Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (PRE-BUDDHIST BELIEFS): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
The ancestors of the Kalmyks, several Oirat tribes, are known to have set out on a westward journey from the land of Dzungaria (today the northern half of China's Xinjiang province, western Mongolia, and eastern Kazakhstan) at the beginning of the seventeenth century. By 1630 they had reached the territory of today's Kalmykia to establish the Kalmyk Khanate (1630-1771). Although they adhered to both Buddhism and shamanism, the latter was officially banned among the Kalmyks following the historic 1640 meeting of Mongol and Oirat lords at which Buddhism was declared as the state religion. According to the new law, not only shamans but also those who sought their services were subject to severe punishment. Following the official ban, shamans, however, did not disappear overnight. In Kalmykia in the eighteenth century there existed several types of specialist who practiced various aspects of shamanism, including medlgch, bo, and udgn. But under pressure from the Buddhist establishment and later the Orthodox Christian Church, by the nineteenth century, as foreign travelers observed, bo and udgn had already been shamanising without traditional shamanic implements such as mirrors, drums and other 'musical' instruments. In this way, they looked less 'shamanic' and acted more like healers and bone-setters. Today shamanic elements have survived mainly in traditional medicine, especially in the healing rituals and practices of Kalmyk folk healers known as medlgch (lit. 'those who know').
The healing repertoire of a medlgch is wide-ranging, encompassing many aspects of the lives of Kalmyks. People struck by bad luck, suffering from all sorts of ailments, loss, addiction, phobias, infertility, sleepwalking, and those who are haunted by malevolent ancestral and other spirits, all visit medlgch. These folk healers purport to derive their healing powers from deities or spirits whom they accept as their guardian patrons during special initiation rituals. There are several kinds of deities that offer patronage and guardianship, the most popular being Tsagan Aav (White Old Man, a shamanic deity later included in the Buddhist pantheon) and Okn Tengr (Maiden Sky, is a female deity who has a dual nature. Sometimes she is regarded as a shamanic goddess of fire, especially during clan rituals involving fire sacrifices, and sometimes she is seen as the Buddhist deity Palden Lhamo). Other guardians are ‘traditional’ Buddhist deities that are responsible for health, longevity, wisdom, music, and fortune. In this sense, today old Kalmyk beliefs survive being heavily mixed with Buddhism.
Nadvid says that when he was 9, the temple that belonged to his clan was destroyed. The temple consisted of four buildings each dedicated to a particular deity. Nadvid also says that the holiday of Zul is followed by a period called Jilin Ezn (Master of the Year) during which people pray to Tsagan Aav and read prayers for 3 days. During this time it is forbidden to swear, drink alcohol or take out rubbish from the house.
Tatyana says that during Siberian exile, her family was housed in a building where all its previous occupants had died. One day Tatyana and her younger brother stayed home alone when her brother, looking at the hall, said: ‘Grandfather!’ Tatyana turned her head to see an old man with beard, holding a stick in his hand and carrying a sack on his back. In the evening her brother had fever. Tatyana’s maternal uncle often wrestled with donam spirits at a well where he watered his horses. Although onlookers could not see the donam spirits, they could hear the donam spirits breath heavily when they fought with Tatyana’s uncle. After each fight, her uncle would come home exhausted and tired. There is a story about one woman who plucked a bundle of hair from an almus spirit whom she met on the steppe. The woman brought the hair home and put it on her altar. When she went out to fetch water, the almus came to her house and asked her child to bring its hair from the altar, because it could not approach the altar. Having received its hair, the spirit threw the child into the hearth with fire where the child died of burns.
Gennadiy says that in the past various Mongol groups, including the Oirats, adhered to many religions including Tengrianism, shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity, and Islam. Today Buddhism, however, is the most common religion among these groups. Elements of old beliefs have partly been preserved in Kalmyk customs, folklore, in the ritual of fire worship, ancestral worships, clan ribbons, and in the heroic epic Jangar. Elements that have shamanic origin today are intertwined with Buddhism to such a degree that they became indistinguishable from Buddhist elements.
Maria says that when she was young she knew a man called Boora who alleged to wrestle with spirits known as shulmus and almus. Tsatsa near Volgograd was famous as a haunted place. Maria heard from her elders that evil spirits appear in the evening and are most active at midnight. People can protect themselves from evil spirits by staying indoors at night or reading special prayers.
Erdni reads his poem ‘Delkyan Ezn Tsagan Aav’ (White Old Man, Master of the Universe). This poem is dedicated to the deity White Old Man who is believed by Kalmyks to be the Master of the Universe and the patron saint of all living beings. The poem describes this deity, how Kalmyks pray to him, and includes a passage where the poet wishes all living beings to live in happiness under the divine protection of Old White Man.
Tsagan says that before World War II Kalmyk land was abundant with evil spirits of both ‘shulm’ and ‘dogam’ kinds. Some farms were known for their ‘shulm’ spirits that sang and danced at night and knocked on people’s doors and windows. A place called Chimd, for example, was known for its ‘dogam’ spirits. In 1938, after paying a visit to her relatives, Tsagan’s mother was travelling home through Chimd where she came across a big black dog that appeared out of nowhere. Her horse refused to go further. As soon as she got off her horse, the dog disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Tsagan’s mother arrived home safe and sound for she had a whip made from the wood of the sacred tyavlgn tree.
Maria recounts what she heard from her parents regarding evil spirits. There are spirits called ‘dogam’ which have long hair covering their whole bodies. People who meet a dogam cannot reach the place where they set out to go. If you meet a dogam spirit, it is better to turn round and go back where you came from. Maria also says that her father used to say that only infants are pure and innocent. Grown-up people commit all kinds of sin, knowingly and unknowingly, all the time, for example by eating meat. Hence the importance of prayers to repent one’s sins.
Bosya says the following: After the Kalmyks were deported to Siberia, the Russians who stayed behind moved into their empty houses. Some of them saw ghosts and evil spirits in the empty houses. Russians saw fire loating on the ground, people appearing and disappearing. One day a Russian girl, I heard, came home only to find all of her belongings being piled in the middle of the room. It is believed that ‘dogam’ spirits who look like humans can be distinguished by their feet that are twisted backwards. In the past, people saw evil spirits usually on the steppe.
Mingiyan talks about how to protect oneself from evil spirits and relays two stories about people who encountered spirits:
Dordzhi says that in the past the groom’s representatives came for the bride early in the morning. On the way back, it was customary for them to stop and make the bride to bow to the Tsagdul tree, which is a lonely tree growing in the middle of the steppe.
Nikolai recounts what happened to his maternal uncle who was a manager on a farm in Tsagan-Nur.
Nikolai says that this ritual is performed for people who are very sick. For this, one should make a small figure of a human from dough, wrap the figure into a cloth that belongs to the sick person, and burn it. It is also possible to bury this figure at the crossroad of three roads. Monks, however, perform this ritual differently. The relatives of the sick person should buy a living being destined to be killed. For example, a fish caught by fishermen. While the monk reads prayers, the living being should be released into nature.
Zoya says that not far from her village there is a place called Nizina Donam. People who walk through that place at night could cover as little as 3 kilometres during the whole night, because they walk in circles. This circling stops only at dawn, when a rooster cries.
Olga relays a story about the spiritual masters of nature. She heard from her elders that these local spirits are the souls of the deceased who did not leave the place. They constantly demand offerings from the living. Tsagan Aav, Green Tara, and White Tara are only three of them. Olga also says that in the past there was only one monk who was referred to as ‘lama’ and the rest were referred to as ‘gelyung’. Monks did not wear underwear. During holidays and rituals, monks put on a red cloth, and on top they put a yellow robe.
Olga says that in the past there were both male and female shamans in Kalmykia who worshipped goats. Believed to be protected by deities of ‘the black side’, shamans performed black magic. In Elista, there lived a woman called Avga who was a shaman and who had six red goats. In general, people who are engaged in black magic not only tend to torment their close relatives but also go crazy themselves. However, after accepting the patronage of black deities, these people begin to cure others. One of Olga’s relatives, who lived in Bashanta, fell ill. No hospitals that they went to, no doctors that they saw could help her. At that time there was one old man in Zalivnoy who could do divination. In his youth he was a monk, but following the revolution had to disrobe. After seeing Olga’s relative, the old man determined the source of her illness: she had taken three ‘colourful’ and one ‘empty’ thing from someone. It turned out that the woman had indeed taken from her Russian neighbor three turkeys and an empty bucket. As soon as she returned these things to her Russian neighbor, the woman recovered.
Sangadzhi-Garya reminisces about evil spirits that allegedly dwelled in the dunes when he was working on the construction of the Kizlyar-Astrakhan railway in 1942.
Tsagan says that evil spirits come out in the evening and therefore it is not a good time for people to set off on a journey. If a person happens to get to the road when it is already dark, he/she should stop and wait until dawn. She recounts a story that happened to her uncle. One evening her uncle set out on a journey. He was riding a cart pulled by an old horse, which he hoped would know its way. After several hours when he did not reach the destination, he began to get worried. It was only in the morning that he understood that he had been driving around in circles. Old people say that evil spirits tend to multiply before wars or times of trouble. If evil spirits haunt someone on the road, in order to get away from them, that person needs to whip the air with a whip or to fire with a gun. A woman can swear loudly.
This video features a ritual that was performed by monks during the opening ceremony of a statue of Tsagan Aav in Ketchenery rayon, Kalmykia, south-west Russia.
In the steppe there are many places that are haunted by evil spirits. A place not far from our cattle station is such a place. People who travel there at night usually get lost and stray away. Once a year we invite a monk to read prayers and cleanse that place. In spite of being haunted, the place itself is very good in terms of vegetation. The water there is clean and the grass very juicy and high. No matter how difficult the year may be, livestock that grazes there stay fat and healthy. I don’t know what shulmus spirits look like, but besides them there are other evil beings called erlg and chodkr. I often heard that these beings make people stray away at night. I also heard that they live near cemeteries. Whoever is near a cemetery after sunset runs a danger of having their soul seized by an erlg. After that soulless people die quickly.
Anatoliy relays a story about how in his childhood a cat saved him from a snake. That snake, according to his grandfather, was Anatoliy’s guardian-protector.
Vladimir relays a story of how he encountered an evil spirit (shulmus) in his childhood and he says what he thinks of shulmus
In the old days, in the place called Shandib, there were a lot of shulmus (evil spirits, demons). For example, a man was riding a cart and suddenly the wheel came off and rolled off. This was thought to be caused by demons, domam. Another story was that a man tied up his horse and left, on his return he found that horse’s mane was braided. Although I do not believe in such stories, I do remember that once myself and three other women worked in a cattle barn in Shandib. We had a little time and left our horse harnessed. After finishing work, we cleaned our clothes, climbed into the cart, pulled the reins, but the horse remained standing. I hopped off the cart and saw that the reins were relinked and the breeching was cut. Who could do this? The horse couldn’t do it, it could only tear the reins. We were surprised, we tied the horse bridles with wire and went to see the shepherd, who lived nearby. We asked him, ‘Did anyone approach our horse?’. He answered ‘No’. Then we got scared. There was little water in the steppe, we took water from a pit (such pits were dug in places where there was water under the ground). Sometimes I had to go out to collect water from a pit at twilight. When I came back home, two grey dogs always followed me. Grandmother Pyurveeva told me that early one morning she went to the warehouse and queued. She was standing when suddenly someone said to her, ‘Anya, is that you?’ and slapped her on her shoulder. She looked and saw a hand all covered in hair. This really happened.
Mergen says that although shamanism ceased to exist in Kalmykia, some elements of paganism, including rituals of appeasing the spiritual masters of land, are preserved in Kalmyk culture in the form of rituals. The Kalmyks implemented the anti-shaman laws of 1640 more stringently than other Mongolian groups, which resulted in the eradication of this belief.
Dzhidzha relays stories about people encountering shulmus spirits. This is her story:
It is believed that shulmus (evil spirits) live in the steppe and make people go astray. My mother told me a story about my grandfather who one day was riding his cart, when shulmus spirits jumped on it and had a ride for some time. When my grandfather turned around, they jumped off and disappeared. There is another story that happened to my father. One day my father was riding a horse when shulmus tied its legs. To untie, one has to take a knife and cut the invisible hobble on the horse’s legs. According to another story, one man set out on a journey at night. In the steppe his saddle fell off, caused by shulmus. On a bare horse back, the man reached a pastureland and lit a fire only to see the shulmus spirits gather around it and sit down. They looked hairy like monkeys. The man picked up his belongings on his way home the next morning.
Dzhidzha has witnessed a substitute ritual that was performed by a woman who fell ill. A woman wiped her body with dough and sculpted a human figurine from the dough. She dressed the figurine with a piece of cloth and threw this little figurine far away.
Dordzhi says that in the past the Cheerya Temple had a basement where lived a huge snake that the monks fed with meat during celebrations. Later in Soviet times people also witnessed huge snakes crawling on the steppe. There is a belief that spiritual masters of nature appear in the form of a snake.
Dordzhi says that married women (who marry to other clans) are considered to be ‘dead’ by their paternal relatives. During a wedding, the groom brings a sacrificial sheep to the bride’s family. This sheep is either used for the ritual of amnya dolig (known by Kalmyks as a ‘fire ritual’) or donated to the temple.
One day a rather strange thing happened in the village where Viktoria is originally from. A young Kalmyk man saw a horse gallop straight into his yard. Without a second thought, the man took the horse and tried to domesticate it. When he failed, the man killed the horse for meat. People who bought the meat fell ill and the man himself also died soon afterwards. The person who helped butcher the horse also developed a problem in his hands. Alarmed by this, the local people went to see a monk who said that the horse was the Master of the Year and it was wrong to kill it.
Ubush heard this story from his uncle. One day his uncle was travelling in the steppe and got lost. He came across a well but no matter how hard he tried he could not get away from the well. Something was pulling him back. Ubush himself did not experience a similar occurrence, but admits that many remote, uninhabited places may be haunted. He also heard of one derelict building in Elista believed to be haunted by spirits. Ubush’s grandmother had an ability to bring the rain. She used to go to the steppe with other women to pray. After prayers it usually rained. In order to cleanse themselves Kalmyks wash their hands with water and milk. This ritual is performed especially after funerals.
Tsagan Aav is the protector of all Kalmyks, irrespective of their clan affiliation. Usually he is depicted in a white robe holding a stick. There is a sutra about how the Buddha Shakyamuni met Tsagan Aav. According to the sutra, the former asked ‘Who are you?’ to which the latter replied, ‘I bring happiness to people’. When the Kalmyks migrated westwards from Dzungaria, they brought with them nomadic Buddhist temples. Since in the new place there were no stones to build traditional ovoo (i.e. piles made of stone that serve as a place where to perform rituals), Kalmyks regard small hills as the equivalent of ovoo.
Ekaterina says that she has a picture of Tsagan Aav depicted as a standing sage (as opposed to a sitting one). From her friend she heard that Tsagan Aav comes to the dreams of those people who work on land. Ekaterina shares her observation that today many Kalmyks have Tsagan Aav on their altar, although in the past this deity was not as popular. According to her, growing belief in Tsagan Aav is one possible explanation of why this deity is so popular today.
The spiritual masters of localities (i.e. hills, trees, water sources, etc.) can take any animal form, including that of snakes, birds and so on. They may either help or harm people. One day when Sangadzhi was performing the ritual of gal tyalgn he saw a dog running around. After the ritual the dog disappeared. Sangadzhi thinks that the dog was a local spirit. The Kalmyks worship Tsagan Aav, who is regarded as the protector of the Kalmyk land and the master of the Universe. This deity can also harm or help people. Buddhist monks acknowledge the existence of such local spirits. However, they advise people not to worship but to make offerings to such entities. Sangadzhi says that images of Buddhist deities possess power which comes from the depicted deities themselves. Therefore, deities may demand that people who have their images in possession perform a special ritual whereby they accept these deities as protectors. It also happens that sometimes people may invite deities unwittingly by purchasing their images. Deities-protectors should be offered food and candles, and mantras should be read to them during fasting days. In Kalmyk belief, deities choose people. Even nonreligious people can have the kind of problems that can be solved only with the help of religion and accepting deities as protectors. Sometimes deities may skip generations, but eventually they choose descendants and demand certain rituals. Sangadzhi warns that people should be very careful when handling the images of deities. If one happens to have a newspaper with an image of a deity, that person should take that newspaper to a temple. Damaged religious objects, including beads, have to be washed in a running water, for it is believed that running water cleanses. If one has religious objects inherited from ancestors lying idle in the house, that person should consult a monk or a folk healer as to what to do with these objects. It is also important for Kalmyks to keep the picture of their clan deities at home. It is not advisable to buy images of various deities and put them on one’s domestic altar. It is also forbidden to throw away or to give away such images, because by doing so one may give away his/her own luck. If someone receives a picture of a deity as a present, it is a good sign for the receiver. The receiver has to compensate the giver with money. Some people had monks among their ancestors. The spirits of monks may demand that their descendants accept them as protectors in the way Buddhist deities do.
Sangadzhi says that folk healers (medlegchi) should be differentiated from shamans. In Kalmykia, what doesn’t belong to Buddhism is lumped together under the title of shamanism. According to Sangadzhi, shamans are those who establish contact with spirits (dukhi) and receive information from them. Shamans enter into a trance state with the help of chanting and bodily movements and in this way become a vessel for spirits. Shamans may ask spirits to send the rain, etc. In other words, shamanism deals with the spirits, or spiritual masters of localities (such as mountains, trees, water sources, etc.) Folk healers, by contrast, establish contact with Buddhist deities (that protect Kalmyk clans) by chanting mantras. It is these Buddhist gods that help Kalmyk folk healers. Sangadzhi contends that all rituals require energy. For folk healers it is their Buddhist deities (clan protectors) that serve as a source of energy. For shamans it is spirits or spiritual masters of localities. In order to ask Buddhist deities for help, folk healers first need to accept them as their protectors by performing a special ritual of acceptance. After such rituals, folk healers become conductors of the energy emanating from their deity-protectors which they use to cure ill people. Having said this, not all folk healers use help from deities. There are healers referred to as khar syakustya khun (lit. ‘a person who has a black deity- protector’). Such healers do not perform the ritual of accepting deities as their protectors. Despite this, they can still heal others by using their own energy. As a result, when their energy depletes or runs low, such healers fill the void with negative energy. Before performing any ritual, folk healers ask their deity-protectors for permission. If they do not ask, their protectors may punish them.
Sangadzhi says that the forces of evil and good are constantly fighting over human souls. All temptations, desires and the bad come from evil spirits called shulmus. That is why it is important to resist temptations, envy, greed, pride, attachment to material objects, etc. and follow Kalmyk tradition and religion that teach how to live a good life. Shulmus are beings that affect humans in negative ways. Polluted people usually have nightmares and can see shulmus spirits. There are various signs indicating whether a person is polluted or not. For example, seeing a black dog in dreams is regarded as a sign of pollution. Also, misfortunes are usually related to shulmus. Pollution can affect not only people but places as well. For example, not far from the village of Khanata there is one such place. The following story happened in the Soviet period. One night a farmer was doing his night shift. Although the field where he worked was in the middle of nowhere, as soon as he started his tractor loud music and laughter came from all sides. The more he tried to ignore it, the louder the music was becoming. At some point the man freaked out, stopped the tractor and spent the whole night trembling in fear. The music stopped only at dawn. It is also said that sometimes people who travel at night cannot reach the destination no matter how much they try. It is only at dawn that such travelers suddenly find themselves where they wanted to be. There are many stories like this. Sangadzhi explains that some people are protected from evil by prayers and powerful protectors. Others are not protected or their protection is weak. Therefore, it is important that people make offerings to their ancestors in order to be protected from evil spirits. Some people have a gift to see or hear shulmus spirits. Such people perform secret rituals.
The Kalmyk word for life or soul is amn’. Amnya dolig refers to two different rituals. Ritual One. It is performed when one wants to grant life to a living being which is doomed to death. These include fish, birds (chicken or cocks) or sheep. For example, one can release seven fish into the water, or a chicken or a sheep into the steppe while saying ‘If it is to be that of gods let it be so; if it is to be that of a human being let it be so; if it is to be that of a wolf let it be so; I am granting life (to this living being)’. To mark that they are part of an amnya dolig ritual, the chicken or the sheep should have their neck bandaged with a white or yellow strip of cloth. Ritual Two. It is performed when one falls ill, feels lifeless, or when a woman cannot get pregnant. A sheep is killed and its head is offered to the god of longevity, Ayush Gegyan. The person who performs this ritual buys his/her own life in exchange for that of a sheep. This ritual is very old and was done by the ancestors of the Kalmyks before they adopted Buddhism. In its modern form it has incorporated some Buddhist elements.
Oleg relays a story about how he saw Tsagan Aav in his youth. It happened in the Soviet period. Oleg worked at an editorial office in Elista. One night he could not sleep well and woke up early in the morning. He went out to a ravine on the outskirts of the town. When he went downhill and looked up, there on the edge of the ravine an old man with a long white beard and in a beautiful light-blue robe was standing, leaning on his walking stick. He was staring at Oleg. Oleg understood that the old man was communicating with him telepathically, ‘(Oleg) what are you doing with yourself? You cannot live like this’. Oleg sweated and in shame lowered his head. Then he heard the sound of a motorcycle. When he looked up again the old man had gone. Several months later Oleg went to see his friend who worked at a research institute. In his office on the table was a big book with colorful pictures. Among the pictures Oleg saw the image of the old man he had seen before and asked, ‘Who is this old man?’ ‘He is Tsagan Aav, god of the locality’, was the answer.
When in Kalmykia Gerel often went to see folk healers, bone-setters and diviners. On one occasion she was taken to a folk healer by her mother. The reason for this was as follows. One evening when at home Gerel heard a knock on the window. When she looked at the window there was a tiny person standing there. Gerel suffered from insomnia, headaches and had seizures. Worried about her daughter’s health, Gerel’s mother took her to see an old woman, a folk healer herself who cured ill people. In fact, the mother and daughter went to see not only one but several folk healers who smeared Gerel with butter, massaged her head and ears, and used various other folk methods. Once Gerel developed a pain in her back, because she had had a nightmare involving a female spirit who had sat on Gerel and strangled her. The next day Gerel went to see a male bone-setter who advised that she goes and asks a Buddhist monk for a special ritual before sunset. Gerel and her mother went to a temple but the monks refused to perform the ritual. After hearing about their unsuccessful trip to a temple, the bone-setter gave Gerel herb pills and incenses and asked her to spread the pills around her bed. On the second night the evil spirit came back as a child to haunt Gerel. In the morning Gerel and her mother again went to the bone-setter who said that Gerel had been stressed and because of this she had a hole in her aura. On the third night Gerel saw in her dreams two men whom she begged not to touch her. The next morning the mother and daughter went to see the bone-setter again who asked them to make a dog’s head out of dough, confide everything to that head and bury it in a clean place. After that ritual Gerel recovered.
Maria’s father did divination with sticks. He cut sticks into a trihedral in shape and made cuts on them. On his sticks he predicted that Maria’s uncle, who was a soldier in the Red Army, would return home from World War II, which turned out to be true.
Sanan says that enlightened beings exist that do not have bad thoughts in their minds or in their souls. There also exist gazryn ezn (spiritual masters of locality) who are not enlightened beings and as such are not regarded as objects of worship in Buddhism. Tsagan Aav is one of such unenlightened beings. On all altars the image of Tsagan Aav should always be put underneath or beside that of Buddha, because Buddhas are enlightened beings.
For the sake of all humans, it is said, the goddess Okn Tengri sacrificed herself to a monster. She became pregnant by the monster and bore him a baby boy. Then she killed the monster by opening an iron chest that housed his soul. When she opened the chest, a sparrow was inside. By killing the sparrow she killed the monster. On her way back home Okn Tengri met the goddess Green Tara who advised her to leave the boy on the bank of a river.