Abstract
THE SHAMAN-SPIRIT RELATIONSHIP IN MONGOLIAN SHAMANISM
Although Mongolian shamanism has been extensively examined in the international literature, particularly within the fields of anthropology and the history of religions, studies in Turkish folklore that are based on direct field data and that center on the perceptual world of the shaman remain relatively limited. This study examines Mongolian shamanism within the framework of folklore studies, focusing on the shaman–spirit relationship and the process of shamanic attainment, drawing on original data obtained from field research conducted in the regions of Ulaanbaatar, Hövsgöl, and Bayan-Ölgii in Mongolia. Based on the narratives of the shamans interviewed, the study analyzes the instructive and guiding roles of spirits, the continuity established through lineage, the bodily and perceptual dimensions of contact with spirits, and the ways in which divination and healing practices are interpreted. In addition, the study evaluates how the relationship that the shaman establishes with spirits during ritual processes shapes both the shaman’s authority and social position. The findings indicate that in Mongolian shamanism, attainment is understood as a process of developing openness to spiritual guidance rather than establishing control over spirits. Within this framework, the shaman emerges not as an independent center of power but as a relational subject positioned within the interconnection of spirit, lineage, and body. The study further demonstrates that authority in this context is constructed through spiritual guidance rather than through control and domination.
Keywords
Mongolian Shamanism, Shaman–Spirit Relationship, Ancestral Spirits, Shamanic Rituals, Folklore.