In pre-revolutionary times, there were a lot of shamans in Yakutia - in almost every village there was some kind of sorcerer who saved his fellow countrymen from all sorts of ailments and other misfortunes. However, with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the widespread inculcation of atheism and the struggle against the healers unwanted by the regime began, as a result of which the number of shamans in Yakutia greatly decreased.
What are the Yakut shamans
According to the level of their power, Yakut sorcerers are divided into small, medium and great. At the same time, some are descendants of ancient shamanic dynasties, others do not have sorcerers in the family and receive mystical abilities spontaneously. Throughout the history of Yakutia, there have been a huge number of small shamans, medium ones - much less, and great ones - very few. By the way, only a great shaman can speak directly with the supreme deity of the Yakut pantheon, whose name is Yuryung Aar Toyon.
In addition, Yakut sorcerers are white (non-predatory) and black (predatory). The only difference between the two is that white shamans prefer not to use their power against ordinary people, while black ones do not adhere to a similar moral code. But with each other, both those and others at all times were in conflict, be healthy. This was especially impressive for the great shamans, who without respite waged civil strife with each other, sending damage and curses on their opponents.
It is noteworthy that female shamans, who are called udagansh, are head and shoulders above their male counterparts. In general, women in Yakutia very rarely become wizards, but if they do, then, as a rule, great or, at worst, average. By the way, the most powerful shaman in Yakut history is considered to be Udagansha Alysardakh. This stern lady, even in her youth, sent to the forefathers a good half of the great shamans who were not lucky enough to live at the same time with her. The other half Alysardakh spared only so that they "remembered and feared."
Promotional video:
Shaman Initiation
To convey to the reader the seriousness of Yakut shamanism, one should talk about how people, in fact, become sorcerers. This usually happens in childhood, most often at the beginning of a person's puberty.
For example, with the great shaman Togustaakh from the Ust-Aldan ulus, this happened at the age of nine. The boy's parents left home in the afternoon, and the child was left there alone. Suddenly, in the courtyard, there was the sound of hooves, and so strong, as if a whole cavalry army had galloped. The child huddled in horror under the bed, which stood against the wall, and held his breath …
The stomping stopped, after which someone big and heavy jumped to the ground and walked from the hitching post towards the house. Judging by the sounds, he was not going to the door, but straight to the wall behind which the boy was hiding under the bed. When the footsteps approached close, the child heard a voice above him, not very similar to a human: “So there you are! Finally, our nine-year quest is over! Following this, the boy lost his creation.
When the parents returned, they found their son lying on the floor in great fever and delirium. The child was put to bed, and the father, as usual, immediately hurried to the village shaman. He came, examined the boy - and immediately understood everything. He strictly ordered his parents not to touch his son and only periodically give him water. The sorcerer said that the soul of a child is now far in the interworld, where higher powers perform over it a complex rite of initiation into shamans.
It is believed that in such cases the spirit-messenger accompanies the soul of the chosen one to one of the sacred Yakut places, where it is subjected to the so-called "dismemberment". It is not known what exactly happened to Togustaakh, but one average shaman, who at one time also had to endure "dismemberment", described this unpleasant process in detail.
… As a boy, he was grazing calves in the meadow and suddenly noticed how, in flashes of lightning, a huge tree appeared literally out of nowhere. An unusual bird was sitting on a tree and was staring at the little shepherd. Under the weight of her gaze, the boy seemed to have fallen somewhere. Later, adults found him unconscious in a meadow, and the child lay in bed for three months without coming to his senses.
Subsequently, the shaman said that after meeting the bird, he found himself on the top of a high mountain, which was skirted by a turbulent river. Unable to move, he just lay on the ground and looked at the sky. Soon a huge man with a bear's head approached the boy waddlingly. In the hands of the giant were an ax and a spear, which he stuck with a blunt end into the ground. Then he took an ax, cut off the boy's head and planted it on a spear so that the head could see everything that happens to the body. It didn't hurt to be dismembered.
The giant began to chop the decapitated body into pieces, and this continued for many hours. When he finished, three creatures descended from the sky, looking like large birds with human faces. They sorted the bloody pieces into three piles and disappeared.
Then, from the north, west and south, three clouds came in succession, from which every time some demonic creatures appeared. They descended to the top of the mountain and happily devoured baby flesh (each flock got a handful), and then belched it back to the ground and flew away.
As soon as this unthinkable feast was over, the birds with human faces appeared again and began to gather the boy's body together, fastening the meat, bones and skin with their own saliva. When they had finished, the bear-headed giant removed the severed head from the spear and placed it on its torso. One of the birds licked the boy's neck, and his head fused with the body.
“From now on you are free! Rise up, shaman, created according to the highest design and anointed by the north! - Someone solemnly said, and the child woke up in the parental home.
The shaman explains what happened to him as follows. His astral body was split into many parts, a third of which was tied with the spirits of the north, a third with the spirits of the west, and a third with the spirits of the south. Since the initiation took place in the north of Yakutia, the shaman was anointed with the north. Having feasted on the astral body of the future sorcerer, the spirits subsequently always patronized him and carried out his will, helping, among other things, to fight other sorcerers.
As for the great shamans, their initiation lasts even longer, since four flocks of spirits flock to the feast - from all over the world.
How the great shaman dealt with enemies
The great shaman Alysardakh, already mentioned by us, did unimaginable things during her lifetime. To ordinary people, she is most remembered for her two skills: to get rid of enemies and to teach a lesson to those who openly doubted her abilities. We present two stories here that illustrate this beautifully.
By the way, contemporaries described Alysardakh as the most ordinary woman, young and attractive. The great udagansha did not have any demonic features, nor high growth, nor a strong physique. On the contrary, in the eyes of her fellow countrymen, she looked fragile and defenseless …
Our heroine had a sworn enemy named Oles, also a great shaman who lived in the neighboring area. The confrontation between them lasted a long time and was relatively sluggish - until Oles' angered Alysardakh and she, despite all her equanimity, took offense at him in a black way. What exactly happened between the two great shamans, history is silent, but the udagansha vowed to take her offender to the grave that same summer.
Having learned about this, Oles took a defensive position. All summer, he almost never left his house and constantly performed protective rituals there. The calculation of the sorcerer was as follows: if Alysardakh did not fulfill his promise, he would be disgraced and would hardly want to destroy him again.
One of the hot days, Oles still left his shelter and went with his family to mow the grass and swim in the river. Suddenly he noticed a lone cloud of an unpleasant, rusty color far away on the horizon. A black raven flew over the river, croaking alarmingly, and the shaman's face immediately changed. He told his relatives that the patron bird had warned him of the impending threat: Alysardakh set out on a path according to the soul of her offender, and she was very determined.
While Oles was running to his house, the cloud grew larger and gradually turned black. Soon rain poured from it, lightning flashed. But the cloud did not have time to overtake the shaman - he ran to the house, locked himself from the inside and closed all the windows with special magical "valves", protecting from any evil witchcraft. Oles himself put on shaman's clothes, took a tambourine and, going down to the basement, began to vigorously chant.
Soon a formidable cloud hung over the shaman's house, and a huge black whirlwind burst out of it. He began to circle around the dwelling, smashing everything in the yard to pieces. One might think that the whirlwind did not know how to approach the shaman.
But at some point he suddenly jumped to the house and rushed inside through the chimney, which the frightened Oles did not cover. Shouts and noise were heard from the hut for a long time, until finally everything was quiet. The thundercloud dissolved into the sky, and the weather became clear again.
Olesya's fellow villagers did not immediately dare to enter his house, but when they nevertheless plucked up courage and entered, they saw a dead shaman lying in the cellar. His body was horribly twisted, and his face turned into a solid bloody mess …
Alysardakh was at home during these events and danced in a deep trance. Subsequently, she expressed regret that she mortally wounded a couple of minor shamans from the same area as Oles that day. And indeed, the sorcerers who turned up under her arm soon fell seriously ill and died.
How Alysardakh taught insolent officials a lesson
In tsarist times, when Alysardakh lived, two officials appeared in her village. Having heard about a powerful witch, they decided to check the rumors. These two could not be called big skeptics; rather, they treated shamanism without proper respect, considering it something like harmless fun.
Appearing at the house of Alysardakh and seeing a fragile girl instead of a formidable old woman, the officials did not behave in the best way: they demanded to feed and drink them, and then began aloud to discuss the merits of the shamaness. Alysardakh modestly sat aside and did not interrupt the intruders. When they said they wanted to see the "trick", Alysardakh agreed and pretended to be in a trance. In such a motionless state, the girl sat for half an hour.
Realizing that they would not wait for the promised presentation, and cursing loudly, the officials headed for the exit. But as soon as they opened the door, a huge stream of water rushed into the house, as if during a terrible flood. The water, in which many fish swam, rapidly filled the house, and the men realized that they would soon simply drown. Alysardakh, as if nothing had happened, sat in the same place, and the elements did not touch her, as if the shaman was protected by an invisible dome.
Horrified, the officials began to beg for mercy, but the udagansha replied that they would have to pay for their insolence and ignorance. “If you catch one fish from the water, so be it, I will save your lives,” she said coldly.
For an hour, the unfortunate people tried to catch fish and finally somehow caught a piece. "Now squeeze them, but harder!" - ordered the shaman. The officials tried so hard that even the veins on their foreheads were swollen with tension …
Suddenly, the men came to their senses at once and saw that there was no water in the house, and they stood with their pants down, puffing and squeezing each other's causal place. At the same time, the local audience rolls around laughing.
Pulling up their pants as they walked, the officials rushed away. They never returned to the house of Alysardakh or to this village …