In Tuva, Southern Siberia, the bear is a sacred beeing. Khayirakan, the Bear Deity, once came down from the ninth heaven to create mankind.

There are few places on Earth that are so closely linked to their ancient past as Tuva. In this region shamans have been working with the same methods in an almost unbroken tradition. They call and communicate with the spirits through algyshes, i.e. songs and invocations performed during rituals.

In this book you will find a collection of these songs with roots in times untouched by modern civilization. Reading it will help you understand how the shamans of Siberia were, and still are, thinking and working. The thorough dictionary will present the different characteristics and beeings of this culture.

During the Soviet era, when shamanism was prohibited and penalties for disobedience were severe, this unique collection was compiled by M. B. Kenin-Lopsan in order to save the heritage of Tuva. M.B. Kenin-Lopsan is a Tuvan shaman himself, as well as an ethnographer and a Professor of History