Tradition / Region: Inuit mythology
Category: Sea goddess · Spirit mistress of marine life
The Myth
Nuliajuk is the powerful and feared mistress of the sea and its animals, ruling over seals, walrus, and all creatures beneath the water. She enforces taboos with ruthless impartiality: when a rule is broken, she may seize any human, not always the guilty one, reflecting the Inuit belief that wrongdoing disturbs a fragile cosmic balance that affects the whole community.
Those taken by Nuliajuk are not always killed. Some are transformed into sea animals, their souls living on in her domain while their bones remain with her. Only rare individuals—an anêrlartukxiâq, one who can return from death through powerful magic—can be restored to human life, often with the aid of a great shaman.
Shamans strong enough may confront Nuliajuk directly, even threatening or beating her to force the return of the stolen. A well-known account tells of Anarte, who died at sea, returned to life, descended to Nuliajuk’s underwater dwelling, and compelled her—by threat—to reassemble his brother’s bones so that he too could live again.
Through Nuliajuk, Inuit tradition expresses a stark moral truth: the sea remembers every breach, and survival depends on respect, restraint, and ritual balance between humans and the unseen powers that govern life.
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
Philosophical Readings
Psychological Readings
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive