Sangadzhi says that the forces of evil and good are constantly fighting over human souls. All temptations, desires and the bad come from evil spirits called shulmus. That is why it is important to resist temptations, envy, greed, pride, attachment to material objects, etc. and follow Kalmyk tradition and religion that teach how to live a good life. Shulmus are beings that affect humans in negative ways. Polluted people usually have nightmares and can see shulmus spirits. There are various signs indicating whether a person is polluted or not. For example, seeing a black dog in dreams is regarded as a sign of pollution. Also, misfortunes are usually related to shulmus. Pollution can affect not only people but places as well. For example, not far from the village of Khanata there is one such place. The following story happened in the Soviet period. One night a farmer was doing his night shift. Although the field where he worked was in the middle of nowhere, as soon as he started his tractor loud music and laughter came from all sides. The more he tried to ignore it, the louder the music was becoming. At some point the man freaked out, stopped the tractor and spent the whole night trembling in fear. The music stopped only at dawn. It is also said that sometimes people who travel at night cannot reach the destination no matter how much they try. It is only at dawn that such travelers suddenly find themselves where they wanted to be. There are many stories like this. Sangadzhi explains that some people are protected from evil by prayers and powerful protectors. Others are not protected or their protection is weak. Therefore, it is important that people make offerings to their ancestors in order to be protected from evil spirits. Some people have a gift to see or hear shulmus spirits. Such people perform secret rituals.