Virlana Tkacz - 17 Sept

SIBERIAN SHAMANISM

The Shanar Ritual of the Buryats

This glimpse of Buryat culture does not aim to be comprehensive, but it will be fascinating to those interested in Eastern religions and anthropology. Of particular note are the hundreds of full-color photographs that grace the handsomely produced volume; there's also a useful glossary.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

... fascinating book.... With coauthors Zhambalov, a Buryat actor, and Phipps, an African American poet, (Tkacz) gives a vivid and detailed look into this ritual and, more generally, into this rarely discussed culture.... This book provides enough information about the culture to place the ritual in context, but it is not meant to be a scholarly treatment of the Buryat culture. The 175 accompanying photographs by fashion photographer Alexander Khantaev are beautiful and convey a sense of color that is not typically associated with this region.

LIBRARY JOURNAL

Foreword to Siberian Shamanism

By Itzhak Beery

T his remarkable book follows Volodya through his personal odyssey to be initiated by Spirit, which needs to enter his body. He needs the help of his ancestors spirits and the support of his communitya powerful metaphor that can touch us all, reminding us of the importance of being in close contact and in harmony with our ancestral and land spirits. Although Volodyas struggle may not seem logical to many in our modern society, it is one we can easily identify with emotionally and symbolically.

Many years ago in my neighborhood in New York City I found myself, entirely by coincidence, glued to my seat with an open mouth, riveted as I watched the Flight of the White Bird at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club. Unprepared, I was transmuted through magical layers of realities where time and space ceased to exist. This Yara Arts Group performance was conceived and directed by Virlana and was based on a legend of the Buryats, an indigenous people in south Siberia. It delicately wove spoken words with songs, music, movement, rituals, and ceremonies. It was like nothing I had seen before. I may not remember all the storys details, but I still feel its power in every part my physical and emotional bodies. In that short time I developed a deep emotional identification with the heroine. It was as if we were all transported to the expanses of the steppes, but really it could have been anywhere. It had no specific timeframe but could have been at any time. Although it was a story of one person it had a universal message rooted in the common human experience, connecting the sum of our lives with the Great Mystery of life.

Since then I have attended other productions by her company. Each time Virlana captured the magical dualistic nature of our worldthe interaction of the seen and unseen worldsand brought it into our lives. I believe you will experience this while reading the story Virlana wrote with Sayan Zhambalov and Wanda Phipps and seeing Alexander Khantaevs beautiful authentic pictures of the Shanarthe shamans dedication ceremony.

You will witness the power of the rituals and ceremonies shamanic traditions have held for millennia all around the world wherever humans exist. We need this understanding to feel wholly connectedwith all our sensesto the entirety of the universe around us. In many ways, like the initiate in this book who struggles to gain acceptance from the spirit world, we as a society struggle to be accepted and authenticated as the guardians of the earth.

If you pay attention, you will notice there is a rumbling under the surface of the mainstream controlled media today. Its an undercurrent of hot lava oozing from the depth of peoples souls. It carries with it deep passion and old yearnings. Its a burning desire of millions of people around the worldmostly in the technologically advanced societiesto fully re-experience the world with all their sensory capacity as their ancestors did many thousands of years ago. It is a strong desire to be engaged with flesh and blood communities, to experience the magic and mystery of life through rituals and ceremonies.

The statistics on Shaman Portal (www.shamanportal.org), the website I founded as a hub for the global shamanic community, show that more than three quarters of the visitors come from the United States and Europe, and in the United States most are from San Franciscos Silicon Valley and New York City. I believe it is not by coincidence.

Today we are waking up to the realization that our primitive ancestors held the secret key to fully understanding and embracing the physical and spiritual world. That knowledge enabled them to live sustainable lives in balance with Mother Earth and themselves. A skill we as a modern society have forgotten and run away from. Many in our Western culture are now embarking on a journey of remembrance of who we humans truly are. We are rediscovering the intimate interdependent relationship between the natural world, the spirit world, the entire cosmos, and us. I believe we are too sophisticated, educated, and well informed these days to uncritically conform to governments rules, corporate media messages, medical and insurance institutions regulations, and most of all organized religions that dictate how to live our lives, what to believe in, and how to think. We urgently want to independently find that wisdom from the source, the spirit world. We can find this in shamanic practice through ancient ceremonies and rituals, which provide that direct connection to source.

The practice of what we call shamanism is slowly rising to the surface. Movies, books, music, and computer games with shamanic characters and themes are abounding. Thousands of people are going to South America and other continents every year to experience first hand encounters with plant medicine and life changing visions. Thousands are traveling to all the corners of the Earth to participate in workshops and trainings in an effort to reconnect with their spirit guides, reclaim their full potential, and awaken their shut down senses.

Im convinced that we human beings are truly living in multidimensional realities. As humans we have the ability to perceive knowledge, images, and information otherwise hidden from our limited range of senses by shifting from the earthly plane into a shamanic state of higher vibrational consciousness. Im convinced that this ability has been central to humans survival from the moment we first walked on this planet.

As the ancient Inca prophecies point out, beginning in 1993 we entered into a new Pachacuti, a five-hundred-year period of realignment and correction of the human journey and consciousness. It is time to be awakened and accept our true nature by living in equilibrium and harmony between the two opposing and complementary forces of the feminine and masculine that exist within each of us. It is a time to take the long overdue journey from our minds to meet our hearts. Only then, when the heart and the mind accept each other in harmony, can we resolve war, poverty, and environmental destruction to ensure future generations survival.

The big sensory shutdown is real. Look at the millions of eyes that are relentlessly glued to the two-dimensional screens of our smartphones, tablets, computers, and TVs. Arent we becoming handicapped, dependent, and purely apathetic as we trade in our birthright sensual gifts and abilities for the gifts of technology? The practice of shamanism through rituals, ceremonies, and life stage initiations helps us reestablish a sense of awe of the universe. It helps us gain a new perspective on life and recognize our ability of seeing or intuitionour sixth sense.