Kazakh Mythology

Zheztyrnak

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Tradition: Kazakh mythology
Alternative Names: Zheztyrnak, Jeztyrnak, Jez Tumshuk, Chulbus, Shulbus, Mu-shubun
Category: Demon

The Myth

Zheztyrnak is an evil demonic creature that usually appears as a beautiful young woman, although she can sometimes take the form of a terrible old woman. Beneath her attractive appearance she hides monstrous copper claws. Her ten fingers end in sharp, razor-like copper claws, while blue-tinted blades grow along her palms, each sharp enough to cut through stone. She usually hides these claws beneath long sleeves.

Zheztyrnak has tremendous supernatural power and possesses a loud, piercing voice. Her scream is deadly to birds and small animals. She is a frightening forest woman, especially dangerous to anyone who encounters her alone.

Zheztyrnak is sometimes compared to a vampire. She can hypnotize a person with her cold, unblinking gaze. Once her victim falls asleep, she attacks with her claws and sucks out all of their blood.

She is also fiercely vindictive. If a Zheztyrnak is killed, her husband seeks revenge for her death, and after his death, the victim may be pursued by their orphaned children.

One Kazakh tale tells of a hunter who encountered Zheztyrnak late in the evening. A young woman appeared at his hunting fire, and the hunter invited her to share his meal. He noticed that she constantly covered her nose with her sleeve, even while eating, and realized that she was no ordinary woman but a Zheztyrnak.

After she left, the hunter placed a log beside the fire and covered it with his clothes. He then climbed into a tree with his gun and waited. During the night, Zheztyrnak returned and threw herself onto the disguised log, believing the hunter was sleeping there. From his hiding place, the hunter fired and killed the demon with a well-aimed shot.

Sources

“Жезтырнак (Zheztyrnak).” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/zheztyrnak

Meker

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Tradition: Kazakh mythology
Alternative Names: Meker, Meker-katyn
Category: Demon

The Myth

Meker is an evil demon from lower Kazakh mythology that usually takes the form of a woman. However, the Meker can also transform into the form of a dog, cat, or kid goat.

Mekers are among the evil spirits of Kazakh mythology and are sometimes used as another name for the Albasty. In modern Kazakh speech, “meker-katyn” is used as an insult for an evil, constantly quarrelling woman.

No further legends about the Meker are given in the source.

Sources

“Мекер (Meker).” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/Meker

Martu

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Tradition: Kazakh mythology
Alternative Names: Martu
Category: Demon

The Myth

Martu is an evil demon from lower Kazakh mythology who takes the form of a woman.

Little is known about her appearance or nature beyond her female form and her identity as an evil demon. The name Martu is also used as an insult in Kazakh speech, but no further legends about the creature are given in the source.

Sources

“Марту (Martu).” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/Martu

Zhelmaya

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Tradition / Region: Kazakhstan Mythology
Alternative names: Zhelmaya
Category: Camel, Bird

The Myth

The Zhelmaya is a legendary winged camel in Kazakh folklore. Its name combines the words for wind and one-humped camel, reflecting its extraordinary speed and supernatural nature. Unlike ordinary camels, the Zhelmaya can soar through the air and travel vast distances with ease.

The creature is most often associated with legendary figures such as priests, seers, shamans, wise elders, and wandering heroes, who ride the Zhelmaya on long journeys. Its connection to these revered figures makes it a symbol of wisdom, guidance, and sacred travel.

According to tradition, the Zhelmaya preserves the memory of an ancient belief that the camel was the principal mount of holy men and prophets. As a swift, winged beast capable of crossing the world like the wind, it remains one of the most remarkable mythical creatures of Kazakh folklore.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Zhelmaya. In New Bestiary: Encyclopedia of Imaginary Beings. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/zhelmaya. (webrate.org)

Goatmen

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Tradition / Region: Kazakhstan Mythology
Alternate Names: None Recorded
Category: Sheep

The Myth

In Kazakh folklore, Goatmen are wild goats with human heads that once roamed the wilderness and attacked hunters. They were feared for their strength and were said to kill people with powerful blows from their shoulders. Because of this danger, many hunters became too frightened to enter the mountains or hunt game.

One story tells of a poor hunter and his teenage son who decided to hunt despite the danger. After gathering a large amount of game, the father ordered his son to collect brushwood for a fire. Both wore clothing made from sheepskin. The old hunter cut fat from the animals they had killed and secretly smeared it inside their coats, instructing his son to do the same.

The Goatmen watched them from nearby and became curious. Wanting to imitate the hunters, they asked for fat and covered themselves with it as well. The old hunter then held fire against the inside of his sheepskin coat, which did not burn. Believing this was safe, the Goatmen moved close to the flames. Their grease-soaked wool quickly caught fire, and as they tried to extinguish the flames by rubbing against one another, the fire spread even more fiercely.

According to the tale, the Goatmen were burned to death, and the old hunter freed the land from the dangerous creatures.

Sources

Bestiary contributors. (n.d.). Козлолюди (Kozloljudi). In Bestiary, from https://www.bestiary.us/kozloljudi

Mystan Kempir

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Tradition / Region: Kazakhstan Mythology, Kyrgyzstan Mythology, Uzbekistan Mythology, and Tatar Mythology
Alternate Names: None Recorded
Category: Witch, Demon

The Myth

Mystan Kempir is a demonic old woman from Central Asian folklore. She is feared as a witch who steals and replaces children, poisons food, and places curses upon people. Some legends also describe her keeping captives in the underworld, where she devours them alive.

Although she appears as an elderly woman, Mystan Kempir is said to possess unnatural speed and strength, capable of outrunning or even catching a galloping horse. She is known more for deception than direct violence, often defeating people through tricks, manipulation, and cunning rather than force.

Stories describe Mystan Kempir disguising herself as an ordinary old woman in order to enter homes unnoticed. Once welcomed inside, she brings misfortune, danger, or death. In heroic tales, even powerful batyrs can struggle against her schemes and magical tricks.

Sources

Bestiary contributors. (n.d.). Мыстан кемпір (Mystan Kempir). In Bestiary, from https://www.bestiary.us/mystan-kemp%D1%96r

Maidyn Massalyk Ulesi

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Tradition / Region: Kazakhstan Mythology
Alternate Names: Maidyn massalyk ulesi
Category: Spirit, Dwarf

The Myth

Maidyn Massalyk Ulesi is a spirit from Kazakh folklore associated with a mystical forest. The being is described as a patron spirit connected with happiness, fate, and guidance.

According to one belief, an unmarried woman who has not found love by the age of forty-five may travel alone into the steppe carrying kumiss and dried curd cakes. The first stranger she meets and shares food with is believed either to become her husband or reveal the man destined to become the father of her future children. Some women wandered for months without meeting anyone, while others eventually encountered a red-faced man who shared food and drink with them before disappearing. Later, the woman would meet a man with the same name and appearance and eventually form a family with him.

Another tradition says that people searching for lost horses, camels, or sheep may enter a fog-covered forest crossed by rivers of milk and ask Maidyn Massalyk Ulesi for help in recovering the missing animals. Berries and kumiss are offered to the spirit during this search. According to the legend, if the spirit accepts the offering, the lost animals will eventually be recovered, although the person who made the offering may later experience some form of loss themselves.

Sources

Bestiary contributors. (n.d.). Майдын массалык улеси (Majdyn Massalyk Ylesi). In Bestiary, from https://www.bestiary.us/majdyn-massalyk-ylesi

Buzhai

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Tradition / Region: Kazakh mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Bogeyman, Cow

The Myth

Across the steppes and valleys of Kazakhstan, parents once warned their children of a being called the Buzhai. It was not like other creatures of legend, for it had no fixed shape or face. No one could say what it truly looked like, and that was what made it feared.

The Buzhai was never seen clearly. It was said to linger in shadows, to hide in dark corners, or to wait just beyond the doorway when night fell. Its power did not lie in claws or teeth, but in uncertainty. Children were told that if they ignored their elders or misbehaved, the Buzhai might come for them, emerging from the darkness without warning.

Because it had no form, every child imagined it differently. To some it was enormous and looming, to others a strange animal with watching eyes, to others still something formless that could not be escaped once noticed. What mattered was not what it was, but that it might be there.

In this way, the Buzhai lived in the imagination rather than the world, a presence felt rather than seen. It endured as a shadow of the unknown, passed from voice to voice, reminding the young that unseen forces might be drawn close by careless behavior, and that the dark always listens.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Bézhəi, from https://www.bestiary.us/b%D3%A9zh%D3%99i