The Customs of Siberian Koryaks. The Use of Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria) in Kamchatka Folk Medicine

Abstract

This article refers to use of the red fly agarics (Amanita muscaria) by the siberian Koryak people living in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Linguistic and archeological evidence indicates a very early use of toadstools in Siberia. Presence of Amanita muscaria in myths and its direct link to Koryak supreme deity proves that those mushrooms had in the past important function in the local shamanism. Their presence in folk medicine has also been observed today. Despite the still alive beliefs associated with red toadstools, their consumption is nowadays difficult to consider as ritual behavior in the strict sense. It seems that the abandonment of toadstool consumption is one of the signals of a much larger phenomenon, which is the loss of old shamanistic Koryak traditions, beliefs and practices.

Through a possible reconstruction of the former meaning that Amanita muscaria had among Koryaks and by looking at modern opinion on these mushrooms, an attempt was made to capture and compare the past and present role of toadstools in this community. The collected materials suggest that the significance of their use is not as important today as it used to be – however, there are people who still use these mushrooms. The available literature does not allow for a detailed presentation of the contemporary conceptualization of Koryak use of the red fly agarics based on the examination of the specific cases of intoxication. This is an issue that requiers further research and can be explored by collecting interviews and recording changes and constans in the behavior and beliefs of the Siberian people.