When those of Western culture think of Mongolian or Buryat religion, the first prominent feature that comes to mind is Buryat shamanism. One of the fascinating things about their form of shamanism is how ancient a religious tradition it embodies. In an era that commonly espouses scarcity, finite resources, and the Hobbesian worldview of a zero-sum game, Buryat shamanism allows an impoverished demographic to maintain an understanding that the world is a rich, bountiful place for those willing to live in harmony with it. To a practicing Buryat, “the world is not a dead place, but vibrantly alive with spirits and souls in every thing and in every place, also that all animals and plants have sentient souls much like ourselves.” This mindset instills a deep respect for nature in their religion, allowing men to live in harsh Siberia for thousands of years with minimal environmental damage. The three most important things to a Buryat shaman are sustaining balance in the world, holding reverence for the Earth and living things, and personal responsibility. They know that not all people share their spiritual view of nature, they wish to spread a reverence for the air, rivers, earth, forests, and mountains; and attitude shift that would obviously correct some of our current pollution quandaries.
This applies to the Buryats of today, as this sort of mentality is inherently socialistic by its nature. With the collapse of socialism following the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the 20th century, Buryat Mongols were swiftly thrust into the capitalist world-economy. The traditional nomadic pastoralism practiced by Buryats proved incompatible with the privatization of assets and capitalist economics. Moving from a lifestyle dictated by the flow of seasons, the Buryats struggle to cope with the flow of markets.
The Buryat shamans explain this as revenge perpetrated by ancestor spirits, forgotten with the decline of socialism. Shamanism, however, was suppressed under socialism, seen as unorthodox. In Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Memory, and Gender in Contemporary Mongolia by Manduhai Buyandelger, she tells a story of the Buryats working to calm their angry ancestors through ancient rituals. In an effort to cope with economic disparity, the Buryats method of agency is interactive and shifting as they become one with their pasts. Tegsh describes a balance to be achieved in Buryat shamanism, and in attempting to better themselves economically, they better themselves culturally, in turn enriching all they contact.
The Buryat shamans try and retain the connection with the Earth and like the Amazonian shamans, espouse views that pollution of the earth, air, and water via overuse of fire will be the greatest problems the coming generations will face. Tragic Spirits also describes such struggles in Indonesia and Africa, where emerging cultural practices are repairing the earth slowly. Cultural practices need to be adopted in the future to save the lungs of the Earth, the Taiga and Amazon rainforests, and this is how indigenous populations strive to do their part.
Urban shamanism has also risen to help bond Buryat communities in urban environments. These shamans end up bound to the fabric of the town, and adapt to their new conditions of existence. In the past, rituals would have included sacrifice of a horse or a cow, but nowadays goats and sheep are used due to their availability. A ceremony would involve preparing for travel with the shaman, travelling to the spot where the ritual would be performed, preparing the scene of the ritual itself, and performing the ritual. The first part involves decoration of a birch where the sacrifice will be held by. The second part starts when the birch is decorated and ends when the skeleton of the animal is laid in anatomical order. The third and final part lasts from putting the skeleton together to the total burning of the hide and bones.
In the first phase, they’re recognizing a transition from the earthly to the spirits. The second phase calls forth the spirits and gods to witness. The third phase entertains the present gods and spirits. With this done, they have appeased the spirits and hopefully have been given some insight as to how to solve their problems.
This sort of ritual replaces what would have been done in Chinggis Khan's time. Ancient shamanic tradition of the 1200's, a time when the Mongol peoples ruled the most advanced portion of the world, consisted of many different methods. Back in olden times of war, struggle and conquest, intoxicants and hallucinogenic plants were more commonly used by shamans to help guide the layman through rough times and to connect with the spirit world. The Siberian and Steppes regions produced alcohol, fly agaric mushrooms, an alcohol/muscimol elixir produced by soaking said mushrooms in alcohol spirits, and many of the peoples in that region have habitually suffered alcohol abuse. Chinggis Khan's own sons and grandson's were alcoholics, which lead to the splitting of his impressive empire. Shamans of old would sacrifice a horse rather than a sheep, as every Mongol horse-archer has a minimum of 3 horses. They venerated their relationship with the horses through sacrifice and dissolve the boundaries of self through consuming these intoxicants, rhythmic dancing, chanting, and through direction from the shaman.
Mongolian history has always been fascinating, since they're the only peoples to ever have conquered China; Kubla Khan established a dynasty. Their relationship with nature is probably bolstered by these rituals of animal and plant, very similarly to Amazonian shamanic tradition, Mesoamerican and Inuit shamanic tradition, ancient Vedic tradition, and Celtic druid traditions.
Birtalan, A.
2013 A Buryat Shaman Woman And Her Rituals in The 21st Century. PhD Thesis. Eötvös Loránd University, Central Asian Department.
Buyandelger, M.
2013 Tragic spirits: shamanism, memory, and gender in contemporary Mongolia. e-Book: pdf.
Damien Joseph
2013 The First Siberian Shaman. The Mystified Social Paranormal Entertainment. http://themystified.com/index.php/topics/folklore/84-the-first-siberian-shaman
Tengerism
1997 Buryat Shamanism. electronic document. http://www.tengerism.org accessed Nov, 1, 2013
Urban shamanism has also risen to help bond Buryat communities in urban environments. These shamans end up bound to the fabric of the town, and adapt to their new conditions of existence. In the past, rituals would have included sacrifice of a horse or a cow, but nowadays goats and sheep are used due to their availability. A ceremony would involve preparing for travel with the shaman, travelling to the spot where the ritual would be performed, preparing the scene of the ritual itself, and performing the ritual. The first part involves decoration of a birch where the sacrifice will be held by. The second part starts when the birch is decorated and ends when the skeleton of the animal is laid in anatomical order. The third and final part lasts from putting the skeleton together to the total burning of the hide and bones.
ReplyDeleteIn the first phase, they’re recognizing a transition from the earthly to the spirits. The second phase calls forth the spirits and gods to witness. The third phase entertains the present gods and spirits. With this done, they have appeased the spirits and hopefully have been given some insight as to how to solve their problems.
This sort of ritual replaces what would have been done in Chinggis Khan's time. Ancient shamanic tradition of the 1200's, a time when the Mongol peoples ruled the most advanced portion of the world, consisted of many different methods. Back in olden times of war, struggle and conquest, intoxicants and hallucinogenic plants were more commonly used by shamans to help guide the layman through rough times and to connect with the spirit world. The Siberian and Steppes regions produced alcohol, fly agaric mushrooms, an alcohol/muscimol elixir produced by soaking said mushrooms in alcohol spirits, and many of the peoples in that region have habitually suffered alcohol abuse. Chinggis Khan's own sons and grandson's were alcoholics, which lead to the splitting of his impressive empire. Shamans of old would sacrifice a horse rather than a sheep, as every Mongol horse-archer has a minimum of 3 horses. They venerated their relationship with the horses through sacrifice and dissolve the boundaries of self through consuming these intoxicants, rhythmic dancing, chanting, and through direction from the shaman.
DeleteMongolian history has always been fascinating, since they're the only peoples to ever have conquered China; Kubla Khan established a dynasty. Their relationship with nature is probably bolstered by these rituals of animal and plant, very similarly to Amazonian shamanic tradition, Mesoamerican and Inuit shamanic tradition, ancient Vedic tradition, and Celtic druid traditions.