Paul
Goble
Staunton, August 30 – Aleksandr
Gabyshev, the Sakha shaman warrior who is on a mission to Moscow to exorcise
the evil spirit Vladimir Putin, was blocked at one point in Buryatia this week
by other shamans who demanded that he stop calling himself a shaman but then
was received with honor and respect on two other occasions by other Buryats.
Gabyshev began his march toward
Moscow on March 6, and on July 12, he assembled a crowd of 700 people in Chita,
telling them that he plans to continue his walk until reaching the Russian capital
sometime late next year or in early 2021 unless the Russian people rise and exorcise
Putin on their own.
What occurred in Buryatia in this slow news week has attracted some media
attention (snob.ru/news/181903/ http://region.expert/shaman_buryatia/,
nazaccent.ru/content/30782-idushego-v-moskvu-shamana-oppozicionera-ne-vpustili.html
and arigus.tv/news/item/132751/), but
it should come as no surprise.
There are numerous shamans in Russia,
but some of them routinely denounce others as fakes and demand that they stop
referring to themselves as shamans either because they do not follow the same
traditions, lack a credible origin or differ in their relations with the secular
powers. (On this, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/02/russia-has-real-shamans-but.html.)
For background on Gabyshev and his
journey, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/07/will-shaman-from-sakha-do-what-russian.html,
windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/07/anti-putin-shaman-far-more-important.html
and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/07/putin-is-demon-and-i-must-exorcise-him.html.
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