SHAMANS OF SIBERIA
The Sayan Mountains
The Republic of Tuva, The Republic of Khakassia and Irkutsk Oblast are not only famous for their traditional throat singing Khoomei, national wrestling sports Khuresh and picturesque nature, but also for their ancient culture of shamanism. Shamanism is a widespread religious practice that maintains a strong influence on people of Siberia. Shamans are mostly seen by local inhabitants as healers, wise saviors, and portals between humans and the spirits of the ancestors. They get their energy from nature, where nature is their best supplier, their truthful teacher, and their only home. Nomadic lifestyle and philosophical perception of time making these communities sage like the Sayan Mountain and calm as floating flocks of the gigantic white clouds that together perform a harmonious symphony of eternal beauty in that authentic venerable culture.
CHAPTER ONE:
Adyg-Eeren
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
The supreme shaman of Tuva Kara-ool Tulushevich.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Kara-ool Tulushevich is a well known and respected man in Tuva and abroad. According to Kara-ool, former Russian president Boris Yeltsin once visited him and got cured by the shaman. After that occasion, Boris Yeltsin gave shamanism official status in Tuva. That made Tuva be the first part of Russia where shamanism was allowed after the broke up of the Soviet Union.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Sergey "The Wild Shaman".
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
It is believed that the smoke of juniper protects shamans and people during their journey into the world of spirits.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Kara-ool and Sergey during a ritual.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Kara-ool Tulushevich during a ritual.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Kara-ool and Sergey during a ritual.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
According to the shaman's beliefs, the food for the offerings should have white colors. because the white food is more preferred by the spirits. The food can be milk, kama, sugar etc.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Shaman Sergey during a ritual.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Shaman Sergey during a ritual.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Tambourine is one of the key instruments of shamans for their travels into the world of spirits. Other accouterments that can be used are the Jew's harp and the whip.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Russia, Republic of Tuva.
Kara-ool Tulushevich after the ritual.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
A shaman inside her cabinet in the shaman's community Adyg-Eeren. Adyg-Eeren consists of more than 15 people, among which are shamans, workers, servants, visitors, and relatives of the supreme shaman Kara-ool Tulushevich. The area is situated in the eastern part of Kyzyl. It is a place with about 1000 square meters and a few village buildings.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Shaman's community Adyg-Eeren
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Paw of a bear cooked in a pot. Shamans use the fat of the bear to cure bronchitis. The animal's bones are used for amulets, that are believed to protect shamans during their rituals.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Ram's horns macerate in a solute. After they will be cut off and can be used as a decoration in a yurt or in one of the shaman's cabinets.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
A black shaman Chayalga in her cabinet in the Adyg-Eeren community. Shamans differ between black and white shamans. The blacks are those who can enter the underworld of the evil spirits in order to find the lost souls of suffering humans. The white shamans use to communicate with the good spirits in the upper world where they can ask for health, luck and a rich harvest for people.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Kara-ool Tulushevich shows his shaman’s ID.
CHAPTER TWO:
Svetlana Butusova
Chapaevo, Khakassia.
Shaman Svetlana Butusova and her son Viktor in their home. Village Chapayevo, near the city Abakan.
Svetlana is a well-known shaman in Khakassia and Tuva. It is seldom, that her Yurt (Mongolian tent) remains unvisited. People from all over the world come to ask Svetlana for help or advice. Apart from receiving visitors, together with her son she also does shamanic workshops in Europe.
Chapaevo, Khakassia.
Ivan is a customer of Svetlana. According to her, Ivan lost his soul and she needs to go to the underworld to find it and bring it back to Ivan. Although Svetlana is a white shaman (those who ask good spirits for a better fortune), she does from time to time the duty of the black shaman and takes the risk by traveling down to the underground.
Chapaevo, Khakassia.
Shaman Svetlana Butusova during the ritual.
Chapaevo, Khakassia.
Ivan's preparation for the long ritual that will last from 6PM till 3PM the next day.
Chapaevo, Russia.
Svetlana Butusova waits for the car to take her to the sacred forest where the second part of the ritual will take place.
Khakassia, Russia.
Shaman Svetlana Butusova during the ritual.
Khakassia, Russia.
Shaman Svetlana Butusova during the ritual.
Khakassia, Russia.
Viktor sleeps after the exhausting ritual.
Khakassia, Russia.
Ivan dives into the cold and fast streaming river Abakan in order to wash off the course, as Svetlana told him.
CHAPTER THREE:
Nomad Nikolay
Kaa-Khem, Republic of Tuva.
Shaman Nikolay Nachin-ool during ritual.
Kaa-Khem, Republic of Tuva.
Hand made mask from the skin of the burbot fish should protect shaman during his spiritual travels.
Kaa-Khem, Tuva.
Nikolay takes off his heavy coat.
Kaa-Khem, Republic of Tuva.
Nachin-ool lives a nomadic lifestyle for many years. He doesn't have a home and is financially broken. But these circumstances don't frustrate him much. Nachin-ool is thankful for every day that the heaven god Tengri provides him. He considers himself lucky enough because one of his good friends allowed Nachin-ool to stay in his country-house during the cold Siberian winter.
CHAPTER FOUR:
Elena
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Shaman Elena Khuler Oolovna at the conflux of Little Yanisei River and Large Yanisei River.
Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva.
Martin came to Tuva all the way from Norway in hope to find a favorable shaman to cure his illness. According to Martin, his body is in constant pain due to intoxication from mercury that was used during his dental treatment. He spent three weeks in Siberia searching for the right shaman. On the penultimate day of his journey, he accidentally found the suitable and trustworthy shaman Elena.
CHAPTER FIVE:
Karagay
Abakan, Khakassia.
Young shaman Pur-Kham puts on his hat, while Anton sleeps on the couch. Anton took a long journey from Saint-Petersburg to Abakan in order to get the initiation from the shaman Karagay.
Abakan, Khakassia.
Shaman Karagay, a student of Kara-ool Tulushevich.
CHAPTER SIX:
Chadan
Chadan, Republic of Tuva.
Nikolay Nachin-ool ignites the bonfire as a symbol of the ending of the music festival Ustuu Khuure in Chadan.
Chadan, Republic of Tuva.
Nikolay during ritual.
Chadan, Republic of Tuva.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
Lake Baikal
The Lake Baikal - the deepest, largest and oldest lake on Earth. It is not only a magnet for shamans, Buddhists, and other religious practitioners because of its history and astonishing nature, but also for the tourists from Russia, China and Europe .
The village Khuzhir on the Olkhon Island was settled in 1938 on the basis of the fish factory. In the 90s the factory was closed and the village had to invent itself new. Luckily for the inhabitants of the village, since then more and more tourists willing to visit the world's heritage. Nevertheless, the infrastructure of the island is not capable of dealing with all the garbage that tourists bring with them. That is a big problem nowadays for the environment that definitely needs to be solved in the near future.
Sergee - the sacred pillars on the Olkhon Island. Such pillars are usually put on the places where, according to beliefs, spirits dwell. Those pillars are not allowed to be replaced by the human. They should decay or be destroyed naturally.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Shaman Gennady Tugulov on the island Olkhon, Lake Baikal. Gennady says, that one can not become a shaman by his own will. It should be the choice of the spirits. If the person is chosen, the spirits will give a sign and there will be no way, that the person can avoid the fate. Gennady comes from the family of the blacksmiths, where the use of the anvil in the shamanic practices is frequent. As opposed to the shamans of Tuva, Khakassia, Buryatia, and Mongolia, his relatives did not use tambourine, Jews' harp or other instruments in their rituals. He believes, that in order to be a good and useful shaman, one doesn't need all those attributes. According to Gennady, the most important thing for a shaman is the experience.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Mongolian shaman Zeff. Every summer he, his wife and his grandchild come to the village Khuzhir on the island Olkhon (The Baikal Lake) to sell souvenirs and offer shamanic rituals.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Zeff shows his scars that remind him of the observing eye. Not everyone can become a shaman. But those who had shamans in their ancestry can be called by the spirits at any given time. The appeal of the spirits mostly appears in the form of so-called "shaman's sickness".
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Shaman Zeff boils the stone. After everything is prepared, 23 stones will be taken out by men and perfused with a thymus soup.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
In Siberia, shamanism is a widespread religious practice. Families usually ask shamans to do a ritual for a fruitful harvest, better job, health etc. Shamans recommend doing such rituals at least once in a year.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Sweets, meat or milk are the common offerings to the spirits. Some part of the offerings stays by the offerer. After the prayer is said the offerings should be eaten during the next three days and the offerer is not allowed to share them with others.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Zeff and his wife during a ritual. The shaman reads prayers for a good fortune. As Zeff says, he flies over the mountains and searches for the soul of the man. Then he catapult the cup with the help of the tambourine. If the cup lands on its bottom, the soul is cleaned from all the curses. If not, the whole process will be done so long, till the cup lands on its bottom.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Zeff comes from a family of blacksmiths, like shaman Gennady Tugulov (without T-shirt). Zeff's family uses hot iron in their rituals to banish illnesses out of liver, kidney or stomach.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Zeff performs a ritual to enter the shamanic trance.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Zeff forced his soul out from his body in order for the spirits of ancestors to speak through his mouth. The Tugulov's family gathered around Zeff as he speaks and his wife translates the language of the spirits.
Island Olkhon, Irkutskaya Oblast.
Shaman Zeff goes out from the shamanic trance.