Siberia's Shaman Festival Unites Believers

According to archaeologists, shamanism originated in Siberia back in the late Stone Age and Bronze Age. The tradition developed in tandem with people's forming reflections of the world — shamanists felt the universe was so substantial that only certain individuals could grasp its full understanding.



Photos by Nicolas Pernot



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The shaman ceremonies focused on the worship of spirits, ancestry, and Heaven and Earth, with the shaman serving as the mediator between the people and the world beyond their grasp.

The tradition continues today through Tailagan, a gathering of about 30 shamans, which is held every summer on the island of Olkhon, one of the strongholds of shamanism in Siberia. The indigenous people of the sacred island, the Buryats, have been practicing shamanism for thousands of years in the Lake Baikal area.

During Tailagan the participants summon their ancestors' protection by tying colored ribbons and placing offerings of coins, cigarettes or vodka bottles — their contents emptied onto the earth — onto the island's peaks, headlands and rocks.



As the shaman emerges in a trance, journeying into the world of spirits, the people approach him in hopes for a blessing or a message from the world beyond.