Riding Windhorses: A Journey into the Heart of Mongolian Shamanism by Sarangerel

Author:Sarangerel
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Shamanism
ISBN: 9781594775383
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2000-02-29T16:00:00+00:00

Soul Retrieval

Soul retrieval is usually necessary in cases of severe and chronic illness. The absence of the ami or suns souls makes it practically impossible for a body to function normally. Children are especially susceptible to soul loss until about the age of seven, when the souls become effectively stabilized within the body. For this reason parents often obtain an energized toli (mirror) from a shaman to protect small children. Also, there are several customs to confuse the spirits so that the child is not attacked. One custom involves changing a child’s name or giving it such names as Enebish, Terbish, Nergui, Nohoibish, Muu Nohoi, or Baahan (respectively, “not this,” “not that,” “no name,” “not the dog,” “bad dog,” or “shit”). Parents also customarily refrain from praising small children excessively, and until a child talks, it is referred to as being muuhai (disgusting). Among the Buryats there was also a custom of making a shaman the naija (friend) of a small child so that his spirits would extend their protection to the baby.

Evil or jealous spirits will steal souls out of pure spite or mischief. The most dangerous of free-ranging spirits are the suld or suns souls of young people who did not come of age and who resent the good fortune of people who have become parents.

In other cases, soul loss due to spirit interference may be the result of excessive attachment between a living person and someone who has died. Mongols and Siberians believe that it is literally dangerous to think or talk too much about recently dead relatives, for the suns souls of these people linger near their relatives and friends for a certain period of time before going to the lower world. Thinking too much about past attachment to dead people may cause the suns soul of the living person to follow the dead friend or relative to the lower world, or perhaps become lost on the way. The greatest danger is to children whose mothers have died.

Of the three souls that reside in the body, the ami gets lost the most easily; often just being scared, sneezing, or otherwise letting the breath out suddenly may expel it. However, the ami soul remains in this world and can generally be easily found and returned to the body by a shaman. Ami souls of small children can often be called back by their parents. A lost suns soul may linger near the body, but if it goes on to the lower world a difficult and dangerous journey by the shaman is required to bring it back. When a lost soul is found, it is placed in the shaman’s ear or inside the drum for the return trip, then shaken back out into the body. When a spirit has stolen a soul, the shaman may need to fight the spirit to let it go. Soul retrievals are the most dangerous work for shamans because they have to travel outside their bodies for long distances and they are vulnerable to attack and soul loss themselves during the journey.

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