religions of Mongolia

p. xi -- c = ts

j = dz

q = kh {h^}

pp. 9-10, 103 legend from the C^ahar region about the origin of shamanism

p.

legend

9

"in northern Khangai there was an old man who already had access to certain magical practices. ... The son ... after his father’s death ... buried him on a high place, the Red Rock. ... the son made regular offerings to the dead man of tea, water and milk ... at his father’s grave on the first, seven and ninth day of each new moon. ...

10

When his mother died, the son buried her too ... in a high place and sacrificed to her too. ... She began to be worshipped as Emegelij^i Ej^i, ‘the very old grandmother’. ... Thereupon the spirit of the dead father entered a man, who began to tremble. From then on he was worshipped as the black protective spirit (Qara SakiGulsun). The spirit of the dead mother did the same, entering a girl who began to tremble convulsively. ... Once, when they were ... possessed by the spirits, they flew to the burial place of the two ancestors. There they found drums and wooden supports and also head-ornaments made of the feathers of a yellow bird. ... Thereupon the people called them shaman (bo:ge) and shamaness (niduGan) ... Later they made images of them, making the body from the skin of a year-old lamb and its eyes from black berries. They called these images ... Ongghon."

103

"he buried the corpse on the summit of a flat rock on the southern slope of the Red Rock (ulaGan qada) ... After about three years had passed during which he performed worship, clouds and mist gathered over the peak of the Red Rock ...

the UlaGan Qada (Red Rock; Chinese Hung-shan) near the East Mongolian town of Lin-hsi in Chi-feng Hsien".

pp. 14-15 categories of evil divine beings

p.

classes of malevolent divinities

14

"demons (c^idku:r) ... bring evil to the living."

15

"Alongside the Ongghot and the tngri (heavenly powers), the shamans also worship a middle class of spirits which are called Buumal (baGumal), ‘those who have descended’."

"These evil forces ... are the following:

... demonic possession (c^idku:n),

... misfortune (tu:idker), and also the

ada, demons which are ... soaring in the sky and which surprise men ..., the

eliye, bird-like devils who announce and also bring misfortune;

albin, wandering lights;

ko:lc^in, who appear as ghosts of repellent, terrifying appearance; and the

teyirang-demons."

pp. 17-19 shamanic clothing & paraphernalia

p.

accoutrements

17

"Almost all Mongolia shamanic costumes consist of a kaftan, which unlike the normal Mongolian dress is ... not closed at the side, but ... on the backside. This kaftan is ornamented with metallic objects of the most varied kinds ... and ... little strips ... which are fastened on to all the corners and ends of the ornaments. The presence of this strips often indicates that the shaman ... seeks to imitate a bird, so that the long strips of leathers ... on the sleeves ... would symbolize feathers, and the strips on the backside would be the bird’s tail. ... This is only one of the meanings advanced; another, occurring especially among the Buryats, sees in these strips ... serpents.

Often there is worn over the shaman’s dress proper, which ... is called quGaG ... ‘armour’, or eriyen debel, ‘spotted dress’, an apron which consists of tapering strips ... (32 inches) long hanging down from a band ... (8 inches) wide. [These strips are sewn together, as illustrated on p. 18.] ... The name of this apron ... is generally connected with one or another protective animal ... The shamanic ritual of the imperial house of

18

Manchuria knew a similar pleated, mostly dark-coloured, apron."

19

"A feature of all shamanic costumes is a further ... belt-shaped ... piece of leather to which is fastened a certain number of mirrors. ... The name of this hanging with the toli, the mirrors, ... can be ... ‘blue cloud-bee’ ... A shaman once explained personally to me that the white horse of the shamans lived in the mirrors. ...

Phrases in shamanic prayers ... refer to this ... as ... ‘O my mirror, offered by my mother-sister, ... O oppressor of infant demons’."

pp. 21-22 shamanic drum & drumstick

p.

drum & drumstick

21

"The round drum is the predominant from among ... all the Eastern Siberian tribes; we find it in particular among the Ostyaks, Yeiniseians, Yukagirans, Tungus, Gold and Amur peoples. ...

The second form of drum differs ... through the presence of a handle with rattles. A thin goatskin is stretched when wet on to an approximately circular, but often also roughly oval, iron ring. ... The drum and its sound are connected with ideas of a stag and its call ... Its sound, according to the Mongolian idea, frightens the evil demons and drives them away."

"The second important emblem of the shaman is the beating-stick,

22

or, as it is often also called, the shaman’s sceptre. Here we can clearly distinguish two forms. One is made out of a stick, the head of which is ornamented with a horse’s head while the other end terminates in a carved hoof ... Sometimes the middle part of the stick is slightly curved ... indicating a saddle; ... one even finds among Mongolian shamans tiny imitations of stirrups fastened at this point. ...

The second form of the drum-stick is ... a thin rod covered with a snake’s skin, from one end of which coloured pieces of cloth hang which are meant to imitate, while the drum is being beaten, the flickering of the snake’s tongue ... This stick is ... called among many shamans ‘the speckled scaly snake’."

pp. 40-43 diyanc^i; gurtum; layic^in

p.

functionary

40

diyanc^i :- "To his normal novitiate and his theological education was added ... 404 day in complete isolation ... This period fell into four equal periods, each of 101 days.

During the first 101 days he prayed under a solitary tree on the edge of the steppe ...

Then followed 101 days of meditation at a spring,

then 101 days of deep absorption on a mountain.

The last ... of the 101-day periods then had to be spent in prayer, fasting and deepest absorption on a place where corpses were exposed. The Mongols did not bury their dead, but exposed the corpses for wild animals to eat. ...

41

During this period, he also had to make his various ritual implements out of bones from the corpses;

a rosary made out of human bones,

a trumpet from a young girl’s tibia and

an eating-bowl from a human skull. ...

After these trials such diyanc^i ... lived as a respected magician and hermit."

 

gurtum :- "A further, more elevated ... exorcizing shaman was ... the gurtum (Tib. sku rten) ... This name was given to ... the ability of placing himself into ... trance in order to ... ask questions concerning the future. ... The gurtum ... was invited to come and display his art ... at the religious masked dances (c^am = Tib. >cham) and the beginning and middle of the year".

42

"The gurtum wears an upper garment of silk over a piece of clothing like a woman’s skirt of blue cotton. The lower part of this garment is decorated with skulls ... The apron changes him into a Bodhisattva. ...

Also among the gurtum’s clothing is a collar, which in Buddhist iconography is equally reserved for Bodhisattvas. Over the collar, however, he wears ... a silver mirror. ...

Five flags ... are fastened to a special belt around the hips. They resemble those flags that Chinese actors often use.

On the head a large helmet is worn, decorated with skulls; it is bound firmly under the mouth with strips of khatag to prevent the gurtum from biting ... his tongue in ecstasy."

"When the moment of identification with the deity arrives, the gurtum is possessed by this protective spirit ... Then he grasps a sword, ... foam comes out of his mouth, his whole body trembles and he strikes about him wildly with the sword; ... the protective spirit ... which has entered him fights against the demon.

In this state ... he can also make predictions. The Mongols come one after another, present him with offering scarves and ask ... The answers are given in an unknown speech, which one of the gurtum’s assistants translates." {Pentacostalism}

43

layic^in :- "The layic^ing ... is a layman. During his conjuration he wears a coat of mail {typical of Bon deities} and a helmet {also worn by Bon deities}, which are at other times kept in the temple, and in the place of the shaman’s drum strikes cymbals ...

There are both male and female layic^ing."

pp. 48 & 55 supreme deity

p.

godhead

48

"Eternal Heaven (Mo:ngke Tngri) or

Mighty Heaven (Erketu: Tngri) ...

Ko:ke Mo:ngke Tngri, ‘Blue Eternal Heaven’ ".

55

"Degere Tngri, ‘Sublime Heaven’ ";

Miliyan [‘Anointing’ (p. 52)] Tngri "who corresponds to Esege Malan Tngri (... the supreme god ...) among the Buryats."

"Elbesku:i Tngri, ‘Increaser {cf. [<ibri^] Yo^sep ‘increase’} Tngri’, ...

O:ggu:gc^i or O:ggu:gsen Tngri, ‘Giver {cf. [Vaidik deity] Datr@} Tengri’, and

J^ol Nemegu:lu:gc^i Tngri, ‘... Good Fortune Tngri’."

pp. 48-50 groups of deities

p.

divinities

49

"the Earth-Mother, Etu:gen Eke ... consisting of seventy-seven earth-mothers".

 

"the ninety-nine tngri fall into two groups,

... forty-four tngri of the eastern side,

... fifty-five tngri of the western side,

... three tngri of the northern side ...

a total of 102 tngri is reached."

 

[Buryat :-] "there are

fifty-five tngri in the West,

forty-four in the East,

altogether ninety-nine tngri.

Of the fifty-five tngri of the West fifty are worshipped through prayer and

five through sacrifices ...

of the forty-four tngri of the East forty are worshipped through prayer and

four through sacrifices".

 

"Alongside the ... ninety-nine gods (tngri) there is also ...

a groups of thirty-three gods, whose chief is Qormusta.

... this was an adaptation of the Iranian Ahuramazda.

... Qormusta is also equated with Esrua (= Brahma)."

50

"the gods of the four corners (do:rben jobkis-un tngri),

the five gods of the winds (kei-yin tabun tngri),

the five gods of the entrance (egu:den-u tabun tngri),

the four Tu:sid Tngri,

the five Lightning Tngri (c^akilGan-u tabun tngri),

the five gods of the door (quGalGan-u tabun tngri),

the five gods of the horizontal (ko:ndu:leng-un 5 tngri),

the five QadaraGa Tngri,

the seven Your Tengri and

the seven Ko:tegci Tngri,

the seven Steam Tngri (aGur-un 7 tngri) and

the seven Thunder Gods (ayungGui-yin tngri),

the Gods of the Eight Borders (nayiman kij^aGar-un tngri),

the Nine Gods of Anger (kiling-u:n 9 tngri),

the Nine Iruc^i Tngri and

the Nine Yellow Gods (sirabur 9 tngri)."

pp. 53-54, 56 individual deities

p.

__ Tngri

body

voice

on __ horse

other traits

53

BaGadur (‘Hero’)

jasper

pure, high

ravendark-grey

kid-skin coat

 

KisaGa

jasper

harmonious, clear

isabelline (greyish-yellow)

armor & helmet

54

AtaGa

lightning

thunder

   
 

J^ayaGaGc^i (‘Fate’)

odun (‘star’)

 

white

tent; horse’s harness

56

Gu:j^ir Ku:nker

   

blue-grey; black

shield; throne; hammer & anvil

 

Manaqan

silver

   

wild game-animals

protections furnished by deities

p.

__ Tngri

is able to protect from __

53

KisaGa

"the approaching arrow"

54

AtaGa

"the messengers of the God of Death (Erlig Khan)"

 

J^ayaGaGc^i

"becoming crippled"

57

Ko:lc^in

"boils, scabs, vermin and worms"

 

Boquma

"bubonic plague"

75

Gal (‘Fire’)

"doubt, anxiety, bad dreams"

pp. 55-56 deities of livestock

p.

__ Tngri

of __

55

Nimbudaya

qayinuG (‘yak-cows’)

 

Suu (‘Genius’)

"red cattle of Nepal"

 

Erengu:nge

"maki-cattle of India"

 

JarluG Sambuu-a

"brown-red cattle of Tibet"

55-6

Quudan Wan Tengri

"spotted cattle of the Chinese T>ai-ping Emperor"

56

Teken (‘Billygoat’)

"long-horned blue cows of the Maj^ari"

 

J^ol

"red-blue spotted cows of the black Chinese"

 

red Ata

horses

 

red Godoli

cows

p. 57 deities of the intermediate directions

direction

deity

southwest

"White Lightning-Tngri, riding on a white horse, along with his companions the seventy-seven siqar, the ninety-nine Rumblers (ku:ku:r) and the thirteen terrible thunder-tngri."

"

"Bayan CaGan Tngri, ‘White Riches Tngri ...’ against accident and infection"

northwest

"Qon BaGatur ..., for the removal of injuries in exchange for a substitute-image"

pp. 57-58 deities riding upon animals other than horses

p.

deity

deity’s mount (vehicle)

57

"Heavenly Maiden Tngri (Siremel or SirmaG O:kin Tngri)", invoked "against grief"

yellow goat (yellow clouds)

58

prince Gu:j^ir Tngri, having as food "burning fire, ... a fiery serpent for ... staff, ... bronze and stone for heart"

wolf

p. 59 janitor-deities (doorkeeper-deities)

door

is guarded by __

front

Qan KisaGa

   

[Buryat]

__ world-triple-door

of the __

is guarded by __

inner

West

"SaGuGad Tayij^i Tngri ‘with only one eye in his forehead, only one tooth in his jaw and only one foot in his lower body’ "

middle

"

" ‘Lighthaired Morning Star Tngri’ (Solbon Tayij^i Tngri)"

outer

"

Uqarima Tayij^i Tngri

(single)

East

"Ko:ku:ngc^u:i Tayij^i Tngri, ‘the Lord of the Blue Hill’."

pp. 70-71 unitary fire-goddess

p.

goddess

70

"The fire ... in its old form is feminine; therefore the ... forms

Od Galaqan Eke,

Gal-un Eke = ‘Fire-Mother’, and

Gal-un Qan Eke = ‘Mother Fire-Queen’ are used.

There is also the term

Golumta Eke, ‘Mother of the Fireplace, Hearth-Mother’."

{cf. the [Hell.] Hestia & [Az.] C^antiko (each an hearth-goddess); the Ainu fire-deity is likewise female.}

 

The fire-goddess is described as

" ‘mother with the face of red silk ...’, ‘decorated with red silk’,

‘my mother Od Galaqan, who has many burning tongues,

Fire-mother with a forked tongue ...’,

‘Odqan Galaqan Mother Mother, ... of the colour of dark-red bronze’. ...

Often she is called ‘Odqan Fire-Queen-Mother, ...

71

with the colour of yellow feather-grass [stipa gobica] ... with a camel-skull’."

 

"Odqan Galaqan, the Fire-Mother, ... arose ‘when the Prince of Heaven [Tngri Khan] was still flat and the Princess-Earthmother [Etu:gen QaGan] was still small’; she was ‘struck on Burqan Galdun-a ... and blown into a flame on brown, wrinkled Mother Earth’. There was also a mythical ‘boy AGutatai’ who ‘kindled her on the yellow mountain of the yellow rock’.

... she had ‘flint for mother, rock-iron for father, and ... grass as her red son’; she had ... ‘Egyptian steel for father and meat-stone for mother’ ".

p. 73 multiple fire-goddesses

"In various old Mongolian fire-prayers, instead of a single Galaqan Fire-Mother there are named ‘the mothers Gala Khan, the older and younger sisters’. The ... theologians ... made out of this ‘the seven O:kin [‘Maiden’ (p. 52)] Tngri of the hearth, older and younger sisters’ and ... ‘Five older and younger sisters, the Five Fire-Hearts’ ... The Fire-Maidens-Tngri have ... a blindingly white face, two arms, a wide-open mouth with bared teeth.

Four Fire-Maiden Tngri of the four cardinal points are also enumerated;

the eastern one is white,

the southern reddish-yellow,

the western dark-red and

the northern black."

p. 76 epoch of origin of the Fire-goddess

"Odqan Galaqan Mother arose

When Khangai Khan was still a hill,

When the elm-tree was still a sapling,

When the falcon was a fledgling,

When the brown goat was a kid ...

When Mount Burqantu was still a hill,

When the willow was still a sapling,

When the lark was still a fledgling ..."

{these entities (mountains, trees, animals) mentioned are all major deities}

p. 76 aequivalents to [the Mongolian god] Tsaghan Ebu:gen (‘White Old Man’)

nationality

White Old Man

Bodish

sGam-po dKar-po

Na-khi

Muan-llu:-ddu-ndzi

Chinese

Hwa-s^an (Pu-tai Ho-s^an)

Japanese

Jurojin

Christian

St Nicholas

pp. 77-80 unitary White Old Man

p.

trait

77

[Ordos :-] "illness or death of cattle could be brought about by a ‘blow’ of the White Old Man with his stick."

 

"The white clothing of the White Old Man also belongs ... to the white clothing of Mongolian shamans at the time of C^inggis Khan." {cf. also the white-clad dKar-brgyud of Sikkim & Bhutan}

78

"His beard and hair had become white {"His head and his hairs were white" (Apocalypse 1:14)}, he was dressed in a white garment {"clothed in fine linen, white" (Apocalypse 19:14)} and he held in his hand a stick which had a dragon at its head." {cf. serpent-rods of Mos^eh & of >ahro^n}

80

"the White Old Man is also asked ... for long life" {[Daoist] god of longevity}

 

"the White Old man descends to the earth twice a month, on the second and sixteenth days of the month".

 

"The mythical residence of the White Old Man is a mountain which is high and broad, grown over with fruit and given its name on account of this; ... The Buryat alone speak of the country of the White Old Man as being on the ‘snowy white mountains’ in the south-west, which could perhaps indicate the Himalayas."

p. 82 the pole-star (not one of the "Seven Old Men")

"the Pole-Star ... is called the ‘golden nail’ (altan Gadasun)"

[O:lo:t :-] "the Pole-Star is anchored on top Mount Sumeru."

pp. 83-84 the individual stars of the doluGan ebu:gen ("Seven Old Men" = constellation Ursa Major)

p.

star __

who maketh __

83

Golden Su:ndi

"a single man into a hundred men"

 

Buravabadara

"of one mare a thousand mares"

 

Aslis

"a simple sheep into a thousand white sheep"

 

Urukini

"a single head of cattle into a hundred red cattle"

84

Aburad

"one single camel into ten black camels"

 

Raradi

"from one vegetable ... nine fields [of vegetables]"

 

Molbar

"a poor man into a rich one"

p. 84 "TuG Su:lde consisting of nine horse’s tails."

p. 84 __ Su:lde

pp. 85-6 becoming __

Qara (‘Black’)

(p. 86) throne

C^aGan (‘White’)

(p. 85) armor

AlaG (‘Spotted’)

 

p. 85 "The spirit (su:nesu:n) became a genius or protective spirit (su:lde)."

p. 88 description of the White Su:lde Tngri

accoutrement

of __

helmet

thunder

armor

jewels, [inset into] gold

boots

moon

quiver

tigre[-skin]

bow-holder

panther[-skin]

   

perched on fingers

iron falcon

perched on right shoulder

white lioness

perched on left shoulder

tigre

p. 94 protection by Geser

when in danger from __

Geser is like __

fire

water

storm

mountain

water

boat

enemy

lightning-flash

p. 96 description of hero [Geser (p. 97)]

his __

is __

face

reddish-brown

us.n.isa (top-knot of hair)

golden-yellow

in right hand, holding the arrows

Garud.a {cf. bald eagle holding arrows in Great Seal of U.S.A.}

in left hand, holding bow

tigre

helmet on head

sun-like

shield over shoulder

moon-like

coat-of-mail on body

star-like

sword

"of understanding" {cf. Binah}

horse

"of wisdom" {cf. H.akmah}

   

armor

golden

helmet

crystal {[Bon] sun is quartz}

quiver

tigre-skin

bow-holder

panther-skin

holding in right hand

spotted antelope

saddle & harness

jade

p. 98 "Geser Khan with a body like rock-crystal"

p. 98 associates of Geser

"the twelve-headed giant enemy"

"the beautiful consort RoG mo"

"the thirty-five heroes and the three-hundred and sixty warriors of the vanguard (qusiGuc^i) of Geser Khan"

p. 102 the earth-goddess

according to Marco Polo, "one of their deities, whom they call Natigai, ... protects their women". "This deity called Natigai is the Etu:gen Eke of the Mongols, called Itoga by Plano Carpini."

"her, the ruler of the Golden World (altan delekei)". "Etu:gen Eke (Earth-Mother) is called ‘brown-wrinkled Mother Earth’ (boro ko:ro:su:tu: etu:gen eke), often also ‘brown-wrinkled golden world’."

pp. 107-108 invocations of sacred mountains as spirits

p.

mountain as deity

107

"Accompanied by bears ... with reddish-grey reindeer,

They arrived on their Thirty-three dun horses.

Holy Dalha Tungc^ingarbo".

 

"My sovereign, holy mountain Dayan Degereki, ...

With eighty-eight yellow-brown horses!"

108

"thirty-three yellow-brown horses, ...

the Mountain of the Dawn, ...

have for seat the Pass of the Ancestors".

 

Dayan Degereki as "Khan, Black Tngri

With medicine in your thumb,

With magical healing-power in your index-finger, ...

With black crows as retinue,

With the young of spotted bats".

p. 109 masks for impersonation of mountains (as deities) by human actors

"The spirit of the mountain of Bayan J^iru:ke was represented by the mask of a young man with a yellow face and hair piled up high like a tower,

the spirit of BoGdo Ola as a Garuda-bird with a snake in its beak,

the spirit of the C^enggeltu: mountain as a yellow-faced old man with a long moustache, and finally

the spirit of the mountain of Songgina as a dark-skinned old man with thick eye-brows, tousled hair and a bitter expression on his face."

topographic numerics

p.

numeric

77

"protective spirits of the Empire in the twenty-four directions"

79

"twenty-four lords of the earth and the waters"

   

92

"the seventy clouds"

   

93

"the ten regions of the world"

98 & 99

"the ten evils of the ten parts of the world."

   

106

"the thirteen Altai [mountains], ...

the thirty Ku:ko: [mountains]"

Walther Heissig (transl. from the German by Geoffrey Samuel) : The Religions of Mongolia. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and Henley, 1980.