For quite a long time, shamanism was in oblivion, and people lost the ability to see the spirits of nature. But in some territories of Siberia, the local population still managed to retain knowledge of shamanic rituals and faith in spirits. The traditions of hereditary shamans have been preserved on the shores of Baikal, where shamans live who have a shamanic root (utha) in the fifth and even ninth generation.
A characteristic feature of modern shamanism, widespread in the Bakal region, is openness. Shamans share their knowledge, communicate and demonstrate shamanic rituals to everyone.
Despite the prohibitions, Siberian shamans passed down from generation to generation legends and genealogical traditions, shamanic practices that arose in ancient times, the art of healing using natural methods and herbs, the ability to communicate with spirits and enter the shamanic state called “letting ongo.”
Just like thousands of years ago, modern shamans accurately pronounce the shamanic prayer “durdalgu” and perform a sequence of actions of traditional rituals. Shamans still enjoy authority among the local population, and Buryat families turn to them for help when treatment is needed. They believe in the soul and turn to the shaman with a request to return it if they suddenly lose it in the process of life. After all, without a soul a person is destined to live no more than three years, according to the shamans. Modern shamans are very often educated people who write and publish books, give lectures, live among their people and try to solve their problems. Along with performing shamanic rituals and communicating with spirits, the modern clergyman is also the custodian of established traditions. Only he can remind those who have forgotten the ancient customs of their ancestors; he makes sacrifices to the spirits of the area and the spirits of their ancestors.
One of the modern representatives of the ancient family of shamans is Valentin Khagdaev. He is a practicing Olkhon shaman from the Buryat clan Buyan, subclan Khagdai. In 2000, he underwent his fifth initiation “hesete boo”, which translated means “received a tambourine”. During the initiation process, blind rain suddenly began to fall. This phenomenon was regarded by the old people as a good omen.
Valentin Khagdaev, as a true shaman, has a divine mark - tengeriin temdeg. From birth he has right hand split thumb. The supreme shaman of Mongolia, boo Tseren-zairana, believes that shamans with such markings appear once every hundred years, and there are no such shamans with a split bone anywhere else in the world.
Valentin Khagdaev, in addition to his studies in shamanism, completed his postgraduate studies at the Buryatsky Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetological Studies scientific center Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is currently finalizing his published monograph “Shamanism and World Religions” into a dissertation for his PhD degree. He knows by heart many myths, legends of his people and family traditions. Can talk in detail about almost everyone memorial place in the Tazheran steppe. Only thanks to modern shamans, such as Valentin Khagdaev, can one obtain first-hand information about shamanism and the world of spirits. In addition, such information sometimes does not coincide much with the stereotypes that have appeared recently as a result of the popularization of knowledge about shamanism by Western gurus.
For example, V. Khagdaev writes in his book that in the spiritual world what is more important than power and wealth is what kind of person you were. In that world, the sensations of space and time disappear. That world is formless or has many forms - it all depends on the person himself and the wealth of his imagination and consciousness. The sensations that arise in that world are difficult to fully convey in words. It really becomes easy and blissful there. The shaman had such sensations during his first journey, and returning to his body was difficult, difficult and painful.
It is impossible to refute or prove the existence of another reality and the authenticity of shamans’ travels to another world. The works of Michael Harner, Mircea Eliade and Carlos Castaneda encouraged thousands of Europeans to experiment with their consciousness. Authoritative anthropologists have spread throughout the world special cases of entering the “shamanic state”, which wander from one book to another. Therefore, the conviction arose that everyone could repeat this mystical experience, but these experiments with the psyche lead to unjustified risks. The stereotypes that have arisen that helping spirits and immeasurable joy await on the other side of reality may not be justified and may not coincide with objectively experienced sensations. Some shamans, while making their travels, talk about how another reality greeted them with indifference and sometimes hostility. Spiritual entities sometimes do not want to contact even a shaman. Therefore, learning about shamanic practices from books is dangerous.
Moreover, such comprehension of shamanic traditions cannot be considered real. Modern shamans live according to the traditions of their ancestors. This is what distinguishes them from those who practice shamanism as a hobby.
Who are shamans really? Why has this tradition passed through millennia almost unchanged and is still relevant today? What relationships connect the shaman with other worlds?
Olard! There are at least several definitions of what “shamanism” is in the academic literature. In the pseudo-scientific environment, they cannot be counted. As a major researcher of this phenomenon, what definition would you choose for it?
Yes, there is no clear definition of this phenomenon. Moreover, there is not even a term that suits everyone that would reflect the essence ancient system beliefs known to all peoples of the Earth since the Paleolithic. The word “shaman” appears not so long ago, at the very end of the 17th century, after the journey of Izbrand Ides and Adam Brandt as part of the Russian embassy to China. On the way, members of the expedition meet tribes of the Tungus, as the Evenks were previously called, from whose dictionary this term originates. The name of the entire system of knowledge – shamanism – comes from it. However, this is not an entirely correct education, since a shaman is a minister of a cult, and the word “shamanism” implies belief in shamans, but not in the spirits whose guides are shamans. For comparison, we can cite outdated formations: lama - Lamaism, priest - clericalism, which were recognized as untenable and fell out of use. Orthodoxy is not a belief in priests, and shamanism should not be understood as a belief in shamans. But this is a question for the future.
In reality, there is no shamanism. There are certain cults, this or that faith. The term was imposed on all representatives of traditional religions, indiscriminately. The clergy themselves - the Tuvan kama, the Yakut oyun, the Sami noida - never agreed with this term.
Many were classified as shamans, although their practice was priestly, and shamans never participated in sacrifices, they only told what should be done so that the spirits were favorable.
SHAMANISM IS BOTH FAITH AND TECHNIQUE OF ECSTASIS AT THE SAME TIME =
Here, it is probably worth emphasizing that shamanism is not exactly a religion, in the sense that we are accustomed to perceiving this term.
There is no definite answer here, since in some cases shamanism is really a religion. In Tuva, it is perceived exactly this way, having the status of a republican religion on a par with Christianity and Buddhism. In addition to Tuva, there are religious organizations of shamans in Buryatia and Yakutia, Altai and Khakassia. On the other hand, shamanism is not really a religion, not even a religion at all. According to the famous researcher of ancient cultures Mircea Eliade, who had a huge influence on the formation of shamanism in the mid-20th century, shamanism is an archaic technique of ecstasy that can exist within any religious idea. In his works he proves this, illustrating how shamanic techniques of ecstasy and trance have coexisted with a variety of ideas of a purely religious nature for thousands of years.
Thus, shamanism is both a faith and a set of ecstatic techniques at the same time. In a number of traditions considered shamanic, belief in specific structured forces, with their hierarchies, adepts, priests and worship, exists as an inextricable whole.
An example here is the Buryat-Mongolian cultural layer, where, along with the essentially religious worship of Tengeri - the Eternal Blue Sky, one of the most interesting techniques of ecstasy was preserved - entering the state of ongon. This state is a technique, as a result of which the spirits of ancestors penetrate the shaman’s body and broadcast through it to their descendants.
That is, the main feature of shamanism is the shaman as a medium. He is the central figure of this worldview, the bearer of this concept, tradition, minister of worship...
Of course, the shaman is the central figure of this worldview. But the tradition itself, as I already said, is still not a belief in shamans, as such. Shamans are conductors of certain forces with which they entered into an agreement: during their dedication, initiation, their “shamanic” illness... Thus, each specific shaman is a conductor of various spirits, those who once came and, in fact, made them shamans. That’s why there are no universal shamans who can do everything.
Accordingly, in so-called traditional shamanism, in some specific, specific area, can there be any number of its branches?
Absolutely right. There are dozens of directions of shamanism in Russia, depending on one or another cultural tradition. Each clan has its own shaman, or even more than one, who embodies the mythology and tradition of this particular clan, of this particular area. Each of them has its own practice and rituals, which in some places differ significantly from the practice of shamans of the same ethnic group, but from other regions. One has one “transmission” (spiritual tradition passed on from one shaman to another - A.Ya.’s note), the other has another. Sometimes there are disputes and friction between shamans, not only over territory, but also over differences in worldview. Then a war arises between shamans, which often ends in the death of one of them.
Among the largest shamanic traditions that now exist in Russia, one can highlight the already mentioned and most numerous in terms of the number of supporters, the cult of the Eternal Blue Sky - Tengeri (Tengri - among the Turks of Southern Siberia), to which Genghis Khan considered himself; the cult of the celestial ancestors Aiyy - among the Yakuts; cult of the First Shaman - Crow Kutha, widespread among the peoples of Paleo-Asian language group: Chukchi, Koryak, etc.
Of course, in a certain sense, all this is an aspect of faith, religiosity, and shamanism is located within each tradition, like a kind of supporting structure. There are also individual shamans who do not identify themselves with any of the cults, carrying their own original and unique system of ideas. Nevertheless, the basis of their philosophy will still be based on the same constants: the three worlds of the Universe (Lower, Middle, Upper), the World Tree piercing them, along which one can penetrate into one or another area, etc.
BEFORE YOU START YOUR JOURNEY, SHAMAN
DIVERS INTO THE COMMON SOURCES OF ALL RELIGIONS =
But this is generally the common foundation for all shamans without exception. In the world and...
Yes, this primary cosmogonic and cosmological model is part of the general mythology of humanity. And, again, once we establish the presence of this common foundation, we can again consider it from a religious perspective.
The shaman, before making a journey, immerses himself in the origins of all religions, as well as in the culture of his people, in the myths and legends characteristic of his ethnic group. This has always been the case, and this allows us to consider the shaman as a servant of the faith of a particular people, possessing special abilities to perceive the invisible spheres of existence.
There is a connection here with tribal nuances. There is a connection to a specific area, a specific clan, a specific local culture.
Without a doubt. There is always a connection to local religion. For example, in the Republic of Tyva it is a combination of Buddhism and shamanism. Tuvans say that a person has two wings: one comes from the Buddha, and the other from the Great Shaman. And only together these two wings can lift a person above his mortal nature. In Khakassia, neighboring Tyva, everything is completely different. The shamanism of the Khakass, as well as the Altaians, Yakuts and others, was strongly influenced by Christianity. There are some nuances there.
But, with all this, the form of shamanism no longer depends on the general religion of the people, which, of course, has a noticeable influence on it, but on the transmission lines of the Teaching, which are always constant and carefully protected from any innovations. There are many such clan lines. Each specific tradition is associated with its inherent practices. The shaman-teacher conveys to his student exactly the Knowledge that the shamans of his line possessed, be it the practice of working with a tambourine or artysh (mountain juniper, without fumigation of which not a single ritual of ritual of a Tuvan shaman takes place - approx. A.Ya.), with a wing a kite or a badger's paw. He doesn't know the others.
SHAMANISM IS THE OLDEST RELIGION ON EARTH =
Speaking about the practice of transmission, we have already emphasized that there are absolutely common things that are identical for all shamans of the world (!). Many researchers of this phenomenon have written about this, including Mircea Eliade. This is where the term “basic shamanism” came from. This is an extremely curious thing, which suggests that absolutely everyone had the same roots.
The first beliefs, which are usually called shamanic, belong to Upper Paleolithic(35 - 12 thousand years ago), or even earlier. Ideas about the living soul appear - animism, the origin of childbirth from the animal principle - totemism. During the Mesolithic period (12 - 9 thousand years ago), at the junction of these two systems, the basic or, better said, fundamental forms of shamanic ideas, the original worldview, which formed the basis of all subsequent religious and ecstatic practices, emerged. This is a kind of platform on which various archaic cults, as well as Christianity, Buddhism and other religions, are based. One basis for everyone.
Today, the concept of “basic” shamanism is often used to explain one of the directions of what is called “new age”. That is, a complex of religious views of the post-modern era...
Why then “basic”?
Well, it is also called neo-shamanism. The same Wiki gives this definition. That is, these are the very basic shamanic practices that modern Western people are beginning to use, trying to understand their spiritual self in a new way. At the same time, again there is a sharp dissonance between traditional shamanism and neo-shamanism.
I think that a modern Western person will not achieve anything on this path by bypassing the established, established tradition. New Age products are, in fact, synthetic, artificially combined from the traditions of very, very many peoples, cooked in one pot. The result is a mystical mess of beliefs, prejudices, and, often, outright fraud. Representatives of traditional shamanism look at this as a game of adults “with higher education on their faces,” and do not perceive neo-shamanism any more.
But everything depends on the people themselves, naturally, the neo-shamans themselves. There are some of them who later received the appropriate blessings, practices and became recognized shamans, already in the traditional sense. Of course, there are not many of them.
EVERY PEOPLE, EVERY SHAMAN, HAS PRESERVED ITS OWN UNIQUE PRACTICE =
-...who became an initiate?
Yes, yes. For example, this is Vera Sazhina, a Moscow psychologist who in the 90s became the successor of the Tuvan shaman Kyrgys Khuurak. After the death of the teacher, in memory of him, she, together with Khuurak’s widow, Anykai, founded the shamanic society “Ush Mooruk” - “Three Ridges” in Tyva, in the city of Shagonar. There are some others initiated into real shamanic traditions, but they can be counted on one hand.
It all depends on the specific desire of a person, how much he wants to learn more, to penetrate deeply into all this. If this desire is there, then he will certainly look for lines of succession. Only in traditional culture, during the initiation rite, is given exactly what constitutes the very spirit of shamanism, its essence, which has been preserved for many thousands of years. This sacred transmission, going back to ancient times, can only be done by someone who himself has a similar transmission from other shamans, who himself is a link in this extremely long chain.
Each such chain is a specific and narrowly defined tradition. Each nation, each shaman of this people, has preserved a special practice, amazing and unique. For example, the Chukchi are fluent in the art of trance throat wheezing - pichgaynyn, intended to enter a state of ecstasy and contact with spirits; Tuvans have preserved and developed Khoomei throat singing; Yakuts - the “talking khomus” technique; Buryats – entering the ongon state, etc.
Thus, the right to a tambourine, the right to use any attribute, even the right to be called a shaman are transferred from the shaman-mentor, the keeper of one or another line of succession. All this happens in a very difficult way and often borders on many dangers for the initiate, with pain, suffering, and the experience of ecstatic dying.
From personal experience: last year, in Western Tyva, in the town of Bizhiktig-Khaya - “Painted Rock”, which is on the very border with Altai, I underwent a ceremony of transferring the right to work with the wing...
The right to transfer to work with what?
With the wing of a kite - chalgyn-eeren. I received it from the deceased Tuvan shaman Chilbiir-Kam - “The Swinger”. This is a special attribute that is used during the ritual of purification and expulsion of pathogenic forces. They fan a person with a wing, driving away everything unnecessary, everything that interferes with life.
The transfer was so painful that they even wanted to call a helicopter from the Ministry of Emergency Situations to the taiga so that I would not die in my arms. I felt very bad. What is called a “spirit arrow” was stuck into my spine at the level of my shoulder blades. Pain pierced my body. I fell straight onto a pile of dry manure. Any movement, even breathing, was accompanied by unbearable pain that threw me out of my body... I ascended to Heaven, to the stars, descended to the Lower World... Nearby was a shaman - Chochagar Kes-Kam, who supervised the process, encouraged me if I was going to give up, and my wife - Shonchalai. Then I thought that I would not survive this night, but in the morning I was already on my feet: refreshed, renewed and ready to go to Bai-taiga to perform further rituals. Chochagar then said: “Previously, shamans could call a bear from the taiga, and you are a shaman who can call a Ministry of Emergency Situations helicopter into the taiga. You have such great power." He was joking, of course. Or maybe not...
Every time it’s like this, with every initiation: pain, fear, suffering. This is a very painful procedure and you never know how and where it will happen. You can only guess, but circumstances lead you to this, forcing you to accept it as an inevitable reality. Therefore, in Siberia, few people choose the path of the shaman of their own free will.
Well, I see. That is, those people in the West who are trying to repeat all this in an “original” way are playing, in other words, “toy soldiers.”
Of course, there are no such practices in neo-shamanism, and there is no place for them to come from. People are just playing psychological games, which help them relieve stress, relax, dream about the ideal structure of life, but nothing more. In this regard, it's not so bad. The majority are satisfied with everything, the natural niche is filled, the need for the unusual is satisfied. And if someone decides to move on, then he can always find someone along the way.
SHAMANS STARTED RIOT ALL THE TIME =
In general, the importance of passing on tradition is difficult to overestimate. However, you yourself have said and written many times that the chain of tradition is broken in modern conditions. There are fewer and fewer carriers of this primordial knowledge.
Yes, there are not many carriers of the culture of traditional shamanism left: Christianization in the “tsarist” period, persecution and camps in the Soviet... At the moment, shamanism in in full represented only in Tyva, and only because this republic became part of the USSR quite late, in 1944, having partially escaped the persecution of shamans in the 1930s. Although, there were repressions there, as everywhere else. And in tsarist time The shamans did not live at ease. “Shamanic” resistance to the regime is generally a separate serious topic. Shamans staged riots all the time, standing at the head of their clans. In 1904-05, major unrest occurred in Altai due to the performance of shamans and Burkhanists. In 1917, when Orthodox missions stopped receiving government support, the shamans teamed up with the kulaks. The largest uprising that united the Nenets and Khanty occurred in the 1930s and was called “Mandalada” - “Assembly” or “Unity”. By 1938 it was suppressed, but in 1942-43 it flared up again. All the rebels were shot. This is exactly what my new book“Shamans of Russia”, which I am currently working on. Old versions of individual chapters from it can be found on the Internet, often without reference to the author and, of course, without permission to publish. Most likely, the book will be published not in Russia, but abroad.
What were they rebelling against?
For various reasons: exorbitant taxes, independence, famine, dominance of missionaries... depending on what period of time you consider. In the Soviet Union there were often riots so that children would not be taken from the tundra to boarding schools, so that Russians would not fish in sacred places etc. There was a man, Teneville, who, in order to show that the Chukchi had nothing to take from the Russians, in 1927-28 created an original Chukchi letter, which is called that way - the Teneville hieroglyphs. According to the prophecy of the shaman Pappyle, the writing of Teneville was supposed to lead the Chukchi to the country of the Deer Existence - Koravyrgan.
And how did everything ultimately affect the transmission of tradition?
In Tuva, everything is more or less fine with this, at least while the Lifetime President of Tuvan shamans, Mongush Borakhovich Kenin-Lopsan, holder of the title “Living Treasure of Shamanism,” is alive. In Buryatia, Altai and Sakha-Yakutia, shamanism has the status folk tradition. There are old people left, for example, the Evenk shaman Savey, who lives in Yakutia, others... In Khakassia, until recently there were several knowledgeable grandmothers with the status of “shamans without a tambourine,” from whom many modern Khakass shamans descend.
Now shamans have actively begun to travel abroad to conduct seminars in Europe, America... Of course, this has a great influence on their practice. On the one hand, this is good, but on the other, traditional knowledge is overvalued, modifications, innovations, and that same neo-shamanism appear. Against this background, friction often arises between one shaman and another.
Is the situation now changing for the better or are we continuing to see regression?
How to say... There are more and more dedicated shamans, including non-ethnic ones who have received traditional transmission, but the quality has not yet increased.
SHAMANISM CANNOT RESIST FASHION =
With all this, you say that the synthesis of shamanic traditions is now the main, promising trend. You, too, are a representative of the “shamanic synthesis”.
Well, not really this trend promising For it to become such, there must be many supporters of this movement. But shamanism is still a fairly local phenomenon. The majority of the population, including in the regions, do not need it. Therefore, shamanism cannot resist what we call “fashion trends.”
In the early 1990s, shamanism was very popular, especially after the books of Carlos Castaneda became available to the majority, at the instigation of the Sofia publishing house. Before that, they also circulated, but in marginal samizdat circles. Then it is officially translated and famous book the founder of neo-shamanism, Michael Harner, “The Way of the Shaman,” where the author proposes shamanism as a kind of practice accessible to everyone. In those years, a lot of all sorts of fashion trends, circles and centers appeared. Certain phenomena of traditional culture are also becoming popular, for example, Tuvan throat singing - khoomei (it may seem strange, but khoomei comes to Russia not from Tuva, but from the West, where discs of Huun-Khuur Tu, Yat-Ha and other throat singing performers are recorded) .
At the beginning of the 21st century, interest in shamans gradually began to fade away. At the moment, shamanism is by no means a mass phenomenon. We can say that now shamanism is within itself, and not because it imprisoned itself there, but because the knowledge of shamans has ceased to be fashionable.
Is this situation typical for Russia or the West as a whole? It always seemed to me that there is quite a lot of interest in these layers of archaic culture.
When shamans come to the West, they are faced with approximately the same situation. There, interest is shown by small groups of people who are passionate about the same New Age movement, and not traditional shamanism. Of course, there are exceptions that still don’t make any difference.
THE TERM "SHAMAN" WAS COMPROMISED FROM THE VERY BEGINNING =
Don’t you think that this happens because the shaman is perceived, first of all, not as a teacher, not as a bearer of tradition, but rather primitively. A la “shaman-connoisseur”, etc.?
This is exactly what happens. Because the term “shaman” itself was compromised from the very beginning. When he is introduced by Izbrant Ides, he immediately describes the shaman as a trickster and a "master of the devil's works." In such a negative interpretation, this term existed for quite a long time.
Towards the study of shamanism as a unique worldview small peoples, really begin only at the end of the 19th century, when many representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, the same Vladimir Germanovich Tan-Bogoraz, who became the founder of Russian ethnography, were exiled to Kolyma and Siberia. For the first time he understands and admits that behind all these “demonic dances” there is something more. After the Chukchi victory over the Russian Cossacks at the Anyui Fair in 1895, the elders even invited Tan-Bogoraz to become the “Chukchi king.” From people like V.G. Bogoraz, G.N. Potanin and others are beginning to study shamanism.
However, in fiction and other non-ethnographic literature to this day one can find such “synonyms” for shaman as: sorcerer, deceiver, etc. Just not so long ago, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, in one of his speeches, classified shamans as “swindlers,” causing a great protest in the regions of Russia. The shamanic world reacted very seriously to this statement, and M.B. Kenin-Lopsan wrote a corresponding appeal to the State Duma, the Federation Council, as well as to a number of Russian and foreign Academies.
How was the conflict resolved?
The conflict was hushed up. Ivanov said that he didn’t say anything like that and didn’t mean it. By the way, the leader of the LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, made a similar statement when he spoke about the “barbarity” of the Altai language. Then the oldest shaman of Altai, Anton Yudanov, challenged him to a mortal duel with knives, “even on Red Square,” but Zhirinovsky ignored the challenge to a duel.
Now the media are trying not to talk badly about shamans, since a number of precedents involving famous political figures ultimately had a positive impact on the situation.
That is, a qualitative shift in mass consciousness happened.
It would take decades for it to actually happen.
Once again I would like to touch upon the cultural layer. Shamanism is not a traditional “monopoly” of the Turkic, Finno-Ugric and, more broadly, Mongoloid peoples? Is it also characteristic of Indo-Europeans? Or, after all, no?
In the new Stone Age - Neolithic, a turning point occurred in people's consciousness associated with the transition to agriculture. Until this point, shamanism was a pure technique of ecstasy, practiced regardless of ethnicity. A lot of monuments of shamanic culture are located in Southern Europe - in France, Spain; even more - in the North - in Sweden, Great Britain, Norway...
Agriculture “created” fertility gods when thought focused on planting and harvesting. Anthropomorphic deities appear, demanding worship and sacrifice, and priests who carry out this sacrifice. This is where the division occurs. Nomads remain shamanists, and sedentary people begin to believe in the gods they created. Academician B.A. Rybakov calls the Eneolithic (4th – 3rd millennium BC) “the time of the birth of the gods.”
A SHAMAN DOES NOT KNEEL BEFORE SPIRITS =
This dissonance between shamanism and priesthood is a very interesting point. What is the difference between them is not very clear to me. The priest serves a specific god, and not the forces of nature, not spirits - so it turns out?
The shaman has one distinctive feature. When he receives spirits, he becomes the master of these creatures. He doesn't kneel before them. He enters into a kind of cooperation agreement with them and communicates with them in a state of trance, during that same shamanic journey.
The scheme is simple: a person comes to the shaman with a specific request, the shaman prays and asks the spirits what is needed for this request to be fulfilled, and then transfers the will of the spirits to the person. Strictly speaking, at this stage the shamanism ends. In pre-priestly times, man himself carried out the request of the spirits. With the formation of paganism, a priest stands between the shaman and the person, who offers to fulfill the obligations received from the shaman for the person, for example, to make a sacrifice. The fact is that there are priests in shamanic culture, but they are often just elders of clans and are not shamans. The latter enter into dialogue with both spirits and gods.
Now it's clear. The shaman is an actor in himself, and a priest is one who knows the tradition, knows certain strict rituals, but serves and worships some deities or one god.
Yes, that's right. By the way, many other “servants” also emerged from shamanism, for example, artists and scribes. It was the shamans who first learned to draw, sing, and dance; invented writing. Legends of the peoples of the world speak about this. People receive the gift of writing from a certain First Prophet, a god-man, in fact, the First Shaman - an enlightened person. Scribes appear who can sketch oral speech and even emotional experiences. This is a magical phenomenon.
About forty thousand years ago, throughout Southern Europe, a phenomenon appeared in the form of the flowering of cave painting, magical paintings. This is already shamanism. Meanings are conveyed through images, the first cosmic maps appear, the first attempts to convey the beyond. Gradually, this art is growing more and more into solid, huge compositional masterpieces, which we can see, for example, on Lake Onega, on Besovo and Peri Nos. The petroglyphs of Peri Nosa depict star maps, a shaman traveling through the Universe... It's all very interesting.
SPIRITS ALWAYS COME. THEY TEAR THE BODY INTO PIECES =
Let's talk about the personality of the shaman. How do they actually become one?
Yes, they become different. In Siberia, no one wants to become a shaman, because it is a very big responsibility. There are many taboos that a shaman cannot break. He enters into a complex relationship with the spirits and must fulfill the demands that the spirits impose on him. All this comes with a lot of inconvenience. Therefore, the formation of a shaman occurs only through the choice of spirits. A person lives and lives, goes to work and suddenly - bam! - something is happening to him: illness, visions...
Many found their way to shamanism this way - through an initiation illness, as a result of which they first met spirits, began to communicate with them, and entered into some kind of agreements. After this agreement, the disease recedes and the person becomes, strictly speaking, a shaman. It doesn’t matter where this happens in Moscow or in Yakutia, it always happens the same and follows the same scenario. And I had the same thing.
Spirits always come. They tear the body into pieces: the so-called moment of “dissection” occurs, when the future shaman is freed from the flesh, and new organs are forged for him. Most often, at first there is some kind of “blow” or injection in the back. Sometimes this can happen in a special, shamanic dream. In other cases - in reality. Everyone’s illness is different, but the visions received during an ecstatic experience are similar. After this first conscious contact of a person with spirits, he no longer has any choice.
TRUTH IS FOUND AWAY FROM PEOPLE, IN GREAT SOLITUDE AND IN GREAT SUFFERING =
This painful shamanic disease is prerequisite becoming a shaman? Couldn't it be otherwise?
All shamans went through an initiation illness, trials and suffering. There was an Eskimo shaman - Igyugaryuk, who said that the truth is found away from people, in great solitude and in great suffering. The more a person suffers, the more wisdom is revealed to him. Learning never ends, it all depends on how much you want to know. And the series of trials for the shaman never stops.
Cure from an illness, thanks to an agreement with spirits, is only the passage of the first stage. The shaman will have several more such tests. It all depends on tradition and personal characteristics. For example, to become a zaarin-boo, a Mongolian shaman (boo) needs to undergo 9 initiations, and in some cases – 18: 9 initiations into white shamanism and 9 into black.
So every initiation is pain?
Each initiation is connected with this, with some kind of serious test. Everything happens through pain, through fear, through suffering, near-death experiences, through deep psychedelic states. The more the shaman encounters this, the more opportunities he subsequently has. He becomes stronger and stronger, each time acquiring new attributes, new knowledge. With each initiation, the shaman discovers more and more new worlds, the existence of which he may have previously guessed, but did not have access to. Each new initiation greatly changes the personality of the shaman himself. He becomes different, even visually begins to differ from his former self...
What is “black” and “white” shamanism? Why does a shaman's power depend on his ecstatic wife? What role do hallucinogenic psychotropic substances play in the ecstatic experience of the shaman?
One of the few people who really knows the answers to all these questions is OLARD (ELVILLE-KAM) DIXON, writer, traveler, researcher of traditional cultures, musician, practicing dedicated shaman.
In connection with the difficult relationship between the shaman and the spirits, the following question arises: you say that the spirits serve the shaman, but it turns out that the shaman also serves the spirits?
This is part of the contract. The shaman does not serve, but according to the contract he must change something in order to accept this knowledge, embody it within himself, and reflect it. Each knowledge leaves one or another imprint on a person, often very serious. This is the meaning of an agreement with spirits. Either you accept it, and they will listen to you, or not, but then, most likely, the matter will end in the return of the disease and death.
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON THE SHAMAN’S ECSTATIC WIFE =
And as far as I understand, the more spirits a shaman has in his service, the more taboos he has.
Yes, definitely. Therefore, all shamans are different. This is due to those spirits who participated in the initiation and left their imprint. They all perform their functions: some treat this, others treat that, and still others do not treat anyone at all, but can find lost item. Great shamans can have hundreds, hosts of spirits. They know each of them by name, they know what world he is from, what he can do and what he usually demands in return.
Being in an altered state of consciousness, it is very difficult to find a Force that could really influence something. It’s the same as when looking for advice on how to, say, treat an eye, go out onto the street and ask random passers-by how to do it. In the spiritual spheres the picture is the same. Most of the creatures living there are weaker and stupider than us. And a shaman needs strong spirits. As a rule, these are those who first need to be defeated, or those who are given by a special spirit - the “ecstatic wife”, the one who is in another world. It is she who gives knowledge of spirits. She is the shaman's guide to another world. The shaman recognizes all spirits, usually through her.
The shaman’s belonging to a particular tradition is also important, since it is this that determines what needs to be done in a given situation, how to deal with this or that spirit. It is not enough to be chosen by the spirits and undergo a shamanic illness. Then you still need to go to the old shamans and ask them. It is the mentor within the framework of a particular tradition who must teach the neophyte how to work with a tambourine, how to handle attributes, etc. The shaman must be connected to the transmission line so that the spirits manifest themselves, so that they appear in this world, so that they can be communicated with.
You started talking about great shamans. Great - what is it?
Now there are several Great Shamans. For me, this is, first of all, Kenin-Lopsan Mongush Borakhovich - holder of the title “Living Treasure of Shamanism”, Lifetime President of all Tuvan shamans, a man of outstanding abilities, a writer who created a kind of “bible of Tuvan shamanism” in several books... It was he who gave me recommendations for membership in the Religious organization of Tuvan shamans of the Russian Federation “Dungur” (“Tambourine”). This is the first society of shamans in the post-Soviet space, created in 1991-92 in Kyzyl. After him, others followed: in Khakassia, Buryatia, Yakutia, and Altai. I don’t start any big business until I receive Kenin-Lopsan’s blessing. This is the tradition.
THEY BECOME GREAT SHAMANS BY BUSINESS =
Well, how do you become one?
Only by deeds can one become a Great Shaman and by “length of service,” one might say. All the great ones are now well over eighty years old. They saw “classical shamans” at the dawn of the Soviet state, communicated with them, received their blessing, their transmission.
For example, Kenin-Lopsan revived Tuvan shamanism and ensured that it became an official religion in the Republic of Tuva, along with Christianity and Buddhism. And this is very important! He collected bits of knowledge from old shamans, recorded the sacred appeals of shamans to spirits - algyshi, preserved and increased the tradition. It was he who wrote the words: “There were shamans. The shamans acted. The shamans have gone to another world. Shamans appear again."
It's clear. I am very interested in the personality of the ecstatic wife. Does it appear to the shaman immediately after his initiation?
No, it doesn't appear right away. It may not appear for a very long time, or it may not even exist at all. Not all shamans have an ecstatic consort. Moreover, I think that 70-80% do not have it. Because this practice is disappearing from “shamanic everyday life”. And there are many such forgotten or half-forgotten practices in shamanism: werewolf, gender change, the real use of throat singing... Also, not all shamans have the practice of lucid dreaming; in some traditions it is not there at all.
The concept of “practice” is generally key for shamanism, as far as one can judge.
A shaman must have practices... What else should he do then? A shaman is a master of some kind of practice, one that leads him to a trance state. It works within this state. Each shaman has his own practice, but the goal of any of them is to achieve an altered state of consciousness, expanding perception, when objects begin to look different, when they acquire additional meanings and functions. Any thing can begin to speak, transmit important information to the shaman. In this state, communication with those creatures with whom the shaman has entered into an agreement, those who stand behind him, also becomes available. The meaning of practice is in their manifestation.
And the more practices a shaman masters, the stronger he is?
Yes, sure. The more there are, the better. Moreover, ten practices can turn into a hundred, intertwining with each other. As a rule, several practices are used in one ritual. They alternate, complement and deepen each other, creating the best “immersion” for the ritual shaman.
= “BLACK” AND “WHITE” SHAMANCE IS A MOMENT OF CHOSE =
Shamans are black and white. Such a gradation is not a division, relatively speaking, into the categories of “good” and “evil,” right?
Of course not. In general, here you need to look every time: what tradition of shamanism do we have in mind? Different ethnic groups have different definitions for the terms “black” and “white” shaman. The Buryats, for example, have a clear distinction between these two concepts. The “white” shaman-boo only works with a staff and a bell on the handle and can call on Buddhist deities, and the “black” one - with a tambourine. All practices of the Buryats and Mongols are tied to these ritual objects. In some cases, the same boo can combine both “black” and “white” shamanism. This is when there is a rite of passage both there and there.
“Black” and “white” shamanism do not mean “good” and “bad.” This is the moment of chosenness, predestination, abilities. For Mongolian shamanism, it doesn’t matter what faith, “Black” or “White” there is initiation, just as in Buddhism it doesn’t matter what faith, Red or Yellow you belong to - it’s just the name of the School - in any case you follow the teachings of the Buddha. There is a similar situation in shamanism.
In Altai it is a completely different story. By “White”, or as it is also called “milk” faith, they mean religion (or movement) - Burkhanism, which arose at the very beginning of the 20th century at the intersection of Buddhism and shamanism through the efforts of the prophet Chet Chelpanov and his adopted daughter Chugul Fortieth. Shamanism is considered to be a black faith.
Among the Yakuts, the “White” faith is faith in Aiyy, in the celestial ancestors, the double-headed eagle - the Creator of Light, sitting on the top of the World Tree and guarding the nests in which the souls of people rest. And in Chukotka, a white shaman is someone who can take on the sins of other people and “burn black evil to white ash” at the moment of dawn and sunset; there is such a phenomenon in the Arctic. That is, everything is different for everyone, in this case.
Olard, but there is such a simplified explanation that the “white” shaman travels to the Upper World, and the “black” one to the Lower World. Is it correct?
Not really, because this is not always the case. The fact is that the disease-causing spirits with which the shaman works when it is necessary to cure a person live in both worlds. Shamans who travel only to the Upper Worlds and communicate only with “light” beings (all conditionally, of course) often do not engage in healing at all. Often, such shamans become writers, philosophers, collectors of traditions, and leaders of one direction or another. For example, the same Kenin-Lopsan.
Spirits live everywhere, but the Lower World is by no means hell. Eat different ways be there. When we fall asleep, where do we go? Shamans believe that this is the world of spirits, the world of ancestors who are in the so-called “dream times”. Sleep is the only thing affordable way to the common man really talk to your ancestors. This is a natural altered state of consciousness. Therefore, many shamanic techniques are associated specifically with the study of the world of dreams. Some peoples, for example, the Chukchi, Nganasan, Nenets, have a special category of shamans - “shamans in dreams.”
By analogy - if there is no “unified” white shamanism, then there is no black one? Is it just a “color” designation of some faith?
Shamanism was originally considered a "Black" faith. This is the eastern division: yellow, red, black, white, etc. “Black” does not mean “bad.” The banners of Genghis Khan were also black. Among the Turks, the “black” shaman is called kara-kham. In this case, the word “punishment” means not so much and not only “black”, but “great”, “hidden behind the heavens”, “inaccessible to the majority”. Hence the main city of Genghis Khan was called Karakorum. It is believed that the truth and Great Wisdom hidden from people behind Kara-deer - Black Sky, that is, a state of darkness, ignorance.
THE ERA OF HALLUCINOGENIC SUBSTANCE USE =
Let's get back to practice. Tell me, please, is the use of hallucinogenic, psychotropic substances by shamans during rituals an obligatory factor or not? How much does a shaman really need a substance to achieve an altered state of consciousness?
There are two versions of the origin of shamanism.
The first, quite new, is based on the neuropsychological theory of human development, formulated by David Lewis-Williams and Thomas Dawson in 1988. The authors prove that people became intelligent, and from here comes the creation of art, culture, and, most importantly, religion, in an era when people learned to change their everyday state of consciousness with the help of hallucinogenic substances of plant origin. Here I would highlight an entire tropical zone - the “great tryptamine belt”, where there has long been a tradition of using substances containing certain tryptamines: psilocybin mushrooms, blue lotus... In those places we see the concentration of great ancient cultures created in North Africa, Central America, India... We see majestic buildings and knowledge in astronomy, mathematics... Now this theory is one of the main ones in the West, in the field of shamanism and the emergence of religions. In Russia it is virtually unknown.
Along with this, there is also, somewhat outdated today, the model of Mircea Eliade, who believed that the use of psychedelic substances in shamanism is, on the contrary, profanation and degradation of ancient practices. In his opinion, initially, shamans achieved altered states of consciousness without the use of psychotropic substances, only with the help of a set of physical techniques: singing, dancing, music. But we must not forget here that, despite the truly outstanding research conducted and published by Eliade, he never met with real shamans.
It has now been unequivocally proven that people began to use psychedelic substances in the very distant past and this is not associated with their degradation. Moreover, the first cultivated plant on Earth is hemp, that same marijuana. Hemp is used by Scythian shamans and priests, it also accompanies a person in world of the dead. Among a number of peoples, shamanism is directly related to the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, for example, among the Paleo-Asian peoples of the Far Northeast: the Chukchi, Koryaks, and Itelmens. The use of the red fly agaric by these peoples is deeply rooted in shamanic practices. This is an original thing, and not a consequence of decline, as Mircea Eliade presents it. In Paleo-Asian cosmogonic myths, the fly agaric appears as one of the first creatures that the Creator of Light sets to “guard the world.”
With archaics everything is more or less clear. But among modern shamans, the use of psychedelic substances is the main practice? Or do they mostly manage without them?
If we take Russia, then we can state that practically nothing remains from the practice of using psychedelic substances. It was banned by the authorities quite a long time ago. Even V.G. Tan-Bogoraz spoke out at the beginning of the 20th century against the trade in dried fly agaric. However, it cannot be said that such practices have disappeared completely. They exist, but there are very few dedicated to them. Some of the Siberian shamans still use psychotropic substances; most of them are not. In general, this is an optional thing. It has always been this way. Not everyone has used fly agaric or hemp before. This again is a tradition.
Initiation and training are required to use “magical” plants in shamanic practice. You can’t make a fly agaric out of nowhere. Overeat with them - so what? What to do next with this condition? What use is it besides seeing something? In the psychedelic space, knowledge of the paths is necessary, which are transmitted during initiation.
In Russia we have almost lost this culture. There are only a few of its native speakers. One of the last shamans associated with the fly agaric worlds was Tatiana Urkachan from Palana. In the fall of 1996, she went into the tundra to the fly agaric people, and never returned.
That is, in essence, this is a personal matter for everyone.
No no. Not like that. It all depends on what kind of initiation the shaman undergoes. If it was an initiation with magic mushrooms, then he will use them. This cannot be prohibited; then there will be nothing left but fairy tales. The tradition will die. Russia still needs to grow up to understand this, as the United States did by allowing members of Indian religious communities to use peyote and mushrooms.
SPIRITS CONSTITUTE THE ESSENCE OF OBJECTS SURROUNDING US =
We have already noted that for a shaman, some kind of attachment to a specific location, to places of power, as Castaneda calls them, is very important. The shaman even has a magical “map of the area” drawn by him on his tambourine. In this case, it’s not very clear to me what places of power, what connections do modern urban shamans have?
It doesn’t matter at all where exactly to be a shaman: in nature or in an urban environment. Shamanism is, first of all, a worldview, a system of thinking, plus knowledge of practices, by performing which a shaman can plunge into one or another state. This cannot be taken away from him.
In nature, in places of power, the change in perception occurs easier and better, but the city is not a hindrance. Spirits are everywhere, they form the essence of the objects around us, which means we can come into contact with them.
Personally, I spend most of my time in urban areas; I only go to the taiga during expeditions. But that doesn't bother me. A shaman who lives in Kyzyl or Yakutsk also travels to places of power only when he needs it. In the same way, a shaman from a metropolis can always take a plane and end up there.
Yes, and not far from Moscow there are places of Power. The same Blue Stone sanctuary on Lake Pleshcheyevo in Pereslavl-Zalessky, for example. In fact, often, it doesn’t even matter where the ritual is performed, what matters is How it is done and Who performs it. It’s simply easier in places of Power, where all nature helps you. But in any case, the shaman maintains a connection with the “other side”. Where the shaman is, there is the Center of the World. It is at this point that the World Tree grows, along which the shaman travels.
Such an extremely curious thing as totemic representations is a very important part for shamanism?
Well, yes, of course, because this is one of the basics. Totemism, as I already said, was inherent in the Neanderthals, perhaps even before the emergence of animism. This is generally a primary thing. Totemism left a very serious imprint on both shamanism and Christianity. At the beginning of our era, Christian saints and evangelical apostles were often depicted with animal heads. Totemism is tightly connected with the clan, people, and culture of humanity. It generally left its mark on everything that surrounds us, as well as animism. Until recently, any noun was perceived as the name of a spirit (animism), which for some could be the source of the power of the clan (totemism).
TOTEM IS THE POWER OF THE ANCESTORS =
This is understandable. I’m interested in how a modern shaman finds, “acquires” his totem. In particular, you have the initiated name “Elvil” - “Wild Deer”. Is this a totem?
The literal meaning of the word “totem” is “its kind”, if translated from the Ojibwe language. Each shaman has his own totemic animal, which is passed down directly through kinship: through the father’s side and through the mother’s side. One of the totems becomes the main, dominant one, and the other, accordingly, occupies a subdominant, unmanifested position, like the transfer of light or dark eyes when combining the alleles of the father and mother in the genome of the unborn child.
Totemism is directly related to tribal society. Previously, each nation had special grandmothers who, based on totemic ideas, determined who should marry whom, etc. Every person has totemic powers, and it is not necessary that it is some kind of animal. It can be an object: a stone, a plant - anything.
A totem is the power of the ancestors, something that explains why a person looks the way he does. From the point of view of shamanism, a person shares two natures - body and consciousness, and each of them has its own tasks. From a totem, from a clan, a person receives a physical body. The body has, so to speak, its own view of enlightenment, completely different from consciousness. The body has a memory of some ideal state of its being. It is, in fact, what it strives for. At some point, this original state was disrupted, and the body began to suffer. And just to get rid of this suffering, to remove some damaged parts or genes, there is a “correct” mechanism for procreation. In accordance with this, when we choose a sexual partner, it is not really us who choose, it is our body that chooses him based on its needs and ideas. The body is guided by its future health, strong dominant genes, so that its descendants (and this is its path to eternity) have fewer defects. Consciousness needs something completely different. It wants to become free from the restrictions of this world, from its matrices and attitudes, obscurations and ignorance.
In ancient times, the totem was the main distinctive, characteristic feature inherent in a particular clan. He was an information carrier, speaking (for those who know) about what would happen if one Power were combined with another - whether there would be any violations. A common totem was considered as a blood relationship, even if the bearers belonged to different ethnic groups.
Now, when they talk about totemism, they often mean those animals that the shaman acquires during his ecstatic journey. These are not entirely true. The shaman’s animals are personifications of certain forces, which is also true in my case.
That is, this animal is a personal assistant spirit?
Yes, definitely. This is not exactly a totem in the classical sense. It would be more correct to call it a “totemic spirit-helper,” that is, having under it a certain principle of the animal order, for example, the strength of the Bear.
In this case, when a modern person begins to get carried away with totemism and ascribes to himself this or that totem, without knowing the ins and outs of his family, is he simply misleading himself?
Every person has a totem, in any case. This is the genome. Representatives of certain totemic lines have clear physical and mental characteristics. Sometimes the totem even appears in the appearance of the face, and we can say that this one looks like a monkey, and the other like a bulldog. Through special practices, a person can find out his kinship and give his totem more opportunities for realization. For example, a totem can come to a person in dreams.
SHAMANIC WARS ARISE EVERY YEAR =
Let's return from the depths of the genome and the subconscious to the realities of today. We have already touched upon the topic of persecution of shamanism several times during our conversation. Today, after this teaching has become one of the officially registered religions in the Russian Federation, has the situation leveled out?
There have always been clashes. First of all, with Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, of course. Everything remains that way to this day. Serious conflicts between Buddhists and shamanists take place in Buryatia; between Christians and shamanists - on the Lower Amur, in Sakha-Yakutia, and other places. From time to time these problems arise everywhere. The only place where there are more or less no religious clashes is Tuva. But there are serious disagreements between shamans. Sometimes shamanic wars arise related to territorial and clan issues. It happens that this ends in the death of one of the shamans. This happens every year. This is how it was and perhaps always will be. From my point of view, this is bad, since I advocate the consolidation of shamans in Russia and Mongolia.
It is surprising to me to hear about conflicts with Buddhists. It’s clear with Christians - for them, shamans are simply “possessed by demons” and nothing more. But Buddhists...
Buddhism in Asia was very difficult from the very beginning. Buddhism, as it is perceived in large Russian cities, is one Buddhism; the Buddhism that people live in Kyzyl or Ulan-Ude is somewhat different.
There has always been a distance between shamanists and Buddhists. When Tibetan Buddhism, then Lamaism, was going through a missionary period in its history, it was politically imposed on Mongolia, Kalmykia, and Tyva. There was forced conversion, just like with Orthodoxy in Kyiv. In Tuva, the entire people were simply “declared” to be Buddhists. The same thing happened in Buryatia and Kalmykia, when local feudal lords accepted the teachings of Buddha.
Buddhists of that time behaved quite aggressively and hostilely: shamans were burned in yurts, ancient monuments were desecrated. For example, they knocked off the heads of stone statues - thus, the Buddhists tried to deprive the local population of the support of their ancestors.
It’s just that now Buddhism, as an “adult” religion, has already been fed up with these sacrifices, this blood, and has turned into a peace-loving teaching. And we, shamans, stand for the good of all living beings.
Clear. As always, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance. A couple of questions at the end. Please tell me: you are the founder of the Mesoconsciousness Alpha society. What does it do?
This is a non-profit association of like-minded people who are engaged in ethnographic research in the Far North, Siberia, the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. We organize expeditions, study traditional culture and beliefs. We hold the International Ethnographic Festival “Horse-Plane”, provide assistance in publishing books to shamans from Russian outback. There is no formal membership in the society. We simply form some ideas around which enthusiastic creative people arise, and together we begin to bring our plans to life. Something like that.
That is, you are engaged in research and educational work.
Yes. “Mesoconsciousness” is a kind of creative laboratory, consisting of those who are interested in this particular type of activity and the corresponding opportunity for self-expression. This is important, first of all, for those who want to learn about shamanism first hand.
You have forestalled my question about what a modern city dweller who is interested in this culture, these practices should do - where should he go and what should he do...
I probably don’t know of any other society that would deal with this issue and contacts between the most various representatives traditional shamanism with the general public. If anyone does this, it’s a one-time thing. And we, as a laboratory, have been doing this since 1996. I won’t say that our work is not replaceable, but it is noticeable, especially against the backdrop of the fact that there are simply no such organizations.
What advice would you, already an experienced researcher and practicing shaman, give to a person who wants to take this path?
First of all, you need to look deep into yourself and answer: how much is the Way of the shaman really necessary, and not some other? Is there a real need for this? Does it come from within? To what extent is this not illusory, but real? We need to thoroughly understand these issues. There may be no way back.
If the desire to be a shaman is real, then the only way to become one is to go to Siberia and ask to become a student of some well-known practitioner of this direction. It was there that many “newcomers from the city” became initiated shamans. This trail has been well-trodden since the 1960s. In cities you can only learn practices, nothing more.
In general, I wish everyone the White Path. The most important thing is that everything you do comes from the heart. If this is so, then there will be a White Road and a White accomplishment.
Interviewed by Alexey Yarovit
The world of the shaman is mysterious, enigmatic and hidden from prying eyes. A true shaman has nothing in common with a psychic, magician or sorcerer. A shaman is a completely different level, different views, goals and a different philosophy.
Who and how becomes a shaman in real life?
You cannot become a shaman just like that, “at your own will.” And few people show a special desire to be a real shaman. The responsibility for the people who need to be helped is too great. In addition, the shaman practically does not obey himself, his desires. His whole life is serving others through the world of spirits.
Only someone who sees a significant dream can become a shaman. In this dream, some event must happen that marks the shaman about the discovery of his gift. This dream comes suddenly, and not at a certain age. It's impossible to predict.
It is believed that a dream is a sign from the spirits that they have chosen a person. No one can become a shaman without the “approval” of the spirits. The content of the dream may be different, however, each family knows what exactly should be dreamed as a sign.
Sometimes one becomes a shaman not only after having a dream. Cases when a person suddenly hears a voice that sings and speaks to him are not uncommon among the Eskimos. It is there that shamanism and everything connected with it are especially developed. The voice means that the spirit is calling the future shaman. Following him, a person often goes into the forest and there passes the first step of the path of a real shaman.
Most often, a shaman becomes one in whose family there were already similar cases. The ability is inherited. There are stories where a person became a shaman, no one in his family previously had such a gift. However, such a shaman is considered quite weak.
Thus, only the spirits decide who will become a shaman and who will not. It will not be possible to resist their decision. The chosen one can only come to terms with the choice higher powers and go towards a new mission.
The shaman acts as the chosen one, the representative of the spirits on earth. Through it they convey information to people, help and warn them. A shaman is a person who is called upon to help and heal people. He cannot refuse or refuse to accept anyone who turns to him for help. This is why it is considered very difficult to be a shaman.
Although the shaman is respected and revered in the family, he does not have privileges. He often lives in poverty, since he has practically no time to do his household chores. He accepts those in need of help and does not have time to help himself and his family.
Shaman lives ordinary life, starts a family, children. Until the moment of election, the shaman is practically unaware of his future fate. And even after he becomes a shaman, he lives like everyone else. Except at the moment of commission.
Shamans are often classified as mentally ill. This is wrong. This erroneous opinion arose due to the fact that the rituals of shamans are similar to attacks of madness. In fact, this is required by entering a special state that allows the shaman.
Shamans live all over the world. Since ancient times, many peoples have been adherents of the belief in the power of shamans. Settlements, tribes, peoples who since ancient times believed in the ability of a shaman to protect them from disease, drought or painful death cannot do without them. Largest quantity shamans live in such countries as:
- Australia;
- Russia;
- Austria;
- African countries;
- New Zealand;
- Countries of Southeast Asia.
Shamans in each country, region and nationality differ according to a number of criteria. Some take part in sacrifices, some don't. Some functions, subtleties of performing rituals and nuances of initiation differ. One thing unites them for sure: they are healers and protectors of the human soul.
A shaman's training in practice and rituals takes place throughout his life. Initially, when he is not yet aware of his purpose, he gradually involuntarily learns it. This shows up:
- in unity with nature, the area in which the shaman lives;
- in the appearance of visions, dreams, the gradual emergence of the skill to cope with them, to interpret them.
Among some peoples, the chosen one is taught shamanic practices from birth. This does not guarantee that he will become a shaman. Everything will depend on the predisposition and choice of perfume.
Most often there is no training. A person first realizes that the choice has fallen on him. Then, having gone through all the torment, he studies with a more experienced shaman. However, he does not teach the beginner all the subtleties of performing rituals. Learning does not take place as at school at a desk. Everything is comprehended through communication with spirits and practice.
Old shamans teach young shamans to beat a tambourine so that the spirits hear this call. Beat in such a way as to attract the necessary spirits. Sometimes training lasts for hours, days without a break. This skill is considered fundamental for a shaman. Without the ability to handle a tambourine, the spirits will not understand the calls and requests of the shaman.
Training in directly performing rituals is also not provided. A true shaman comprehends this task himself.
There is still some help. Among shamans who are just beginning their journey, the practice of “invisible canoe” is common. The old and young shaman create an imaginary canoe, get into it and travel. Such trips last for several days in a row. During them, shamans are in an intermediate state. They sometimes dream and sometimes return to reality.
At the time when the shaman visits dreams, a meeting with spirits takes place in them. The shaman is looking for a protective spirit and finds him. At the moment of returning to reality, the shaman leaves the canoe and leaves him in some place for a while. When returning to the sleep state, the shaman pushes the canoe from this place and swims further.
After the journey, the shamans share their visions and feelings. In this exchange, the young shaman is taught the practice.
In almost any city you can now find a lot of schools and courses teaching shamanic practices. They offer to learn everything that shamans can do. It is definitely impossible to become a true shaman thanks to such schools. The shaman is the chosen one of the spirits. You can only get one thousandth closer to the mysterious and enigmatic world of shamans.
Initiation into the secrets of the Magi
Initiation into shamans is preceded by a long and difficult period of “shamanic illness.” This disease manifests itself more as madness, schizophrenia. The future shaman sometimes behaves inappropriately, sees hallucinations, dreams, and hears voices. In addition to his psyche, his body suffers. He gets sick, loses consciousness, and has epileptic seizures. This can be explained simply - the spirits insist that the chosen one become a shaman.
It is almost impossible to resist them. To get rid of this suffering, the only way out is to accept the offer of the spirits and undergo a rite of passage.
The beginning of the ritual is the confession of the chosen one to the old shamans that he hears the call of the spirits. After that, he goes into the forest, taiga and undergoes a hunger test there. It can last 5, 7, or 9 days. At this moment, the future shaman is especially weak. During dreams and visions, spirits come to him and literally turn him into a different person.
He feels like he's being torn apart and put back together. The shaman experiences real death at the emotional level. After everything he has experienced, he is “reborn,” but as a different person. Then the shaman has 2 options:
- understand the intricacies of shamanism yourself;
- learn from the old shaman.
Most often the second method is chosen. The initiation into shamans does not end there. This is a long process that lasts for months, and sometimes even years. Training in practices, ways of communicating with spirits, rituals is still to come.
There is no formal initiation of a shaman. There is no specific action or ceremony after which we can say that initiation has taken place. It is believed that this is meaningless, since the shaman was initiated into the spirits long before he himself realized this.
Responsibilities, tasks and role of the sorcerer
The shaman in the human world performs many functions and plays an important role in the life of entire nations.
The main tasks of the shaman are:
- treatment of people;
- searching for the soul that has left the body and returning it, if possible;
- accompanying the soul to another world;
- protection of the soul from demons, evil spirits.
It becomes clear that the shaman has little to do with the daily life of a person. Its specificity is the soul. Shamans are not present at weddings, for example. However, they are called when there is a difficult birth. The role of the shaman in helping people.
– the main profile of a shaman. It is believed that illness occurs not in the body, but in the soul. The shaman is called upon to make a diagnosis, find ways to get rid of the disease and return a person to a healthy body and spirit.
In addition to treating specific people, the shaman plays a role in the normal functioning of the entire family:
- foresees droughts, rains, etc.;
- when the number of animals decreases, people ask the shaman to help;
- helps and participates in the process of sacrifice.
Contrary to the opinion of ordinary people, the shaman is not the person who performs sacrifices. Most often, if he takes part in this, it is only to guide the soul of the murdered victim along the right path. He knows this way.
Thus, a shaman is a person chosen by the spirits for this role. No consent or refusal is required. Shamans serve as protectors and assistants to their people. They protect against pestilence, drought, hunger, and disease. A strong shaman is a great joy and help. It is impossible to learn to be a shaman “just for yourself.” A shaman is a person who is constantly on the edge between the world of people and the world of spirits.
Shamanism has been around for many years. According to legend, the ancestor of the powerful family of Baikal shamans was an eagle that turned into a man. It is interesting that initially the activities of each chosen one were aimed only at their own tribe. However, today Olkhon shamans willingly help people from all over the world. Moreover, a real shaman obliged to help out even his enemy.
Such a destination cannot be chosen as a profession at a university. To become a shaman, you need to have shaman ancestors (ongons) and receive a special sign from above. It could be anything: a sixth finger on the hand, a sudden vision, a serious illness. It is also impossible to refuse such a gift - the elders claim that the spirits will not allow this.
As a rule, the chosen ones learn about their abilities in the period from 6 to 50 years. However, experienced shamans say that being too young is not suitable for such activities. And even at 30 years old a person does not have enough knowledge to be guaranteed to help someone in need. Therefore, the optimal age for performing rituals is considered to be 50 years or more. But this does not mean at all that there are no powerful healers among the young.
Each shaman has his own skill level (9 in total) and certain abilities. Some predict the future, others treat various diseases, remove generational curses or the crown of celibacy. High level shamans can even fly.
What is shamanic disease
This mysterious disease can manifest itself in different ways. It happens that a person is constantly unlucky and cannot achieve success either in his career or in his personal life. Or the future shaman faces severe alcohol addiction. A select few have realized their destiny through dreams or physical illness. And for some, the ancestors have prepared dangerous trials that threaten their lives.
The chosen one must endure all the blows of fate and never lose heart. After all, the shaman’s calling obliges him to be strong and wise. Through such a difficult path, the future shaman seems to be reborn, completely changing his life.
The "symptoms" of this particular disease disappear only when the chosen one accepts his path. Refusal of purpose entails a series of troubles both for the person himself and for his family.
What is it like to live with such a gift?
Being a real shaman is hard work. It is a path that cannot be chosen or changed. But, accepting their true destiny, the chosen ones help many people live in purity and harmony.
Today, tours and excursions have become more popular than ever, the program of which includes visiting places of power and performing shamanic rituals. Travelers from all over the world come to Lake Baikal to consult shamans and get answers to their questions.
Whenever possible, shamans help everyone. However, they will never ask for money for services. Each visitor gives as much as he can. Moreover, payment for help can be anything: sweets, matches, etc.
If a shaman tells you a certain amount for a ritual, then this is a serious reason to doubt him.
By the way, if you think that a shaman is a hermit who is isolated from outside world, then this is absolutely not true. Many modern shamans write scientific works, study the news, write poems or songs.
How do pagans view the church?
Previously, there were only sacred spirits of nature on Olkhon. Now in this place it stands Orthodox Church which was built for local residents. Contrary to various assumptions, shamans are completely calm about this phenomenon. Believing that the priest is doing the same job as them - helping people. This means that there can be no reasons for disagreement.
Representatives of several faiths live in the Baikal region: shamanism, Buddhism, Orthodoxy. Over time, many have become accustomed to such differences, and conflicts do not arise on this basis. After all, everyone is looking for their own path.
Features of the shaman's attire
If you have seen what a real shaman looks like, you will probably be impressed by such an unusual and spectacular outfit. They wear suits made of bright blue or, less commonly, green fabric. The cape used for rituals is called nemerge, and the hat is called mayhabsha. The main decoration on the chest of every shaman is a mirror to reflect negative energy. They are called "toli".
Shamans about tourists on Olkhon
Cape Burkhan has always been considered one of the most mysterious and sacred places on Lake Baikal. Its surroundings were once inhabited by celestials. But today shamans say that the spirits have left this place. The elders attribute this phenomenon to the fact that many tourists disrespect local shrines. They visit places of power not as guests, but as hosts.
In the media, Baikal is listed as one of the most powerful energy places. This attracts many tourists from all over the world, but not all visitors follow the rules of behavior on the holy land.
Every traveler is obliged to protect and respect nature and in no way harm it. Everyone should definitely remember this.
Who is a shaman? This is a person with true knowledge. Try to ask a question to a pseudo-shaman, and he will not be able to answer logically. Optional difficult question, maybe simple. For example, why shouldn’t a brownie be treated to alcohol, meat or any unnatural products? Ask the person pretending to be a shaman if you can give the brownie a Mars bar or chips. Most likely, he will not be found with the answer.
A real shaman will confidently answer such a question that the brownie can be treated only to natural products. Because a true shaman knows that a living spirit does not feed on dead, “synthetic” products. Dyes, stabilizers, flavor enhancers - all of this is prohibited. The shaman's answer will be simple, convincing and logical. And, of course, he knows everything about amulets and talismans.
The second sign of a shaman is complex knowledge
Today there are many types of shamanism, and figuring out who a shaman is is becoming even more difficult. Healing shamanism is widespread somewhere. Massage, baths - all this heals only the body, but not the soul. There are pseudo-shaman theorists. They have a huge amount of knowledge, but do not know how to apply it in practice. Such a person will not be able to become your guide in the subtle world.
"The knowledge that a true shaman gives is practical."
It can and should be applied in reality to solve all the questions and problems with which a person turned to a shaman. Helping people is the main purpose of a shaman. What is the mission of shamans on earth, read in our article.
Our student Andrei S. told the following story:
“Two years ago I was on a business trip to the USA. One morning I woke up - left hand paralyzed. Naturally, panic is a mini-stroke. I am still at such a dangerous age - 57 years old. Let's go to the hospital. They did all the tests, checked everything - nothing. No stroke! We kept you in the ward for half a day, put in some IV drips, and good-bye - you’re healthy, you can go. I returned to the hotel, I think I’ll get some sleep and everything will work out. And in the morning the hand does not move again... One of the partners suggested that I turn to a well-known shaman in those parts. I told him: “Who is a shaman? How can he help me?” And the partner says, they say, the shaman does this kind of massage - wheelchair users begin to walk. I agreed, although without much enthusiasm, but I had to do something, it was scary. In general, this shaman cast a spell on me, and my hand seemed to come to life. But not for long. I returned home, also visited all the doctors, and still nothing. Then my sister’s husband called me to the place of Power. He said they would definitely help. And indeed. A real shaman worked with me completely differently, no massage. He and I went to the subtle world and there we found the cause of my illness. Of course, this was not a disease at all, but a very bad mental situation that the shaman was able to correct. I don’t trust foreign “specialists” anymore.”
The third sign of a shaman is that spirits react to him
Shamans often conduct rituals in nature, and nature sometimes gives surprises. Then suddenly, in the middle of the July heat, such downpours begin that you can’t stick your nose outside. Then, on the contrary, forests and peat bogs begin to burn around the place of Power; it is dangerous to be there.
What will a pseudo-shaman do in such a situation? He will simply cancel all planned events and wait for good weather. What does a real shaman do? Negotiates with the spirits of nature.
After all, who is a shaman? The one whom the spirits obey. Of course, he does not order or threaten them, but asks. Very often, in case of bad weather, the shaman asks the entire group to turn to the spirits of nature, asking them for rain or sun.
"The shaman knows how to ask the spirits, and they grant his request."
It even happens that in the entire region, for example, it’s pouring like buckets, but in the place of the Force the sun is shining, and not a cloud in the sky. This means that the shaman came to an agreement with the spirits. Of course, they won’t listen to an ordinary charlatan.
Don't trust charlatans! They can cause you great harm. Contact real Siberian shamans for help.