Shamanism may be defined as the art to influencing, by the help of guardian spirits, the course of events. Waldemar Jochelson distinguished professional shamanism and family shamanism among the Koryak. Professional shamans are those who are inspired by special spirits. Their opportunities for displaying their powers are not limited to certain group of people. The more powerful they are the wider is the circle in which they can practice their art. Family shamanism is connected with the domestic hearth, whose welfare is under its care. The family shaman has charge of the celebration of family festivals, rites, sacrificial ceremonies, of the use of their charms and amulets, and of their incantations. Some women possess, besides the knowledge of incantations which are a family secret, that of a considerable number of other incantations, which they make use of outside the family.
The Koryak name for a professional shaman can be translated as “a man
inspired by spirits.” Every shaman has his own guardian spirits that help
him in his struggle with the disease- inflicting kalau, in his rivalry with
other shamans, and also in attacks upon his enemies. The shaman spirits usually
appear in the form of animals or birds. The most common guardian spirits are
the wolf, the bear, the raven, the seagull, and the eagle. Nobody can become
a shaman of his own free will. The spirits enter into any person they choose,
and force him to become their servant. Those that become shamans are usually
nervous young men subject to hysterical fits, by means of which the spirits
express their demand that the young man should concentrate himself to the service
of shamanism.
There is no doubt that professional shamanism has developed from the ceremonies
of family shamanism. The latter form is more primitive, while the functions
of professional shamanism resemble those of priests.
The Koryak shamans have no drums of their own; they use the drums belonging
to the family in whose house the shamanistic performance takes place. The drum
is closely connected with shamanistic performances, but not with the person
of the shaman. They also wear no special dress just ordinary dancing clothing.
Among the Koryak traditions are preserved of shamans, who change their sex in
compliance with the demands of the spirits. The transformed shamans were believed
to be the most powerful of all shamans. The concept of the change of sex arises
from the idea of the conformity between the nature of an object and its covering
or garb. It remains a question why women shamans, or those transformed into
women, are considered to be most powerful.
In almost every family there is some woman, usually an elderly one, who knows
some magic formulas. But in many cases some particular women become known as
specialists in the practice of incantations, and in this respect rival the powers
of professional shamans.
The belief regarding the magic formulas is that the course of events may be
influenced by spoken words and that the spirits frequently heed them; or that
an action related in the text of an incantation will be repeated, adapted to
a given case. In this way, diseases are treated, amulets and charms are consecrated,
animals that serve as food supply are attracted, and evil spirits are banished.
All incantations originate from the Creator. He bequeathed them to mankind to
help them in the struggle with the kalau. He and his wife Miti´ appear
as acting personages in the dramatic narrative which constitutes the contents
of the magical formulas. The incantations are passed from generations to generations,
but every woman versed in this art regards her formulas as a secret, which if
divulged, would lose its power. A magic formula cannot serve as an object of
common use. These women, when performing an incantation, pronounce the formula,
and at the same time perform the actions described in it. This is done for a
reason. A good incantation is worth several cakes of pressed tea, or several
packages of tobacco, or a reindeer. When a woman sells an incantation, she must
promise that she gives it up entirely, and that the buyer will become the only
possessor of its mysterious power. To sell an incantation to a foreigner is
considered a sin.
Free translation of the Incantation for the Treatment of Headache recorded by
Waldemar Jochelson after he had lived with the Koryak for several months:
“The Creator himself caused his daughter to have headache. He went
to the wilderness, and overtook a couple, - a kala with his wife. The former
has an axe, the latter a woman’s knife. The creator took the couple and
brought them home. Then the kala commenced to knock with his axe the head of
creator’s daughter; and the kala’s wife began to hack the head of
the girl with her knife. Miti, the mother of the latter, went to Creator’s
sister, and said, “Charm away my daughter’s headache.” Creator’s
sister answered, “The Creator himself caused the sickness: let him cure
it.” Then the Creator carried back to their old place those who were knocking
with the axe, and cutting with the knife, the head of his daughter. After that
the Creator went in the direction of the dawn, and when he reached there, he
came to a little house in which a woman lived. The woman gave him a hare. The
Creator took it home, and of it made a head-band for his daughter. The hare
cried out, and in that way cured the girl’s head. The seams of the injured
skull joined together. Each day she woke up better, until she was entirely cured.”
W. Jochelson. The Koryak. Leiden, New-York, 1908