Objects
Sevokhi, a cult object: Anthropomorphic image (“yegda”). Oroche
Sevokhi, a cult object: Anthropomorphic image (“yegda”). Oroche
Title
Sevokhi, a cult object: Anthropomorphic image (“yegda”)
Ethnic groups
Oroche
Territory
Ussuri Krai, river Koppi, Mouth of the Tepta River tributary
Date
late 19th - early 20th century
Collectors-person
Material
Wood; glass: colored glass
Dimensions
height 46.0; width 17.0
Number
РЭМ 1870-46
Annotation
It is a mythic shamanistic image, the shaman’s helper ghost image, a wooden figure of a man with eagle owl head and wings and with hoofed legs of a deer. This idol was called Yerga, a shamanistic folklore character symbolizing the ghost of nature and of the sun’s travel, the main shamans’ patron living in heavens. During the rite, the shaman flew to him to the fifth level, a heaven where there was a red mountain with animals possessing shaman powers – a boar and a hare. During a sorcery session, the shaman asked the idol questions about the location of the sick person’s soul, and about disappearance and search for the ghosts responsible. After a successful sorcery, the idol was fed with fresh reindeer blood, meat, or fat. The shaman himself carved such an idol for his needs. After the shaman’s death, the idol was handed over to a novice, a young shaman who used the power transmitted by the old shaman.