SHAMANISM

SHAMANISM (from the Evenk language shaman, saman – exited, ecstatic person) is one of the earliest forms of religion based on the idea that a shaman (priest of the cult) communicates with the spirits during kamlaniye singing (mystical action). It is connected with animism, magic, totemism, fetishism; its elements are included into different religious systems. Sacrifices are typical for S. A shaman’s soul is believed to leave his body during the kamlaniye singing and travel around other worlds: it ascends to the sky (upper world) and descends to the ground (lower world). S. was expanded to a huge part of Bashkir pre-Islamic beliefs, the elements of S. co-existed with Islam. Descriptions of ritual shaman actions are in the researches of I.I. Lepyekhin, S.I. Rudenko, etc. Shamans (seer, seeing a Shaytan, bakses) used to heal ill people by banishing the evil spirits possessing a person’s body. They used to hold rituals called “Shaytan’s game”, less often “Exorcism of the evil powers, spirits”, “Exorcism of a Genie”, etc.; they also used to summon rain with special stones, look for missing people, objects, forecast the future, etc.; they used to summon spirit-protectors by casting spells and special formulas.