Shamanism
The people from the original tribes from Siberia were nomadic hunters and reindeer herders. Whenever a community faced illness or serious problems the people called upon their shamans: men and women who were able to contact the spirits. Each shaman had his or her own spirit helpers who would offer assistance during healing rituals and problem solving. The spirit helpers of the shaman would also guide the dead who had left their physical bodies for the final journey into the other world.
All the different Siberian tribes had their own customs, mythology and world view. Therefore there were considerable differences between the shamans of the various regions. Still, there were enough similarities between them all to justify the use of the term 'Siberian shamanism'.
One of the characteristics of Siberian shamanism is that most shamans used special ritual costumes on which images of their spirit helpers were attached. The Sakha (Yakut) shamans of central Siberia wore up to two hundred iron pendants and images on their leather coats. The Tofalar and Soyot shamans from southern Siberia adorned their costumes with only few iron hangers but attached hundreds of textile snakes and ribbons to their costumes. Shamans of the Evenki, Dolgan and Altai combined quantities of iron and textile, sometimes adding decorations of small beads and shells. Whatever material was used to make a shaman costume, a shaman costume could easily weigh ten kilo or more, the heaviest recorded weighed about forty kilo.
Beside a special costume, Siberian shamans used big flat drums. The shamans of tribes such as Nanai and Udeghe did not wear elaborate shaman costumes during their ceremonies, but they also would use the characteristic large flat drums. A shaman would beat the drum in a monotonous rhythm and sing long songs to invite the spirits. In some tribes the shamans would improvise words and melodies, in others they would mainly sing old traditional songs. Invited by the songs the helping spirits and ancestors would gather around the shaman.
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During such sessions the shaman would dance, and would soon be exhausted by the weight of the heavy costume and drum. This was not a problem but a help: tiredness helps to enter and deepen the trance state. When the shaman was fully in trance and had his/her spirit helpers available the real work could begin. The shaman would seek out the spirits that caused illness and problems, and through communication with them would try to find healing or solutions.
Siberian shamanism was not only found in Siberia proper but also in the areas at its southern and southeastern borders. In the north of China there are nomadic groups belonging to the Evenki, they are closely related to their Siberian neighbours. In the most northern islands of Japan live the shamanic Ainu. In Mongolia (Siberian) shamanism and (Tibetan) Buddhism have existed independently but were also sometimes mixed. There, the Buryat, Darkhat and several other tribes had their own shamans.
Classical Siberian shamanism is more or less extinct. Soon after the revolution of 1917 a campaign was launched to convince the Siberian tribes that they should to avoid the shamans and no longer should ask them for their help. Under Stalin the remaining practising shamans were either killed or imprisoned in the camps of the Gulag. Nowadays there are only very few shamans left who are directly linked to the old traditions. Only in museums and private collections one can still see the old shaman costumes, drums and other ritual objects.
There are parts of Siberia where people turned once more to shamanism after the decline of the communism. There are various folkloristic groups whose members sing old shaman songs while dressed in costumes resembling the traditional shaman's clothes. There are also individuals who have picked up the shaman's work again. Most of these people are however not traditional shamans, they are recreating half forgotten shamanic practices, only few of them are directly linked to the traditional shamans of earlier times.
The western world learned about the shamans in the eighteenth century through travel rapports written by people who explored Siberia. For a long time only the academic world had some knowledge about the shamans, but in the seventies of the twentieth century shamanic practice started to become known as a populair spiritual path. At that time, Michael Harner developed a method that enabled westerners to experience the basic steps of shamanic trance.
A westerner interested in shamanism can now choose from all kinds of different shamanic work. Very few western practitioners are using shaman costumes, but drums are used by practically all of them and the art of journeying to and through the world of helping spirits and ancestors is commonly practised. Western shamanism has adopted several elements from the Native American traditions as well: many people know the wheel of the four directions and participate in sweat lodge ceremonies.
By now, various westerners are looking at the pre-christian roots of their cultures, and are trying to find the shamanic elements there. New techniques and rituals are based on these finds and on the new interpretation of historical data. Shamanism has never completely died out, but it is reappearing in unexpected forms and continues to renew itself.