Siberian Shamanism Religions – Deasy Corporation

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Evenki shaman

Evenk spirit tree

Shamanic ritual pillars at Cape Burhan on Lake Baikal

Witsen's Shaman

Nganasan shaman

1. Identity & Scope

Names: Siberian shamanism, Tungusic shamanism, Samoyedic religion.
Scope: Indigenous religions of Siberia (Russia, Mongolia borderlands, Arctic tundra, taiga).
Nature: Animistic and shamanic systems with cosmic tiers, spirit mediation, ancestor cults, and nature beings.

2. Historical Context

Origins: Among the world’s oldest continuous shamanic traditions, shaping the very concept of “shaman” (from Tungus/Evenk šaman).
Pre-modern: Core of community life across Siberia, focused on survival in harsh climates.
Tsarist & Soviet era: Suppressed by Orthodox missions, later by atheist campaigns.
Modern: Revival in post-Soviet era; blended with neo-shamanic movements.

3. Sources of Evidence

Oral traditions: Myths, epic chants, healing songs.
Archaeology: Burial mounds, petroglyphs, ritual drums.
Ethnography: Early Russian, European, and modern anthropologists (Eliade, Anisimov, Jochelson).
Living practice: Survives among Evenk, Sakha (Yakut), Khanty, Nenets, and Buryat.

4. Pantheon & Supernatural Beings

High gods: Sky Father (varies: Buga, Num, Bai Ülgen), remote creator.
Underworld lord: Erlik or analogous death gods.
Nature spirits: Spirits of rivers, mountains, fire, animals.
Ancestor spirits: Protect descendants, punish transgressions.
Helping spirits: Animal guides (bear, wolf, reindeer, eagle).

5. Cosmology & Myth

Three-tier cosmos:
- Upper world: gods, sky spirits.
- Middle world: humans, animals.
- Lower world: underworld spirits, Erlik.
Axis mundi: Cosmic world tree or pole connecting realms.
Myth cycles: Creation myths of earth-diver type (animals bring land from primordial waters).
Dualism: Constant balance between benevolent and malevolent spirits.

6. Ritual & Practice

Shamanic trance: Journey through drum and song to upper or lower worlds.
Healing ceremonies: Removing spirit-caused illness.
Sacrifices: Animals (reindeer, horses) offered to spirits.
Divination: Reading of fire, bones, or trance visions.
Communal rites: Seasonal rituals for hunting, herding, fertility.

7. Sacred Space & Material Culture

Sacred sites: Mountains, rivers, groves.
Objects:
- Drum (with cosmogram painted).
- Shaman’s costume (iron rattles, antlers, feathers).
- Poles or trees as cosmic axes.
Totemic objects: Animal bones, horns, spirit idols.

8. Religious Specialists & Institutions

Shamans (male/female): Called by spirits through illness or visions; serve as mediators.
Clan elders: Custodians of oral lore.
Apprentices: Trained by senior shamans in songs, trance, spirit control.
Lineages: Some clans considered shamanic dynasties.

9. Social Function & Law

Shaman maintained balance between human and spirit worlds.
Rituals regulated hunting, herding (reindeer, horse).
Sorcery accusations controlled social order.
Ancestors enforced moral behavior through misfortune or illness.

10. Death & Afterlife

Soul dualism: Humans often believed to have multiple souls (life-soul, free-soul, shadow-soul).
Afterlife: Souls travel to lower world, judged by underworld spirits.
Funerary rites: Sacrifice of animals to accompany dead; burials with possessions.
Reincarnation: Souls of ancestors reborn in children.

11. Symbolism & Cultural Expression

Symbols: Drum = cosmos; reindeer/horse = shamanic transport; eagle = sky spirit.
Colors: White (sky, purity), black (underworld, death), red (life-force).
Arts: Carvings, embroidery, drum paintings, epic chant recitations.
Performance: Trance dances, imitation of animal helpers.

12. Contact & Transformation

Christianization: Orthodox priests attacked shamans, built churches over sacred sites.
Soviet suppression: Shamans persecuted, drums destroyed, rituals outlawed.
Revival: Post-1990s resurgence in Buryatia, Sakha Republic, Tuva.
Globalization: Neo-shamanism reinterprets Siberian practices for Western audiences.
Continuity: Despite disruption, core cosmology (three worlds, axis, spirits) remains vivid.