p. 97

"female shaman (called udagan in Yakut language)" : She "told my friend that her spirit or soul would fly to Japan, to ask a Japanese spirit about me."

p. 101

"She has also gained some spiritual power from animals such as the elk, crane, swan and loon who can work for her as spirit helpers."

p.

autobiography

98

"I was born into a shaman family. ... If one takes my photo, then one finds on it not only my image but also that of some spiritual power. ...

100

I began to predict and foretell something. At that time, I just felt as if I were both on the earth and in heaven (in the upper world). I ... felt like I was just floating in the air with a high body temperature"."

p.

world

101

And they also believe that the Tree of Life, i.e. the World tree, is running through these three worlds.

The upper world is considered to be in the sky, composed of nine levels {this scheme of 9 heavens is Taoist}, each of which is inhabited by its own deity (aiyy, also called tangara). The chief benevolent deity ... called Urung Aiyy Toyon (the White LordCreator), who is the personified image of the sun, resides on the highest level".

The underworld is located beneath the ground

102

and is the world where evil spirits, called abassylar, dwell. they are though to "eat" human soul[s], especially buor-kut (earth-souls) of humans."

p.

travel

{comparative}

102

I can fly during my night dreams up to the upper world ... . Toward the upper world, I have a special olobokh (seat).

I go up to the upper world on my olobokh using a bwe (special cord)....

{cf. spectral ascensions by Australian aboriginal shamans via their aitheric cord}

It may be made of horsehair. ... I may fly up with a cord made of horsehair, which is very long and protects me from other accidents. [cf. 114 : "a hanging cords of horsehair" on a "birch", for "baskets made of birchbark"] I can even fly around the sun. ...

{cf. Hrossha`r [‘horsehair’] Grani, one of the names of O`dinn, who supposedly reached heaven by hanging himself from the gallows by a cord}

103

The upper world was very rich in color ... . It was so bright and full of light that sometimes it became difficult for us to see with our eyes. There, I met its inhabitants. ... They were tall ... . They had big blue eyes and a white skin ... . They walked ... just as if they were walking on the surface of water. They dwelled in houses whose windows were shaped like semi-ovals. They used a very small low table and low chairs when having dinner. ...

In the upper world, there are no seasons and no nights.... I saw stars and the moon on the way to come down from the upper world to the middle world. The moon and stars are in between the upper and middle worlds. Only the sun belongs to the upper world.

{"for there shall be no night there." (Apokalupsis of Ioannes 21:25); "And there shall be no night there" (ibid. 22:5)}

The sun in the upper world is so bright that it is difficult to compare it with that we see in this world."

{also so stated in Radha Soami}

104

"It is very dark, very difficult for us to see in the underworld.

{also so stated by other Siberian tribes, et al.}

There are inhabitants who have cattle, while in the upper world, while in the upper world there are no cattle. ...

{cf. cattle concealed by Hermes in cavern (acc. to Homeric Hymn)}

It seems that the underworld is covered with dark clouds. {"dark clouds" imply no stars nor moon visible} ...

{cf. netherworld of [Aztec] rain-god Tlaloc}

I usually go to the underworld through a special passage called aartyk, which every shaman has for his own to go there. The passage is so narrow that I usually have to crawl. ...

{cf. vank nal (‘crooked tunnel’, sometimes described as requiring being crawled through) acc. to Radha Soami}

The inhabitants of the underworld were gray, weak, and ... walked slowly step by step.

{cf. "grey aliens" of flying-saucer-contactee literature}

The people said to me that the underworld was dark because there was no sun, and asked me to bring the sun down. They said that they could see the sun only when I came down, as if I was bringing the sun with me."

{in the Kemian netherworld, its denizens see the sun during only a single hour each nychthemeron, when the sun-god in transported in a barque}

"The Sakha believe that the netherworld is dark, without sun or moon. It surface is ... muddy. There are lakes with fish, which have reversed scales. {cf. scales from mouth (lips) of Ainu Master of Fish (supra, p. 77)} ... A kingdom of abassylar (evil spirits) and most of the roots of sickness lie in the underworld. We imagine the roots of illness as spiritual beings, something like the ichchilar of the middle world. They are evil spirits who can have fantastically different forms, such that animals can have two heads."

kut and sur were common to men and animals (Czaplicka, 1914:279-280)."

p.

soul

110

[description by other shamaness :] "when a person dies the kut leaves the body."

__ after the funeral

the kut __

for the 1^st 3 days

stayeth in the house of the dead

until the 9^th day

stayeth nigh the house

after 40 days

can "go to kuyar (outer space), which is located above the ninth sky."

[description by a shaman :]

for __ after death

a __ shaman remaineth in the middle world

40

low

200

middle

400

great

"the mother-soul ... can be reborn in the middle world. ...

111

After death, the air-soul might be able to remain in the middle world like the air."

p.

deity

112

"Ulutuyer Uluu Toyon {a name perhaps cognate with the Melanesian /uloulo/ ‘geyser’} ... is mentioned as being among the Sakha pantheon in the sky. ... . ... he lives in the south, or southwest of the lower level of the sky, and ... his younger daughter is the goddess of cattle." [p. 119 : "Goddess of Cattle"]

113

"Cuorun Toyon (God of the Raven), who lives on the fourth level of the sky, ... was thought to be a brother of Uluu Toyon (the chief ajaraidar)."

uot mas ichchite (literally, fire-tree owner; spirit of the forest and plants)."

"Sakha shamans were thought to have many helping spirits, ko:mo:lo:ho:chi ichchi, who were ichchilar, but could not be seen by ordinary people. Shamans were forbidden to reveal to others the names of their helping spirits."

p.

ic^c^i

{comparative}

114

"Sir Ichchite (Earth Spirit) ... is considered to be female. ... . ... when traveling to another district, people usually "feed" (i.e. make offerings to) Sir Ichchite before crossing a border between districts. Every place has its own Sir Ichchite. One female shaman says, "... I usually feel warm or some reaction from the place where Sir Ichchite resides. ..."".

"Ancient Sakha believed that not only Doydu Ichchite ... but also Uot-mas Ichchite (Spirit of Flora) live in the tree of life (i.e. world-tree) ... a tit (larch)".

"The Sakha believe that the spirit of fire is an old man with great power, who can call any power from the upper world. He resides in the fire,

{cf. Ue-ue-teotl ‘old-old-god’, the Aztec fire-god}

usually in the oven, so that people usually "feed" (make offerings to) him in the oven. ... A female shaman ... says, "If I don’t feed regularly the fire on the oven, the spirit of fire shows me sighs {signs} such as ... asking me to feed it during my dreams. ..." ...

{= Chinese stove-god}

115

The spirit of fire in considered to protect people in the future. Even in shamanic rituals, shamans (oyuun) first of all call the spirit of fire, then invoke ... their helping spirits.

{the Aztec fire-god was believed to be the first god to arrive at rituals}

The spirit of fire is considered also to help shamans in their travels to other worlds.

{Skanda, the god generated out of the fire, undertook distant travels}

Baianai usually lives in the forest. ... Baianai is personified as an old man. When a man goes hunting in the forest, the ichchi of hunting, Baianai, provides the hunter with his share by sending animals to the hunter."

{among various South American Indians of the tropical forest, a god-master of forests is sender of game-prey to hunters}

"The Sakha also believe in the spirit of water, who is seen as an old woman and addressed usually as Abe, "Grandmother". When people prepare to fish, they address the spirit of water, and make offerings to the water spirit ... . The Sakha usually throw a bit of bread into the water in asking for favor."

{"Cast thy bread upon the waters : for thou shalt find it after many days." (Qohelet 11:1). "A single fish noticed, ... and ate the bread." (MZ, p. 264)}

... spirits of water lived with the cattle ... (Harva 1989[1938]:364-365)." {fish in trough ("GCT")}

{"the fish are the cattle of the sea" ("IHCL", p. 133)}

"As the Sakha pray and feed Baianai, the spirit owner of the forest, for sending animals to the hunters, so

the Matagi, bear hunters of the northeastern district of Japan [NE Hon-s^u], pray to and honor Yamano-kami, the god of the mountain, for success in hunting (Ikeya, 1997)."

p.

ic^c^i

116

"each basket has a different ichchi of its own, just as each human has his or her own different soul."

117

"we make offerings to the fire spirit, of butter ... . It is forbidden to feed him meat or fish". {likewise, in the Vaidik ritual, to the fire-god Agni is more usually offered butter (or ghee), rather than animal-flesh}

118

[in dreams?] "she could transform herself into a bird, or even into a fish. ... she had traveled to the upper world with the help of the spirit of birds. She had also visited the underworld through the death water with the help of the spirit of fish."

p.

level

level’s deity

118

9^th

Urun Aar Toyon (Urun Aiyy Toyon) ‘White Benevolent Lord’

119

8^th

Odun Haan "who manages the fate of people"

7^th

Suge Toyon ‘Thunder God’. "the sound of thunder is that of horses."

6^th

Josegei Toyon (God of Horses); Hotoi Aiyy (God of Eagles)

5^th

Alam H^otun (Goddess of Cattle)

4^th

Uluuru Cuorun Toyon (Great Raven God)

2^nd or 1^st

Iekhsyst (Protector of the People)

"Hoton Ichchite (literally, cattle-house-owner) is seen as the smallest in size among the ichchilar. The spirit is considered to reside on the top of a pillar, which stands in the opposite left corner from the entrance."

"Aiyy oyuun was a helper of people, who had special algys toyuk (invocations of blessing)".

"Yo:hetten tuttarbut oyuun was one who received his assignment from the upper world while he was ill with madness. He usually treated insanity".

"Alaraatan tuttarbut oyuun was one who received his force from the underworld."

"Yortten tuttarbut oyuun was one who received his force from yo:r (ghost)."

"Emegetten tuttarbut oyuun was one who received his power from emeget (spirit or patron of oyuun)."

"Udagan was a term specially used for a shaman woman."