Thirteenth summary – Mystical transition to the other world

21:00. Two headlights ate their way through the darkness and headed towards us. Bilgee’s cousin Erdene Ochir and his wife Urtnast picked us up in a jeep. “Goodbye Steppe,” I whispered with a wistful feeling in my chest. After 35 kilometers, the first lights appeared. A gas station, a small supermarket, a small hotel. Street lighting, cars, trucks, people, garbage, potholes, simple houses. “We’re in civilization,” I said. “And how does that feel for you?” asked Tanja. “Not good. I already miss the peace and quiet, the whisper of the wind, the steppe flowers, the many herds of animals and the sound of our horses plucking the grass from the ground.”

Over the next few weeks, we lived with various members of Bilgee’s family. We moved four times and each time we were welcomed and treated with courtesy and kindness. As if we had actually become part of Bilgee’s family.

Saying goodbye to my dog Mogi was bitter. If I hadn’t known that he had found a wonderful home with Badamsuren and Nyamka, I would have been heartbroken. But Mogi is a wild and strong dog. A dog who loves the cold, hunting and his Mongolia. A life in Germany would certainly not have been right for him.

Bilgee often visited us in our respective domiciles. One evening he took us to see his shaman. We were spellbound as she drummed loudly through the night. Then the 900-year-old spirit entered her and she sat down on a stool in front of the fire. For a while, all we could hear was the crackling of the flames. The shaman’s robe from a bygone age, adorned with signs and bells, was illuminated by the flickering of the flickering fire like coming and going shadow spirits. The moment was spooky, soon a little eerie. “Hi, hi, hi!” the ancient being laughed softly to himself in an ancient voice and began to speak in a croaking voice.

One full moon night, Bilgee dragged us up a mountain. On its crest, a number of tree-trunk-sized poles jutted out into the clear starry sky. At their tips, black, red, blue and white banners fluttered in the darkness illuminated by the full moon. About one thousand five hundred people were swarming around. They carried countless sacks of sheep’s wool to heap around the piles of stones in which the stakes were stuck. But the Mongols also stuffed their wool into the low ramparts, also made of stones, which surrounded the pile heaps in unconventional lines and led to a large oval around the entire complex. Then they scattered bags of cow dung, moss and herbal essence over it. In the end, everyone present soon put kilos of butter on it.

During the coordinated confusion, a large courtyard suddenly formed around the moon. “Hurreee! Hurreee! Hurreee!” the people shouted, interrupting their work and looking at the moon. They stretched out their arms towards him and let them circle clockwise with their palms facing upwards. We were undoubtedly witnessing a little-known ritual celebration. “We commemorate our great Genghis Khan and call upon his energy,” explained Bilgee.

Using long sticks with burning ends, a number of men set the gigantic circle of wool (approx. 150 meters in diameter) ablaze. To make it burn better, it was also moistened with animal oil.

While some men and women paid homage to Genghis Khan by reading aloud something we couldn’t understand, the crowd shouted “Hurrreee! Hurrreee! Hurrreee!” The large circle of fire warmed the cold night. Women and men began to undress. They stretched their bellies, knees and breasts towards the flames, which they obviously hoped would have a healing effect. At 1:00 a.m., after the prayers and recitation of the texts, the Genghis Khan worshippers began to walk clockwise around the huge fire circle. They prayed fervently and hurled milk into the air with small wooden spoons until dawn. Tanja and I mingled with the people the whole time. Then we sat down in the grass about 50 meters away and inhaled one of the strangest and most beautiful ceremonies we had ever witnessed during our expeditions. “The strong spirit of Genghis Khan will now accompany and protect you on all your future journeys,” says Bilgee, who suddenly appears next to us from the flickering shadows.

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