Down Skythe - 3Worldsshaman with their drum, wearing a maihabshitai cap and an iron orgay antler crown The Buryat people are one of the Mongol peoples, who live on the great grassy

HOOP ISSUE 105 2019www.sacredhoop.org

Above: a Buryatshaman withtheir drum,wearing amaihabshitaicap and aniron orgayantler crown

The Buryat people are one ofthe Mongol peoples, who live onthe great grassy steppes ofNorthern Central Asia and SouthernSiberia - before modern nationalborders divided up the land intoMongolia, Russia and China.

Most of them now live aroundLake Baikal in Buryatia, which is partof the Russian Federation of States,lying just to the North of Mongolia,but some Buryats live in Mongoliaitself, and others live in Northern

China, in the province of NèiMénggu; or ‘Inner Mongolia’ as it ismore commonly known in the West.

The Buryats, like the rest of theMongolian people have a very longhistory of shamanism, in fact manyshamanologists think that the areais the actual birthplace ofshamanism, with it arising there, outof pre-shamanic animistic traditionsaround 10-15,000 years ago, andspreading to other places by means

of migrations of peoples and culturalexchange along trade routes.

Buryat shamanism, in recentcenturies, has suffered setbackshowever. There were concertedefforts to eradicate it by bothChristian and Tibetan Buddhistmissionaries who started to moveinto the area from around theC16th onwards, and in the C20thSoviet communism came close toannihilating it. Tens of thousandsof Buryats - many of themshamans or Buddhist lamas -werekilled during the Stalinistrepressions of the 1920s and 30s,and the practices of shamanismwere forced to go underground formany decades, with shamansfearing for their lives if they wereinformed upon.

Because of this, when theSoviet Union collapsed, shamanismwas in a poor state, and becauseof the turmoil of the previousdecades - which had dismantledmuch of Buryat cultural identity,including the knowledge of familytrees, which were important toBuryat family culture - peopleneeded to find again their culture,and so shamanism took on evenmore importance than it hadperhaps held in pre-Soviet times.

Talking to a Mongolian Darkhadshaman friend, whose peopletraditionally live in the North ofMongolia, quite close to the Russianborder, and whose shamanistictraditions were historically close tothose of their Buryat neighbours, Ihave been told that Buryatshamanism has undergone a greatdeal of change in the last 100years. It has become much moreinfluenced by Tibetan Buddhism,and after the Soviet collapse, alsoby New Age ideas which havedrifted there from Russia itself.

However, despite these othercultural colourings, there is now avibrant and thriving shamanictradition developing in the area andmany initiations - very much basedon traditional, pre-Soviet initiations- are now taking place.

This article aims to give a briefoverview of these initiations,because the path of a shaman inBuryatia is not binary - one is not ashaman, or not a shaman, becauseonce initiated as a fledglingshaman, there is a long path offurther initiations ahead of you.

0

Drawing Down theSky

The Nine Levels of Shanar Initiation in Buryat Shamanism

Nichlas Breeze Wood

THIS IS A FREE ARTICLE FROM SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE. Sacred Hoop is an independent magazineabout Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality, based in West Wales, published four times a year since 1993.

You may share this in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere.To get a very special low-cost subscription to Sacred Hoop please visit : www.SacredHoop.org/offer.html

HOOP ISSUE 105 2019www.sacredhoop.org

Throughout this article, I will usethe general word ‘shaman.’ TheBuryat word for a male shaman isbö, and their word for a femaleshaman is udigan. The wordshaman [From the neighbouringEvenk people], is a male word, andthey too use the word udigan forfemale shamans, but Buryatinitiations for both sexes followsimilar patterns.

There is a further differentiationin Buryat shamanism, between‘Black Shamans’ and ‘WhiteShamans.’ Both types of shamanscan be male or female and theyoften work together. The terms donot have anything to do with blackand white magic in a Westernsense, Black Shamans do not doharm, and White Shamans do notdo good - as a matter of course,and actually both black and whiteshamans are capable of both, andsome shamans do indeed seek toharm other people. The termsreally refer to the way they workand the spirits who work with them.

The easiest way to tell these twotypes of shamans apart in Buryattraditions is Black Shamans usedrums, and White Shamans use bells.

Some shamans are only eitherWhite or Black, but some shamanshave both initiations and can takewhich ever role is required at anyone time.

SUFFERING SHAMAN SICKNESSOne of the key factors on followinga shamanic path is the pressurefrom the spirits for someone tobecome a shaman. No one intraditional shamanistic cultures

decides to become a shaman fromchoice, and many people who feelthe ‘calling’ do what they can toget out of it. In Buryat this shamansickness is called ongon daralga.

The pressure to be a shamancomes from the spirits - called theongon - of the family ancestral clanthe person is a member of.

The concept of shamanic spiritswe have in the west is largelybased on the Core Shamanicmodel invented by Michael Harner,who taught about ‘Power Animals’:spirits in the form of animals whothe shamanic practitioner makescontact with through journeying.However in most traditional formsof shamanism the spirits areancestral spirits, the spirits ofprevious shamans and clan, familyor lineage founders. It is thesespirits who push the shaman-to-bein the direction of initiation, andthis push generally comes in theform of ‘shaman sickness’, apsycho-physiological crisis whichresults in the shaman-to-berequiring help from a shaman whois able to see it for what it truly is.

Shaman sickness is always avery difficult and painful period insomeone’s life, during which theongons make themselves known insome way to the sufferer, and putpressure' on them.

This can take several years, andduring it the person’s concepts andperceptions about themselves are allbroken down and destroyed. Theperson, in effect undergoes a 'virtualdeath,' and is then 'reborn.' Everyone who experiences this does so intheir own way, and has their ownstory. For some it may come as aform of mental anguish, for others itis more in the form of a physicalailment. It often happens during theteenage years, or even occlusionallywhen the person is a small child, butit can occur later in life too.

The arrival of shaman sicknesslater in life seemed to be especiallythe case during Soviet times,where many people received theircalling often just before retirement- some people say this wasbecause the ongods had pity of thepeople, suffering under brutalSoviet repression, and so theydidn't want to put people's lives indanger by calling them to beshamans at a young age.

Sometimes shaman sicknessmanifests in the form of visions

0

Buryat shamanwith their drum,wearing amaihabshitaicap and aniron orgayantler crownholding horböhorse staffs.Photo EarlyC20th

Buryat shaman wearinga maihabshitai capholding horbödragon staffs anda bell. The bluecolour of the capdragon staff andbell show theyare a whiteshaman

Buryatshaman wearingorgay antlersand holdingtwo horböhorsestaffs.C1815



and dreams, where the person’ssoul is taken up to meet the skyspirits - the Tengeri, but howeverit manifests it is always a fairlysudden, very painful process. Theshaman-to-be world crumbles,they might hear physical voicesgiving them instructions, or havestrong compulsions to do ritualactivity. They may have greatdifficulty sleeping, they are likely tobecome nervous and withdrawn,often seeking solitude, andperhaps even run away to wanderin remote places.

Epileptic type fits are notuncommon, as are semi-comatosedstates, like a type of paralysis. Theymight be struck down by a seriousdisease, which cannot be cured byordinary means, but only respondsto special rituals.

Trying to run from, or ease the'pressure of the ongons' may leadsome people to substance abuseor addiction. That is a verycommon fate for those who seekto avoid the call of the spirits.

Some, tormented by the calling,may become ‘mad’, becomingviolent and out of touch withnormal reality completely. they mayspend their time shouting, rollingon the ground, or running wildlyhere and there.

Some visions and experiencesmay be extreme. One may feelphysically tortured by spirits, one'sbody may be cut up into pieces orone may experience the feeling ofbeing burned alive or struck byinvisible lightening, or pulled orpoked by invisible hands.

Traditionally, once ongon daralgahad been diagnosed, no-one wasallowed to touch the shaman-to-be,and experienced shamans and eldersof the clan or village would gatherround and pray for their safety.

Although the symptoms of ongondaralga may seem similar to thosetriggered by an ordinary physical ormental disease, their cause isconsidered to be completelydifferent, and it is the job of anexperienced shaman to determine ifthe person is simply ill, possessedby harmful spirits - rather than ashaman’s ongon spirits - or if theyare mentally unstable.

Once an experienced shamanhas confirmed that the sick personhas ongon daralga, and really doeshave a calling, special rituals areperformed to ease their suffering,

HOOP ISSUE 105 2019www.sacredhoop.org0

Shamanscarrying birchtrees, bringingthem to theceremonialgrounds

Calling to the spirits, besides a replantedbirch tree covered in offering cloths

Offerings and areplantedbirch tree



Left: carryingofferings besides

a replantedbirch tree

Left: a WhiteShaman carrying

a bell, and aEuropean Black

Shaman carryingtheir drum

and the preparation path towards aformal initiation is begun.

The first of these special ritualsis ugaalga, a sacred body washingritual. During this ritual, specificongods and other spirits are calledto, and a number of stones ofspecific colours, taken fromriverbeds, are heated red hot andput in water from a sacred spring.The hot rocks boil the water andempower it, and then bunches ofreeds, or twigs, are dipped in thewater and used to slap theshaman-to-be all over. Theshaman-to-be is also smudged,normally in juniper smoke.

BECOMING A SHAMANOnce ongon daralga has beenrelieved, those with a true calling

begin an often long process ofinstruction into different aspects ofshamanism. Before initiation ashaman-to-be is called sagaasha -this is someone who has ‘thespark,’ the potential, and who hasgone through ongon daralga, butnot taken any actual initiations.They are considered to be anapprentice, and their role, outsideof learning is to make offerings ofmilk, black tea or vodka to thespirits, and generally are ofassistance to initiated shamans.They can pray to the spirits forthemselves and their relatives andmay have some psychic powers.They can be much respected, but ifthey overstep the boundaries, theywill be punished by the spirits.Sometimes, but not often,sagaasha apprentices never take

initiations, and remain at this stagefor the rest of their lives.

A sagaasha should have beenthrough a verified ongon daralga,they should study seriously, andlearn from their ‘shaman-father’ forseveral years before their firstactual initiation is entered into. Theyshould have a good character, bekind and honest, and show somedegree of magical or psychicabilities, which have been verifiedby their shaman-father. They shouldhave a good capacity to learn, showa sense of devotion to the spirits,have a sharp memory, a clear mind,and be physically unimpaired andcapable of carrying out the dutiesand role of a shaman.

When it seems as if it might betime for a formal initiation to becarried out, a shaman-to-be isdiscussed by elders of their clan, orlineage. These elders look closelyat the shaman-to-be’s qualities, andin the past this was a very rigorousprocess because shamans have abig role and can make a big impacton Buryat society. The number ofshamans in the clans used to bequite tightly controlled, but nowmany more people are sagaasha.

This increase in numbers is duein part to the influence of New Agepractices and an interest in them bythe population of Siberia, and alsoby the social fragmentation causedby the collapse of Communism.There are now several shamansocieties who offer initiations and,as well as native Buryats, Russiansand other nationalities are takingthe training and becoming initiatedinto Buryat shamanism.

INITIATION - PAST AND PRESENTAlthough Buddhism had taken atoll on Shamanism, and hadinfluenced it greatly since theC16th, shamanism was still prettywell established up to the earlyparts of the C20th, whenCommunism made its concertedeffort to destroy shamanism.

There were always a number ofinitiations, like levels of attainment,within their shamanic traditions, butthese varied depending on thelineage. Twelve levels seems to becommon, with an occasionallthirteenth level for shamans whowere truly outstanding. The numbertwelve is associated with thenumber of prongs on the antler ofthe sacred deer of Buryat traditions.

HOOP ISSUE 105 2019www.sacredhoop.org 0



In the nineteenth century thesetraditions began to weaken, andmany shamans took a limitednumber of initiations over the courseof their lives, but Communism madeall of these initiations impossible toperform openly, and the number ofshamans practising - either openly orclandestinely - dramatically reduced.

The post-Communistliberalisation of perestroika saw arevival of the ancient initiationsystems, and gradually these havedeveloped into a series of ninelevels of initiation, the number ninerefering to the number of branchesof the World Tree of Buryatcosmology, and the nine spheres oftheir universe.

A Buryat shamanic initiation - ofany level - is known as a shanar,although the word is used forshamanic initiations in manydifferent Mongol groups, and oftenspelt chanar.

Through the first shanar, anuninitiated sagaasha is transformedinto a ‘shaman-in-the-Iaw,’ a

formal member of the lineage.Different modern-day Buryatshamanic schools see shanars fromdifferent points of view. For somethe actual shanar ceremony is themost important thing, while forothers the actual knowledge andpower of a shaman is the importantthing, rather than how many shanarlevels they have reached.

NINE LEVELS OF SHANARAlthough actual details will varydepending on the lineage, this is aguide to what each of the ninelevels of Buryat shamanism involve.

ONE: This is the very beginning ofa shaman’s path. They step frombeing a sagaasha to being a‘shaman’, either a bö (male) or anudigan (female)

A shaman who has received thisinitiation is accepted as a beginner,with the right to make offerings tothe ongon spirits of their clan.They are called a yabagan bö [onfoot shaman] because theirmagical travel is very limited. The

ritual objects they can use at thislevel are very limited. They aregiven a ritual hat with a front bandmade of the fur of their clan'stotemic animal; a birch-wood horbö[ritual staff - a horse-headed stafffor Black Shamans, and a dragon-naga headed staff for WhiteShamans]; a silk belt; a knife; anda flint-stone.

Between the first and thesecond shanar there must be a gapof no less than three years.

TWO: This shanar brings theshaman more power, and givesthem wider rights.

After this initiation they arecalled a noitolkhon bö [a shamanwho has been made wet], becausethe initiation includes a ugaalgabody-washing ritual, with waterfrom three sacred springs.

After this shanar a shaman cancall to and pray to the local landspirits of their valley, the spirit offire and the ongons of their clan. Ifthey are a Black Shaman theyreceive a second birch horbö horsestaff, making a pair. This one is alonger staff than the previous horbö.White shamans only generally haveone dragon-headed staff.

After three years they can takethe third initiation.

THREE: A shaman with the thirdinitiation is called a hayalgyn bö[One who can offer upwards],because they can now makeofferings to some of the sky spirits.

In the course of this shanar abilly goat has to be rituallysacrificed to a spirit called ManzhilaiZayaan, a special spirit helper ofshamans who goes back and forthbetween the sky and the earth. It isthrough Manzhilai Zayaan that theTengeri sky spirits are contacted. Athird shanar shaman can nowmake offerings to the sky and canperform offering rituals where awhite ram is sacrificed.

There should be a minimum of aone year gap before the shamantakes the next shanar.

FOUR: A shaman at this stage iscalled a zhodo'otoi bö, [shamanwith silver fir tree bark], becausethey are given fir tree bark which isburned as smudge.

The shaman receives a bronzetoli [shaman’s mirror] and a bardag,a shaman’s whip, dressed withcoloured ribbons symbolising the

Right: acleansingceremony whereshamans aresprayed witharshaan

Below: shamansrun around agrove ofreplantedbirch trees




shaman’s power over the people,because traditionally at this stage ashaman received the right to be ajudge in legal disputes. They arealso expected to ensure thattaboos are not broken, and thatpeople under their authority stick tothe rules of moral conduct.

In this shanar, the shaman ispurified with water from nine springsand takes a special oath at a sacredsite, in the presence of theirshaman-father and the elders of theclan or lineage. The oath promisesto help all people, regardless of theirsocial status or wealth; not to askthe rich, or the poor, for anything inreturn for their services, but only totake what they are given freely. Theyalso swear to protect the old, poorand weak; not to frighten people, orspeak badly about them; and not tomake public the secret knowledgeand techniques of shamans.

There must be a gap of aminimum of one year before thefifth shanar can be taken.

FIVE: It is only at this stage that ashaman receives their drum andbeater. they are now called called ahesete bö, [a shaman with adeerskin drum]. Now the shaman canuse the drum to undertake shamanicjourneys, and they can performvarious rituals such as soul retrievalsand communicate directly with thespirits by going to talk to them.

At this stage a shaman meets their‘sky-consort,’ a spiritual being fromthe sky who helps them in their work.They can now also call to certainTengeri, but they can only reachthe three lower levels of the sky.

A hesete bö has the ability tolick red-hot iron for the purposes ofpurification, healing and as proof ofhis power. For purifying work thered hot iron is licked and saliva,empowered by the red hot iron, isthen spat onto the patient.

There should be a minimum of aone year gap before the sixthshanar is taken.

SIX: At this stage the shamanreceives a new iron horse-headedhorbö, with nine iron rings fixed toit and various metal objects. Theyare now called a hor'botoi bö,[shaman with an iron horse staff]They can now empower ritualobjects by inviting the ongon spiritsto descend and live within them.

There should be a three yeargap before the next shanar.

SEVEN: This is a large andimportant shanar, and before it theshaman has to undergo an extensivepurification smudging ceremony withsmoke from silver fir bark, and theyhave to come out of the smoke holeof their ger [yurt] by climbing a tree,cut and placed there, whichrepresents the tree of UdeshiBurkhan the protector spirit of thegate to the sky.’ With this treesticking out of the ger’s smoke hole

Left: Buryatshamans at a

ceremony on theedge of a town

Left: the author’sown bardag

blessing whip

Left: theauthor’s own

wooden horböhorse staffs

Far left: ashaman holds a

bardag whileperforminga blessing




it connects the hearth at the centreof the ger with the sky.

Then the shaman is placed ona white felt carpet outside of theger and purified with water takenfrom sacred springs, that is mixedwith a little blood taken from aginger coloured horse - althoughsometimes they are washed in theblood alone.

Then nine bottles of mares milkvodka are poured over their headto anoint it, and they receive amaihabshitai and an orgay. Themaihabshitai is an elabourate cap,generally made of brocade, withbrocade tails hanging down theback and a fringe which falls overthe face, covering the eyes. WhiteShamans wear a blue cap, andBlack shamans wear a black cap.

An orgay is an antler crown,generally made of iron butsometimes of other materials such

as copper. The orgay is worn ontop of the maihabshitai. A shamanat this level is called a maihabshitaibö [shaman with a maihabshitai].

Besides the maihabshitai andorgay, they also receive five sacredanimal skins, a special cloak withmetal objects sewn onto it, andthree more deer skin drums withbeaters. A shaman at this level canstart to give shanars to sagaashabeginning shamans.

The next shanar can only betaken after a period of three years.

EIGHT: At this stage the shamanreceives his second iron horse-headed horbö staff, making a pairof them, to which - among othermetal objects - is attached a smallmetal ladder, as a symbol of thetheir ability to travel to the sky. Thehorbö have an ongon spirit livingwith them, and become powerfulsteeds on which the shamantravels to the Upper World. Theshamans also receive a sacred hat,made out of bear fur, with thesymbol of the sun on the front.

The shaman now has horsestaffs of both wood and iron,

several drums, and all the othernecessary ritual objects ofshamanism. They know all theteachings and rituals of shamanismvery well, can invoke all the spiritsof the three worlds and can controlthe weather.

Because the shaman hasgathered so much to them, theyare called duuren bö [complete bö]

After a year the shaman cantake the final shanar.

NINE: Before the last shanar canbe taken the shaman has to obtainpermission to enter this shanarfrom all the spirit lords of thehighest level of the Middle World,and from the Tengeri of the UpperWorld by performing an extensiveprayer festival.

In the course of the initiationthey receive a human-headedmetal staff, which is empoweredand alive, with a powerful ongonspirit inside it, and this staff is saidto be able to perform magicalactions by itself.

The shaman also receives threevery large drums, made out of adeer, a goat and bull skin.

Right: an oldiron orgayshaman’santler crown

Right: an pairof iron horböhorse-headedshaman’s staffs

Far right: theauthor’s ownBuryat shaman’smaihabshitai capand brocade tails




Now the shaman is said to haveextraordinary power and a veryimpressive array of ritual objectsamong which there are the ninedrums, and nine toli mirrors.

They are now called a zaarin bö,[supreme shaman]. Shamans rarelyreach this level, and are said to beable to do incredible things, suchas fly in the air or cut their headsoff, and then put their head backon again, without leaving a mark.They are also said to haveextraordinary psychic powers andbe formidably powerful.

The whole process of arriving atthe level of the ninth shanar takesa minimum of fifteen years, but inreality far longer than this, as theshaman has to be ready beforeeach new shanar can be taken.Women shamans - udigans - havetheir own stages of initiation, whichare also nine in number, and theyhave similar titles and attributes.

As said above, only anexperienced shaman, who hasreceived seven shanar or more, hasthe ability to conduct shanars fornew shamans, and traditionally ashaman cannot initiate more thannine other male shamans, and ninefemale udigans. These are theireighteen shaman sons anddaughters. This is a very strict rule,and it is said that if it is broken ithas grave consequences for therule breaker, such as the loss of alltheir shamanic powers, thetermination of their shamaniclineage, and quite possibly theirown death.

EXAMPLES OF SHANARShanar are dramatic prolonged

rituals, which have a large cast ofhelpers. Here are two briefaccounts of shanars, one for a bö,and one for an udigan.

For the bö’s shanar, once thedate for the ceremony had beenestablished, a purification rite wasperformed. Traditionally this would beperformed either three or nine times.

The shaman-father and his nineshaman-sons, went to three springs,where they sprinkled milk andvodka, and took water to bring tothe site of the shanar. They boiledthe water, and added juniper to it tomake arshaan1. This was sprinkledon a billy goat, which was thensacrificed, and some drops of itsblood were added to the arshaan.

Then divination was performedusing a sheep's shoulder blade bone,which was put into a fire to make itcrack, and then the cracks were readfor the meaning from the spirits.

The shaman-father then dippeda bundle of birch twigs into thearshaan, and touched the back ofthe initiate, then one after another,the nine shaman sons did the same,while the shaman-father gave theinitiate words of instruction abouthow to live as a shaman:

‘When the poor need you, don’task too much from them, but takewhat they give.

‘Think of the poor and ask theTengeri to protect them from badspirits and evil forces.

‘When the rich call you, don't asktoo much for your services, either.

‘If the rich and the poor seekyour help at the same time, go firstto the poor and then to the rich.’

And other lines of instruction. The initiate swore to follow

these rules; and all those gatheredprayed and made offerings to theprotector spirits.

After this initial purification ritualhad been completed, the shaman-father and his nine shaman-sonswent into a ger for a nine-day fast,drinking only tea, and eating onlyboiled barley flour.

When the nine day fast was over,but before the main part of theshanar had started, the shaman-father and his nine shaman-sonswent to the forest and, after makingofferings, dug up several large birchtrees, which they brought back tothe site of the shanar.

On the morning of the actualshanar, the ceremony began byerecting the birches in a specialpattern, digging holes in theground and pushing the cut offends - without roots - of the tree’strunks into the ground, to make asort of grove of birch trees.

The first tree was stuck intoground in the centre of the initiate’sown ger, just before the centralhearth, and the top was pushedthrough the ger’s smoke hole. Thisbirch was the pathway to the sky.

The remaining trees were erectedaround this ger, and connected tothe central tree inside by means ofred and blue ribbons. Thesesymbolised the 'rainbow' path bywhich shamans travel the universe.

The trees surrounding the gerwere decorated with various ritualitems, such as ribbons, bells and

Above: aBlack Shaman

wearing an ironorgay and a

maihabshitaiplays a drum

Left: shamanswith offeringsat a ceremony




animal skins, and these serveddifferent ritual functions, some ofthem being offerings.

Once all the trees had beenerected, the initiate, together withthe shaman-father’s nine shaman-sons blessed and awakened all ofthe initiate’s ritual implements givento them at this shanar level, andcalled down ongon spirits to livewithin them.

Then, with a long ritual offering,the Tengeri, ongons and otherspirits were asked to bless andempower the initiate, and assistthem in their work.

At this point the initiate had toclimb the birch tree in their ger,while holding a sword, and theyhad to come out of the smoke holeat the top, and there had to call tothe Tengeri and the other powerfulspirits, asking for their help.

While they were doing this, thoseremaining inside the ger constantlypurified themselves with smudgesmoke from burning pine smoke.

Then the initiate descended backinto the ger, and was put on a whitefelt mattress and carried out by fourshaman-sons of the shaman-father,each holding a corner.

The initiate was taken to wherea billy goat was sacrificed and theinitiate's head, ears and eyes weresmeared with the animals blood,after which another body-washingritual was then performed.

After that, the shaman-fatherclimbed the birch tree and cut ninenotches at its top, afterwardsdescending and sitting on the whitefelt carpet himself.

The initiate had to re-climb thetree next, and after him all othershaman-sons, all of whom entereda trance state.

At the end of a long period ofmany days of ceremonial working,the site was dismantled and thetrees and all the offerings burned.

This is a very abridged descriptionof just one shanar, each shamanlineage will do it slightly differently.For a much more completedescription please see the furtherreading list at the end of the article.

Here is a very abridged account ofan udigan’s shanar.

The ritual took place in themountains, and was organised by amale bö of her clan.

Before anything else was done,a white goat was sacrificed to thespirits, and everyone prayed arounda sacred fire which had been built.

Then, the initiate entered atrance state, and to determine ifthe ongods had really accepted heras an udigan, and also as a way forthe bö to check the depth of hertrance, the bö put two pebbles -one white and one black - into the

fire, and left them in there untilthey were red-hot.

He then gave them to theudigan in trance to put into hermouth and suck until they hadcooled down.

The udigan was able to do thiswithout any problem, and when thebö examined her mouth later hefound no sign of any bums.Thiswas a sign that she had indeedbeen accepted by the ongods, andwas now qualified to be an udigan.

It is said that a bö or an udiganonly achieves their full power aftergoing through what are known asthe ‘nine circles of suffering.

These are in addition to a formalshanar, and are a kind of naturalinitiation of sufferings anddifficulties, sometimesextraordinary, which the shamanhas to encounter and overcome inthe course of their life.

Only by going through these ‘ninecircles,’ can a shaman purifythemselves and develop realcompassion towards people,because they have personallyexperienced great suffering ‘on theirown hide’ as it is said, and can socan understand the human condition,making them really ready for thework of helping fellow human beings.

Nicholas Breeze Wood is the editor ofSacred Hoop Magazine. He has a made alife long study of the ritual objects ofshamanism and Tibetan Buddhism.

NOTES:1: Arshaan is a sacred liquid used toempower and purify people or objects. Forinstructions about the making of arshaan,see an article in Sacred Hoop Issue 102.

Futher Reading:‘Shanar: Dedication Ritual ofa Buryat Shaman in Siberia.’By Virlsns Tkacz, Wanda Phipps andDashinima Dugarov.

‘Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Memory,and Gender in Contemporary Mongolia’By Manduhai Buyandelger.

‘Bo and Bon: Ancient ShamanicTraditions of Siberia and Tibet’By Dimitry Ermakov

Futher Watching:‘So, You Want to Be a Shaman: A Shamanicrite of passage for beginners in Siberia.’A 45 minute long well made doculmentoryfilm made by RT (Russian Television) inEnglish, with subtitles, about the shanarceremony. See the review in this issue ofSacred Hoop.

Buryat Shamans' Consecration Ritual(Shanar-shandruu).A 30 minute doclumentory film by theHungarian anthropologist Mátyás Baloghwww.youtube.com/watch?v=xErLI8RU48k

Right: a shamanin full regalia,with toli mirrorsaround theirneck, holdingmala prayer beads

Below: burningthe birch treesafter a shanarceremony

Far right: theauthor’s ownBuryat shaman’smaihabshitai capand brocade tails



Documents

Down Skythe - 3Worldsshaman with their drum, wearing a maihabshitai cap and an iron orgay antler crown The Buryat people are one of the Mongol peoples, who live on the great grassy