Myth of Zunug Khairkhan: Shamanic Initiation and Individuation

Psychology

The Mongolian myth of Zunug Khairkhan is about the shamanic initiation to become a shaman—individuation—after undergoing the archaic ordeals. The myth makes the abstruse experiences of the shamanic rituals a bit visible and comprehensible. The extraordinary details furnished in the myth shows the shaman’s ecstatic travels, the visions of the rituals that he is subjected to and the experience of dying to become the living dead. It is by facing the ordeals that the shaman learns what is fatal to health and about its cure, and by dying he has the profound knowledge of life. A simple and humble attempt is made herein to interpret the esoteric process of shamanic ordination.

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