Saitin Gods in Buryat Shamanism: Semantics of Images and Functions
Bulletin of the Irkutsk State University Geoarchaeology Ethnology and Anthropology Series January 1, 2023 N. B. Dashieva
The Saitin gods (Saitani Burhad) in Buryat shamanism of the Baikal region function as intermediary spirits between earthly people and the White heavenly gods (Western Tengri). Their semantics derive from a process of personification linked to female shamanism, involving shamanic trance, silver as a sacred metal, invocation chants, ritual attire, and sacrifice. The mythological ancestors of the Hori tribe Buryats share commonalities with Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Southern Siberia, Central Asia, and the Yakuts, with origins in Iranian-speaking steppe cultures of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages that revered a creator god named from the root aar/aya.