Through My Eyes                                              Thursday  May 8   " The sound of the bells during the shaman dance complements the beat of the drum in propelling the shaman to ecstasy. Small animal skins and cloth "snakes" hang in bunches from both shoulders in the back and also adorn the front of the costume.  Metal or cloth appliques may be sewn on the costume to represent the arm bones and ribs, a reminder of the dismemberment experience shamans frequently have during their initiatory vision. Other metal pendants represent helper spirits, power animals, spiritual weapons, and other symbols.  A commonly used pendant represents an antler with smaller pendants of fish and birds hanging from it, while another is a miniature bow and arrow. Metal mirrors, or toli, are also attached to some shaman costumes.     The overall appearance of the costume resembles somewhat the body of the bird; the fringe hanging from the arms is like feathers from the wings, and the snakes hanging down are like a tail. This is not coincidental.  The journeying of the shaman is visualized like flying.  There are some dances in which the arms of the shaman will be extended like wings to imitate the flight of the eagle. Among the Tungus, two types of shaman costumes are recognized, the duck costume and the reindeer costume.  The duck costume is the costume of the novice shaman and is the more birdlike. As the costume increases in it's ornamentation and magical power and the shaman increases in her own power and experience, it will eventually be recognized a reindeer costume, the costume of the elder shaman."  I promise to add more tomorrow... Through my eyes                            * courtesy of Sarangerel in her book Riding Windhorses