Tirawa

The Father Above

Domain: Creation, Sky & Destiny
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Element: Light
Relics of Power: Morning Star

Speak with Tirawa

The People

People

Native American peoples

Region

North America

Period

pre-colonial – present

These spirits and deities were worshipped by the many Native peoples of North America, from the Lakota to the Navajo and Iroquois. Their beliefs bind humans to the Great Spirit, to totem animals, and to balance with the land. Passed down orally, they survive in the Indigenous nations that endured colonization.

The Sun Dance gathered the Plains nations in fasting and sacrifice around the sacred tree. The Hopi dance with the kachinas, masked spirits of the rains, and the sacred pipe seals prayers and treaties — ceremonies still alive in today's nations.

The Sacred Scrolls

Tirawa, or Tirawahat, is the supreme power of the Pawnee of the central Plains. A sky spirit dwelling above the clouds, he assigned to the stars and heavenly bodies their tasks in the creation of the world and of humanity. He has no human form: he manifests through the wind, the lightning and the light of the stars. As The Father Above, this deity occupies a position of supreme prestige in the nativos pantheon. Their domains over Creation, Sky & Destiny reflect ancestral cosmic order maintained across millennia. In classical iconography, they are depicted with an aura of unshakeable majesty and sacred attributes that inspired reverence in emperors and peasants alike. Their influence extended beyond earthly boundaries, governing fates and harmony between the visible and invisible worlds. For ancient devotees, contemplating their essence was to understand the very fundamental forces of nature and human existence.

Sacred Symbols

The Morning Star, the Evening Star, the sky and the four cardinal points

Divine Lineage

Commands the stars, especially the Morning Star (male) and the Evening Star (female).

The Legendary Myth

The Pawnee tell that Tirawa ordered the Morning Star and the Evening Star to unite, and from that union was born the first girl, ancestor of humanity.

Legends & Deeds

A celebrated secondary legend preserved in the oral traditions of the nativos recounts the journey when Tirawa intervened directly in the lives of mortals.

Cult & Worship

Historically, the cult of Tirawa occupied a central place in the religious and architectural calendar of antiquity.

Relics of Power

The warrior star to whom Tirawa entrusted the task of kindling the first life upon the earth.

Did You Know?

The Pawnee held sophisticated astronomical knowledge, aligning their ceremonies and even the layout of their earth-lodges to the movement of the stars guided by Tirawa.