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Summoning the spirits of their ancestors:
Shamans from around the world gather in Siberia for ceremony timed to coincide with cosmic cycles
- Shamans gathered in the Tyva Republic - the geographic centre of the Asian continent - to perform the rituals
- The festival, called 'Call of 13 Shamans' involves a number ceremonies that originated in prehistory
- They include throat-singing, dancing, playing drums and meditating in the area that is said to be 'spiritually' charged
- Among the group were tribal leaders from Mexico, Mongolia, Greenland, Russia and Korea
- DNA evidence suggests that Native Americans originated in Siberia, moving from Russia around 14,000 years ago
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Spiritual
leaders from different corners of the globe gathered for the 'Call of
13 Shamans', a four-day festival held near the village of Khorum-Dag in
the Tyva Republic.
It
is the centre point of the Asian continent and an area that is said to
have high spiritual 'charge'. The timing of the event had been chosen to
match natural cosmic cycles.
The
group of shamans, who travelled from countries including Mexico,
Mongolia, Greenland, Russia and Korea, began by trekking to isolated
locations for three days of meditation before performing a number of
ceremonies - many of which originated in prehistory.
Some of the rituals and appearances
are similar to those of Native Americans. DNA evidence suggests that the
indigenous American population originated from the Siberian mountains,
before leaving Russia and passing over the frozen Bering Strait around
14,000 years ago
They
then slaughtered animals as a sacrifice before throat-singing, dancing
and playing drums in different areas of the mountainous region.
Photographer Alexander Nikolsky, who captured the incredible event, told The Siberian Times:
'We came to the site the day before all the shamans arrived. The locals
were not very happy about this, because Khorum-Dag mountain is a sacred
place and people should not disturb the spirits. As if to confirm their
words, a great storm erupted on the first night.
Shaman Irina Daryina from Belarus said: 'Tyva is a special land, with very powerful mountains and many ancient burial mounds'.
According
to the festival's website: 'Under the auspices of Father Sky and Mother
Earth, the strongest shamans from Russia, CIS (Commonwealth of
Independent States) and abroad, their followers and all the participants
of the festival will make shamanic mysteries and create joint good
wishes to open a White Road to the world of harmony for all the earth.
They
also aim to: 'Subside feud and conflicts between nations and peoples,
to do everything possible for the disappearance of the world’s
orphanhood and poverty and so that our future would be bright and
calm.'
Their practices and appearances are similar to Native Americans, who are believed to have originated from Siberia.
A
study of the mutations indicated a lineage shift between 13,000 and
14,000 years ago - when people are thought to have walked across the
frozen Bering Strait from Russia to America.
This
roughly coincides with the period when humans from Siberia are thought
to have crossed what is now the Bering strait and entered America.
Among the people who may have emerged from the Altai region are the predecessors of the first Native Americans.
See the mysterious rituals of the Call Of The 13 Shamans
The practitioners often enter a
trance-like state during the rituals while performing divination or
healing. Many of the ceremonies originated in prehistory
The shamans began
the sacred festival by going to different locations in the mountains
for three days of meditation and spiritual ceremonies
The shamans bang drums together as
they walk around a campfire in southeastern Siberia. The area is
believed to have been chosen because it's spiritually 'charged'
A member of the group throws what appears to be seeds into the air during one of the ceremonies while wearing colourful robes
When the photographer arrived, a group
of locals brought out a cow to slaughter so they could feed them. He
was not allowed to capture the aftermath
They tied the animal's nose and mouth with a rope before killing it in a remote part of the Siberian mountains
One of the
shamans bangs a drum with the mountains in the background. They, along
with the disciples they brought to the festival, use different forms of
percussion while they are meditating
One of the shamans is Hivshu, an
authentic storyteller and drum singer. He comes from a line of Inuit
shamans in Greenland and his name means 'Voice of the Arctic'
He is one of 13 called to the
international festival in the remote part of the Siberian mountains, and
his saying is: 'All is life. Life is all'
In one of the more intimate rituals, one of the shamans places his hand around his counterpart and raises a bowl to his mouth
He then rests his head on his left hand and closes his eyes while the pair continue embracing
Three of the shamans, dressed in robes and elegant dresses, dance around the field while holding drums
Three of the men huddle together while
kneeling close to the ground. The baron landscape of Siberia stretches
as far as the eye can see in the background
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