An intimate account of an ancient shamanic ritual of Siberia • Illustrated with vivid, full-color photographs throughout • Details the many preparations and ritual objects as well as the struggles of the shamans to complete the ceremony successfully Near the radiant blue waters of Lake Baikal, in the lands where Mongolia, Siberia, and China meet, live the Buryats, an indigenous people little known to the Western world. After seventy years of religious persecution by the Soviet government, they can now pursue their traditional spiritual practices, a unique blend of Tibetan Buddhism and shamanism. There are two distinct shamanic paths in the Buryat tradition: Black shamanism, which draws power from the earth, and White shamanism, which draws power from the sky. In the Buryat Aga region, Black and White shamans conduct rituals together, for the Buryats believe that they are the children of the Swan Mother, descendants of heaven who can unite both sides in harmony. Providing an intimate account of one of the Buryats’ most important shamanic rituals, this book documents a complete Shanar, the ceremony in which a new shaman first contacts his ancestral spirits and receives his power. Through dozens of full-color photographs, the authors detail the preparations of the sacred grounds, ritual objects, and colorful costumes, including the orgay, or shaman’s horns, and vividly illustrate the dynamic motions of the shamans as the spirits enter them. Readers experience the intensity of ancient ritual as the initiate struggles through the rites, encountering unexpected resistance from the spirit world, and the elder shamans uncover ancient grievances that must be addressed before the Shanar can be completed successfully. Interwoven with beautiful translations of Buryat ceremonial songs and chants, this unprecedented view of one of the world’s oldest shamanic traditions allows readers to witness extraordinary forces at work in a ritual that culminates in a cleansing blessing from the heavens themselves.

No detailed description available for "Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia".

The Hungarian ethnologist Vilmos Dioszegi (1923-1972), well-known for his research on Siberian shamanism, wrote many articles and studies which have never been collected in a single volume. The present selction attests to Dioszegi's range of interest and is representative of his oeuvre. It contains studies on Mongolian and Nanai shamanism as well as other topics. The reproduction of the many pictures Dioszegi used to illustrate these studies give the volume an outstanding quality enhancing its value for those interested in shamanism, for researchers, historians of religion, social anthropologists, and folklorists.

With their ability to enter trances, to change into the bodies of other creatures, and to fly through the northern skies, shamans are the subject of both popular and scholarly fascination. In Shamans: Siberian Spirituality and the Western Imagination Ronald Hutton looks at what is really known about both the shamans of Siberia and about others spread throughout the world. He traces the growth of knowledge of shamans in Imperial and Stalinist Russia, descibes local variations and different types of shamanism, and explores more recent western influences on its history and modern practice. This is a challenging book by one of the world's leading authorities on Paganism.

The first book written about Mongolian and Siberian shamanism by a shaman trained in that tradition. • A thorough introduction to Mongolian and Siberian shamanic beliefs and practices, which, until the collapse of the Soviet Union, were banned from being practiced. • Includes rituals for healing and divination techniques. In traditional Mongolian-Buryat culture, shamans play an important role maintaining the tegsh, the "balance" of the community. They counsel a path of moderation in one's actions and reverence for the natural world, which they view as mother to humanity. Mongolians believe that if natural resources are taken without thanking the spirits for what they have given, those resources will not be replaced. Unlike many other cultures whose shamanic traditions were undermined by modern civilization, shamans in the remote areas of southern Siberia and Mongolia are still the guardians of the environment, the community, and the natural order. Riding Windhorses is the first book written on Mongolian and Siberian shamanism by a shaman trained in that tradition. A thorough introduction to Mongolian/Siberian shamanic beliefs and practices, it includes working knowledge of the basic rituals and various healing and divination techniques. Many of the rituals and beliefs described here have never been published and are the direct teachings of the author's own shaman mentors.

Author Mihly Hoppl founder and president of the International Society of Shamanistic Research has written numerous studies examining shamanistic culture in many parts the world. His research has covered the comparative mythology of Uralic peoples, ethnosemiotics, theory of tradition, and shamanism in Eurasia. He has conducted fieldwork in Siberia among Sakha, Tuva, Buryat, Nanai, and in North East China among Manchu, Daur, and Bargu nationalities. Shamans and Traditions, his most current study, follows in the wake of his recent works Rediscovery of Shamanic Heritage (2003), Shamans and Cultures (2001), and Studies on Mythology and Uralic Shamanism (2001).