The Tuvan Depictions of Shamanic Headdresses

This article examines the Tuvan mythological representations of shamanic headdresses. It shows that the role and meaning of the ritual hats of magical specialists used in rituals were interpreted differently in the Tuvan environment. The popular interpretations of shamanic headdresses reflect the most important concepts of shamanism - the tripartition of the world, ideas about the shaman’s choice, his role as a mediator between the world of humans and spirits, the shaman’s guardian spirits and assistants, the meaning and symbolism of the shaman’s hat in the performance of rituals. The semantic and pragmatic aspects of images of the human face, often found on ritual headdresses, are analyzed. The ideas of the tradition bearers about the painted parts of the human face (eyes, nose, mouth, ears) on shaman hats, which were supposed to have a magical influence on the course of rituals, fulfill ritual functions – increase the ritual power of the shaman, support him in rituals and protect him from hostile forces. It has been proven that the Tuvan shamans used bird feathers for their ritual hats and bird heads and animal skins, which were regarded as protective spirits and helpers of the shaman. According to Tuvan belief, during the rituals, the shaman took on the form of the animals and birds that adorned his headdress and were his guardian spirits to achieve positive results from the ritual. The distinguishing features of the shaman’s hats within the ritual depended on its goals – for better or for worse, on the age of the magical specialist, often also on the nature of the healing ritual – for a seriously ill or dying person, because strong shamans leading the ritual practice could wear two headdresses depending on the semantic orientation of the ritual. According to the Tuvans, the headdress of a Tuvan shaman as part of his ritual clothing fulfilled ritual, magical, communicative, contacting, symbolic, differentiating, and protective functions.

Tuvan shamanism, shaman’s headdress, semantics and pragmatics, functions, images of a human face, manufacturing materials