Three years ago, on the pages of Ufolenta, we already reported on an extraordinary case of a poltergeist discovered among folklore materials, which took place back in 1923 on the territory of Mongolia. It seems extraordinary not so much because of the remoteness of events, but because of the unusual ethno-confessional environment in which this phenomenon manifested itself. This time we will talk about another similar case that took place at the end of the 19th century on the territory of Yakutia.
These events unfolded in December 1899 in Nemyuginsky nasleg, which is now a rural settlement with an administrative center in the village of Oy, located in the Khangalassky ulus of the Sakha Republic. The rumors that came from there attracted the attention of ethnographers, who not only went to the place in order to collect information, but themselves became direct eyewitnesses to the poltergeist, along the way unraveling its secret. This story was published on the pages of the scientific journal "Ethnographic Review":
About the evil spirits that possessed the girl
Publication in the Ethnographic Review.
In the West Kangalaskiy ulus, Nemyuginsky nasleg, a rumor spread that a devil settled in Yakut Kucharai's yurt, who survived him, and he migrated to his neighbor Dmitry Esya. On the third day after that, the evil spirits survived all of them and beat 8 Yakuts with logs, who came to make sure of this. This rumor had some ethnographic interest, and in view of the fact that not long before this, as if one shaman, in an ecstasy of perspicacity, said that he saw the devil's son and daughter descending from heaven to Nemyuginsky, we decided to personally check this incredible news.
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When we drove up to Esya's yurt, the short winter day was over and dusk had already come; The owner himself met us at the tethering post and, when asked how he lives, said: "Abasy bulan kyeyda - a raging demon overcame!" It was twilight in the yurt; there they found, in addition to the owner, old man Kucharai, several small naked children, and the female - the hostess, the blind old woman Kucharai and his granddaughter - were in the khoton, milked the cows.
They told us that evil spirits appeared in Kucharai's yurt recently, 10 days ago; It manifests its presence by the fact that an unknown force smashes dishes with logs, overturns birch bark crumbs with milk and beats the blind old woman Kucharai. The same phenomena were repeated in the evening of this December 21; as a result, they were all forced to flee from their home, spent the night with their neighbors, let their ancestors know, who sent for the priest, and while waiting for him, the elder, clan elders and the assembled people sat with their neighbors, not daring to go to them. Regarding the beating of 8 Yakuts with logs, it became clear that this crowd really came, but they did not enter the yurt, they stood in the entryway, only one of them, the strong man Kurtila, opening the doors, began to question Kucharai; at this time, from behind the fire, one log flew towards him; it scared the strong man so muchthat he raised a cry and began to run, and the rest of his comrades followed his example.
While we were being told these details, suddenly one log fell into the middle of the floor of the yurt; in the direction of its flight, we concluded that it was thrown from the dark part of the yurt, where the women continued to milk the cows. I ordered to remove from there everything that could serve as a throwing tool, but my friend put 2 logs in there, considering it indecent to leave the evil spirits without a tool, and he himself began to vigilantly watch the dark part of the yurt, from where all the women came out after milking the cows. In 1/4 hour, one log flew towards us, and my comrade rushed to look behind the fireplace and caught Kucharai's granddaughter there. She, of course, did not confess, but explained that when she went behind the fireplace to drink water, the log flew by itself.
At this time the priest arrived, the headman and the foreman entered with a crowd of people. Although we, with the assistance of the priest, convinced the Yakuts that this was a prank of the girl, they remained with their assurances that a demon settled in the girl, which makes her frighten people, and probably a shaman will emerge from her later, since her grandfather Kucharai is a little shaman - waiting for, and therefore the ancestors decided: to give Kucharai to church repentance, so that he would commune the Holy Mysteries there, and serve a prayer service in his house, and give his granddaughter under the supervision of a trustworthy person.
Since that time, the demon's pranks have ceased, but the strongman Kurtila has become a big emur: he now, with any sudden knocking and screaming, comes to a nervous state.
The village of Ulakh-Anskoe.
Dec 31. 1899 g.
Source: N. Pripuzov. About evil spirits that have infiltrated a girl // Ethnographic Review. 1900. No. 1. P. 186.
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A very revealing story that demonstrates to us that even in the 19th century, when the word "poltergeist" was not yet known in the vastness of the Russian Empire, the problem with prankster children imitating the actions of devilry and misleading adults was already available. Of course, based on the data presented, it is difficult to figure out who is right and who is really wrong, and what the nature of this unpretentious poltergeist really was. But the fact of the cessation of the "demon's pranks" after the removal of the girl "under the supervision of a trustworthy person" is eloquent in itself.
To complete the presentation of the described case, several ethnographic clarifications should be given. This story says that the events took place in a yurt, but it does not mean the traditional building in our view, which is a portable frame dwelling with a felt covering, typical of the Turkic and Mongol peoples. In those days, the Yakuts had a summer dwelling "urasa" - a conical structure of poles covered with birch bark. But the winter one, known as "yurt" or "booth", was a trapezoidal log building with a flat roof and earthen floor. The entrance was arranged on the east side. The walls were covered with clay, and the roof was covered with bark and covered with earth. The dwelling was divided into right (male) and left (female) halves.
Yakut yurt-booth (left) and kamelek (right).
Kamelek (from the word "kemullee", which means "to gnaw"), because of which in the described story the poltergeist threw logs, was a primitive hearth of poles and logs coated with a thick layer of clay. There was a fireplace in the northeast corner. On the north side, the Yakuts usually attached a stable ("khoton") to the booth-yurt, the entrance to which was located behind the hearth. Now it becomes clearer how women could milk cows in a yurt and how, at the same time, a girl could quietly throw logs from behind the hearth.
It can be assumed that for the 19th century, poltergeists were not very rare, relatively complete descriptions of them are rare. Ethnographic materials are sometimes a valuable source of such information.
Victor Gaiduchik