Shaman's drum as a model of the universe. Shaman's drum as a model of the universe Initiation among the Manchus and Tungus

Husband. or more tambourines, a musical instrument, like a drum, timpani: a shell covered with dry leather, with bells, bells; used more when dancing. | Card suit, red brick, sib. booby, hard Boti, south, west calls. |… … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

TAMBOURINE- Tambourine, slave in Belsky district. 1539. Scribe. IV, 417. Grigory Kuzmin son of Buben, Shenkursky townsman. 1552. A.E. I, 232. Pavel Bubon, Mozyr tradesman. 1552. Arch. VII, 1, 628. Elhim Buben, lordly peasant. 1565. Arch. VII, 2, 233. Fedotko... ... Biographical Dictionary

A percussion musical instrument of indefinite pitch, consisting of a leather membrane stretched over a wooden rim with metal bells suspended from it. The bells begin to ring when the performer hits the membrane... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

tambourine- Tambourine, bna, m. 1. Face. Hangover tambourine. 2. Ass, ass. Move your dirty tambourine. Give a tambourine to someone to beat, punish, deal with... Dictionary of Russian argot

Stay naked like tambourines.. Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. tambourine skull, kettle, teapot, kumpol, dayra, doira, tar, crock, ponyalka, skull, tympanum, tambourine, roof... Synonym dictionary

Tambourine, tambourine, kind. pl. tambourine, husband (cf. diamonds1). Percussion musical instrument rim, covered with leather, with bells on the edges. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

A percussion membrane musical instrument, sometimes with metal pendants. Common among many peoples: Uzbek doira; Armenian, Azerbaijani, Tajik def; shamanic drums among the peoples of Siberia and the Far East... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Tambourine, bna, husband. A percussion membrane musical instrument in the form of a rim with skin stretched over it (sometimes with bells or metal plates along the edges). Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Bna, m. (... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

tambourine- ringing (Lermontov) Epithets of literary Russian speech. M: Supplier of His Majesty's court, the Quick Printing Association A. A. Levenson. A. L. Zelenetsky. 1913... Dictionary of epithets

Books

• Tambourine, Elena Sadykova. The Great Priestess, the daughter of the ruler of the ancient kingdom of Mesopotamia, finds herself a victim of revenge from the enemies of her father. Having lost her power, she retains the knowledge gained in the Ziggurat. And thanks to these... eBook
• Tambourine of the Upper World, Victor Pelevin. “The Tambourine of the Upper World” is one of the earliest and most famous stories of the cult modern writer Viktor Pelevin, in which mysticism and...

In the World of the Shaman, the object that we usually call a tambourine is not a rim on which a piece of leather is stretched - but a living creature. Opinions differ regarding exactly how the shaman works when using a tambourine. Some sources mention the music of the tambourine as a Call for helping spirits during rituals.

The tambourine is the most significant shamanic instrument. Usually it had an oval shape and consisted of a wooden rim - a shell covered with leather. On the inside there is a vertical handle, by which the shaman holds the tambourine. On the inside there are also horizontal crossbars or rods to which all kinds of metal pendants are attached. On the outside of the leather covering, it was customary for some peoples to apply drawings - a shamanic picture of the world.

All important rituals were certainly carried out with the participation of a tambourine. In shamanic beliefs, the tambourine had many meanings. First of all, the tambourine was represented as a shaman's riding animal - a horse or a deer. It personified exactly the animal whose skin was used to make leather coverings. During the ritual, the shaman could travel on a tambourine, like on a horse or deer, to the upper (heavenly) world, where good spirits live.
For shamans traveling to the lower (underground or underwater) world to evil spirits, the tambourine turned into a boat capable of carrying the shaman along an underground river.

If a shaman had to fight evil forces on his journey, the tambourine could turn into an impenetrable shield or a bow, and protect its owner. In addition, special sword pendants hung on the Evenki tambourines, which in a moment of danger turned into a formidable weapon.
But most importantly, the tambourine helped the shaman enter a trance in order to communicate with spirits. The ritual usually began with heating the tambourine on the fire - reviving or cleansing the tambourine. Then the shaman began to beat the tambourine. The beating of the tambourine and the singing of the shaman summoned spirit helpers, who, according to ancient beliefs, flew and sat on the pendants of the tambourine.

It was believed that a shaman acquires a tambourine only by the will or with the consent of the spirits. The spirits themselves showed the wood from which to make the rim of the tambourine. For example, a Ket shaman, in order to find the right tree, would blindfold himself and go into the forest. The leather for the tambourine was taken only from the skin of a specially selected animal, which was also indicated to the shaman by the spirits. Having made a tambourine, the shaman had to show it to the supreme spirits; for this purpose, a special ritual was organized - “reviving the tambourine,” during which the shaman told the spirits about the tree from which the tambourine was made and about the animal whose skin was used and ask permission to perform rituals with this tambourine.

According to ancient beliefs, the shaman's entire life force was connected to the tambourine. A shaman could have several tambourines in succession throughout his life. Usually no more than 9. When the last tambourine was torn, it meant that the shaman’s life ended, he had to die. If the shaman died earlier, then the tambourine was killed, releasing the spirits from it. Usually it was pierced by placing it on a sharp tree branch next to the shaman’s grave.

By the beginning of the 20th century. A number of peoples of Siberia have observed the disappearance of tambourines under the influence of intense propaganda of Christianity and Lamaism. However, among the majority of these peoples during the period under study (late 19th and early 20th centuries), tambourines were still in use along with other shamanic attributes. The Great October Socialist Revolution opened up a bright path for the people of Siberia to build a new life. The centuries-old oppression stopped, the exploitation of the local population by merchants, kulaks and shamans stopped. The reorganization of the economy on the basis of collectivization and the introduction of new technology significantly increased the level of material well-being of these peoples. Qualified medical care, universal education, and the general growth of culture destroyed the belief in the “power” of shamans, lamas and other intermediaries who “sought” “favors” from spirits and gods by performing various rituals. Shamanism disappears, and with it all its attributes. The tambourine has been preserved in some places as a folk musical instrument. For example, among the peoples of North-East Siberia there are ensembles of tambourines, to the accompaniment of which mass folk dances are performed.
The study of tambourines is important for understanding the historical connections between the peoples of Siberia, as well as for studying the development of religious ideas of these peoples. The tambourine, like all shamanic attributes, was a “sacred” object, its development differed from the development of objects of material culture. The latter changed and improved in people's daily work practices. This process was caused by the vital necessity of society. Tambourines were owned and used by a select few shamans who were interested in preserving the ancient forms of cult attributes.

The shamans consciously preserved and strictly passed on from generation to generation the traditions of the design and design of their tambourines. The tambourine was made for the shaman the same as his grandfather and great-grandfather had. The change in the design of the tambourine proceeded very slowly. However, during the historical development of the peoples of Siberia, in the process of merging various ethnic groups and cultures, the tambourines did change.

Thus, the tambourine is a kind of historical monument, the study of which can shed light on the past of the peoples of Siberia. The tambourine was not only a musical and cult instrument, but at the same time, according to the ideas of the Siberian peoples, it was also a complex symbol, a material expression of shamanic ideology. In addition, the tambourine to a certain extent reflected the artistic culture of the people among whom it was used.

The artistic execution of the tambourine was determined not only by the art of the shaman himself, but also by the skill of his relatives, who were entrusted with the responsibility of constructing the tambourine. Among almost all the peoples of Siberia, it was not the shaman himself who made cult attributes for himself, but they were made and “given” to him by his relatives. At the same time, part of the work was done by women: they tanned the skin, stretched and sewed it onto a wooden hoop, and decorated it with beads, if tradition required it. The men prepared the wooden parts of the tambourine, hewed and bent the hoop, forged iron pendants and drew traditional designs on the tambourine.

Determining the shape of a tambourine can only be approximate. It is especially difficult to determine the non-round shapes of tambourines, because during the course of its “service” the tambourine was significantly deformed. When performing a shamanic ritual (kamlaniya), the tambourine was repeatedly heated over the open fire of a fire or hearth for better sonority. Experienced, old people knew how to do this without much harm to the tambourine. They carefully ensured that the wooden hoop and the skin stretched over it were heated evenly. But still, frequent heating deformed the tambourine. This situation cannot be considered to mean that the peoples of Siberia did not have stable forms of tambourines.

Structure of Tambourine
The tambourine consists of a round or oval-shaped wooden hoop, called a “shell”. The width of the shell varies among different peoples from 2.5 to 20 cm. Different tree species were used as material for the shell. The plate designated for the shell was bent either over an open fire or using a special device. Then the horses were sewn together using thin cedar roots or bird cherry bast.

The most important instrument in shamanic practices is the tambourine. Back in the Middle Ages, the tambourine was considered an instrument of the devil and was prohibited for use in both Western and Eastern Europe. For having a drum, you could be sent to prison. Only the army and executioners had the right to use drums. By the beginning of the 20th century, a number of peoples of Siberia noted the disappearance of tambourines under the influence of intense propaganda of Christianity and Lamaism. The Soviet government “helped” a lot in this matter. The Great October Socialist Revolution opened up a “bright path” to building a new life for the peoples of Siberia. There was no place in this world for “kulaks”, “capitalists” and “shamans”. The massive attack of Soviet ideology on the defenseless consciousness of the peoples of the North, collectivization, electrification and industrialization, led to the restructuring of the social structure of many peoples, to the leveling of cultural values ​​and the disappearance of shamanic culture. Shamanism disappears, and with it all its attributes. The tambourine has been preserved in some places as a folk musical instrument. For example, among the peoples of North-East Siberia there are ensembles of tambourines, to the accompaniment of which mass folk dances are performed. Among the Chukchi, shamanism degenerated into family holidays, at which family members beat tambourines, dance and sing, imitating a shamanic ritual session.

In many nationalities, shamans consciously preserved and passed on from generation to generation the unchangeable traditions of the design and design of their tambourines. The tambourine was made for the shaman the same as his grandfather and great-grandfather had. However, during the historical development of the peoples of Siberia, in the process of merging various ethnic groups and cultures, the tambourines did change. Thus, the tambourine is a kind of historical monument, the study of which can shed light on the past of the peoples of Siberia.

It is impossible not to note the fact of the presence of percussion instruments in all shamanic cultures. Tambourines are found everywhere among the Indians of North America. The technology for making drums is extremely developed in Africa, India, and South America. In Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, all kinds of xylophones are used for these purposes - musical instruments consisting of a number of wooden blocks of various lengths. In addition to the traditional shamanic tambourines among the peoples of North America, Siberia and the Far East, there are also such musical instruments as: Uzbek doira; Armenian, Azerbaijani, Tajik def, Belarusian and Ukrainian percussion instruments, tambourines, etc. and so on.

All the peoples of the Amur region had oval, narrow-rimmed tambourines. Shamanic drums among the peoples of Siberia had a wide rim and other distinctive features (188). Manchu tambourines, in contrast to Nanai and Ulch tambourines, judging by the data of S.M. Shirkogorov, had a smaller size, a wider shell (however, the data on this matter is contradictory) and a different type of images on the outer part (butterflies, birds). Manchu shamans also used small drums and castanets. Tambourines, similar in shape to the Lower Amur ones (but wide-rimmed), were used by the Transbaikal Tungus and Amur Birars (165, 167, 170, 171, 181, 235, 241).

Among almost all the peoples of Siberia, the shaman never made his first tambourine himself (4). It was made and “given” to him by his relatives. At the same time, part of the work was done by women: they tanned the skin, stretched and sewed it onto a wooden hoop, and decorated it with beads, if tradition required it. The men prepared the wooden parts of the tambourine, hewed and bent the hoop, forged iron pendants, and drew designs established by tradition. Today, you can easily buy a tambourine in a musical instrument store or order it online. To begin with, this will be quite enough for you. When you get the hang of it and understand what's what, you will make for yourself the kind of tambourine that you need.

However, a purchased tambourine is only a temporary measure. Any shaman, having gained experience, makes his own tambourine, in accordance with personal characteristics and priorities. If you want to make your own tambourine, then below are some supporting recommendations.

In principle, making a tambourine can be divided into two parts: making the rim and attaching the skin. Not all shamans used the skin of their totem animal or ally to make a tambourine. Most often it was the skin of a wild (less often domestic) deer, elk, deer, bear, sometimes a horse, etc. Apparently, the established tradition in choosing the skin of a particular animal corresponded to the ancient economic structure of each specific people. Some peoples used different materials to cover women's and men's tambourines. Usually the skin of a male animal was used for a male tambourine, and the skin of a female animal for a female tambourine (170). The skins were tanned with varying degrees of care. Some peoples took untreated raw skin, only cutting the wool from it; others tanned it to thin light skin; some smoked the skin and smoked it over a fire. The methods of attaching the skin to the rim also varied. Thus, the Chukchi and Eskimos tied the skin of a deer or the skin of a walrus’ stomach to the rim, and sometimes glued it; the Amur peoples (Nivkhs), Ainu, as well as Buryats and Manchus only glued; The Khanty, Mansi, and Nenets pulled a vein thread into the edge of the covering and in several places attached the leather to the rim with wooden nails or sewed it on; Altaians, Yakuts, Evenks, Kets, Selkups and other peoples sewed the skin to the edge, leaving a fairly wide part free, collecting it on a sinew thread (165).

Nowadays, it is not at all necessary to go into the forest and kill some unfortunate animal that has done nothing to you. It is better to buy leather for a tambourine. You can buy it from goat owners, or at a slaughterhouse, or at a market or music store. The leather must not be tanned. Some people prefer to string it onto the tambourine directly with the fur, some only trim the fur, but in most cases, for a better sound, the less fur, the better the sound. The skin should be well removed, it should be of the same thickness (about 1 mm), with even hairiness. Untreated leather (especially goatskin) may not smell very good. Then you need to soak it several times and wash it with powder or shampoo, but under no circumstances in hot water. The subcutaneous hymen is removed with a scraper, but you need to be careful - along with this hymen, the skin itself can peel off. Subsequently, the hymen adheres tightly to the dried skin. Therefore, the most important thing is that the hymen does not create unevenness in the thickness of the skin.

The rim of a tambourine or “side” can be made from different types of trees. Deciduous trees are best suited for this task. For some shamans, the hoop is made from a personal or totem tree, but there are exceptions. For example, a Selkut or Ostyak-Samoyed shaman would enter the forest with his eyes closed and randomly designate a tree for a tambourine (171). Among the Altai, the shaman received instructions directly from the spirits regarding the forest and the place where that tree grows, and sent his assistants to find it and extract wood from it for a tambourine. In other regions of Northern Asia, shamans themselves collect all the wood chips. In some places, sacrifices are made to the tree - it is smeared with blood and vodka (170). Some Yakut shamans make tambourines from wood that has been struck by lightning (34), etc. In the end, for you and me, it is more important that the tambourine is durable and can, if necessary, withstand even some of the person’s weight (if it falls, etc.). A long strip is cut from fresh hardwood. The strip should be slightly longer than the diameter of the tambourine and should be secured with an overlap. The width varies significantly in different traditions - from 2.5 to 20 centimeters.

The thickness of the strip is usually about 1 cm, but can be thicker or thinner. There should be no flaws, knots or folds throughout the entire strip. The strip is steamed in water. To do this, a long trench is made of tin, water is poured into it and a strip for the tambourine is placed. The wood is steamed over a fire for an hour. The strip should not float on the surface of boiling water, or the gutter should have a tight lid.

Next, you must have a device for bending the strip. It should be bent immediately upon removal from the water. The strip should be bent slowly and evenly to avoid breaks and sharp corners. If done correctly, you will get a smooth, round shape. You can find a suitable tree nearby and try to bend a strip around it, but this is difficult - the strip may break. The bending load should be evenly distributed along the entire length of the strip. To do this, it is good to use a rigid recess of a given shape. Laying occurs slowly and carefully. It is best to first practice on some small twig or piece of wood. The side on which the skin is stretched should be flat.

In Siberia, the ends of the shell were sewn together using thin cedar roots or bird cherry bast. On the outer side there were rows of columns carved from birch wood, bone, birch lip, onto which vein threads, thin straps, laces, etc. were pulled along the entire circumference of the shell. On some tambourines, narrow agro stripes (bird cherry bast) were attached along the edges of the rim ). With this device, the skin stretched over the tambourine did not fit tightly to the shell; resonator cavities were formed between the rim and the skin. Sometimes slits were made in the shell, through which these cavities communicated with the inner cavity of the tambourine. However, the tambourines of most peoples did not have such slots. The resonator columns were of various shapes (111). There were tambourines that had columns of four different shapes (among the Yakuts) (34). Sometimes the protrusions on the outer side of the rim, formed by the posts, were covered with iron round “caps”, which protected the skin of the tambourine from tearing. On the inside of the shell, a handle was attached, by which the tambourine was held, and brackets with pendants; the exception was the Chukchi and Eskimos, whose handle was attached to the outside of the tambourine, from below. The materials used to make the handle were wood (almost always birch), deer antler, walrus tusk, iron and sometimes belts. The shape of the handle was either a vertical plate or a cross (4).

The shape of the shell is not always round. Oddly enough, most nations have teardrop-shaped tambourines. This allows you to expand the sound range, but at the same time the manufacturing and operation process becomes more complicated. A round tambourine heats up more evenly and lasts longer. An oval tambourine sounds more interesting. Choose for yourself.

Before stretching the leather onto the rim, it needs to be soaked. If you don’t arrange resonators, you can simply stretch the skin over a hoop. In this case, a circle or oval is cut out duplicating the shape of the hoop, but 3-5 cm larger. Holes are made along the edges of the leather through which raw straps are pulled. The straps are evenly tied on the back side of the tambourine, forming a kind of frame, which is sometimes used as a holder. When everything dries, the leather shrinks and compresses the structure, adding strength to it.

Another option is to secure the leather with nails or staples. The advantage of belts is that when the tambourine is heated over a fire, the belts tighten the skin more and the sound is louder. However, it is more convenient to use a tambourine without belts. You can secure the leather with pushpins, through which nails are then punched.

An important role is played by the images applied to the surface of the tambourine. Very often the tambourine is painted with different symbols and images, but not necessarily. In some regions of Siberia, when making the first tambourine, according to the shaman’s instructions, his assistants applied drawings that were passed down by tradition from the shaman’s ancestors; the drawings were strictly defined for each nation (111). They were of varying complexity: from simple circles that repeated the shape of a tambourine, to complex compositions (Altai and Khakass tambourines) with a large number of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images, drawings of trees, celestial bodies, etc. These drawings reveal one of the most important meanings of the tambourine as a symbol universe. We see among them an image of a flat earth bordered by mountains and seas, a domed sky overturned over it, resting on the edges of the earth, and other images reflecting ideas about the universe, which are told in the oral myths of the Siberian peoples (Altaians, Kets, Selkups) (165,170) .

Many designs reflect the significance of the tambourine as a symbol of a mount; Usually, in this case, the cover depicted an animal (deer) or only its head (111).

However, in some cultures, tambourines are not decorated at all (241). There is no pattern accepted once and for all, and each tambourine is individual. The signs applied to it vary from shaman to shaman (even within the same clan). For example, Altai shamans draw an image of a horse on a tambourine, and the Yakuts draw mysterious signs, people, gods and animals (241).

In any case, this should be done only when you know exactly what should be recorded on the tambourine. In most cases, this is a map of the worlds and regions through which the shaman travels. This is his kind of compass and navigator of his travels. In addition, some shamans believe that the tambourine is an independent living creature and put symbols, attributes and images of this creature on it (111).

The Kets considered the figure drawn on the cover of the tambourines to be an image of the shaman-ancestor, from whom the owner of the tambourine inherited his gift, and also identified it with the first shaman named Bangdehyp (Son of the Earth), who married the daughter of the heavenly god Yesya (241).

The Nenets carved seven faces of shamanic ancestral spirits on the handles of their tambourines, and the Khanty carved the eyes and mouth of the spirit of the tambourine. Among the Evenks, the tambourine itself symbolized the head: its upper part was called the “top of the head”, the lower part was called the “chin”, and the resonators or holes under them were called “the ears of the shaman’s teacher” (241).

Painting the skin of a tambourine or carving a handle only makes sense to the extent that it reflects a magical picture of the world for you. In a drawing, everything, every line, must have meaning.

Among other things, you need to make a mallet for the tambourine. It is made from a bend of wood, a knot or fork of a branch (shortsy), but can also be made from bone or something else. Mallets are less varied in shape than tambourines. They usually take the form of a wooden or bone spatula of varying widths. The mallet should be comfortable, not scratch the tambourine and have a rope loop for the hand. To reduce the sound of a tambourine, the beater is wrapped in leather with the nap facing outward or inward. The spatula is covered with the camouflage of a male deer, roe deer, bear or skin from the forehead of a deer, bear, and sometimes with pieces of skin from any part of the animal’s body. A mallet, like a tambourine, can be an independent entity. In addition to its service role with the tambourine, the mallet among all the peoples of Siberia was an independent shamanic attribute, used in fortune telling and “healing.” A helping spirit can live in it. In this case, it is used for various purposes independently, separately from the tambourine (188).

The sound of the tambourine should be low, but not dull. In principle, it is not so much the tone that is important as the vibration. During the ritual, the frequency of the tambourine's beats is somewhere from 180 to 200 beats per minute, which corresponds to the frequency of the fetal heartbeat in the womb. Therefore, when we listen to the tambourine, we seem to make a return journey to the first perinatal matrix (according to St. Groff - a blissful state of security and comfort experienced by the fetus in the womb), which is the basis of mystical contact with the world, and from this state we then We can make any trip. The child in the womb is in connection with everything, the womb is his universe (47).

In a constantly used tambourine, all frequencies matter, because the shaman gets used to the fact that it is precisely such sounds that turn off his everyday consciousness and set him up for a transition to another reality. The volume of the tambourine is also very important. When performing rituals, the tambourine is repeatedly heated over a fire for better sonority. Experienced, old people knew how to do this without much harm to the tambourine. They carefully ensured that the wooden hoop and the skin stretched over it were heated evenly. However, frequent heating will eventually deform and damage the tambourine.

The diameter of the tambourine can vary greatly. It could be 30 cm or, say, 70 cm, or maybe a meter. After all, the shaman receives detailed instructions on how to make a tambourine (from what wood, when, etc.) from helping spirits and other supernatural beings through visions, as well as through his shamanic journeys.

After the tambourine is ready, it is necessary to conduct a ceremony of “revitalizing” it. The ceremony of “reviving the tambourine” is extremely interesting. When the Altai shaman sprinkles it with beer, the hoop “comes to life” and, through the mediation of the shaman, talks about how the tree from which it comes grew in the forest, how it was cut down, brought to the village, etc. Then the shaman sprinkles the skin of the tambourine, which also, “coming to life”, talks about his past. In the voice of a shaman, the animal tells about its birth, its parents, childhood and its entire life until the moment when it was killed by a hunter. It ends with the assurance that it will provide the shaman with numerous services. In another Altai tribe, the Tubalars (Black Tatars), the shaman inherits the voice and gait of the animal thus animated (169).

In a way, the animal that the shaman “reanimates” is his alter ego, his most powerful helping spirit; when it enters the shaman, he turns into his mythical ancestor. During the “revival” ritual, the shaman must talk about the life of the tambourine animal: he sings about his model, sample, primary animal, which is the beginning of his tribe. In mythical times, every person in the tribe could turn into an animal, that is, everyone could take on the state of their ancestor. Today, such intimate connections with mythical ancestors are available exclusively to shamans (241).

For a shaman, a tambourine is his winged horse. The “horse” - primarily a carrier of souls and a funeral animal - is used by the shaman in various situations as a means of helping to achieve a state of ecstasy, so to speak, “to go out of oneself,” which makes a mystical journey possible. This mystical journey, as we remember, is not necessarily undertaken for the sake of the Underworld; “horse” also allows shamans to rise into the air and reach Heaven. The horse is a mythical image of Death, which is why it is included in the ideology and practice of ecstasy. The horse delivers the deceased to the other world. The horse carries out a “level breakthrough”, a transition from one world to another. Buryat legends speak of horses that carry shamans to their new abode (111,241).

Shamanism used mythology and rituals associated with the horse. The funeral horse, which carried the soul, facilitated the achievement of trance and the ecstatic flight of the soul to forbidden lands. In one Yakut myth, the “devil” turns over his tambourine, sits on it, pierces it three times with his pole, and the tambourine turns into a three-legged horse, which carries him to the East (34).

Among the Yakuts and Buryats, the tambourine is directly called: “shaman’s horse” (34). The ecstatic journey of the Buryat shaman begins with the convocation of the spirits for a feast, at which the shaman catches the spirits in his tambourine and imprisons them there for the duration of the session so that they will help him on the road (148). The horse is depicted on Altai tambourines. The Altai people believe that when a shaman hits a tambourine, he rides to Heaven on his horse. Often, Buryat shamans make a tambourine from horse skin precisely because the idea of ​​a tambourine as a horse is more important for them, in this case, even than the connection with a totem or other animals of power (167). According to Menchen-Helfen, the tambourine of a Soyot shaman is considered a horse and is called khamyn at, literally “shaman’s horse,” and if the skin is skinned from a goat, it is called “shaman’s goat” (Karagasy, Soyot) (241).

Yakut legends tell in detail how a shaman flies through the seven heavens with the help of his tambourine. “I travel on a wild goat!” - the shamans of the Karagas (Tofalars) and Soyots sing. And in some Mongolian tribes the shaman’s tambourine is called “black deer.” The Nenets consider the tambourine to be a shamanic deer carrying it to the upper world. Among the Kets, the handle of a tambourine is conceptualized as the spine of a deer; vertical iron pendants, located seven on each side of the handle - with ribs; the resonators on the shell are perceived as hooves; individual pendants symbolize the movement and breathing of a deer.

During the ritual, the tambourine is perceived not only as the shaman’s mount, but also somewhat more broadly - in general, as a means of transportation: if during the action the shaman has to sail along the river, the tambourine is considered a boat, and the beater is considered an oar; its individual parts are interpreted accordingly: the covering is like the “bottom” of the boat, the shell is like its “sides”. Since the shaman’s path to the spirits can be dangerous and he often has to deal with hostile creatures and fight with them, the tambourine is also considered the shaman’s combat equipment: a bow, armor, and shield. Many metal parts and pendants appear to be swords, arrows or sabers (241).

During the ritual, the tambourine carries the shaman to the World Tree through the North Star, and from there his journey into the universe begins. It is necessary for the implementation of the session, it allows the shaman to fly in space, summon and “capture” spirits, and, finally, because the hum of the tambourine allows the shaman to maintain contact with other planes of existence. As we already know, shamans carry out a mystical journey to the “Middle of the World”, to the place of the Cosmic Tree and the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit allows one of the branches of this particular Tree to fall so that the shaman can make the rim of his tambourine out of it. Precisely because the hoop of his tambourine is made of the wood of the Cosmic Tree itself, the shaman, striking the tambourine, is magically transported to this Tree; he is transported to the “Middle of the World” and, at the same time, can ascend to Heaven or descend to the Underworld. Both the rim and the skin stretched over it are extremely symbolic.

Here is what Mircea Eliade says about this: “Both the rim and the skin of the tambourine are magical-religious instruments, thanks to which the shaman can take an ecstatic journey to the “Center of the World.” In many traditions, the mythical theriomorphic ancestor lives in the underworld, close to the root of the Cosmic Tree, the top of which touches the Sky. We are dealing here with separate but interdependent ideas. On the one hand, the shaman, striking the tambourine, flies up to the Cosmic Tree, on the other hand, thanks to his mythical connections with the “animated” skin of the tambourine, the shaman can share the nature of the theriomorphic ancestor; in other words, he can transcend time and re-enter the primal state of which the myths speak. In both the first and second cases, we are dealing with a mystical experience that opens up to the shaman the possibility of transcending time and space. The transformation into an animal ancestor, as well as the ecstasy during the ascension to Heaven, are different but comparable expressions of the same experience - the transcendence of the ordinary, profane state and the rediscovery of the "paradise" existence lost at the end of mythical times" (241).

The shaman's dance, accompanied by the beating of a tambourine, in some way duplicates or reproduces an ecstatic journey to Heaven or a descent into the Lower Worlds. In any case, we can say that magical music, the symbolism of the outfit and the tambourine, and the dance itself are the means of realizing and ensuring a magical journey among shamans all over the world.

The use of tambourines is not limited, however, to ritual rituals. Many shamans beat a tambourine and sing just for fun. In some regions, instead of the tambourine, other musical instruments are used: rattles, rattles, jew's harps and some strings. The Lebedinsky Tatars and some Altaians use original one-string instruments resembling a bow instead of a tambourine. Also, the Kyrgyz bucks use not a tambourine to enter a trance, but a kobuz - a very interesting stringed instrument. Trance, like the Siberian shamans, is achieved through dance, to a magical melody played on the kobuz (241).

The shaman plays and sings, and the audience listens. The shaman talks about his travels and adventures in other worlds. All this, one way or another, is reflected in the folklore of these peoples, becomes the content of myths, fairy tales and stories, and enriches oral folk art with new themes and characters. And it is quite possible that it was the musical and dance activities of shamans at the dawn of humanity that ultimately led to the birth of music, songs, dances and, in general, the phenomenon of art as such.

In shamanic ceremonies, the tambourine plays a key role. It has many magical functions and complex symbolism. It is necessary to carry out a session, because it is capable of taking the shaman to the “Middle of the World” and flying in space, calling and capturing spirits, and the sounds of the tambourine help the shaman to concentrate and come into contact with the world of spirits in order to go on a journey.

In their initiation dreams, future shamans made a mystical journey to the “Middle of the World” to the place where the Lord of the Universe and the Cosmic Tree are located. In order for the shaman to make the rim of his tambourine, the Lord allows one branch to fall from the Tree.

This symbolizes the connection between Heaven and Earth through the World Tree through the Axis located at the “Center of the World”. Since the tambourine's hoop is made of wood from the Cosmic Tree, the shaman can easily be transported to it and ascend to Heaven by striking the tambourine. From this point of view, the tambourine can be identified with the shamanic tree, along which the shaman ascends to Heaven. The shaman can approach the Tree of the World and climb it by hitting a tambourine or climbing a birch tree.

The shamans of Siberia even have their own personal trees. They are the earthly embodiment of the Cosmic Tree. Trees installed with their roots up are also used. All these connections between ceremonial birches and the shaman show the relationship between the shaman's drum, the World Tree and ascension to Heaven.

The choice of wood from which the rim of the tambourine will be made depends on the spirits. Samoyed shamans take an ax, close their eyes, enter the forest and mark a tree at random. In the morning, their comrades from this tree take the wood for a hoop. Among the Altai people, the shaman receives information from the spirits about the place where the desired tree grows, and sends assistants to find wood for the tambourine. Yakut shamans choose a tree that has been struck by lightning.

In some regions, the shaman collects wood chips, sacrifices are made to the tree, smearing it with vodka and blood. Such ritual respect indicates that the tree is transformed by a superhuman revelation and ceases to be ordinary, reincarnating into the Tree of the World.

After the necessary wood is found and a tambourine is made from it, a ceremony is held to “revive the tambourine.” In Altai, a shaman sprinkles the hoop of a tambourine and he begins to talk through the shaman about his life in the forest, his origin, and so on. Then the skin of the tambourine is sprinkled, which also tells about its past life. The animal, in the voice of a shaman, tells about its parents, its birth and childhood, its entire life until the moment when this animal was killed by a hunter. The animal's story ends with assurances that it will faithfully serve the shaman. Among the Tubalars, the shaman animates the animal, inheriting its voice and gait. The animated animal is the shaman’s second self and the most powerful helping spirit. This allows us to understand why, during the ritual of “reviving the tambourine,” the shaman talks about the life of the animal: it is the ancestor of the entire tribe.

Usually the tambourine has an oval shape. It is made from elk, horse or deer skin. The Ostyaks and Samoyeds of Western Siberia do not put designs on the outside of the tambourine, but the Tungus depict birds, snakes, and other animals. Since the tambourine is used as a canoe on which the shaman crosses the sea on his travels, the symbol of solid earth is depicted on the tambourine. In the center of the tambourine there are eight double lines, which symbolize the supports that support the Earth above the Sea. The Yakuts, in addition to people and animals, depict mysterious signs painted in black and red paint. Also, the patterns on the skin of the tambourine are characteristic of the Laplanders and Tatar tribes. They are very diverse, but the most significant symbols are the Tree of the World, the Moon, the Sun, and the Rainbow.

On the inside of the tambourine there is an iron or wooden vertical handle, with which the shaman holds the tambourine in his left hand. On horizontal rods or wooden crossbars there is a huge amount of ringing metal, bells, rattles, iron images of spirits and animals, miniature weapons (bow, arrows and a knife). Each item plays its role in the preparation and implementation of the spiritual journey.

Tambourine is a microcosm with three spheres: Heaven, Earth and Hell. With its help, you can see the means that help the shaman pass through all levels and establish contact with the lower and upper worlds. Along with the Tree of the World, a rainbow is depicted on the tambourine, and sometimes a bridge along which the shaman passes from one world to another.

The symbolism of an ecstatic journey to the Center of the World dominates the images on the tambourine. The blows of the tambourine at the beginning of the session, with which the shaman summons the spirits to imprison them in the tambourine, is a prelude to this journey. That's why the tambourine is called the "shaman's horse."
Altai shamans depict a horse on a tambourine. They believe that when a shaman hits a tambourine, he rides to Heaven on his horse. A similar phenomenon can also be found among the Buryats. Their tambourine is made of horse skin and it is this animal that symbolizes. The Soyot shaman's tambourine is called khamyn at, which literally translates as "shaman's horse." When the tambourine is made from goat skin, it is called the “shaman’s goat” among the Karagas and Soyots. Among the Mongols, the shaman's tambourine is called the "black deer".

All these ideas and symbols, personifying the flight, horse riding and speed of shamans, are images of a shamanic trance, in which a journey is made to places inaccessible to mere mortals.

However, not all shamans use a tambourine. In Kyrgyzstan, a shaman needs a kobuz to enter a trance. Trance is achieved by dancing to a melody played on a kobuz. It is in the dance that the shaman's ecstatic journey to Heaven is reproduced.

Thus, tambourine symbolism, magical music, dance in combination with a shaman's costume are the means of realizing a magical journey.

For a shaman, a tambourine is a living creature. During the ritual, the shaman, with the help of a tambourine, can call on helping spirits, put himself and those around him into a trance, travel to other worlds, and also return from there with the help of a shamanic tambourine. In ancient times, the shaman's tambourine was associated with his life force. For a shaman, a tambourine is not just a shell covered with leather, but a Winged Horse, a faithful friend, on which he travels through the three-dimensional world. The author of these lines, Sergey Kuznetsov, took part in the Call of Shamans festival in Tuva in 2018, where shamanic traditions from around the world were presented.

The oldest image of a shaman with a tambourine dates back to the 2nd century BC, found in the territory of Khakassia on Lake Tus-Kel.

If you want to buy a shamanic tambourine in Moscow, then using our website you can get 5% discount in the store www.khomus.ru, if you say the code word “ channelingstudio».

All shamanic tambourines are made at certain phases of the moon (depending on what tasks the tambourine will solve). Before creating a tambourine, the Shaman does not take animal food for three days. The entire birth process occurs with the coordination of the Helping Spirits who assist in the process. An important factor is the personal inspiration of the Shaman.

The skins are tanned by hand. A ritual is also performed to send the animal to the heavenly chambers. This is done so that the tambourine serves its owner for a long time. Only after this is the Wind Horse of the Tambourine revived. If you describe the process, it will look like this. The shaman goes on a journey (out-of-body experience) where he meets the Spirit, who will subsequently enter the tambourine at the moment of birth.

The animal that the shaman “reanimates” is his alter ego, the most powerful helping spirit; when it enters the shaman, he turns into a theriomorphic mythical ancestor. Thus, it becomes clear why, during the “revival” ritual, the shaman must talk about the life of the animal-tambourine: he sings about his model, sample, primary animal, which is the beginning of his tribe. In mythical times, every person in the tribe could turn into an animal, that is, everyone could take on the state of their ancestor. Today, such intimate connections with mythical ancestors are available exclusively to shamans.

In shamanic ceremonies, the tambourine plays a key role. It has many magical functions and complex symbolism. It is necessary to carry out a session, because it is capable of taking the shaman to the “Middle of the World” and flying in space, calling and capturing spirits, and the sounds of the tambourine help the shaman to concentrate and come into contact with the world of spirits in order to go on a journey.

In their initiation dreams, future shamans made a mystical journey to the “Middle of the World” to the place where the Lord of the Universe and the Cosmic Tree are located. In order for the shaman to make the rim of his tambourine, the Lord allows one branch to fall from the Tree.

This symbolizes the connection between Heaven and Earth through the World Tree through the Axis located at the “Center of the World”. Since the tambourine's hoop is made of wood from the Cosmic Tree, the shaman can easily be transported to it and ascend to Heaven by striking the tambourine. From this point of view, the tambourine can be identified with the shamanic tree, along which the shaman ascends to Heaven. The shaman can approach the Tree of the World and climb it by hitting a tambourine or climbing a birch tree.

The shamans of Siberia even have their own personal trees. They are the earthly embodiment of the Cosmic Tree. Trees installed with their roots up are also used. All these connections between ceremonial birches and the shaman show the relationship between the shaman's drum, the World Tree and ascension to Heaven.

The choice of wood from which the rim of the tambourine will be made depends on the spirits. Samoyed shamans take an ax, close their eyes, enter the forest and mark a tree at random. In the morning, their comrades from this tree take the wood for a hoop. Among the Altai people, the shaman receives information from the spirits about the place where the desired tree grows, and sends assistants to find wood for the tambourine. Yakut shamans choose a tree that has been struck by lightning.

In some regions, the shaman collects wood chips, sacrifices are made to the tree, smearing it with vodka and blood. Such ritual respect indicates that the tree is transformed by a superhuman revelation and ceases to be ordinary, reincarnating into the Tree of the World.

After the necessary wood is found and a tambourine is made from it, a ceremony is held to “revive the tambourine.” In Altai, a shaman sprinkles the hoop of a tambourine and he begins to talk through the shaman about his life in the forest, his origin, and so on. Then the skin of the tambourine is sprinkled, which also tells about its past life. The animal, in the voice of a shaman, tells about its parents, its birth and childhood, its entire life until the moment when this animal was killed by a hunter. The animal's story ends with assurances that it will faithfully serve the shaman. Among the Tubalars, the shaman animates the animal, inheriting its voice and gait. The animated animal is the shaman’s second self and the most powerful helping spirit. This allows us to understand why, during the ritual of “reviving the tambourine,” the shaman talks about the life of the animal: it is the ancestor of the entire tribe.

Usually the tambourine has an oval shape. It is made from elk, horse or deer skin. The Ostyaks and Samoyeds of Western Siberia do not put designs on the outside of the tambourine, but the Tungus depict birds, snakes, and other animals. Since the tambourine is used as a canoe on which the shaman crosses the sea on his travels, the symbol of solid earth is depicted on the tambourine. In the center of the tambourine there are eight double lines, which symbolize the supports that support the Earth above the Sea. The Yakuts, in addition to people and animals, depict mysterious signs painted in black and red paint. Also, the patterns on the skin of the tambourine are characteristic of the Laplanders and Tatar tribes. They are very diverse, but the most significant symbols are the Tree of the World, the Moon, the Sun, and the Rainbow.

On the inside of the tambourine there is an iron or wooden vertical handle, with which the shaman holds the tambourine in his left hand. On horizontal rods or wooden crossbars there is a huge amount of ringing metal, bells, rattles, iron images of spirits and animals, miniature weapons (bow, arrows and a knife). Each item plays its role in the preparation and implementation of the spiritual journey.

Tambourine is a microcosm with three spheres: Heaven, Earth and the Lower World. With its help, you can see the means that help the shaman pass through all levels and establish contact with the lower and upper worlds. Along with the Tree of the World, a rainbow is depicted on the tambourine, and sometimes a bridge along which the shaman passes from one world to another.

According to Tuvan shamanism, there are four Worlds - Upper, Middle, Lower and Tengri - the Creator, from whom all Worlds appeared, and which Tengri unites in himself.

The Upper World is the sky, the Middle World is our body, the Lower World is the earth, the connection of these Worlds is Tengri. Shamanic Worlds are Dream Worlds and free shamans can enter these Worlds and be guides for other people.

The symbolism of an ecstatic journey to the Center of the World dominates the images on the tambourine. The blows of the tambourine at the beginning of the session, with which the shaman summons the spirits to imprison them in the tambourine, is a prelude to this journey. That's why the tambourine is called the "shaman's horse."

Altai shamans depict a horse on a tambourine. They believe that when a shaman hits a tambourine, he rides to Heaven on his horse. A similar phenomenon can also be found among the Buryats. Their tambourine is made of horse skin and it is this animal that symbolizes. The Soyot shaman's tambourine is called khamyn at, which literally translates as "shaman's horse." When the tambourine is made from goat skin, it is called the “shaman’s goat” among the Karagas and Soyots. Among the Mongols, the shaman's tambourine is called the "black deer".

All these ideas and symbols, personifying the flight, horse riding and speed of shamans, are images of a shamanic trance, in which a journey is made to places inaccessible to mere mortals.

Depending on which zone on the tambourine is struck, the Shaman can come into contact with the corresponding world. Some shamans have a system of rhythms aimed at activating various human energy centers. Shamans count nine chokyrs (energy centers) and place them on a line with the beginning at a point below the feet and the end at a point just above the head: chokyr of Eagle, Deer, Turtle, Bull, Heron, Spider, Bear, Tiger, Crow.

However, not all shamans use a tambourine. In Kyrgyzstan, a shaman needs a khomus (Jew's harp) to enter a trance. Trance is achieved by dancing to a melody played on a khomus. It is in the dance that the shaman's ecstatic journey to Heaven is reproduced.

Thus, tambourine symbolism, magical music, dance in combination with a shaman's costume are the means of realizing a magical journey.

Darbakesh & Shonchalai, wolf dance.

Listen to the shaman's drum

The Altai tambourines are made of a rim, on one side of which leather is stretched tightly. The mallet looks like a large spoon. Its wooden part was covered with hare skin, which was certainly white and certainly male.

Different peoples made the tambourine in different ways. But in all cases this was not a simple technical process. This is a kind of family celebration. However, after the ceremony he was not available to other members of the clan.

Making a shaman's tambourine was a real ceremony: first, a suitable talnik tree was cut down, a part was isolated from it, then it was steamed and bent into a circle. And only on the second day they prepared the skin of wild deer, elk or deer, so that the next day they could cover the tambourine with it. And only then the ritual of reviving the attribute was performed. Then, at dawn, drawings were applied to the tambourine, metal parts were hung, and in the evening, ribbons of various materials were hung.

And the Altai tambourines were never sanctified - they were only revived. He was considered the shaman's mount. Moreover, to those animals whose skin was used to cover the tambourine.

Most often, the Altai tambourine was associated with the very life of a shaman. After his death, his tambourine was also destroyed and the remains were placed on a tree near the grave. Moreover, there was a belief: the destruction of a tambourine during the life of the owner will certainly lead to his death.

North Altai and Shor tambourine

Among the northern Altaians (Kumandins, Tubalars, Chelkans) and Shors, the tambourine was one of the obligatory and most important shamanic accessories. The tambourine was called tuyur, mars-tyuyur.

Typical of the Shors, Teleuts and Kumandins was a round or oval tambourine of large size (60-70 cm in longitudinal diameter). Such a tambourine was also found among the Tubalars, Chelkans and Altai Kizhi.

The shell (12 cm or more wide) was made of talnik (Kumandins and Shors) or cedar (Teleuts). On the outer side of the shell (under the covering), two bird cherry hoops were attached along the edges along the entire length of the circumference, and in the upper part of the shell six posts cut from a birch lip were installed. The pillars (unlike the tambourines of the Evenks and Yakuts) were not stretched with vein threads and no resonator slots were made in the shell. These columns, covered with leather, had the appearance of tubercles, which were perceived as the “humps” or “ears” of a tambourine. Between the tubercles on the top of the tambourine, a belt loop (“maiden braid”) was attached, which served to hang the tambourine.3 On the inside of the shell in the upper part, six knife-shaped iron pendants were suspended on iron rings; they were called shamanic “swords” and “sabers”. On some tambourines, the number of pendants strictly corresponded to the number of tubercles; the pins from the tubercles in the form of pointed ends protruded into the internal cavity of the tambourine between the “sabers”, also being considered part of the shaman’s “weaponry”.

The tambourine was covered with the skin of a male wild deer or deer, as well as the skin of a suckling stallion (Teleuts). The skins of females were never used for this purpose. The dressed leather was sewn to the shell along the edge, leaving a wide edge (6-8 cm) free, which was collected with a sinew thread for holding. All Altai tambourines had such an edge. Inside the tambourine, a wooden handle was strengthened along the longitudinal diameter, depicting the “mistress of the tambourine,” the daughter of the main deity of the Altaians Ulgen, the “six-eyed motley mars” (Shors) or leopard (Teleuts). The handle was necessarily cut out of a birch board in the form of a flat, wide plate, carved in the center (to be grasped by the hand). There were ribs extending from the center to both ends, which were located perpendicular to the plate.

The entire handle was ornamented: symmetrically located holes of various shapes were cut out on the flat parts. The number of holes varied. An iron transverse rod was attached to the upper part of the handle (tebir kirish, “iron bowstring” - Shors; roofs, “string” - Teleuts). Bells, tubular pendants and ribbons of fabric (yalama) were hung from this rod. The Teleuts interpreted the latter as a “payment” to the shaman, or more precisely to the spirit of the tambourine, for “treatment.” The popularity of the shaman could be judged by the number of hanging ribbons.

At the direction of the shaman, men painted drawings on the outer surface of the tambourine. The latter depicted the universe with celestial bodies, celestial animals (pura), sacred (“rich”) birches, various light, winged spirits, as well as creatures inhabiting the “lower world.” Although the design of the tambourines of the Teleuts, Shors and Kumandins was similar, they mainly differed in the nature of the design. Thus, by the design one can distinguish a Shor tambourine from a Teleut one, a Kumandin tambourine from a Shor one, etc.

The beater (orbu) was a natural fork of three to five branches of meadowsweet or a birch fork. This fork was wrapped in rags and covered with hare skin. A bunch of colored ribbons was tied to the end of the handle.

Among the Kumandins, Tubalars and Chelkans, the main tambourine (Tyuyur-Chelkans, Kumandins; Tyur, Tyungyur, Chalu-Tubalars) was similar in design to that described above. It had a mostly round shape, large size (75 cm or more in longitudinal diameter), and a wide shell (12-19 cm). The material for the shell was willow or cedar. But, in addition to these tree species, poplar was also allowed to be used. The covering of the tambourine was made from the skin of a male roe deer, or, less commonly, a male deer; the handle was always cut from birch (dead or “live”). These tambourines differed from the Shor and Teleut ones in the shape of the handle.

The Kumandin, Tubalar, and Chelkan tambourines had a handle (turuning it) at both ends with a sculptural image of a human head. At the top image, an iron transverse rod was strengthened (Kirish - Chelkans, Kumandins, Tubalars), i.e., a “string” with tubular pendants and bells. On both sides of this image (on the inside of the shell) “sabers” (kylych, kylchi) were hung: two for the Tubalars, three for the Chelkans and Kumandins.

Drawings were applied to the outer surface of the tambourine. The entire surface was divided into two halves - upper and lower. The upper one was called tengri or tezim (“sky”), the lower one was called payana. Both halves depicted heavenly bodies, animals, spirit assistants of the shaman, etc. Among the Kumandins, women's and men's tambourines had different designs. There was no image of the pur (shaman's mount) on the women's tambourines.

Among the Chelkan shamans, a tambourine with a two-headed handle, in addition to the common name tyuyur, was also called kalaach. The Chelkans distinguished two types of tambourine: tezim kalaach and ochyn kalaach. The first of them the shaman “received” from the heavenly spirit and considered it the “highest” tambourine; the second he “received” from the spirits of his ancestral mountains. Outwardly, these tambourines were almost identical.

The beater (orba) was made of wood; it was lined with the kamus of a male roe deer or deer. The beater was perceived as a whip, a driver. Tambourines with a double-headed handle differed in the designs on the outside. Each group (Chelkans, Kumandins, Tubalars) had its own set of drawings.

The main tambourine (Tungyur or Chalu) of the Altai Kizhi and Telengits was similar in design to the tambourines of the Chelkans, Kumandins and Tubalars, but had a handle with a head image only at the upper end. At the lower end of the handle the legs of the “owner” of the tambourine were depicted. The eyebrows, nose, and eyes of the image were covered with copper plates. These tambourines were called tezim chalu.

Among the Shors, shamans were divided into strong and weak. The tambourine, called “tuur,” was the criterion by which the strength of the shaman was judged. Weak shamans did not have a tambourine; rituals were carried out using a cane, a broom or a small hunting bow. A strong shaman always had a mallet and a tambourine, with symbols of the three worlds and the shaman’s protective spirits inscribed on it. Throughout his life, a shaman could have several tambourines, the number of which was used to judge his strength and life expectancy. The Shors endowed the tambourine with special symbolism, the right to which the shamans received from the great Deities and Spirits. The most powerful Kamams received the tambourine from the sacred mountain Mustag, others - from the gods Ulgen and Erlik.

Before starting to make a tambourine, permission was sought from the great deities and the appropriate time was chosen. Only after this did they turn to the spirit owner of the tambourine, from whom they found out what shape the tambourine should be, what materials it should be made of, where to find the right wood for the rim, and what designs to put on the canvas. The manufacturing process lasted more than one day, and upon its completion, a sacred ceremony was carried out to revive the spirit of the tambourine.

The volume of tambourines was traditionally approximately 70 centimeters. The width of the rim was 12 centimeters, the wood served as a talnik, its ends were fastened with bird cherry rods. A birch handle was inserted, and the spirit owner of the tambourine was carved on it. Metal bells – hollow tubes, rag ribbons of different colors, and symbolic pendants – “knives and swords” of the shaman – were attached to the handle. To cover the tambourine they used deer or deer skin.

The canvas was divided into two zones with paints - the upper one represented the World of Heaven, and the lower one - the Underground World, the line dividing the canvas represented our world. Depending on the information obtained from the spirit of the tambourine, sacred drawings were placed on the canvas. The upper part was filled with drawings of the Sun, the Moon, stars, rainbows, sacred trees - birch and poplar, and Kama protective spirits in bird guise. In the lower zone of the canvas they painted people, riders on horses, people sitting in sleighs, bears, snakes, frogs, trees, and the image of the shaman himself. A peculiar contour is drawn along the edge of the canvas - in the form of zigzags and straight lines. The number of drawings was used to determine the helping spirits of the kama; the more of them, the stronger the shaman was considered. Artistic art represented a whole amazing and mysterious world of symbols, understandable only to the shaman himself and his spirits. This is also the map by which he communicated with his patrons and assistants, this is the path for orientation in the vastness of the universe.

The process of creating and reviving the tambourine, as well as the nature of the drawings and symbols, differed depending on who gave the blessing for the birth of the shamanic instrument - the God of the Upper or the Underworld. After the ritual, the tambourine was endowed with living sacred power; only the shaman himself could touch it. The first rite was dedicated to the Heavenly God Ulgen to ask for blessings for the entire clan, therefore only members of the clan could take part in the ritual. The ritual resembled a multi-hour performance; the sacrifice of a horse was obligatory. During the ritual, the kam received information about how many diamonds he would have to change throughout his life.

Tambourine (Tyur, Dungur, Tungur) is a percussion membranophone designed for entering an ASC (altered state of consciousness) by playing it monotonously. Tyr (Khakass name for tambourine) is translated not only as tambourine, but also as “Deer”.

In ancient times, they did not distinguish between a cult object in the form of a tambourine and an animal, because according to their worldview they are one and the same. Among all the peoples of Siberia, the tambourine is equated with an animal that carries a shaman on its back through the three worlds, which, by the way, are often drawn on the tambourine itself using natural dyes (for example, henna). According to the design, Khakass tambourines are close to Shor tambourines.

Not all shamans have the right to perform rituals (perform sacraments) using a tambourine. In Khakassia, during Soviet rule, the shamans’ tambourines were taken away and sent into exile for road construction, where many died. And for making or storing a tambourine they were given 15 years of exile. Therefore, in Soviet times, the shamans of Khakassia did not use tambourines. For example, there was a grandmother named Sargo, an old shaman, who performed rituals using a down scarf and a wooden spoon. Another important attribute was the beater (orba). The beater was made of sacred wood (it differs among different peoples) and covered with leather or fur of wild animals (mainly kamus (skin from the legs of deer)). Many shamans receive a mallet from their ancestors as a separate attribute. It is sometimes believed that a good mallet is better than a good tambourine. A separate helping spirit (tes, eeren) also lives in Orb. The mallet is also used as a predictive attribute.

Looking at the tambourine of the Khakass shaman, we see the drawings applied to it, which symbolize the mythological ideas of the Khakass. The surface of the tambourine is divided into three parts, which symbolize the three-part division of the world - upper, middle and lower. In the upper world live the creator god Kudai, the goddess Yimai (the patroness of motherhood), and other chayaan deities who personify the forces of light. The owner of the lower world is the formidable Erlik Khan, his image is terrible and instills fear. Many Khakass myths tell of the struggle between Kudai and Erlik Khan. The middle world - the world of people - is also inhabited by spirits. These are spirits associated with human life and everyday life. There are family and clan patrons, as well as master spirits of the forces of nature (fire, water, mountains, wind, etc.)

Interestingly, the oldest image of a shaman with a tambourine dates back to the 2nd century BC, found in the territory of Khakassia on Lake Tus-Kel.

The story tells of three types of Sami tambourines. In the first version, its design is more like a drum or a cup. A wide tree trunk was cut, the inside was cut out, holes were cut in the wooden part (like a large sieve), and leather was pulled over the open part of the sieve. The second type was made from a cross-cut of pine, the inner part of which was removed. After processing, a wooden ring remained; the skin was stretched over it and fastened with nails along the edge of the wooden ring. This type of design was called a tambourine ring. A little later, the Laplanders developed a lighter method of making it - from a wooden rim. A wooden strip was moistened in water and bent in a circle, the ends were fastened with strips of leather or glued.

In shape they were elongated, slightly oblong and egg-shaped. Carved figures of helping spirits, claws and fangs of a bear, and a bone from a bear or fox penis were inserted into the inside. The sizes of the shamanic instrument varied from small small tambourines to large sizes that one person could not carry it. The inside of large tambourines was reinforced with a wooden cross. The leather for stretching was chosen from deer or elk. The mallet was a deer bone or antler, or a hare's foot.

Drawings on Sami tambourines. The Road to the Spirits.

In no other culture are the drawings and symbols on the tambourine given such importance as in the Sami culture. All Sami tambourines were marked with drawings of Gods, spirits, sacred animals, seids, natural forces and phenomena. Each symbol was applied with understanding and reverence, special respect for higher and natural forces. The drawing is a reflection of the Sami worldview about the world and nature. It was impossible to get 2 shamanic drums of the same type. In addition to the main drawing, images of the helper spirits and patron spirits of the clan were laid out on the canvas.

The symbolic painting on the instrument established a deep connection with the forces and entities personifying gods and spirits. The drawings had to be done in a special condition. For drawings, they used the juice of alder bark, which was chewed with saliva and applied to the canvas; sometimes deer blood was added.

Seids were quite often the subject of drawings of Sami tambourines. They painted exactly those images of seid spirits with whom their settlement, clan, and family interacted.

Pantheon of Gods

A crystal and 4 rays are traditionally placed in the center of the canvas. This crystal personifies God Peive (or Päivii) - the Sun God. He is revered as the main Sami deity, and on the summer and winter solstices large holidays and ritual offerings are held in his honor. Pave gives warmth, light, food. The symbols of the circle of the Sun, stems and the sacred deer are associated with the Sun. Through this ring the Sami offer their prayers and requests to Päivius.

On the Ray, looking in the western direction, the deity predominates - Varal-den-Olmay, or the World-Man. He is the second largest god after Radien, whom he helps and whose divine will he manifests. It helps souls undergo repeated cycles of rebirth. Souls from the dead kingdom, awaiting a new birth, with the help of Ra-dien get to the World Man. Then Varal-den transfers them to Maderakka, the goddess of the earth and the great mother, wife of Radien, for their embodiment in the material world. The Great Mother, with the help of her three daughters, helps souls to incarnate in the physical world. Evil forces can interfere with this process and, having stolen the soul, hide it in their dark worlds. The process of the soul’s journey for incarnation is a very responsible one, which only the Gods can command.

On the Right Ray (eastern) is the formidable god Piegg-Ol-mai, who commands the elements - heavenly rain, storms, thunderstorms and lightning, hurricanes, snow and winds. The northern upper ray is occupied by Leib-Ol-may, the Alder-Man or the Bear-God. Patron of hunting and ruler of forest animals. The Bear God is not very kind to people, so not a single hunt was complete without offerings to Leib-Ol-may. Before going on a hunt, they asked God for permission, and after a successful hunt they shared the spoils with him. He is called the deity of men, the god of consciousness, the opposite force to the underground goddesses - the patroness of women and children, the goddesses of the world of the subconscious.

On the Lower Line, looking to the South, the gods of the festivals are in charge - Ailekes-Ol-mak (Passe-Olmak), the holidays of Resurrection, Saturday, Friday and the celebration of Yolu. “Holy men” monitored the celebrations so that the taboo on worldly affairs on these days was not broken. The patron of the Resurrection, the god Peyve-Al-vek, was revered as the most powerful. In Noida, Sunday was most often chosen for holding rituals. The next most powerful deities were Lava-Ai-lek (Saturday god) and Frid-Ai-lek (Friday).

Along the edge of the tambourine are important Sami gods and goddesses, higher powers and sacred animals. At the top are the heavenly gods close to Radien. Radien-Atche himself is the supreme god, standing at the creation of the world. His power is in charge of all phenomena and processes on earth, the ruler of all worlds and all gods, the ruler of spirits, people and animals. His Wife is Ra-dien-Akka, aka Mother Earth, the Great Goddess. Son - Ra-dien-Pardne.

At the bottom of the canvas are the symbols of the goddess Maderacca (ancestor, Mother Earth) and her daughters - Sarakka, Uxakka and Yuxaki. All women and children are under the patronage of the goddesses; they help women during pregnancy and childbirth, monitor children until they grow up - protecting them and averting danger. Goddesses help the soul to incarnate in the material world, therefore they participate in the divine cycle of rebirth. They pray to them for health, fertility and help in the household.

On the left and right of the canvas are drawings of a summer camp and the world of the dead. The Summer Zone is the region of male power and the patrons of the clan - Pase Vare Ol-makov. Father Vera is given tips, helped with advice, and enlightened by the shamans. Here we see the figure of a noida with a tambourine, and sacred animals - the bird Sei-vo-Lodle and the snake Seivo-Guole, for traveling to the Upper and Lower worlds.

The world of the dead is divided into 3 levels: Yam-be Ai-mo, Ro-ta ai-mo and Sai-vo. The region of Ro-ta Ai-mo is ruled by the deity of death and illness - Rota, represented by a rider on a horse. Fallen souls reside here, the place seems scary and frightening, cold and dark. In the place of Yam-be Ai-mo live the spirits of deceased ancestors, awaiting their incarnation. They are able to penetrate the human world and take parts of human souls to the dead kingdom. Noida, in order to find the stolen soul, goes on a search to this very place, from where he accompanies the soul home. To prevent dead spirits from bothering living people, the shaman sends them to yam-be-ai-mo. The best thing in the World of the Dead is the place of Sai-vo - a sacred mountain where souls spend a quiet life. Sai-wo is considered a special place for the noida - a place of power where he undergoes part of his initiation, communicates with the spirits of his ancestors and receives support from the deer spirit Sai-wo.

The tambourine (yarar ~ yar) was a family, home shrine. Every family had it, and exercises on it during some holidays were mandatory for all household members, men and women. The tambourines were ordinary and festive, identical in design. Shamans used both.

During major Chukchi holidays, unique “ensems” gathered and beat ten or more tambourines at the same time. The Chukchi tambourine was not such a complex symbol as that of other peoples of Siberia. In the minds of the Chukchi, it was only a musical instrument.

The Chukchi tambourine is similar to the tambourine of the American Eskimos. It has a wooden handle attached to a wooden rim with tendons. The cross member of the rim is 40-50 cm, the width of the rim itself is 4 cm. The shape is close to a circle. The cover of the tambourine is usually made from very thin dry skin of a walrus stomach. Among the reindeer Chukchi, tanned skin of a young reindeer calf is often used for a tambourine, but is considered less suitable. To attach the skin to the rim, it is soaked in urine or water and then pulled over the rim, tightly screwed with a cord woven from sinew into a circular groove running along the outer surface of the rim. The ends of this cord are tied to the handle. This tambourine is very light. Some tambourines weigh no more than 250 g, most weigh from 450 to 700 g.

A handle was attached to the shell from the outside. The handle was made of wood, made of walrus tusk or deer antler. It was glued, tied, or nailed with a bone nail to the lower edge of the shell. The shell did not have any other load. No drawings were made either inside or outside the tambourine.

During rituals inside the canopy, a thin strip of whalebone (30-40 cm long) with a small spade-shaped thickening at the end was used as a beater (yararkyplanang); when performing rituals outside the canopy, they used a wooden stick (60-70 cm long), which was used to hit the edge of the shell. At the same time, the tambourine was held horizontally, with its tight side up, and the stick was taken by the middle, striking alternately with one end or the other. There was sometimes a fur tassel on the handle. In the southwestern part of Chukotka, Chukotka shamans sometimes used Evenki tambourines.

When using a whalebone mallet, the tambourine is held in the left hand and struck so that the middle of the mallet hits the edge of the tambourine or the fingers of the holding hand. The tip of the mallet thus vibrates slightly, striking the tambourine cover. When using a wooden mallet, the tambourine is held horizontally, with the tire facing up. The mallet is taken in the hand by the middle, and the tambourine is struck from under the rim, first on one side, then on the other.

Chukchi reindeer herders keep the tambourine covered only for the time they are in their winter quarters. In winter, the tambourine is usually kept behind the sleeping canopy or hung from the ceiling of the yaranga, ready for use. When the family leaves the winter hut, the tire is removed from the tambourine, folded and tied to the rim near the handle. The tambourine is then placed in the family bag. It is not difficult to soak and re-tie the tambourine cover, so it is tightened again every time a tambourine is needed.

Throughout the holiday season, the tambourine is stored in the outer room of the yaranga, ready for use. At the festival, it is placed near the flint board, since it also plays a significant role in the ritual. Among the Kolyma Chukchi, the tambourine is considered less important than flint plates and bundles of guards. On the contrary, in the Anadyr region the tambourine is called the “voice of the hearth,” and it is much more difficult to acquire it from the Chukchi than a flint plate. In the Kolyma and Anadyr region, tambourines that do not belong to a given family can only be brought into the outer room of the tent. Sometimes during major holidays more than ten tambourines are beaten simultaneously in one tent.

Eskimo tambourine

The Eskimo tambourine (shaguyak) was similar to the Chukchi one, differing only in its larger size (up to 90 cm in diameter) and more round shape. It, like the Chukchi tambourine, was also a family shrine. Festive tambourines did not differ in design from ordinary ones.

The Yukaghirs are settled mainly in the Kolyma River basin, in the Republic of Yakutia (Sakha) and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The Yukaghir tambourine (yalkhil) was egg-shaped and large in size (up to 90 cm in longitudinal and up to 65 cm in transverse diameter). The shell (6-7 cm wide) was made of larch wood and covered with the skin of a two-year-old male deer. The covering was glued or gathered along the edge into gathers on a sinew thread. Resonator “bumps” were sometimes made on the outer side of the shell.

On the inside of the shell there were brackets (iron or twisted belt) with cylindrical or ring-shaped pendants. Inside the tambourine on straps, less often on twisted reindeer sinews they fastened a crosspiece, sometimes a copper ring. The crosspiece was not always made of iron; on some tambourines it was woven from belts and ropes. There was a crosspiece whose shape resembled a spread-out deer. The tambourine was represented by a deer on which the shaman “traveled.”

The beater (yalkhin naidiya) is a narrow, slightly curved stick covered with reindeer kamus. In their structure and shape, the Yukaghir tambourines are similar to the tambourines of the eastern Yakuts and Evens. The tambourines were kept in a special case made from deer skins. As a rule, no drawings were made on the tambourine. Only occasionally were there tambourines with concentric circles drawn on their outer surfaces. The Yukaghir tambourine, like the Chukchi and Koryak ones, was a family shrine. Each family member had the right to beat the tambourine.

The Yakut tambourine (tyungyur-dyungyur) had an ovoid or oval shape, medium dimensions (up to 60 cm in longitudinal diameter). The shell (width from 10 cm and above) was made of larch boards. On its outer side there was a number of resonators (tubercles), usually seven or nine if they were the same size. But often they were placed alternating large and small, then their number reached twelve or more. The basis of these tubercles were wooden posts of various shapes, designed in great detail.

In this, the Yakut tambourines were similar to the Evenki ones. Vein threads were pulled onto the resonator columns. Resonator slots were cut out in the shell, through which the resonator cavities communicated with the tambourine cavity. The inner side of the shell had a large load: several figured or simple iron brackets with iron pendants (images of birds, fish, animals). The shell was covered with cow (calf, two-year-old bull) or goat skin. The skin was tanned, soaked and sewn to the shell close to the edge. Drying, the skin was tightly stretched onto the shell.

Sometimes a free edge of varying width was left, which, just like on the Altai tambourines, was gathered onto a sinew thread. Inside the tambourine, an iron or wooden cross (byaryk) was attached to four straps along the diameters of the tambourine. It was usually decorated with carvings. On some tambourines, an arched iron rod with pendants was strengthened in the upper part of the cross. Such tambourines resemble Shor tambourines with a curved iron rod (kirigi).

Sometimes the iron rod was replaced with a crossbar made of straps. The upper end of the crosspiece in some tambourines was shaped like a bird's head. On tambourines from the pp area. Khatanga and Anabar, the crosspiece, like the Evenki tambourines, was bordered by a flat iron ring. According to V.F. Troshchansky, a bordered crosspiece was on the tambourines of “light” shamans, while “black” shamans had a crosspiece without a ring. On the inner surface of the Khatanga-Anabar tambourines there were drawings depicting a cross and deer. These drawings are of the same type as those on Dolgan tambourines. As a rule, there were no drawings on Yakut tambourines. The mallet (bulayyah ~ bylayyah) was made from the core of larch, or from the antler of an elk or deer.

It was a curved spatula. It was sheathed on one side with the skin of a fawn, a two-year-old deer, or a deer camus. Several rings were attached to the other (concave) side. The heads of a wolf or bear were sometimes depicted on the handle. Tambourine was generally perceived as a shamanic horse. In shamanic songs, during the ritual of reviving a tambourine, they sang: “I transform a round tambourine, I make it into a powerful horse, I transform it, I create a fast horse from a tambourine.”

However, the name of the protrusions of the tambourine (muostar - “horns”) and the images of deer on the covering of the tambourine indicate that the tambourine was previously perceived as a revered deer. In addition, the tambourine was considered the protection-shell of the shaman. The mallet was perceived according to the meaning of the tambourine, either as a whip or as a shaman’s weapon. To store tambourines, the Yakuts had special bags (dungur kaata).

The Evenki tambourine (untuvun, untugun) was common among the Evenks of the Ilimpisky district of the Evenki national district (since 2007, it was reorganized into the Evenki district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory). The tambourines of this group of Evenks had an oval shape, large sizes (up to 1 m in longitudinal diameter), and a wide shell (up to 15 cm). On the outer side of the latter there were resonator “bumps”, at the base of which there were wooden columns of various shapes, often high columns alternating with low ones. Vein threads or thin straps were pulled over them.

These columns formed a wavy line outlining the tambourine. According to G.M. Vasilevich, the number of such “cones” on the tambourine increased as the “experience and strength” of the shaman grew. Slots were cut in the shell, connecting the cavity of the tambourine with the resonating cavities of the “cones”. These “bumps” were recognized by the Evenks as the fangs of an animal (surkak). The shell was covered with deer skin, which was sewn with sinew threads to the edge of the shell.

In this case, a narrow strip of skin was left free, which was collected on a sinew thread. Sometimes two beads or large colored beads were sewn onto this strip along the entire circumference of the tambourine at equal intervals. On some tambourines, the covering was not completely sewn to the shell, but was only secured here and there with stitches. Inside the tambourine, an iron cross was secured on short straps, almost equal in size to the diameter of the tambourine. At the upper end of the crosspiece there was an image of a bird or deer antlers, carved from iron or copper. The center of the cross was contained in two concentric rings made of flat iron hoops. Tubular pendants were suspended from a large ring.

On the inside of the shell, four iron figuredly curved brackets with rings and tubes suspended on them were attached along the diameters of the tambourine. Some tambourines had iron loops on the bottom of the outer side of the shell. The mallet was made of wood, one side was covered with deer skin, and designs were carved on the other side. Sometimes the mallet was made from mammoth tusks or wild deer horns, and trimmed with leather from spring deer antlers. The beater was called gisu ~ gigu ~ giso ~ gisho (depending on dialects). The Evenks living on the territory of Yakutia had tambourines similar in structure to the Yakut ones, but differing from them in their regular ovoid shape.

The design of the shell with columns is also close to the Yakut tambourines. The iron crosspiece with ends shorter than those of a typical Evenki tambourine was similar to the Yakut one, and had a decoration in the upper part in the form of deer antlers made of iron.

She was enclosed in an iron ring, secured with straps; the ring had pendants in the form of cylinders. The number of iron brackets on the shell is not constant. Deer skin was stretched and sewn onto the shell. Sometimes they secured the covering inside the tambourine along the entire length of its circumference with a thin, narrow iron strip. Drawings were often made with red or black paint on the outer surface of the tambourine. Typically, the designs consisted of two or three concentric circles drawn along the edge of the tambourine, and single images of birds and animals inside them.

Some tambourines had an iron crosspiece or a crosspiece woven from thin straps. The braided straps were connected at the center by a copper ring. Sometimes, in addition to the crosspiece, the tambourine had two iron rods located horizontally. Short iron tubes were put on them. This internal equipment of the tambourine resembles Ket and Selkup tambourines. The Stone-Tungus Evenks called the tambourine yntyun, untugun. Some tambourines had drawings on the inner surface depicting circles of the sky and light spirits living there in the form of deer. According to the old ideas of the Evenks of the Stone-Tungus group, the tambourine was considered a deer on which the shaman “traveled” in the “invisible world”, or a boat on which the shaman “swimmed” along an imaginary shamanic river. Based on the last idea, the individual parts of the tambourine were interpreted accordingly: the cover is the bottom of the boat, the shell is the sides of the boat, the edge of the cover is the sides of the boat, etc.

The beater was made of wood and covered with deer or bear skin. If the tambourine was represented by a boat, then the mallet was considered an oar. The Amur Evenks (Birars) had a tambourine, similar to the tambourines of the Amur peoples - the Nanai and Udege. The tambourines were small (up to 60 cm in longitudinal diameter), oval or ovoid in shape, with a thick and narrow shell. The covering was glued to the shell. There were no resonators; on the inside of the shell there were two iron brackets with rings or (more often) with Chinese coins. The crosspiece was a copper ring attached to the shell by four belts. On the outer surface of the tambourine there was a complex pattern made with paints of different colors: a ring of a cross with cords was depicted, and figures of birds, animals, etc. were placed between the cords.

The tambourine was called nymkhanki or hunktuun (among the Amur and Zeya Evenks), nylkhangku (among the Birars). A beater (gisavun) is a narrow wooden stick covered with skin. Among the Transbaikal Evenks, the tambourine (nymkhanka) was almost round in shape, relatively small (in longitudinal diameter up to 70 cm), the width of the shell did not exceed 8 cm. Horse or deer skin was stretched and glued onto the shell. The cross consisted of a figured or simple ring attached to the shell with straps. These tambourines did not have resonators. On the inside of the shell there were two or three brackets with rings. At the top of the tambourine, a ring with a bunch of colored ribbons was attached to the shell. These tambourines are very similar to the tambourines of the Transbaikal Buryats.

The Transbaikalian reindeer Evenks (Orochens) covered some of their tambourines with maral leather; the crosspiece was in the form of a ring attached to the shell of the belt. Bunches of colored flowers were tied to the ring. ribbons, and on belts (among the Barguzin reindeer Evenks, various figures of animals, carved from tin and iron, were attached. An image of an elk was painted on the tambourines. Sometimes these tambourines had resonators. On the outside of the tambourines, the orochens sometimes painted drawings in the form of concentric circles with two extending from them rows of transverse lines, with figures of animals and people. The mallet (gishi) was made of bone or horn, covered with skin. It was believed that it represented a snake.

The handle of the beater corresponded to the head of the snake. A snake was also depicted on the concave side of the mallet. The easternmost group of Evenks (Okhotsk) had a tambourine (huntun) of oval shape and small size (55 cm in longitudinal and 45 cm in transverse diameter), similar to the Transbaikal one. The tambourine had a shell 10.5 cm wide, on which resonators were made, communicating with the cavity of the tambourine. Inside the tambourine, six iron brackets with cylindrical tubes (pendants) and an iron ring on braided vein threads were attached to the shell.

The tambourine was covered with raw deerskin. On the outer surface of the tambourine (along the edge) a circle was drawn with red paint.1 The mallet was made of wood, made in the form of a slightly curved spatula, and covered with reindeer kamus. The length of the beater was 50 cm, the width reached 5 cm. The Sym group of Evenks had a tambourine similar to the tambourines of the Kets and Selkups. It was almost round in shape and large in size. The shell was up to 10 cm wide. Wild deer skin was stretched over it. Inside the tambourine there was a wooden vertical crossbar-handle (dzyavalgan) with the faces of spirits carved on it. On the outer side of the shell there were resonator tubercles, recognized as “arrows” (mukikar). Drawings were applied to the outer surface of the tambourine. A tambourine of this shape was not typical for the Evenks and was apparently borrowed by the Sym Evenks from the Kets and Selkups. Some Evenki groups used special bags for storing shamanic drums.

The Nanai tambourine (umchufu, unchufun) had a narrow shell covered with finely dressed roe skin. Its shape is oval, slightly expanding in the upper part (longitudinal diameter 60-80 cm, transverse diameter - 50-55 cm). The covering was tightly glued to the shell. On the outer side of the shell, a groove was cut along the entire circumference, which was covered with leather when covering the tambourine. Iron brackets with pendants - rings or Chinese coins - were sometimes attached to both sides of the shell along the transverse diameter, and sometimes there was such a bracket on the top of the tambourine. Inside the tambourine, a crosspiece with a small ring in the center, by which the shaman held the tambourine, was secured on vein, rope or thin belt loops. The straps were made of different lengths, but the difference was always between the straps of the crosspiece itself and the straps used to attach it to the shell. There were no resonator "bumps".

Drawings were sometimes applied to the outer surface of the tambourine, depicting a cross with a ring, the sun, trees, etc. But in general, drawings were not typical for Nanai tambourines. I. A. Lopatin even claims that “there are no drawings on the tambourine.” Usually the Nanai shaman had two tambourines: with one he performed rituals, while the other was heated over the fire. Often the assistant echoed the shaman on the second tambourine. The beater (gesel, gesel ~ seoni, gessel) was made of wood (birch), on one side it was covered with kamus of a roe, raccoon or otter, on the other it was richly ornamented: snakes were depicted (to “give strength to the shaman’s hand”) and other animals ( lizards, frogs, bears). At the end of the handle, an image of the two-faced deity Ayami Teremi and two images of Adjeh were carved. During the ritual, the shaman “fed” them Hanshin (Chinese vodka).

The Nenets tambourine (penzer, pender, penderko, tadibe-penzer) had a round, less often oval shape, and a small size (50-60 cm in diameter). The shell (up to 8 cm wide) was made of larch, less often - of spruce. On the outer side of the shell, seven or fourteen columns were installed, carved from birch, birch lip, and less often from deer antler, mammoth bone. A vein thread or thin straps were pulled onto the posts. A large number of columns on the relatively small circumference of the shell created the wavy line of the edge of the drum, characteristic of Nenets tambourines. On the inside of the shell they were (not always) reinforced with iron brackets with rings or square iron plates suspended on them. The shell was covered with the skin of wild, or less commonly, domestic deer, “donated” to the light heavenly spirits. To do this, the skin was well tanned, then sewn or gathered along the edge onto a sinew thread and attached to the shell with sparse stitches.

Inside the tambourine, a complex wooden handle in the form of a fork was tied to the shell with straps. The handle consisted of two sticks: the main one, located along the longitudinal diameter, and a short side one. The side stick was connected to the main one at an angle on the left (rarely on the right) side and nailed to it with a wooden nail or inserted into a specially cut hole in the center. Seven images were carved on both sticks - usually flat or sculpted heads and faces of shaman spirits (tadebtso). The handle was usually made of birch, sometimes deer antler was used, but it was not carved, but naturally branched antlers were selected. In some tambourines, the side stick had a long free end that was not attached to the shell. There were tambourines with a full cross. There were handles with images of heads (three) on the ends of sticks.

Chains with bells were sometimes attached to the top of the tambourine. Some tambourines had a circle on the outside of the covering. This circle was sometimes outlined in red paint. Before stretching the skin over the shell, the skin was moistened and a round coin was tied in the center so that when the skin dried, there would be a reserve, otherwise, once dry, the skin could burst. When the skin dried, the coin was removed. This coin (or metal plaque) left a mark in the form of a circle in the center of the tambourine. Among the Pechora Nenets of the Malozemelskaya tundra, the tambourine was somewhat different from that described above (Tables 2, 3, o and b). Its shape was round; there were no iron brackets on the inside of the shell. Wild deer skin was stretched over the shell. The handle was a stick (smaller than the diameter of a tambourine), attached at both ends to the inner side of the shell. In the middle the handle was supported by a short wooden stand embedded in the shell. The size of these tambourines was somewhat smaller than other Nenets tambourines (diameter up to 45 cm). According to the oral report of the Nenets, exactly such tambourines were used in the Malozemelskaya tundra.

The beater (penggabts or ladurants) was a narrow wooden spatula covered with deer skin or reindeer rovduga. According to the old ideas of the Nenets, the tambourine was a shamanic deer that transported the shaman to the “invisible worlds,” and at the same time the tambourine itself served as a “guardian” of the reindeer herds from diseases, wolves, etc. The desire to express the idea of ​​the tambourine as a deer was also reflected in the material from which the tambourine was made. The Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography houses a unique tambourine, in which the handle is made of a natural branch of a deer antler, the resonator columns are also made of deer antler, and the pendant on the handle is a deer’s hoof (Fig. 3). As a rule, there were no drawings on the tambourines. Only the Pechora Nenets had tambourines with drawings. They were painted with red paint on the outer side of the covering and on the shell.

These drawings consisted of a wavy line along the edge of the tambourine (it was interpreted as mountains standing at the edge of the earth) and intersecting lines, which were considered the “support of the sky”, converging with the edges of the earth and depicted in the form of a dome overturned above the ground. Thus, here we have traces of the meaning of the tambourine as a symbol of the universe.

The tambourine of the Taz Selkups (Nunga) had a slightly oval shape and large dimensions (up to 90 cm in longitudinal and 70 cm in transverse diameter). The size of the tambourine depended on the age of the shaman. The shell was made of birch boards, 12 cm wide. On its outer side there were seven or more resonator columns, forming “cones” (yungylsat, i.e. “ears”). There were no resonator slots in the shell. The skin of a wild deer was used to cover the tambourine. It was dressed, soaked and, without stretching, loosely sewn to the shell, slightly away from the edge. No free edge was left. Inside the tambourine, a vertical wooden plate-handle (9 cm wide), tapering in the middle, was strengthened. It was made from either birch or cedar planks. Slits and images of the faces of the shaman’s helping spirits were made on the plate. Transverse iron rods, usually seven pieces, were attached to the shell across the entire width of the tambourine (four in the upper part of the tambourine, three in the lower part), on which images of the shaman’s helping spirits were hung; At the same time, images of an eagle, loon, and crane were obligatory.

Tubular pendants were suspended from the same rods. As a rule, the narrow part of the handle was edged with an iron ring (or concentric two or three rings). This ring had several extensions, sometimes it was closed, but more often it was open (from below). Drawings were occasionally applied to the inside of the shell: bears were painted at the bottom with black paint, and deer at the top with red paint. Drawings were always made with red paint on the outer surface of the tambourine. They were not the same for all shamans. Among shamans of the same type, the drawings were basically the same. The beater (kapshit, literally “an instrument of shamanism”, from the verbal stem kap ~ kam - “to shaman” - and the suffix of the instrument of action - shit ~ shin) was made from birch or cedar. It was a paddle-shaped spatula up to 50 cm long.

The face of the spirit of the beater was carved on its handle. The outside of the mallet was covered with the skin from the forehead of a deer or a reindeer camus (or the skin from the forehead of a bear, or a bear camus), sometimes with the skin of an otter. A cedar mallet covered with bear skin was performed during the shaman’s “travels” to the “lower world”; a birch mallet covered with deer skin - to the “upper world”; with a cedar mallet covered with otter skin - into the “underwater world”. The inside of the beater was painted: one half - black (or blue), the other - red; An image of a lizard carved from iron was attached in the middle. The Narym Selkups had the same tambourine, but called it pyngyr, just like the women's shamanic instrument - the jew's harp. According to the previous ideas of the Selkups, the tambourine was interpreted as a deer, on which the shaman “traveled” to other worlds (mainly to heaven). In other cases, the tambourine was represented as a boat in which the shaman “sailed” along mythical rivers. The Narym Selkups called the mallet solang, i.e. “spoon”.

The drawings and the general load of the internal cavity of the Selkup tambourine reflect the idea of ​​it as a symbol of the universe: the drawings depicted heaven and earth; seven rods inside the tambourine - seven circles of the universe; closed ring - the boundaries of the earth; a ring not closed from below - the entrance to the “lower world”, etc.

Udege tambourine

Among the Udege, the tambourine (unechuhu) was pear-shaped, narrow-rimmed (the width of the shell was 2.5 cm), with a groove the entire length of the circumference of the shell. Iron brackets with Chinese coins strung on them were sometimes attached inside the tambourine. The tambourine was covered with the skin of a newborn fawn, or less often with the swim bladder of a fish or the bladder of an animal. The skin was tightly glued to the shell. Inside the tambourine, a copper ring was secured to the straps. Sometimes, instead of a ring, they made a cross stitched from rovduga and stuffed with deer hair, which was attached to the shell with laces woven from tendons.

Drawings were occasionally applied to the outer surface of the tambourine. However, as a rule, there were no drawings on the Udege tambourines, as well as on the Nanai ones. Mallet (gisel) - a narrow wooden spatula; an otter skin was glued on one side of it, and images of snakes, frogs, and lizards were cut out on the other. The handle was decorated with images of anthropomorphic spirits. The tambourine and mallet were kept in a special case made of birch bark, richly decorated with drawings.

The Khanty were divided into several groups, different from each other in type of economy, language and material culture. There were differences among these groups in religious views, and, consequently, in cult attributes, in particular, in shamanic drums. The northern groups of Khanty are close in type of economy and material culture to the Nenets reindeer herders. The southern groups (mainly hunter-fishermen) had an economy similar to that of the Selkups and the northern groups of Siberian (in particular, swamp) Tatars. The northern groups of Khanty (Kazym, Obdor) had a tambourine, similar in design (in general terms) and name to the Nenets. The tambourine (penzyar) of the northern Khanty (Obdor) was round or almost round in shape, relatively small (30-70 cm in diameter). The shell had a width of up to 10 cm; it was always made from very thin and light birch boards. On the outer side of the shell, resonator columns numbering seven, fourteen or twenty-one were installed. The posts were also carved from birch.

A solid sargo hoop (usually a thin branch of bird cherry, split in half) was placed on them over the entire circumference of the shell. A tambourine cover was glued onto it on top. This arrangement of the shell gave the second line of the rim, characteristic of Khanty tambourines (Table 3, 2, b). Sometimes small pebbles were placed in the cavities formed between the shell and the covering of the tambourine. Then the tambourine, when used, made noise like a baby rattle. Inside the tambourine, either seven wire brackets with pendants were attached to the shell, according to the number of celestial circles (among the Obdor Khanty), or from one to three brackets with rings (among the Kazym Khanty). To cover the tambourine, they always used the skin of a domestic deer, which was carefully dressed into thin leather and attached to the very edge of the shell. When covering, just like among the Nenets, a coin was tied into the skin. The skin was sewn to the shell using thick vein threads using a continuous seam. The Berezovsky Khanty folded the covering inside the tambourine and secured it with sparse stitches.

A handle was inserted vertically inside the tambourine, which was a natural fork of a birch branch. The three ends of the fork were attached with straps to the edge of the shell. They made handles similar to the Nenets ones. Often three notches were made on the fork, depicting the face of the spirit of the tambourine (“eyes” and “mouth”), and ribbons of colored material were tied (“payment to the spirits”). There were no drawings on the tambourine. The Yugan Khanty also had the same tambourines. The mallet (nyali, literally “spoon”) was made from birch. It was a slightly curved shoulder blade, covered with the skin from the forehead of a light-colored ("solar") fawn. At the end of the handle, an image of the spirit-owner of the mallet was carved. The tambourine of the Vakhov and Vasyugan Khanty differed sharply from the one described above. Judging by the descriptions of M. B. Shatilov, these groups of Khanty had a tambourine similar to the tambourines of the Selkups and Kets. The tambourine of the Vakh Khanty (Koyem) was oval in shape and large in size.

For the shell they always took a birch board. The tambourine was covered with wild deer or horse skin. The handle of the tambourine was a plate hewn from a birch board. Two iron crossbars (two rods) were attached to the shell and handle horizontally. Bells, tubular pendants, cast copper plaques with images of a hunter, horse, deer, etc. were hung on these crossbars. The Vakh Khanty did not make drawings on the tambourine. The beater (palantiv) was carved from birch; it looked like a slightly concave blade with a handle (total length up to 30 cm, width 6-8 cm). The outer side of the beater was covered with skin from the forehead of a deer, and various designs were applied to the inner side (usually the image of a lizard or snake).

The plate was decorated. A transverse iron rod was attached to the upper half of the tambourine, from which bells, iron tubular pendants, and multi-colored rag ribbons were hung. The skin of a male deer was stretched and sewn onto the shell, leaving a wide free edge (as on Altai tambourines). Drawings depicting the “lower and upper worlds” were applied to the outer surface of the covering with red and white paint. The mallet (orba) was made from bone. One side of it was covered with the kamus of a male roe deer, the other was decorated with copper plaques. A ring with ribbons (yalama) was attached to the handle. The Kachins also had tambourines with a handle close to the Shor handle (mars), but of a simpler design.

The Kazym Khanty used small tambourines (ay penzer), which were an exact copy of real shamanic tambourines. Fish skin (burbot) was used to cover them. According to the Khanty, these were toy tambourines. Sometimes the handle of such a tambourine was a wide wooden plank attached at the corners with straps to the shell. The Berezovsky Khanty had tambourines (tynez) with a full wooden cross made of two skillfully carved, intersecting sticks, attached with straps to the shell. This crosspiece was wrapped with colored ribbons, and sometimes copper plaques and rings were hung from it.

All Khanty considered the tambourine to be a shamanic deer, on which the shaman made “trips to the heavenly world”: The mallet, in addition to being an auxiliary tool for the tambourine, also served as an independent attribute for fortune telling and “healing”.

Ain tambourine

The shamanic tambourine (achok, katsyo) of the Ainami was borrowed from the Nivkhs. The Ainu tambourine was oval (somewhat irregular) in shape and smaller in size than the Nivkh one. The shell is narrow (width 2.5-3 cm), thick, and had no loads either inside or outside; covered with fish skin, which was usually glued on. The crosspiece was made from twisted ropes, and the central part was woven from thick ropes. There were no drawings on the tambourines. The mallet (katsyo techni) was made of wood and had the shape of a narrow flat stick covered with skin.

The Buryats have a tambourine ( hese, ketse– Alar Buryats; kysen- Transbaikal Buryats) were relatively large in size (among the Oka Buryats up to 70 cm in diameter), round in shape, with a wide shell like the Altai and Tofalar tambourines or with a narrow shell (among the Transbaikal Buryats) like the Transbaikal Evenks. Tanned horse hide was used for the covering. There were seven resonator tubercles on the shell. Among the Oka and Alar Buryats, the handle was a carved wooden plate; Among the Trans-Baikal Buryats, as well as among the Trans-Baikal Evenks, the handle served as a ring on the belts.

The beater was called taimur(Trans-Baikal Buryats), tobor (Balagan Buryats). There were no drawings on the Buryat tambourines.

Mongolian tambourine

The Mongols called the tambourine dyungyur or bar (Kobdin Mongols), hengrik (Eastern Khangai).

The shape of the Mongolian tambourine is ovoid (almost round), the dimensions are small (up to 40 cm in diameter), the shell is narrow (7-8 cm). Inside some of the tambourines there were iron brackets with pendants (rings, Chinese coins). Roe skin was glued onto the shell. The cross was a ring secured with straps to the shell. At the top of the tambourine, on the outer side of the shell, an iron ring was attached, to which a bunch of colored ribbons and tubular pendants were tied. Drawings were applied to the outer side of the covering: lines dividing the surface into four sectors, images of birds, etc. The beater (takhiur) was represented as a whip. Apparently, the tambourine was a symbol of a riding animal.

The Eastern Mongols had a round tambourine, leather was glued to the side, and the handle was attached to the outside at the bottom of the tambourine. A photograph of a similar tambourine was published in Hansen’s work.

These tambourines, in their main feature - the structure of the handle - were similar to the tambourines of the Chukchi and Eskimos, which was noted by G. N. Potanin. Speaking about Chukchi tambourines, he writes that the Chinese also use tambourines with a handle for fortune telling. In his opinion, tambourines with an external handle were also found in Northern Mongolia. He points to Mongolian menhirs, where there are circles with a vertical line at the bottom. Small (up to 45 cm in diameter) tambourines (jamchik) among the Manchus had a narrow shell (up to 7 cm wide);

In terms of the design of the crosspiece, they were similar to Buryat and Mongolian tambourines. The crosspiece in these tambourines was a ring attached to the shell with straps. The beater in the form of a stick was called gisun (compare the name of beaters among the Evenks and Amur peoples), which means “speech”, “word”. The same term was used to designate blows on a tambourine, which were perceived as the “speech” of the shaman to the spirits.

Initiation into shamans

Those young people who were destined to become a shaman found out about this unexpectedly when a “shamanic illness” appeared in them. The suffering of the chosen one was externally perceived as a neuropsychic disease.

But at the same time, the man also experienced incredible physical torment. The illness could last for several years, accompanied by terrible hallucinations. It was possible to get rid of such a mental illness (or a long-term mental crisis) only by accepting the calling of a shaman and starting shamanic activities.

An ancient story from a shaman about how he became a shaman:

“When I was twenty years old, I became very ill and began to see with my eyes and hear with my ears what others did not see or hear. For nine years I struggled and didn’t tell anyone what was happening to me, because I was afraid that people wouldn’t believe me and would laugh at me. Finally, I became so ill that I was in danger of imminent death. When I started shamanizing, it became easier for me. And now, if I don’t do shaman for a long time, I feel bad, I get sick!”

Sometimes the crisis begins very early - at the age of 10 or even 7 years. The person exposed to it feels bad among people, experiences suicidal tendencies, sees strange dreams, and sometimes loses consciousness. He increasingly falls into ecstasy, has visions, begins to go to all the shamanic rituals and, finally, decides to announce that he has visited the land of the dead and has been ordered to become a shaman.

After this, he goes to the taiga, mountains or steppe and there, alone, he makes his first calls to the spirits. At times he still loses consciousness, he may commit suicide or die, but the more intense his shamanic “self-education” goes, the faster the symptoms of the disease pass.

The hermit life of a shaman lasts three years. After that, he learns to beat a tambourine for another couple of years. Then there are differences. In some cases, the shaman learns his science entirely on his own, in others he learns from an old shaman. Sometimes he can only become a shaman after his teacher dies.

Then comes the rite of initiation into shamans. A few days before this, the future shaman retires to a forest hut or any deserted place and here he indulges in the most severe fast for 3, 5 and even 9 days.

He puts absolutely nothing in his mouth. During this period, he cannot be alone, as he needs care. He lies with foam on his lips. His joints swell and turn into continuous bruises, and cadaverous spots spread across his body. He experiences his death alive: he sees how the spirits cut his body into pieces and boil them in a cauldron before putting them back together, how they gouge out his eyes and insert new ones, and pierce his ears so that he can hear the voices of the spirits. Then the spirits reassemble the shaman’s body.

At the end of this period, the soul of the neophyte, under the guidance of the old shaman, travels to the other world, underground and aboveground, experiencing something similar to what Dante experienced while traveling under the guidance of Virgil.

“Death Alive” is an exercise that reveals in the shaman the ability to independently plunge into a trance and independently, without anyone’s mediation, remain in contact with the people around him, to control himself and them in this state. Having once crossed the border between the living and the dead, the shaman can subsequently do this arbitrarily and at any time, although this requires considerable effort.

The initiation ceremony of a new shaman is considered a holiday for his relatives. It consists mostly of dances and speeches of old shamans, specially invited for this purpose, as well as many extraordinary actions. Thus, among the Indians of the Vine-Baga tribe (North America), according to a conventional sign, all the elders begin to make movements as if they were choking, after which they finally spit out a small shell. They claim that this shell, which is called a healing stone, is constantly in their stomach and only on this solemn occasion is it born. At the end of the ceremony, the new shaman receives a medicine bag, that is, a sewn skin filled with various wonders, and a healing stone is placed in his mouth. After this, he is already considered a real shaman.

The healer's bag contains items used in magical operations. These include various roots that are used as a remedy, especially for wound healing; then various animal body parts and some minerals.

For example, one old shaman from the Vine-Baga tribe had the most effective medicinal means of a small pebble, which, as it turned out, consisted of a piece of native copper, and a piece of bone, which, as he claimed, belonged to a large medicinal animal. This animal is shown occasionally only to shamans (and then in a dream), and it does not appear on earth (Dr. Lehmann, Illustrated history of superstitions and magic - M., 1900, pp. 18-19).

Initiation among the Manchus and Tungus

After the ecstatic selection, the training phase begins, during which the old mentor initiates the beginner. This is how the future shaman comprehends the religious and mythological traditions of the family and learns to use mystical techniques. Often the preparation stage ends with a series of ceremonies, which are called the initiation of a new shaman. But among the Manchus and Tungus there is no real initiation as such, because candidates are initiated before they are recognized by experienced shamans and the community. This happens throughout almost all of Central Asia and Siberia. Even where there are a number of public ceremonies, as among the Buryats, for example, these actions only confirm the true initiation, which takes place secretly and is the work of spirits. The shaman-mentor only supplements the student’s knowledge with the necessary practice.

But formal recognition still exists. The Transbaikal Tungus choose a future shaman in childhood and specially educate him so that he later becomes a shaman. After preparation, it’s time for the first tests. They are quite simple: the student must interpret the dream and confirm his ability to guess. The most intense moment of the first test is the description in an ecstatic state with maximum accuracy of those animals that the spirits sent. The future shaman must sew an outfit from the skins of the animals he sees. After the animals are killed and the outfit is made, the candidate undergoes a new test. A deer is sacrificed to the deceased shaman, and the candidate dresses in his attire and conducts a large shamanic seance.

Among the Tungus of Manchuria, initiation occurs differently. They also choose a child and train him, but whether he becomes a shaman is determined by his ecstatic abilities. After a period of preparation, the actual initiation ceremony takes place. In front of the house, two trees with thick branches cut off are installed - turo. They are connected by crossbars about one meter long. There are 5, 7 or 9 such crossbars. In the southern direction, at a distance of several meters, a third turo is placed, which is connected to the eastern turo with a rope or a thin belt (shijim), decorated with ribbons and bird feathers every 30 centimeters. To make shijim, you can use red Chinese silk or dye the fringe red. Sijim is a road for spirits. A wooden ring is put on the rope. It can move from one tour to another. When the master sends the ring, the spirit is in his juldu - plane. 30-centimeter human figurines (annakan) are placed near each turo.

After such preparation, the ceremony begins. The candidate sits between two touros and beats the tambourine. The spirits are summoned by an old shaman, who uses a ring to send them to the student. The spirits are summoned one by one. The shaman takes the ring back each time before summoning a new spirit. Otherwise, spirits can enter the initiate and remain there. When the spirits have taken possession of the candidate, the old men begin to question him. He must tell in detail the history of the spirit: who he was during his life, what he did, what shaman he was with, when this shaman died. This is done in order to convince the audience that the spirits are really visiting the newcomer. After such a performance, the shaman climbs to the highest step every evening and remains there for some time. His shamanic outfit is hung on the turo. The ceremony can last an odd number of days: 3, 5, 7 or 9. If the candidate passes the tests successfully, then a sacrifice is made to the spirits of the clan.

In this ritual, the meaning of a rope or belt, symbolizing the road, is interesting. This symbol of the road connects Heaven to Earth or can serve to communicate with spirits. And climbing a tree originally meant the shaman’s ascension to Heaven. Perhaps the Tungus borrowed this initiation rite from the Buryats and, most likely, adapted them to their ideas.

The public initiation ceremony of the Manchus once involved walking on hot coals. If the future shaman really had power over the spirits, then he could walk through the fire calmly. Today this is a rare ceremony, as it is believed that the powers of the shamans have become weak.

The Manchus also had another test, which was carried out in winter. Nine holes were made in the ice. The candidate had to dive into one and swim through them all, emerging in each hole. The appearance of such a severe test is associated with the influence of China, where there was a test for yogis, when wet sheets were dried on the naked body of a yoga initiate on a winter night. Also among the Eskimos, resistance to cold was the main sign of the shamanic calling.

Initiation among the Yakuts, Ostyaks and Samoyeds

Among the Yakuts, initiation into shamans occurs like this. After being chosen by the spirits, the student goes with the old shaman to a plain or hill. There the shaman gives him shamanic vestments, a tambourine, and a stick. Nine boys on the right and nine girls on the left line up at the initiation site.

Having put on a shamanic outfit, the shaman stands behind the initiate and pronounces words that he must repeat after him. Then the shaman shows where the spirits live and talks about the diseases that they treat. Then the candidate kills an animal as a sacrifice to the spirits.

According to another version of initiation among the Yakuts, the mentor takes the soul of the initiate with him on a long journey. They climb the mountain, from where the teacher points to a branched road from which paths lead up to the mountain. Diseases live there. Then they come to the house, put on shamanic outfits and hold a joint session. The mentor tells how to recognize diseases and treat them. When the shaman names one of the parts of the body, he spits into the student’s mouth, and the student must swallow the spit in order to learn the “paths of misfortune.” Then the shaman accompanies the student to the heavenly spirits in the upper world. After this, the student becomes a real shaman with a dedicated body and can begin to perform shamanic duties.

Samoyeds and Ostyaks living in the vicinity of Turukhansk conduct initiation this way. The candidate faces west, and his mentor asks the spirits to give him a guide and help. Then a prayer is said, which is repeated by the future shaman. The spirit then tests the candidate by asking him questions.

Golds also have public initiations. It involves the candidate's family and guests. The dedication is carried out with songs and dances, sacrifices are made. In this case, there must be nine dancers, and during the sacrifice nine boars are killed. Shamans drink the blood of killed boars, which makes themselves ecstatic and conducts a rather long shamanic session. The dedication celebration lasts for several days, turning into a nationwide celebration.

Dedication among the Buryats

The Buryats have the most complex initiation ceremony. But even in this case, the real initiation takes place before the public one. After the first ecstatic experiences, the candidate undergoes individual training, learns from old shamans, especially from the one who will be his “shaman-father,” that is, will initiate him. During this preparation, the candidate summons spirits and performs rituals. In general, a Buryat shaman must go through nine stages of initiation - shanar.

Each of the stages has its own ritual, which corresponds to the acquisition of a skill and object. But this does not mean that these skills and items cannot be used before the initiation stage. It’s just that full development of skills can only occur after 18 years of labor, which is imprinted at different levels and personifies the nine branches of the World Tree - turge.

The first step is mapzhilaytai boo, which means “newly made shaman,” or another name for yabagan boo, meaning “wandering, walking shaman.” A shaman of this level was also called “khuurai boo” - “dry shaman”. This shaman, who was an assistant to a more experienced shaman, could summon minor spirits and appease them so that they would not interfere with anything. This stage lasts three years. It signifies the beginning of the shamanic path. During the ritual, the shaman receives a wooden staff, usually made of birch, fir bark for cleansing, and a flint and flint to light the ritual fire.

Second stage - noptoholchon boo(wetted shaman." The initiate takes a bath in nine different springs, preferably in the homeland of his ancestors. This stage also lasts three years. You can recognize the initiate by a staff made from a gnarled branch. Such a shaman can already be sacrificed for a kind of ram.

At the third stage the initiate becomes zhodoooto boo(fir shaman) or otherwise hayalgyn boo. He can communicate with any spirits of his ancestors, contact the spirits of the places from which the power came to him. Also, a shaman at this level can perform wedding ceremonies. This stage lasts one year. The shaman receives a pipe (ga-ahan) with a pouch (arshuul), and a shamanic whip (tashuur).

The fourth stage - shereete boo(shaman with goddess). At this stage, the strength that was acquired at the previous stage of initiation is strengthened. The shaman strengthens his connection with the spirits. He can communicate with the khans and zayans, who know the fate of his people. He is given bells or plates, zele (a rope made of twisted animal hair to bring and catch spirits), iseree - a cabinet for storing shamanic accessories, and is also used as a shrine. This initiation stage lasts three years.

Fifth stage hesete boo(shaman with a tambourine). The shaman at this stage acquires perfection in the ability to connect with the spirits of ongons. He receives a mallet and three tambourines: from ox, deer and goat skins. This stage lasts one year.

Sixth stage - horibopu boo(shaman with a staff with horse hooves). This stage, like the fourth, is intended to improve the ability to use the skills acquired at the previous stage. The shaman no longer needs musical instruments to induce the ongod orood state, where one or more spirits inhabit the shaman. He receives a metal staff with a knob in the shape of a horse's head. To enter the ongons, the shaman only needs to hold one staff. This stage lasts three years.

The seventh stage - rengariin orgoshpo boo(shaman in heavenly vestments). The initiation ritual is accompanied by sprinkling of sacred water with Arshaan. This water is brought to a boil by throwing a hot stone from Lake Baikal into it. Then the shaman is sprinkled with vodka. He prays to the Ear of Loson Khan, the owner of the waters. Then the shaman receives a shaman's crown and three more diamonds. After this, he can freely communicate with all the spirits of heaven and earth. The stage lasts three years.

Eighth step - buheli boo(full shaman with vestments), or another name for duuren boo (having everything). A shaman who has reached the eighth stage knows all traditions and masters all shamanic skills. He can control rain, wind and storm, and travel across three worlds. He masters the art of contemplation and concentration. At this stage, he is given a wooden staff with a knob in the shape of a horse’s head, decorated with ringing round wedges and multi-colored stripes, and a hat decorated with the signs of fire and the sun. This stage lasts one year.

Ninth step - tengeriin pshibilgatai zaarin boo(great shaman from the will of heaven), or he was also called “tengeri duudashan” (calling the celestial gods). This is a shaman who has completely mastered all shamanic and witchcraft secrets and powers. He is able to control the weather, move, merging with the spirit of the ongon, to any place, communicate with any physical or spiritual being anywhere in the universe. Having reached this level, the shaman receives three large tambourines and a hat with images of the moon and sun.

And yet, despite the complexity of initiation rites, many shamans consider these external rituals to be secondary to the internal initiation that the shaman goes through when he begins to realize his calling.