In theInuit religion,Torngarsuk (orTorngasak) is asea,death andunderworld god,[1] one of the more important deities in theInuit pantheon. He is said to be the leader of theTornat, a group of protective gods.[2]
Torngarsuk is listed as a demon or spirit in theDictionnaire Infernal, a.k.a.Tornatik,Torngarsoak,Torngasoak,Tungrangayak,Tornasuk etc., is a mischievous demon/spirit worshiped by offering inGreenland and the northeastern regions of Canada.
Torngarsuk is the master of whales and seals and most powerful supernatural being in Greenland. He appears in the form of a bear, a one-armed man, or a grand human creature like one of the fingers of a hand. He is considered to be invisible to everyone but theangakkuit (the medicine men or shaman amongInuit peoples).
These conflicting descriptions leave us unsure as to his form, but as a grand spirit or demon Torngarsuk is invoked by fishermen and by theangakoqs" when one falls ill. There are other spirits invisible to everyone but the angakkuq, who teach men how to be happy. They see Torngarsuk as their benefactor; when the Anguekkok call upon him, they ask that if he does not come that he leave them "in the land of plenty".
Each angakkuq keeps afamiliar spirit in a leather bottle which he evokes and consults like anoracle. This familiar spirit seeks Torngarsuk in a cave and brings good fortune as well as healing power.
In popular culture, the term or phraseTornasuk andangekok are best known from a simple and short reference to this part ofInuit mythology and ideology byH. P. Lovecraft in his short-story "The Call of Cthulhu", where these ideas are portrayed as part of an "Eskimo diabolist" cult who revereCthulhu as an avatar or tangible form of Torngarsuk.[3]
^Jakobsen, Merete Demant (2020).Shamanism: Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing. Berghahn Books. p. 67.ISBN9781789202076.
Taylor, J. Garth (1997). "Deconstructing deities: Tuurngatsuak and Tuurngaatsuk in Labrador Inuit religion".Inuit Studies.21 (1/2):141–158.JSTOR42869963.
