The Republic of Tuva, in southern Siberia on the border with Mongolia, is a land of mountains, steppes, taiga and rivers. In its capital, Kyzyl, a monument marks the «centre of Asia», a point that local tradition regards as the geographical heart of the continent. The Tuvans, a Turkic-speaking people with a long history of pastoral nomadism, are today among the Siberian peoples in whom shamanism is most visible in public life.
The kham
The Tuvan shaman is called kham. Ethnographic descriptions show him with the typical elements of southern Siberian shamanism: the drum, the beater, a costume laden with ribbons, fringes, metal pendants and spirit figures, and a headdress often adorned with feathers.
His traditional functions included:
- seeking the causes of misfortune and illness, according to local ideas;
- accompanying the souls of the dead;
- purifying homes and people after ill-omened events;
- blessings and offerings to the spirits of places.
As elsewhere, the vocation was seen as a choice made by the spirits and often passed from generation to generation within families.
The master spirits of places
At the centre of traditional Tuvan religion is the relationship with the master spirits (in Tuvan eezi) of every element of the landscape: mountains, rivers, lakes, springs, passes, solitary trees. Every place has its lord, who can be generous or dangerous depending on how he is treated.
This relationship is expressed in concrete gestures:
- at sacred springs, called arzhaan, coloured ribbons are tied to trees and small offerings are left;
- on passes and heights there are stone cairns and poles with ribbons, similar to the Mongolian ovoo;
- before camping or crossing a territory, milk or tea is offered to the spirits, sprinkled towards the directions of the sky.
The arzhaan springs are still much visited today, and small ritual places grow up around them, with trees laden with ribbons.
The eeren
Another characteristic element is the eeren, objects that represent or house the protective spirits of the family or the shaman. They may be figurines of cloth, wood or metal, small animal skins, tufts of hair, ribbons. They were kept in the yurt in a set place and received periodic offerings.
The eeren are close relatives of the Mongolian and Buryat ongon: the same idea of a spirit needing a material support in order to be present and fed.
Song and sound
Tuva is known worldwide above all for khöömei, throat or overtone singing, in which the singer produces at the same time a fundamental note and one or more high notes called overtones. There are several styles, each with its own name, ranging from a deep, vibrant register to a thin, whistling one.
Khöömei is not in itself shamanic song: it arises from pastoral life, from the relationship with the landscape, wind, water and animals. Many singers speak of the imitation of natural sounds as its origin. Yet it shares a basic idea with shamanism: sound is a way of entering into relationship with the world, and the landscape itself has a voice that people can listen to and give back.
| Element | Sphere |
|---|---|
| Kham's drum and song | shamanic rite |
| Khöömei | pastoral and folk music |
| Offerings of milk and ribbons | cult of the spirits of places |
| Eeren | domestic cult of spirits |
Buddhism and shamanism
From the 18th century Tibetan Buddhism spread in Tuva, as in Mongolia, and since then the two traditions have coexisted. Even today many Tuvan families turn to lamas and to shamans depending on circumstances, without perceiving any contradiction.
The revival
During the Soviet period Tuvan shamans were harshly persecuted. Since the 1990s, with new religious freedom, shamanism has again been practised openly. An important role was played by the Tuvan scholar and writer Mongush Kenin-Lopsan, who devoted decades to collecting texts and testimonies about shamans and helped found associations of shamans in Kyzyl.
Today the capital has shamanic centres where people go for consultations and rites, and the kham has also become a symbol of Tuvan identity. Studio Esoterico Cornelio looks to Tuva as a place where landscape, sound and the sacred remain particularly visibly intertwined.
In short
- The Tuvan shaman is called kham and uses drum, beater and ritual costume.
- Every element of the landscape has a master spirit, to be respected with offerings.
- The arzhaan springs and the cairns on the heights are ritual places still visited.
- The eeren are objects that house protective spirits, similar to the Mongolian ongon.
- After 1991 Tuvan shamanism was reborn, thanks in part to the work of Mongush Kenin-Lopsan.
