First Shaman

Culture-hero / first-shaman tier (classed as demigod: a mortal man elevated to founding shaman). Name often anglicized 'Morgon-Kara'; the Buryat behind it is Mergen ('wise/marksman') Khara ('black'). The episode is a widely cited type-scene of Siberian soul-retrieval.

Domains

• shamanhood

Powers

• rides his drum up into the spirit world
• brings the dead back to life by retrieving their souls
• transforms into a wasp to steal back a hidden soul

Sources

• Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, 1964 (Buryat first-shaman legend)