What objects are used by northern Asian shamans during ceremonies?

Northern Asian shamans utilize a variety of specialized objects during ceremonies to facilitate communication with the spirit world, perform healing, and enter trance states. These items are essential to their role as intermediaries between the human and transcendent realms.12

Key Ceremonial Objects

• Drum: The most significant device, typically featuring a single membrane stretched over an oval or round frame. It is used to induce trances and serves as a symbolic vehicle—such as a boat or animal—for the shaman’s soul to travel to the spirit realm.34
• Drumstick: Often made of wood or horn and covered in fur, it may be decorated with animal or human figures and rattling rings.3
• Regalia and Clothing: Shamans wear specialized gowns and headdresses, often adorned with symbolic representations of animals (such as deer, bears, or birds) or human bones. Footwear may also feature symbolic elements like iron deer hooves or bear paws.3
• Other Ritual Items:
  • Shaman-mirror: A metal disk worn by some shamans.31
  • Staffs: Sometimes topped with figures, such as a horse’s or reindeer’s head, used during spirit journeys.3
  • Metal rattlers: Used during ceremonies to assist in ritual activities.1

These objects are vital for the shaman's work in divination, healing, and guiding souls.12