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Pripuzoff - The consecration of a shaman among the Yakut
Identifier
002222
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Extracts from Pripuzoff, Materials for the Study of Shamanism among the Yakut
Pripuzoff describes the consecration of a shaman among the Yakut as follows:
'The old shaman leads his pupil up a high mountain or into a clearing in the forest. Here he dresses him in a shaman's garment, gives him a rattle, and places on one side of him nine chaste youths, and on the other nine chaste maidens. Then the shaman puts on his own garment, and directs the youth to repeat after him certain words. He demands of the novice that he shall give up all that is most dear to him in the world, and consecrate his life to the service of the spirits who shall come - at his call. He tells his pupil where certain 'black' spirits dwell, what diseases they cause, and how they may be propitiated. Finally the young shaman must kill a sacrificial animal, and sprinkle himself with its blood. The flesh is eaten by those who have been present at the ceremony.