Been to Sikkim? This small state is so full of delights, and this Shaman and his predictions is probably just one of them.
So we were trekking up a mountain in the quaint Pasingdong village in Dzongu, Sikkim. And on the mountain top, outside a monastery, this Shaman was making his predictions on the future of the village. He broke four eggs, and the way each broke was to tell him how the village would fare during the year. One egg for evils coming from the mountains, one from the plains, one from within the village, and the fourth from natural calamities.
Just outside his periphery an offering was being made of chickens. Stripped of feathers, they were burnt in fire, parts taken out, poked into a pile on sticks and offered to him. Enthusiastic, screaming kids ripped apart the roasted chicken, ran around and had a good time.
The prediction turned out that all is well except for some evil which is to come from within the village. Presumably the Shaman would have been asked to prescribe a remedy soon after.
We gaped wide-mouthed like curious kids. After half hour Gyatso, our host and guide, reminded us that we needed to trek on.
Ah, the joy of new experiences in an unfamiliar land!
Shamanism is "a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world" and Shamans are believed to be intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds.
So we were trekking up a mountain in the quaint Pasingdong village in Dzongu, Sikkim. And on the mountain top, outside a monastery, this Shaman was making his predictions on the future of the village. He broke four eggs, and the way each broke was to tell him how the village would fare during the year. One egg for evils coming from the mountains, one from the plains, one from within the village, and the fourth from natural calamities.
Just outside his periphery an offering was being made of chickens. Stripped of feathers, they were burnt in fire, parts taken out, poked into a pile on sticks and offered to him. Enthusiastic, screaming kids ripped apart the roasted chicken, ran around and had a good time.
The prediction turned out that all is well except for some evil which is to come from within the village. Presumably the Shaman would have been asked to prescribe a remedy soon after.
We gaped wide-mouthed like curious kids. After half hour Gyatso, our host and guide, reminded us that we needed to trek on.
Ah, the joy of new experiences in an unfamiliar land!
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