The Kyrgyz Bakshi

[Doug Millison]

http://www.europeaninternet.com/russia/media/tca.php3?id=382361

The Shaman: A Magician, Healer, Or Exorcist?
By Ekaterina Luzanova 

BISHKEK, Apr 19, 2001 -- (Times of Central Asia <http://www.times.kg>) "The
beauty of a tree is in its crown, and the splendor of a bakshi is in his
ecstasy." - the Kyrgyz proverb said.
The name "bakshi" in Kyrgyzstan is given to shamans, ancient religious
practitioners.
Shamanism is found on all continents. However, its most developed forms can
be found in Northern and Central Asia, where shamans monopolized almost all
the functions of a priest, such as healing, performing ceremonies,
divination etc. All this is included in the meaning of this ethnographic
term. The word shaman is derived from a word in the Evenk language of
Siberia, and means excitement or ecstasy.
On discovering the phenomenon in the 18th century, European travelers
considered shamans the servants of the Devil, charlatans, and even a
religious system. However this is not the case. To a shaman's tribesmen - he
is a possessor of a special gift of administering the spirits of good and
evil, the ruler of human fate. This is accomplished in two ways: either some
spirits implant themselves in the shaman's body, or, on the contrary, his
soul departs to the underworld.
A shaman's ritual actions include driving himself into ecstasies, frantic
dancing accompanied with singing, crying, and manipulations with various
musical instruments and other things. He pricks his skin, makes cuts, and
blows, as if he is not aware of the possible consequences. He can even fall
unconscious. While having hallucinations or visions, the shaman "hears"
supernatural voices.
The purpose of the rite is to neutralize or propitiate the spirits. In
reality, the process of the shaman driving himself into ecstasies serves to
hypnotize both the surrounding people and the shaman himself. Usually the
shaman believes in his ability to communicate with superior forces. This
self-reliance may become fatal for a patient, because, if a folk-healer
possesses some skill and knowledge of how to heal, a shaman is just a master
of demonology.
Shamans are usually men; women are rarely engaged in this activity. Shamans
are basically easily excited, psychologically unstable persons. They
specially cultivate such qualities in themselves. Thus, the movement to
ecstasy is an artificially initiated and regulated hysterical seizure. So,
the process of joining the profession is rather long and includes a great
deal of auto-training and "ecstasy achieving technique" mastering.
A well-known singer, People's Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic, Asek Djumabaev
recollected an event that took place in his childhood: "A bakshi preparing
for the session notified the patient's relatives that they should hold him
tight at the moment of ecstasy. The process of healing was accompanied with
spells, in which some sacral meaning was coded. The bakshi shook a stick
decorated with various objects designed to make special sounds, climbed up
and down a rope fixed to the ceiling. At the culmination point people had to
prevent the raving shaman from being injured. After an anguished struggle he
gradually calmed down. The highest emotional drive was gradually replaced
with complete breakdown. The patient also got out of the hypnotic state."
It is important to notice that the teller didn't remember whether this
"treatment" helped or not, because the impression of the process itself
seemed to be stronger than the information on the patient's state of health.
In the 16th century, Islam penetrated into Kyrgyzstan from the neighboring
territories, mainly inhabited by Uzbeks. At that time, God's vagrant fools -
duvanas ("beggars" in the Persian language) - spread elements of Islam
around Central Asia. Any arrival of a duvana added excitement to the routine
of life in a Kyrgyz village. People treated him as a messenger from Allah, a
herald of the divine truth. A duvana "coped" with evil spirits with the help
of prayer performed in a manner close to ecstasy. This is a clear example of
old paganism and modern religion merging. This resulted in so-called "folk
Islam," a form adapted to the existing way of life. However, at present one
can only see a shamanic ceremony on stage, rather than in reality. 
(C) 2001 Times of Central Asia <http://www.times.kg>