MODERN (NEO-)SHAMANS OF MOUNTAIN SHORIIA

In this article, using the example of the shamanic ritual Shachyg (sprinkling, treatment of the spirits of the mountains and rivers), the ritual activity of the so-called modern shamans who have not undergone the ordeals of the “shamanic disease” is considered. They are “discovered” by a more experienced local who has sometimes attended training courses with Khakass or Tuvan shamans and has the relevant credentials. Some Kams also spoke of the shamanic gift being inherited within the family from grandfathers or grandmothers. The Shachyg ritual was performed in 2019 in Tashtagol by S. Teneshev (born in 1973) and other shamans on the Day of Indigenous Peoples of the World. At the beginning of the ritual, the reason for the ceremony is stated, and the most "painful" current problems of the whole people or a certain group of participants are listed, which can be solved with the help of higher powers. The example of a ritual text has shown that the language of ritual texts is reduced to the everyday level and is very poor. In the text of S. Teneshev that we studied, there are Russicisms, interjective exclamations, names of geographical places (e.g., the mountain Mustag), Belkovo (a suburb of Tashtagol ), but no archaisms and vocabulary connected with shamanism, and there are no allegories, similes and other means of expression characteristic of earlier records of rituals. He mentions only the god Kudai, the spirits of mountains and rivers, and the spirit of fire. However, the ritual itself is characterized by detailed treatment of the spirits of rivers and mountains, the use of ritual objects during the ritual (tambourine tӱur, kai-komus), and the presence of national costumes. During the ritual, S. Teneshev, together with other shamans, asks various eezi spirits for a majestic holiday and blessings for all the Shors present: people preserving their native language, wealth, growth of livestock, childbearing, health, happiness, and good luck. This ritual is particularly interesting because in the context of globalization, with the departure of the authentic carriers of the traditional worldview in modern society, there is a demand for the revival and maintenance of national traditions through the reconstruction and popularization of shamanistic rituals, the so-called “neo-shamanism”. It is very important that researchers record these processes, analyze the material, ethnographic, and textual components of the "new" rituals, and compare them in the future with the authentic shamanic rituals recorded in the 20th century and with the global trends of neo-shamanism.

shamanizm, Shor shamans, ritual, costume, spirit sprinkling, shaman's spirits, language