Introduction

The introduction sets the scene for the story of the complex intertwining between shamanic practice and cursing in Tuva in the wider context of Siberian and Inner Asian shamanism. In so doing, it offers a broader theoretical discussion which brings together the works-to-date on curses and shamanism in Inner Asia and Siberia while presenting their theoretical contributions. In the second part, the chapter provides a wide explanation of the importance of cursing practices in Tuva and their immediate intensification in the wake of the Soviet dissolution. The power of cursing as a technique used in navigating interactions between humans and non-humans is also discussed. An exploration of the cursing event in contemporary Kyzyl, the capital of Tuva, leads into a discussion of Tuvans’ perceptions of curses and how these perceptions surface in the present-day shamanic practice in both spiritual and mundane forms.