types of shamans. Basic shamanism

Shamanic training is no less complex and dangerous process than shamanic initiation. Obtaining sacred knowledge and mystical skills is a delicate and individual moment in any tradition, but this is especially evident in shamanic training.

Shamanic training can be roughly divided into three types:

Training before initiation

Training during initiation

Training after initiation.

Of course, the training of a shaman lasts a lifetime, but in this case we are talking about obtaining basic “profile” knowledge and skills.

Whatever type of shamanistic training is chosen, it is usually done in solitary confinement. The future student himself or together with the mentor is isolated from society - they go to the mountains, forests, and so on. This allows keeping dangerous knowledge closed and enables the future shaman to fully concentrate on the process of obtaining knowledge and skills.

Shamanic training before initiation

Not often, but still it happens that the future shaman receives basic knowledge even before going through initiation. For example, this is done in the Caribbean tradition. But among the Eskimos, one who decides to become a shaman goes to a mentor and, bringing him offerings, asks him to teach him to see another world, spirits and gods. Thus, training is also implied before receiving initiation.

Shamanic training during initiation

The process of training a shaman in many traditions is part of the overall shamanic initiation. For example, one of the shamans said that during the initiation, the spirits took his soul to the "meeting of shaitans." There, for seven days and nights, she was boiled in a cauldron and taught shamanic skills.

Shaman training after initiation

This type of shamanistic training is the most common. It is typical for him that the student, having gained the experience of seeing another world, learns to interact with it, mastering a number of specific methods and indulging in special mystical exercises.

© Alexey Korneev

While many view claims of extraordinary phenomena with a healthy dose of skepticism, in some cultures, contact with the supernatural is taken for granted. Since ancient times, people who were believed to have the ability to communicate with deities and spirits were revered in the tribal system.

They were called differently: seers, healers or healers, but the most famous of these people are shamans, and they turned to them if necessary to heal from a physical or emotional illness, provide themselves with food in times of famine, help find objects left somewhere or lost, predict the future, control the weather, bring back the departing souls of the sick and guide the souls of the dead.

Shamans usually try to communicate with the spirit world while in a trance. To enter this altered state of consciousness, they use methods similar to those used in modern experiments in parapsychology.

They either meditate in silence or focus on the rhythmic sounds of drumming, singing, or dancing; they may abstain from eating or take substances that cause hallucinations. Once the soul and body have entered a trance, the shaman has the opportunity - often in the so-called shamanic flight - to visit the world of spirits. There the shaman receives a message which may come to him in the form magic song, prayer or performed ; often this is expressed in the form of a luminous vision revealing the nature of life.

On rare occasions, shamans have attempted to describe in words and pictures some of their often inexpressible revelations they have received during their extraordinary journeys into the spirit world. An example is the religious cultures of the Indians of North America.

Spirits of Anarkuak.

When in 1921 Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen came to the Arctic North America In order to study the culture of the Eskimos Iglulik, he met there a culture that almost completely revolved around a multitude of invisible creatures - the spirits that lived in every person, animal and object, and the spirits that were responsible for the seemingly inexplicable phenomena such as sickness and bad weather.

From an Eskimo shaman named Anrkkuak, who replayed his visions of creatures from memory and depicted them in detail on paper. Rasmussen learned that some spirits were kind and helped the Eskimos, others were aggressive and malevolent, and some were simply evil. Although by common efforts the Eskimos tried to keep bad spirits away, following the prescribed rituals and taboos, only shamans were successful in expelling them completely.

Anarkuaq was assisted in his shamanism by so-called helper spirits. According to him, they penetrated his body or simply called his name, and when he answered, their power became his power. Many good spirits came at first, resembling monsters or ferocious animals that needed to be tamed or appeased. But, as soon as the helper spirits began to obey, they firmly took his side, were faithful and readily helped the shaman.

Anarkuak claimed that the spirit of Igtuk was the source of the dull sounds coming from the Arctic mountains. According to the shaman, he had only one huge eye, which was on the body, on the same level as the arms. The mouth opened wide, and a huge dark abyss gaped inside. And the chin was covered with a thick layer of bristles.

Shortly after Anarkuak's parents died, he is said to have been visited by a spirit of sadness called Issytok, or the Giant Eye. “Don't be afraid of me,” the spirit said, “for I, too, struggle with sad thoughts. Therefore, I will walk beside you and be your spirit helper.” Subsequently, he helped Anarkuak find people who violated the taboo of the tribe.

One spring, Anarkuak saw a female spirit named Kvinjaruvlik try to steal a child by hiding it under her clothes. However, before she could do so, two well-armed helper spirits came to the rescue and killed the kidnapper.

On another occasion, while hunting Canada deer, Anarkuak encountered a fat spirit named Nartok. Nartok pounced on Anarkuak as if attacking him, but as the shaman prepared to defend himself, the spirit disappeared. Nartok later reappeared and explained to Anarkuak that when he learned to control his temper, Nartok would become his spirit helper.

The other, one of the many spirits that Anarkuac encountered on the hunt, was a bestial creature the size of a bear. His name was Kigutilik. Roaring angrily, Kigutilik emerged from a hole in the ice when the shaman was hunting seals. Anarkuak was so frightened that he ran home without even summoning a spirit helper.

The Great Vision of the Black Elk.

At Black Elk, leader and healer of the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe, had several occasions when the ability to see came to him, which helped him lead his people out of a losing streak. However, Black Elk first entered the spirit world when he was still a very young boy.

In 1931, the already aged Black Elk shared his impressions with the poet John G. Neichardt, who later described them in verse. As Black Elk said, for several years the spirits called him and sang, and when he was nine years old, the voices said: “Now is the time.” After that, Black Elk suddenly felt ill and was near death for twelve days; at that time a great vision came to him.

According to him, two spirits descended from the sky to take him out of the house, and together with them the Black Elk ended up in “a transcendental world, a large white plain with snow-covered hills and mountains.” There, the Black Elk met six elders, the most powerful spirits in the world. “They looked as old as they could be, as old as the hills, as old as the stars,” he said.

The elders told the Black Elk about the spiritual values ​​of life and showed him the symbols of their life: a cup of water and a bow, which can create or destroy life; healing herb and cleansing sacred wind; the pipe of peace and the herb of understanding; hoop of the world, symbolizing; flowering branch, a symbol of the tree of life. Then the Black Elk was led to the center of the earth, where he was shown "the goodness, beauty and extraordinaryness of the flowering earth, the spiritual forms of things as they should be."

When they told him everything, the most ancient elder let the Black Elk go back, saying to him: “Go back with strength to where you came from.” Black Elk returned to his village; and his illness was gone. But he himself has changed forever. Childish carelessness turned in him into the maturity of a man whose words traced the wisdom of the ages.

Peyote powers.

For the shaman Ulu Temiya, like other shamans of the Mexican Indian Huichol tribes, dreamless sleep is much worse than no sleep at all, because shamans in dreams and visions receive messages from the gods. In dreams the shaman receives predictions of the future, reminders of obligations to be fulfilled or rituals to be carried out, reports of instances of offending spirits, and means of punishment are offered to him.

But while dreams speak of what must be done, the shaman's real possibilities are shown to him in visions, kaleidoscopic images that appear after the shaman eats the intoxicating buds or tops of the peyote cactus. The shaman leaves reality, and in visions he penetrates into inner world, where the spirits share with him the secrets of their omnipotence and teach the shaman how to use their special powers and expand them.

When eating peyote buds, the shaman can hold in his hands a brightly colored disk, which he has made similar to the disk seen in one of his dreams. Such dream discs remind the shaman of the promises he made to the gods in one of his past visions. To fulfill the obligation, the shaman offers the disc to the gods.

Colored discs are also considered a reward from the gods for loyalty to an oath or agreement, and it is believed that they contain the essence, and, therefore, the power of the gods. In addition to colored disks, bird feathers attached to an arrow are an attribute of the shaman's power. It is believed that birds are the messengers of the deities, and with the help of sticks with feathers and discs, channels of communication with the gods are created. These items are kept in wicker baskets and are used in almost all shamanic rituals. They appear both in visions after drinking peyote and in a vision of a rain-making ceremony.

Introduction ............……………………………………………………….. ...........…......................…......…..3

Chapter 1. The main types of shamanism in the history of the religious beliefs of the peoples of Russia .............................................. ....…......................……………...…..6

1.1.Altai shamanism............…...........................................…... ...…............…...…..7

1.2. Buryat shamanism......................…............................…..... ..…................…..eleven

1.3. Yakut shamanism......................…............................…..... ..….................…..fifteen

Chapter 2

2.1. Shaman tambourine......................…............................…..... ..........…......…...…..twenty

2.2. Shaman crossbows ............…………………………. …............….21

2.3. Shaman graves ...............................................................…..... .................………..23

Conclusion............….............................…...... ................……………........……..26

List of sources used............…......…................….......... ..........27

Introduction

The relevance of the chosen topic lies in the fact that at present, both scientists and simply interested people are paying more and more attention to shamanism. Shamanism is becoming an object of attention of ethnographers, an object of research, and exhibitions of shamanic objects in museums are also popular.

Shamanism is one of the oldest religious systems. It was distributed everywhere in various territories of the North and South and has survived to this day among many peoples of the world: in North and East Asia, Africa, in Russia - among northern peoples Mansi, on the territory of the former Soviet republics - Kyrgyzstan, Kalmykia. However, the methods of shamans are similar, even among peoples with completely different cultures living in different parts Sveta. Those. it can be assumed that in the process of improving their methods, shamans came to the same results.

The name "shamanism" comes from the Evenki language from the word "shaman", "saman", which means an excited, frenzied person.

In science, there are many definitions of the term "shamanism", however, this term has not yet received a generally accepted definition that is acceptable and convincing for most specialists.

V.N. Basilov offered the following summary description of this phenomenon: “Shamantvo is a form of religion or a cult, the central idea of ​​which is the belief in the need for special intermediaries between the human collective and spirits (deities); these intermediaries (shamans) are chosen, made into people of a special kind, and taught by the spirits themselves. The duty of shamans is to serve the spirits and, with their help, protect their fellow tribesmen from harm. Shamans communicate with spirits in a state of ecstasy...”. Further, characterizing the shaman, the author noted among the specific qualities “special inclinations and abilities: belief in one’s chosen one, developed imagination, good memory and much more, up to the poetic gift and the ability to master hypnosis. In addition to such general indications of the maximum ability to hypnosis and temporary stay in a state of ecstasy or trance, the characteristics of shamans and shamanism usually do not mention anything from the sphere that forms the basis of a special vision of the world and the possibilities of influencing it. The problem of influence is treated through psychotherapy. Those researchers who saw the distinctive qualities of shamanism (shamanism) in the use of ecstasy and trance techniques came close to understanding the foundations of shamanic practice in their characteristics of the phenomenon.

In the concept of M. Eliade, this theory received its most vivid reflection. The scientist was convinced that shamanism is, first of all, a "technique of ecstasy". At the same time, from his point of view: “Shamanism in the strict sense is, first of all, a Siberian and Central Asian religious phenomenon.” If we delve into the essence of the technique used in these regions, compare it with others that are less popular here and very widespread in other places (the use of hallucinogenic drugs, for example), then it will not be so difficult to understand what is behind this.

The famous Soviet ethnographer and religious scholar S.A. Tokarev in his work "Early Forms of Religion" defines shamanism as " special form religion, consisting in the allocation in society of certain persons - shamans, who are credited with the ability, by artificially bringing themselves into an ecstatic state, to enter into direct communication with spirits.

The purpose of the abstract is to study the features of shamanism in the history of religious beliefs of the peoples of Russia.

The objectives of this essay are to convey information about the main types of shamanism in the history of the religious beliefs of the peoples of Russia and to study the main attributes of shamans.

A total of 13 sources were used.

The total volume of work is 28 pages.

Chapter 1. The main types of shamanism in the history of religious beliefs of the peoples of Russia

The exact origins of shamanism cannot be traced. Or maybe, but not by known scientific methods. There were no documents, and even today they do not exist. Shamans do not need such documents - the tradition is strictly chained - the wisdom of millennia passes from mouth to mouth, from hand to hand. And the shaman's environment itself: a tribe, a community or a clan - a world closed to outsiders... We can only assume that shamanism was born together with humanity. And the same primitive communal system that we all have heard from school cannot be imagined without shamanic rituals. And even then the shamans of the tribes were chanting to the rhythmic beats of a tambourine, communicating with the spirits.

More precisely, we can trace the history of shamanism since it began to be studied by people of other traditions. Gradually, bit by bit, bits of knowledge about the most ancient earthly magic were collected.

Despite the fact that some currents that emerged from shamanism are developing, the main traditions of shamanism seem to be frozen in time. First of all, this is due to the immutability of the culture of peoples. For example, among the northern peoples, such as the Nenets, Dolgans, Chukchi, the way of life has not changed much over many millennia.

Therefore, studying shamanism today, we touch very ancient, almost unchanged secrets and practices.

In this essay, I reveal the main types of shamanism in the history of the religious beliefs of the peoples of Russia, such as Altai, Buryat and Yakut shamanism.

Altai shamanism

Altai shamanism - Territory of distribution - Altai. Like the Khakass, Yakuts and other peoples of Siberia, among the Altaians shamanism was significantly influenced by Tengrianism (Tengri is the deified sky).

Shamanism is not just a belief in spirits. Shamanism is a magical teaching about ways to consciously and purposefully interact with spirits. Spirits do not often reveal their presence to a person, a person himself must turn to the spirits. But only their chosen ones, shamans, can achieve constant and pronounced contact with spirits. The shaman can communicate with the spirits only during the ritual. After the ritual, when the spirits leave the shaman, he turns into the most ordinary person.

The word "shaman" is taken from the Tungus-Manchu languages, where it refers to a person who, in a state of excitement, communicates with spirits. Among the Siberian peoples, the term "shaman" in the sense of a clergyman, with the exception of several groups of Tungus, was not used, and their shamans were called differently. The Turkic tribes of Altai called such a person "kam".

In Altai shamanism, there is no professional hierarchy based on certain rituals and trials that shamans must go through in their development. Having passed his formation under the auspices of the spirits, having received his tambourine from them, the kam becomes recognized as the chosen ones of the deities.

A tambourine received from deities and spirits plays a special role for the shaman. The tambourine testifies to the qualifications of the shaman. Clothing does not play such a role. But the tambourine kam must masterfully master. In the course of the ritual, he demonstrates with gestures, facial expressions and other means the meaning of a tambourine, then as a mount, then as a weapon (bow and arrow). It is necessary to combine the frequency of hitting the tambourine with singing - the appeal of the kama to deities and spirits. Kams are able to imitate the voices of animals and birds, in the form of which their helper spirits act, the neighing of a sacrificial horse, or a riding horse of a deity.

Kam must know the deities and spirits, their appearance, habits. In this regard, the qualifications of the shaman are also manifested in the invocations and hymns to the deities. The hymns use certain shamanic ritual vocabulary. Kam speaks to the spirits in their language. These hymns and calls are called alkysh. The shaman, kamlaya to this or that spirit, addresses him with praises in the form of an alcoholic. At the same time, every time he improvises his hymns-addresses and prayer requests.

In Altai shamanism, the idea of ​​a double has developed into a dominant concept that explains the ritual mechanism of the main cult practice - shamanism. The life of each person begins in the celestial zone of the Universe, where it does not yet have an anthropomorphic form. From here it is sent by the deity to earth in material form. For example, in the form of a shooting star or a sunbeam. Or through the shaman blowing off the "embryos" of children hanging like leaves on a sacred birch to the ground. These embryos fall through the smoke hole of the yurt into the hearth, and then get to the woman. This is how the uterine period of a person's earthly life begins and a connection with the female heavenly deity Umai arises. Bones, body, blood are formed. With the birth, the first sign of which is "breathing", there comes a period of human stay on the lunisolar earth. When "breathing breaks" - death occurs. Before the child begins to speak freely, he is under the supervision of "Mother-Umai". But, as soon as the child begins to communicate with other people, enters the earthly social world, his ties with Umai are interrupted. But the double grows and matures, which replaces the nanny, guardian and guide Mother-Umai for a person.

The double has the ability to separate from the body during sleep in the form of a small flame, travel to different places and return when waking up. For exit and entry, he uses the nasal openings. It is believed that if a sleeping person does not put a piece of coal on the tip of his nose, then he will not wake up until the coal falls off, since the double is afraid to enter the body.

A person should be especially careful in the mountains. It is necessary to be wary of the exit of the double during sleep. If a person is guilty of something, then the owner of the mountain or taiga can catch and leave the double at home. Cases of non-return of the double occur quite often. Only a shaman can return a double. Shamans during rituals find returned doubles, recognizing them by the signs and features of the sick person. Doubles are caught in a tambourine and driven into with a strong blow on a tambourine in the right ear.

An ordinary person can see doubles only in a dream. Shamans and clairvoyants (kospokchi) see them with their own eyes. The kam sees them especially well, with the assistance of his own double, which the shamans separate from themselves during the kamling. The shaman's double can leave the body at any time of the day or night at the will of the shaman, but only during the ritual. The separation of the double from the body of Kam occurs with the help of spirits - assistants and patrons of the Kam, whom he ties with blows to a tambourine or a fan from a belt, shirt, birch branch, etc. Unlike an ordinary person, the shaman's double is always under the complete control of the shaman and his spirits. Such properties of the shaman's double erase the line between the visible real and the invisible mythical world among those present at the ritual.

After the death of the shaman, his double continues to have special properties. At ordinary people the double returns to the deity who sent its embryo, or moves to the land of the dead. The double of Kam remains on earth. He lives in the mountains or taiga and is not associated with the burial place of the shaman. After some time, the double will determine the fate of the new Kam - one of his descendants. He would serve as one of his hereditary patrons.

The concept of the double explains how the shaman travels to one or another sphere of the Universe during the ritual. Any shamanist knows that it is not the kam himself who goes to the spirits and deities, but his double and helper spirits. They lead to the deity not the sacrificial horse itself, but its double. Altai shamans call the horse intended as a sacrifice and the twin of this horse the word bura. I eat the meat of the victim, the bones are laid on the storehouse, the skin is hung on poles at the place of sacrifice, and the borax is sent to the deity. Bura becomes the riding horse of spirits and deities. The latter send them to shamans as assistants. Some shamans use them to ascend to heaven, treating them like their riding horses. For example, they are allowed to rest in the pasture of one or another layer of heaven.

The second important position of Altai shamanism is the belief in the shaman's spirits, which constitute his sacred magical power. The entire religious practice, the entire cult of shamanism rests on this position. Shamanists know that no person can be a kam without intermediary spirits. No one will risk going to such a distant and dangerous journey what is kamlanie.

All cult actions that the shaman performs, and all the results of which he achieves, are carried out with the help of spirits called by the shaman to himself at the beginning of each ritual. Some of them tell Kam the causes of a person's illness and where to find the lost double; others help to navigate and move during the ritual in the heavenly sphere, on earth (along the mountains, ridges, taiga) or in the underworld; still others protect from evil spirits and hostile shamans. The kamas call their personal guard kurcha (hoop), as the spirits encircle their head, torso, arms, and legs in a ring. Some of the spirits help to deliver the sacrifice to the deity: they carry vessels with sacrificial drinks, they lead the bora of the victim. They help to get to the deity, to conduct a dialogue with him.

Each shaman has his own spirits, and they are heterogeneous in composition. Common to all shamans are spirits: patrons and helpers. Patrons are spirits of a high rank: ulgen and his sons, the deity of fire, the owners of the sacred mountains. Helper spirits form two groups. In one group, the ancestors of the shaman were kams during their lifetime. The second group includes service spirits, called before the ritual by blows to the tambourine. These spirits fill the tambourine and accompany the shaman during his journey to one or another sphere of the Universe. The service spirits of the tambourine (chalular) constitute the real power of the shaman. The shaman appreciates and seeks to multiply these spirits, including in their line of ancestors - shamans. Personal spirits attracted by a shaman determine his cult and magical abilities. Give them detailed description not possible due to abundance. For each kam, they, especially small service spirits in the form of animals, birds, etc., are purely individual.

Buryat shamanism

Ancient legends say that a person cannot become a shaman at will, one must have special signs from birth, which, by the will of the ancestors, a person is endowed with even before his birth. The spirits themselves appeared to the elect. This gift is called uthe or shamanic root, which gives its owner the ability to heal and magically influence the world, clairvoyance, etc. The strength of all shamanic clans lies in the continuity in the inheritance of uthe. In most cases, the future shaman is among newborn children, through the male line, but sometimes the gift is passed down through several generations, so it is impossible to say for sure whether a new shaman will be born immediately after the death of an existing one or not. “Chosenness” was determined by some special sign - tengeriin temdeg (divine mark): unusual spots on the skin, extra fingers, behavior not from this world. It is believed that a true shaman has an extra bone and souls who studied shaman science in another world can be excellent shamans. Among some peoples of Siberia, the shaman had "extra" cavities in the body and could, at will, painlessly stick sharp objects, knives, etc. into them.

In Buryatia, for several centuries, mainly male shamanism, despite the fact that at the beginning of the first thousand years of our era there was an opposite situation. In the Buryat language, a shaman is called "bö", a shaman is called "udagan".

AT unique cases The chosen one to become a shaman can be born into the world in the guise of a human-devil: what a person looks like, and his father is some kind of spirit. The mother of such a child slept under a lonely tree or a stone-rock. According to the beliefs of the Buryats, when traveling around the world, the spirits, as a rule, stop in such places.

Before accepting the gift of a shaman, a person usually suffers from a shamanic disease (Ongon daralga), he experiences a state close to death. The souls of dead shamans come to him and torture him for some time, cut his body into pieces, tear out the bones from the body, count them and put them back in, pour out the blood and pour it into the vessels again. As a result of painful trials, the spirits of the ancestors pass on to the successor a secret language that is used to communicate with spirits and deities. The disease, which lasts from several months to several years, prevents a person from eating and drinking practically nothing. Healing comes at the moment of accepting the need to become a shaman. If the shaman opposes the will of the spirits and ancestors, their dissatisfaction turns to his relatives and friends: they become seriously ill or die unexpectedly. If a person stubbornly resists the destination, the ongons will kill him.

When Ongon daralga ends, the new shaman needs to pick up a servant spirit, he will help him in the rituals. The personality and predisposition of the shaman determines what kind of spirit he can receive and nurture. That is why shamans are divided into "white" and/or "black" bones. The first do good. According to legend, they can wear white silk clothes and ride white horses. The "black" bone is distinguished by malice and aggressive disposition. According to legend, if the "black" shaman lacks strength, he is engaged in the selection of energy from other people.

The first spirit helping the shaman is weak and small. He is a newborn, so he is fed with milk. This phrase should not be taken literally. Usually, the meaning of this rite is that milk is poured into a cup and splashed on the ground and into the air. The action is accompanied by an appeal to the ancestors. The harder and more regularly you feed the spirit, the faster its size and, accordingly, its strength grow. The relationship between the spirit and the shaman is based on mutual benefit: the spirit helps to fulfill people's requests, receiving food and education as payment.

In the tradition of the "black" bone, when the spirit grows, only milk food is not enough for him. A chicken is sacrificed. As the servant grows and becomes more powerful, he needs even more food, and a ram is slaughtered for him. A spirit that eats more than one ram is called an anda and can take control of the shaman. The spirit further down the hierarchy of power is rōn. He rules entirely over the shaman and requires a greater sacrifice - a horse. Rouns are very powerful, they can kill a person and subdue the whole Buryat family. The rōna's bloodthirstiness grows rapidly: in legends there are cases when the spirits demanded the blood of a small child.

In the tradition of the "white" bone - it is also necessary to enlist the help of the spirit, he will also help the shaman for food. When educating spirits, "white" shamans do not make bloody sacrifices for them: they eat sweets, milk, alcohol, and smoke. Sacrificial animals are dedicated to spirits and deities and are not slaughtered: after a special ritual, multi-colored shreds of fabric are woven into their wool, and until the end of their lives they are inviolable.

A shaman goes through initiations throughout his life (from 9 to 12). Shamans who have received initiation levels 9-12 are only found in Mongolia; in Buryatia, the 8th level is still considered the highest.

The Buryats believe that the power of a powerful shaman appears after death, it (death) is accompanied by various signs: landslides, floods, earthquakes, thunderstorms, hurricanes and strong winds, gigantic all-consuming fires. After death, the Buryats buried the shaman in the ground or tied him to a tree. The end of life in this world does not mean for the shaman the disappearance from the middle world. The soul can become one of the local burkhans or incarnate in a bird (eagle or raven). The cult of the eagle among the Buryats has very ancient roots. In Buryat legends, a bald eagle (burkhan shubuun) is the first to receive a shamanic gift from his father Ute babai, the owner of Fr. Olkhon. Traditions say that the person who killed or wounded the eagle must die soon.

It is interesting that in some regions of Buryatia it is believed that the spirits of shamans guard their graves. So on one of the burials in the Kuitun steppe, lives a large number of eagles and other birds of prey, which is not observed in any other place of the Barguzin valley. Most likely, this is due to the presence of small rodents. locals they try to bypass the shamanic cemeteries, and if they are nearby, they perform the ceremony of honoring the ongons. Today, they say, no one knows what bone, “black”, “white”, is buried in that place. That is why, just in case, you need to enlist the help of your ancestors and appease the spirits.

Prayers, rituals and other magical actions in Buryat shamanism are varied and have a certain order. There are group (tribal) and personal rites, which are both mandatory and optional, regular and irregular.

The Buryats have sacred places, different for each clan, where rituals are held. They can be distinguished by pillars - serge or baris, tied with colorful ribbons, trees also tied with ribbons, sacred obo stones. Significant places have benches, a canopy. Buryats, and not only Buryats, passing or passing by a sacred place as a sign of respect, stop at such a place, drip alcohol, tie ribbons - zalaa, throw cigarettes, cereals, matches, sweets, trifles. In addition to such places, shamanists can perform rituals in the open air or at home, in the courtyard of the house, on the street.

Yakut shamanism

In the mythology, ideology, ritual culture of Yakut shamanism, to one degree or another, the worldview and worldviews of forest hunters, the first cattle breeders, farmers of the Altai-Sayan highlands, Mongolia, the Baikal region, Transbaikalia are reflected.

In Yakut shamanism there is: a developed system of mythologies, the presence of a professional clergyman, a set of attributes, a special school of initiation, as well as a well-formed and established terminology.

The Yakuts (Sakha) believed that Nature is alive, all objects and phenomena of nature have their own spirits.

Of the phenomena of the natural elements, thunder and lightning were spiritualized. The god of thunder had several names Supg Khaan, Syuge Toyon, Aan Jasyn, Buurai Dokhsun; it was believed that the god of thunder pursued evil spirits - abaasy with their thunder arrows, a tree broken by lightning had healing power, they went to this tree and looked for a black stone there, which was called the instrument of the deity of Thunder.

Separately lying stones of glacial origin also became an object of veneration. unusual shape. If they changed their position (lying on their side), then this foreshadowed the death of someone from the nearby area. According to the ideas of the Vilyui Yakuts, such unusual stone each time after the calving of the cows they brought a gift in the form of a motley rope with patches and white horse hair (the rope was hung on a tree under which a stone lay). People could touch such stones only by donating something (coins, pieces of cloth, etc.).

The Yakuts believed in the existence of the magic stone sata, which could be used to change the weather. It was believed that if a woman looked at sat, he would lose his strength. The magic stone was found in the stomach or liver of animals and some birds (horse, cow, elk, deer, capercaillie). Sat was wrapped in pure birch bark, then wrapped in horse hair and not shown to the sky (there is evidence that it was kept in the skin of a fox or a squirrel). Calling rain, snow and wind with the help of a magic stone was done through a special spell.

The wind had master spirits, so there were four main winds, north, south, east and west. They were controlled by four good spirits, who were supposed to guard the peace of the four sides of the earth, and the intermediate winds came from evil spirits, who were in constant quarrel with each other and brought trouble to people.

In spring and autumn, the Yakuts brought gifts to the owner of the water. There was a strict ban on dropping sharp objects into the water - if you hurt the eyes of the owner of the water, the Yakuts called the master spirit of the lake “grandmother” and asked her to provide a rich catch of fish.

The fire was personified in the form of a gray-haired old man, the owner of the fire was the most revered. All sacrifices were made through fire: by the crackle of the fire, they wondered what awaited them in the future. If the spirit of fire was treated disrespectfully, the owner of the fire punished by covering with ulcers, if coals were raked with sharp objects, then the eyes of the owners of the fire were allegedly pierced. Moving from one dwelling to another, the fire was never extinguished, but carried with them in a pot. The spirit - the owner of the hearth was considered the patron spirit of the family.

One of the main master spirits was the owner of the forest, Baai Bayyanai; luck in the fishery depended on him. Before going hunting, they asked him to give prey, while they cast a spell and threw pieces of fat into the fire. Northern Yakuts made images of the esekeen - an amulet that promoted successful hunting. In ancient times, each Yakut clan considered its sacred ancestor and patron to some animal that members of this clan could not kill, eat or call by name. Such animals included the swan, goose, raven, eagle, white-lipped stallion, falcon, hawk, ermine, squirrel, and chipmunk. Birds such as swan, eagle, raven, hawk, according to Yakut myths, brought fire to people when they were on the verge of death. The eagle was considered the son of the heavenly deity Khomporun Hotoy, the head of all birds. Mostly Yakut totems were birds, among the animals there are bear, lynx, chipmunk, squirrel, ermine among the totems.

As for domestic animals, they were created by kind deities aiyy. There was a myth that the supreme creator Yuryung Aiyy Toyon (the deity of Heaven) created a horse and a man at the same time, and according to another version, he first created a horse, a half-horse-half-man descended from him, and only then a man. The cult of the white horse was associated with the sky, in connection with than bloodless sacrifices to the upper world were brought only by horse-drawn cattle or white milk food (koumiss). The skulls of favorite horses were hung on trees.

Birch was considered a sacred tree of heavenly deities; it was used as a ritual attribute in rituals. life cycle. The Yakuts believed that trees could give a soul to a child, so barren women asked a tree (birch, larch) with a crown fused at the top - the soul of a child. The Yakuts had a rite of "making a nest of the soul of a child", where a nest was built on a special eight-stem tree for the future soul of a child. The formula "tree-bird" can be clearly traced in the mytho-ritual culture of the Yakuts. The soul was represented in the form of a bird, and the motif of creation from an egg was most clearly expressed in shamanic mythology. Judging by the myths, the eagle hatched the shamans on the sacred birch (larch).

A shaman could become a person marked by the will of the gods or spirits, having a hereditary gift in the family, or having come into contact with a deceased shaman. Such a person from birth had some special signs and passed the test of illness caused by the fact that his kut was carried away by spirits for education, which can be messengers of any of the three worlds. The most powerful shaman was brought up in the Upper World in one of the nine nests of the sacred shaman tree. The higher the nest, the stronger the shaman is born.

The most difficult test is the stage of initiation into shamans - ettenia, that is, dissection of the body. The initiate takes refuge in a dense forest, where a urasu has already been built for him - a summer dwelling of a conical shape, covered with birch bark. During sleep or a deep fainting state, in which the future shaman stays from three to nine days, the spirits of all three worlds, the spirits of all diseases, flock to him, dissect the body into pieces and treat themselves to its meat and blood, after which iye-kut - mother - the soul collects the bones, and the body is again reborn to life, but in a new, supernatural quality. From now on, the shaman can communicate with spirits, can take on any guise.

If dissection is a physical test, then the next stage of initiation into shamans can be called a spiritual lesson for him. This is a rite of joint ritual of a young shaman with an experienced teacher already in front of the audience, when he must skillfully combine improvisation with the canonized scheme of "traveling in the Universe." The old shaman shows the young shaman the ways of the spirits, being in a clear meadow or climbing a mountain. Both shamans put on ritual costumes and took tambourines in their hands. A sacrificial animal was slaughtered, which was fed to the shamanic spirits, and part was eaten by those who gathered, for whom this day was a holiday. After passing the initiation ceremony, the young shaman acquired special bodily and mental properties, he was able to penetrate into all worlds.

Kamlaniya were performed according to generally accepted canons. All preparations for this sacrament were made by the helpers of the kuturuksuts. Depending on the purpose of the ritual, the shaman addressed the spirits of the Upper or Lower worlds with rituals. At the same time, he made a long journey, making stops along the way on the so-called goofs, available on each tier of the celestial sphere or the underworld. At each goof, he communicated with the spirits, asking them for permission to continue their journey.

Thus, the shaman's ritual was a bright action, usually performed at night in the weak light of the fire, which increased its mystery and frightened people.

Similar information.

AT modern conditions The practice of urban or basic (the term was introduced by its founder Michael Harner) shamanism is quite widely distributed throughout the world, including Russia. And this kind of shamanism acquires its own traditions, rituals, rules and, of course, tools for work. What tools are most often used in basic shamanism?

Yes, the tambourine is perhaps the most famous shamanic object of power, as well as one of the most powerful and effective tools in practice.

The tambourine is also indispensable as a means of achieving a deep trance state, since no psychedelic drugs are used in basic shamanism, which are typical, for example, for shamans. South America. Therefore, the tambourine, with its rhythmic pattern often matching the rhythm of the human heart, is the most commonly used instrument. In Siberian shamanism, a tambourine is also called a "spiritual horse", since the rhythmic and melodic beats of a tambourine resemble the clatter of hooves, and most often shamanic journeys are made precisely to the rhythmic sound of a tambourine.

Types and types of tambourines can be completely different: from traditional round tambourines without a pattern, tambourines with "horns" or resonators to improve sound, double-sided tambourines, oval tambourines, rectangular tambourines, various irregularly shaped tambourines (for example, in the form of a human eye or female figure) etc.

There are also different types of holder with reverse side tambourines, and types of beaters used with tambourines. Most often, tambourines are made from various types of natural leather: goat, ox, less often tambourines are made from the skin of a bear, deer, horse, buffalo, bison, etc.

The only downside to well-made genuine leather tambourines is that the clarity and volume of the sound change with humidity, so some of these tambourines don't sound good when played outdoors in high humidity. Of interest are also tambourines made of artificial leather, as they give a good sound that does not change depending on the humidity of the surrounding air, and can be used at any weather conditions, even in the rain.

In addition to achieving a trance state and traveling to the world of spirits, tambourines can be used as a cleansing and harmonizing tool, both for a person and for the surrounding space. One of important tasks, for which tambourines are also often used, is the transportation of the necessary type of energy from one place in space to another. The next, no less interesting and effective tool is a rattle. Indeed, the range of its application is probably the maximum of all available tools.

Beanbag

One of the wishes when you come to me for a basic shamanic seminar is to ask you to bring a rattle. Yes, most often in our perception, rattles are mainly associated with either children or musical instruments.

Do you know that in ancient times in Russia, rattles were used primarily not as musical instrument, and not as a toy, but as a talisman and protection. It was believed that the sound of a rattle, a shark (a type of rattle made of birch bark certain form) or ratchet scares away evil spirits that can harm the child and attracts protection to him in the form of good spirits.

Most shamanistic practitioners love to work with rattles, noting their versatility, small size and ability to take with them on any trip. The rattle serves to call the spirits of various directions, cardinal directions, the three worlds, the spirits of ancestors. Under the rhythmic sound of a rattle, it is also good to make shamanic journeys, when a state of deep trance is not needed and there are time limits, the spirit of the rattle can be a good guide on such a journey.

The rattle is a powerful healing tool, good example This is given in Jonathan Horwitz's article "The Power in Your Hand" (see related article). The sound of a rattle can serve to diagnose the condition of a person who has asked for help. Also, the rattle can serve to cleanse the space, healing, help and protection. Rattles can be made from leather, birch bark, wood, plastic, there are even rattles made from a plastic jar filled with cereals, small stones, etc. After all main principle, as already noted in the article by J. Horwitz, it is the power and strength of the spirit that works through shamanic tools, and not the size or appearance of the tool itself. Although, of course, making a shamanic instrument with your own hands is a very interesting experience.

Periodically, we hold workshops on making and rituals to "revive" shamanic instruments such as rattles and tambourines. This is a very special creative state when you yourself create your own object of power.

When creating a rattle, you are in a special state of interaction with its spirit, even if you did not know anything about spirits, shamans and other reality before. In addition, only rattles and tambourines, with the possible exception of staffs and some ceramics, are shamanic tools that can be made by hand.

The next interesting, although not so often used, tool is the staff. The first association associated with a staff in most people is the idea of ​​a wise old man, with a staff in his hand, traveling the earth. Interestingly, this representation does not depend on the geographical region and the traditions of the people living in it. We can remember both the English wizard Merlin and the ancient Russian passerby kaliks traveling in this way. The staff is the third tool with which it is possible to go on shamanic journeys, using the rhythm of the staff hitting the ground or any other covering.

Staves were tools of power used in the Old Norse tradition of the Seida* by the velva**. Staves were for the velva both helpers and support in physical reality, and accumulators and conductors of energy coming from the world of spirits.

Staffs can also work by connecting earth and sky, the upper and lower worlds, while being in the hands of a person working with a staff. Sometimes the staff can be part of the family tree, connecting a person with the world of ancestors and the world of descendants, often in legends the staff was a symbol of power and strength.

aromatic herbs

Often used in basic shamanism and such a "tool" as aromatic herbs. The most famous of them is arsa or artysh, evergreen shrub from the type of juniper, wormwood, sage, branches of pine, arborvitae or cedar. More rare to use are herbs such as St. John's wort, mint, mullein, bison, various other types of juniper and sage, rosemary, lemon balm and lavender. You can also use essential oils.

Most often, ceremonial space, other objects of power, as well as participants in healing rituals are fumigated in order to remove excess, unwanted energy, and prepare for subsequent events. For aromaherbs and essential oils, there are no uniform rules for use, each practitioner receives advice on the correct use of them from their perfumes and from special literature. And of course, it is necessary to take into account the contraindications that exist in any work with herbs, for example, wormwood is dangerous for pregnant women, and some people have allergic reactions to the aroma of a particular plant.

The use of aromatic herbs depends on what effect you want to achieve, for example, wormwood, sage and artysh serve to cleanse rooms and people from all superficial, alien, certain types negative energy. Mint is a good remedy to lift the mood and structure the space, etc. Quite often, plants are teacher plants and can give a lot of wisdom and strength to their students. In this regard, it can be noted that the spirits of minerals with different properties can act as teachers and helpers.

The next group of tools used in basic shamanism are various minerals, in the form of crystals, druze or "stone figurines".

Quartz crystals. Various minerals

The most famous of the mineral treasures are quartz crystals. The range of their application is unusually wide. Practitioners of shamanism use crystals to structure space, cleanse, heal a person, sometimes for protective purposes.

Various properties of stones are also used, for example, it is believed that citrine attracts energy to the house. material well-being, malachite promotes the purification of emotions and creativity, and tourmaline protects against the effects of harmful energy. Also, many minerals, like strong plants, are teacher stones.

bells

Another common tool is different kinds bells. The sound of the bell allows you to create a harmonious space for work, calls to the practitioners of a certain type of spirit, and often acts as a guide in various spaces. Bells are also used in shamanic work to return the soul, helping to seek and call on the lost parts of a person's vital energy. Tibetan singing bowls can be attributed to the same type of instruments, which, with the help of their sound, create a space for deep relaxation.

Often practitioners use animal figurines, fairy creatures, pictures with various images, feathers, etc., which are also the material embodiment of the spirits working with them. As shamanic tools for work are used various elements elements: water in a beautiful amphora, a candle in a figured candlestick, ceramic figurines, as the personification of the elements of the earth.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the article considered the main shamanic tools used in basic shamanism, while it must be borne in mind that you select any tool based on the wishes of your spirits, your convenience and common sense.