The Entrance to the Spiritual World

lrimoto The Eternal Cycle 5.The Entrance to the Spiritual World 5.1 The World on the Other SideThe Koryaks call the world of the dead the Other Side, nganenka, in the sense that it is distinct from this side ofthe world.It is located' in the east, from where the sun rises, but at the same time, it refers to the world above the sky.In the world on the "other side", the dead breed reindeer, live in yananas, and lead their daily lives in the same way it is done here in this world.In the reindeer-sending ceremony, held in memory of the deceased, which we had seen in the autumn, the families and relatives ofpeople who had died during the year send them reindeer so that the dead can live in the upper-world without diMculty.They say the killed reindeer go directly to the upper-world.According to Zoya, the old lady who lives on the tundra behind the village, there is no such thing as the "underground-world."As a matter of fact, she said she had heard that some people living near Apuka bury the dead underground, but she herself had never heard that an underground-world exists.The Koryaks cremate the dead so that they can go to the upper-world.I came to see with my own eyes this ritual of departure to the Other Side when I revisited Srednie-Pakhachi Village two years later.However, dogs do not go to the upper-world after their death, but go to the dog's world, which is said to between this world and the upper-world.This dog's world is a totally different place from the country of the dead; thus no dogs exist in the world of the dead.Natalia says that if someone sees a dog in his dream, it means a dog needs to be sent to the upper-world befbre that person's death: so they kil} a dog.This is interpreted as a precaution against evil spirits interfering with a person on their way to the upper-world after he dies.The dog supposedly drives away evil spirits and shows the way to the upper world fbr the deceased.Before the person kills the dog, he says, "I will kill a dog befbre I go the Other Side, because I saw it in a dream."This should be done on the fbllowing day the person saw the dream.But the dog to be killed doesn't necessarily have to be the same dog as the one seen in the dream.The owner just has to kill one of the dogs that they own.Dogs are usually never allowed in their houses, but on this occasion they let the dog inside and offer it a little bit of fat as an inawet.Supposing it was Natalia who saw the dream: after the dog had eaten the fat, she would take the dog outside and head towards the east.Then two men would tie a lasso onto it.One of them would tie it around the dog's neck, and the other would tie it around its waist.By pulling it from both sides, they would lift the dog up a little above the ground.Then another man would stab the dog in the heart with a spear.Actually, if the dog keeps still and doesn't bark, they can also kill it with a knife.The dog's owner praises it in the same way they do when they kill a reindeer.Then they predict the future according to the cry the dog gives when it is