IN everyday life the shaman is not distinguishable from other people except by an occasionally haughty manner, 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 Siberia, where there is a shaman there is also a drum. The drum has the power of transporting the shaman to the superworld and of evoking spirits by its sounds.
Authors of the eighteenth century, like Pallas and Krasheninnikoff, pay great attention to the shaman's accessories. Though they have probably only been attracted by their picturesque side, yet their descriptions are very valuable in view of the modern attempt to reach the primitive mind through its symbolical forms of expression.
Shashkoff [1] enumerates the following items as indispensable to the shaman's dress all over Siberia-the coat, the mask, the cap, and the copper or iron plate on the breast. The Samoyed tadibey substitute for the mask a handkerchief tied over the eyes, so that they can penetrate into the spirit-world by their inner sight. This use of a handkerchief is also mentioned by Wierbicki, who says that the shamans of northern Altai wear one round the forehead to keep the hair out of the eyes.
These four accessories-the coat, the mask, the cap, and the iron plate-are used by the Neo-Siberians only, since among Palaeo-Siberians the dress is much less complicated.
Each tribe has, moreover, some particular object which plays the chief part in the shamanistic ceremony.
Gmelin,[2] describing the Tungus shaman's costume, says that over the usual shamanistic garment an apron, adorned with iron, is also worn; his stockings, likewise remarkable, are made of skin
[1. Shamanism in Siberia, p. 86.
2. Reise durch Sibirien, ii, 193.]
ornamented with iron. Among the Gilyak and the Olchi it is the shaman's girdle which is of the greatest significance;[1] among the Buryat,[2] the horse-staves, &c. Iron and copper objects seem also to be especially associated with the Neo-Siberians.
The whole costume with its appurtenances used during shamanistic performances throughout Siberia has, according to Mikhailowski,[3] a threefold significance:
1. The shaman wishes to make a profound impression on the eyes of the people by the eccentricity of his costume.
2. The ringing of the bells and the noise of the drum impress their sense of hearing.
3. Finally, a symbolic meaning is attached to these accessories and adornments, a meaning known only to believers, especially to the shamans, and closely connected with the religious conceptions of shamanism.
Thus Mikhailowski. But this interpretation does not bring out the whole importance of the relation of these objects to the spiritual world. They are of great importance, for the spirits will not bear the voice of the shaman unless the right dress and implements are used, and the drum beaten; they are sacred because of their contact with a supernatural and often dangerous power.
Being sacred, these accessories must not be used by any one but a shaman, otherwise they are impotent to produce any result. It is only a good shaman, a real one, who can possess the full shaman's dress.
Among the Palaeo-Siberians it is usually the shaman himself who makes all accessories, and that only when the spirits give their permission. Among the natives of Altai it is not all shamans who have the right to wear manyak (the coat) and the owl-skin cap.[4]
Among the Yakut even the blacksmith who undertakes the ornamentation of the costume, must have inherited the right, 'If the blacksmith who makes a shamanistic ornament has not a sufficient number of ancestors, if he is not surrounded on all sides by the noise of hammering and the glow of fire, then birds with crooked claws and beaks will tear his heart in pieces.'[5] For this
[1. Schrenck. The Natives of the Amur Country, iii, 124-6.
2. Agapitoff and Khangaloff, Materials for the Study of Shamanism in Siberia, p. 43.
3. Shamanism, p. 72.
4. Potanin, Sketches of North-Western Mongolia, iv, 53.
5. Sieroszewski, The Yakut, p. 632.]
reason the blacksmith's vocation comes next in importance to the shaman's. In modern times it is practically impossible among the Yakut for the shaman's coat to be made, since there is now no class of hereditary blacksmiths. In his description of the Tungus shaman's garment, Gmelin relates how the shaman whom he saw bad no cap because the old one was burnt and the spirits would not grant him a new one.[1] Of the Buryat shamans he observes that many of them do not possess drums, since the spirits with. bold permission to make them, and two long sticks which are struck crosswise against each other are therefore substituted at the performance.[2] Mikhailowski quotes the above statement in explanation of the fact that Khangaloff had seen only one drum among the Buryat shamans.
'With the degeneration of shamanism', says Mikhailowski, 'the number of people who know bow to prepare the sacred instrument with due regard to magical custom is decreasing.' [3] This, however, is not the true explanation of the disappearance of the drum among the Buryat, for the importance of the other chief Buryat accessory, the horse-staves, which demand equal care in the making, must also be taken into account. Without them the shaman cannot perform any of the principal rites. They are usually made of birch-wood, no one but a shaman who has passed his fifth consecration being allowed to use iron horse-staves.[4] The Lapps take great care of their drum and keep it covered up with furs. No woman may touch it.
The Chukchee. Among Palaeo-Siberians there are no strict regulations as to the shape and quality of the shaman's dress. Originality of costume is what is most sought after, and Bogoras tells us that the Chukchee shamans sometimes adopt some old coat brought froin the American shore. 'The Chukchee have nothing similar to the well-known type of coat covered with fringes and images, which is in general use among the Yakut and Tungus, and which probably was borrowed from the latter by the Yukaghir and perhaps also by the Kamchadal.'[5]
The absence of a peculiar shaman's dress among the Chukchee
[1. Op. cit., P. 193.
2. These are Probably what are called by later writers 'horse-staves'.
3 Op. cit., p. 68.
4. Klenientz, E. R. E., p. 16.
5. The Chukchee, pp. 457-8.]
may be accounted for by the fact that the shamans perform their ceremonies in the darkness of the inner room of the house, in an atmosphere so hot and stifling that they are obliged to take off their coats and to shamanize with the upper part of the body quite naked.
The only shamanistic garments that Bogoras speaks of are a coat and a cap. 'As far as I know,' he says, 'among the other neighbouring tribes also female shamans have no outward distinguishing mark, nor do they use the special shamanistic garb which is assigned only to the male shamans.'[1]
After this statement the custom among certain tribes of the adoption by the male shaman of the clothes and manner of a woman appears still more strange. The shamanistic coat is characterized by a fringe round the sleeves a little above the opening, or round the neck a little below the collar. This coat may be adopted by the shaman or by the patient. Besides the fringe there are slits ornamented with cured leather. 'These slits and fringes are usually said to represent the curves and zigzags of the Milky Way.' [2]
But if we remember the many other ways in which the Chukchee shaman imitates the Tungus shaman, we may conclude that both slits and fringes in the shamanistic coat are but another instance of the same imitation. The garment represented in Bogoras's book has in front of it an image of tetkeyun, that is, 'vital force', which resides in the heart and assumes its form. It is made like a leather ball and filled with reindeer-hair. The other figure, likewise of leather, represents a rekken, or 'assisting' spirit of the shaman.[3]
The shamanistic cap is also supplied with fringes, with a tassel on the top and a long double tassel on the left side. The tassels are of the type adopted for magic purposes, that is, they are formed of alternating pieces of white and black fur. 'Another cap with the opening on top, and likewise fringed and tasselled, was used by the shaman as a remedy against headache.' [4]
In addition to these garments, the Chukchee shaman uses in his performances many small instruments, such as the knife, the handle, of which is embellished with magical objects, and a small flat piece of ivory, which is said to be usually employed when cutting open a body. The ivory of the shaman, 'Scratching-Woman', had three
[1. Op. cit., p. 458.
2 Op. cit., p. 459.
3. Ibid.
4. Op. cit., p. 460.]
leather images fastened to it. 'One was said to represent a kele from the "direction" of the darkness, with the arms longer than the legs. The middle image with only one arm and one leg, and with the two eyes one above the other, represented the kele lumetun. The third image represented a crawling "spell" sent by an enemy of the shaman, who interecpted it on the way and thoroughly subdued it so that it began to do his bidding.'[1] These different amulets, the form of pendants and tassels, are made of skin and beads by the shaman himself, and are fastened to various parts of the body or dress. Such are also the 'round patches of skin, often with a tassel in the centre',[2] which are considered highly effective amulets among the Chukchee, the Koryak, and the Asiatic Eskimo. They are sewn to the coat, on the breast or on the shoulders, or against the affected part of the body. An image of the 'guardian' is placed in the middle, and is often replaced by an ornamental figure of a woman, of a dancing man, or of a warrior. These objects, as well as those already mentioned, serve both a magical and an ornamental purpose.
The most important object in shamanistic performances all over Siberia is the drum. Thus the Chukchee use the drum which is common to both Asiatic and American Eskimo.
The drum used by the Reindeer and Maritime Chukchee is different from that adopted in north-western Asia by the Yakut, Tungus, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir, which is rather of a southern type.
The southern drum is large and somewhat oval in shape, and is held by four loose bands, which are fastened to the hoop of the drum on the inner side. The other ends of these bands meet in the middle, where they are tied to a small wheel or a cross, which is without any other support. When these are grasped by the hand the drum hangs loosely, and may be shaken and its position changed at will. The drum-stick is made of wood and covered with skin or with cured leather.
The Chukchee drum has a wooden handle[3] which is lashed with sinews to the wooden hoop. The diameter of the hoop, which is nearly circular in shape, is from 40 to 50 centimetres. The head is made of very thin skin, usually the dried skin of a walrus's stomach. In order to stretch the skin it is moistened with water or wine, and the edge is then tied with sinew cord. The ends of
[1. Op. cit., p. 466.
2. Op. cit., p. 468.
3. According to Mr. Henry Balfour this shows Eskimo influence.]
this cord are fastened to the handle. The drum is very light weighing from half a pound to a pound and a half. The drumstick varies according to its purpose. It is either a narrow, light strip of whalebone from 30 to 40 centimetres long, or a piece of wood from 60 to 70 centimetres long, which is sometimes adorned with fur tassels. The former is used during the magical performances held in the inner room at night, the latter during ceremonials performed in the outer tent during the day.[1]
When the family is moving from place to place, the cover of the drum is removed, folded, and fastened to the hoop to be replaced when needed. In the winter house the drum remains in front of the sleeping-place, and in the summer tent it hangs near the sacred fire-board.
The Koryak. The shaman accessories of the Koryak, another Palaeo-Siberian tribe, are described by Jochelson as follows: 'The Koryak shamans have no drums of their own; they use the drums belonging to the family in whose house the shamanistic performance takes place. It seems that they wear no special dress; at least the shamans whom I had occasion to observe wore ordinary clothing.'[2]
One embroidered jacket. which was sold to Jochelson as an Alutor shaman's dress, is very much like the ordinary man's dancing-jacket used during the whale ceremony, but more elaborate. The Koryak drum belongs not to the shaman but to the family. It is used both as a musical instrument and as a sacred object in the household. Everybody who pleases can beat the drum, but there is usually one competent person who knows bow to shamanize with it.
The Koryak drum, yyai, is oval in shape and covered with reindeer-hide on one side only, its diameter being 73 centimetres. The drum-stick is made of thick whalebone, wider at the end with which the drum is struck, and this end is covered with the skin of a wolf's tail.
Inside the drum at four points in the rim a double cord of nettle fibre is fastened and joined below to form the handle. These cords run towards one side of the drum. On the top of the inside rim is attached an iron rattle. Jochelson says that this custom of attaching the rattle has been borrowed from the Tungus and that not all Koryak drums possess it.[3]
[1. Bogoras, The Chukchee, pp. 356-7.
2. The Koryak, pp. 54-5.
3. Op. cit. P. 56]
The Kamchadal (Itelmen). Among the Kamchadal there is apparently no shamanistic garment or drum. Two early travellers to their country, Steller and Krasheninnikoff, say that everybody, especially women, could shamanize, and hence this occupation was not professional enough to demand a special dress.
The Yukaghir. The Yukaghir drum is a rough oval. It is covered with hide on one side only. Inside the drum there is an iron cross near the centre, which serves as a handle. The ends of the cross are fastened with straps to the rim, to which four iron rattles are attached.[1] There is a great similarity between the Yukaghir and the Yakut drum, not only in the iron rattles, iron cross, and general shape, but also in the small protuberances on the outer surface of the rim, which according to the Yakut represent the horns of the shaman's spirits. The stick is covered with the skin of a reindeer's leg. In Yukaghir traditions the drum without metallic additions is still traceable, the iron pieces having been borrowed from the Yakut.
The Yukaghir word for drum is yalgil, which means 'lake', that is, the lake into which the shaman dives in order to descend into the shadow-world.[2]
The Eskimo. This is very much like the conception of the Eskimo, the souls of whose shamans descend into the lower world of the goddess Sedna. The Eskimo drums are not large; the largest are to be found at Hudson Bay. They are either symmetrically oval or round, and a wooden handle is fastened to the rim. J. Murdoch[3], says that such drums are used by the Eskimo from Greenland to Siberia. The Eskimo as well as the Chukchee beat the lower part of the drum with the stick. The Koryak drum also is struck from below, and is held in a slanting position. Other Asiatic drums are mostly beaten in the centre. Among the Indians living south of the Eskimo we find broad-rimmed drums used for purposes of shamanism, as well as in dancing-houses.[4]
The Gilyak. The most important accessories of the Gilyak shaman are the drum, kas, and the shaman's girdle, yangpa. Schrenck gives us the following description of them: 'One night when I was sitting in a tent in the village of Yrri, they brought in two shamans' drums and other accessories, and at my request
[1. Ibid.
2. Op. cit., P. 59.
3. A Point Barrow Eskimo, 1887-8, p. 385.
4. Jochelson, The, Koryak, p. 58.]
they allowed me to be present at the preparation for the ceremony, First of all the drum was heated by the fire, to make the hide taut, so that the sound might be more sonorous.[1] The drum was made of the skin of a goat or reindeer, and whilst it was being prepared the shaman made ready. He took off his outer garment, put on the so-called koska, a short apron, and tied round his head a band of grass, the end of which hung over his shoulders like a tress of hair. Then he took the shaman's leather girdle, with many iron plates,[2] copper hoops, and other metal pendants, which produce a loud clanking noise during the shamanistic dances.' This girdle is called in Olcha dialect yangpa. Its chief pendant is a large copper disk with a small handle ornamented in relief, showing Manchu influence; this circle, called tole, makes the most important sound. There are also many iron links called tasso, and many irregular pieces of iron called kyire, which make a very loud noise; a few rolled iron plates called kongoro, and, finally, some small copper bells without tongues, called kongokto. When the girdle is put on all these objects hang together at the back. This shamanistic girdle is of considerable weight.[3]
Although the Gilyak belong to the Palaeo- Siberians, the metal accessories seem to be of Tungus origin, as are some other features of their culture. We read in Gmelin's [4] description of the costume of a Tungus shaman that he wears over the ordinary dress an apron ornamented with iron. This suggests that this apron-form of the shaman's coat was borrowed either by the Gilyak from the Tungus, or vice versa.
Among the Neo-Siberians all their philosophy of life is represented symbolically in the drum, and great significance is also attached to various parts of their dress.
The Yakut. Among the Yakut even those who, like the blacksmith, help in the adornment of the shaman's garment, occupy a half-magical position, being credited with 'peculiar fingers '. [5] The hereditary blacksmiths have tools with ' souls', ichchylakh, which can give out sounds of their own accord. The blacksmiths
[1. Exactly the same preparations are mentioned by Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 56.
2. Compare the leather apron hung with jingling iron pieces worn by Manchu shamans. [Suggestion of Mr. Henry Balfour.]
3. Schrenck, op. cit., iii. 126.
4. Op. cit., p. 193.
Sieroszewski, The Yakut, p. 632.]
are those who approach most nearly to the shaman in their office, and are, in a way, related to them. 'The blacksmith and the shaman are of one nest', says a proverb of the Kolyma district, cited by Sieroszewski. 'The smith is the elder brother of the shaman' is another saying quoted by Troshchanski. Blacksmiths can sometimes cure, give advice, and foretell the future, but their knowledge is simply a matter of cleverness and does not possess magical value. The profession of blacksmith is mostly hereditary, especially in the north; in the ninth generation the blacksmith first acquires certain supernatural qualities, and the longer his line of descent, the greater his qualities. The spirits are generally afraid of the iron hoops and of the noise made by the smith's bellows. In the district of Kolyma the shaman would not shamanize until Sieroszewski had removed his case of metal instruments, and even then attributed his bad luck to them: 'The spirits are afraid of the blacksmith (Sieroszewski), and that is why they do not appear at my call.'[1]
The shaman's dress, according to Sieroszewski, consists chiefly of a coat. It is of cowhide, so short in front that it does not reach the knees, but touching the ground at the back. The edges and the surface of this coat are ornamented at the back with different objects, each having its own name, place, and meaning. The shaman's coat, which is not an indispensable part of the ritual costume arnong Palaeo-Siberians, is most elaborate among the Neo-Siberians.
Linguistically also there is a curious point connected with the terms for coat and drum. While the drum has a common name (with dialectic differences) among most Neo-Siberians, tünür, tüngür, &c., the term for the shaman's coat varies: kumu, ereni, manyak.[2] This seems to show that the ceremonial coat is a comparatively newer invention than the ceremonial drum.[3]
Sieroszewski [4] gives us an account of the meaning of the coat ornamentation, which he heard from in old Yakut. It is as follows:
1. Küngeta (the sun), a round, smooth, shining disk, the size of a small saucer, hanging between. the shoulders, on a short strap of leather which passes through the hole in the middle of the disk. [5]
[1. lbid.
2. Wierbicki, Altaian Dictionary, p. 487.
3. Troshchanski, op. cit., P. 131.
4. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 632.
5. Troshchanski (p. 143) says that according to Piekarski there is no such word is küngeta; it is, be says, künäsä, or küsänä, but the meaning of künäsä is uncertain. However, Troshchanski thinks that the Yakut word kün-sun'--is not etymologically connected with künäsä. Khudyakoff translates the Yakut word küsänä as'bell'. According to Katanoff, küsänä means (1) 'oracular time' (?), or (2) 'iron circle' fastened to the shaman's coat and representing the sun.]
2. Oibon-Künga (hole-in-the-ice sun), a disk of the same shape and size as the first, but with a larger hole in the middle. it hangs above or below the first plate on a long leather strap.[1]
3. Kondei kyhan, rolls of tin about the size of a thumb, but longer, banging at the back on the metal rings or loops.
4. Chilliryt kyhan, flat plates as long as fingers, banging in great numbers at the back, above the waist.
5. .Hobo, copper bells without tongues, suspended below the collar; like a crow's egg in size and shape and having on the tipper part a drawing of a fish's head. They are tied to the leather straps or to the metal loops.
6. Biirgüne, two round flat disks, similar to those which adorn the woman's cap, tuskata, but without any design on them; they are tied like an epaulet on the shaman's shoulders.
7. Oiogos timiria, two plates about the breadth of four fingers and a little shorter, fastened on both sides of the body.
8. Tabytaua, two long plates two fingers broad, which are fastened to both sleeves.
9. Ämägyat, abagyta ämätiat (in many places called emchet), a copper plate as long as the first finger and half as wide as the palm of the hand. It is covered either with a drawing of a man, 'with feet, bands, head, nose, mouth, eyes, and ears',[2] or with an engraving in relief on a copper medallion, having a man's figure in the middle.
'Only a blacksmith who has nine generations behind him can,
[1. Troshchanski (p. 144) converts this term into oibon-künäsätä (hole-in-the-ice circle). Künäsätä is the genitive of künäsä; the genitive form is used to show that these objects belong to the shaman's coal. Priklonski (Three Years in the Yakutsk Territory, 1891, p. 54) calls it külar-küsanat (happy, joyous sun), which, according to Troshchanski (p. 144), is also wrong. He says it ought to be külär küsänä (laughing circle). Potanin (op. cit., iv. 51) states that among the Mongols Of north-western Asia, there are sewn on the back of the shaman's coat two round copper disks, called by the Altaians kusungy, or kuler-kusungy, and sometimes two others on the breasts. Tretyakoff (op. cit., p. 214) informs us that the shamans of Dolgan have a disk hanging on the breast, which represents the chief evil spirit called kuganna, Troshchanski (op. cit., p. 145), however, suggests that kuganna is simply the Yakut küsänä, and is not a term for an evil spirit, but for the disk.
2. Sieroszewski quotes a native description of it, op. cit., p. 634.]
without danger to himself from the spirits, make an ämägyat, a copper plate such as has been described, which the shaman, when he begins to shamanize, hangs on his breast.'[1] What exactly ämägyat means, whether it is a personal or an impersonal power, it is difficult to determine. We shall go on to review the various references to this subject, since the word ämägyat is used in the double sense of (1) an invisible power and (2) of a visible symbol. In this chapter we shall confine ourselves to the latter. The absence of ämägyat differentiates the less important shamans, called kenniki oyuun, from those who possess it and who are known as orto oyaun. The power of those in partial possession of ämägyat varies according to 'the strength of their ämägyat'[2] The great shamans are those whose 'spirit-protector was sent them by Ulu-Toyen himself' (ämägyatitiah ulytoër ulutoënton ongorulah).[3]
Describing the shaman in action, Sieroszewski4 says that the shaman implores
the assistance of his ämägyat and of other protecting spirits'; and it
is only when the ämägyat descends upon the shaman that he begins his
frenzied dances.
Whenever a family numbers a shaman among its members, it continues to do so,
for after his death the ämägyat seeks to re-embody itself in some one
belonging to the same clan (aya-usa).[5]
'Ämägyat ', says Sieroszewski in another place,[6] is a being quite apart; in most cases it is the soul of a departed shaman; sometimes it is one of the secondary supreme beings.'
The human body cannot endure the continuous presence of a power equal to that of the great gods; hence this spirit-protector (if ämägyat can be so called) resides not within, but close beside the shaman, and comes to his assistance at critical moments, or whenever he needs him.[7]
The shaman can see and hear only with the help of his ämägyat said the shaman Tiuspiut to Sieroszewski.
Possession of the ämägyat does not in any way depend upon the shaman; it comes either by an accident or by a decree from above. Tiuspiut obtained his ämägyat (of Tungus origin) quite accidentally.
The great shamans at death take their ämägyat with them, and thus change into heavenly beings, most of whom are ex-shamans;
[1. Op. cit., p. 632.
2. Op. cit., p. 628.
3 Ibid.
4. Op. cit., pp. 642-3.
5. Op. cit., p. 625.
6. Op. cit., p. 626.
7 Op. cit., p. 627.
8. Ibid.]
if the ämägyat does not depart in this way, then sooner or later it
will show itself on the earth.
Troshchanski says that the most important ornament of the Yakut shaman's coat
is ämägyat, which represents a man. On one of the coats that he reproduces
there is an ämägyat on the left side made of molten copper. On another
coat ämägyat were op. both sides of the breast and made of tin.[1]
Ämägyat is the sign of the shaman's vocation, which is always given by the old shaman to the new. It is quite possible, thinks Troshchanski, that it represents the shaman's ancestor and protector.[2]
Speaking of the preparatory stage of the shaman, Troshchanski says that the Yakut shaman is taught by an older shaman, who initiates him by suspending round his neck the ämägyat. This symbol is taken away from the shaman who no longer wishes to shamanize. An old blind Yakut, however, told Sieroszewski (p. 625) how he gave up his shaman's vocation, thinking it a sin, and although a powerful shaman removed the ämägyat sign from him, nevertheless the spirits made him blind.
In the Mongolian language ämägäldzi signifies the figure of the protective genius of the house, family, and goods, and is made of tin. According to Katanoff, this word is derived from ämägän, grandmother.
10. Balyk-timir (the fish), a plate a metre long, two fingers wide, made in the form of a fish with head, fins, tail, and scales. It bangs on a long leather strap. In some places, like the district of Kolyma, it drags on the ground to entice the secondary spirits, which run after it and try to catch it.[4]
11. Choran, small hollow copper balls, fastened to the ends of long leather straps reaching to the heels and banging like a fringe from the lower edge of the coat. This fringe is called bytyrys (the weed).
The coat is plain in front, and fastens on the breast with leather straps, and under the chin with a buckle in the form of a colt's tongue (kulun tyl kurduk). On the front of the coat are sewn figures of animals, birds, fishes; various disks; images of the sun, moon, and stars; and also some iron representations of the human skeleton and bowels.
In the north, in case of the absence of this costume, the shaman
[1. Troshchanpki, op. cit., p. 140.
2. Ibid.
3. Op. cit., p. 147.
4. Sieroszewski, p. 634.]
wears the woman's sangyniah, a coat of calf's skin, with the hair outside, on the feet of which are occasionally hung some of the most important iron accessories, like the two 'suns' (or sun and moon), the fish and the bürgüne; sometimes two round circles, which represent the breasts, are hung in the front.
A good shaman's dress requires about 35 to 40 pounds of iron.
In the north the shaman wears a woman's travelling cap with ear-flaps, but this is not to be seen in more southern regions, where the shaman is in most cases bareheaded.
According to general belief, the iron and the jingling pendants of the shaman's coat have the power to resist rust, and possess a soul-ichchite.[1]
The shaman wears his magical coat next his skin, and receives it from the hand of a kuluruksuta (page, assistant), i. e. the man whose duty it is to shout during the performance: seb! kirdik! choo! o o! ('well! true! choo! o o!'), and who helps the shaman in other ways, such as preparing the drum.
The Yakut drum is called, according to Sieroszewski, tüngür,[2] and according to Troshchanski,[3] tünür or dünür.
The drum is always egg-shaped, and is covered with the bide of a young bull. Its longest diameter is 53 cm., the width of the rim 11 cm., and the length of the stick 32 cm. The wider part of the stick is covered with cowhide. According to Jochelson, there are twelve raised representations of horns on the drum.[4] Sieroszewski [5] says that they are always found in odd numbers, 7, 9, or 11. The cross inside is attached to the rim by means of straps. Little bells, jingling trinkets, and other rattles of iron and bone are attached inside round the rim, especially in the places where the straps are fastened.
The term tüngür- seems to be a universal name for the drum among most of the Neo-Siberian tribes; sometimes t changes to d, giving the form düngür.
In Manchu the drum is called tunkun; in Mongol düngür; in Altaian tüngur; in Uriankhai donkür; in Soïot and Karagass tüngur.
Among the Yakut, as has been said, there are two names, tünür and donkür. Maak[5] records that the Yakut of Viluy
[1. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 635.
2. Op. cit., p. 635.
3. Op. cit., p. 128.
4. The Koryak, pp. 56-7.
5. Sieroszewski, p. 635.
6. The Viluysk District of the Yakusk Territory, iii. 118.]
explained to him that 'the shamans in addition to the tünür (drum) have also a stringed instrument, dünür.
The word tünür among the Yakut means also kinship through marriage: tünürätär, 'match-making'.
Troshchanski[1] thinks that this double meaning is not accidental, and that as the shaman was originally the head of a family, the drum might be regarded as the bond of unity between the shaman and the community, as well as between the shaman and the spirits.
Besides the drum, the shaman uses two other musical instruments, one of which is a stringed instrument like the Russian balalaika (a kind of banjo), the other an instrument like that known as a jews' harp, a small frame with a long wooden or metal tongue, which is moved by the finger; the narrow end of the instrument is held between the teeth, so that the mouth acts as a sounding-board.
Among the Yakut the jews' harp, called homus (hamys), is apparently not a shaman's instrument, though the shamans of other Neo-Siberians have been known to use it.
Among the Buryat from Irkutsk, this instrument is called khur, and is used only by the shamans.[2] This is also true of the Uriankhai. The Soïot call it komus, but the Altaians (using the term in the narrowest sense), who also have the word komus, use it to designate the stringed instrument resembling the Russian balalaika, which only shamans play.[3] The Kirgis call the shaman's drum kobuz.[4] According to Wierbicki, the Altaians use the two-stringed kabys or komus as an accompaniment to the recital of heroic tales.[5]
There are sometimes minor shamanistic performances without the drum and without the special garments. The shaman sits in his everyday dress on a small chair in the middle of the room and holds in his bands a branch ornamented with bunches of white horsehair, of which there may be three, five, or seven, but never an even number. The fire is not put out for these performances, and some of the horsehair is thrown on to it. The shaman does not dance, but sings and whirls about.[6]
[1. Op. cit., p. 129.
2. Katanoff, A Journey to Karagass in 1890, I.R.G.S., 1891, p. 201.
3. Wierbicki, A Dictionary of the Turkic Language, p. 141.
4. Troshchanski, p. 130.
5. The Natives of the, Altai, p. 139.
5. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 635.]
Troshchanski [1] thinks that, among the Yakut, white and black shamans have different coats. The coat of the white shaman has no animal pictures on it, because their spirit-protectors belong to the aiy (good spirits), which are not symbolized by animal pictures. The coat of the black shaman should not (according to Troshchanski) have representations of the sun, for these are peculiar to white shamans. The drums of the two shamans also differ. When Troshchanski showed an old Yakut woman, who knew a great deal about the shaman dress, a certain drum (op. cit., fig. II, b), she at once recognized it as a white shaman drum, since horsehair was fastened round the iron rim inside it.]
Tribal and clan differences exist in the shaman's coat, and it would be difficult to say whether a sharp line can be drawn between black and white shamanistic garments. Troshchanski is much influenced by this conception of dualism, but from the materials in our possession, a few very imperfect photographs, it would be unwise to come to a decision. It should be remarked, however, that neither of the writers on the Palaeo-Siberians in describing shaman instruments makes this division, and but few of the writers on the Neo-Siberians.
Potanin [2] describes how, on a shaman's coat of the Uriankhai tribe, among other properties, there was a small doll with a minute drum in its left hand. On the same string to which the doll was tied there was another small figure of an animal resembling the sacrificial animal of the real shaman. The significance of this is, of course, obvious. The shaman's ancestor resides in a symbolic form in the shaman's coat. Thus the small doll of the Uriankhai shaman's coat takes the place of the ämägyat the Yakut, if we are to take ämägyat as the symbol of the shaman's ancestor.
The skeleton figuring on the shaman's coat in Troshchanski's book must probably also be ascribed to the shaman's ancestor, for quite near it are sewed hawks' wings, and none but a shaman can fly or be represented by wings.
One might suppose from what has been said above that we have here to deal with three ways of representing the shaman ancestor: by the doll, the ämägyat, and the skeleton. It would be interesting to know, however, whether or not the ämägyat is to be found side by side with either of the other symbols. If so, it
[1. Op. cit., p. 133.
2. Op. cit., iv. 100.]
is possible that ämägyat is not a symbol of the ancestor spirit, but has a meaning of its own. On the Yakut coat the skeleton exists independent of ämägyat. On the Altaian coats described by Potanin, the doll is found side by side with the ämägyat. Both Troshchanski and Sieroszewski describe ämägyat as an indispensable ornament of every shaman's coat.
The coat possesses an impersonal power of itself. It is said to bear the names of ongor (Mongol) and tanara (Yakut) in addition to the classified names for the coat.
By assuming this coat the shaman receives supernatural power, which allows him to go to the upper- and under-worlds to meet spirits and deal with them. It is called 'shaman's horse' among the Yakut.
The coat as a whole is a tanara of the shaman, and each symbolic picture on the coat is also his tanara, i.e. protector.[1]
Another interpretation of the coat is given by Pripuzoff.[2] The picture of a perforated sun and a half-moon, he says, represents the dusk which reigns in the kingdom of the spirits. The strange animals, fishes, and birds which hang on the coat point to the monsters that are said to inhabit the spirit-land.
The iron chain hanging on the back signifies, according to some, the strength of the shaman's power, and according to others, the rudder which he uses in his journeys through the spirit country. The iron disks are there to defend the shaman from the blows of the hostile spirits.
Potanin[3], gives us an interesting description of the shaman's garment among the natives of Altai and north-western Siberia. According to him, it is in comparatively good preservation among the natives of Altai.
Natives of Altai. The shaman's coat is made of goat or reindeer hide. All the outer side is covered with pendants of varying length in serpent form, and has pieces of many-coloured stuff stitched on to it. The pendants, which terminate in serpents' heads, hang freely. Bundles of reindeer leather straps are also attached here and there. The term manyak, is applied by the natives of Altai to the small pendants as well as to the coat as a whole.
There can further be found on the coat various symbolic figures and jingling pendants, such is iron triangles, a small bow and
[1. Troshchanski, p. 135.
2. p. 95.
3. Op. cit., iv. 49-54.]
arrow to frighten hostile spirits, &c. On the back and sometimes on the front of the coat there are sewed two copper disks. One kam (shaman) had four empty tobacco-bags hanging on his coat with imaginary tobacco inside, which he offers to the spirits whilst he is wandering in their country.
The collar is trimmed with owl's feathers. One kam had, according to Potanin, seven little dolls on his collar, which, Potanin was told, were heavenly maidens.
A few bells are sewed on here and there; the more prosperous shamans have -is many as nine. The ringing of the bells, a kam told Potanin, is the voice of the seven maidens whose symbols are sewed to the collar calling to the spirits to descend to them.
The cap [1] of the Altaian shaman is formed of a square piece of the hide of a reindeer calf. On one side there are two buttons and on the other two loops. On the top, bunches of feathers are sewed, and from the lower edge bangs a fringe made of string and shell-fish. This is placed on the head with the two sides buttoned to the back, thus forming a cylindrical cap on the shaman's head. If the hide is bard, the top of the cap with its feathers sticks up like a coronet.
Among some shamans of the Teleut, the cap is made of brown owl skin; the feathers remain as ornaments, and sometimes also the bird's head.
It is not all shamans who can wear the manyak and the owlskin cap. The spirits generally announce to the chosen man when he may wear them.
Among the Tartars of Chern the shaman wears a mask (kocho), with squirrels' tails for eyebrows and moustaches. Among the same people Yadrintzeff noticed the use of two crutches; one of them was a crook, the other was supposed to be a horse, similar to the horse-staves of the Buryat.
All the drums which Potanin saw among the natives of Altai and north-western Mongolia were round in shape.[2] Yadrintzeff says that the Tartars of Chern have oval drums resembling the egg-shaped drum of the east Siberians.
The Altai drum has a hoop as large as the palm of one's hand, covered on one side with bide. Inside the drum there is vertical wooden stick and a horizontal iron chord with rattles
[1. Op. cit., p. 52.
2. Op. cit., iv. 44, 679.]
attached. The drum is held by the wooden stick, and not at the intersection of the stick and the iron crossbar.
The wooden vertical stick is called bar by the natives of Altai. Among other north-western tribes it has various names. The bar has a man's head and feet at the two ends. The upper part is often carved, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, and the chin being cut with great exactness. The horizontal iron stay is called by the Altaians krish, and from it hang various iron rattles called kungru. The number of kungru varies according to the ability of the shaman. It is a guide to the quantity of chayu (Potanin translates this word 'spirits', but it seems rather to mean 'spiritual power) possessed by the shaman, since the more chayu the shaman possesses, the more kungru are found in his drum.
Under the chin of the figure on the wooden bar are fastened long strips of gaudy material called yauasua. Radloff[1] calls this yalama.
On the hide of the drum, sometimes on both sides, sometimes on the inner side only, circles and crosses and other lines are drawn with red dye.[2]
Some Altai drums have drawings of animals on them, lilce those on the drums of the North-American Indians.[3]
The drums of the Chern and Kumandinsk Tartars differ from those of the Altaians; instead of bar, krish, and jingling plates there are here representations of the two worlds, above and underground, separated by a horizontal line, which divides the drum into two parts, an upper and a lower.[4]
On the outer side of the drum of the Chern Tartars, pictures of animals and plants are found. On the upper and larger part an arch is drawn, with indications of sky, inside of which are two trees with a bird on each. To the left of the tree are two circles-the sun and the moon-light and darkness. Below the horizontal line are pictures of frogs, lizards, and snakes.[5] These drawings have a particular importance, since the symbols described show more than any others the shamanistic view of the natural and the supernatural.
There is unfortunately very little material of a reliable character, the studies of Potanin and Klementz being the most valuable. On the whole, it is safe to say that the drums of the natives of
[1. Aus Sibirien, ii. 18.
2 Potanin, iv. 40-9.
3. Jochelson The Koryak, i. 58-9.
4. Potanin, op. cit., iv. 680.
5. Op. cit., iv. 44-5.]
north-west Asia, especially in the southern parts, are adorned with representations of the upper and lower worlds divided by a horizontal line.[1]
The following interpretation of this same ornamentation is given by Klementz in his study of the drums peculiar to the neighbourhood of Minussinsk.[2] His information was given him by a kam of high standing.
Although by no means all drums are ornamented in the same way, yet in this account we may perceive certain traditional rules embodying the Altaian and Mongolian conception of the meaning of the drum and its decoration.
A. The lower part of the drum:
1. Bai-Kazyn (painted in white), 'a rich birch' -alluding to the birches round which annual sacrificial ceremonies are held.
2. Ulug-bai-kazyn (in white)-two trees growing in Ulukhan's country.
3 and 4. Ak-baga ('white frog') and Kara-baga ('black frog'), the servants of Ulu-khan.
5. Chshity-us, spirits associated with seven nests and seven feathers.
6. Chshity-kyz ('seven maids'); these bring seven diseases on man.
7. Ulugere, to whom prayers are offered for the curing of toothache and of earache.
8. Ot-imeze ('Mother of the fire').
B. The upper part of the drum:
1. Souban-ir. The kam translated this 'aurora' (whether with the meaning of dawn or the aurora borealis is impossible to decide from Potanin's description).
2. Ike-karagus, two black birds, flying as messengers from the shaman to the shaytans.
4. Aba-tyus (the bear's tooth).
5. Sugyznym-karagat. According to the kam, this means 'the horses of Ulu-khan'.
6. Kyzyl-kikh-kahn. to whom one prays when beginning any undertaking.
The other figures drawn in white paint are animals, which Kyzvl-kikh-khan is hunting.
[1. Mikhailowski, p. 68.
2. Types of Drums of the Minitssinsk Natives, E. S. S. I. R. G. S., p. 26.]
Many other authors also coniniont on this method of dividing the pictures on the Neo-Siberian drum. Wierbicki,[1] describing the tüngür of the natives of Altai, says: 'On the outer side the hide is painted with red ochre; on the upper part are represented the sky, a rainbow, sun, moon, stars, horses, geese, the kam on a horse, and, on the lower part, the earth.'
According to Dr. Finsch's description [2] the drums of the Samoyed and of the Ob-Ostyak are, like the Altai drums, round in shape, broad-rimined, covered on one side only, and have a diameter of from 30 cm. to 50 cm.
The Ostyak drums described by Potanin [3] have the same division of the drum into lower and upper parts representing lower and tipper worlds, as among the Tartars of Chern.
The Buryat. The Buryat shaman's costume was first described by Pallas.[4] It belonged to a female shaman, who was accompanied by her husband and two other Buryat, each of them holding a magical drum.[5] She herself held in her hand two sticks, ornamented at the top end with a carving of a horse's head surrounded by small bells. [This implement is called by recent travellers 'horse-staves'.] From the back of the shoulders reaching to the ground hung about thirty snakes, made of white and black skin, in such a way that the snakes seem to be composed of white and black rings. One of the snakes was divided into three at the end, and was accounted indispensable to each Buryat female shaman. The cap was covered with an iron casque having horns with three branches, projecting on both sides like those of a deer.
Gmelin[5], saw a costume of another old and revered female
[1. The Natives of the Altai, p. 45.
2. Finsch, Reise nach West-Sibirien, p. 550 (Berlin, 1879), quoted hy Jochelson, The Koryak. p. 59.
3. Op. cit., iv. 680.
4. Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russichen Reiches, 1777, pp.102-3.
5. The more recent accounts deny the existence of the drum among the Buryat. Khangaloff saw it only once, and this was in the case of a young and inexperienced shaman. Klementz states that the drum is very seldom in use among the Buryat. Nevertheless he says: 'At great shaman ceremonies, in which a shaman and his nine sons take part (some of which the writer witnessed on the estuary of the river Selenga, among the Kuda, Buryat), one of the assistants holds in his hands a small tambourine, but neither the meaning of the tambourine nor the róle of the assistant is quite clear.' Curiously enough, Pallas, writing in the eighteenth century, agrees with the contemporary witness in describing the assistants' use of the drum.
6. ii. 11-13.]
shaman near Selenginsk. Her costume was hanging in her yurta, but, according to her account, was not complete. Among other things he mentions a box, full of strips of cloth, small stones, thunderbolts, &c., which she used for magical purposes.[1] There was also a felt bag full of various felt idols.
In the exhaustive work of Agapitoff and Khangaloff there is a description of the old shaman costume among the Buryat-a costume of a kind which, however, is very rarely to be met with at present. According to them, the coat (orgoy), the cap, and the horse-staves (morini-khörbö are the chief appurtenances of a shaman.
1. The orgoy is of white material for the white shaman, and of blue for the black shaman. Its shape does not differ from that of the ordinary coat.'
Klementz[2]says that the old-fashioned orgoy was shorter than that of
the present day.
The front of the coat is covered with metal figures of horses, fishes, birds,
&c. The back is covered with twisted iron representing snakes, -with rattles
hanging from them (shamshorgo),[4] together with a whole row of little
bells and tambourine bells.
On the chest above the thin plates used to hang little shining copper disks, and on the sleeves were also hung thin iron plates, in imitation of the bones of the shoulder and forearm. This gave Gmelin the ground for his assertion that two shamans who came to him from Nijine-Udinsk resembled chained devils.[5]
2. The cap, which is peaked, is made of lynx skin, with a bunch of ribbons on the top. After the fifth consecration the shaman can wear the iron cap; it is composed of a crown-like iron hoop with two half-hoops crossing each other, above which is an iron plate with two born-like projections.
In the place where the intersecting hoops are tied to the hoop round the head there are three groups of khoubokho,[6] or kholbogo, conical weights of iron. From the back of the hoop hangs an iron
[1. Agapitoff and Khangaloff (pp. 42-4) call an identical box shire.
2. Agapitoff and Khangaloff, p. 42.
3. E. R. E., p. 16.
4. Klementz uses the same native word shamshoryo for (i) the rattles attached to the snakes on the shaman's coat, and (ii) for the conical iron weights fixed to the upper part of the horse-staves, but he does not intimate whether this word has two meanings or not.
5. Klementz states that the orgoy is in some places now only put on after death, for burial.
6. Klementz calls them shamshorgo, E. R E., p. 16.]
chain composed of four links and ending in small objects resembling a spoon and an awl.[1]
Klementz [2] calls this cap the metal diadem, 'consisting of an iron ring with two convex arches, also of iron, crossing one another at right angles, and with a long jointed chain which hangs down from the nape of the neck to the heels-we know of them only from the descriptions of travellers and from specimens preserved in a few museums'.
3. The horse-staves (morini-khorbo) are to be met with among all the Buryat of Baikal, but among the Buryat of Balagan they are not used. Each Baikal shaman possesses two. They are made of wood or of iron; but the iron staff is only given to the shaman after the fifth consecration, when he also receives the iron cap. The wooden horse-staves are cut for the novice the day before his first consecration, from a birch-tree growing in the forest where the shamans are buried. The wood for the horse-staves must be cut in such a way that the tree shall not perish, otherwise it would be a bad omen for the shaman.
This implement is 80 cm. long; the upper part is bent and has a horse-head carved on it; the middle part of the stick forms the knee-joints of the horse, and the lower end is fashioned into a hoof.
Little bells, one of which is larger than the rest, are tied to the horse-staves. Likewise small conical weights of iron, khoubokho, or kholbogo, blue, white, yellow and red-coloured ribbons, and strips of ermine and squirrel fur. To make it look more realistic miniature stirrups are also attached.
The iron horse-staves are not very different from the wooden ones. They represent the horses on which the shaman rides to the upper and lower worlds.
According to Khangaloff, it is in the drum that the horse, on which the shaman makes his flight, is symbolized. Khangaloff, however, also speaks of the rarity of the drum among the Buryat. The only drum which he saw among them was of the form and size of a small sieve, and was covered with horse-hide fastened to the back with leather straps. He did not notice any pictures either on the outside or on the inside, but the outside surface, he says, was daubed with some white stuff.[3]
[1. Agapitoff and Khangaloff, op. cit., pp. 43-4.
2. E. R E., p. 16.
3. Agapitoff and Khangaloff, op. cit., pp. 42-4.]
Klenientz says that the drum, khese, is very little known among the Buryat, who substitute the horse-staves for it, and that the little bell is sometimes also called khese; nevertheless, among the Mongol Shamanists and the Mongolized Uriankhai, the drum is in use.[1]
The Buryat Buddhists use in their divine services either drums covered on both sides with hide, like those found among the North-American Indians, or those with hide on one side only. These drums are round, and have leather handles attached to the outer edge of the rim.[2]
Klementz mentions as the next accessory of the shaman the khur, a 'tuning-fork'('jews' liarp'?), with a wire tongue between the two side-pins, an implement largely in use among shamanists. It may be met with, he says, from the sources of the Amur to the Ural, and from the Arctic Ocean down to Tashkent. Here and there it is merely a musical instrurnent.[3]
On the shaman's boots there were formerly sewed iron plates, but these are
no longer in use.
The Olkhon Buryat, say Agapitoff and Khangaloff, have one other property, called
shire. It is a box three and a half feet long and one foot deep, standing
on four legs, each two feet high. On the box are hung ribbons, bells, strips
of skin, and on one of the long sides different figures are carved or painted
in red. Usually on the right side is represented the sun, and on the left, the
moon. The sun is depicted as a wheel, and in the middle of the moon there is
a human figure holding a tree in one hand. In the middle of the long side there
are three images of secondary gods, one woman and two men, in whose honour wine
is sprinkled several times a year. There are also war implements-bow and quiver
and sword, and under each human figure there is a horse. The shire is
used to bold horse-staves, drums, and other ritual implements. The shaman acquires
the right of carrying the shire after the fifth consecration .[4] It
is asserted, says Klementz,[5] that with every new consecration up to the ninth,
the height and other dimensions of the shire increase.
Nil[6] mentions two things more: abagaldey, a monstrous mask of skin, wood, and metal, painted, and ornamented with a great
[1. E. R. E., iii. p. 16.
2. Jochellson, The Koryak, p. 59.
3. E. R. E., ibid.
4. Agavitoff and Khangaloff, pp. 43-4.
5. E. R. E., ibid.
5. Archbishop of Yaroslav (Buddhism in Siberia, 1858),]
beard; and toli, a metal looking-glass with representations of twelve animals on it; this is hung round the neck and worn on the breast; sometimes it is sewed on the shaman's coat.
Occasionally the Buryat shaman has also a whip with bells, but generally all these implements tend to disappear in modern times.
Two other ethical and linguistic groups, which, although they live only partly in Siberia, yet belong to the Neo-Siberians, are the Samoyed and the Finnic tribes, and a survey of their shaman accessories is of special interest in connexion with those of the Mongolic, Turkic, and Tungusic shamans.
The most important belonging of a tadibey (Samoyed shaman) is his penzer (drum), which he prepares according to a special set of rules. He must kill a male reindeer-calf with his own hands, and prepare the skin in such a way that no veins are left on it. In these preparations inka (i. e. a woman), being considered unclean, cannot assist.[1]
The drums, which are ornamented with metal disks and plates, and covered with transparent reindeer hide, are round in shape and of various sizes. The largest drum seen by Castren was nearly two feet in diameter and two and a half inches in height.[2]
According to Dr. Finsch's description, the drums of the Samoyed and of the Ob-Ostyak are like the Altai drums, round, broadrimmed, covered on one side only, and with a diameter of from 30 cm. to 50 cm.
The shaman's costume consists of a chamois-leather coat called samburzia, ornamented with red cloth. Eyes and face are covered with a piece of cloth, since the tadibey is supposed to penetrate into the spirit-world with his inner sight. Instead of a cap there are two bands round his head to keep the cloth over the face in position. An iron disk hangs on his breast.[3]
In certain places the tadibey uses a cap with a visor, and over the leather coat jingling trinkets and little bells and strips of cloth of various shades are hung. In this ornamentation the number seven plays an important róle.[4]
Among the Lapps, the drum, kannus or kvobdas, which is now but an antiquarian curiosity, played a most important part.[5] It
[1. V. Islavin, The Samoyed, 1847, pp. 112-13.
2. Castren, Reiseerinnerugen aus den Jahren 1838-1844 (Petersburg, 1853), p. 192.
3. Op. cit., pp. 192-3.
4. Islavin, op. cit., p. 113.
5. Schefferus, Lappland (Königsberg, 1675), p. 137, &c.]
was made of birch or pine wood, grown if possible in a sunny spot, since such a tree would be acceptable to the sun and the good spirits. There are two kinds of drum. One is composed of a wooden hoop, with two cross-pieces of wood inside covered with hide; the other is an egg-shaped flat box, hollowed out of the trunk of a tree, and also covered with bide. The most significant ornaments are the drawings in red. They represent good and bad spirits, the sun, the stars, various animals, lakes, forests, and men. The division between this world and the upper is clearly shown. Among many other symbolic figures there is also the image of a noyda (shaman). Each drum has its metal ring with small pendants and a drum-stick of reindeer horn.
The Lapps take great care of their drums, and when not in use they and the drum-sticks are wrapped in furs. No woman dares to touch the drum.
SINCE the performances of shamans as professionals called in to treat diseases, to answer inquiries, for soothsaying and other similar purposes, are very much the same among the different tribes of Palaeo-Siberians, we shall confine ourselves to giving a few typical examples of these performances. The same procedure will be followed with regard to the Neo-Siberians.
The Koryak. Professional shamanism among the Koryak is at a most primitive stage of development, yet at the same time, thanks to the influence of European culture, it is also decadent.
Jochelson speaks[1] of the shamanistic performances which he saw as follows: 'During the entire period of my sojourn among the Koryak I had opportunity to see only two shamans. Both were young men, and neither enjoyed special respect on the part of his relatives. Both were poor men who worked as labourers for the rich members of their tribe. One of them was a Maritime Koryak from Alutor. He used to come to the village of Kamenskoye in company with a Koryak trader. He was a bashful youth, his features, though somewhat wild, were flexible and pleasant, and his eyes were bright. I asked him to show me proof of his shamanistic art. Unlike other shamans, he consented without waiting to be coaxed. The people put out the oil-lamps in the underground house in which he stopped with his master. Only a few coals were glowing on the hearth, and it was almost dark in the house. On the large platform which is put up in the front part of the house as the seat and sleeping-place for visitors, and not far from where my wife and I were sitting, we could discern the shaman in an ordinary shaggy shirt of reindeer skin, squatting on the reindeer skins that covered the platform. His face was covered with a large oval drum.
[1. Jochelson, The Koryak p. 49.]
'Suddenly he commenced to beat the drum softly and to sing in a plaintive voice; then the beating of the drum grow stronger and stronger; and his song-in which could be heard sounds imitating the howling of the wolf, the groaning of the cargoose, and the voices of other animals, his guardian spirits-appeared to come, sometimes from the corner nearest to my seat, then from the opposite end, then again from the middle of the house, and then it seemed to proceed from the ceiling. He was a ventriloquist. Shamans versed in this art are believed to possess particular power. His drum also seemed to sound, now over my head, now at my feet, now behind, now in front of me. I could see nothing; but it seemed to me that the shaman was moving around, noiselessly stepping upon the platform with his fur shoes, then retiring to some distance, then coming nearer, lightly jumping, and then squatting down on his heels.
'All of a sudden the sound of the drum and the singing ceased. When the women had relighted their lamps, he was lying, completely exhausted, on a white reindeer skin on which he had been sitting before the shamanistic performance. The concluding words of the shaman, which he pronounced in a recitative, were uttered as though spoken by the spirit whom he had summoned lip, and who declared that the "disease" had left the village, and would not return.'
The other shamanistic ceremony was performed by a shaman at Jochelson's request for the purpose of divining whether he would reach home safely.
During this ceremony[1] the shaman suddenly asked Jochelson for his knife, saying, 'The spirits say that I should cut myself with a knife. You will not be afraid?[2]
Jochelson gave him, not without some scruples, his travelling knife, which
was sharp and looked like a dagger. 'The light in the tent was put out; but
the dim light of the Arctic spring night
(it was in April), which penetrated the canvas of the tent, was sufficient to
allow me to follow the movements of the shaman. He took the knife, beat the
drum, and sang, telling the spirits
that he was ready to carry out their wishes. After a little -while he put away
the drum, and, emitting a rattling sound from his threat, he thrust the knife
into his breast up to the hilt. I noticed, however, that after having cut his
jacket, he turned the
[1. Op. cit., p. 51.
2, Ibid.]
knife downwards. He drew out the knife with the same rattling in his throat, and resumed beating the drum.'[1]
Then he said to Jochelson that he would have a good journey, and, returning the knife to him, showed through the hole in his coat the blood on his body. 'Of course, these spots had been made before', says Jochelson.[2] 'However, this cannot be looked upon as mere deception. Things visible and imaginary are confounded to such an extent in primitive consciousness that the shaman himself may have thought that there was, invisible to others, a real gash in his body, as bad been demanded by the spirits. The common Koryak, however, are sure that the shaman actually cuts himself, and that the wound heals up immediately.'
The Chukchee. Among the Chukchee, says Bogors,[3] a typical shamanistic performance is carried on in the inner room of the house, when it is closed for the night. This room, especially among the Reindeer Chukchee, is very small. Sometimes the performance here described is preceded by another, held in the outer room, in daylight, and usually connected with a communal ceremonial.
When the drum is tightened and moistened, and the light is put out, the shaman, who is often quite naked down to the waist, begins to operate.
In modern times Chukchee shamans imitate the Tungus shamans in smoking a pipe filled with strong narcotic tobacco.
The shaman beats the drum and sings tunes; at first slowly, then more rapidly. His songs have no words, and there is no order in their succession. Though the audience take no actual part in the ceremony, they are in fact of some assistance, as forming a very primitive 'chorus'. Their frequent exclamations encourage the shaman's actions.
Without an ocitkolin ('to give answering calls,' participle) a Chukchee shaman considers himself unable to perform his office fittingly; novices, therefore, while trying to learn the shamanistic practices, usually induce a brother or a sister to respond, thus encouraging the zeal of the performer.[4]
'Among the Asiatic Eskimo, the wife and other members of the family form a kind of chorus, which from time to time catches up the tune and sings with the shaman. Among the Russianized Yukaghir of the lower Kolyma, the wife is also the assistant of
[1. Op. cit., p. 52.
2. Ibid.
3. The Chukchee, p. 433.
4. Op. cit., p. 434.]
her shaman husband, and during the performance she gives him encouraging answers, and he addresses her as his "supporting staff".'[1]
When the kelet come to the shaman, he acts in a different way, according to whether he has or has not a ventriloquistic gift.
If the shaman is only 'single-bodied', the kelet will sing and beat
the drum through his body, the sound only of the shaman's voice being changed.
When he is a ventriloquist, the kelet appear
as separate voices'.
Bogoras says that shamans could, with credit to themselves, carry on a contest with the best practitioners of similar arts in civilized countries. The voices are successful imitations of different sounds: human, superhuman, animal, even of tempests and winds, or of an echo, and come from all sides of the room; from without, from above, and from underground. The whole of Nature may sometimes be represented in the small inner room of the Chukchee.
Then the spirit either begins to talk or departs with a sound like the buzzing of a fly. While it stays, it beats the drum violently, speaking in its own language, if it happens to be any animal except the wolf, fox, and raven, which can speak in the language of men; but there is a peculiar timbre in their voices.
Usually it is not only one spirit which appears, and this part of the performance might be called a dialogue. Sometimes the shaman does not himself understand the language he is using, and an interpreter is necessary. There are cases when spirit-language, comprising a mixture of Koryak, Yakut, and Yukaghir, has to be translated into Russian for the Russianized shamans and natives, especially those of the Kolyma district.
Jochelson tells of a Tungus shaman nicknamed Mashka, whose 'spirits', being of Koryak origin, spoke through him in that language: 'I asked him several times to dictate to me what his spirits were saying, and he would invaribly reply that he did not remember, that he forgot everything after the seance was over, and that, besides, he did not understand the language of his spirits. At first I thought that be was deceiving me; but I had several opportunities of convincing myself that he really did not understand any Koryak. Evidently he had learned by heart Koryak incantations which he could pronounce only in a state of excitement., [2]
[1. Op. cit., p. 435.
2. Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 52.]
There is no regular shamanist language among the Chukchee, merely a few special
expressions.
'Among the north-western branch of the Koryak, the " spirits are said to use
a special mode of pronunciation, similar to that used by the south-eastern Koryak
and the Chukchee. A few words are also said to be peculiar to them. Among the
Asiatic Eskimo the " spirits " are said to have a special language. Many words
of it were given me by the shamans, and most of them are analogous to the "spirit"
language known to various Eskimo tribes of America, both in Alaska and on the
Atlantic side.'[1]
Sometimes the spirits are very mischievous. In the movable tents of the Reindeer people an invisible hand will sometimes turn everything upside down, and throw different objects about, such as snow, pieces of ice, &c.
'I must mention', says Bogoras,[2] 'that the audience is strictly forbidden to make any attempts whatever to touch the "spirits". These latter highly resent any intrusion of this kind, and retaliate either on the shaman, whom they may kill on the spot, or on the trespassing listener, who runs the risk of having his head broken, or even a knife thrust through his ribs in the dark. I received warnings of this kind at almost every shamanistic performance.'
After the preliminary intercourse with the 'spirits', the shaman, still in the dark, gives advice and utters prophecies. For example, at one ceremony, where Bogoras was present, the shaman Galmuurgin prophesied to his host that many wild reindeer would be at his gate the following autumn. 'One buck', he said, 'will stop on the right side of the entrance, and pluck at the grass, attracted by a certain doe of dark-grey hair. This attraction must be strengthened with a special incantation. The reindeer-buck, while standing there, must be killed with the bow, and the arrow to be used must have a flat rhomboid point. This will secure the successful killing of all the other wild reindeer.' [3]
After his introductory interview with the spirits, the shaman sometimes 'sinks'; he falls to the ground unconscious, while his soul is wandering in the other worlds, talking with the 'spirits' and asking them for advice. The modern shamans actually 'sink' very seldom, but they know that it was done in the old days.
When shamanistic performances are connected with ceremonials, they are carried on in the outer room. Ventriloquism is not
[1. Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 438.
2. Op. cit., p. 439.
3. Op. cit., p. 440.]
practised on these occasions, and the kele 'is bent on mischief, and among other things, seeks to destroy the life which is under his temporary power." Many tricks are performed by shamans even in daylight.
Upune, the wife of a dead Chukchee shaman, possessed wonderful shamanistic power; she herself declared that she had only a small part of her husband's ability. In a shamanistic performance 'she took a large round pebble of the size of a man's fist, set it upon the drum, and, blowing upon it from all sides, began to mumble and snort in the same kele-like manner. She called our attention by signs-being in the possession of the kele, she had lost the faculty of human speech-and then began to wring the pebble with both hands. Then a continuous row of very small pebbles began to fall from her hands. This lasted for fully five minutes, till quite a heap of small pebbles had collected below, on the skin. The larger pebble, however, remained smooth and intact."
At the request of Bogoras the female shaman repeated this feat with the same success, and all the upper part of the body being naked, it was easy to observe her movements. The practice of stabbing oneself through the abdomen with a knife is universal in shamanistic performances; Kamchadal and Eskimo, Chukchee and Yukaghir, even the Neo-Siberian shamans of northern Asia, are familiar with this trick.
It would be difficult to describe all the tricks performed by the shamans: some of the commonest are the swallowing of burning coals,[3] setting oneself free from a cord by which one is bound, &c.
The Yakut. For comparison with the Palaeo-Siberian methods of shamanizing, we shall take a Yakut shaman in action, as described by Sieroszwski.[4] 'Outwardly, shamanistic ceremonies are very uniform,' says Sieroszewski. The ceremony now described 'is the part of the shamanistic ceremony which remains always and everywhere unchanged, and, sanctioned by custom, forms, so to speak, the basis of the rite.'
When the shaman who has been called to a sick person enters the yurta, he at once takes the place destined for him on the
[1.Op. cit., p. 442.
2. Op. cit., p. 444.
3. Satrytcheff, The Voyage of Capt. Sarytcheff's Fleet along the N.E. Coast of Siberia, through The Polar Sea and the Pacific, p. 30.
4. Sieroszewski, 12 Lat w Kraju Yakutów, 1902, p. 639.]
billiryk agon. He lies on his white mare's skin and waits for the night, the time when it is possible to shamanize. Meanwhile he is entertained with food and drink.
'When the sun sets and the dusk of evening approaches, all preparations for the ceremony in the yurta are hurriedly completed: the ground is swept, the wood is cut, and food is provided in larger quantity and of better quality than usual. One by one the neighbours arrive and seat themselves along the wall, the men on the right, and the women on the left; the conversation is peculiarly serious and reserved,, the movements gentle.
'In the northern part of the Yakut district the host chooses the best latchets and forms them into a loop, which is placed round the shaman's shoulders and bold by one of those present during the dance, in order to prevent the spirits from carrying him off. At length every one has supper, and the household takes some rest. The shaman, sitting on the edge of the billiryk, slowly untwists his tresses, muttering and giving orders. He sometimes has a nervous and artificial hiccough which makes his whole body shake; his gaze does not wander, his eyes being fixed on one point, usually on the fire.
'The fire is allowed to die out. More and more deeply the dusk descends on the room; voices are hushed, and the company talks in whispers; notice is given that anybody -wishing to go out must do so at once, because soon the door will be closed, after which nobody can either go out or come in.
'The shaman slowly takes off his shirt and puts on his wizard's coat, or, failing that, he takes the woman's coat called sangyniah.[1] Then he is given a pipe, which he smokes for a long time, swallowing the smoke; his hiccough becomes louder, he shivers more violently. When he - has finished smoking, his face is pale, his head falls on his breast, his eyes are half-closed.
'At this point the white mare's skin is placed in the middle of the room. The shaman asks for cold water, and when he has drunk it he slowly holds out his hand for the drum prepared for him; he then walks to the middle of the room, and, kneeling for a time on his right knee, bows solemnly to all the four corners of the world, at the same time sprinkling the ground about him with the water from his mouth.
[1. Gmelin speaks of special embroidered stockings which the shaman, dons in the yurta. (Reise durch Sibirien, pp. 351-6.)]
'Now everything is silent. A handful of white horsehair is thrown on the fire, putting it quite out; in the faint gleam of the red coals the black motionless figure of the shaman is still to be seen for a while, with drooping bead, big drum on breast, and face turned towards the south, as is also the head of the mare's skin upon which he is sitting.
Complete darkness follows the dusk; the audience scarcely breathes, and only the unintelligible mutterings and hiccoughs of the shaman can be heard; gradually even this sinks into a profound silence. Eventually a single great yawn like the clang of iron breaks the stillness, followed by the loud piercing cry of a falcon, or the plaintive weeping of a seamew-then silence again.
'Only the gentle sound of the voice of the drum, like the humming of a gnat, announces that the shaman has begun to play.
'This music is at first soft. delicate, tender, then rough and irrepressible like the roar of an oncoming storm. It grows louder and louder and, like peals of thunder, wild shouts rend the air; the crow calls, the grebe laughs, the seamews complain, snipes whistle, eagles and hawks scream.'
'The [1] music swells and rises to the highest pitch, the beating of the drum becomes more and more vigorous, until the two sounds combine in one long-drawn crescendo. The numberless small bells ring and clang; it is not a storm-it is a whole cascade of sounds, enough to overwhelm all the listeners.... All at once it breaks off-there are one or two strong beats on the drum, which, hitherto held aloft, now falls to the shaman's knees. Suddenly the sound of the drum and the small bells ceases. Then silence for a long moment, while the gentle gnat-like murmur of the drum begins again.'
[1. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 641.]
This may be repeated several times, according to the degree of the shaman's inspiration; at last, when the music takes on a certain new rhythm and melody, sombrely the voice of the shaman chants the following obscure fragments:
1. 'Mighty bull of the earth . . . Horse of the steppes!'
2. 'I, the mighty bull . . . bellow!'
3. 'I, the horse of the steppes . . . neigh!'
4. 'I, the man set above all other beings!'
5. 'I, the man most gifted of all!'
6. 'I, the man created by the master all-powerful!
7. 'Horse of the steppes, appear! teach me!'
8. 'Enchanted bull of the earth, appear! speak to me!'
9. 'Powerful master, command me!'
10. 'All of you, who will go with me, give heed with your ears! Those whom I
command not. follow me not!'
11. 'Approach not nearer than is permitted! Look intently! Give heed ! Have
a care!'
12. 'Look heedfully! Do this, all of you . all together . . . all, however many
you may be!'
13. 'Thou of the left side, O lady with thy staff, if anything be done amiss,
if I take not the right way, I entreat you - correct me! Command! . . .'
14. 'My errors and my path show to me! O mother of mine! Wing thy free flight!
Pave my wide roadway!'
15. 'Souls of the sun, mothers of the sun, living in the south, in the nine
wooded hills, ye who shall be jealous . . . I adjure you all . . . let them
stay . . . let your three shadows stand high!'
16. 'In the East, on your mountain, lord, grandsire of mine. great of power
and thick of neck-be thou with me!'
17. 'And thou, grey-bearded wizard (fire), I ask thee: with all my dreams, 'with
all comply! To all my desires consent . . . Heed all! Fulfil all! . . . All
heed . . . All fulfil!'[1]
At this point the sounds of the drum are heard once more, once more wild shouts and meaningless words-then all is silent.
Adjurations similar to the above are used in all the Yakut districts and all ceremonies begin with them. There is, however, another formula still longer and more complicated, which Sieroszewski says he could not procure. The ritual which follows this formula consists of an improvisation appropriate to each person and occasion.
In the ensuing prayers the shaman addresses his ämägyat and other protective 'spirits'; be talks with the kaliany, asks them questions, and gives answers in their names. Sometimes the shaman must pray and beat the drum a long time before the spirits come; often their appearance is so sudden and so impetuous that the shaman is overcome and falls down. It is a good sign if he falls on his face, and a bad sign if he falls on his back.
'When the ämägyat comes down to a shaman, he arises and
[1. Sieroszewski, op. cit., pp. 641-2.]
begins to leap and dance, at first on the skin, and then, his movements becoming more rapid, he glides into the middle of the room. Wood is quickly piled on the fire, and the light spreads through the yurta, which is now full of noise and movement. The shaman dances, sings, and beats the drum uninterruptedly, jumps about furiously, turning his face to the south, then to the -west, then to the east. Those who hold him by the leather thongs sometimes have great difficulty in controlling his movements. In the south Yakut district, however, the shaman dances unfettered. Indeed, he often gives up his drum so as to be able to dance more unrestrainedly.
'The head of the shaman is bowed, his eyes are half-closed his hair is tumbled and in wild disorder lies on his sweating face, his mouth is twisted strangely, saliva streams down his chin, often he foamgs at the mouth.
'He moves round the room, advancing and retreating, beating the drum, which resounds no less wildly than the roaring of the shaman himself; he shakes his jingling coat, and seems to become more and more maniacal, intoxicated with the noise and movement.
'His fury ebbs and rises like a wave; sometimes it leaves him for a while, and then, holding his drum high above his head, solemnly and calmly he chants a prayer and summons the "spirit".
'At last he knows all he desires; be is acquainted with the cause of the misfortune or disease with which be has been striving; he is sure of the help of the beings whose aid he needs. Circling about in his dance, singing and playing, be approaches the patient.
'With new objurgations be drives away the cause of the illness by frightening it, or by sucking it out with his mouth from the painful place: then, returning to the middle of the room, he drives it away by spitting and blowing. Then he learns what sacrifice is to be made to the "powerful spirits", for this harsh treatment of the spirit's servant, who was sent to the patient.
'Then the shaman, shading his eyes from the light with his hands, looks attentively into each corner of the room; and if he notices anything suspicious, he again beats the drum, dances, wakes terrifying gestures, and entreats the " spirits ".
'At length all is made clean, the suspicious "cloud" is no more to be seen, which signifies that the cause of the trouble has been driven out; the sacrifice is accepted, the prayers have been heard-the ceremony is over.
'The shaman still retains for some time after this the gift of prophecy; he foretells various happenings, answers the questions of the curious, or relates what he saw on his journey away from the earth.
'Finally he is carried with his mare's skin back to his place of honour on the billiryk'.[1]
The sacrifice offered to the 'spirits' varies according to the importance of the occasion. Sometimes the disease is transferred to the cattle, and the stricken cattle are then sacrificed, i. e. ascend to the sky.[2] It is this journey to the sky, together with the spirits and the sacrificed animal, which the dance symbolizes. In the old days (according to the native accounts) there were, in fact, shamans who really did ascend into the sky while the spectators saw how 'on the clouds there floated the sacrificed animal, after it sped the drum of the shaman, and this was followed by the shaman himself in his wizard's coat'.[3]
There were also wicked and powerful shamans who, instead of a real animal,
carried up into the sky a mare formed of cloud, but the evidence for the existence
of these shamans is indefinite.
During this difficult and dangerous journey every shaman has his places of rest,
called ouokh (olokh); when he takes a seat during the dance, this
signifies that he has come to an ouokh;[4] when he rises, he is ascending
further tip into the sky; if he falls down, he is descending under the earth.
Every shaman, however far be may have proceeded on his journey, knows where
he is, on which ouoloh, and also the route taken by every other shaman
who is shamanizing at that moment.
Sometimes the leading of the ' spirit' and the sacrificed cattle into the sky
forms a separate ceremony performed a few months after the first, in which they
had promised this sacrifice. The sacrifices are either bloody, when the shaman
tears to pieces the
[1. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 644.
2. Troshchanski says (p. 105): 'Instead of the human kut which the abassy had captured, he receives an animal kut. Usually, between the spirit who took away the kut of the man and the representative of the latter, there takes place (through the shaman) a keen bargaining, in which the spirit gives up some of its demands.'
3. Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 645.
4. These ouokh occur in a series of nine, in conformity with the usual arrangement of objects in nines which characterizes the whole religious and social system of the Yakut. (Sieroszewski, op. cit., p. 472.)]
body of the animal with rage and fury, or bloodless; e. g. when some grease or meat, or other material, such as hair, &c., is offered up.
The Samoyed. The shamanistic ceremonial among the Samoyed of the Tomsk Government has been described by Castren,[1] from whose account we take the following picture.
On arriving at the yurta the shaman takes his seat on a bench, or on a chest which must contain no implement capable of inflicting a wound. Near him, but not in front, the occupants of the yurta group themselves. The shaman faces the door, and pretends to be unconscious of all sights and sounds. In his right band he holds a short staff which is inscribed on one side with mystic symbols; and in his left, two arrows with the points held upwards. To each point is affixed a small bell. His dress has nothing distinctive of a shaman; he usually wears the coat either of the inquirer or of the sick person. The performance begins with a song summoning the spirits. Then the shaman strikes the arrows with his staff, so that the bells chime in a regular rhythm, while all the spectators sit in awed silence. When the spirits appear, the shaman rises and commences to dance. The dance is followed by a series of complicated and difficult body-movements. While all this is going on the rhythmical chiming of the bells never ceases. His song consists of a sort of dialogue with the spirits, and is sung with changes of intonation denoting different degrees of excitement or enthusiasm. When his enthusiasm rises to a high pitch, those present join in the singing. After the shaman has learnt all he wishes from the spirits, the latter communicate the will of the god to the people. If he is to foretell the future, he employs his staff. He throws it on the ground, and if it falls with the side inscribed with mystical signs turned upward, this is a good omen; if the blank side shows, ill-fortune may be looked for.
To prove his trustworthiness to those present, the shaman uses the following means. He sits on a reindeer skin, and his hands and feet are bound, The room is completely darkened. Then, as if in answer to his call to the spirits, various noises are heard both Within and without the yurta: the beating of a drum, the grunting of a bear, the hissing of a serpent, the squeak of a squirrel, and mysterious scratchings on the reindeer-skin where he sits. Then
[1. Castren, Reiseberichte und Briefe, 1845-9. pp. 172-4.]
the shaman's bonds are untied, he is set free, and every one is convinced that what they heard was the work of the spirits.
The Altaians. The kams (shamans) of the Turkic tribes of the Altai have preserved with great strictness the ancient shamanistic ceremonial forms. Potanin[1] gives a curious description of the performance of a young shaman, Enchu, who lived by the River Talda, about six versts from Anguday. Four stages, each marked by a different posture of the shaman, characterized his performance: in the first, he was sitting and facing the fire; second, standing, with his back to the fire; third, a sort of interlude, during which the shaman rested from his labour, supporting himself with his elbow on the drum, which he balanced on its rim, while he related what he had learned in his intercourse with the spirits; and fourth, a final shamanizing, with his back to the fire, and facing the place where the drum usually hangs. Enchu declared afterwards that he had no recollection of what happened while he was shamanizing with his back turned to the fire. While he was in that position he had been whirling about madly in circles on one spot, and without any considerable movement of his feet; crouching down on his haunches, and rising again to a standing posture, without interrupting the rotating movement. As he alternately bent and straightened his body from the hips, backwards and forwards and from side to side, with lively movements or jerks, the manyak (metal pendants) fastened to his coat danced and dangled furiously in ill directions, describing shining circles in the air. At the same time the shaman kept beating his drum, holding it in various positions so that it gave out different sounds. From time to time Enchu held the drum high above his head in a horizontal position and beat upon it from below. The natives of Anguday explained to Potanin that when the shaman held the drum in that way, he was collecting spirits in it. At times he would talk and laugh with some one apparently near by, but invisible to others, showing in this manner that he was in the company of spirits. At one time Enchu fell to singing more, quietly and evenly, simultaneously imitating on his drum the hoof-beats of a horse. This was to indicate that the shaman, with his accompanying spirits, was departing to the underworld of Erlik, the god of darkness.
Mr. Potanin gives a description of this voyage which he heard from a Russian missionary, Mr. Chivalkoff.
[1. Potanin, Sketches of N. W. Mongolia, vol. iv, pp. 60-2.]
The kam directs his way towards the south. The has to cross the Altai Mountains and the red sands of the Chinese deserts. Then he crosses a yellow steppe, such as no magpie can traverse. ''Singing, we shall cross it', says the kam in his Song. After the yellow steppe there is a 'pale' one, such as no crow can pass over, and the kam in his imaginary passage once more sings a song full of hopeful courage. Then comes the iron mountain of Tamir Shayha, which 'leans against the sky'. Now the kam exhorts his train to be all of one mind, that they may pass this barrier by the united force of their will. He describes the difficulty of surmounting the passes and, in doing so, breathes heavily. On the top he finds the bones of many kams who have fallen here and died through failure of power. Again he sings songs of hope, declares he will leap over the mountain, and suits the action to the word. At last he comes towards the opening which leads to the underworld. Here he finds a sea, bridged only by a hair. To show the difficulty of crossing this bridge, the kam totters, almost falls, and with difficulty recovers himself. In the depths of the sea he beholds the bodies of many sinful kams who have perished there, for only those who are blameless can cross this bridge. On the other side he meets sinners who are receiving punishment suited to their faults; e.g. an eavesdropper is pinned by his ear to a stake. On reaching the dwelling-place of Erlik, he is confronted by dogs, who will not let him pass, but at last, being appeased by gifts, they grow milder. Before the beginning of the shamanistic ceremony gifts have been prepared for this emergency. Having successfully passed these warders, the kam, as if approaching the Yarta of Erlik and coming into his presence, bows, brings his drum up to his forehead, and says, 'Mergu! mergu!' Then he declares whence and why he comes. Suddenly he shouts; this is meant to indicate that Erlik is angry that a mortal should dare to enter his yurta. The frightened kam leaps backward towards the door, but gathers fresh courage and again approaches Erlik's throne. After this performance has been gone through three times, Erlik speaks: 'Winged creatures cannot fly hither, beings with bones cannot come: how have you, ill-smelling blackbeetle, made your way to my abode?'
Then the kam stoops and with his drum makes certain movements if dipping up wine. He presents the wine to Erlik; and makes a shuddering movement like that of one who drinks strong wine, to indicate, that Erlik has drunk. When he perceives that Erlik's humour is somewhat milder tinder the influence of his draught he makes him offerings of gifts. The great spirit (Erlik) is moved by the offerings of the kam, and promises increase of cattle, declares which mare will foal, and even specifies what marking the young one will have. The kam returns in high spirits, not on his horse as he went, but on a goose-a change of steeds which he indicates by moving about the yurta on tiptoe, to represent flying.
IN this chapter I propose to deal not only with the male and female shamans and their relation to each other, but also with it curious phenomenon-the mystical change of sex among shamans, by which a male shaman is 'transformed' into a female, and vice versa.
Nearly all writers on Siberia agree that the position of the female shaman in modern days is sometimes even more important than that occupied by the male.
Krasheninnikoff ascribes the shamanistic gift among the Kamchadal almost exclusively to women; Steller, who travelled through Kamchatka after him, states, however, that there were also men-shamans among the Yukaghir, Koryak, and Chukchee. Bogoras, Jochelson, and others saw as many notable women shamans as men. Tretyakoff (op. cit., p. 213) affirms the existence of women-shamans side by side with men-shamans among the Samoyed of Turukhan, and the same, according to Bielayewski,[1] is true of the Ostyak. Among the Tungus of Baikal [2] the woman can be a shaman as well as the man; and Gmelin [3] met among them a woman eighteen years of age who was held superior to any man-shaman. Among the Yakut and Buryat there are shamans of both sexes.[4] Solovieff [5] thinks that among the Yakut the female shamans are considered less important than the male, and the people ask their help only when there is no man-shaman in the neighbourhood. The shamanesses, according to him, are especially good in foretelling the future, looking for things that are lost, and curing mental diseases,
Among the Palaeo-Siberians, women receive the gift of shamanizing more often than men. The woman is by nature a shaman,'
[1. A Journey to the Glacial Sea, p. 114.
2. Siberian News, 1822, pp. 19-39.
3. ii. 82-4.
4. Sieroszewski; Potanin.
5. Remains of Paganism among the Yakut, 'Siberia' (Annual), i. 414.]
declared a Chukchee shaman to Bogoras. She does not need to be specially prepared for the calling and so her novitiate is much shorter and less trying. Ventrioloquism, however, is not practised among female shamans.
Taking into account the present prominent position of female shamans among many Siberian tribes and their place in traditions,' together with certain feminine attributes of the male shaman (such as dress, habits, privileges) and certain linguistic similarities between the names for male and female shamans,[2] many scientists (Troshchanski, Bogoras, Stadling) have been led to express the opinion that in former days, only female shamans existed, and that the male. shaman is a later development which has to some extent supplanted them.
Concerning the supposed evolution of the shaman from female to male There is no certain knowledge; one can only surmise. The different views of the origin of shamanism naturally affect the theory that shamans were originally female.
[1. Among several tribes traditions exist that the shaman's gift was first bestowed on woman. In Mongolian myths goddesses were both shamans themselves-like the Daughter of the Moon-and the bestowers of the shamanistic gift on mankind.
2. Neo-Siberians nearly all have a common name for the -woman-shaman, while each of these tribes has a special name for the man-shaman. The Yakut call him ayun; the Mongols, buge; the Buryat, buge and bo; the Tungus, samman and khamman; the Tartars, kam; the Altaians, kam and gam; the Kirgis, baksy; the Samoyed, tadibey. The Yakut, it is curious to note, though they have the word khamma, nevertheless do not call the shaman by a name similar to that in use among other Neo-Siberians, but give him a special appellation. This, according to Troshchanski (p. 118), may be explained by the fact that when the Yakut appeared in the present Yakut district they did not possess a man-shaman, but they had already a woman-shaman, for whom all these tribes have a name in common. Among Mongols, Buryat , Yakut, Altaians, Turgout, and Kirgis, the following names for the woman-shaman occur, utagan, udagan, ubakan, utygan, utügun, iduan, duana. All these words come from a root the meaning of which has not been certainly determined. In some Tartaric dialects üdege, 'female shaman', means also 'housewife' and 'wife'. In Tungus, utakan means 'sorcerer' and 'cannibal'; but utagan seems to be a Mongol word in origin According to Potanin and Banzaroff, the term in question is etymologically connected with the Mongol word Etugen, hearth-goddess' (Etugen-eke 'mother-earth'). Potanin further connects the word for Earth-Goddess among different Altaic and Finno-Ugric tribes with the names of constellations, especially with the two bear constellations. In one Tartaric dialect utygan means 'bear'. According to ancient Mongol and Chineses myths, the gods of certain constellations are connected with the. protective spirits or the family hearth, just as they are connected with the goddess of the earth. Thus these terms for female shamans are related to the genesis of certain goddesses.]
Jochelson [1] expresses the opinion that there is no doubt that professional shamanism has developed from the ceremonials of family shamanism. The same author [2] also states that in family shamanism among the Koryak some women possess a knowledge not only of those incantations which are a family secret, but of many others besides, of which they make use outside the family circle on request. From this we can see very clearly how family shamanism among the Koryak has developed into professional shamanism.
Some one with unusual gifts, often a woman, is requested to use them on behalf of a larger circle outside the family, and thus becomes a professional shaman. This is especially true of the Koryak. There is, however, no evidence that among them the woman-shaman preceded the man. In the old days, as at the present time, the women-shamans were considered as powerful as the men, sometimes, indeed, an individual female shaman is even cleverer than a man. The 'transformed' shamans are considered very powerful also, though they exist merely in Koryak traditions. But since the change of sex is 'in obedience to the commands of Spirits',[3] it seems to belong to another category of facts and to have no connexion with the theory of an originally universal feminine shamanism.
Among the Chukchee [4] family shamanism, being quite simple and primitive, probably preceded individual shamanism, and the latter seems to have grown out of the former. The mother shares with the father the róle of shaman in the family ceremonials; she has charge of the drum and amulets, and in exceptional cases it is she, and not the father, who performs the family sacrifice. Thus shamanism is not restricted to either sex, but 'the gift of inspiration is thought to be bestowed more frequently upon women, though it is reputed to be of a rather inferior kind, the higher grades belonging rather to men. The reason given for this is that the bearing of children is generally adverse to shamanistic inspirations, so that a young woman with considerable shamanistic power may lose the greater part of it after the birth of her first child.'[5]
The above statenients of the two best authorities on the Koryak and the Chukchee make it clear that among these people there are visible traces that fainily shamanism preceded the individual,
[1. The Koryak, i. 78.
2. Op. cit., p. 47.
3. Op. cit., p. 52.
4. Bogoras, The Chukchee, ii. 410.
5. Op. cit., p. 415.]
or professional, kind; and although woman plays an important róle in both, there is no sufficient reason to suppose that in former times she alone could shamanize. Of course, the adherents to the theory of universal mother-right would try to see in this case a proof of the former higher position of woman in society, her moral supremacy, &c. As far as our materials go, we do not see evidence either of a superior position in the social structure or of the moral supremacy of women in these societies, but only of the superiority of individuals of either sex.
A similar state of things may be observed among other Palaeo-Siberians and Neo-Siberians, although among the latter a woman shaman is not very often met with.
In spite of the low social position of women among these natives, it is personal ability, irrespective of sex, which is the decisive factor in the case of the shamanistic vocation.
As proof that women were the original shamans, certain authors adduce the fact that the professional shaman does not possess his own drum. But neither is this the case with women or men-shamans among those peoples where professional shamanism is not yet clearly differentiated from family shamanism. As regards the female dress and habits of the shaman, I shall have opportunity to discuss this point when dealing with tribes whose shaman's garment is more elaborate, i.e. the Neo-Siberians.
Troshchanski [1] and, following him, Stadling [2] believe professional shamanism to be a special institution which has no direct connexion with the communal cult, though in the latter there are also shamanistic elements. In the later stages of its development the office of shaman is connected in certain cases with the communal cult, and thus 'white' shamanism came into existence. Troshchanski develops his theory chiefly on Yakut evidence, and though he tries to apply it to the whole of Siberia, we shall confine ourselves to what he says about the Yakut.[3]
Among them, where there are two categories of shamans, the white', representing creative, and the 'black', destructive forces, the latter tend to behave like women, since it is from women-shamans that they derive their origin. In support of this theory of their origin Troshchanski puts forward the following arguments:
[1. The Evolution of the Black Faith, 1902, pp. 123-7.
2. Shamanismen i Noru Asien, 1912, pp. 82-92.
3. Op. cit., pp. 123-7.]
1. The shaman has on his coat two iron circles representing the breasts.
2. He parts his hair in the middle like a woman, and braids it, letting it fall loose during the shamanistic ceremony.
3. In the Kolyma district neither a woman nor a shaman lies on the right side of the horse-skin in the yurta, because, as they say, it is on this side that one beats a horse.
4. It is only on very important occasions that the shaman wears his own garment; on lesser occasion's he wears a girl's jacket made of foal's hide.[1]
5. For three days after the birth of a child, at which the goddess of fecundity, Aiasyt, is present, no man may enter the room where the mother is lying, but only women and shamans.
Finally, according to Troshchanski, the female 'black' shaman was replaced by the male 'black' shaman. This transition was effected by means of the smith, who, as the maker of the woman-shaman's garment, held an influential position, and whose power increased in proportion to the length of his ancestry.[2] Through their contact with shamanistic implements they acquired mana and themselves became sorcerers and shamans.
The evolution of the 'white' shaman took place, he opines, on different lines. In family ceremonial the cleverest head of a family or member of a community was chosen; he was elected anew for each ceremony until eventually his tenure of the office became permanent.[3]
This theory of a dual evolution of shamans is not easy to substantiate. In the first place, we find that the 'white' shaman's garment is made by a 'white' smith; which fact, by Trosbehanski's mode of argument, would seem to imply a line of development for 'white' shamanism parallel to, and not divergent from, that of 'black' shamanism.
Again, all the supposed feminine habits of the shaman of today would not go to prove that the earlier female-shaman was the servant of abassy alone. We find in the past as well as in the present that the woman can be the priestess of the family cult and a professional shamaness, the servant of either aïy or abassy. Among the Yakut, however, where the worship of abassy is more developed than that of aïy, the 'black' shamans, both men and
[1. Jochelson (The Koryak, i. 53) was present at a ceremony in the Kolyma district where the shaman wore such a costume.
2 Troshchanki, op. cit., p. 125.
3 Op. cit., p. 124.]
women, predominate. On the other hand, among the Votyaks, where the cult aïy of is more developed than that of abassy, the 'white' shamans are much more numerous, and form the whole hierarchy.[1]
All that has been cited concerning the feminine habits of the present-day shaman was taken by Troshchanski as proof of his theory of the evolution of the 'black' shaman from the 'black' shamaness and by Jochelson as 'traces of the change of a shaman's sex into that of a woman'.[2]
Jochelson thus binds together the two questions dealt with in this chapter-the relation of the shamaness to the shaman', and the 'transformation of shamans', called also 'the change of sex'. This latter phenomenon, following J. G. Frazer,[3] I should prefer to call 'the change of dress', since (with the exception of the Chukchee, perhaps) the change of dress is not nowadays, at least, followed by what the physiologists would call 'change of sex'.
Frazer [4] says that the interchange of dress between men and women is an obscure and complex problem, and thinks it unlikely that any single solution would be applicable to all cases. In enumerating instances of such cases among the priests of Khasis[5] and the Pelew Islanders[6]-instances, that is, of men dressing and acting like women throughout life-he ascribes these phenomena to the inspiration of a female spirit, which often chooses a man rather than a woman for her minister and inspired mouthpiece.[7]
As to the people of Siberia, the 'change of sex' is found chiefly among Palaeo-Siberians, namely the Chukchee, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Asiatic Eskimo.'[8]
Even the earliest travellers record instances of this phenomenon. Thus Krasheninnikoff in 1755,[9] Steller in 1774,[10] Wrangel
[1. Bogayewski, p. 128.
2 Jochelson op. cit., i. 53.
3. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, ed. 1907, pp. 384-433.
4. Op. cit., p. 433.
5. Major Gurdon.
6. J. Kubary.
7. Effeminate sorcerers and priests are found among the Sea-Dyak of Borneo (Capt. Brooke, Schwaner); the Bugis of South Celebes (Capt. Mundy); Patagonians of South America (Falkner); the Aleutians, and many Indian tribes of North America (Dall, Langsdorff, Powers, and Bancroft). Frazer, Adonis, &c., p. 429.
8. Similar changes of sex were observed by Dr. Karsch (Uranismus oder Päderastie mid Tribadie bei den Naturvölkern, 1901, pp. 72-201) all over the American continent from Alaska to Patagonia.
9. Description of the Country of Kamchatka, ii. 24.
10. Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka, p. 289.]
in 1820,[1] Lüdke in 1837,[2] and others. They do not give complete accounts, but merely mention the fact. It differs, however, in their description from ordinary homosexualism in that there is always reference to shamanistic inspiration or evil biddings.
More detailed descriptions are to be found in the excellent modern works of Bogoras and Jochelson. Bogoras describes the facts relating to the Chukchee in a chapter on 'Sexual Perversion and Transformed Shamans'.
'The sexual organs play a part in certain shamanistic ceremonies,' says Bogoras.[3] The shaman is said to be very often naked during his incantations, e.g. that used to invoke the moon, and to mention his genital parts.[4] The change of sex is called in Chukchee 'soft-man-being', yirka-laul-vairgin, 'soft man' (yirka-laul) meaning a man transformed into a being of the weaker sex. A man who has 'changed his sex' is also called 'similar to a woman' (ne uchica), and a woman in like condition 'similar to a man' (qa cikcheca). These latter transformations are much rarer.
Bogoras distinguishes various degrees of 'transformation' among the Chukchee:
1. The shaman, or the sick person at the bidding of a shaman, arranges and braids his hair like a woman.
2. The change of dress: Kimiqai, for instance, were woman's clothes by order of the spirits. In his youth he had been afflicted by in illness and had been greatly benefited by the change of dress. At the time described he was an elderly man with a beard, and had a wife and four children.[5]
3. The change in the habits of one sex is shown when the man 'throws away the rifle and the lance, the lasso of the reindeer herdman, and the harpoon of the seal-hunter, and takes to the needle and the skin-scraper '.[6] He learns the use of these quickly, because the 'spirits' help him all the time. Even his pronunciation changes from masculine to feminine. His body loses its masculine appearance, and he becomes shy.
4. In rare cases the 'soft man' begins to feel himself a woman; he seeks for a lover, and sometimes marries.
[1 Reise längs der Nordküste von Sibirien und auf dem Eismeere, ed. 1841, p. 227.
2. Journey Around the World, 1834-6, p. 143.
3. The Chukchee, ii. 448.
4 Op. cit. p. 449.
5. Op. cit., p. 450.
6. Op. cit., p. 451.]
The marriage is performed with the usual rites, and the union is as durable as any other. The 'man' goes hunting and fishing, the 'woman' does domestic work. Bogoras thinks they cohabit modo Socratis, though they are sometimes said to have mistresses in secret and to produce children by them.[1] The wife does not, however, change her name, though the husband sometimes adds the name of his wife to his own.
Public opinion is always against them,[2] but as the transformed shamans are very dangerous, they are not opposed and no outward objections are raised. Each 'soft man' is supposed to have a special protector among the 'spirits', who is usually said to play the part of a supernatural husband, the 'kele-husband' of the 'transformed' one. This husband is supposed to be the real head of the family and to communicate his orders by means of his 'transformed' wife. The human husband, of course, has to execute these orders faithfully under fear of prompt punishment.[3]
Sometimes the shaman of untransformed sex has a 'kele-wife' in addition to his own.
Bogoras himself was best acquainted with a 'soft man' called Tiluwgi, who, however, would not allow himself to be inspected fully. His human husband described him as a normal male person. In spite of this, his habits were those of a woman. The husband of Tiluwgi was an ordinary man and his cousin. The 'transformed shamans' generally chose a husband from among their nearest relations.
Bogoras never met a woman transformed into a man, but he heard of several cases. One transformed shamaness was a widow, who had children of her own. Following the command of the 'spirits', she cut her hair, donned the dress of a man, adopted the masculine pronunciation, and even learned in a very short time to handle the spear and to shoot with a rifle. At last she wanted to marry and easily found a young girl who consented to become her wife.[4]
Jochelson [5] states that he did not learn of the transformation of women-shamans into men among the Koryak of to-day; we find, however, accounts of such transformation in legends. Neither did he meet any men-shamans transformed into women.
'The father of Yulta, a Koryak from the village of Kainenskoye, who died not long ago and who had been a shaman, had worn
[1. Op. cit., p. 451.
2. The italics are mine.
3. Op. cit., p. 452.
4. Op. cit., p. 455.
5. The Koryak p. 53.]
women's clothes for two years by order of the spirits; but since he had been unable to obtain complete transformation he implored his spirits to permit him to resume men's clothes. His request was granted, but on condition that he should put on women's clothes during shamanistic ceremonies.[1]
This is, the only case familiar to Jochelson of the change of sex, or rather change of dress. The Koryak call the transformed shaman kavau or keveu; they are supposed to be as powerful as women-shamans.
The narratives concerning the Kamchadal kockchuch are much confused, for Krasheninnikoff does not rightly explain either who they were, or whether they were men or women. The kockchuch were women's dress, did women's work, and were treated with the same lack of respect as is shown to women. They could enter the house through the draught-channel, which corresponds to the opening in the roof of the porch of the Koryak underground house,[2] in the same way as the women and the Koryak qavau. Piekarski[3] finds that Krasheninnikoff contradicts himself in his statements concerning 'koekchuch women, who do not come into contact with men'.
Krasheninnikoff's descriptions of koekchuch are as follows: 'The Kamchadal have one, two, or three wives, and besides these some of them keep koekchuch who wear women's clothes, do women's work, and have nothing to do with men, in whose company they feel shy and not at their ease' (p. 24, ed. 1755).
'The Kamchadal women are tailors and shoemakers, which professions are considered useless to men, who are immediately regarded as kockchuch if they enter these vocations' (p. 40, ed. 1755).
'The women are not jealous, for not only do two or three wives of one man live together in peace, but they do not even object to the kockchuch, whom some Kamchadal keep instead of concubines' (p. 125, ed. 1755). 'Every woman, especially an old one, and every kockchuch, is a sorcerer and interpreter of dreams' (p. 81, ed. 1755).[4]
From the above quotations the koekchuch seem rather to be of
[1. Op. cit. p. 53.
2. Krsheninnikoff, ii. 114; see Troshchanski, op. cit., p. 120.
3. See Troshchanski, Op. cit., p. 120.
4. 'Thc female sex being more attractive and perhaps also cleverer, more shamans are chosen among women and koekchtech than from men' p. 15. 'The natives of the Kuril Islands have two or three wives each; . . . they have also koekchtech, like the Koryak and Kamchadal' (p. 183, ed. 1755).]
the eunuch type, though sometimes they play the role of concubines.
The kockchuch who was regarded by the community as being of an unusual type probably enjoyed special privileges higher than those of a sorcerer or a shaman. The worship of the pathological may have verged here into the worship of the supernatural.
The 'change of sex' is met with only among the Palaeo-Siberians,[1] whilst among the Neo-Siberians only does the shamanistic dress more often resemble female garments. It is true that among Yakut men-shamans traditions exist of their bearing children,[2] but this is connected rather with the idea of the power of shamanistic spirits which makes such miracles possible. As a rule, child-birth among the Palaeo-Siberian shamanesses results in either a complete or at least a temporary loss of the shamanistic gift. In a Koryak tale [3] the shanianistic power of Ememqut, son of Big-Raven, 'disappeared after the mythical Triton had bewitched him and caused him to give birth to a boy. His power was restored to him after his sister had killed the Triton's sister, by which deed the act of giving birth was completely eliminated.'
We observe also that in many Siberian communities a woman shaman is not permitted to touch the drum.
The question of the change of sex, especially as it concerns the most powerful shamans, cannot be explained on a purely physical basis. Several perversions occur among these people, as they do in all primitive and even in more civilized societies; but it does not follow that every pathological individual is the subject of magical worship. On the contrary, when reading the detailed description of the transformed shamans in Bogoras and Jochelson, we see that in nearly every case these shamans are at first normal people and only later, by inspiration of spirits, have to change their sex. As described in previous pages, some of them have secretly, along with an official husband of the same sex, normal sexual relations with a person of the other sex, and we may even assume that some of them actually became sexless, although in certain cases the outward show required by religious considerations may cover abnormal passions.
It is scarcely possible to see in these cases a religious conception
[1. The Yukaghir form an exception. Jochelson says: 'I found no indications of such an institution among the Yukagbir, except in the dress of the shamans, which includes articles of female attire. (The Yukaghir and Yukaghirized Tungus, p. 112.)
2. Sieroszewski.
3. Jochelson, op. cit., p. 55.]
of a divine two-sexed shaman embodying in one being a perfect man- and woman-nature. We do not find such gods or spirits among the Palaeo-Siberians, though we encounter this idea among the more advanced Neo-Siberians. In the religion of the natives of the Altai this idea is expressed by the name 'mother and father of the man', given to the Supreme Being.
It may be that the most satisfactory basis for an attempt at the solution of this problem would be the sociological one.
The extraordinary rights granted by the community to the shaman are clearly evident in the exceptional position he occupies. Shamans (male and female) may do what is not permitted to others, and indeed they must act differently, because they have a supernatural power recognized by the community.[1]
Taking some of the characteristics ascribed to shamans in previous chapters, we see that, inspired by the spirits, 'they may cut and otherwise injure their bodies without suffering harm.'[2] They may, during shamanistic performances, 'ascend to the sky together with the shaman's drum and sacrificial animal.'[3]
They may give birth to a child, a bird, a frog, &c.,[4] and they may change their sex if they are 'real shamans', with supernatural powers, with a true vocation.
Socially, the shaman does not belong either to the class of males or to that of females, but to a third class, that of shamans. Sexually, he may be sexless, or ascetic, or have inclinations of homosexualistic character, but he may also be quite normal. And so, forming a special class, shamans have special taboos comprising both male and female characters. The same may be said of their costume, which combines features peculiar to the dress of both sexes.
The woman-shaman is not restricted to taboos specifically female, for her social position is much higher than that of the ordinary woman: whilst purely male taboos are not applied to the man-shaman, who has, together with certain male taboos, some privileges of a woman; e.g. among the Yakut, access to the house of lying-in women during the first three days after the birth of a child.
[1. From this point of view it would appear that the high respect shown in individual cases to the female shaman is due to the position which shaman, as such, of whatever sex, occupies in society, and does not imply an earlier general female shamanism.
2. Jochelson, The Koryak.
3. Sieroszewski, 12 Lat w Kraju Yakutów, p. 403.
4. Op. cit., P. 399.]
Shamanhood is separated from society by a boundary-line of many taboos. When the shaman cannot keep these taboos he or she ceases to be a shaman; e. g. the woman during the period of child-birth and menstruation, when she again belongs to the community of women.
The class of shamans, in which the woman acquires certain attributes of a man,
and the man certain attributes of a woman, seems in Siberia to be independent
of father- or mother-right. It
would be interesting to ascertain whether the 'spirits' inspiring the change
of sex are of opposed sexes, as was suggested by J. G. Frazer.' [1]
The shaman class, through the exclusion of its members from both the male and the female sections of society, may in some cases be pathological, but this is in no sense a significant or indispensable characteristic, since in the only instances where the 'marriage' of transformed shamans with persons of the same sex has been observed in our time (i.e. among the Chukchee) it is always disapproved by public opinion.[2]
The magico-religious and sociological explanation of the change of dress among shamans does not, however, apply satisfactorily to the koekchuch, for professional shamanism among the Kamchadal was not organized and developed to the point of producing a distinct section of society inspired by shamanistic spirits. Neither does this explanation cover cases in which men are dressed in women's costume without being shamans at all. Perhaps we may here find aid in the suggestions put forward by Mr. Crawley:[3] in treatin