Elements of Shamanism in the Folk Medicine of the Siberian Tatars

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to examine, on the basis of field ethnographic materials collected by the authors in the Tyumen, Omsk and Novosibirsk regions during a number of field seasons, the relics of shamanism preserved in the folk medicine of the Siberian Tatars. The relevance of the study is related to the poor knowledge of this issue. The object of the study is the relics of the pre–Islamic beliefs of the Siberian Tatars, including the categories of shamans (imce, kuremce, sihyrce, kotsle mullah, etc.). The subject is their role in the traditional healing and magical rituals. The authors believe that with the spread of Islam in Western Siberia, there is a loss or significant transformation of the early common Turkic ideas about the universe, nature and essence of man. But, despite this, some elements of the common Turkic cultural and religious practice have been preserved in the culture of the Siberian Tatars. The main conclusions of the authors are the following. Magical rituals occupied a significant place in the traditional folk medicine of the Siberian Tatars. The authors show the preservation of some relics of shamanism among the Siberian Tatars, as well as categories of shamanists, which include imce, kuremce, sihyrce. The similarities and differences in their capabilities in traditional medical practice are shown: clairvoyance (kuremce, imce, sihyrce), diagnosis of diseases, treatment (imce, kuremce, sihyrce), kamlaniya (imce, sihyrce), prediction of the future, communication with spirits (kuremce, sihyrce). In connection with the important role of Sufism in Siberian Islam, it is shown that the practices inherent in shamanism were used in the treatment of Islamic clerics - mullahs.

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