The worship of wild animals by ancient Mongols was lost in medieval times and replaced by the worship of an Eternal Heaven, when an abstract understanding of heaven appeared. In other words, the understanding that there exists a god who supports the world deeply penetrated into the minds of people, thus creating an earth into which the shaman-ist faith could be born. Eternal sky is supreme and receives the utmost devotion from the Mongolian shamans. The sky is male, and earth female. The eternal sky was thought to be a supreme universe containing many heavens of good and bad nature. The Asar Heaven is made out of a total of 99 heavens, of which 55 are of western direction, and are considered to be good for man and always perform good deeds.
The 44 heavens of east direction have been considered as furious and arrogant and as performers of bad deeds. The shamans believe that once these heavens were united under the rule of a powerful Asura. When Asura died the heavens divided into two hostile sides. The leader among the western heavens was Khan Khurmast and that of the eastern heavens was Ataa Ulaan Tenger. The understanding of the heavens was vast, for every heaven was closely associated with a certain natural phenomena or human life or ruled over a specific destiny and fate. This is similar to Grecian ideology, believing in Gods like Zeus.
For example, the Hail Heaven ruled the thunderstorm, White Heaven of Zad ruled rain, Red Fire Heaven ruled drought and zud, the Black Daughter Heaven cared for humans and young animals, the White Old Man cared for cattle and livestock, the Manakhan Heaven protected hunting and trophies, while the Daivan Blue Heaven inspired artisans and craft science. The spiritual and magical power of shamanism differed in its magnificence. The male and female shamans entered into a trance, summoning the heavens and acting as a mediator between people and sky. The male shaman was called Zairan, and female shaman Udgan.
Black shamans who contacted bad spirits and reeked havoc while white shamans contacted good spirits and performed good deeds. From ancient times, the Mongols considered shamans as possessors of an extraordinary spiritual power. The Mongol shamans of early years were said to have the power to call for rain from cloudless skies, cause thunderstorms, make rivers flow in opposite directions, to overcome difficulties in time and space and predict the future. All ancient Mongolian banners follow shamanism. Modun Khaan of Hun, the first Mongolian state, used to bow to the early morning sun and late night moon. There were many shamanist monasteries and temples on the territory of the Hun state.
The Hun's khaan was deeply respected and called "Tengeriin Huvuun" (Son of Heaven). During the state ceremonial ritual shamanistic prayers were used, which indicated that there might be a move towards shamanism as a state religion. Through the worshipping of the sun, moon, earth, rivers, lakes, elders and the sacrificing of sheep and cattle, the Sumbe also followed shamanism. The Toba tribe conducted an offering ceremony and placed 7 or 49 wooden men relating to shamanist rituals as offerings. The Jujans, like the Mongolian tribes, were followers of shamanism. The shamans, male and female alike, played a significant role in Jujan khan's palace.
The Tureg tribe also believed in shamanism, and conducted shamanistic rituals, worshipped the blue skies and the earth. The Kirghizs, gathered together on the steppe, performed shamanistic rituals and worshipped the gods of land and water. Uighurs also worshipped sky and land and followed shamanism. They conducted offerings to the mountains and built ovoos. During the Great Mongol Empire the shamanist religion was respected as a state religion. When the Great Bogd Chinggis Khaan united the Mongol tribes under one roof, one of his close associates was a shaman named Dev Tenger. The shaman was an important and fortunate person who was included in state ceremonies or when warriors were sent to a battlefield.
Performing an offering to an ovoo (sacred monument), and predicting the future were the most popular forms of shamanist traditions in Mongolia. It is very common in rural regions of Mongolia to perform shamanist rituals to mountains and water, asking for rain or conducting the Naadam feast. Fortune telling from a shoulder-bone of a sheep has become a tradition. In conclusion from all this it could be said that rituals of the shamanist religion played a dominant role in the consciousness of the ancient Mongols. Literature related to shamanism, and shamanist rituals to evoke spirits greatly influenced the intellectual culture of the Mongols.
