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Tengerism, or Tengriism, is anancient Central Asian animisticreligion and spirituality, which hasbeen at the root of shamanism forthousands of years. The firstrecorded use of the word was inC4th BCE China.

It was the religion of GenghisKhan - the great Mongolian leader - and also of generations of hisdescendants, and was once to befound practiced from Bulgaria inthe West to Siberia in the Far East.

Tengerism also has connectionswith other ancient beliefs of CentralAsia, mingling with, and influencingboth Zoroastrianism and ancientCentral Asian Christianity. This formof Christianity is called ‘NestorianChristianity,’ after Nestorius, aPatriarch of Constantinople - and itwas controversial with OrthodoxChristians, as it held the view thatJesus was a mortal man - notdivine - who had a deep and closeconnection to the holy spirit,allowing him to become both ahealer and a messenger of God - asort of supreme shaman figure.

After a schism with the OrthodoxChurch in Constantinople in theC5th CE, Nestorianism spread toWestern China and Central Asiaalong the Silk Road, becoming apopular spirituality - alongsideshamanism and Buddhism - withthe Uighur people of China’sXinjiang provence (East Turkestan),which lies North East of Tibet.

Nestorianism faded out afterthe rise of Islam and theconversion of the Uighur people inthe C10th, but Tengerism,Buddhism and Nestorianism stillinfluence the folklore of CentralAsia - even in those areas whichare now predominantly Islamic; forinstance with the baqshï (shamans)in Kyrgyzstan.

Tengerism has generally beentolerant of other faiths andspiritualities. In1254, William ofRubruck, a medieval FlemishFranciscan monk who travelled toMongolia, met with Möngke Khan,the grandson of Genghis Khan, andat that time the Great Khan of theMongol empire. Möngke Khan toldWilliam: “We believe that there isonly one God, by whom we live andby whom we die, and for whom wehave an upright heart. But as Godgives us the different fingers of thehand, so he gives to men diverseways to approach Him.”

Do you work with the Four Directions,have a concept of the Three Worlds,understand that all things are alive andwith spirit, and that all beings on theSacred Hoop of Creation are partof one big family and related?Well if you do, you are probablya Tengerist - even if you don't realise it

Nicholas Breeze Wood explores thisancient shamanic spirituality andoffers it as a catch-all term wecould apply to the multitude ofdifferent shamanic pathscurrently growingin the West

the

eternal blue sky

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Opposite Page:blue silk khadag

offering scarf fliesin the wind underthe ‘eternal bluesky’ of Mongolia

Left: Tibetanprayer flags,

with the symbolof the windhorse

on them

Inset: an ancientMongolian amulet

symbolising thefour directions,

the sacred centreand the hoop ofthe world. Thissymbol is oftenused to convey

Tengerism

Below: Nestorianfresco of Jesus.

Qocho Oasis,Taklamakan

Desert, Xinjiang,Western China.Uighur people

C683–770 CE

Currently Tengerism is havinga revival in Central Asia,coming into focus oncemore. This refocusing isperhaps aredefining of thesecultures after thecollapse of Sovietdomination; a looking towhat is meaningful fromtheir past, in order to bringmeaning and identity to theirpresent - but it is not a recreationof something lost, because it neveractually went away - even duringthe times of Soviet persecution.

The countries and provinceswhere it can currently be found areall the countries we generally thinkof as the homes of Central Asianand Southern Siberian shamanism;including Tuva, Mongolia, Buryatia,Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan andYakutia. Many shamans from theseplaces identify themselves asTengerists, including the lateBuryat-American shaman andwriter Sarangerel Odigon.

Regarding Tengerism,Sarangerel wrote the following inan online conversation in 2005:

‘You do not have to be ashaman in order to practice[Tengerism]. Shamans are spiritualspecialists who are called upon forcertain situations of spiritual crisis,or for certain rites of passage andfor healing. Most of the time [nonshaman] people interact with thespirits directly through personalceremonies done every day and inall kinds of contexts. In the westernworld shamanism has taken onsuch a confused meaning largelythanks to the New Age...’

A shaman is chosen by thespirits, and is not a ‘normal’ person,and yet the ‘normal’ people of aculture where shamanism ispracticed still live by a shamanicallyunderstood cosmology - that isTengerism. It’s a bit like saying youdon’t have to be a vicar to be aChristian or a lama to be a Buddhist.

I see many people in the West,who are not shamans - but whohave a shamanic understanding oflife - struggling to give a term totheir spirituality, so I offerTengerism as a possible solution tothis, I certainly would willingly saythat I am a Tengerist myself, as itpretty well sums up where I amcoming from.

So, what is Tengerism in realterms, how does a

Tengerist see the world,and how does one

practiceTengerism?

The way to live- according to

Tengerism - is to live inharmony with all things in

the surrounding world,respecting all living beings andall aspects of nature.

Tengerists understand thatexistence is sustained by the‘Sacred Marriage’ of the EternalBlue Sky and the Earth Mother.The ‘Eternal Blue Sky’ is the SkyFather - or the Sky Powers - whichis the same as the ‘Great Mystery’(Waken Tanka: Lakota) of theNative peoples of North America.

Generally Tenger or Tengrirefers to the Great Sky Father, theGreat Mystery, and the word‘Tenger’ actually means ‘Sky,’

Because of this association withthe Sky Powers the sky ishonoured in many ways. Thecommonest form of honouring isthe use of sky-blue silk khadags.These blue scarves are tied tosacred places in nature and on toritual objects such as drums etc.Other ways the sky is honoured isby sending clouds of incensesmoke into it, as a gift to the SkyFather and all the local earth spiritsand ancestors, or by throwing - orflicking with a a special spoon -milk or vodka upwards into the air.

The Sky Father Tenger is seenas the chief amongst all the spirits,with many other lesser Tengerspirits - often said to be His sonsand also called Tengers orsometimes Khans - forming apantheon and acting as Hishelpers, each responsible fordifferent aspects of creation.

Mother Earth is seen as a livinggoddess with a spirit - not just adead rock in space, ripe forexploitation. This Sacred Marriagebetween the Earth and Sky powersprovides for all the needs of allliving beings.

By living an upright andrespectful life, caring for theenvironment and all the children ofthe Sacred Marriage (whether thatbeing is a human, an animal, aplant or any other child of theSacred Marriage) a person keeps

his life in balance and develops hisown personal power, which is oftencalled ‘windhorse.’

Windhorse (lung ta in Tibetanand hiimori in Mongolian) is thespiritual power of a shaman, and isa symbol important to bothshamanism and Buddhism. Imagesof windhorses appear on Buddhistprayer flags, and the Tibetan namefor a prayer flag actually is lung ta -a windhorse.

21

All of nature is alive and spiritsare everywhere. Some of thesespirits are friendly and helpful,while others are hostile. These areall the normal spirits of shamaniccosmology, spirits of mountainsand lakes and trees, spirits ofdisease, spirits of the sun and themoon and the stars, spirits ofanimals and birds and plants, spiritsof ancestors etc.; all of the spiritsof the three worlds encounteredwhen a shaman journeys in trance.

Because everything is alive andwith a spirit, all of nature needs tobe respected. This is especiallytrue of the body of Mother Earthherself, which ideally should not bedug into. Water is especiallysacred, as are mountains, and theyshould never be damaged orpolluted. Of course these areideals, Mongolia and other areas ofCentral Asia are heavily mined andwater sources are polluted - no oneis saying being a Tengerist is goingto solve all the problems of theenvironment, as people are peoplethe world over.

Tengerism is a way of life, muchmore than a religion in the normalsense of the word, and as you arereading this article you probablyalready have an awareness of thesacred nature of Creation, so you areprobably already practicing Tengerism.

You may already have sacredways you live by, perhaps you havelearned some Medicine Wheelteachings or you might be a TibetanBuddhist, or have been taught asacred cosmology from anothertradition. But that does not matter,as in Tengerism there are no fixedrules you need to obey, so long asyou recognise the sacred nature ofCreation, the Sky Powers aboveand the Earth Mother below and thefact that there are many otherspirits all around you, and you try tolive a life where you respect thesesacred powers.

However, there are a few basicpractices which most Tengeristsdo. These are done to bringharmony to themselves, theirhomes and the world around them(both seen and unseen).

These include keeping a housealtar, a sacred place in the home.In Mongolia these are traditionallyfound on the North side of a ger(yurt), opposite the door, but asmodern buildings are not oftenarranged to the Four directions youwill have to be creative.

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All of nature is alive andspirits are everywhere,

spirits of mountains andlakes and trees, disease,

the sun, moon andstars, animals, birds andplants and ancestors.....

Above: a familyaltar (with a

strong Buddhistflavour) insidea nomad’s ger(yurt) in rural

Mongolia

Opposite Page:tying offerings of cloth strips

to trees andother aspects ofnature is a way

of honouring andmaking offeringsto the spirits of

Nature rightacross Siberia

and Central Asia

Left: acollection of

ongon dolls onan altar shelf

Put your altar on top of acabinet or table, or maybe on ashelf on the wall, somewhere awayfrom doors, where it is out of theway and won’t be disturbed. Put anattractive cloth down to build youraltar on, and put on it items thatrepresent sacred things to you.

It is good to burn candles andincense on it, and also to place abowl of water. TraditionalMongolian altars also often have asmall bowl of vodka. The water andvodka are offerings to the spiritsand should be replaced often.

If you do shamanic work yourritual objects should be kept on, ornext to, this altar.

Many Tengerists will also keepongons on their altars.

An ongon is a spirit house,somewhere where a spirit is invitedto come and live, and they takemany forms - some ongons looklike human figures and others arenatural objects, or even painteddesigns on a square of cloth.

In Mongolia the most commonongons are a man and a womancalled the zol zayach. Theserepresent the family unit, and whena blessing in some form comes tothe family, a small amount ofdecoration - perhaps a ribbon - isadded to the ongons. They are keptclose to the bowl of water andvodka, and sometimes bowls ofmilk or black tea will be added,perhaps together with a small plateof sweet food, such as small cakes;all placed in front of the ongons for

a time, before it is given to naturefor the little creatures to eat.

Other ongons - representingspirits of nature or animals, or ashaman’s helper spirits, or specificancestors - may be made andplaced on an altar too. All of thesewill be fed now and then.

The making of offerings isimportant in Tengerism. Besides

small bowls on altars, when youopen a bottle of wine or other drinkgive the first drink to the spirits. Thisis often done by dipping the rightring-finger into the glass and flickingthe liquid. When I do this, I normallymake six flicking offerings, oneabove to the Sky Powers, one belowto Mother Earth and one to each ofthe Four Directions around me. Thisalso symbolises that I am in the

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sacred centre of Creation - the placeof the sacred World Tree which linksthe Three Worlds.

Other offerings include tying ablue khadag scarf around your altar,or around an ongon on it, or tyingone onto some outside part of yourhome. Sometimes I put one on myfront door, and there are several tiedto trees and rocks in my garden.

Smudging and burning incenseare other forms of offerings, andthe is also traditionally said to carryprayers to the spirits.

In Tibet this practice of smokeoffering is called bsang, and it iseasy to buy beautiful smellingbsang incense powders fromTibetan Buddhist ritual suppliersonline at very little cost. Pinches ofthese powders can then bedropped onto burning charcoalblocks to make clouds of fragrantsmoke rise, either inside yourhouse or outside.

Being a Tengerist is not going tomake your life better, it’s not goingto make you a shaman, and it isprobably what you already are - butsometimes it is nice to call a spade aspade instead of struggling to findanother word for it, and the next

Right: a Tuvanshaman drumsand sings to theSky Powers

Opposite Page-top: a Mongolianshaman throws atrail of milkfrom a drinkingcup into the skyas an offering

Opposite Page-bottom - left toright: smallbronze ancestorongons fromInner Mongolia;a metal Siberianshaman’s ongonof Jesus; dressedand decoratedEvenk ongon

Below: bsangburning in aChinese bronze‘ding’ incenseburner on theauthor’s outdooraltar stones

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time someone asks you your religionyou can confound them by sayingTengerist, and enjoy that look ofpuzzlement they have on their facewhen they ask you: “What on earthis that?” And let’s face it, being aJedi is just so passée!

Nicholas Breeze Wood is the editor ofSacred Hoop Magazine. He has made alife-long study of sacred objects and runsan online gallery specialising in the ritualobjects of Tibet and Central Asia.Nick@sacredhoop.orgwww.3worlds.co.uk

RESOURCES AND FURTHER READINGwww.tengerism.orgwww.buryatmongol.orgSarangerel Odigon wrote two excellentbooks about Mongolian Tengerism andshamanism: ‘Riding Windhorses’ and‘Chosen by the Spirits’ [this book isespecially recommended].There are also many videos aboutTengerism on Youtube, but most of themare in Mongolian or Russian.Blue khadag offering scarfs are not easyto get outside of Southern Siberia but anylight-weight blue silk or cotton scarf ornarrow length of material would besuitable to use. Mongolian khadags areobtainable from www.3Worlds.co.uk,Tibetan bsang incense powders come inmany varieties, each one dedicated to aspecific being in the Tibetan Buddhistpantheon (Green Tara, Medicine Buddha,Mahakala, Dorje Phurba etc.), so youmight want to Google to find out a bitabout the beings offered, to choose onethat suits the intent of your offering - butany would be suitable as a generic smokeoffering, as would smudging sage, cedarleaves or other herbs.Remember charcoal blocks burn withgreat heat, so always put them in asuitable container.Bsang powders can be easily boughtfrom many places online, including:www.garudashop.com (UK)www.tibetanspirit.com (USA)

Because of this associationwith the Sky Powers,the sky is honouredin many ways suchas throwing milk orvodka upwardsinto the air

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