Everything related to shamans is fraught with a sense of danger. Even after death, their burial places are considered sacred, preserving the mystical power of the one who has gone into another world. Not only people, but also machines retreat in front of shamanic graves, and the elements bypass them. Anyone who dares to disturb or insult the shaman's final resting place faces severe punishment.
TRIPLE FUNERAL
Shamans were buried in impassable thickets, far from human settlements. The Yakuts believed that the forest is a kind of border between two worlds: the living and the dead. The burial was carried out by air type. There were reasons for this.
Firstly, the ground in these places freezes so that it is practically impossible to dig a grave in it. And the low population density made it possible to do this without compromising sanitary standards. Secondly, in these places, the pagan traditions of the ancestors are still strong, who buried their dead in this way.
Arangas
The Yakuts arranged the burial of shamans above the ground in special structures - arangas. To do this, they found four adjacent trees, sawed off the tops and connected them at a height of 1.5 meters with crossbeams, on which the coffin was fixed.
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The shaman's coffin consisted of two hollowed-out decks from the trunk of a thick larch, connected by wooden wedges. All the attributes of the deceased were put into it, and the tambourine, having previously broken, was hung over the burial.
The remains of a shaman, according to age-old traditions, were supposed to be in the arangas until it completely collapsed. But larch is so strong that it retains its integrity for more than a century. Therefore, the reburial of the shaman was scheduled after 100 years. The date of this important event has been passed down from generation to generation.
All these years, the descendants of the shaman monitored the state of the burial and brought gifts to it. At the appointed time, nine virgins were building a new arangas. The remains were reburied and sacrificed to a black stallion with a white muzzle. The third time the ashes were disturbed after another 100 years, and this time the remains were buried.
If the relatives turned out to be forgetful, the shaman would certainly appear to them in dreams or visions, reminding them of their duty. And if this did not have an effect, then the whole family began to pursue misfortunes.
With the arrival of Orthodoxy in these places, exclusively Christian burial became legal. This was explained not only by church canons, but also by the threat of epidemics. However, air burial was still allowed for shamans before the advent of Soviet power. Even in our time, you can still find arangas. But it should be remembered that, regardless of the type of burial of the shaman, his grave requires respect for himself.
LAST WEEKEND
In the 60s of the last century, students of the archaeological faculty of the Yakutsk University went on an expedition, the purpose of which was to excavate old graves. One weekend, the young people decided to go to the lake to relax. At the same time and see the shaman's grave, located nearby. Part of the group initially opposed this idea, but the Soviet atheistic education won out.
The guys played volleyball, took a dip and, of course, drank. And when they were drawn to exploits, they went to look for the grave. Arangas was found quickly. Some expressed a desire to see what was inside, but did not dare. But they did not deny themselves the rest - they made noise, threw garbage, two guys even relieved themselves.
Then we returned to the tent and fell asleep. The sound of a terrible storm woke them up at night. Nobody dared to stick their nose out. Suddenly, against the background of the roaring wind, they heard someone walking around the tent. The "daredevils" were horrified by the understanding that all their own people were in place, and the settlement was at a decent distance from the lake. We tried to ask who was there, but did not receive an answer. And meanwhile the wind was getting stronger, the fabric of the tent could hardly withstand his blows.
And then a deep, strong voice sounded outside, ordering two guys to come out, who especially desecrated the grave. It is clear that they did not want to go out, but friends, frightened, nevertheless pushed them out. However, there was no one near the tent, only the wind uprooted the grass and plucked leaves from the trees. After standing this way for a while, the guys returned to the tent. It was then that a real nightmare awaited them. All members of the expedition were dead, with faces distorted with horror.
In a state of shock, the guys got to the village where the group was staying and reported what had happened. After that, they were dragged out for interrogations and, I must say, pretty battered. After all, no storm was recorded in the district that day. But then suspicion was removed from them, since the examination showed that all the young people died of a heart attack.
NO FLIGHT
The peace of dead shamans can be disturbed not only by people, but also by any technogenic interference. In one of the Evenki villages, it was decided to build an airstrip. Nobody wanted to listen to the admonitions of the old people who said that nothing should be erected near the shaman's grave. But a plan is a plan, and superstition does not count in this case. On the occasion of the opening of the strip, guests of honor arrived and arranged a celebration.
The children were put in An-2, and the plane began to run along the runway. And then suddenly he stopped. When finding out the reason for the stop, they found a breakdown of the propeller and engine failure. These two troubles almost never happen at the same time. I was glad only that the plane did not have time to take off. The old men explained this by the fact that the shaman spared the children.
But in the evening of the same day, the foreman of the builders drowned in the river in a place where it is simply impossible to drown. A month after the holiday, another construction worker died of peritonitis in the hospital. But still no one wanted to believe in the mystical power of the shaman.
And now another plane started to run along the new lane. But it didn't take off either. Analyzing the reasons, the experts came to the conclusion that everything can be explained only by mysticism, because the instruments showed that the aircraft systems are in good working order, and the crew's actions are correct.
Here they already listened to the old people. They asked them to perform a ritual to obtain the shaman's forgiveness, and even for
an account of collective farm funds allocated a bull for the sacrifice. The troubles ended there.
DEAD SHAMAN AGAINST NKVD
An interesting case that occurred in the 1930s in the Gorny region was described by a white shaman, Professor Vladimir Kondakov. The credibility of history is given by the fact that the organs of the NKVD are involved in it. For 1.5-2 centuries before the events, Oyuun Monnyogon (translated as "Black Currant") lived in these places. All his reburials were carried out in compliance with the ritual, but in the 1930s he began to be a native, although the arangas was in fair condition.
The shaman told his descendants that he was constantly flooded with rainwater, and a finger fell off on his right hand, as a tendon decayed. He asked to take the finger out from under the back, where he rolled, and fit it in place.
In that troubled time, the relatives of the shaman found themselves at a crossroads. On the one hand, a dead shaman sent misfortunes on them for not fulfilling his will, and on the other, one could fall under the repression of the authorities for superstition.
However, kinship won out. The shaman Omokun was invited to conduct the ceremony, and the chairman of the collective farm was appointed responsible for the event. This was attended by about 80 people. The shaman's finger was indeed under his back, it was pulled out and, with the help of the sacrificial stallion's tendon, was attached in place. But then Mongnogon requested a guide through Omokun.
The ancient Yakuts buried shamans with the boy as a guide. It is clear that no one voluntarily wanted to fill this honorary position. Then Mongnogon announced that he was taking Omokun with him, who at the same instant began to wheeze and gasp. He was saved by 70-year-old Grigory Fedorov, who agreed to "go" with the shaman. Nevertheless, Mongnogon was still angry, he promised that troubles with the court awaited everyone, but he, so be it, would resolve them.
Everyone went home. Grigory Fedorov died on the same day.
Soon the inspector arrived in the village, and it was he who found the folder with the documents "Expenses for the old man." The collective farm chairman, his assistants and Omokun were arrested. It was 1937. They were threatened with a loud process with all the ensuing consequences. And suddenly, an order was received from the prosecutor of the republic to dismiss the case for lack of corpus delicti. The NKVD was perplexed. And the locals understood: Mongnogon helped.
From all these stories, we can conclude: shamanic graves are dangerous, ancient secrets are inviolable.
Galina ORLOVA, “Steps. Secrets and mysteries , No. 11 2016