“I’m just wondering, Kudai Kam, does the subconscious possess a power or not?”
“The subconscious is the very soul, or rather souls, which a person isn’t aware of.”
“Wait, wait, Kudai Kam. What souls are you talking about? We are always taught that we have a soul and a body. And you’re saying ‘souls’. What do you mean by this?”
“We don’t have just one soul, my friend,” the shaman smiled.
“You mean?..”
“Every man has five souls. Each is responsible for its own function. Like your body has arms, legs, a head, which do their job, but also you have five souls which perform specific functions. One soul is responsible for the perception of the future, another one – the past, the third controls the vital force, the fourth travels though the worlds, and the fifth connects us to Eternity. They possess great powers and knowledge. Without them, a man is but a piece of meat. But the problem for many people is that they don’t see the abilities of their souls, they can’t make use of them.”
“But will you teach me this?”
“Of course. That’s why you’ve come to me. But now I’m not talking to you about that.”
Saosh fell silent and took a long look at the Great Shaman.
“Often ‘the subconscious’ means the activity of the benevolent Aru and the malevolent Kara – the light and dark spirits that constantly influence the man’s behavior, they fight for him to make him do good or bad things. But he can’t see this fight and perceives it only as the appearance of different thoughts and emotional states which he considers to be his, unaware of their true nature.”
“Excuse me, is it when he kind of becomes a different person? Something like that?”
“Yes, everything in the man is changing all the time.”
“Ah, now I remember! At one time my parents were getting ‘divorced’ in a similar way,” laughed Saosh Yant. “In the morning everything was fine, but in the afternoon they would start a quarrel. They yelled and abused each other, breathing fire and fury, ready to tear each other to pieces. But in the evening it was peace and quiet again. And the next day everything would repeat. I was six years old at that time. Brother and sister were just babies. They were sitting under the table like animals at bay, watching these scenes with horror. And I was scurrying between mom and dad crying, ‘Dad! Mom! Make it up!’ Bah! ‘Back off, let us do this on our own, will you?’ that was all I heard in return, as if they just didn’t hear me. Like they become totally different people every time. A moment ago they were exchanging caresses and five minutes later they were already shouting at each other. ‘Let’s break up!’ they said. But mother had nowhere to go with the three children. So she didn’t leave. Then they were shown to one shaman. He said, ‘Come again in a week!’ They came. The entire village took us there. We spent three days in the shaman’s tent. I still remember the fire burning in the middle and many strange things which I wasn’t allowed to touch. The shaman kept whispering something into his drum. He sprinkled water and gave them some stones to hold in their hands, and made them wear amulets. On the third day mother suddenly broke into such a terrible paroxysm! Everyone thought she would lose her reason. She started rushing around the tent, smashing up everything, she even threatened to kill the shaman and let out at her husband. And then she suddenly wilted, became flaccid and collapsed on the ground, senseless. Father was also very sick. He spent the night half-conscious and managed to fall asleep only toward morning. But when the dawn broke, they woke up totally different people. They were so content. Happy! When we returned home, mom became calm and kind. She began to take care of dad. He quit drinking. We started having more money. Now we could afford to buy new things. The drink-money was now spent on more useful things. I got new toys, dad bought a motorcycle, mom got a new dress, shoes and beads. My little brother had a scooter, sister got a doll. I can say things straightened out.”
“That’s good. The shaman treated them well. He drove out the malevolent Kara spirits, which had been plaguing them inwardly. They made them warngle and quarrel with each other. People simply don’t understand WHAT they are driven by. They think that they themselves decide to get angry, to quarrel or even to fight. It’s the malevolent spirits that possess them.”
“But why is it so, Kudai Kam?” asked the young man ruefully. “Why don’t we understand that?”
“That’s the way the Gods play with us.”
“What an outrage!” Saosh Yant stamped his foot with vexation.
“Don’t you worry. We are possessed not only by evil spirits but also by good ones.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Like your parents, for instance.”
“You know, Kudai Kam, from then on they did live in perfect harmony.”
“That’s right. Because Aru, the benevolent spirits, got into them. That’s why their life has improved.”
“Although they have been carrying these amulets since then.”
“It’s right, for they help establish contact with the good spirits.”
“Ah! I see!” Saosh Yant was “enlightened”. “Kudai Kam, have you ever seen these spirits, I wonder?”
“Yes, I have!”
“Tell me!”
“When the ancestor shaman was taking my soul out of the body, I thought that I was dying or going mad. It was terrible! I was undergoing incredible torture. I couldn’t imagine suffering could be SO great! All the more so because it was my first time. I saw the subtle world where the spirits live. It was very different from what we have here. I saw some forms but they would soon chang into other, all the things was were flowing and blending into each other. I saw visions but they would turned into other. As if there were no distinguished boundaries between them. The ancestor shaman told me later that that was because my brain was working in that way. My mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“You see, it’s something like trying to look at an object while turning your head in different directions.”
“Like a drunk, you mean?”
“The thing is this is how the mind of all people works. Or most of them,” laughed Kudai Kam. “Their mind drifts all the time. And mine used to drift too. I saw all the monsters at once, rather unexpectedly. Besides, the malevolent spirits that live near the earth (you call this place the Underworld), pounced on me and began to absorb my energy. There were no boundaries between us!!! I thought I was in hell. Oh, how jubilant and joyful they were! Just reveling in my energy. They roared with laughter, howled, slurped. That was horrible! I wanted to break free and run away. I felt unbearable pain, fear, disgust and despair. But that made them even more excited and wild. The spirits of all diseases, hardships, hunger, chaos, of all negative emotions and other sufferings known to man attacked me all together. They were tearing me to pieces, devouring my energy. It was the most horrible thing that can happen to a man! They kept gnawing me, and I just couldn’t break free. The harder I tried, the greater my suffering became. I couldn’t close my eyes or turn my head away, or hide. I couldn’t even breathe freely. I felt my lungs being scorched by unbearable fire from within. That torture seemed to be going on forever. I thought it would never stop. I was in utter despair and panic.
But then, when they had devoured me, or it seemed to me that they had, the benevolent spirits interfered in this mayhem and drove the demons away. As soon as they appeared I saw dazzling light. I turned to it and saw a whole army of Light led by the ancestor shaman approach me. The demons were terrified, they started trembling and moaning, still holding me in their strong claws. The light was coming nearer. I distinctly saw the boundary between light and dark drawing near. The closer it came, the stronger and more furiously the evil spirits seized me. I didn’t turn my head away, and only that saved me. Somehow I managed to do it. I don’t remember how, though. Apparently, my prayer was very strong and integral. At the last moment, when the light boundary, slowly but steadily, came up to me and touched my toes, the demons left me. With a wild, inhuman howl they fled, and with them the darkness disappeared too. First I had a feeling that I’d gone blind with that intolerably bright light but then, when I’d got accustomed to it, I felt completely drained. As if all my entrails had been removed. And I became an empty bag.”
“A bag of bones?”
“No! That’s just the thing – I didn’t have any bones either. There was just ‘something’ that was called ‘me’. But that feeling was very relative. And then the ancestor shaman slowly, meticulously, put me back together piece by piece. Each part of my body, each bone, each organ eaten by the evil spirits were put in their places by him. He literally sculpted me anew of the digested parts of my body.”
“Wait, wait, Kudai Kam. How can it be? You said you were eaten…”
“But that’s the thing – thanks to that I sort of got the immunity to these malevolent spirits. And I learnt how to overcome them because I literally knew them all by name, I knew my enemy, so to speak, and could fight them. Besides, the souls of the dead animals became my assistant spirits, and the ancestor shaman – my guardian spirit. With such help I have gained the power. The ability to command the spirits of hardships, illnesses and misfortunes. And I am able to defend people from them.”
