Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIII. From Yakutsk to the Lower Lena
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
added, moreover, that the adherents of Shamanism themselves
have very foggy ideas about their religion, and their priests,
the Shamans, from fear of the Russian authorities or for
other reasons, refuse to betray their secrets.
During my travels in northern Siberia I gathered some
most interesting information from educated persons who had
spent several years among Shamanists, studying their mode
of life and religious ideas, and later I came in contact with
Shamans. My observations in this direction I will describe
later. Here I will only give a general description of the
principal tenets of Shamanists, as far as they are at present
known.
The universe, according to their opinion, consists of a
number of layers or strata, which are separated from each
other by some kind of intermediate space or matter. Seven
upper layers constitute the kingdom of light, and seven
(or more) lower layers the kingdom of darkness. Between
these upper and lower layers the surface of the earth, the
habitation of mankind, is situated; whence mankind is
exposed to the influence both of the upper and the lower
world, i.e. the powers of light and of darkness.
All the good divinities, spirits, and genii, which create,
preserve, and support the weak children of men, have their
abode in the upper layers, in the world of light. In the
layers of the lower world the evil divinities and spirits
lurk, always seeking to harm and destroy mankind.
In the highest layer, “the seventh heaven”, the great
Tangara, or Ai-Toion, as he is called in northern Siberia,
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
