With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the planting of atheism began in the country and, accordingly, the oppression of all healers and sorcerers, including shamans. It was difficult to call it a real witch hunt, but people with unusual abilities had to hide in order not to incur the wrath of the authorities. Some completely stopped their activities and, as they say, buried their own talent in the ground, others "went underground" and engaged in witchcraft secretly. We will tell you three stories about the Yakut sorcerers who lived in Soviet times.
The arrest of the great shaman
The first case occurred during the Stalinist rule in a small village in one of the central regions of Yakutia. There lived a man who secretly rendered all kinds of magical services to his fellow countrymen. The villagers whispered that in the old days, when such people did not need to hide, this master could become a truly great shaman. Gradually, the rumor about a powerful sorcerer spread around the neighborhood, and people from neighboring villages began to come to the shaman. Soon officials from the regional center found out about this and, naturally, decided to take the "swindler" by the gills.
Arriving in the village, the NKVD officers broke into the shaman's house, searched and arrested the owner. In Yakutsk, the journey to which was long, he was taken by horse. When it was getting dark, one of the guards suddenly noticed that the detainee had disappeared somewhere, and his horse was going without a rider. They raised the alarm, began to look for the fugitive, but to no avail. And how could he run away when, firstly, he was in handcuffs, and secondly, he would certainly have been noticed getting off his horse?..
They rushed back, by midnight they reached the village where the shaman lived - and found the fugitive in his own house: after a hearty dinner, the man was sleeping peacefully. Now they tied him hand and foot and put him in a cart. Approximately in the middle of the way, the guards, who had not previously taken their eyes off the prisoner, gape for a minute, and when they looked at the cart, they saw that the shaman was not in it. The guards got scared, realizing that something unnatural was happening, but there was nothing to do - they had to return to the village again. And there the shaman sleeps on his trestle bed as if nothing had happened and did not even close the front door, as if waiting for guests.
This time, the chief NKVD officer decided to talk to the sorcerer in private and put pressure on pity: I am, they say, a forced man, they will jail me myself if I do not follow the order and deliver you to the authorities. The shaman listened attentively to the request and promised to go voluntarily, without any handcuffs or ropes.
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… When we got to the city in the morning, they decided to send the detainee straight to prison. However, something amazing happened here too. As soon as the shaman entered the courtyard, he began to grow with every step. When the man approached the prison building, his height exceeded five meters, and such a giant simply could not pass through the door. The shocked jailers scattered to the sides and were afraid to approach him.
They summoned the big chief from the NKVD. He cautiously approached the shaman and said something to him. The sorcerer returned to his former form, and the men went inside. It is not known what their conversation was about, but after that the chief ordered to release the detainee and take him home. This shaman was no longer bothered, and for a long time he helped his fellow countrymen with his magical art …
How the shaman was offended by the authorities
The second story took place in the same period. In the Vilyui ulus there lived one well-to-do peasant - a “part-time” shaman. When collectivization broke out and many had to choose between a collective farm and a prison, this sorcerer spat on everything, transferred his property to the collective farm, and he himself left as a hermit in the forest. There he built himself a hut and began to trade in hunting, fishing and gathering.
The shaman had a young relative who was very attached to him. The guy regularly visited the forest hermit, brought with him alcohol, tobacco, matches, as well as some food and the latest news. But the shaman urged him to make his visits in the morning or in the afternoon: the rest of the time the sorcerer had cases in which unnecessary witnesses were not required.
The young man was used to obeying everything, but once he was very late, and did not want to leave his respected relative without fire water, so he went to him late in the evening. It was time for the white nights, and the guy easily reached the familiar hut. He knocked on the door, then went inside, but the hut was empty. Where could a hermit have disappeared at night looking?
The young man left the vodka on the table and, going outside, heard quiet voices in the woods behind the house. One of them clearly belonged to a shaman. The guy quietly crept along the wall and began to listen. It was mainly the hermit who spoke, and other voices, unpleasantly high and not very similar to human ones, now and then assented to him.
- I have never done harm to people, so why is this punishment to me? Was it fair to me? The shaman asked.
- Not! - screamed his interlocutors.
The hermit continued to lament:
- They took away all my stuff and drove into the forest like an old dog. Tell me, should I tolerate such treatment?
- Not! - was heard in response.
- What can I do? Is there a way to get even with the offenders and return everything that rightfully belongs to me?
- There is!
Unable to bear it, the young man looked out from behind the hut and saw that the shaman was sitting on a stump under the trees, and some thin dark creatures were crowding around him. Fear turned out to be stronger than curiosity, and the guy gave a fight. During the next visit, the shaman cordially thanked him for the offering and, with a sly wink, said that everyone liked the vodka. They say that after this the sorcerer really got even with the local authorities, but how exactly, history is silent.
Talking horses
This story from Yakut folklore can be considered humorous. We are talking about a certain groom who, during the heyday of communist ideology, was very obsessed with its spirit: in particular, he made fun of everything that went beyond materialism in every possible way.
The shaman, who lived in the same village, repeatedly noticed the antics of his fellow countryman and decided not only to teach the fool a lesson, but simply to give him the opportunity to be convinced that he was wrong.
Once, having talked to the groom, he suggested that he perform a Christmas fortune-telling. If after that the man's skepticism does not go away, the shaman promised to renounce his faith and also become a materialist.
Epiphany Christmas Eve was approaching, when all the evil spirits, according to Yakut beliefs, for the last time massively visited human dwellings, before burying themselves until next winter. The shaman told the groom that on the last day of Christmas time he needed to hide near the stalls before dark and wait until nightfall. If the horses think that there is no one nearby, they will begin to talk humanly and discuss various events that will soon happen in the village. Thus, the groom will receive valuable information about the future along the way.
He, deciding, in turn, to prove the inconsistency of the shaman's views, agreed to the experiment. He waited for Epiphany Christmas Eve and hid in a chest before sunset, which he had left in the stable in advance.
The night has come. The horses at first habitually stomped, snorted and wagged their tails, and then the leader of the herd hit the floor three times with his hoof, snorted displeased … and burst out in a stream of selected abuse, reviling his guardian in every possible way: they say, the groom is such and such, the bastard and the last reptile, contains us in disgusting conditions and saves on the stern!.. The others loudly supported him and also did not hesitate in expressions.
Finally the groom could not stand it. Without waiting for the horses to avert their souls and start talking about the future, he, all red with anger, fell out of his chest and began to beat his charges with shouts: “Oh, you ungrateful cattle! I do so much for you, and you!.."
The horses in response to this only whinnied indignantly and dodged the whip, as if they were sincerely perplexed: why did the groom suddenly fall on them for nothing at such a late hour?..
… They say that since then the materialist groom has suddenly changed dramatically, the guy has grown wiser, as the shaman himself laughed at him.