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Purvya Volod'kina, How to Cure People Who Have Lost Their Soul or Suffer From Amnesia


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Authors

Terbish, Baasanjav 

Abstract

Purvya talks about a ritual to cure people with amnesia or who have lost their soul. She also talks about the medicinal property of spring water that flows near the famous Poplar Tree. Purvya: In the past, such people were cured with the help of prayers. People who suffer from amnesia are like walking dead. Confused, lost, and uncomprehending, they walk and walk. This means they must have lost their soul as well. In order to return the soul to such individuals, you need to cut a sheep. During this ritual, a lama would read prayers. Afterwards someone would take a hat with a large tibia bone attached to it, and go out to the back yard, waving his hands and shouting: ‘Hey, come here, I am here!’ At that moment the lost soul would return to the individual. My parents are from Orgakin. I was also born there. The land is situated near a big tree. I always wanted to be buried in my native place. My paternal uncle, Ochir Boldyrev, lives there. One day he sent us a message saying that a big ritual was going to happen at their local temple. 4 of us went there by car. At the ceremony we ate food and watched a concert. The head of the village, a young guy, organized everything well. From there we went to see the big tree (i.e. the famous Single Poplar). There we read prayers and fetched water from a nearby spring. My daughter-in-law is a diabetic. She used this medicinal water. She had a sore on her finger that grew bigger and bigger until they cut off her finger. Before treatment the medicinal water has to be diluted 50-50 with normal water. After treatment, she has not had a single sore. This water has to be taken from the spring at certain times – either in spring or summer. Tsagan: Was the tree planted by Purdash himself? Purvya: People say that he planted it himself. You must have been there before. Its branches are very wide.

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Keywords

Soul, loss, amnesia, ritual

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Publisher

Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge

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Sponsorship
Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin