Specialists

Born in 1932 in Yashkul’, Nimya is a Torghut man of the Ik Tsookhr clan. He is a bone-setter and receives patients daily who are usually local people, although some come from as far away as Astrakhan’. He does not cure internal illnesses nor uses medicinal herbs. His expertise is setting dislocated bones and curing headaches and head injuries by massaging. Nimya uses goat’s butter to soften his hands before massage. Another method of curing headaches is to hold a freshly cooked, hot sheep’s head over the head of a patient. If the patient does not have a serious head injury, this method is quite effective. During treatment Nimya also reads prayers in Kalmyk, rings a bell and turns a small prayer wheel in order to calm down his patients. After treatment, the injured joints have to be bandaged with a cloth soaked in salt water.

Nimya is a religious man himself. He goes to a Buddhist temple. His uncle was also a monk and a famous bone-setter. It is he who taught Nimya how to cure and massage people. According to Nimya, healing skills can be inherited only through the patrilineal line. One of Nimya’s grandsons is a bone-setter and has a medical degree.

Nimya began to cure people in the Soviet period on the advice of a monk who said to him, ‘You are ill, you must cure people. Otherwise you will continue being ill’. Before healing people, Nimya suffered from poor health, nightmares, head aches and had problems with his kidneys. All these stopped when he became a healer himself.

Ais talks about his aunt Bogrun who was a healer well-known not only in the Tsagan Nur region but across Kalmykia. People outside of Kalmykia also came to see her. She was also referred to as boo Bogrun ‘the shaman Bogrun’.

One day Ais’ son, who was a year old, had diarrhea with blood. The boy was sent to a hospital. Two weeks of treatment did not help him. Ais decided to take his son to Bogrun who performed a ritual on the boy. She touched his head, read mantras with a rosary, spat on him and gave him candies. Then she said that the diarrhea would stop in two weeks time, which turned out to be true.

Ais has a sister who was often sick in her childhood. One day she fell ill and started to twitch. A doctor administered her an injection. When this did not help, the parents called Bogrun who sat next to the girl for three days and cured her. Happy with their daughter’s recovery, Ais’ parents said to Bogrun, ‘Bogrun, let our girl be your daughter!’ She never fell ill again.

Ais also recalls another story related to Bogrun. When he was in the 7^th grade in secondary school, Ais and his mother went to see their auntie who to their amazement made a chicken fall down by simply reading a mantra. Then she read another mantra and the bird stood up and ran away. Ais believes that Bogrun could hypnotize birds as well.

Ais remembers Bogrun as a kind-hearted person who always tried to help others.

Andrei was born in 1936. In 1941 his family was sent to Omskaya oblast', Siberia, where his mother worked in the fields. His father was away serving in the Red Army. Later he joined the family. Andrei and his father worked together in a cattle barn. Andrei remembers Siberia as a place where they worked a lot and always went hungry. Later Andrei became a driller and worked in the oil industry until 1973. He travelled a lot. From 1973 to 1992 he was a plumber. Andrei’s oldest son is 56. Another son is 54.

Andrei says that his father, who cured sick people, wanted him also to cure people. Andrei did not want to. Instead he enjoyed his life, drank and smoked with his friends. Then Andrei fell ill and was on the verge of death. He decided to stop drinking and smoking and accepted that he needed to cure sick people.

As a folk healer, Andrei contends that he cannot go out to parties nor even pay visits to strangers. He should stay at home, be close to his altar and keep himself pure. He also cannot go to a Buddhist temple, because, as he says, he practices ‘Kalmyk belief’.

All Buddhist icons and statues - including Tsagan Aav and various gods of the Ikh Bagud clan - that Andrei keeps on his altar are either inherited from his father or given to him during a special ritual of initiation. In his healing rituals Andrei uses a rosary with 101 beads that was previously used by his father.

Andrei specializes in curing sick children and helping women after they give birth. He also purifies cattle barns. He reads prayers in Kalmyk and massages people. On posting days (matsg odr) he does not receive patients, except for emergency cases.

Andrei uses a special knife to perform a ritual of cutting jealous tongues and stopping nightmares. For this, he takes white and black threads, coils them and cuts it with the knife.

In the interview Andrei also talks about funerary rituals. When a person dies, it is important to perform a special ritual of purification. The face of the deceased should be covered with a white cloth. No objects should be put inside the coffin so that the dead’s trip to the afterlife is without obstacles. It is recommended that the living do not talk about the dead and cover all the mirrors in the house for 3 days. Clothes that belong to the deceased should be burnt. In the first 3 days it is customary to read mantras and not to take away rubbish. Andrei reads such prayers. After 7 days, a sacrificial sheep should be killed. A candle in the house should burn without interruption for 49 days so that the road to the hereafter is lit up for the deceased. After 49 days, all relatives should be invited for a remembrance tea.

Andrei says that men who are 49 should perform a ritual to prolong their lives. He laments that today there are so many ‘folk healers’ who are guided not by their wish to help people but to earn money. Andrei himself does not ask for payment from his patients, he only wants to help people. His door is always open to the needy and the sick who come to see him from many places.

Andrei also says that healing abilities are inherited though the paternal line and that women should not practice healing. According to Andrei, today children fall ill more often than in the past, because the times are hard now. It is important that folk healers should cure people correctly, otherwise they will be punished by gods themselves.

In the end Andrei reads a prayer to open one’s road to success and prosperity.

In this interview Bulgun and Sanal talk about folk healers, rituals and stories about spirits or ghosts.

Bulgun: I cannot say that I am a deeply religious person. I cannot talk widely about Buddhism either. I try to attend general prayers at the Central Temple in Elista and put food offerings (for gods) on the altar on fasting days (matsg odr). At home, we perform rituals to cleanse our house, to prolong one’s life, and to open one’s road.

Sanal: I am a religious person, I am a Buddhist.

Question: Do you go to see folk healers when you are sick or when you want to learn about something?

Bulgun: There are people with special healing abilities. In Elista, many people go to see folk healers whom they already know.

Sanal: Buddhism says that we need to take refuge in Dharma only. Before the adoption of Buddhism, the Kalmyks believed in shamanism, which continues to exist today. Buddhism is mixed with these beliefs. People perform clan rituals and give offerings to the spirits of lands. This is a sort of dualism.

Bulgun: Folk healers often say that they can perform a ‘ritual to cut the black tongue’ but advise to go to a Buddhism temple for a ritual to open one’s road. It is a kind of symbiosis.

Question: Could you tell us based on your personal example about when you go to see folk healers and the rituals that you have already performed?

Sanal: When I was in secondary school and later a student at a university, before the beginning of each academic year I went to see folk healers. When someone fell sick, I also did this. People often take their sick children to see folk healers, which helps.

Bulgun: My parents told me that when I was a child I was sick, cried day and night and did not lift my head. My parents took me to a folk healer. After several rituals, I recovered. Today I go to folk healers when I think I need to, although it is better not to go too often. People should go to folk healer whom they trust. There are many impostors around. Black magic exists, which can harm people.

Question: Which rituals do folk healers perform?

Bulgun: I participated in a ritual to appease my ancestors and a ritual to cut the black tongue.

Sanal: When I was a child I had a stomach ache. The folk healer who healed me used a coin. Another ritual involved an action when my brother and I had to rub ourselves with raw meat and then give it to a dog.

Question: Did these rituals help you?

Sanal: Yes, if you believe that they will help.

Question: Is Tsagan Aav a Buddhist or an earthly god?

Sanal: Tsagan Aav is an earthly god by his primordial nature. He is the protector of the Kalmyk people and land. Its statue stands in front of the (Central) Temple (in Elista), and he is also acknowledged in Buddhism.

Question: Some people say that they saw Tsagan Aav. Did you hear such stories?

Bulgun: Yes, I heard that in some village somewhere someone saw him. I don’t know whether it is true or not, but it is possible that it is true.

Sanal: I heard stories about people who saw evil spirits (shulmus).

Question: Do you believe in such stories?

Bulgun: I heard that it happens in the steppe when people go in circles unable to reach the place they are looking for. I believe in these stories, because it is very scary in the steppe at night.

Sanal: The epos Jangar has passages about people fighting with monsters. Whatever we hear in childhood we think of them when we grow up. If people did not hear such stories in their childhood, they may not believe in them.

Bulgun: I was brought up in a village where we have many beliefs and legends. My grandmother knew a lot about signs and omens. When I came to Elista to study, I understood that those who grew up there did not believe in such stories.

Dzhidzha says that her father used a three-sided stick for divination. He made cuts on each side of a stick, then peeled off every second cut. The number of remaining cuts was used for fortune-telling.

Ekaterina says that the Kalmyks have their traditional ways of doing massage. Traditionally, it was medlegchis (folk healers) who practiced it. According to Ekaterina, in every person lives a medlegchi, but people need to develop their healing abilities. Healing ability is like energy and it comes to people by itself when they want to cure and help others. Kalmyk medlegchis have a good knowledge of human anatomy and how to massage. But they keep this knowledge to themselves.

Ekaterina says that many years ago she heard about a healer called Namka Kichikov who helped a lot of people and that there is a stupa dedicated to him in his native place. Ekaterina has an experience of meeting medlegchis since she was a child. Once her parents took her to Ulan-Khol to see a folk healer who smeared her hair with something sticky (probably honey) when massaging it. It took Ekaterina three days to clean her hair. Ekaterina recalls how her mother took her to Dzhambul and Lagan’ to see other folk healers. What Ekaterina remembers from these visits is that these folk healers read mantras, rang bells, and gave small pills.

Elena is a traditional healer. In this interview, she talks about her healing methods and her grandmother.

In the beginning, Elena shows the relics that she inherited from her grandmother, Anna Mudzhikova. These relics include a sutra and a prayer drum, which she uses in her religious practices. Elena prays to Buddha Shakyamuni, Ochir Vaani, White Tara, Green Tara and Tsagan Aav every morning. In the past, Elena says she was sick and no medicine helped her. One night she saw a dream in which her deceased grandmother asked her to find their family relics, which she later found in her aunt’s house. Although Elena had a wish to heal sick people, in the beginning she did not take it seriously. Later she decided to perform a ritual of accepting gods (as her protectors). Some people said to Elena that her mother was supposed to heal people, which she did not do. After the ritual of accepting gods, Elena started to heal her relatives, and later other people as well. Her healing methods include reading prayers and massaging.

Elena talks about the following two rituals:

Ritual One. A ritual of ‘pouring lead’ (vylivanie svintsa) is done as follows. The head of the child is covered with a white cloth, while the healer melts lead on the oven. Then the healer reads three prayers and pours the hot lead into a bowl with water three times. First, the bowl has to be held over the head of the child, then at the level of his/her chest, and finally at the child’s feet. After the ritual the water has to be poured in a clean place where people do not walk. The lead can be re-used. This ritual is performed to protect the patient from jealous eyes, negative words, and to remove fear.

Ritual Two. A ritual of ‘healing a patient with burning matches’ (lechenie razjiganiem spichek). 9 grains of rice, 9 pinches of bread, and 9 pinches of salt are put into a bowl with cold, clean water, which is held over the head of the child. While reading prayers, the healer lights a match and smokes the child by moving the match around the patient’s body. When the match burns out, the healer throws it into the bowl with water. This should be repeated 9 times with 9 matches in total. Then the healer moves the bowl around the patient 3 times clock-wise and 3 times anti-clock-wise. After that the child spits into the bowl 3 times and washes his/her face and neck with the water from the bowl. The patient waits until his/her face dries naturally.

Elena says that when she reads prayers with her rosary, she communicates with her grandmother, asking various questions. Her grandmother usually answers the questions.

In the video Galina shows her rosary that she inherited from her great grandmother. Galina uses the rosary in divination. It has 108 beads made from the sandalwood tree. Galina talks about how she found the rosary. One night Galina saw in her dreams a rosary that supposedly belonged to her mother. In the morning Galina told her mother about her dream. Her mother searched and indeed found a rosary that had not been used for many years. In the beginning the family wanted to donate the rosary to a temple, but the monks refused to accept this gift. That is how the rosary stayed in Galina’s house.

Galina says that unused rosaries should be ‘resurrected’ with the help of mantras and given a new name before they are used again. This ritual should be performed by monks in temples.

Galina says that her father also did divination with sticks. Although she does not use this method herself, Galina agrees to show it in the video. First, Galina makes cuts on a stick and counts the cuts. Then she peels off the cuts and makes new cuts. This has to be done three times. In the end, she looks at the number of remaining cuts on the stick. Every practitioner does this divination in their own ways and try to keep their methods only to themselves.

After this Galina talks about divination with 3 ankle bones. As with other divinations, there are many ways of doing this type of divination. Before each session, the ankle bones should be purified with fire. One can ask the following questions to a diviner who practices ankle-bone divination: Will a certain business be successful or not? Will the missing cattle be found, is it worth looking for them?

A luugin sum (lit. dragon’s arrow, which is a small piece of a meteorite) is used to treat headaches or swelling on the breast. This healing ritual can be performed three times on three consecutive days. Galina says that after each session the healer should offer omskul (i.e. a silk cloth) to the gods in order to increase the power of the luugin sum.

Apart from using a luugin sum, Galina also cures her patients with her bio-energy by massaging them. She can see bio-energy in other people as well. All people, according to her, emanate aura that change in color depending on their mood. When people fall ill, their aura disrupts.

Galina specializes in curing sick children. She talks about traditional methods of curing various illnesses. For example, if someone has got a toothache she advices them to rinse their mouth with salty water; if someone has been bitten by a spider, it is good to drink a well-cooked soup from mutton; if someone suffers from a stomach ache, it is good to drink sour milk; for pregnant women it is good to drink a decoction made from snake’s skin; snake’s skin is also used to treat pus and infection.

Klavdia cures sick children, fixes dislocations and treats head traumas. With the help of bio-energy emanating from her hands she determines the position of dislocations in the body. She says people of all nationalities come to see her. She contends that her healing ability has not been inherited but is a gift from god. She first understood that she would practice traditional healing in 1962 when her son, who was a year and half old, died. After her retirement, in 1999 Klavdia started to cure sick people. She cures the so-called ‘children’s illnesses’ when children or toddlers constantly cry, are anxious or have their limbs stretched during birth. Galina’s healing technique consists of reading prayers, using consecrated water and hand massage.

Galina used to cure people with bio-energy as well. But she stopped when she herself became ill. Today Galina tries to help sick people by giving advice.

Garya says that his grandfather was a healer. Although Garya does not know exactly how his grandfather cured sick people, he remembers that his grandfather read prayers and touched people’s heads. His grandfather had two statues – that of the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Buddha of Medicine. The statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni changed hands several times. First, someone took it with him to Siberia when the Kalmyks were exiled in 1943. After exile, it was brought from Siberia back to Kalmykia by another man who later gave it to Garya’s grandfather.

Garya recalls how he witnessed his grandfather cure two people. One of the patients was an alcoholic who happened to be Garya’s friend. Before the procedure, Garya’s grandfather asked the man whether he had come with pure intentions. If not, this would have angered the Buddhist gods, the statues of which were on the altar. The man confirmed that he had good and pure intentions. Garya’s grandfather read prayers for about half an hour, while the man was sitting, sweating, in front of him. After the healing ritual, the man never drank again. The second patient was a toddler who was brought by his mother. The toddler was suffering from anxiety and was continually crying. When Garya’s grandfather touched the toddler’s head with a religious implement, the toddler relaxed and stopped crying.

Garya says he himself saw folk healers. One of them was the famous healer Namka. Once Garya had a problem with his heart. Namka gave him powder and seven pills and asked him to mix the medicine with the cooked brain of a sheep and partake of it for seven days. After taking the medicine, Garya recovered.

According to Garya, in the past some Kalmyk monks used bottled water to conduct diagnoses. Those who knew this method would shake the bottle and say what was wrong with the patient. In Kalmykia there was a monastery, Cheerya Khurul, which housed monks who specialized in medicine.

Irina cures sick children by massaging them or performing a special ritual of pouring hot lead into a cup with water. When children are sick they have the following symptoms: they cry, have headaches, throw their head back, rub their eyes, have a diarrhea and twitch. Irina measures her patients’ head with a thread and then massages it while reading mantras and asking gods to help. She uses children’s cream to massage them, although in the past Kalmyks used butter instead.

Before becoming a healer, Irina suffered from poor health from her childhood. In Siberia, she spent two years in a hospital. When her family returned to Kalmykia, she started seeing gods and white horses in her dreams. She also flew in her dreams, as she recalls, ‘like a bird’. Later she underwent several surgeries. One day Irina went to see Tuvan Dorj, a Buryat lama in Elista, and told him about her dreams. Tuvan Dorj explained to her that it was gods who were asking her to start curing sick people. Irina’s first patient was the granddaughter of her neighbor. When she cured the girl, Irina’s intense dreams stopped.

Irina usually cures her relatives and interprets dreams. Here are some dream interpretations that she provides: If you see your deceased parents, you should perform a ritual of offering to your parents; if someone gives you something, it is a good omen; if you see clear water, you will hear good news; if you see horses or dogs, it is also a good sign; if you see meat, it is a bad omen; if you see a snake, this means you have special abilities; if you see a bird knocking on your door – some of your relatives are going hungry.

Irina says that in the past the Kalmyks paid more attention to signs and omens, whereas today less so. Here are examples of some bad omens: When children look at the sky and cry; when during a song someone moos like a cow.

Irina says that many people in her family have special gifts. Her grandmother not only cured people but also could foretell the future with a rosary. Irina’s grandfather could interpret dreams. Irina’s mother also had healing abilities: she cured tuberculosis with a special concoction made from milk and copperas and could set dislocated bones in the right place. One day, Irina recalls, her husband fell ill and began to laugh. Irina took him to see her grandfather who asked her husband, ‘Did you hunt saiga antelopes?’ to which her husband replied in the affirmative. Since saiga antelopes were considered to be god’s animals, Irina’s husband was chased by evil shulmus-spirits, was her grandfather’s verdict. On another occasion, the car in which Irina and her husband were travelling hit and killed a saiga antelope. Irina immediately sent her husband to her grandfather to ask what to do with the corpse. Her grandfather advised that the meat should be cooked and given to the workers. The antelope was sent by god to feed people.

Traditionally, saiga’s meat is used as a medicine. In the past, when someone was ill for too long, the people who lived in the same nomadic encampment were given small portions of saiga’s meat. The same can be said about doves. It is forbidden to kill this bird. Its meat, however, is also believed to have medicinal properties. Irina’s grandfather used dove’s meat for medicinal purposes.

In traditional medicine the following are considered to have medicinal properties: beef soup, wolf’s bile, ground squirrel’s meat or fat, dog’s meat, saiga’s fat and raccoon’s fat. For example, ground squirrel’s meat or fat is believed to be good for tuberculosis.

People suffering from forgetfulness or amnesia were traditionally treated with a wolf’s claw by sewing it into their pockets. The claw of a wild boar or a cat were also used as a protection from evil and envy.

Kanur is from the Baga-Chonos clan. His father was the famous Kalmyk monk and healer Maani bagshi (his secular name was Kheeche Baburkievich Baburkiev). At the age of six, Maani bagshi was sent to a local temple and the next year was sent to Mongolia to pursue a religious education. From Mongolia he was sent to Tibet where he spent around 20 years studying Buddhism and medicine. According to Kanur, upon his return to Kalmykia, Maani bagshi served as the head of several temples. When the Soviets came to power, he left the temple he was then head of and married Kanur’s mother. He practiced medicine at home. In 1931 Maani bagshi was arrested and spent four months in prison in Saratov. In prison he cured a sick person who, it turned out, was a close friend of Mikhail Kalinin, a well-known Bolshevik revolutionary. A grateful Kalinin provided Maani bagshi with a document saying that his healing methods did not contradict Soviet medicine. Maani bagshi had many patients, both young and old, Kalmyk and Russian. He did not charge for his services, although the grateful patients would leave money on his domestic altar. Kanur recalls that his father made medicine from various herbs. He also kept pills made in Mongolia, consecrated butter, and water, as well as modern tools such as a thermometer and a pair of scales to weigh medicine.

Maani bagshi was also a clairvoyant. For example, he predicted World War Two and the deportation of the Kalmyks. A patriot, he loved his country and always taught others to seek education, be honest, and help the weak. Maani bagshi himself was a kind- hearted person and never held a grudge against even those who hurt him. He also taught his son Kanur special prayers.

Maani bagshi died at the age of 85 in February 1943 the day before the traditional holiday of Tsagan Sar. Kanur was 12.

Kanur says that the soil from his father’s grave has medicinal properties. People use it to cure not only themselves but their cattle.

Konstantin is a bone-setter and diviner (he uses a rosary and looks at people’s faces and eyes during divinations). He learnt these skills from his father and is constantly perfecting them by himself. Being the youngest son in his family, Konstantin stayed at home to help and look after his parents, and in this way he learnt certain skills from them. Konstantin’s mother who reads prayers twice a day (in the morning and in the evening) instilled religious faith in her son.

In this video Konstantin shows how to treat a headache (in Kalmyk tolgan uidl) with hand massage. Depending on the condition of his patients, Konstantin does several types of hand massage. He says that people may have headaches for various reasons: They may sleep uncomfortably, hit their head, spend long hours inside a car, etc.

Konstantin starts and finishes his treatment by reading special prayers to Tsagan Aav. After each session, he purifies himself. Konstantin believes that it is gods who cure sick people via his hands.

He also says that his clan performs the ritual of gal tyalgn (fire offerings) for their ancestors annually.

Larisa: I was born in Siberia in 1946. When I was born, my father was already 56 and my mother 44. My mother told me later that she felt ashamed to tell people that she had given birth at her age. I was born in the evening. We lived three families in the same house. My older sister, who had no winter coat, wore an old sweatshirt that she dried on top of the oven in the house. One day when she came home, she learnt about a new baby. I was born in the 241^st sovkhoz in Maryanskiy rayon of Omskaya oblast. In our village there lived Germans, Estonians, Ukrainians and Kalmyks. We all lived in friendship.

Later (in the 1990s), I returned to my Siberian village on the train ‘The Children of Siberia’. There were four people from our village on that train. Upon arrival, we collected the local old people, gave them presents and talked. We cried. So did the local elders. One old woman asked me: ‘Are you not the daughter of the Davaevs?’ I said: ‘Yes, I am Shura Davaeva’s daughter.’ My mother’s Kalmyk name was Chenzh though. Later we went to a cemetery. In the past when Kalmyks died, their corpses were piled up on the outskirts of the village. We took with us candles and food as offerings.

My father is from the Avnra clan. I’ll tell you how I ended up in Orgakin (in Kalmykia). In Kalmykia, after finishing my studies at a pedagogical institute – I was a Komsomol member then – I met the minister Sharapov who asked me about where I wanted to work. I said to him: ‘Send me wherever I am needed. Send me to a place where they need a teacher.’ Sharapov proposed that I go to Iki-Burul’skiy rayon, to which I agreed. At that time I did not know that it was 500 kilometers away. In 1956, I came here in Orgakin. I worked for 39 years as a teacher. Today I live with my children and grandchildren. The land of Orgakin is a happy place. The local people are good people. (When I was younger) the old people knew about their genealogy very well. When we were young we did not pay much attention to this sort of thing. Now I understand that what the elders used to talk was a fountain of wisdom. Here lived Boskhomdzhiev who knew the history of this land very well. We used to listen to his stories. There was another old woman called Tagcha, who was very knowledgeable too. Today there are a few old people left. I should have written down what they had told us. We thought that we would never need their stories. When people get old, they think of their land, their people and good friends. On 18 December people who are younger than me – people in their 50s – invited me to the local club to talk about how we celebrated Zul in the past. Why? Because their parents are already gone and they themselves know little about this celebration. For us, the lama Tsongkapa is like a god. Zul is on the 25^th day of the month of the mouse. On this day people pray to Tsongkapa. Our elders used to tell us that the Kalmyks have three important holidays, Zul, Tsagan Sar and Ur Sar.

(Larisa talks about Zul in detail).

I am happy that today the young people listen to our advice. In my 30s when we lived in the Soviet Union I knew nothing about traditions. We used to go out during Zul, did not perform rituals, ate meat and drank vodka.

Question: Can you say a well wish for Zul, please?

Larisa: ‘Let the old year depart and the new come/ Let all people live well without illness/ The coming year will be good, with plenty of rain/ Let people live in friendship/ Let all the bad go away and the good stay around/ Live well with your children, grandchildren and livestock’.

People said well wishes before drinking tea. Children were given sweets and gingerbread. In the past, people wore their national dress. In front of their dress women had a white cloth hanging that they used to clean their hands. They also had a pocket filled with white and yellow coins that they gave to children. White coins, made from silver, symbolize life without illness and problems. Yellow coins symbolize abundance. In the past, there were no candies but sugar lumps. It was put on the hand, split into smaller pieces, and then given to children. I remember all this very well.

(Larisa talks about how people celebrated Tsagan Sar in Siberia; how people celebrate Ur Sar today in Orgakin village; rituals connected with children; Kalmyk dress; hairstyles; the ritual of worshipping the spirit-masters of water; clan rituals and the hill of Kermen Tolga; and rain-making rituals).

In the Soviet times, we knew little about god. Nevertheless, we prayed, because god was inside us. My father died when I was 2, and my mother when I was 21. The Kalmyks knew their traditions and taught them to their children. When I was a pioneer, then became a member of the Komsomol, I did not understand these things well. But I memorized whatever my mother taught me. My mother and I secretly did all the necessary rituals during traditional holidays. Whatever I learnt from my mother, today I pass this knowledge on to the next generation.

In Kalmykia, the first national classes opened only in 1991, with 23 teachers. I was one of them. We read books and attended the lectures by professors from Xinjiang (China). Whatever I learnt from the professors I taught it to my students who were very interested (in cultural topics).

Afterwards, I fell ill. I went to see healers who said to me that I had to accept 15 gods (as my protectors). Before that I used to read prayers to myself only. When I fell ill, I was very scared, because I was told that my condition would deteriorate. I decided to accept gods as soon as possible. Anya Molokanova gave me (the images) of gods. I accepted Tsagan Aav (as my protector) three times. After that, Anya gave me other (images of) gods. I also received books and the statues of Buddha from Yurda Rinpoche from Tibet.

(Today) I help people. If someone needs my advice about how to organize one’s altar, I help. On the 15^th day of the lunar month I read prayers at the temple, although I skip them from time to time. When I forget and eat meat or sausages on these days, I ask gods for forgiveness. I also read prayers on the 2^nd and 16^th days of the lunar month, which is the day of Tsagan Aav. I received books of prayers from our lamas. Whatever our lamas read, I read them too. When I feel up to it, I read prayers.

(Larisa shows her altar and talks about her dreams).

Question: Could you tell me what is the attitude of people towards people like yourself (i.e. towards folk healers)?

Larisa: Different people have different attitudes. Today people want to learn more about spirituality. People ask questions, I answer them. Today almost all people are religious (in Kalmykia). In the beginning, some people thought that I was crazy. Later they understood that I am an adequate person. What I really appreciate is that the young people became curious, they want to learn more, and that they respect lamas.

Question: What do you think of Buddhist monks?

Larisa: You already know about this without me answering this question. There are real lamas and there are those who are fake. I am a psychologist by nature. The teaching work suits me. I look at people’s eyes, because the eyes show the soul of that person. By nature, I am a mysterious person who is connected to gods. I do not like talks about the hereafter though. You can learn about a person by looking at his/her behavior, the way that person sits, speaks, from that person’s facial expressions.

Question: I understand you do not work with the world of hereafter, but only with the upper worlds, is that right?

Larisa: Yes. I do not understand (the hereafter). The most important thing for me is to help others. If people are well, their children will be too. We, old people, need nothing. We have had our lives. The only thing that we are worried about are our children and grandchildren. We sit and pray. I used to pray from morning to evening.

Purvya says that in the past, monks, astrologists and folk healers had different gifts and abilities. Monks could determine people’s misfortunes by looking at their prayer books. Astrologists could see the past and communicate with the dead. Folk healers collected herbs and made medicine.

Purvya also says that she knew several folk healers, including Maani bagshi, Sokhr emch (blind healer) and Shar emch (yellow doctor). Maani bagshi cured Purvya’s father, who was coughing up blood. He gave her father a drink made from vodka mixed with seeds. Her father took a spoonful of the drink three times a day. Sokhr emch cured Purvya, who was suffering from parotitis, and her mother, whose hand was twisted. The method he used when treating Purvya consisted of sprinkling her with water.

Purvya admires Maani bagshi as a smart and powerful healer. She also relays what Sokhr emch told her regarding the power of folk healers – Kalmyks can cure all illnesses, except for ulcers.

Sanal is from the Baga-Chonos clan. He is the grandson of the famous Kalmyk monk and doctor Kheech Baburkiev, better known among the people as Maani bagshi. Sanal recounts the story of his grandfather as he heard it from his father Pel’dzhi Byurchiev.

Maani bagshi studied in Tibet for 23 years. He was a Buddhist doctor of 7 different sciences, including medicine. Upon his return to Kalmykia he settled near the Godzhur river. In his settlement he had 4 yurts and 2 airbrick houses where he carried out Buddhist rituals. People from the neighboring places came to him for treatment. Among his patients was a boy called Anatoliy Sokirkin who was paralyzed. His parents brought him to Maani bagshi who asked the parents to leave the boy with him. In a week’s time the boy was already running. Anatoliy worships Maani bagshi to this day.

In 1939, the NKVD people came to Maani bagshi’s settlement, confiscated all his precious possessions and sent him to the Butyrskaya prison. One day the commandant of the prison said to Maani, ‘If you really are a doctor, and not a charlatan, cure my paralyzed child. If you do so, I will release you’. When Maani bagshi cured the paralyzed child, the commandant kept his word and gave him a document with the signature of Kalinin (a member of the Politbyuro of the Communist Party) certifying that Maani bagshi can practice medicine in all parts of Russia. The document was kept in the house of Sanal until the 1970s when a group of scholars from the Kalmyk State University took it with them to study. Sanal has not heard of the documents since.

After the interview Sanal shows the place where Maani bagshi was buried. This place was chosen by Maani bagshi himself. He died during Tsagan Sar in 1943 and he was buried in a sitting position according to a Buddhist canon. Later Maani bagshi’s descendants erected a family stupa in this place.

In her childhood Svetlana suffered from vitiligo. She was cured by Namka Kichikov who gave her various herbs and asked her to collect the excrements of ground squirrels that had their lairs facing north. Svetlana’s grandmother made a concoction from these ingredients with which she smeared Svetlana’s skin. Svetlana also used consecrated butter for her treatment.

Ubush says that in Kalmykia there are many folk healers. His personal attitude towards them is skeptical. He thinks that people who have healing abilities should study proper medicine in university. When Ubush was a child his mother took him to an old woman who performed divination with a rosary. He also remembers another folk healer who gave him consecrated water. Ubush says that some folk healers practice massage and do bone-setting.

Vera is a diviner. She uses prayer beads for divination. She also has a deity that protects her and tells her what she wants to know. People who have lost their livestock often come to her for divination. Vera is not the only person in her family who has this gift. A female relative of hers is also a powerful diviner.

Vera’s connection with the supernatural started when she was a girl. She was often anxious and felt that something powerful called and pulled her to it. It is no coincidence that when she was 13, Vera found a small statue of a Buddhist deity.

According to Vera, people should always pray to their personal deity-protectors. Food, money, luck and protection all come from these personal deities.

Vera says that the sins of parents could be inherited by their children. For example, if a parent mistreats others, later their children could be punished (by gods) as a result.

Yuriy relays the following story: We had a relative, lama Naran, who studied with ‘Tsagan-Aman Aava’. I was very active in my childhood and my parents thought that I would become a bandit and got killed. Once lama Naran offered to look at my destiny. He tasted my urine, tapped on my body with his hands, listened to my breathing, and measured my chest. After, he looked into a sutra and said to my parents, ‘Everything will be fine with your son’.

I once met Namka. After enquiring about my background, he said to me that there were healers among my ancestors. Indeed, there were. One of our relatives was a well-known bone-setter who lived in Karabulak.

Lama Naran was a monk, specialising in astrology and medicine. He cured many people from our region. After his death, all the graves in the cemetery where he was buried were levelled out, except for his.

As rule, lamas are buried in a sitting position facing the east. Their graves are decorated with special signs and the depictions of the moon and the sun. Women are prohibited from going to cemeteries. In the house of the deceased all windows should be closed, and people are expected to control their emotions and not to cry. At a funeral it is forbidden to consume alcohol or eat meat.

Zurgada talks about two folk healers, namely Guuga and Maani bagshi.

Guuga lived in Yashkul’. He was a bonesetter. His sister was also a healer and lived in Khar-Tolga where Zurgada is originally from.

Zurgada tells a story about how her brother was cured by Maani. Zurgada knew Maani’s name from her childhood, because all the people in her village often talked about this healer. When Zurgada was in the third class in secondary school, her brother went blind. One day Zurgada’s father returned home from work and took her brother with him to see Maani not even knowing where he lived. On their way they came across a river and decided to stay for the night. The next day Zurgada’s father met a man whom he asked about Maani’s whereabouts. The man said that Maani had died. Despite the discouraging news, Zurgada’s father decided to carry on his journey. When they finally reached Maani’s village, it turned out that the healer was alive. Maani gave Zurgada’s brother a chunk of consecrated butter and water. After smearing the butter on his eyes and drinking the water, Zurgada’s brother was gradually cured.