Imitation of sounds in shamanism

Last updated April 17, 2023

Shamanism in various cultures shows great diversity.^[1] In some cultures, shamanic music may intentionally mimic natural sounds, sometimes with onomatopoeia.^[2] Imitation of natural sounds may also serve other functions not necessarily related to shamanism, such as luring in the hunt;^[3] and entertainment (katajjaqs of the Inuit).^[3]^[4]

Localities

Sami

This holds e. g. for shamanism among Sami groups. Some of their shamanistic beliefs and practice shared important features with those of some Siberian cultures.^[5] Some of the Sami yoiks were sung during shamanistic rites,^[6]; this memory is conserved also in folklore tales of shamans.^[7] In the modern day, yoiks are sung in two different styles, one only used by young people. The more common style of singing, the "mumbling" style, resembles magic spell-chanting.^[8]

Several characteristics of yoiks can be explained through comparing the concepts of musical ideals as observed in yoiks with the ideals of other cultures. Some yoiks intend to mimic natural sounds.^[9]^[10] This can be contrasted with bel canto, which intends to exploit the human speech organs on the highest level to achieve a nearly "superhuman" sound.^[10]

Siberia

Shamanism in Siberia is far from being homogeneous. In some of the various cultures there, mimicking natural sounds can be present: some instances of overtone singing, and also certain shamanic songs of some cultures can be examples.

Samoyedic

The seances of Nganasan shamans were accompanied by women imitating the sounds of a reindeer calf, (thought to provide fertility for women).^[11] In 1931, A. Popov observed the Nganasan shaman Dyukhade Kosterkin imitating the sound of a polar bear in order to spiritually transform into one.^[12]

Obi-Ugric

A Russian traveler described a Khanty shamanic séance: it took place in a birch bark tent in full darkness. Only the song and the dombra music of the shaman could be heard: he invoked his spirits. It was performed in a way to suggest the direction of the sound was moving: implying that the shaman had flown around inside the tent before leaving it. Later, the voices of various animals (cuckoo, owl, hoopoe, duck, squirrel) could be heard. Later, the shaman performed a "flight" back into the tent via the song. ^[13]

Altai

Among several peoples near the Altai Mountains, the new drum of a shaman must go through a special ritual. This is regarded as "giving the drum life": the tree and the deer who gave their wood and skin for the new drum narrate their whole lives and promise to the shaman that they will serve him. The ritual itself involves a libation: beer is poured onto the skin and wood of the drum, and these materials "come to life" and speak with the voice of the shaman in the name of the tree and the deer. Among the Tubalar, this means the imitation of the behavior and the voice of the animal by the shaman.^[14]

In a Soyot shamanic song, the sounds of birds and wolves are imitated to represent the spirits helping the shaman.^[15]

Notes

↑ Hoppál 2005: 15
↑ Hoppál 2006: 143 Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
1 2 Nattiez: 5
↑ Deschênes 2002
↑ Voigt 1966: 296
↑ Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 56, 76
↑ Voigt 1966: 145
↑ Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 64
↑ Somby 1995
1 2 Szomjas-Schiffert 1996: 74
↑ Hoppál 2005: 92
↑ Lintrop
↑ Vitebsky 1996: 89
↑ Eliade 2001: 164 (= Chpt 5 discussing the symbolics of shamanic drum and costume, the subsection about the drum)
↑ Diószegi 1960: 203

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References

Deschênes, Bruno (2002). "Inuit Throat-Singing". Musical Traditions. The Magazine for Traditional Music Throughout the World.
Diószegi, Vilmos (1960). Sámánok nyomában Szibéria földjén. Egy néprajzi kutatóút története. Terebess Ázsia E-Tár (in Hungarian). Budapest: Magvető Könyvkiadó.
- This book has been translated to English: Diószegi, Vilmos (1968). Tracing shamans in Siberia. The story of an ethnographical research expedition. Translated from Hungarian by Anita Rajkay Babó. Oosterhout: Anthropological Publications.
Eliade, Mircea (1983). Le chamanisme et les techniques archaïques de'l extase (in French). Paris: Éditions Payot.
- This book has been translated to Hungarian: Eliade, Mircea (2001). A samanizmus. Az extázis ősi technikái. Osiris könyvtár (in Hungarian). Budapest: Osiris. ISBN 963-379-755-1.
Hoppál, Mihály (2005). Sámánok Eurázsiában[Shamans in Eurasia] (in Hungarian). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-8295-3.
- This book is published also in German, Estonian and Finnish. Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian) Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine .
Hoppál, Mihály (2006). "Music of Shamanic Healing" (PDF). In Kilger, Gerhard (ed.). Macht Musik. Musik als Glück und Nutzen für das Leben. Köln: Wienand Verlag. ISBN 3-87909-865-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2007.
Lintrop, Aarno. "The Clean Tent Rite". Studies in Siberian shamanism and religions of the Finno-Ugric peoples.
Nattiez, Jean Jacques; Research Group in Musical Semiotics, Faculty of Music, University of Montreal (2014). Inuit Games and Songs • Chants et Jeux des Inuit. Musiques & musiciens du monde • Musics & musicians of the world. Montreal. OCLC 892647446.
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- These songs are available online from the ethnopoetics website curated by Jerome Rothenberg.
Somby, Ánde (1995). "Joik and the theory of knowledge". Archived from the original on 2008-03-25.
Szomjas-Schiffert, György (1996). Lapp sámánok énekes hagyománya • Singing tradition of Lapp shamans (in Hungarian and English). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-6940-X.
Vitebsky, Piers (1995). The shaman: voyages of the soul trance, ecstasy and healing from Siberia to the Amazon. Living Wisdom. Duncan Baird. ISBN 9781903296189.
- Translated into Hungarian: Vitebsky, Piers (1996). A sámán[The shaman]. Bölcsesség • hit • mítosz (in Hungarian). Budapest: Magyar Könyvklub • Helikon Kiadó. ISBN 963-208-361-X.
Voigt, Vilmos (1966). A varázsdob és a látó asszonyok. Lapp népmesék[The magic drum and the clairvoyant women. Sami folktales]. Népek meséi (Folktales) (in Hungarian). Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó.