Welcome to Shamans, Stories and Music - an exploration of ancient traditions and their links to storytelling and music in the present day.

After many years as a professional cellist, I began reading Siberian folktales in about eighteen years ago. I was immediately fascinated by their imagery, emotional power, and humour, and soon began telling them in public. In 1992 I began to meet storytellers and musicians from Chukotka, the Amur River region of the Far East, and the Republics of Tuva, Khakassia, and Buriatia — all in the Russian Federation. They invited me into their magnificent lands and hospitable homes, where I have heard many wonderful stories which I have recorded in books and tell as part of my performance repetoire. Later I recorded music inspired by these stories on CD. The stories and music form bridges to the world of spirit — the same world that traditional shamans journey through in order to heal the sick and bring back information about everything from the weather to love. The photo above is of Khakass shaman Tatiana Kobezhikova carrying out a ritual at the gate to the Valley of Kurgans. You can read about Tania in my articles

May you enjoy the journey as much as I have!
Kira

Siberian Shamanism

From time beyond memory shamans have been healing illness, divining causes for weather patterns and human behaviour, leading ceremonials, and accompanying the souls of the dead to the next world. The word shaman comes from the Tungus language family, widespread over much of Siberia. Shamans make and maintain contact with the spirits of nature and of people's ancestors, who help them to negotiate the world beyond what we see with our physical eyes in order to sustain balance between the worlds of body and spirit.

Over the last hundred or more years, the gift has passed down through certain families. Before that it seems to have fallen more at random — the candidate chosen individually by the spirits.

Both hereditary and non-hereditary shamans and their families report early signs of contact with spirits, (such as predicting the future, memory of past lives, understanding foreign languages, an active dream life, or signs on the body), and/or an undiagnosable illness which may strike at almost any time of life and last over a number of years, and which is only healed through consecration as a shaman.

From the inner point of view, what is going on during this illness is initiation by the spirits, often very harsh. The novice may travel in a dream-like state through the unknown geography of the spiritual world, meeting helpers and opponents. Some do not have enough strength to survive this crisis, and die of the illness. Those who refuse to take on the calling of a shaman may also die of the illness.

Relatives and friends suspect that the person is undergoing what is called the shamanic illness, especially if there have been earlier signs, and they call in an experienced shaman, who confirms the diagnosis. Once the sick person has negotiated the difficult passage, the elder shaman helps to map the non-ordinary reality they have traversed and to design or make the spirit figures, drum, and special costume which will help in their future work. In some societies elder shamans actually guide the novice through the initiation itself, while Siberian shamans only enter the process for the purpose of teaching rituals and performing the consecration that proves a new shaman is ready to begin practicing. The novice is truly alone for the actual initiation.

To read more about Siberian shamanism, please look at my Articles, which have appeared in various publications.

The photo above is of Tuvan shaman Khuurak Kyrgys standing in front of the shaman's clininc Düngür in the city of Kyzyl in 1996.
image © K. Van Deusen

Storytelling and Shamanism

Storytelling in Siberian societies is very closely linked to shamanism. For ways to recognize shamanic elements in stories, and for some of the ways that storytelling can act as a healing, take a look at:
The Healing Power of Story & Shamanic Elements in Siberian Stories
Please see further information about my performances.
This drawing is one of the illustrations by Alexei Sedipkov for Woman of Steel

Music

Music helps us to enter the state of consciousness in which healing can take place, and acts directly on our bodies and souls as powerful frequencies interact with our energy systems. Shamans often refer to their musical instruments (usually a drum) as a horse, since it carries them on their journies. Here's a talk about shamanism and music which I gave at Mt Allison University in March 2000. Singing Story Healing Drum
I am now offering workshops in improvisational music for musicians and non-musicians alike. Freeing the Heart! Using voices, percussion and instruments for the sheer joy of musical expression. For more information, please get in touch!

Articles

Here are several of my articles about shamanism and storytelling.
Storytelling as a Shamanic Art: The Udeghe People of the Amur Region tells about the way stories change as they move through time and space, and the ways audiences influence the telling, based on the telling of Udeghe stories from the Russian Far East by Valentina Kyalundzyuga.
The Shamanic Gift and the Performing Arts in Siberia asks questions about why new shamans have appeared in some regions of Siberia and not in others. It includes the life stories of shamans Ai-Churek Oyun (see more on her at Where the Eagle Flies, Tania Kobezhikova (whose photo is at the top of my home page), Valentin Hagdaev, and storysinger Slava Kuchenov.
The Sleeping Warrior talks about the way new legends have formed in the South Siberian Republic of Khakassia and how they influence the cultural revival.
Udeghe Songs and Stories Travel to Canada tells about the way Udeghe storyteller Valentina Kyalundzyuga uses music in her telling, as compared with the ways some Canadian First Nations storytellers have used music when performing at the Yukon International Storytelling Festival.
Seals and Mountain Spirits: Making tri-lingual folktale books tells about the processes of making boolets for use in learning the Udeghe and Khakass languages

Books

Presenting over fifty newly recorded traditional stories, The Flying Tiger explores the world of the female shamans of Siberia. Providing far more than a collection of tales, Kira Van Deusen shares her journey to the taiga forest and describes the lives of its people, as they attempt to find ways to relate their ancient traditions to an uncertain future.

Raven and the Rock: Storytelling in Chukotka
University of Washington Press. $35 in Canada, $30 in US (available from Amazon.com)

For centuries native Chukchi and Yupik elders in Chukotka, the northeasternmost part of Siberia, have spent endless winter nights recounting tales of the trickster Raven and of how people and places came to be created, of evil spirits and sorcerors, or transformation and magic. This collection contains twenty five tales from present-day Chukotka where indigenous people are reclaiming their traditions and identity after years under the assimilative forces of Soviet policy.

Mountain Spirits — Khakass Stories

These are traditional Khakass tales, prepared by Galina Kazachinova of the Khakass Writer's Union and myself. They are printed in Khakassian and English. To get a taste, here is the table of contents and an introduction. 75 pages

Table of Contents

Introduction

Russian texts

Long before the days of Genghis Khan, women warriors were fighting battles on the Asian steppes to protect family and friends. The warrior's spiritual path leads to an opening of the heart, allowing the bold an compassionate heroine to defeat her enemies, restore peace and prosperity to the land, find her life's partner, and bring her father back to life. Tuva is a small republic located at the center of Asia, world-famous for throat-singing and shamanism. Woman of Steel is one of Tuva's best-loved epic tales.

A collection of eight popular Tuvan stories with introduction and glossary. 47 pages $9.95
Shyaan Am! With these words a Tuvan storyteller begins tales of magic and adventure! The eight colorful tales in this book come from Tuva, a small republic located at the geographic center of Asia. Tuvans are traditionally master horsemen, caring for large herds of cattle, sheep, yaks, and camels in the steppes of Central Asia. Their history is long and their culture rich in story and music.

CD

Mountain Journey

Musical storytelling inspired by the Tuvan story Woman of Steel. Origninal compositions with Kira on cello, Joseph "Pepe" Danza on percussion, and Jerry DesVoignes on vocals, including overtone singing. Available from Kira

Four Tuvan folktales with musical accompaniment by the famous Tuvan musicians Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Anatoly Kuular, and Kongar-ool Ondar, playing igil, toshpuluur, and byzanchy. Available from The Tuva Trader

Kira's Performances

Storytelling

Kira Van Deusen is a professional storyteller and cellist based in Vancouver, Canada. She travelled extensively in Siberia's forests, tundra, and steppe over the 15 years beginning shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and connected with indigenous traditions, stories, and people — their lives, history, spirituality, and sense of humour. She delights listeners in Canada, the US, Europe, and Russia with adventures in worlds we do not see with the eye, accompanied by her evocative original cello and vocal music.

In 2004 Kira travelled in all three regions of Nunavut with filmmaker John Houston, recording the Inuit legend of the great shaman-hero Kiviuq. Forty elders shared the story and graciously gave permission for Kira to retell it in English. She now performs the story with original music. Her Siberian and Inuit stories ring with authenticity, coming directly through the oral tradition.

She has cooperated with the Taiwanese-Canadian Cultural Society and the Vancouver Society of Storytelling over the last six years presenting traditional stories of aboriginal Taiwanese peoples as well as Chinese and Japanese stories told in Taiwan. In English and in a bi-lingual format together with Taiwanese tellers.

She has performed at Storytelling Festivals and Concert Series in Vancouver, Whitehorse, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax and St. John’s, many times as featured teller, as well as in many other events since 1991.

People Say —

"Magnifique!"

"What a cellist, what a storyteller!"

"You have brought the world of Inuit story to life for me as never before!" (listeners in Toronto)

"You radiate, actually glow, from within--it's beautiful to experience your voice/ cellovoice/story coalescing, weaving magic, lifting listeners into travelling with you. Really transformative." Helen May, Vancouver storyteller.

"You have taken me home." James Nicholas, Cree storyteller.

"Kira explores ancient forms of storytelling in an avant-garde way. She revisits epics and myths of Siberian and Inuit oral literature, and weaves a framework of brilliantly original cello music around the mysteries and distilled wisdom these stories express." Dan Yashinsky, Storyteller's School of Toronto

• The Northern Stories
  Shamanistic and animal power tales are full of transformations. A mother turns into a wolf to rescue her daughter, a tiger turns into a man and teaches a boy how to be a good hunter. A girl grows from a plant and a man learns to understand the languages of the animals. A shaman hero marries twice in the animal world, with an arctic fox and a Canada Goose. These are animals and birds “temporarily in human form”! The tales come from nomadic Turkic-language peoples who were already herding cattle in the time of Genghis Khan, hunting peoples of the taiga that they share with the Siberian tiger, and from arctic reindeer breeders and sea hunters on the Siberian side as well as Canadian Inuit hunters.
  The stories help acquaint children and adults with northern cultures and open the door to discussion of ecological problems, relationships between people and animals, shape-shifting, the process of story-collecting, and the fate of indigenous peoples and their languages today. Their stories show how people have not only survived but lived well in environments that are often harsh - sustained by their families, their beliefs, and their sense of humor.
• Taiwan
  Kira also tells tales from Taiwan, learned in cooperation with Taiwanese storytellers in Canada. Bilingual telling is available in Vancouver with storyteller Francis Lee.
• Long Stories
  Over the years Kira has become known for long stories — those that can take a whole evening in the telling. These include the Tuvan "Woman of Steel", the Sakha "Horsetail Girl" and the Inuit legend of "Kiviuq". (descriptions below — Epic Evenings)
  Active in Canada’s storytelling scene, she has organized several of Vancouver’s “Epic Weekends” which involve 25-30 storytellers sharing a long story over a period of three days. In 2008 this will take place from April 25-27, and the story is the Ramayana of India.

• Storytelling Programs Offered
  For children
  
• Tales from the North. Stories about people and animals, and the ways they interact in a northern environment — ways that involve both magic and extraordinary cleverness. Grades one and up. Programs of various lengths and content as needed.
• Taiwanese Folk Tales. Stories reflecting the lives of Taiwan’s many peoples over the ages. May be told bi-lingually withing Vancouver area.
• For teens and adults
  Stories about Storytellers — Tales of legendary storytellers in cultures from Asia and Europe, how they found the gift, the dangers they encountered, and the ways they passed their stories on. Epic tellers often undergo initiation similar to a shaman’s, and use music to call upon the spirit of story.
• Tales of Animals and People — Some of the most powerful and endearing stories involve our relationships with animals. These are stories of friendship, marriage, shape-shifting and more.
• The Hero’s Journey — Tales that follow the classic journey to bring back a loved one, to find treasure, to save one’s own soul.
• Epic Evenings
  
• Woman of Steel — Long before the days of Genghis Khan, women warriors were fighting battles on the Asian steppes to protect family and friends. The warrior's spiritual path leads to an opening of the heart, allowing the bold and compassionate heroine to defeat her enemies, restore peace and prosperity to the land, find her life's partner, and bring her father back to life. Tuva is a small republic located at the center of Asia, world-famous for throat-singing and shamanism. Woman of Steel is one of Tuva's best-loved epic tales. 2 hours with break.
• Kiviuq’s Journey — An Inuit Hero’s Epic Quest
• One of the most ancient and beloved legends of the Inuit people. The great shaman hero has inspired generations with his terrifying adventures at sea, his meetings with strange beings, kindness to orphans, service to community, and his marriages with animals and birds. In 2004, traveling in Nunavut, Kira listened to forty Inuit elders, each telling this great epic in an individual way. Every telling was full of depth and humour and illuminated this ancient story in new ways. With the blessing of the elders, she has created this performance from the richness of material they offered her, adding cello music inspired by this story of epic adventure and by the great landscapes of the Canadian north. 2 1/2 hours with break.
• The Horsetail Girl — A Sakha Tale
  From the centre of Siberia, the story of a girl born in a plant and transformed into human form by an old shaman woman. This girl was sent from heaven to share her wisdom and beauty with people. On the way to her wedding with the brave hunter, Harzhit Bergen, an evil spirit stole her face and took her place. Will the destined lovers be reunited? This story is central to the spiritual life of the Sakha people. One hour with break
• World Epic — A program of stories selected from Arabian Nights, Mabinogion, Monkey King (Journey to the West), Kalavala, Tibetan Gesar, Tuvan epic, the Irish Fiana, Ramayana of India. May include other storytellers when offered within the Vancouver area.
• Workshops
  Improvisational Music — no musical background necessary! Experience the joys of self-expression through musical sound.
  
• Improvisational Music for Storytellers — For storytellers at all levels who would like to add a touch of music to their telling. Play with improvised sounds and rhythms using mainly the voice. Bring instruments if you have them. Then we’ll discuss and experiment with how a teller can use music to enhance a storytelling, as well as some of the ways it can go astray. Music can add atmosphere or provide a rest for absorbing story details. We’ll also discuss the process of storytellers and musicians working together.
• 
  
• Shamanism and Storytelling — An exploration of the connection between these ancient arts.

  Music

Cello music for walking the labyrinth. Improvisations based on the ancient walk and on the energies of those present.

Kira is also a member of Trio Allegra, with Zelko Krakan (violin) and Ruel Morales (guitar), playing classical, Spanish, Latin, and East European music. Available for concerts and events.

Contact me!

Educational background

Kira Van Deusen brings to professional storytelling and music a background which includes a BA in Russian Language and Literature from Cornell University and an MA in Folklore/Ethnography from Antioch University. She has done extensive research with indigenous people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. She has completed a three year course in improvisational music through "Music for People" and David Darling. Kira lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Links

Where the Eagles Fly Shamanism in Siberia and Italy
Healing Story Storytelling and healing
Red Book of the Peoples of Russia Excellent source on Russia's indigenous peoples
A directory of resource pages on Siberia Another excellent source on Russia's indigenous peoples
The Tuva Trader Everything you need to learn about Tuva and its music!
The Siberian Mongolian Shamanism Center of North America This new center offers workshops and information about Siberian and Mongolian shamanism, as well as opportunities to travel.
Healing Heart Project Allison Cox's site on storytelling and healing
Endangered Languages About endangered langauges world-wide
British Columbia Folklore Society
Ethnic Enterprises Danny Evanishen's site on Ukrainian-Canadian storytelling
Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada Canada's Storytelling Organization
The Vancouver Society of Storytelling Storytelling in Vancouver BC

Contact me!