Shamanity

The Nenets are an ethnic group particularly interdependent on the environment, a condition that has favored the development of animism as a cult of spirituality inherent in the natural elements and the practice of shamanism.

Its symbols are represented by small objects, amulets, tiny idols made of wood and carved bone. Precious objects preserved in the bizarre altars present in every nenet home.

The shaman is the intermediary who connects the community to the mysterious forces of nature, interprets its signs and channels its energies with enigmatic practices that for us ‘foreigners’ represent a signatory experience.

Arranged in crescents, surrounded by the muffled silence of the chum, we witness the rite. The shaman holds a madly head and hisses gloomy toned sounds as he shakes the spooky stage above us. In the center the little fire crackled and traces our shadows on the thick fur walls. Smoke invades the curtain and the eyes burn with the smell of damp wood. Beat the drum with braided cuffs of rattles. The air is saturated, its voice dense, dark like the Arctic night. I feel my stomach ringing with lower notes. The suggestion is strong and something seems to huddle around us in a protective and elusive embrace. Time is slower, punctuated by the rhythm of breathing. Just as in the beginning the ceremony closes in silence and twilight. The curtain door opens wide, the air and thoughts slowly return clear, and the moment of mystery dissolves. An uncertain step on the shamanic way, touched by the imponderable, leaves us inheritance with many questions to appease.