Showing posts with label Tuva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tuva. Show all posts

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Ritual Use of the Shamanic Drum

The shamanic drum, namely the single-headed frame drum, originated in Siberia, together with shamanism itself thousands of years ago. Shamanic drumming is considered one of the oldest methods for healing and accessing inner wisdom. Practiced cross-culturally, this technique is strikingly similar the world over. Shamanic drumming uses a repetitive rhythm that begins slowly and then gradually builds in intensity to a tempo of three to seven beats per second. The ascending tempo will induce light to deep trance states. Shamans use intention and discipline to control the nature, depth and qualities of their trance experiences. They may progress through a range of ecstatic trance states until they reach the level that is necessary for healing to occur. 

The act of entering an ecstatic trance state is called the soul flight or shamanic journey. During shamanic flight, the sound of the drum serves as a guidance system, indicating where the shaman is at any moment or where they might need to go. The drumbeat also serves as an anchor, or lifeline, that the shaman follows to return to his or her body and/or exit the trance state when the trance work is complete. When ready to exit the trance state, the practitioner simply slows the tempo of drumming, drawing consciousness back to normal. 

The sound of the shamanic drum is very important. A shamanic ritual often begins with heating the drum head over a fire to bring it up to the desired pitch. It is the subtle variations in timbre and ever-changing overtones of the drum that allow the shaman to communicate with the spiritual realm. Part of the shaman's training involves learning to hear and interpret a larger range of frequencies than the normal person can. The shaman listens and finds the right tone, the right sound to which the spirits will respond. Through the many tones, pitches, and harmonics of the drum, the shaman communes with the subtle and normally unseen energies of the spirit world. 

Tuvan shamans believe that the spirits of nature create their own sound world, and it is possible for humans to communicate with them through the sound of the drum. According to Tuvan ethnographer and former shaman Mongush Kenin-Lopsan, "We understand the spirits answers mostly from the tangible results of the communication, in terms of benefit or harm. But some people actually hear the spirits singing." Tuvan shamans use the drum to convey to the spirits of a place their greetings, any requests, and thanks. It is a spiritual practice designed to help human beings relate to all of nature. Tuva (southern Siberia) is one of the few places in the world where the shamanic heritage has remained unbroken. 

Drumming opens the shaman's inner, spiritual ears and eyes and also calls the helping spirits. As Tuvan musicologist Valentina Suzukei explains, "By changing and listening to the frequencies and overtones of the drum, the shaman is able to send messages to, and receive them from, both the spirit world and the patient. For example, the shaman might use the overtones to send signals to the sky, where they provoke a voice from the cosmos; in turn, the cosmic signals are caught on the drum and reflected to the shaman through the creation of subsequent overtones." 

The shamanic drum is a time-tested vehicle for healing and self-expression. A shaman may use the drum to address any number of health issues including trauma, addiction, depression, and chronic pain. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of extraction, soul retrieval, and journeying, can all be performed with the drum. According to Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman, authors of Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture, "The drum is used in a variety of ways in shamanist rituals; it may serve as (1) a rhythm instrument, (2) a divination table, (3) a "speaker" for communicating with the spirits, (4) a spirit-catcher, (5) a spirit boat, (6) a purifying device, (7) the shaman's mount."

Sunday, February 16, 2020

"Shaman's Drum"


Shaman's Drum

Oh! My many-colored drum
Ye who standeth in the forward corner!
Oh! My merry and painted drum,
Ye who standeth here!
Let thy shoulder and neck be strong.

Hark, oh hark my horse--ye female maral deer!
Hark, oh hark my horse--ye bear!
Hark, oh hark ye!

Oh, painted drum who standeth in the forward corner!
My mounts--male and female maral deer.
Be silent sonorous drum,
Skin-covered drum,
Fulfill my wishes.

Like flitting clouds, carry me
Through the lands of dusk
And below the leaden sky,
Sweep along like wind
Over the mountain peaks!

--Tuvans of Siberia (1)

1. Vilmos Dioszegi, "Tuva Shamanism: Intraethic Differences and Interethic Analogies,"Acta Etnographica, 11: 162-163, 1962.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

The Shaman's Horse

Lakota Painted Drum, ca. 1860s
My drum can connect me to the earth or carry me like a flying horse. Sometimes I send my spirits out, but other times I must go myself, alone or with the spirits.
--Tania Kobezhikova, Khakass shaman


The shaman's horse, namely the single-headed frame drum, originated in Siberia, together with shamanism itself thousands of years ago. Shamanic drumming is considered one of the oldest methods for healing and accessing inner wisdom. Practiced cross-culturally, this technique is strikingly similar the world over. Shamanic drumming uses a single, repetitive rhythm played at a tempo of three to four beats per second. Although sounding quite simple and redundant, the unique connection between the drum and the shaman gives this drumming great power, richness, and depth.

According to Tuvan musicologist Valentina Suzukei, "shamanic drumming is not monotonous at all. Constant changes in timbre and volume keep them interesting. The healing quality lies in this variation, which tracks and directs the patient's energies. If you don't listen for timbre, but only for pitch and rhythm the music is boring, monotonous. But the player's every smallest change of mood is reflected in timbre."

Through the many frequencies and overtones of the drum, the shaman communes with the normally unseen energies of the spirit world. By changing and listening to the tones, pitches, and harmonics of the drum, the shaman is able to send messages to--and receive them from--both the spirit world and the patient.

The shamanic drum is a time-tested vehicle for healing and self-expression. A shaman may use the drum to address any number of health issues including trauma, addiction, depression, and chronic pain. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of extraction, soul retrieval, and journeying, can all be performed with the drum. According to Mariko Namba Walter and Eva Jane Neumann Fridman, authors of Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture, "The drum is used in a variety of ways in shamanist rituals; it may serve as (1) a rhythm instrument, (2) a divination table, (3) a "speaker" for communicating with the spirits, (4) a spirit-catcher, (5) a spirit boat, (6) a purifying device, (7) the shaman's mount."

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Meet the Shamans of Siberia

Long suppressed by the government, Siberian shamanism has experienced an unprecedented revival following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the number of shamans continues to rise. In a bewildering urban landscape where long traditions of nomadic lifestyles are things of the past, the ancient beliefs of shamanism serve to fill a spiritual void. Siberian shamans can cure illnesses, play a horse's fiddle and control the weather. Some of them can travel over long distances and even levitate by hovering over the birch trees. Meet the Shamans of Siberia.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Female Shamanism in Tuva

Photo by Anastasia Ivanova
In the remote Siberian wilderness of Tuva, female shamanism is alive and well -- and visiting the local healer is as commonplace as a day out at the beach. Located in southern Siberia on the border with Mongolia, the Russian republic of Tuva is home to ancient shamanic traditions practiced by women as well as men. Being a shaman in Tuva is open to both men and women. Tuva is regarded as the birthplace of shamanism. It is one of the few places in the world where the shamanic heritage has remained unbroken. Through the millennia, shamans have been very important in Tuva. Rituals play an important role in people's everyday lives, and shamans are integral to life of the community. Tuva is a unique place where no-one questions if spirits actually exist. They exist; the question is how to communicate with them. Russian photographer Anastasia Ivanova has published a photographic essay exploring female shamanism in Tuva.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Shamanic Revival in Tuva

Tuvan Shamans
While traditional shamanism continues to decline around the world, it is currently undergoing a revival in Tuva (southern Siberia). Tuva is regarded as the birthplace of shamanism. It is one of the few places in the world where the shamanic heritage has remained unbroken. Through the millennia, shamans have been very important in the area of the modern-day Republic of Tuva. Tuva is a unique place where no-one questions if spirits actually exist. They exist; the question is how to communicate with them.

In everyday life the Tuvan shaman is not distinguishable from other people, but when he is engaged in communicating with spirits he has to make use of a special dress and special instruments. Of these the most important and the one in most general use is the shaman's drum. It may be said that all over Tuva, where there is a shaman there is also a drum. The drum has the power of transporting the shaman to the spirit world and of evoking spirits by its sounds. Among the Tuvans, all their philosophy of life is represented symbolically in the drum. Photographer Vera Salnitskaya has published a photographic essay exploring the shamanic resurgence.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Call of the 13 Shamans

Tuvan shaman Nikolay Oorzhak
At the end of July, the festival "The Call of 13 Shamans" took place in Tuva (southern Siberia). The creator and main organizer of the forum festival is Tuvan shaman Nikolay Oorzhak. By means of his songs, he called shamans from all over the world to the sacred land of Tuva. On the sacred mountain tops of Tannu Tuva, thirteen shamans of thirteen countries from all over the world conducted rituals, prayed and meditated with the intention of creating universal harmony on the Earth, and to reveal to the world the predictions about the future of the Earth.

Despite the social upheavals of different periods, the shamanic tradition in Tuva has never been interrupted, and is currently undergoing a revival. In a bewildering urban landscape where long traditions of nomadic lifestyles are things of the past, the ancient beliefs of Tengrism (modern term for a Central Asian religion characterized by features of shamanism, animism, totemism, polytheism and ancestor worship) serve to fill a spiritual void. Read more

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Tuvan Throat Singing

Throat singing, a guttural style of singing or chanting, is one of the world's oldest forms of music. For those who think the human voice can produce only one note at a time, the resonant harmonies of throat singing are surprising. In throat, or overtone singing, a singer can produce two or more notes simultaneously through specialized vocalization techniques taking advantage of the throat's resonance characteristics. By precise movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, velum, and larynx, throat singers produce unique harmonies using only their bodies. Throat singing is most identified with the Tuvan people of southern Siberia, who use their voices to mimic and interact with the sounds of the natural world -- whistling birds, bubbling streams, or the blowing wind. Throat singing is simply the sounds we all make, or are capable of making, to connect ourselves with nature. Read more.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Siberian Shamanic Drumming: Drum and Space

Ken Hyder is a percussionist and member of the British-Siberian experimental music ensemble K-Space. The electroacoustic improvisation trio was formed in Tuva, Siberia in 1996 and has released three CDs, including Infinity (2008), which is a new, revolutionary album which is different every time you play it. Infinity will not work in a standard CD player and requires a computer to play it. Each time the CD is played, supplied software remixes source material located on the disc and produces a new 20-minute musical piece. The music produced by the CD is eclectic improvising that is deeply rooted in Siberian shamanic music. John Cavanagh of The Herald in Glasgow said in a review of the album that even though he knew each listening was the result of a "computer triggered sequence," it always sounded like a "cohesive musical work, as though it was meant to be that way."

Hyder, who has studied with Siberian shamans, has published a very informative guide to the dungur or Siberian shamanic drum. The essay examines how the dungur is constructed, how it is played, and the role it plays in shamanic practice. In shamanic performance, musical considerations are minimal. The focus is on the spiritual intention or the energy of what is being played. As Hyder explains, "My approach to music making changed decisively following my experiences in Siberia. For me it starts with the dungur and the expanded possibilities of variation arising from its superficially apparent instability. And it continues to open up with other musicians being equally free in themselves and in the context of a group. That opening up has the capacity to expand and expand further making the playing fresh, different and spontaneous each time." To learn more, read Drum and Space (PDF).

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Shamanism and Music in Tuva

Valentina Suzukei is one of Tuva's leading ethnomusicologists and the author of three books on Tuvan music. She recently published the results of a multifaceted study of Tuvan music culture. Suzukei's article takes a closer look at the Tuvan musical phenomenon and the revolutionary transformation of Tuvan musical life in the twentieth century. Tuvan folk music is deeply rooted in nature and shamanism and considered a unique contribution to the evolution of human culture. It is an artistic expression of the nomads' experience of acoustical immersion in the sounds of their natural environment. Images of nature occupy a central place in the artistic creations of the Tuvans. Singing a holographic picture of the natural environment is a unique shamanic art form. To learn more read Valentina Suzukei's article "Tuvan Music and the Twentieth Century."