Purvya Volod'kina, About Spiritual Masters of Places

Abstract

In this interview Purvya talks about spiritual masters of lands and ghosts. Purvya: In our land we have a hill called Kerm Tolga where malevolent forces reside. Many years ago, it was a very rich hill, but was robbed later. Only a hole remained after the robbery. Later some scientists arrived to do digging. The head of the expedition was a man called Steklov. Upon his return to Moscow, he died. When we were children, grown-up people told us not to pass by that hill at midnight. It is said that a man riding a horse appears from that hill at midnight. He is believed to be the master of that place. In the past, there were many big snakes that were the masters of lands. Today, no one sees these big snakes any more. People build their houses wherever they like. Tsagan: If one sees a snake - the master of land - is it a good or bad sign? Purvya: If one sees it, that person needs to offer butter and milk to the snake. Not every person can see these snakes. Tsagan: Does a snake show itself to a person who is supposed to see it? Purvya: Yes. People used to say ‘If it is fate, even the best person will not see a snake but the worst person may’. About ghosts. In our land lived a man called Dordzhi who attracted ghosts. In the past, education consisted of four classes. I was studying in Iki Bukhus. In 1941, on weekends Dordzhi used to come to Iki Bukhus and we three would walk home together. One day, Dordzhi said to us: ‘There is a big white man standing over there’. He stayed behind to wrestle with that man. Later he relayed a story to us about how during the war he was riding a camel up the hill only to come across an old woman who was blocking his way. He got off the camel and started to wrestle with her. It was thanks to the consecrated coins that he had sewn in the right shoulder of his shirt that Dordzhi managed to beat her (who was a powerful ghost).