GEOGRAPHY & HISTORY
 The
republic of Tuva with a surface of 170.000 sq. km counts 308.000 inhabitants.
Kyzyl, the capital of the Tuva, is the
geographic centre of Asia and was founded in 1914 at the confluence of two affluents of
the Jenisej river: the Kaa-khema and the Bij-khema .
Tuva confines to the north and the north-west
with the province of Krasnojarsk and the republic of Khakassija, to the north-east with
the Buryatian republic and the region of Irkutsk, to east and south with Mongolia and the
west with the region of the Altaj.
Its climate is continental and is considered a
mountainous region because the 80% of its territory is marked by mountaines that
frequently touch the 3000-3500 meters.
The highest top is Mongun-Tajga (the
silver-plated mountain) 3976 m. The 50% of the territory of Tuva is covered with forests
of firs, the Siberian larches, the cedars, the pines, the poplars.
The Jenisej river, born in the territory of Tuva,
is one of the longest rivers of our planet and there are also 400 lakes, many of which are
of glacial origin.
Tuva maybe considered one of the largest natural
reserve: there are more than 1500 species of plants, 240 types of birds, a large variety
of animal species: the squirrel of the Sajani, the lynx, the glutton, the sable, the
beaver, yak and the camel. Tuva is also known for the curative waters that gush out warm
from its sources and for its mud. Famous thermal resorts are Cedar and Usc-beldir and the
rivers of the Dus-khol lake. The only place in the world for its intact nature, is the
depression of Ubsu-Nurskaja, object of studies and searches from scholar of the biosphere
from all over the world.
TRADITION &
GODLINESS
 Tuva, thanks to its geographic conformation, surrounded by the
range of the Sajan mountains, has always been isolated from the great trade roads of the
ancient time and this situation has endured until recent times, because it was a Soviet
Republic closed to the visitors. Due to this millennial isolation in Tuva shamanism has
been preserved in its original form and its people still feel strongly the traditions and
respect the ancient cults and rituals. The tuvinian people celebrate the New Year, shagaa,
following the lunar calendar with the shamans that foretell the events of the coming year.
All the tuvinians, first thing in the morning,
offer salty tea with milk to the Spirits, in order to obtain protection during the day.
Therefore, daily gestures with the might that imprint the tradition penetrate in the
spiritual sphere.
The Chairakan mountain, dwelling of the Protector
Bear, is known and worshipped in all Tuva, and every shaman addresses to him during the
rituals in order to obtain his protection and his aid.
There are many rituals that the shaman must
celebrate: to the Red Sun, that it is celebrated in autumn when it must be chosen the best
place where to raise the yurts for winter and to
invoke protection on the herds and the clan, the kamlanie officiate for purification or to
accompany afterlife the deceased, at the 7th e 49th day from the death.
The ritual of 7th day is called “the ritual of the grey soul”. The shaman meets
the spirit of the dead that reveals the cause of his disease and his death or if there
were pending offences that the family should lessen. After 49 days instead there is the
ritual of the main soul that can be celebrated only by a powerful shaman. This ritual is
very much frightful and harmful for the energy of the shaman that must accompany the soul
in the dead realm with offerings of tobacco and aragaa, distilled milk.
The Tuvinian shamans have various lineages: there
are the celestial shamans, those who come from the mermaid of the steppe, or the taiga,
there are the shamans who come from the waters and those who derive from the spirits of
the demons. All of them have a common task: to help the people.
In order to make this, they use the secret
language of the animals, of the khoomei, throatsinging, of the drum and the trance, of the
fumigation with the juniper of the taiga, artish. Every Tuvinian shaman considers himself
the continuation of the life of his own fathers and grandfathers, he honours the ancestors
and his duty is to train the little ones for the life, by blessing the families and the
clans.
AI-TCHOUREK OJUN (MOON HEART)
 Zyli-Byli
could be the beginning of Ai-Tchourek’s life story, just like an ancient Russian
fable. Once upon a time, in the taiga there was a Shaman woman, descending from the Kara
deeger uktuch kham (celestial shamans). The Shaman woman fell in love with a horse thief.
From them Ai-Tchourek ( Moon Heart) was born.
That night there was a violent thunderstorm, but
just when her first cry was heard, the water stopped pelting down and the wind died down
and appeared the moon. Her father who was accustomed to spend entire nights in the
forests, at the mercy of the fury of the elements, saw in this a divine sign and decided
to call her Moon Heart. His daughter would bring moments of serenity to the people, just
like the moon that appeared high in the sky, after the storm, to the hunters. Very soon
the small Moon Heart started to play with the spirits from the cemetery of the village, to
run behind her friend the Wind in order to speak with him, or when her mother was absent,
to invite at home her friends the Mice that could improvise dances in her honour. Her
mother watched to grow the daughter with apprehension, although she left her free in her
games and adventures with this fantastic world. The fable broke abruptly at the moment of
his mother’s death, when Moon Heart was still a child. She was entrusted to the cares
of the relatives that did not understand her extravagances, and they started to punish her
all the time constraining her to pass entire days locked up in a dark cellar.
The fable ended completely when she was growing,
and became part of that communist society.
At that time, the Soviet Union had erected the
atheism as state religion and therefore was no indulgence for those who that believed in a
God,and even less for a shamanic creed, considered wild and tribal. The shamans were
persecuted, considered charlatans, drunkards, seen like the scum of the society.
They were interned or locked up in the prisons,
according to the dictates of Stalin's antireligious politics. However in Shagonar where
Moon Heart had grown up, it was still possible, with much precaution, to celebrate the
ancient rituals that had been handed on from the ancestors: the ritual of purification of
the tree of the shaman, the prayer of the mountain, the invocation of the spring and the
autumn and the purification of the springs. All this happened secretly and hidden
from others. Maintaining the own traditions was very difficult in a situation like this.
Therefore, when Moon Heart started to manifest the obvious signs of her "gift",
the relatives, totally scared and fearing the retaliation from the Party, they tried to
heal her.
But the voices that spoke in her ears, the strong
impulse to live isolated in the taiga, her speaking with the birds and the wind were
considered, by the official medicine, as signs of a mental disease and she was locked up
in a psychiatric hospital. But it was useless, the voices continued and Moon Heart started
to foretell the events, to diagnose the diseases and in some cases she foresaw the death
of her relatives. At this point they accused her of being a witch and her relatives,
scared from her behaviour, besides the possibility of being persecuted, sent her to
Moscow.
Moon Heart tells that the life in Moscow was very
difficult because the voices harassed her incessantly, and the spirits revealed
themselves continually. She felt deprived of any moral supports, totally neglected.
Moon Heart, at that point, understood she had inherited the "gift" of her
mother. At that time, she met her husband and gave birth to her son, and in her new family
she found love and understanding, but she found a real relief only when she was in church
and knelt down she addressed herself to the icons for help. When the perestrojka arrived,
Moon Heart returned to Tuva.
Surely her life was not easy also in Tuva. It was
very difficult for her to live in the capital: the water of the taps was not pure and in
every corner of Kyzyl there was a malignant spirit. The atmosphere was heavy and Moon
Heart went to live in the taiga where, in complete solitude, she could contact the forces
of the nature and develop her shamanic "gift".
In 1993, during the First International
Conference on Shamanism, Moon Heart was sitting down among the public and listened to the
stories of other shamans that were similar to her life experience.
Kenin Lopsan, curator of the Museum of Shamanism
of Tuva, and great supporter of the conservation and rebirth of the tuvinian shamansim,
noticed her and her "gift". He suggested her to pursue in her difficult path and
invited her to work in shamanic centre TUNGUR founded in Kyzyl in the post-perestrojka.
Moon Heart returned to live in Kyzyl where now regularly works as a shaman, by curing the
persons with the aid of the herbs, according to the ancient tradition of the nomads of
Tuva, celebrating great ceremonies of purification and ancient rituals whose origin is
lost in the mists of the time.
Just like fulfilling her father’s prophecy
Moon Heart is among us to help, to cure and to bring serenity.
"... in order to cure and in order to calm a
person or in order to recall the positive spirits I use the khoomei and the drum. The
contact with the spirits happens mentally, in an altered state of consciousness, through
the use of the voice. We believe that the narration and the music have a magical force in
fact the spirits of the mountain love music and the stories and listen to us gladly.
Other times in order to help the persons I
addressed myself to the stars. They help me to see the weakness and the force of a person,
his diseases and his talents. Therefore I invoked the star of the sick person, if the star
appears and almost falls, the person will be healed; on the contrary, if the star does not
appear the situation is serious... "
Like in a fable, when all is difficult and it
seems without hope, when the night seems to us too dark, let's remember to scan the sky,
somewhere a Moon Heart is waiting for us.
In 1993, Moon Heart participated in the First
International Conference of Shamanism in Kyzyl and began to work in the shamanic centre
TUNGUR of Tuva.
In 1996 she was protagonist of the
documentary
" Moon
Heart: the magical world of Tuvinian shamans "
In december 1998, she took part to the 1th
International Conference
" Shamanic
Healing "
In January 2000, she took part to the 2th
International Conference
" Shamanic
Healing "
Since 1999 Moon Heart has been giving workshops
and initiations in Tuvianian Shamanism in Italy.
CURIOSITY
The YURT
The universe of the nomads
 The nomadic dimension of the
populations of these steppe-like areas binds them to nature in an indissoluble
relationship, penetrating their deeper spiritual dimension: symbol of this bond is the
dwelling of the nomad, the tent.
Called gheer among the Mongols and yurt among the
Tuvinians, the house of the nomad is extremely practical and functional, easy to
disassemble and to transport, a sure and solid shelter, suitable for their hard living
conditions. Always oriented with the door to the south, it also works as an astronomical
clock, making it possible to tell the time according to the position of the sun when it
shines through the central hole.
As soon as the small door is opened and its
threshold is crossed, we are projected in a magical world where every object, every
furnishing, the fire and the place where you take a seat follow a precise symbolic order,
unchanged in the course of ages. The Sacred Fire is set in the centre and it represents
the ancient world, our memory, our ancestors we have to respect and to pay tribute
with offerings of sacred food.
Inside the yurta, are represented the ties
between the cosmos, time and human beings. There is a precise relationship between the
animals of the oriental horoscope, the disposition of the household goods and the places
where you seat yourself. To north opposite the door there is the rat, the picker, where we
find the trunks with the familiar treasures and next to the treasures, there is the seat
of the oldest guest, that is worth of great respect.
Then there is the position of the snake, the
place of the servants, in a well-to-do family or where it is seated the woman guest, the
one that like the servants brings news, messages, gossips of the external world. The door
is the horse, symbol of the work and the relationships with the world. Afterwards,
we find the sheep, symbol of wealth and fertility; connected with it,
where they hung the butchered animals.
Then we find the monkey, symbol of the working
ability, that is why in this place the harness of the horses are hunged. The rooster comes
next, where the hosts and the strangers take a seat: just like the rooster, they raise at
sunshine in order to continue their journey. Afterwards, there is the dog, symbol of
abundance and property, in fact it is up to the dog to defend the property and in
that spot they keep the bags containing the harvest of the year, their clothes and
blankets. Finally, we find the pig, symbol of the products of nature, and as the Tuvinians
are mainly hunters, this is the place where they keep their guns, they hang their game and
their furs.
Nothing is at random in the yurt, but it
corresponds to an ancient, immutable order that nowadays is still respected, not only as a
sign of tradition, but as a precise way to interact with the cosmos.
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The
republic of Tuva with a surface of 170.000 sq. km counts 308.000 inhabitants. 
