Russia holds first Top Shaman elections

Russia will stage the first ever ‘Top Shaman’ elections this year, with 188 candidates currently listed from all over the country, online shamanist magazine Shamanstvo reports.

The elections will be held in two stages, with only 12 shortlisted shamans participating in the second stage. Each of the stages will last three months, probably to allow the most far-off regions to cast their ballots.

The list of candidates currently contains all shamans registered in the Shamans Register of Russia, but any people who consider themselves shamans are also welcome to submit their applications. A special commission will decide whether they are qualified to run in the elections.

The Novy Region news agency cites the curious biographies of several candidates.

For instance, Oyun Batyr is a hereditary shaman from Tuva, a shamanist region in Russia’s Siberia. According to his biography, he has several thousand kettles, five wives and three sons. Batyr doesn’t drink and smokes dried herbs instead of tobacco.

Another candidate, Leonid Bespalov, also from Siberia, predicted the war in Checnhya.