110. Shamanizing To The Spirits Of The Lower World
Among the Barguzin and Nerchinsk Tungus a special form of shamanizing is distinguished in which the shaman enters into contact with the spirits of the lower world. The occasions for this form of shamanizing are usually troubles among the clansmen, which may assume greater or smaller dimensions according to the number of people affected and the intensity of individual sufferings. The troubles may differ in character and consist in psychomental disequilibrium, psycho-mental unrest affecting hunting ability, various sicknesses, and
even «lack of luck» in everyday's life. A shaman may be asked to find out the cause. In a special performance, when the shaman calls into himself a spirit, he would find out, with the help of the spirit, the nature of troublesome spirits and ways to neutralize them. In this «small shamanizing» he finds out what has to be done. Thus it may be found out that the spirits of the lower world are responsible, and the only way to neutralize them is to offer them a sacrifice in the lower world and to speak to them «nicely».
As shown, besides various spirits the lower world — orgi dunda — is also peopled by the ancestors' and recently deceased people's souls. The latter have an especially great importance, for these persons may be known personally to the living people, and it is very likely that they may raise particularly strong emotions, especially in children, widows and widowers.
This form of shamanizing is defined by the term orgisk'i, which is used as a «noun», although the literal meaning is «in the direction of orgi» or «lower, western (side)» (cf. my N. T. Terms of orientation, p. 179). The chief action is a sacrifice. The only sacrificial animal which can be used is an adult reindeer. Special preparations for a sacrifice must be made, including temporary placings and the shaman's instruments. During the day or early evening the following things are prepared of larch tree wood:
1. Four narrow planks, about 140-160 centimetres long with a symbolized head; these are four «fishes» (oldol) which form a raft on which the shaman crosses the sea (Lake Baikal) for taking the sacrificial animal to the lower world.
2. A piece, 60 centimetres long and 8 or 10 centimetres in diameter, with an end sharpened like a tail and another one supplied with two horns; it symbolizes toli~joli, — «the taimen» (Lenok Taimen of salmo), which breaks through the rocks, clears up the road from stones and also helps in the sea-voyage; it is put between oldol — fishes.
3. Two stylized bears which go ahead of the shaman, and two stylized boars which keep the raft afloat, if it sinks on the way; and on the land they clear the road through the thick forest.
4. Four small fishes which go ahead of the raft in the sea.
5. Four elks (Alces Alces) — in the form of a piece of a young thin larch tree, about 60 centimetres long — which show the way when the shaman is coming back and which help to row on the raft.
6. Four pieces, wooden planks about 30 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide, put together to form gula — the house in which the people live in the lower world. (It should be noted that in the lower world people are living in houses instead of wigwams!)
7. Four anthropomorphic small pieces called toyoljin (plur. toyoljir) which symbolize spirits watching the four corners of guta; the legs and arms are lacking, the pyramidal upper part, with symbols for eyes and mouth, symbolizes the head.
8. Four anthropomorphic pieces called toyoman (plur. toyomar) which symbolize spirits which help the shaman to take the sacrifice to the lower world; the form is about the same as (7).
9. An anthropomorphic placing made of rotten larch tree, with arms, legs, a carved head, with eyes and mouth, called seva (or sevaja), which is the shaman's spirit helping him to carry the sacrifice; a symbolized knife with a «belt» is attached to the seva.
10. Two wooden staffs with an end spilt, to symbolize the reindeer foot, called oror («the reindeer») on which the shaman travels on the land.
11. Two special «purifying instruments» called s'ipkan or ch'ipkanin each made of tour or eight narrow wooden pieces with notches on one side, put together to form a quadrangle with the notches inside; they are used for purifying the persona present at the performance in order to remove the spirits which might come into the people during the performance and later enter into conflict with the other spirits.
It should be noted that all these paraphernalia, with the exception of taimen and seva, are made in numbers 2, 4, and 8, which is typical of this form of shamanizing. The symbols of various animals and things, which form a complex of paraphernalia, will be used by the shaman during his difficult travelling. If they are properly made, the shaman may do easily, while their absence does not mean that the shaman cannot go to the below world.
First part. When everything is ready and there is no longer light in the western sky, where the sun sets; the clansmen come to the wigwam. Outsiders are not allowed to be present. Together with the other people the shaman arrives, and his permanent paraphernalia are also brought into the wigwam. After taking some tea, the shaman puts on his head-dress and apron. In the meantime the drum is dried on the fire. Then it is handed over to the shaman who begins, slowly and not loudly, to drum. Soon after this he begins to sing. He mentions dunda, orgidunda, toyo («fire») sevak'i, on'o toyo («mother fire»), on'o dunda, («mother earth»), jur garkutal (cf. supra) the name of the clan to the ancestor (dead) of which the sacrifice is offered, etc. In this song-declaration the statement is made of the reason of the sacrifice, to which spirit it is made, and what kind of sacrifice is offered [600]. The tempo and rhythms greatly vary. One of the women continuously produced smoke or a certain resinous plant, not identified, and brought the plant near the shaman, that she could breathe the smoke. (Such a smoking is used in all forms of shamanizing). This part of the performance is concluded by a divination with the drum stick or a cup: the shaman, with closed eyes, throws it into the air with such a calculation that it must turn over several times; if it falls down with the back (convex) up, all present people say chok! [601] which means good, if it falls down with its concave side up, the people remain silent. The drum-stick is handed over to the shaman being held by the end opposite to the handle. After the divination some people continue to take tea, remaining in the wigwam, while the other people prepare outside the second part of the performance.
Second part. The placing for seva (9) is put on the back of the reindeer which is to be sacrificed. The reindeer is led four times around the wigwam, in which the shamanizing takes place, in such a way that the animal must step over the log (turukan, vide infra), which is put on the ground near the fire at a distance of four metres from the wigwam. After this operation, the reindeer is stopped near the fire and killed according to a special ritual. The brain is destroyed by introducing a pointed stick through the aperture in the skull (from the neck). The blood is collected into a birch bark bucket. The skin is taken off together with a part of the skull, the antlers and hoofs. The animal is cut into small pieces to be cooked later. All wooden paraphernalia are sprinkled with blood. Outside of the wigwam a four legged, or two legged platform, about one and a half metre high is erected on which the sacrifice will be put later on put later on. This is the dalkon used in all great sacrifices. Two high posts of young larch tree without branches and leaves, called turukan, are brought into the wigwam vertically and put near the fire-place, so that the tops of the posts protrude from the wigwam. A bunch of white hair from the neck of sacrificed reindeer is attached to the top of the post. One of the posts is connected with the platform by a thong, which is the «road» for spirits. A bell is attached to the thong-road, outside of the wigwam. Four toyoljin and «purifying apparatus» are put outside near the fire. In the wigwam, seva with a knife is attached to the same post.
The raft consisting of four fishes (1) fastened together and the taimen (2) is brought into the wigwam. They are put in the north-western sector of the wigwam and the skin of the reindeer, with the head directed North-West, is put on. The bucket with blood is put near the seva and the reindeer intestines, wound on a small wooden stick are hung up to the turukan. The javdar are put on the wall of the wigwam, the placings for spirits of the shaman are hung up near the raft.
The whole preparation takes about an hour. Then the people again gather in the wigwam and the second part of performance begins.
During this part the shaman must exteriorate his soul and take the immaterial substance of the sacrifice to the lower world. In this operation he has help from various manifestations of his spirits — bear, fishes, boar, anthropomorphic, etc. On his way he meets with various difficulties of the road and attacks of other, unmastered spirits and sometimes of those which are sent by other shamans against him. The spirit seva is carrying the sacrifice, the intestines and the blood (used for sausage!), and is helping the shaman.
The performance runs as shown below. The shaman sits, drumming and singing. He rises, hands the drum to the assistant and takes up the reindeer staffs. He begins to sing, to move rhythmically and from time to time makes short leaps, while his assistant is drumming. On every strophe the assistant and other people reply by repeating either the last words or special words — the refrains. The tempo gradually increases and the replies become more and more persistent and louder. The shaman takes a big cup (about 100 cc.) of vodka, about forty per cent strong, and smokes several pipes of tobacco. Singing, jumping, and general excitement increase. Gradually, the shaman brings himself into extasy. When this happens, the shaman falls down on the raft and remains without moving. Now the drumming is slow and the singing stops. If the shaman remains motionless for too long a time, he is sprinkled with blood, three times. If there is no effect, the shaman is recalled by singing. Then the shaman begins to reply in a weak voice to questions asked (in singing) by two or three persons sitting by his side. Then the shaman rises. This evolution is repeated four times in the same order, the falling down on the raft means that the shaman (naturally his soul) takes a rest.
When the shamanizing is over, they bring a purifying apparatus s'ipkan and put it near the turukan, that the people may go through it. Seva is brought nearer to the raft and is attached to another turukan. The clansmen begin to move from West to East around the fire-place and every one hands over to the shaman a portion of the intestines. The shaman hangs them on the head and shoulder of seva. When the clansmen pass in front of the shaman, he lies down and they step over his body, and passing through the purifying apparatus make two full rounds. After this performance the shaman sings, rather a long time, and at last jumps to the reindeer skin, cuts off two legs and throws them together with seva in a northwestward direction, making a hole in the wigwam cover, it he cannot succeed in opening it without damage. At the same time the raft is quickly dismembered and thrown in the same direction. In the meantime the drumming assumes a very fast tempo and the singing becomes very loud. Finally, the shaman throws himself on the reindeer skin and for a long time remains motionless and silent. Light drumming with singing continues. Then the people begin to call back the shaman. If he does not reply, they sprinkle some blood on him and direct sparks of fire (produced by flint and steel) at him. If there is no effect, the people who are present become very nervous, for the shaman may not return at all and thus die (vide infra).
When the shaman's consciousness returns, the people lift him up, pass around him, produce sparks with flint and steel, ring the bell and beat the drum. They express their joy that the shaman has returned from buni, the world of the dead. Then the shaman sits down, seemingly exhausted and lightly drumming, sings. A divination with the drum-stick is once more performed. Thus the second part of performance is over. The people and the shaman drink tea and eat meat which is already boiled. This part of the performance takes about two hours and may last still longer.
After an interruption lasting two or three hours, i.e. already at daybreak, the third and last part is performed, which is carried on in the same way as the first part. The shaman gives a short address to his spirits, expresses his thanks. In the case here described the intestines were handed over to the mother of one of the oldest clansmen. The reindeer did not belong to this clansman, but to another man who had an extra reindeer. Yet, the old woman's soul being satisfied, the whole clan's ancestors are pleased. The whole performance is naturally a clan business.
According to the Tungus, this performance would not differ very much from other similar performances orgisk'i. I have been told that in main lines the same form of shamanizing is practiced among the Tungus of the Nerchinsk taiga; however, I did not observe this.
One cannot have very often occasion to see this form of shamanizing, for reasons the principal of which is that the travelling to the lower world is considered as a very difficult and dangerous operation for the shaman. There are very few shamans who do it; the same shaman would not do it more than a few times a year. The shaman must also have all necessary paraphernalia, and it is desirable that he should have a reindeer-costume.
It should be noted that most of the actions and paraphernalia are figured in the numbers two four and eight, which distinguishes orgisk'i from the form of shamanizing discussed below.
Shamanizing to the lower world is practised among all Tungus groups. However, many varieties of ritual and purpose exist. As shown in the case of the Reindeer Tungus of Transbaikalia, the aim was to neutralize a malevolent activity of the clansmen's ancestors. The paraphernalia and sacrifice are also quite elaborate, such as are not met with among other groups. The aim of shamanizing may be: (1) a sacrifice to the souls of dead people, personally and known by their names, and to ancestors in general; (2) the bringing back of the soul captured by the spirits, but which can be brought back; (8) the transfer to the lower world of the souls which do not leave this world, without the shaman's interference.
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We have already seen that in the case of the Tungus of Manchuria sacrifices can be carried out by specialists without the special assistance of the shaman. However, if the spirits are not well known, it must be found out by the shaman, and so their assistance is also required for carrying out the sacrifice. If spirits are known and the sacrifice must be taken to a definite spirit (soul), the shamans are asked to carry out this operation. In fact, only shamans can go into the lower world for bringing back the souls of living people. The transfer of the souls to the lower world requires the assistance of a shaman only it there is a reason to suspect that the souls may remain in this world and would thus disturb living people. This is the case of all shamans souls which want to remain in this world and may become new harmful spirits, especially souls of those shamans who were evil-minded persons, as will be shown later.
In Bir. and Kum. the form of shamanizing is defined by a special term (verb) g'eichu [602]. It is very rarely practised by the shamans, for not all of them can stand the difficulties of travelling and dealing with the spirits of the lower world, i.e. not all of the shamans have special seven to help them in this work. Among those groups I have never observed such performances, so that my information regarding this form of shamanizing is gathered from the Tungus. This form of shamanizing can be done only in the dark.
If, according to the shaman's declaration, it is found in a shamanizing (little shamanizing) that a soul is really captured, a sacrifice would be made to the seven in order that he may help to go to the lower world, buni. The nature of the sacrifice depends on that of the particular spirits which help the shaman. The performance is confined to the calling into the shaman the spirit which accepts the sacrifice during the extasy (the shaman eats meat and drinks blood). This constitutes the first part of the performance. The second part is the shaman s travel to the lower world. During this journey the shaman must go down a mountain range (in a northwestern direction), where he may meet with difficulties caused by the spirits of other shamans and other spirits which are in conflict with his own spirits [603]. On his way he has to go through a small hole, near which the spirits and other shamans may capture his soul. The journey is reported by the shaman, who sings all «les peripeties» of his travelling. Sometimes he uses his special implements for self-protection: he covers himself with the toli or the drum to avoid the arrows shot by the spirits; he may fight, shoot the spirits and, lastly, some sacrifice may be offered. At his arrival to the entrance to the lower world the shaman has to cross three rivers, where he meets with the spirits oft the lower world. Finally he enters the world of darkness, and the assistants must produce with steel and flint sparks to light his way «like lightening» [604]. He must find there the soul, and after a fighting or after diplomatic negotiations, he brings it back, meeting again on his way all kinds of difficulties. When the soul is brought back, it is re-introduced into the affected person and with this, the second part is finished.
The last part, which consists of thanksgiving to shaman's spirits for their assistance, is usually carried out on the following day, or even several days later. This is a simple sacrifice performed during the extasy.
Among the Reindeer Tungus of Manchuria «in olden days» (the last shaman who did this had died previous to my visit) used to shamanize to the earth, but there are now no more shamans who can do it.
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Among the Nomad Tungus of Mankova the form of shamanizing to the lower world is quite different. I had no chance to see this performance myself, but I have detailed information of it from the Tungus. The operation is called samalda («shamanize») ergeli; (the same stem as orgi) and it is carried out in the dark (tarildula osi dolbo ocha ergeli, I was told). As sacrifice they use a black domesticated goat. There is made a bom 'i (vide supra) with a face of a piece of birch bark, the eyes, nose, mouth and cheeks being designated with charcoal, and with a body of dry grass. If there is a sick man or woman for whom the shamanizing is needed, a dress for bom'i is made of the dress belonging to the sick person. A black cow is attached outside the tent (it can as well be supposed that the cow was previously killed). The goat is slaughtered and the mouth of bom'i is smeared with the blood. The bones and meat are boiled.
During the extasy, when the shaman reaches the lower world, he lies down and all people who are present including women, turn three times around the fire-place and jump over the shaman (as among the Reindeer Tungus). The shaman remains on the ground for about half an hour. Experienced men hold his ankles and count the movements of the articulation or pulsation (I could not find out which). After nine «movements» it is supposed that the shaman has done his business in the lower world, and with the smoke of burning laedum palustrum he is brought back to consciousness. Three wooden sticks (ark'ivun), with seven pieces of goat meat fixed on each of them, are attached to the belt of bom'i. The spirit buni (a spirit of the lower world) is introduced into bom'i by the shaman. Then the bom'i is put on the black cow and taken in a south-eastern direction, where, at a certain distance from the tent, it is thrown away. However, the cow is not killed, but is handed over alive to the shaman. The meat of the goat is not eaten by the people. It is thrown away together with the bom'i.
The following should be noted: (1) the use of the cow as the animal preferred by the buni spirits (cf. the dog among the Manchus, the reindeer among the Tungus; in fact, some populations of Manchuria as well as of other neighbouring regions still use the cow as draught animal, cf. SONT); (2) the use of a black cow and a black goat, of which the latter is not eaten by the people; (3) the direction in which the sacrifice is sent is the South-East, while among other Tungus groups it is the North-West; (4) the numbers of acts are three and seven. However, the shaman works through his seven and sevek'i (spirits and placings).
It is evident that this form is different from other forms described, and it can be supposed that it is not a Tungus invention.
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Among the Manchus this form of shamanizing is designated by the verb xan'alamb'i, which in the Manchu complex is «to go (the shaman) to the dead world» (bucheye gurun). What may happen during the travelling to the lower world is described in the Manchu poem Nisan saman. This poem or record of shamanizing is in so far as I know, the only document written on shamanism [605]. It relates the story of a case that happened at the time of the Ming Dynasty. A young man, the son of a rich man, Yuan Wei (juan wei), who lived in a village by the name of Lolo, went to the Hsi-ling Shan mountains for hunting. During this hunting trip he died. The female shaman, named Nisan, took on herself the task of bringing back the soul of the young man, and she shamanized accordingly. Her shamanizing-visit to the lower world, meeting with the various spirits, including her own husband and other people finding of the young man's soul and restoring it were recorded.
Of course all shamans know this book. However, as shown, they do not imitate each other to an absolute degree, but every shaman does something of his own. Therefore Nisan saman is not an exhaustive document for giving a description of the spirits used by the shamans and the methods employed by them. Furthermore, the ritual side is only partly represented.
The shamanizing to the lower world is also rare among the Manchus. However, I have observed it three times, which, together with Nisan saman and various oral communications of the Manchus, both shamans and common people, give altogether a rather complete picture of this performance. One of the performances on which I base the present description was carried out by a Chinese (n'ikan) shaman.
The existence of Chinese shamans will be discussed later, but now I want to point out that the difference between the Manchus and Chinese shamans in the routine of performance is confined only to the language.
The case which required a shamanizing was under my observation for nearly eighteen months with interruptions. In a family of a former petty official, who with the downfall of the Manchu Dynasty lost his position, a small boy eight years old fell sick. In so far as I could guess, he had first pleuritis and afterwards various troubles of kidneys and water metabolism. He was attended by thirteen Chinese local doctors and several shamans. I saw three complete and very elaborate performances, one of which was to deal with the lower world. None of them could find out the cause of the sickness and the means of curing it. Generally people were inclined to think that spirits were the real cause of the sickness. This time, after a preliminary shamanizing, it was found out that the cause of the trouble might be a shaman, a relative of the boy's father, who had died long ago. The shaman wanted therefore to see him personally and to ask him what he wanted. The shaman, a huge heavy and muscular Chinese (n'ikan), was considered as a very able man. He worked chiefly only with ten vochko — which is quite sufficient for a shaman — of which five vochko were Chinese spirits, n'ikan vochko, namely:
1. ch'uchin saman — «the earth-worm shaman»
2. ar wei kun'ang shifu (saman) — «two girls teachers (shamans)»
3. xoshan laoje — «the fire spirit» (which is not afraid of fire)
4. taosin laoje — «the sharp implements and arms spirit» (which is not afraid of sharp implements and arms)
5. chungi kudu chivei jangjun — «the hedge-hog spirit» (very small and rolling)
6. the wolf spirit
7. the chief (talaxa in Manchu) Tungus spirit
8. the second Tungus spirit
9. the third Tungus spirit
10. this last spirit was not identified
This shaman was quite popular and quite busy, being invited to visit some villages situated in remote regions. He naturally was an amba saman and could attend people belonging to different clans. In observing this shaman I came to the conclusion that he was a professional, i.e. that he lived on this profession.
Since the case here described was difficult, he was assisted by another shaman, a Manchu, who performed the duties of the chief assistant, and there were two other assistants.
The performance began after sunset. An ordinary table was put on the amba nayan (the principal bed-stove, facing the entrance) with the following sacrifice: two cups with millet, with three sticks of burning incense in each; fifteen (three times five) rolls of Chinese bread (mantou); seven small cups of Chinese wine (two bottles left on the table); two bank-notes of one rouble each; and in the middle of the table a boiled chicken, the blood of which had been taken away before the cooking.
The shaman took oft his clean coat and put on a rather worn one, for he might roll it when falling down to the floor. First he refused to put on a belt with trinkets, for fear of attracting the attention of the policeman (the Chinese government, as stated, prohibited shamanism and persecuted shamans, so that they had to consider this when shamanizing). However, he decided to put it on, for the police station was far away, and the policemen did not leave the station; and the house was standing far from the main road (on the bank of the river).
The boy's father, who himself was p'oyun saman of his clan, after burning some incense, prayed his clan spirits to excuse him that he went to the help of a stranger shaman who was not of their clan. It was necessary to do this for avoiding a conflict between the spirits of the shaman and those of the clan, which may result in further complications of the disease. The shaman who failed to cure the boy, did the same, begging his own spirits to abstain from any hostility against the spirits of the acting shaman.
The acting shaman made an appeal to all his spirits: Chinese, Manchu and Tungus. He explained the case and asked for assistance. Then he called his principal spirit (vochko). He took up the drum, beat rhythmically and sang. Extasy approached; the rhythm changed and the tempo increased. The assistants were ready with a rug on which the shaman might fall when the spirit came. Then the spirit arrived, the shaman trembled, jumped, still producing a rhythmical noise with s'isa; then suddenly he handed over to the assistant the drum and fell down upon the rug. The assistant asked him questions and from the dialogue one could understand that the shaman was to go to the lower world.
Two ilxa mo, — «the blooming trees» — were now prepared. These were two branches of willow tree with smaller branches, the ends of which were broken off. The branches were adorned with paper of five different colours: white, red, blue, yellow and green (perhaps black?). This is the tree which attracts the spirits of the lower world: souls are living on beautiful trees. The «trees» must be put in a «beautiful» (gay and joyful) place (however, this could not be done, I think for two reasons: the season was not favourable, for the middle of April is too cold; and the shamanizing might have attracted the attention of the policemen), or inside of the house, near the door. On a table placed under the «trees» there were put four cups with Chinese wine (xanshin), 5×3 fifteen rolls of Chinese bread, five plates with nuts, dates (zyziphus jujubii), candies etc. i.e. «five kinds of fruits», two cups with millet in which burning stick-incense was put and a cup with fresh chicken blood. This sacrifice must be exposed at the moment when the shaman reaches the lower world.
The shaman introduced into himself (drumming, singing, «ecstasy») the spirit «wolf». The physical effect of the extasy is that the shaman's body is very rigid, the legs are stretched, the arms are bent and the elbows are pressed against the body. The shaman was brought into the room, and put on the rug in front of the table with the sacrifice. The assistants tried to bend his legs and straighten his arms: the articulations produced a noise, but the assistant could not make the body relax. After several movements the limbs relaxed and the shaman lay with his abdomen and face down. The shaman kept in his arms a cushion covered with a blanket. Then the light was blown out and the action continued in the dark. The shaman was singing, making a noise with s'isa, scratched the earth of the floor (the earthen floor of the house) «like a wolf». The assistants tried to find out what the shaman saw and what he said. As a matter of fact, his speech was rather confused. The result obtained was that that the old shaman-ancestor did not do harm, but the sickness was due to a spirit of the group mafa. The spirit some six or seven years previously was brought by the father from the upper course of the Amur River (in fact he used to deal with another Manchu in smuggling alcohol). In order to make this mafa benevolent, it was necessary to erect a temple (m'ao), where a placing (a picture) of this spirit was to be put and regular sacrifices offered. However, the father was not certain about it and asked for confirmation once more. It was again confirmed that the spirit mafa wanted to have a special m'ao. After this the blooming tree, together with the sacrifice, was thrown away, far from the house, and some paper money was burnt as sacrifice to the dead people (the ancestors). Then the shaman returned to his normal state. He now sat as usual on the stove-bed, tired, and sweating.
With this operation the shamanizing to the lower world was finished. However, the shaman continued the performance by dealing with other methods to restore the soul, which will be described in another section.
Among the Goldi the form of going to the lower world is of great importance, for the shaman must take the souls of dead people to that world, while this is done only in rare cases among the other groups here described. The first operation with the soul in Goldi, according to I. A. Lopatin, is called n'imgan, which in other languages is merely «to shamanize», [n'imya (RTM, Bir. Nerc.) — «to shamanize»] while the last operation is the actual settling of the soul in the lower world. It is called kaza taor'i [A. Lopatin, - p. 309, which, I think, is merely gaza dor'i; cf. gasambi (Manchu — «to sorrow, to cry, etc.»; and gasa (Goldi, Grube), — «traurig werden», — doro~dor'i— «the custom, practice, law, etc.»]. This operation is sometimes postponed till the time when the people have money enough (vide A. Lopatin op. cit. pp. 310) and also until there is a shaman who can do it, for there are only a few shamans who can perform it (cf. L. Stern-berg, Divine Election, p. 478) [606]. This fact is very interesting as a peculiar specialization of shamanism for the purpose or taking human souls to the lower world. Two descriptions of the shaman's travelling are given by P. P. Simkevic and I. A. Lopatin. Therefore I shall not reproduce it here. There are some differences of the details, partly due to the manner of observation and recording.
In one or another form shamanizing to the lower world is known among the neighbouring groups of the Goldi, such as the Oroci, and Udehe. However, no detailed accounts are known.
600. As during the shamanizing, the shaman (a female) was evidently improvising, owing to the circumstances, it was impossible to record the text of the declaration.
601. The expression chok! is not used only by the Tungus; e.g. the Eniseians have suuk! («Let it be so!») (cf. Anuchin, An outline of shamanism among Enissy Ostiaks in Publ. Of. Mus. A. and E., Vol. II. Cf. choekoe=choko (Yakut, Pek) — «the same, in good time, exactly», etc.
602. I do not know the etymology of this term. The Tungus «translate» it as «to go to buni», and in Manchu it is xan'alamb'i. 603. Therefore the shaman must be very careful when he selects the spirits to be used for this operation.
604. A functional difference should be noted in the using of flint among the Reindeer Tungus of Transbaikalia (vide supra) and the Tungus of Manchuria.
605. In 1916 I found a copy of this poem near Aigun and it was translated and analysed. This document is rather long. My copy contains between nine and ten thousand Manchu words which, in printed form with translation and notes, would form a work four times larger than the original text. Owing to this, that work cannot be included in the present publication. Also for the present main topic, not all of the details are interesting.
606. L. Sternberg (op. cit.) asserts that the shaman whom he happened to meet «was the greatest» for «he was the only one who performed the last office of commemoration, i.e. he conveyed the souls of all dead Goldis to the buni». But L Sternberg somewhat exaggerates the importance of his chief informer. As shown, actually such shamans are not as rare as that as that and the question actually is about the shamanizing to the lower world in general — not all shamans can do it, but usually (among the Manchus and Tungus) this operation is done for the benefit of clansmen. Thus, every clan usually has a shaman who can go to the lower world, but does not do it very frequently.