Siberian Shamanism

This article explores the Bön phenomenon from a larger perspective, that of the Eurasian cultural and religious heritage, and tackles the following question: Tibetan Bön is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon but do its origins lie in the Tibetan Plateau as such? I shall attempt to answer this by looking at three areas:

-Firstly, the prehistoric pan-Eurasian cult of the Sky Deer;-Secondly, the links between rock carvings in Gilgit and Bönpo mchod rten;-And finally, parallels between episodes in the Ṛgveda and the life story of Ston pa gshen rab.

Contents (chapters and authors):

The shamanic-ecstatic hypothesis for the Alpine rock art of Valcomonica, Umberto Sansoni.

Sensuous visions: Encountering the shamanistic rock art of the Bayan Jurek Mountains, Kazakhstan, Kenneth Lymer.

Depictions in Sami rock art of the Mother Earth figure, Inga-Maria Mulk.

Argimpasa - Scythia goddess, patroness of shamans, Zaur Hasanov.

The bear and the plough: Shamanism in the Neolithic, Giovanni Kezich.

From shamanic rituals to theatre and cultural industry: The state, shamanism and gender among the Kavalan (Taiwan), Pi-Chen Liu.

Mongolian shamanism envisaged, embodied, Eva Jane Neumann Fridman.

Women shamans and their portrayal in the Olonkho Sakha epic poems, Lia Zola.

The poetics of healing: Shamanic rituals in Central Nepal, Dagmar Eigner.

Inadvertent art. Icons, music and dance in Chepang (Nepal) and Semang-Negrito (Peninsular Malaysia) shamanism, Diana Riboli.

Artistic expressions of the visual language on Sami ritual drums, Hee Sook Lee-Niinioja.

The ritual art and paraphernalia of the Nepalese jhankris and Tamang bombo, Vesa Matteo Piludu.

Artists as shamans: Historical review and recent theoretical model, Denita Benyshek.

Perspectives on the arts of Parbati, Barbara Wilhelmi.

Shamanic artistry in a French Absurdist play, Daniel A. Kister.

The shamanic works of Minsalim Timergazeev and other artists of the First International Woodcarving Festival of Uvat, Carla Corradi Musi.

Norval Morrisseau - Shaman-Artist, Jurgen Werner Kremer.

The hand on the wall of the cave. Exploring connections between shamanism and the visual arts, Susan Michaelson.

Artist as shaman, Gilah Yelin Hirsch.


Edited by Elvira Eevr Djaltchinova-Malec. Published by Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary, Polish Institute of World Art Studies, Warsaw, and Tako Publishing House, Toruń, Poland.

This book can be ordered by mail:
Polish Institute of World Art Studies: biuro@world-art.pl
Tako Publishing House: tako@tako.biz.pl

Thousands of years various anthropomorphic standing stones which capture attention by their distinctiveness exist in Khakass steppes. These anthropomorphic stone idols have gained a spesific ground in people’s beliefs as the objects of worship on account of the commonly-held sense about stones’ being the symbol of eternity and solidity among Khakass tribes. One of the idols which belong to the archeological culture of Okunev that is unique to South Siberia is “Ulug Hurtuyah Tas”. In Turkish Ulug Hurtuyah Tas means “The Great Old Woman Stone”. This idol which had been standed in the Early Bronze Age has gained acceptance as an object of worship and homage among not only Khakass people but also Russians who live in that area at the present day. Local people invoke Hurtuyah’s mercy generally to have offsprings or to recover from various diseases.

Wśród ludów Syberii ofiara stanowi ważny element kompleksu rytualnego związanego z postacią i funkcją tamtejszych szamanów. Rytuał ofiary wykorzystywany jest na szereg różnych sposobów, które prowadzą do pożądanego skutku zależnego od typu kamłania dokonywanego przez szamana.

Long suppressed by missionaries and then by Soviet anti-religious campaigns, Siberian shamanism has experienced an unprecedented revival following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the number of shamans continues to rise. But who are these new shamans? Are they tricksters, magicians, businessmen, or cultural activists? This film takes a behind-the-scenes look at a Buryat shaman living on an island in the Lake Baikal as he moves between intimate shamanic rituals performed for local clientele and shows performed at various resorts for Western tourists in search of "primitive" cultures.

The film captures cross-cultural miscommunication as the shaman and tourists misunderstand one another, usually comically, sometimes disturbingly, made all the more poignant by the conflict between the dominant Russian Orthodox Church and the local shamanic tradition. Juxtaposing 1920s archival footage of a shamanic performance with its contemporary counterparts, the film grapples with the long-standing tension between the "indigenous" and the "cosmopolitan" in a rapidly transnational world.

“This is an excellent film for the classroom, appropriate to many different subjects, including anthropology, religion, Asian studies, globalization, tourism, and economic development. I fully intend to use it in my anthropology of religion class.”
—Patty A. Gray, Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks

“...In Pursuit of the Siberian Shaman is recommended for collections that concentrate in anthropology or in Asian, European and/or multicultural studies. ”
— Dan DiLandro, Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)

The paper examines the sources of a keen interest of Siberian autonomists (Potanin, Iadrintsev, Anokhin, Anuchin) in native shamanism. Siberian regionalism (autonomism) (I860s—1920), which sought to upgrade the social and cultural status of Siberia in Russia, appropriated native culture, including shamanism, to enhance its agenda. Autonomists viewed indigenous shamanism as the most ancient part of Siberia’s "living” heritage. Collecting and recording shamanism as well as inviting native shamans to participate in public performances became an important part of their work. As a result, Russian and native regionalists (Anokhin, Anuchin, Khangalov, Ksenofontov) produced a number of comprehensive ethnographies, which became Siberian shamanism classics.

The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, Vol. 47, Iss. 2,  2020, 135–184.
***
This article addresses the complex role of mushrooms, particularly that of the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) [Russian: Mukhomor], in the art of Moscow conceptualism in a broad setting. This paper explores the mythopoetic theme of mushroom-induced beliefs, which influenced the Moscow conceptualists, and employs background historical scholarship by R.G. Wasson, V.N. Toporov, T.J. Elizarenkova, and others. Aside from the mushrooms per se that were particularly important for Moscow conceptualism, this article also mentions various ethno-botanical entheogens (i.e. biochemical substances such as plants or drugs ingested in order to undergo certain spiritual experience, or “generating the divine within”). Apart from analyzing the ethnobotanical historical background of manifesting hallucinogenic mushrooms on the Russian soil (including Siberia), this article focuses on Pavel Peppershtein’s novel Mifogennaia Liubov’ Kast (The Mythogenic Love of the Castes), which was co-authored with Sergey Anufriev. As the narrative of the novel unfolds, its main character, the Communist Partorg (Party Organizer) Dunaev, is wounded and shell-shocked at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). Partorg Dunaev finds himself deep in a mysterious forest, where he inadvertently snacks on unknown hallucinogenic mushrooms. He subsequently transforms into an exceptionally strong wizard who is capable of fighting spectral enemies both on earth and in heaven. The reader discovers the so-called “parallel war” sweeping over the Russian territory where legendary Russian/Soviet fairy heroes are locked in combat with their opponents, the characters of the Western children’s tales, and books. A heroic mushroom-eater, Partorg Dunaev joins one of the sides in this fight and gradually reaches the “utmost limits of sacrifice and self-rejection.” This article contextualizes the fungi-entheogenic episodes of Moscow conceptualism into a broader sphere of constructed visionary/ hallucinogenic reality by focusing on psilocybin fungi, particularly the fly agaric/Amanita muscaria/Mukhomor, and their cultural significance.

You are warmly invited to the opening of the exhibition on the archaeological and ethnographic relics of shamanism in Hungary, its European cultural heritage, and the unique collection of the Sergio Poggianella Foundation to the Istvan Turr Museum, Baja, Hungary at 5 pm 21st November 2018. 11. 13.

The exhibition will be open until 31st July 2019.

This article discusses the concept of djuluchen (a spirit that travels ahead) among Siberian Eveny, which can illuminate the human potential to foreshadow one's own future. Looking closely at case studies of Eveny adolescents reveals that the act of planning, narrating, or envisioning a future event, heavily charged and empowered by dju-luchen, moves the event to its fulfillment. Drawing from the Deleuz-ian notion of 'becoming', the article shows the connection between prediction and fulfillment involved in the Eveny conceptualization of personhood and destiny. The discussion of 'kinetic distribution' and illocutionary acts uncovers the principle of detachability and the parti-bility of personhood in nomadic ontology.