p.

reality

46

"the shamanic experience reveals a version of reality that seems to defy all the rules of physical reality. Random events are shown to be connected, progressions of time and causality are turned around, physical distance and size ... seem irrelevant. ... you are actually ... seeing the world as it truly is."

47

"Shamans are often likened to cuckoos : just as the cuckoo is born in the nest of a different kind of bird, so the shaman is born a human yet is fundamentally different".

52

"Shamans live a dual life, one based in physical reality and one based in the spiritual. One is not more real than the other. In the spiritual world, everything merges in the center".

"you use the power of the gol to unite the time of intention with the time of manifestation. If you need to, you can actually shamanize for a time that has already passed ... ; the only rule is that this usually works only if you do not know what the outcome is before you do it. ...

53

You are also capable of traveling backward or forward in time through the gol. Visualize time as a ball of string wound infinitely tightly around itself. Parts of a long strand touch in many, many places that would be separated by a great distance if the string were unwound. In much the same way, all times touch each other."

p.

energy

54

"spiritual energy is visualized as a sphere of sky blue light that is visible when seeing with the eyes of the spirit. An axis runs straight up and down through this sphere, extending up toward the heavens and down toward the earth. ...

55

In the center of the personal energy sphere is the setgel, the gol of the personal energy sphere, visualized as a starlight point of red light. ... It is fed by the upright axis that intersects it."

56

"In order to direct tsog, you must be standing or sitting upright ... . ... extend your hands slightly to each side, palms upward, and allow the energy flowing from above to pool in your hands. ... As you do this, you may feel heat or a prickly electric sensation starting to grow in your palms."

p.

vortex

51

"In some rituals the participants may dance around the shaman in a sunwise direction, creating a spiral of energy." "Buryat yohor dance raises a spiral of energy to send the shaman on his journey."

60

This is represented in Mongolian amulets, in which invocations and intention are written in a sunwise spiral circling in toward the center and then the words specifying their manifestation are written sunwise spiraling outward from the center."

61

"Imagining the gol in its vortexlike form can be useful ... in entering it as a gateway to where you need to go".

63

"there is a spiraling of energy as the gol begin to open. With the power of your udha and ongon spirits, ... feel yourself spinning around as you fall in. ... the most advanced shamans can do as Abai Geser did and actually project their physical bodies through time and space. This is called gazar humihe ("folding time and space")." "you can actually enter the gol through a reflection of the gol in the setgel. When you look at the human spiritual body, this reflection is a tiny, flame-colored point of light in the center of the chest region that glows brightly".

p.

purpose

66

1^st : "soul retrieval. This may be a brief middle-world journey or a lengthy and dangerous lower-world journey."

2^nd : "to ... meet with spirit entities ... . For example, a shaman may need to go to the lower world to talk to the spirit Erleg Khan ... . The shaman may travel to a specific place in order to meet its master spirit, such as a journey to meet the mountain spirits."

3^rd : "taking care of hauntings. In these situations the shaman is returning the spirit that has lost its way when traveling to the lower world and needs to be sent back by the shaman personally. In many cases the shaman

67

can get the same results by simply ordering the spirit back to the place where it belongs; journeywork is necessary when the spirit either is excessively attached to a person or place or outright refuses to leave."

p.

landmarks

68

"The universe is generally considered ... to comprise three worlds – an upper, an middle, and a lower world. ... The upper world is

69

The lower world ... is visualized as being below ... . Journeying there is generally visualized as a downward movement through some sort of passageway. The Buryat expression gazarai urhe means "smoke hole of the earth," a hole in the earth through which shamans may pass to enter the lower world. ... The lower world is generally perceived as being somewhat dark – it reminds me of the light on a cloudy day ... . The lower world is inhabited by human souls between incarnations."

"I have known of Buryat shamans traveling as several animals in succession, such as a fox [along the ground], then a squirrel [climbing a tree], then a hawk [flying in the sky], ... finally returning to human form upon reaching their destination."

"when you are outside your physical body" : "Your body may seem gigantic, like a mountain, or it may seem microscopically small."

p.

companions

71

"A shaman does not travel alone. Whenever you leave your body, your spirit family will surround you for protection and guidance,

72

and your power animals will run with you ... . ... When you journey it is also likely that your udha and other spirits are inside your body, directing the course of your journey. In addition to your helper spirits, you may use a spiritual mount in your journey. ... You may want ... shamanic mounts; the usual favorites are horses, deer ... . ... A shamanic steed is not necessary ... . You may just as often become an animal yourself and travel in that form."

p.

journey

73

"The Dolbor journey is traditionally ... a night road journey. ... Visualize the Dolbor as having many small creeks flowing into it, each one representing the individual consciousness of every human being. The source of the river is ... at ... the turge, the World Tree, and each of the small

74

The Dolbor is said to be full of rapids and waterfalls ... . The Dolbor is perceived ... as flowing northward, and the entrance to the lower world is at it mouth, where it enters ... a huge sink-hole in the earth, where the Dolbor crashes down in an enormous cataract, rushing into a cavern leading to the lower world. You may find a long, narrow bridge that you can walk across into the cavern and then follow the path to the lower world. You may also ... allow yourself to be carried by the waters downward into the lower world.

75

The most frightening place in the lower world is Ela Guren ... where the souls of the most cruel and evil people are banished ... . The souls of people like ... Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, and other evil tyrants of history are likely to be there ... . Shamans who travel there say the entities are aggressive and try to keep the shaman from leaving."

76

return-journey from the lower world : "You will follow the Birds’ Way, the path of souls returning to the middle world when they are to be reborn. You may turn into a bird, with the shamanic spirits surrounding you like a flock of birds. Fly up into the sky, over the waterfall at the entrance to the lower world, through the mist, and straight up ... . As you ascend you will find yourself borne up by the winds, as if you were light as a feather, and you will find a path of stars marking your way. The Milky Way, the seam of the sky, the pathway of the soul birds, is but a reflection in the sky of the Dolbor below. If you look down, you will see that the sky road you follow runs above and parallel to the course of the Dolbor. ... the Birds’ Way will bring you to the source of the Dolbor. ... beside a gigantic tree, you will see a spring and a pool, the source of the Dolbor. Beside the tree is a house of logs, the dwelling place of Umai, the mother goddess and keeper of human souls. ... The souls of living beings ... perch like birds on the branches of the tree ... . You may see birds plunging into the waters of the pool to travel ... to ... where they will enter into babies at the time of birth." [these birds are ami-s]

#

__ world

soul

description of soul

1.

upper

ami

p. 80 "regulates breathing ... . It enters with the first breath of the baby and leaves with the last dying breath. ... in the time between incarnations the ami lives as a bird on the world Tree in the upper world until the womb goddess Umai sends it down to settle into the body of a baby being born."

p. 81 "What people often attribute to "genetic memories" {Jung’s "collective unconscious"} are actually the memories of the ami. ... Identical twins are believed to share one ami; this is supported by evidence that some identical twins seem to have a telepathic link. Animals also have the ami soul".

2.

lower

suns

"The succession of incarnations is determined by the spirits according to a person’s fate, zayaa. ... Erleg Khan is ... like a judge {cf. Dharma-raja}, assigning suns souls to certain incarnations according to their past actions. ... Suns souls are often ... traveling through water when outside the body. The river Dolbor is a river of souls flowing with its current ... in the lower world."

p. 82 "Suns souls can fragment into thirteen parts, although they usually function as a whole. Up to twelve of them can be lost without serious consequences. ... practitioners often ... perceive loss of soul fragments ... in their soul retrieval work. ... The suns ... leaves during shamanic journeys and dreaming. ... The suns is ... the source of reincarnation memories".

3.

middle

suld

"When a person dies, the suld will find ... a tree, a rock, a river, or hill, that becomes it residence. It will still travel about to visit people and places it knew while alive." {Theosophical Society’s "psychic shell"}

p. 83 "Some of these suld souls will mutate into udha spirits and then associate with shamans ... . ... The suld soul resides at the crown of the head, where the energy flow coming down from ... Heaven enters the body. Touching this part of the head is generally taboo {likewise among the Maori}, and hats, which cover that part of the head, are treated with great respect."

"The spherical body of a human being is roughly spherical in shape and extends far outside the confines of the body. The outside of the sphere is highly charged with tsog energyand may be palpable. ... spirit intrusions often manifest as depressions on the normally rounded and smooth surface of the soul sphere."

p.

spirits

88

"upper-world spirits are conceived of as being associated with the four directions. They are believed to be descendants of Esege Malaan Tenger and Manzan Gurme Toodei, who reside in the upper world. ... they split into four grouping associated with the four directions."

leader of the __ tenger

is __

western

Han Hormasta

eastern

Atai Ulaan

"their home is in the upper world beyond the sky."

"The upper world is also the home of ... khans and zayaans. ... Khans tend to visit the earth frequently and are mediatorsbetween mankind and the higher-ranked tenger. Zayaan is related to the word zayaa, meaning "fate" ... . Zayaans may be appealed to in order to change what seems to be inevitable ... .

89

Zayaans are given great and serious respect. Address them by the term hairhan, meaning "beloved," ... with an implied respect".

Hostile spirits "are known as chotgor, and they are the main cause of human illnesses ... . Shamans, having the protection of their helper spirits, can interact with chotgor and send them back to the lower world, where they belong."

"There are also benevolent burhan spirits under the authority of Golto Sagaan Tneger, patron of the gol, who are available to help shamans." [citing :- PCT, p. 141]

"Some spirits ... are hostile and ... at times they can be "mastered" and redirected to become a shamanic helper spirit. ... Burhan, for example, are powerful and can be worth mastering and enlisting as helper spirits. ... when you ... associate with it ... the malevolent spirit will have a conflict with your udha spirit ... until you ... truly master it".

p.

cup

95

Manzan Gurme Toodei ... possesses two great shaman mirrors in which she watches all that happens on earth and in the sky. She holds the great book of fate in which is written all that has happened {akas`ik record}, all that is happening, and all that will happen. ... Her most mysterious attribute is her great silver cup ... .

96

... the silver cup ... may look like a small silver bowl or it may be as big as a lake. Manzan Gurme Toodei may touch it to your head, pour its contents over you, or ask you to drink. You may find yourself turned small and you may plunge into the depths of the mysterious liquid it contains."

97

"In Buryat folklore the way to Manzan Gurme Toodei’s house sometimes reveals itself as a rainbow connecting heaven and earth."