Living with Spirits. Mongolian Shaman Material Culture

This book invites the reader to discover the Mongolian shamanic material culture. The Mongolian shamanic material culture is rich, very varied and sometimes in our eyes exuberant. Mongolia is one of the countries, together with Siberia, where the shaman costume is the most striking material expression of shamanism. The shaman costume and shamanic objects are very important elements in shamanic thought. The shaman’s costume or spirit robe is the means for the shaman to enter into a relationship with the spirits and it is through a shamanic séance that the shaman comes into contact with the tutelary spirits and shamanic deities. A shaman’s costume expresses the shaman’s personal connection with the spiritual universe. There is a great variety among the shaman costumes and even among the shamanic attributes. Each shaman’s costume is unique: it reflects the history of its owner, his rituals, his experience, his successes and his relationship with the spirits. This book includes a vast and unique collection of shaman costumes, some of which have been exhibited or are part of the collection of renowned museums. This book also pays a lot of attention to shamanic attributes such as drums, staffs, arrows, masks, amulets, idols (= ongod = material representation of spirits)…

Text in English and French.