JL. Dan, can you tell me a about your journey to Siberia.
DA. The trip to Tuva ( southern Siberia, bordering Mongolia) was made in
the summer of 2002. The photos of the shamanic rituals were taken
at a sacred spring, which in Tuvan is called an arzhaans. The
spring itself was being blessed by the fire and the chants and dances of
the two shamans, Nadia and Ochurolovich. I was then lead into a
wooden shed where the ice-cold water cascaded down on my back.
After a few "practice runs" to become acclimated to the water, I
remained under the falling water for 5 minutes. This was one of
the many healing springs in this complex. The shaman also did a
number of other healings. One quite similar to a reiki treatment;
and another where the shaman's knuckles were run across one's forehead.
Needless to say, that was quite painful at the onset, but it became less
so in a shirt while somewhat akin to the "accommodation" to pain in
subsequent shiatsu sessions or the transmogrification of pains of
varying form and intensity in everyday life. There were a myriad
of flies around the camp site which one and all tried to shoo away at
every opportunity. The shaman however looked upon the presence of
flies as evidence of abundant life forces. In the rituals, a
sacred drum, the dungur was used. The drumstick was a dried bear
claw. Also, there was liberal use of smoke from the juniper leaves and
berries to purify
and sanctify the area.
