THE DUKHA: THE REINDEER PEOPLE OF NORTHERN MONGOLIA
by Janice Matturro on 07/16/13
The Dukha, are an ancient tribe of people, whose way of life is “guided by shamans and shaped by dreams and tradition.”
The Dukha live close to the earth, living a
nomadic life style. Much like Native
American Indians who were sustained by buffalo, the Dukha are sustained by reindeer
and live in tepees.
The Dukha possess an
innate, ancient knowledge of nature and, consequently, the shamans who guide
the Dukha way of life are known to be very powerful.
You might wonder, “What
is a Shaman?” As Robert Moss writes, “First
and last, the shaman is a dreamer.” A
shaman is a gifted healer, who receives his/her calling and training in the
Dreamtime. In fact, a shaman uses his dreams in intentional ways. Shamans work and travel in non-ordinary
reality via conscious dream journeys, for specific purposes. For
example, a shaman may incubate a dream for a particular patient in order to diagnose
an illness and receive guidance on how to treat the illness. A shaman also works to retrieve lost souls
and to help the recently departed to find their road to the after-life.
Although shamans work
in non-ordinary reality, their work has practical effects in everyday reality –
their work has real meaning to the people, whose lives are made whole by
shamanic healing techniques. Recently, I
watched a movie titled: The Horse Boy:
A father’s quest to heal his son by
Rupert Isaacson. I thought I would
share this movie with you because it demonstrates how the work of shamans (and
their use of conscious dream journeys) can have real effects in the lives of
ordinary people – in this case, an ordinary family, whose lives have been
shattered by autism.
The Horse Boy is the extraordinary story of a father, who travels on
horseback with his wife and autistic son, Rowan, to meet the shamans of
Mongolia and specifically, the Shamans of the Reindeer People, in hopes that
these powerful spiritual leaders might free Rowan from the worst effects of his
autism: withdrawal from social contact, relentless,
screaming temper tantrums, and inability to be potty trained.
It isn't easy to watch Rowan's suffering; however,
without giving too much away, the movie is absolutely worth watching, right up
until the very last moment.
References:
http://www.mongolia-travel-guide.com/reindeer-people.html
https://www.facebook.com/notes/robert-moss/shamans-as-dreamers/509148659138207
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-fine/movie-review-ithe-horse-b_b_305942.html
