Ask Baikal

Hi there! My name is Maxim Milyutin. I am based in Irkutsk, Russia's Siberia. Traveller, organiser of local travel talks, and owner of Irkutsk hostel. Travel for me is not necessary movement to some place far away from home, it's a state of soul. That's why I like to travel around my home region and and abroad as well. I'm happy to share my knowledge about Baikal with everybody! Feel free to ask me about Lake Baikal via the contact form Tatiana Baksheeva, our previous blog runner, remains with us as a contributor.

Everything has its own deity! Shamanism at Lake Baikal.

By Tatiana, on May 2nd, 2011%

He belongs to the Buyan family that has been living in the Baikal region over 400 years. Legends say that there have been 19 generations of shamans in his family, shamanistic knowledge being transferred from generation to generation. The totem of the Byans is a white-headed eagle, the major large bird of the Olkhon Island. The sixth finger on Valentin Khagdaev’s right hand is a sign of being predestined to become a shaman. A baby with six fingers on a hand is given birth in every second or third generation of the Buyans.

Valentin Khagdaev

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