Portraits of Belief #1 - Shaman Gennadiy

Artist: DJ Furth Edition: 1/1 Gennadiy is descended from an ancient line of Buryat shamans. His particular form of practice, called darkhan or blacksmith shamanism, involves licking a red-hot iron and blowing on those who come to him for help in order to clarify their energies and purge them of their problems. This portrait shows Shaman Gennadiy in his traditional shamanic clothing, performing a cleansing ritual and in his everyday clothes in the forest on Olkhon Island. He shared with us the ongoing revival of shamanism in the region, “Before, under the communists, they didn’t understand. But people are beginning to understand now. Whenever something is wrong, they are coming to us,...View all