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. 

The Soul of the Shaman

The distinguishing characteristic of shamanism is its focus on an ecstatic trance state in which the soul of the shaman is believed to leave his or her body and ascend to the sky (heavens) or descend into the earth (underworld). The drum, sometimes called the shaman's horse, provides the shaman a relatively easy means of controlled transcendence. Researchers have found that if a drum beat frequency of around three to four beats per second is sustained for at least fifteen minutes, it will induce significant trance states in most people, even on their first attempt. 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.

The shaman's mount, namely the single-headed frame drum, originated in Siberia along with shamanism itself thousands of years ago. The word shaman comes from Siberia, and it is in this vast geographical region where shamanism proper is to be found. Siberian shamans use the frame 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. Siberia is one of the few places in the world where the shamanic heritage has remained unbroken. Read more.

The Shaman's Drumstick

Drums are an essential part of shamanic work; we use them for journeying, healing and celebration, both for ourselves and for the community. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of divination, extraction and soul retrieval and can all be performed with the drum. It can be used as a spirit boat and carry souls inside it during soul retrievals. The drum may serve as a purifying tool, a spirit-catcher or the shaman's mount.

The drumstick or beater is also a significant shamanic tool and has a powerful spirit and sound of its own. The best drumsticks are made of strong hardwood with a padded, leather covered head. They are usually decorated with fur, feathers, bead work or engraved with sacred symbols. Different beaters work better with different drums to bring out the tone qualities. By using different parts of the drumstick to play on different parts of the drum, different timbres can be produced for transmitting different meanings. There are hard beaters, semi-hard beaters, soft beaters, and rattle beaters, which are simply beaters with a rawhide or gourd rattle attached to the base of the handle opposite the head. The clicking of the rattle adds not only an interesting sound effect, but also produces an offbeat, which adds a new dimension to the sonic experience.

Furthermore, the shaman's drumstick has certain uses independent of the drum. In Tuva (southern Siberia), the rattle beater or orba, with its spoon-shaped head covered with animal fur and metal rings attached for rattling, is in part for practicing divination and drawing the attention of the spirits. The snare sounds associated with metal, stone and bone rattlers attached to beaters and drum frames are described as "spirit voices." When Tuvan drums were being confiscated and destroyed during the times of Soviet repression, some shamans used only their orba for rituals.

Among the Altaians of Siberia, shamans use the orba to invoke helping spirits, collect them into the drum and purify sacred space for ritual. According to M. A. Czaplicka, author of Shamanism in Siberia (2007, p. 171), when the shaman summons the spirits, "His tambourine sounds louder and louder, and he staggers under the burden of the vast number of spirit-protectors collected in it. Now he purifies the host, hostess, their children, and relatives by embracing them in such a way that the tambourine with the spirits collected in it touches the breast and the drumstick the back of each. This is done after he has scraped from the back of the host with the drum-stick all that is unclean, for the back is the seat of the soul."

Thus, drumsticks and drums are used in a variety of ways in shamanic rituals. The first step in learning how to work with these shamanic tools is to connect with the spirits of the instruments. By journeying to connect with the spirits, each shamanic practitioner can find out what a particular drum or drumstick is best suited for, such as divination, journeying, extracting, etc. When you meet the spirit of the instrument, it may teach you some special ways you can use it for your shamanic work that you did not know before. It may have a specific name, purpose or type of energy. Be open to the possibilities.

If the initial communication with the spirit of the instrument is not very clear, that's OK. Journeys like this can be repeated a number of times, in fact it is a good thing to do just to develop an ongoing relationship. You can journey to connect with the spirits of your instruments as often as you like. To learn more, read "Waking the Drum."

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.

Chosen by the Spirits

Buryat shamaness Sarangerel wrote Chosen by the Spirits: Following Your Shamanic Calling as a guide for both the beginning shaman and the advanced practitioner. Although raised in the United States, she was drawn to the shamanic tradition, and in 1991 returned to her ancestral homeland in the Tunken region of southern Siberia to study with traditional Buryat shamans. Her first book, Riding Windhorses, provided an introduction to the shamanic world of Siberia. In Chosen by the Spirits, Sarangerel recounts her own journey into shamanic practice and provides the serious student with practical advice and hands-on techniques for recognizing and acknowledging a shamanic calling, welcoming and embodying the spirits, journeying to the spirit world, and healing both people and places. Highly recommended!

Shamans of Siberia Video

The documentary Shamans of Siberia takes a behind-the-scenes look at contemporary shamanic practice, ritual and music. 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. They 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.

Free eBook: Shamanism in Siberia

Maria A. Czaplicka was a Polish anthropologist who is best known for her ethnography of Siberian shamanism. First published in 1914, Shamanism in Siberia is still relevant, because many of its Uralic, Altaic, and Paleosiberian peoples continue to practice shamanism even in modern times. This comprehensive study provides an in-depth analysis of the most important object in Siberian shamanism--the shamanic drum. It may be said that all over Siberia, where there is a shaman there is also a drum. Czaplicka establishes a universal framework describing how the drum as a symbol transmits symbolic meanings among shamans, people and the spirit world. Among the Neo-Siberians all their philosophy of life is represented symbolically in the drum. Download Shamanism in Siberia.

"The Last of the Shor Shamans"

The Last of the Shor Shamans focuses on the fundamentals of Shor shamanism from interviews with the few remaining authentic shamans from the Shor Mountain region of Siberia. The authors Alexander Arbachakov and Luba Arbachakov are themselves indigenous Shors, which only substantiates their study even more. The book provides details surrounding shamanic practice, spirit communication, and shamanic drumming. It examines how the shamanic drum is constructed, how it is played, and the role it plays in shamanic ceremony. In short, the reader gains insight into the meanings behind every component of the drum and performance methodologies. This much needed book may be the only way the vanishing indigenous Shor people are remembered. It is a prized work for scholars in Siberian shamanism, folklore, and cultural studies.

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).

The Last of the Chukchi Shamans

Yuri Rytkheu (1930-2008) sailed the Bearing Sea and explored the Arctic on geological expeditions. The son of a hunter, he was born in the coastal village of Uelen on the Siberian Chukotka Peninsula. Considered to be the most significant indigenous author in Russia, he wrote over a dozen novels and collections of short stories describing the unique ecological and cultural wisdom of the Chukchi people. His novel A Dream in Polar Fog was a Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize Notable Book in 2006. The most recent English translation of his work is The Chukchi Bible, a collection of the myths and tales of Rytkheu's own grandfather, the last of the Chukchi shamans. The stories describe both a moving history of the Chukchi, who traditionally lived as hunters and nomadic reindeer herders, and the training of shamans; the passing on of rituals and healing skills. 
 
Rytkheu's poetic prose and vivid imagery bring out the best and worst of life on the Arctic coast. In a short introduction Rytkheu explains, "The book is not just the story of my lineage, and not just the story of our clan, but also the genealogy and the root of all my books." Essentially, Rytkheu himself becomes the last shaman, who as a writer magically revives Chukchi culture. Read an excerpt from the book as well as the short story "The Safekeeping of Names," a tale of the Shaman Kalyach.

Shamans and Stories

Kira Van Deusen is an author, storyteller and musician who has done extensive research on the oral traditions of Siberian indigenous peoples and the Canadian Inuit. Her in-depth books include Singing Story, Healing Drum: Shamans and Storytellers of Turkic Siberia, The Flying Tiger: Women Shamans and Storytellers of the Amura, and Kiviuq: An Inuit Hero and His Siberian Cousins. Van Deusen's books are a must-read for those interested in northern cultures, shamanism, oral storytelling, and cultural change. Read More

Rock Art of Siberian Shamanism

In the introduction of Rock Art and the Material Culture of Siberian and Central Asian Shamanism, Ekaterina Devlet writes, "In Siberia and Central Asia - the 'homelands' of shamanism - there is no ancient tradition of written language, and consequently no direct descriptive data on the lifestyle and belief systems of the prehistoric population. Valuable insights can be however gained from the comparison of rock art images with ethnographic material, which indicate that a shamanic world-view was fundamental for the complex symbolism of the Siberians." A common feature in rock art is the portrayal of the shaman's drum. Even though there are different types, shapes, and images painted on the shamanic drum, it is clearly depicted in the rock art. The range of decoration used on the drums varied from simplistic to innately elaborate. The resemblance is remarkably illustrated, "In the Altai region, images depicted on historical shamanic drums demonstrate a striking similarity with what is shown on the rock engravings" (Devlet 47). Read More

Altai Shamans Restore the Sacred Web of Life

The Altai people of southern Siberia, like their indigenous brothers and sisters from all corners of the Earth, face many social, cultural and ecological challenges, including climate change. Local shamans are convinced that only through restoring their reverential relationship with the sacred and spiritual realms can Altai people and the rest of the world restore the balance of the Earth and its climate.