ABSTRACT
Given the centrality of shamanic practice to the phenomenon of cursing, Chapter 2 moves on to discuss the distinctiveness of shamanism in Tuva in the wider Siberian context. Through introducing the life story of the great Tuvan shaman Hovalygmaa, it explores certain features of contemporary Tuvan shamanic practice, including a rejection of any trance-like experience, the role of sound and the importance of divination rituals. In this way, the chapter gives a unique insight into shamanism perceived by Tuvans as a pragmatic form of ‘housekeeping’, which is contingent on a skill described as ‘seeing the invisible and hearing the silent’. Weaving through the conversations with Hovalygmaa, the chapter opens a surprising window into the differences between shamans, their personalities and the hierarchies among them. While discussing the dynamics between individual shamans and collective shamanic societies, it presents Tuvan shamanism as one of the most organised and structured types of shamanic practice in Siberia.
