Geser. The Вuryat heroic epic

When IВ attended the tayilagan on the Baikal IВ saw that on the shore ofВ lake Baikal the shamans put the three birch trees and under each ofВ them they put the meat and the bones ofВ the sheep sacrificed, covered them with hides and burned. When an eagle flew down onto one ofВ the trees they said that the spirit ofВ the ancestor ofВ the kin represented byВ that tree came down. Those belonging toВ that kin were overwhelmed with joy. There are also the legends that the eagle was once aВ shaman, that is why the eagle is much esteemed.

One can come across his image everywhere. We might just mention inВ this respect Khan-Garudi. Garudi came originally from India perhaps through Tibet, its image might have intermingled with that ofВ the eagle, the cult ofВ which is so widely spread inВ Buryatia.

The heroic epic ofВ the Mongolian people is rich inВ the other diversified mythological elements. One could mention the demons who appeared out ofВ the remnants ofВ the evil deities thrown down toВ the Earth.

Geser had the reputation of the destroyer of demons and monsters, the personifications of the dark chthonic forces. The epic tells of the Tengris coming down to the Earth, of the middle place between the Sky and the Earth, of the dragons, of the various “personified” monsters such as the mangadkhais, many-headed snakes, birds, huge dogs, frogs, ants. The fantastic images reflect the mythological essence of the epic and hence its archaic shaman nature. The cosmic elements are widely presented in the epic of the Mongolian people. They are the Sky, the Sun. the Moon, the stars, the Earth, the water, etc. To this may be added the cosmogonic prologue in the Geser epic. Geser is often given help by his three celestial sisters. Presented also is the solar motive. The conception of a child is associated with a golden “pole” of the light coming through the upper hole of the yurt.

The performing of the “Geser” epic was of a ritual, magic, shamanic nature.

The epic-tellers sank into the trance when reciting the epic. The epic was used by shamans for exorcising the evil spirits. Geser is taken to be the son of the Tengri. Sometimes the Earth and the Water are regarded as Geser’s parents which is associated with the shamanic ideas of the human personification of the souls of the mountains and localities. Reciting of the epic-uliger appeases the spirit of the Master of the taiga and helps in hunting.