Shamanic rituals

 

Shamanic rituals

 

Burmese musician Duoji chatted with Agudengba, Azhuo, Chu Sanxing and others about the religious beliefs and culture of the Manchu people.

Agudemba is still very concerned about shamanism and wants to get more relevant information. Why did the mysterious shamanism mysteriously disappear again?

Dorji said to Agudengba, Azhuo, Chu Sanxing and others:

Manchu shamanism has a long history and has a great influence on the Manchu people. After the Qing troops entered the customs, although the Manchu people generally accepted the folk beliefs of the Central Plains, they still retained many shamanistic customs. It is mainly reflected in the aspects of soul belief, soul calling, soul chasing, totem worship, nightmare belief, deification of good people, etc.

Since the rulers of the Qing Dynasty regarded religion as a means to win over other forces, they did not give special favors to shamanism, the national religion. Except for the Kunning Palace sacrifices and the palace hall sacrifices in the Qing Dynasty palace, there is no place for shaman worship in Beijing. Therefore, there have always been folk legends circulating in the Northeast about shamans and Tibetan lamas fighting each other, and about emperors helping lamas persecute shamans. These are all manifestations of shamans’ dissatisfaction with their own emperors.

Dorje talked about shamanistic customs, the main one being shamanic sacrifices.

Shaman sacrifice is a Manchu cultural activity. Shaman culture originated from the Manchu people. Shaman sacrifices include fire sacrifices, school sacrifices, and other sacrifices.

On the west wall of the main house of the Manchu people, there is an "ancestor board" one foot eight inches wide and one and a half feet long, which is called "Japanese garage" in Manchu. During the sacrifice, the sacred sword, also known as the Hama sword, and bows and arrows were placed, indicating that they were things used by the ancestors.

Next to the sacred board hangs a yellow cloth bag called "mother's bag", also called "descendants' empress". There are three or four feet of silk ropes called "descendants rope" and "longevity rope".

Before worshiping the ancestors, the ancestral box is first placed on the Western Kang and three tables are set up for yellow rice cakes. Then the elders of the family open the box, and the whole family kowtows three times in order of seniority, and then goes to the north and south Kang or the outer room to kneel down.

At this time, the shaman began to put on his clothes, skirt, waist bell, sacred hat, holding a drum, pray in front of the ancestors, and began to dance. When dancing, you first turn three times and take three steps back, while reciting the congratulations and walking the dance steps. It usually takes three days and nights to dance.

Sacrifice to heaven is usually held on the second day of ancestor worship. There is a screen wall in every courtyard of the Manchu people. Behind the screen wall stands a foot-high pole, called the "Solun pole", with a pig neck bone running through the top. A black boar with no hair on its body is used as a sacrifice to the "Solon pole". After slaughtering, the intestines and bladder are put into the bucket of the pole and let crows eat it. It is considered auspicious to eat it within three days. ​

In addition, the Manchu people mince pork and add a little millet to make porridge, which is called millet meat porridge. They invite relatives, friends, neighbors, and even passers-by to eat meat porridge. Meat porridge must be eaten outside the house and must be finished on the same day.

Azhuo asked: What are the collective sacrificial activities of shamanism?

Duoji said: For Agudengba, Azhuo, Chu Sanxing, etc.

In the traditional grand ancestor worship ceremony of Shamanism, all clan or tribe members will participate in praying for the safety of people and animals, and a good harvest for agriculture and animal husbandry. The clan's new shaman leadership ceremony is often held at the same time. Ewenki, Oroqen, Daur and other ethnic groups hold it more often in spring, also known as "April Meeting". At that time, everyone will bring cattle, sheep, animal meat, food and wine to participate in the party that lasts for several days. When the Ewenki people in the Erguna River Forest Area of Inner Mongolia hold ancestor worship ceremonies, they hang the idols of their ancestors on the treetops. On the east and west sides, there are wooden models of the sun, the moon, and wild geese and cuckoos. The head, throat, tongue, heart, lungs, kidneys, limbs and tail of a reindeer or a deer are hung on the rope. The head of the animal faces the ancestral god; it is forbidden to offer sacrifices to four-clawed animals that they consider to be ominous. Tree trunks near the sacrificial site are smeared with animal blood.

The Ewenki people in the grasslands often gather in the eighth month of the lunar calendar. The venue was decorated like a forest scene and the offerings were plentiful. During the party, they indulge in singing, dancing, horse racing, wrestling, and making love with couples. Shamans wear sacred clothes and masks and go to each household to dance and chant sutras to ward off evil spirits. The owners of each household pour yogurt on them to seek good luck. The Daur people hold the "Kure" ceremony on the third day of the gathering.

At that time, the shaman will gather the men, women, old and young of the clan together in one place, wrap a leather rope around it, tighten and relax the leather rope three times. If the length of the rope increases each time, it is considered to be a sign of prosperity; everyone Come out from under the rope to avoid disaster. That night, the shaman imitated the movements and calls of birds, held a blood-drinking ceremony, and smeared the blood of cattle and sheep on the mouths of the gods and idols to seek blessings.

Chu Sanxing asked: I heard that there is an activity called "Qing Wu Mai". What kind of ceremony is this?

Dorje said: "Asking for Umai" is a ritual to retrieve the soul of a baby. In the ancient Turkic language, the word "Umai" means placenta. The Yakut people believe that it is an auspicious bird. Worshiping "Umai" can make people prosperous. A child of the Ewenki people in the Ergun River was seriously ill. They believed that the soul of the sick child had gone to another world. They had to sacrifice reindeer and deer and ask the shaman to hold a "Wumei-seeking" ceremony to recapture the soul.

Before the night dance, a black reindeer is killed as a ride for the shaman to search for the soul. After the dance, the lights in the tent are turned off and the fire is extinguished. The shaman runs back and forth in the darkness as if searching. Then he lights the lamp and looks at the shaman's drum head. If there is hair on the child's head, it means that the soul of the sick child has been recovered, and the parents will snatch the hair. Wrap it in a clean cloth and place it under your armpit or on your hip to prevent it from flying off. The next day, another white reindeer was killed to worship the ancestral god Maru. They carved the Uma, which symbolizes the child's soul, into a small bird shape from wood, and sewed it together with the statue of Maru on the back of the child's clothes for good luck.

Azhuo asked: Mr. Duoji, you talked about the funeral customs of the Manchu people. I heard that they also have a "soul-sending" ceremony?

Dorje said: Yes.

When the Oroqen and Ewenki people of the Manchu nationality hold funerals, they often hold a shamanic soul-sending ceremony, which involves tying a straw man and tying multiple thin threads. The deceased's children or other relatives in mourning clothes each hold a thread, and the shaman also holds a thread in memory. Mantras and prayers ask the deceased not to miss his family's old place and to leave as soon as possible. Then use the magic stick to break the thread, and throw the straw man as far away as possible, thinking that the soul of the deceased will go away with it. After the body is placed in the coffin, it is buried in the mountains or buried in the ground.

When the Hezhe people bury their souls, they make a wooden figure wearing clothes to represent the deceased, light incense and burn paper as an offering, or ask a shaman to perform a dance, and entertain their relatives and friends with wine and meat for three days. On the third day, the shaman shoots three arrows to indicate the direction to the underworld for the dead.

Agudengba asked Dorje the last question: The Manchu people are a grassland people. They used to focus on hunting. What rituals did they have before and after hunting?

Dorje said:

They perform "hunting for prey" rituals before and after hunting.

Ewenki and Oroqen hunters often hold this kind of ceremony whenever they encounter bad luck in hunting. They use wicker to weave a model of a deer or a deer, place it in the position where the statue is usually worshiped, and shoot at the model with a bow and arrow or a shotgun with the warhead removed. The clans present or The family members all said: Hit! Hit! The hunter then pretended to skin and remove the internal organs, and put them on the scaffolding for sacrifice.

Or at night, an empty pot is placed on the hunting ground, and the hunters pray to the moon. The next morning, they check what kind of animal hair is in the pot, and they think what kind of beast they may have hunted.

…

Duoji briefly described some shamanic sacrificial customs, but these customs have gradually disappeared in the long river of history with the changes in cognition and beliefs.

Duoji sang a folk song "Live Well in the Moment":

 

What is supposed to come will come,

What should go will go,

History does not stop at one point in time;

There will be a day when life stops beating.

 

Yesterday will go far away,

Will come tomorrow,

Only today should I keep it,

Living well in the present is the best choice.

 

Faith is like a nightmare,

The soul is hard to recover,

Displaying dead bodies for people to admire,

The ritual of worshiping gods and ancestors was unprecedented.

 

The soul never returns,

Faith has been lost,

Totem worship is ignorance and ignorance;

Personal deification is a dictatorial absurdity.