MONGOLIAN COLLECTABLES

MONGOLIAN COLLECTABLES

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Unique and Important 15th-16th Century Shaman's Ongon

Pure copper spirit house to a rare and powerful tantric spirit.

Dimensions: 6 inches (15 cm) W Tall

Weight: 97 g (3 3/8 oz)

Price: SOLD

Shipping Price: To be discussed later with buyer

Item Number:W115

READ THIS ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE ABOUT THIS ONGON AND ONGON'S IN GENERAL.

This sacred artefact is a unique and specially devised dwelling place for a spirit which is an important shamanist vehicle called an ongon. It represents a site of contact between the spirit realm and the physical world. As a shamanic artefact with potent Buddhist iconography it represents a key chapter in the history of Mongolia 's belief systems and comes from a time when Tibetan Buddhism was merging with traditional shamanist beliefs.

This ongon takes the form of a most powerful tantric buddhist practitioner who was presumably revered by the shaman lineage. The design symbolism here exemplifies conquest of material being – flesh is all stripped away, the necklace of skulls symbolises all-conquering tantric meditation practises. Now eaten the practitioner dwells within the conjunction of bell and vajra - wisdom and compassion. Mouth agape the winds of the universe blow right through. A remarkable Mongolian sculpture that inspires the transcendance of this phenomenal dimension and offers a glimpse of the void.

Ongons are amongst the most important shamanist tools in Mongolia and they come in many different forms. Common materials used to make ongons includes wood, leather, felt, rocks, paper, fur, feathers, straw, and metal. Some ongons are highly abstract in form while others are much more realistic. Ordinary people may make an ongon but it is enlivened by a shaman who calls the spirit to occupy it. Ancestor spirits or animal spirits occupy most ongons,. However, some contain very powerful nature spirits or house the suld souls of powerful shamans. Since most ongon spirits have lived as humans or animals in the past, they are believed to have human like emotions and memories, and so they are treated with respect.

After being enlivened by a shaman an ongon is honored by being placed in the sacred place of the ger and fed offerings of liquor, blood, milk, or fat. When a spirit is no longer useful or desired, the ongon is either burned respectfully or placed out in nature so the spirit can return to the natural world from which it had been called.

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