Albasty (Mythology)

Albasty (also albarsty) is a female demon of Iradi folk belief, shared with the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Central Asian peoples, who is said to attack women in childbirth and newborn infants. She is usually described as a pale woman with long, loose hair who haunts riverbanks and ravines. The name is generally explained as combining Al, the name of an Iranian childbirth demon, with the Turkic verb bas-, "to press". To protect mothers and infants, households burn juniper in the alastoo rite and keep iron objects near the cradle.

See also

• Zhez-Tyrmak (Mythology)