wm. H. Allen & Co |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8w8oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA595 |number = 102 | pages = 593–602 }}
• {{citation|title = Asian Mythologies| first = Yves |last = Bonnefoy | authorlink = Yves Bonnefoy | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year= 1993 }}
• {{citation|first = С.М. (S.M.) |last = Широкогоров (Shirokogoroff) | title = Psychomental Complex of the Tungus |volume = 2 | url =http://www.shirokogorov.ru/s-m-shirokogorov/publications/psychomental-complex-tungus-02| orig-year = 1935 | work =www.shirokogorov.ru | year = 2009–2018 | ref = {{harvid|Shirokogoroff|1935}} }}

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Category:Asian gods

Category:Tungusic mythology

Category:Creator gods

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