Southern Chuvash call God Tura, northern – Tora. Russian special literature until now was deluded in questions concerning the Chuvash notion of God. It imputed innumerable gods to paganism or “black magic”, no matter if they were good or evil. With their incomplete knowledge of the language and the subject they also interpreted obscure names of some diseases as names of gods. The Chuvash distinguished the main God (Tura) and many gods of the lower level.

And now again and in more detail we’ll tell about the fact, that the faith and sacrifice system of Chuvash pagans testifies of the acknowledgement of the only God. Moreover, they believe in good and evil spirits (the remainder of the ancient shamanism); they never call them Tura but name each spirit with its own name, and for them no one stands in high esteem except for that only God. They call God per Tura “the only God”. But besides this, it has a number of epithets and here I site only the basic ones:

çўлти Турâ – Supreme (or the Most High) God.
Мâн Торâ – Great God.
Чон çоратакан Торâ – God bearing (creating) souls.
Ывâл-хêр çоратакан Торâ – God bearing (creating) children (literally “sons and daughters”).
Тырâ-полâ çоратакан Торâ – God creating corns.
Выльâх-чêрлêх çоратакан Торâ – God creating livestock (living creatures).
êне Турри – God of cows (that is of cattle).
çорт çоратакан Торâ – God creating dwelling.
çорт кêтен Торâ – God guarding (protecting) dwelling (that is the “keeper of the hearth”).
Мол çоратакан Торâ – God creating property.
Хорт çоратакан Торâ – God bearing (creating) bees (that is “the breeder of bees”).
Туй Торри – God of weddings (that is “guiding matrimony», “predetermining matrimonial ties”).
Чечек çоратакан Торâ – God bearing (creating) flowers (that is “in charge of corns ripening”).
Чêкеç Торри – God of swallows.
Тâхран Торри – God of woodpeckers.
Вêлтрен кайâк Торри – God of wrens (chaffinches, siskins).
Шâпчâк Торри – God of nightingales.

Some of these epithets are taken from V. K. Magnitsky, because for the most part they are not in use today. But he views each as a separate God and this doesn’t change the fact of the matter. From the epithets one can see what qualities people’s imagination attributes to this only God. He created the soul and children. He grows crops, breeds cattle, creates home, family, he is their keeper. He gives property, wealth, creates bees; he is the God of weddings and fun. In meadows he creates flowers, under the shed he looks after swallows which are his favourite birds. He is the keeper of the mysterious, superstitious woodpecker, other small birds living under nettle and of the trilling nightingale.
He created the whole world, and if everything ends he will again create a new world and new people:

Ку тêнче пêтсен, Турâ урâх тêрлê халâх, урâх тêнче çуратат – After the collapse of this world God will create other people and another world. (Ulhash)

To demonstrate that people attribute good qualities to God it would be better to cite Chuvash sayings concerning God and which are the illustrations in a way:

Торâ епле çынсана тытса тâрат, ашшê ачисене Торâ пак тытса тâрат – Like God keeps people, in such a way a parent keeps his children.
Выçса çўрекене Торâ тâрантарат – God will feed a starving person.
Торâ парни тâранмалâх, а этем парни тутанмалâх – Whatever God sends, it is enough for living, what people give is just for tasting.
Торâ калат йолашки пêрчине те çынна пама – God teaches to give every last thing to the poor.
Торâ пармасасâн кашкâр çимес – If God doesn’t give – a wolf won’t eat.
Торâсâр поçна ним тума та полмас – Without God’s help nothing will be fulfilled.
Торâсâр алâк солли орлâ та каçма полмас – Without God’s help you won’t be able to cross the threshold.
Торâ êçлекене йоратат – God loves hard-working people.
Торра порта пêрешкелех, хоть оксахê, хоть коçсâрê – For God everyone is equal – either a lame person, or a blind one.
Ухмаха та Торâ çуратат, ялсеренех салатат – God also creates foolish people and distributes them among villages.
çынтан вâтанмасассâн, Торâран хâрамасассâн пархатар корман – If you don’t feel ashamed of people, you won’t be afraid of God – you won’t see happiness in this case.
Торâн конê номай – God has many days (that is God doesn’t hurry to revenge).
Торâ корат те час каламаст – God notices everything but doesn’t rush to utter.

Except for the fact that he is the source of all earthly blessings, he is the only one who knows people’s destiny and the fate of the whole world. But fatalism is of great significance in the life and outlook of the Chuvash. God is the only expert and distributor of the inevitable and eternal fate. The Chuvash think that God writes the destiny of every person on his forehead, on the frontal bone in the form of intricate scars tura schyrny, which no one except for God can read. Human eye can’t see them, because they are covered with skin. How much na?ve poetry and mysterious truth there is! Except for forehead cryptography God marks everyone – on every person’s body he puts a birthmark, which is called “God’s mark” (tor pally). It also has fortune meaning. If a birthmark is above waist, a person will be happy, if below waist – unhappy. People are not indignant at this as an inevitable thing.

A girl which is going to marry also bears with God’s predestination without complaint. Some day a man predetermined for her by God will come; the fate is such a thing that they come to every girl, though their hearts doesn’t long for them. Chuvash girls sing about this in such a way:

The whole system of pagan sacrifices and certain prayers are the evidence of monotheistic perception of the Chuvash. In spring before cultivating the land, they made sacrifices and asked for rich crops. And only to him (God). Before depasturing the cattle during corns ripening they again ask only his blessing for cattle and corns. And in autumn, when they leave fields for home and thresh first corns, when cattle is herded in a cattle-pen because of snow, they again make gratifying sacrifices to God in order to get rich crops and good cattle offspring. In these prayers they never mention other gods, they mention the only God and thank him for the given good. But except for sacrifices made to this only God there are also other small sacrifices when people pray to house-spirits or kiremets. However, this can’t be identified with sacrifices made to Tura. These are small purifying sacrifices , due to them people try to live in good relations with evil spirits, otherwise they would do much harm, torment with diseases and sufferings. The characteristic feature of sacrifices is that animals of white colour are usually offered in sacrifice, during field sacrifices – a white mare, during bloody sacrifices – a white sheep. The Chuvash consider white to be God’s favourite colour, even the folk song tells about this:

On the occasion of sacrifices and festivals the Chuvash wear a white shirt; southern Chuvash pagans wear white felt hats, earlier, as the old say, the most part of their outer clothing was also white. But now the Chuvash not only walk away from God of their ancestors, but they stop wearing white clothes and like the Russians wear clothes of black and other colours, that is why Tura is angry with them and sends various miseries, bad crops, hunger, diseases…

God is always fighting with the most evil spirit, Shuytan. The traces of dualism, the eternal fight of the good with the bad, the light and the darkness can be found in Chuvash mythology. Shuytan always mocks at God by lifting his buttock towards the sky. And God attacks him with a lightning and wants to kill him, but very often he is weak against him, because Shuytan is insidious, he can outwit God. He, having heard “the old man’s singing” aslaty avatat, as the Chuvash call thunder, changes and thus avoids thunderbolts. Thunder and lightning come from God himself. If he talks, his word becomes thunder. The Chuvash name of thunder aslaty avatat – “the old man talks” comes from this. When the lightning strikes, they say: ascha schapat. This means: “the old man strikes”. He usually strikes in order to clear the earth from the evil, otherwise they would destroy everything, and even crops won’t grow for people”.

In heaven God is not presented alone. There are also other good spirits near which serve him, such as:

Торâ омêнче çўрекен – Preceeding God (that is “fulfilling God’s wishes”, “God’s servant”).
Мâн Торâ омêнче тâракан – Standing in front of Great God (that is “the Great God’s servant”).
Мâн Торâ алâкне оçакан – Opening the gates of Great God (that is “the outside door-keeper”).
Мâн Торâ алâкне хопакан – Closing the gates of Great God (that is “the inside door-keeper”).

Southern Chuvash call them with one name pireshty (compare pers. feriste “angel”.)

Migrant birds that in autumn fly away from fields and forests, also fly to heaven, to God to pass winter there. Most of all, God loves the swallow. This is explained by the fact that the swallow, not being afraid of him, reaches God and builds its nest near him, when other birds live farther from him. It is original tha in Chuvash mythology God like many other good and evil spirits has a father and a mother: Torashe ‘God’s father’, Toramash ‘God’s mother’. Nothing is known about them except for their names, they do not participate in the world management and in his business; most likely they appeared analogically or as a result of subsequent influence of Christianity. There are no traces of them in the old sacrificial prayers, they pray to the only God everywhere. But in the sacrificial prayer against the evil eye God’s mother is mentioned, however it is nothing else but the charm yumschy. When sacrifice ends, the same words are whispered either on vodka, or on water. In some parts of these charms God’s mother appear, but always together with God. For example, in charms against jaundice (sar chir):

However, even these charms addressed to God’s mother are of the later origin, the influence of Russian Christianity is so noticeable, that in some places together with Mother of God they mention anhel (angel) and pray to him. In earlier charms yumschy, that is in those where many archaisms remained, God’s mother was not mentioned, just God himself. When describing northern Chuvash regions, V. K. Magnitsky mentions several kind spirits that live in heaven, near God’s mother:
Тор амâшê омêнче тâракан - Standing in front of Mother of God (that is “God’s Mother’s servant”).
Тор амâшне алâкне оçакан - Opening the gates of Mother of God (that is “the outside door-keeper near the room of Great God’s wife”).
Тор амâшне алâкне хопакан - Closing the gates of Mother of God (that is “the inside door-keeper in the room of Great God’s wife”).

Except for these kind spirits living near God and his mother, Pyulehsche and Kepe also live there; we’ll aquaint the reader with them on the next pages. The Chuvash, turned to Christianity, also call Russian God Tura/Tora and attribute to him traditions and myths of the old pagan faith. The folk monotheistic faith of the Chuvash doesn’t see the difference in this new God. On the contrary, the Chuvash pagans are so monotheistic that in many places they watch in bewilderment how the Russians honour sacred images and saints to the point of idolatry, even Chuvash Christians don’t know about either the homage of saints, or the worship of God.

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