In the world view of Mongolian shamanism the spirit world is not seen as
much different from the physical world except that spirits have a different
essence; in fact, the separation of the natural and spirit worlds is rather
arbitrary since spirits are in everything everywhere. Spirits have
different properties from beings with physical bodies, they can fly and
travel anywhere with tremendous speed and see and sense things over great
distances or in the past or future. What Westerners call telepathy or
psychic abilities is merely the talent to sense things using the abilities
of the spirits which inhabit human beings. People with strong windhorse are
especially capable of psychic powers because windhorse raises one’s psychic
energy. Shamans routinely take on qualities of spirits during their
rituals, being able to fly freely to other places or sense things far away
or in spirit form through the aid of their utha and other helpers..
A Multiplicity of Souls, their Form and Function
All humans and animals possess more than one soul; multiple souls are
required in order to inhabit a physical body. Throughout Siberia and
Mongolia it is believed that all humans possess at least three souls; some
groups such as the Samoyed believe there are more, four in women and five
in men. Animals also possess two souls, the ami body soul and the suns
soul, both of which reincarnate. For this reason, the game animals possess
souls which return again and again to their habitat and must therefore not
be offended. Human beings possess the following three souls (for simplicity
I give only the Mongolian names):
