Introduction
The third part of the rituals that concern children is the ritual to call the soul of a child.
The shaman's song addressed to invoking the soul of a child
The Tuvans had the most archaic conception of illness, of the soul of a child, which in some places still exists today. Our informant Aleksey Bair said: "Chash urug kudu bukulekhsinge choruur". Literal translation: "A young child's soul is where the crown is." Our informant Medici Mongush said of the occurrence of childhood diseases: "Urug korgutpanar, hoodu chailai beer." Literal translation: "Do not frighten the child, his soul will disappear." During his studies, L.P. Potapov concluded that ... the most ignorant and ridiculous beliefs and views about the causes of the disease and protecting the child's health from evil spirits were widespread among the population ... "
According to our informants, not a single childhood illness went without the shaman's ritual. In a word, where the child got sick, was a shaman. Among the Tuvans, the most common illness in children was called urug kudu chailaan, literally: "the child's soul is gone", this signified the beginning of an illness in the infant. Then a shaman was invited to perform a ritual dedicated to invoking the soul of a child. Here is a small example of an algysh aimed at conjuring up a baby's soul:
Example
On the surface of dairy products
Let the souls of young children descend.
Kurai! Kurai! Kurai! Kurai!
Children whose cradles are made of gray willow
Children who feed on the mother's breast
Children whose cheeks are round, may your soul come!
Kurai! Kurai! Kurai! Kurai!
Children whose cradles are made of double-barreled willow,
Children lying on goatskin
Children, may your soul return here!
Kurai! Kurai! Kurai! Kurai!
Explanation
The Tuvanes associated the wisest, prosperity and wealth with the concept of milk. According to Tuvans, milk is the primarily food. In our example, the concept of the well-being of human life is particularly expressed: when the soul of a baby appears on the surface of milk, it indicates that the child's deceased soul has already returned and the child is alive and will grow happily. Then the shaman sings about a primitive baby cradle in which this child will sleep and grow. When words about milk, cradles and a plea for a baby's soul are heard, it is psychological and the shaman overcomes the doubts of the listeners and parents. This technique is used in various forms in shamanic algyshs. From this we can conclude that the world of children occupies a special position in shamanic folklore. Urug hudu chail aaryu or the shedding of a child's soul "was very common in children aged one to three years, according to a broad section of the Tuva population.
S.I. Weinstein wrote: "When a baby became ill, a shaman was called who normally shamanized without a tambourine." The main thing for us is the recognition of an expert in Tuvan history that a shaman can sing without a tambourine. But one cannot be a shaman without algyshes, which are necessary in every shamanic ritual, including the rite of invoking the soul of a child.
Source
The information comes from the Russian book "Tuvan Shamans" by Kenin Lopsan, the living monument of the shamans, they have been translated by me and edited so that it is understandable. The pictures are slides from my trip to Tuva in 2004.
Links to the last two articles on this topic (about 20 more can be found in the depths of my blog):
See you next time! / Bis nächstes Mal!
Thank you for your attention! / Danke für Deine Aufmerksamkeit!
Original content by
Schaman Gerbert 