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A Forthcoming Book by J. V. Bellezza
Dawn of Tibet: The Tale of Zhang ZhungThe World’s Highest Ancient Civilization

Table of Contents

Maps (by Sally Walkerman)
Introduction

Chapter One
What civilization: discovering the cultural origins of Tibet

  • From nowhere to somewhere
  • Something definite begins to emerge
  • Gaining ground to further revelation
  • The means and methods of chronicling Zhang Zhung sites

Chapter Two
The great sky realm: the land of Upper Tibet

  • The pinnacle on the roof of the world
  • The enchanting domain of Upper Tibet
  • Lakes of sanctity and beauty
  • Cosmic center Mount Tise
  • Divine denizens, the wildlife of Upper Tibet

Chapter Three
Tillers and herders, warriors and saints: the people of Upper Tibet

  • A union of farmers and shepherds
  • The drokpas, wanderers of the Tibetan upland
  • The drokpa attire of gods and kings
  • Bestowed by heaven and earth, the sustenance of the drokpas
  • The drokpa tent as a microcosm of the universe
  • Human minds and animal spirits
  • Farming the top of the world
  • The cycle of faith, festivals and passages
  • Manifold changes are buffeting modern Upper Tibet

Chapter Four
From sky to earth: the history of Zhang Zhung

  • The magic and mystery of Tibetan scriptures
  • The coming together of the tribes
  • Descended from paradise the royal line appears
  • The dominion’s embrace in kings and castles
  • The gods withdraw their favor

Chapter Five
Touching the sky: the citadel and temple sites of Zhang Zhung

  • Stones of time
  • The abodes of the ancients
  • Redoubts of power and prestige
  • Hermitage and temple houses of the gods

Chapter Six
Penetrating the earth: the burial grounds of Zhang Zhung

  • Marked in stone
  • Cities of the dead
  • Underworld tombs to the heavens
  • The looting of the tombs

Chapter Seven
Flesh, blood and bones in stone: the artistic treasures of Zhang Zhung

  • Inscribing history in carvings and paintings
  • Strokes of time
  • Symbols of life and marks of faith
  • The ancient human figure in all its glory
  • Animals as creatures, persons and gods
  • Shrines bridging the gap between prehistory and history
  • Long-lost links
  • The allure of ancient art in metals

Chapter Eight
Father sky eagle and mother earth serpent: Bon as the religion of Zhang Zhung

  • The beginnings of Eternal Bon
  • The secret teachings of Eternal Bon
  • The spread of Zhang Zhung religion to Central Tibet
  • The Zhang Zhung gods of the sky and earth
  • The riddle of Tönpa Shenrab and the passage of the dead

Chapter Nine
Horned heroes and turquoise maidens: the cultural and social life of Zhang Zhung

  • Zhang Zhung culture from a global perspective
  • Myths of the beginning
  • The awesome feats of Zhang Zhung’s greatest personalities
  • Warriorship in ancient Central Tibet
  • The material culture of ancient Tibet

Chapter Ten
My ancestors and gods: Zhang Zhung reigns in contemporary Upper Tibet

  • The link between the past and present
  • Divine mountains and lakes recall the ancient traditions of shepherds and farmers
  • The search for well-being through the ages
  • Today’s shaman successors to the adepts of Zhang Zhung

Prologue

Bibliography

Introduction

Zhang Zhung, a mysterious civilization of castles, wizards and spirits, is held by Tibetans to be the main source of their way of life. Its high elevation inhabitants flourished in the most debilitating dry and cold conditions imaginable, a triumph of the human spirit. Austere yet colorful, remote yet disarmingly human, the tale of Zhang Zhung is one of great endurance and ingenuity, Tibet’s most compelling epic.

I shall tell the story of Zhang Zhung in uppermost Tibet through my own exploration, research and pilgrimage. This is a tale of discovery, of ancient marvels unearthed in one of the most forbidding places on earth. For two decades, I labored to reveal the contours of prehistoric Upper Tibet, an adventure told here for the first time.

Some 3000 years ago, in a country of limpid lakes and radiant blue skies a civilization was born. It came to be known as Zhang Zhung, and its birth occurred in a time of great tumult. Deteriorating climatic conditions were forcing people across Eurasia to adopt a more nomadic lifestyle. With this maelstrom came a fusion of ideas and the development of revolutionary technologies, transforming the face of human existence forever. These irrevocable changes to the fabric of human experience impelled the people of highland Tibet to build the backbone of Zhang Zhung. This enormous network of citadels and ritual burial centers spanned 1500 kms from east to west and would endure for some 1500 years.

Like neighboring civilizations, Zhang Zhung adopted the riding horse, metal armaments and the novel cultural orders springing up all around. Among the most momentous social developments was the rise of an aggressive political elite. This upper crust organized Zhang Zhung into tightly run administrative and military divisions, in which loyalty and honor were among the most cherished values.

Nowadays, the uppermost portion of the Tibetan Plateau is a barren land of alpine deserts and windswept plains, where handfuls of herders and farmers eke out a living. What a contrast to the Iron Age when Zhang Zhung civilization took hold. This was a time of thriving agricultural settlements guarded by a chain of mountaintop strongholds and fortified temples established at up to 5100 meters above sea level. These robustly built all-stone structures appear to have housed the chieftains and priests that ruled over Zhang Zhung.

At still higher elevations adepts built retreats from where they could monitor the affairs of state below. Nowhere else in the world did humanity construct permanent dwellings in such lofty locations. A strong martial bearing, religious fervor and a raw vitality are implicit in the choice of the highest ground possible for the habitations of Zhang Zhung. Emerging from Stone Age hunting and gathering tribes, the people of Zhang Zhung founded a web of settlements supported by trade, agriculture and livestock herding. This more advanced way of life bred new ideas, giving rise to elaborate sets of deities, rituals and magic. These cultural innovations accelerated the construction of intricate burial centers marked by complex arrays of standing stones and stone-lined crypts.

The story of Zhang Zhung is synonymous with how human societies rise and fall in accordance with the vagaries of nature. It also has much to say about the strength of an ancient way of life to sustain a people long after the golden age has passed. Unlike other civilizations lost completely in time, the memory of Zhang Zhung has been preserved in the myths, legends and histories of Tibetan literature. These writings provide a lucid view into the workings of its culture and society. They document the construction of castles, temples, tombs, and irrigation systems. Some annals name the kings of Zhang Zhung and speak of their exploits in subduing invaders and evil spirits. Still other Tibetan texts describe in rich detail how warrior priests through supernatural means insured the well-being of the royalty and commoners alike.

By combing Upper Tibetan sites, I have worked to decipher the mysteries of Zhang Zhung’s noble civilization. I have also used a Tibetan literature of immense poetic power to bestow a new-found voice to its thinkers and builders. The challenges and joys of fashioning a viable high elevation way of life are vividly related through the words of Tibetan manuscripts. They disclose the mentality, preoccupations and aspirations of the Zhang Zhung inhabitants, furnishing an animated counterpoint to their majestic but mute ruins.

Most historical and mythical accounts of Zhang Zhung are safeguarded in the texts of Eternal Bon, Tibet’s ‘other’ religion. The term bon is used to sum up the entire native cultural patrimony, which existed in rudimentary forms long before Tibet’s conversion to Buddhism beginning in the 7th and 8th centuries CE. Archaic aspects of bon are closely associated with the Zhang Zhung homeland and people. After circa 1000 CE, bon also came denote a religion similar in many respects to Tibetan Buddhism. This Eternal or ‘Swastika’ Bon is the 1000 year-old institutional successor to the archaic cultural wellspring. Unlike Buddhism, Eternal Bon overtly propagates ideas and practices whose roots lie deep in Zhang Zhung.According its mythology, Eternal Bon was first spread by divine beings in the semi-mythical western lands of Olmolungring and Takzik, before being brought to Zhang Zhung. Although it has only been around for 1000 years, Eternal Bon sees itself in a very different light, affirming that it has existed for many millennia. Thus Eternal Bon portrays itself as the guardian and spiritual guide of Zhang Zhung, when in reality this distinction belongs to the archaic bon traditions. While Eternal Bon and ancient bon represent different phases in the cultural history of Tibet, what has endured of the latter has been incorporated into the former.

Eternal Bon literature portrays Zhang Zhung in mythic language, yet it is underpinned by a factual base, for the tales of cultural greatness are reflected in the multitude of ruins that cover the Upper Tibetan landscape. The founder of Eternal Bon is Tönpa Shenrab who is said to be an enlightened master. Perceived as a Buddha-like figure, Tönpa Shenrab is thought to have lived many thousands of years ago. His life story is wrapped up in the parlance of fables and devotion, rendering it difficult to know whether he was an imaginary character or a real-life personality. In any case, Tönpa Shenrab’s antiquity is well justified, because in a different guise, that of a cultural hero and sacrificial priest, he is mentioned in Tibet’s earliest writings, a literature that predates the Eternal Bon corpus.

The ensemble of strange monuments that proclaims the existence of the ancient civilization known in Tibetan literature as Zhang Zhung appeared circa 1000 BCE. How this civilization actually referred to itself is not known, ‘Zhang Zhung’ being as good a possibility as any. However it was called, castles occupied the high ground around agricultural settlements, temples were erected in hidden nooks and tombs dotted uninhabited tracts. Many of the fortresses and religious edifices were built using heavy rock members for the roofs. These buildings contained warrens of small windowless rooms, displaying a method of construction that contrasts dramatically with the architecture adopted by later Buddhist settlers. Zhang Zhung persisted until 650 CE and its absorption into the expanding empire of the Central Tibet kings.

The highlands of Tibet are also home to lavish artistic tableaux, illustrating both the profound and everyday realities of life in Zhang Zhung. Throughout this sprawling land, rock carvings and rock paintings adorn the walls of cliffs and caves. In graphic detail, they chronicle battles, sporting contests, hunting expeditions, the herding of livestock, and religious pursuits. No other archaeological treasure portrays Zhang Zhung in such vivid detail as does its rock art. To appreciate the significance of this enigmatic art one must peruse the Tibetan textual accounts of ancient culture in the region. Together literature and art announce a people who while prizing physical prowess, were also deeply devoted to the forces of fertility bound up in the maternal aspects of creation. A hardy and eminently practical people are brought into the spotlight, one engaged in esoteric spiritual practices as well.

In order to cope with the rarefied atmosphere and extreme cold of topmost Tibet, a barrage of rituals were developed for the well-being of the people and the natural environment on which they depended. The sky and earth as the source of life were worshipped as kindred souls. Sacred mountains, lakes and animals were seen as the ancestors and protectors of the Zhang Zhung inhabitants. In the minds of the ancient dwellers, the ontological distinctions between deities, humans and animals were constantly shifting. Theirs was a world in which ordinary beings assumed the aura of the extraordinary and vice versa. Tibetan scriptures describe secret practices designed to introduce the elect to the true nature of reality. Ultimate truth was conceived of as being as boundless as space and as luminescent as the heavenly bodies. According to Eternal Bon, those who realized this sublime state of knowledge were honored as the superior ones of Zhang Zhung.

Most sites with monumental vestiges of Zhang Zhung have been utterly abandoned. When I came across these places it was like entering a time warp, where trappings of the distant past remain untouched. The hundreds of archaeological sites I have surveyed show that the upland of Tibet once hosted larger numbers of people and was better organized than it has been more recently. Despite its fine cultural and religious achievements there was a soft underbelly to Zhang Zhung, one that would in the end spell its destruction. Zhang Zhung grappled with the effects of environmental degradation for centuries, as the climate became progressively colder and drier. By virtue of being on the lee side of the Himalaya and other soaring mountain ranges, it was subject to a powerful rain shadow effect, causing precipitation to lessen and glaciers to shrink. This desiccation pulled the population centers of Zhang Zhung into a downward spiral.

In order to cope with deteriorating conditions in an already marginal environment, ever more ambitious architectural and religious feats were undertaken. Yet the various measures relied upon to protect Zhang Zhung were inadequate and its demise was unstoppable. Much weakened, in the 7th century CE it was conquered by the expansionist Purgyal kingdom of Central Tibet. The Purgyal kingdom controlled a warmer, moister and lower elevation land than Zhang Zhung. Purgyal’s more generous natural endowment carried the day and a pan-Tibetan empire under Central Tibetan control was formed.

By succumbing to Central Tibetan imperial hegemony, the political fortunes of Zhang Zhung waned. The Buddhist religion introduced from India enjoyed the patronage of the Purgyal emperors, and it commenced to upset the old religious balance. As contacts intensified, proponents of the archaic traditions and Buddhism were increasingly at loggerheads. Buddhism gained the upper hand through political maneuvering, but also because it appealed to a sophisticated mindset already enshrined in native customs and practices. Buddhism’s focus on mental phenomena rather than on material projections resonated with Tibetans. Thanks to their impressive cultural and technological base, they were able to rapidly master the intricacies of the Vajrayana or Thunderbolt Vehicle of Buddhism.

Tibet’s mature civilization and strong monarchy were the perfect match for the blossoming of Vajrayana Buddhism in imperial times, a religion that required a highly vibrant cultural and economic life. As the preexisting architectural and artisanal traditions of Tibet became receptive to the imported Buddhist ethos and sensibilities, the way was paved for the recreation of Tibetan civilization. With Tibetans turning their backs on incompatible elements of the archaic religion, Buddhism marched on victorious. The outcome was nothing less than earth-shattering for the holders of the old order. The practitioners of bon, the now passé ritual complex, had no choice but to change with the times and assume a Buddhist garb. But Zhang Zhung would not completely disappear, because the new order borrowed heavily from its culture.

Even with the conversion of Tibet to Buddhism, the oldfangled continued to make its presence felt right down to the present day. Zhang Zhung does indeed live on; its archaic traditions reverberating along the path of time to resound in the minds of today’s highlanders. These shepherds and farmers are the direct cultural descendants of Zhang Zhung, for ancient patterns are discernable in the course of their ordinary activities. The herding of livestock, the tilling of soil, the raising of the black tent, the styles of dress, the worship of deities, and many other popular customs and practices stem from antiquity. Moreover, the wisdom of early times, based on a unique understanding of the human mind and its power to shape the universe, still forms the substructure of the Tibetan identity.

The Zhang Zhung civilization collapsed more than 1300 years ago, but for successive generations of Tibetans its traditions have shown the way forward. Always present but rarely acknowledged, the ancient ethos has been transformed into a welter of unconscious responses to everyday affairs. Traces of the world’s highest civilization as an abstract dimension have survived not out of nostalgia, but because they supply the means to successfully live on the margins of the inhabitable world. Changes wrought by time alone could not erase this imperative.

To understand the attainments of Zhang Zhung civilization is to secure a grand sweep of Tibetan history. To delve into the lasting legacies of its archaic culture is to know the Tibetans on an intimate level. The foundation of this quest is exploration, so let us begin.

Antiquities of Zhang Zhung: A Comprehensive Inventory of Pre-Buddhist Archaeological Monuments on The Tibetan Upland

Two volumes containing a total of 414,000 words, 2100 photographs and 43 maps

The upper portion of the Tibetan Plateau, a land of large lakes, interminable plains, lofty peaks and deep gorges, stretches north and west of lha sa for 1500 km. Bound by high mountain ranges on all sides and averaging 4600 m above sea level, Upper Tibet gave rise to an extraordinary civilization in antiquity. Beginning about 3000 years ago, a chain of mountaintop citadels, temples and intricate burial complexes appeared in this vast region of some 600,000 km². These monuments were part and parcel of a unique human legacy, which flourished until the Tibetan imperium and the annexation of Upper Tibet by the spu rgyal emperors (btsan po) of Central Tibet. Gradually the unique beliefs, customs and traditions of archaic Upper Tibet yielded to a pan-Tibetan cultural entity that arose in conjunction with VajrayAna Buddhist teachings.

A millennium ago, Buddhist domination of Tibet spawned a new civilization, one in which the celebrated Lamaist religions of Bon and Buddhism came to hold sway. The inexorable march of time and the ascent of the new religious order slowly but surely clouded the memory of the earlier cultural heritage. As a result, many of the ancient achievements of the Upper Tibetan people were forgotten, only to be preserved in the impressive monumental traces of the region. Antiquities of Zhang Zhung attempts to reclaim these past glories by systematically describing the visible physical remains left by the ancient inhabitants of Upper Tibet.

The residential and ceremonial monuments of Upper Tibet, established by what can be termed the ‘archaic’ cultures of the region (zhang zhung and sum pa of the literary records), strongly contrast with those built in the central and eastern portions of the Plateau in the same span of time. There are also very substantial differences between the archaeological makeup of the archaic cultural horizon (circa 1000 BCE to 1000 CE) and that of the Lamaist era (circa 1000 CE to 1950 CE) in Upper Tibet. The unique monumental assemblage of Upper Tibet delineates the bounds of a paleocultural complex squarely based in the uplands of the Plateau. The special physical hallmarks and highland homeland of this ancient culture set it apart from other Bodic cultures, which arose in the central and eastern parts of the Tibetan Plateau. The cultural world of antediluvian Upper Tibet is also readily distinguished from the civilizations that appeared in adjoining lands to the south, west and north. In the archaic cultural horizon the Upper Tibetans constructed highly durable all-stone elite residences, temples and castles, developing stone working techniques particularly suited to their extremely harsh natural environment. They also designed and built elaborate burial complexes containing many types of ritual structures made entirely of stone. The use of stone corbelling for the construction of roofs and the erection of pillars in peculiar configurations for ceremonial purposes reached a very high level of proficiency in Upper Tibet. The eminently practical qualities of this architecture have helped to insure that the remains of a surprising number of monuments have endured to the present day.

Although the design and construction of the monumental assemblage of archaic Upper Tibet is highly distinctive, affinities with other archaeological cultures of the Plateau and steppes do certainly exist. During the first millennium BCE and first millennium CE a tremendous amount of cross-fertilization occurred throughout Inner Asia.

Antiquities of Zhang Zhung systematically describes the physical remains of 388 Upper Tibetan monumental sites documented since 2001. It is an inventory of archaic archaeological sites; those that differ from Lamaist monuments in terms of chronology, morphology, function, mythology and geographic orientation. This catalogue of archaeological sites should prove useful to scholars working in a variety of disciplines. As a reference work, it is well suited to provide a perspective for subsequent studies devoted to better understanding the archaic physical and cultural environment of Upper Tibet and other regions of Inner Asia. It presents uniform sets of physical and cultural data for each of the sites surveyed to produce a coherent view of the monumental vestiges scattered across the Upper Tibetan landscape. As a compendium of archaeological sites, this work is primarily quantitative (descriptions of the remaining physical evidence) in nature. To some degree, it also provides qualitative information (analyses of the ideological groundwork underlying the physical manifestations) in order to elucidate various abstract aspects of the monuments. This methodological approach, borrowing from archaeological, literary and ethnographic sources of information, permits an integral picture of ancient Upper Tibetan archaeological assets to emerge. By bringing Upper Tibet’s fascinating past in clearer focus, we better acquaint ourselves with formative elements in the development of Bodic civilization. In turn, this permits us to move one step closer to understanding the Tibetan Plateau’s place in the Indo-Eurasian cultural mosaic of yore.

An inspection of the sites surveyed opens a window onto a remarkable Tibetan heritage. Rather than a cultural backwater, upland Tibet emerges as a nexus of technological and cultural brilliance. A chain of citadels circumscribing the region reflects the existence of a vibrant social order in which agriculture played a vital role. From the first millennium BCE onwards, a warrior and priestly elite appears to have founded and occupied these citadels. The sheer number of fortified sites built on summits shows that martial struggle was a prominent preoccupation (which is also mirrored in the Tibetan literary record). The top strata of ancient Upper Tibetan society also constructed all-stone temples and residences in which the cultural life of the region reached a crescendo. Troglodytic communities sprung up wherever there were natural caves or where it was possible to excavate earthen formations. In the cultural hothouse environment of first millennium BCE and early first millennium CE Inner Asia, Upper Tibet appears to have been one of several regions with superior intellectual and military capabilities. The legendary status accorded zhang zhung in Tibetan literature buttresses the archaeological record, indicating that Upper Tibet had indeed reached a considerable level of human attainment before the spread of Buddhism.

The existence of intricate burial rites is echoed in the many tombs and necropoli that dot the entire region. These architecturally diverse funerary sites allude to sophisticated eschatological concepts and practices prevalent in early Upper Tibet. The mortuary archaeological evidence also records yawning divisions in wealth and social status, a sign that the region possessed a hierarchical society with deep social, economic and political divisions. This puts the highland variant of Bodic civilization in line with surrounding civilizations of the Iron Age and the classical period, where social stratification, economic diversification and warfare were rampant. While many linkages between the empirical and textual perspectives remain hypothetical, the intellectual profundity of matters related to death in both the literary and archaeological records is unmistakable and very significant.

Zhang Zhung: Foundations of Civilization in TibetZhang Zhung: Foundations of Civilization in Tibet

A Historical and Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Monuments, Rock Art, Texts and Oral Tradition of the Ancient Tibetan Upland

Using archaeological, anthropological and philological methodologies, Zhang Zhung sets out formative elements in the development of civilization in Upper Tibet, the vast upland north and west of Lhasa. Part I of this major work comprehensively examines the monumental and esthetic traces of the Metal Age and early historic period in Upper Tibet. Based on a field survey project of twelve years duration, the morphological, constructional, mythological, and cross-cultural traits of the region’s visible archaeological wealth are described in detail, laying the groundwork for the painstaking textual analyses that follows. In Part II, annotated translations of numerous excerpts from Bon and Buddhist texts present the traditional view of Tibet’s ancient past. These native literary accounts of the early cultural, religious and political complexion of the Plateau are in turn systematically compared to the archaeological record, revealing critical areas of agreement. Zhang Zhung pioneers the application of empirical evidence to independently gauge the historicity and significance of Tibetan Bon sources. Part III is devoted to the study of the archaic funerary heritage of Tibet, a highly edifying undertaking as regards the cultural evolution of the Plateau. New perspectives on the identity and contributions of the Tibetan ethnos are obtained by subjecting Dunhuang and Bon textual materials to rigorous archaeological and ethnographic interpretation. Considerable effort is devoted to plumbing the historical depth of Tibetan funerary literature and to understanding its affinities with north Inner Asian afterlife mythology and burial practices of the first millennium BCE and the first three-quarters of the first millennium CE. Critically edited transliterations of the Tibetan works, tables of all archaeological sites surveyed, bibliographies, and extensive indexes complement the main text.

(X+842 pp., 384 illustrations, 46 maps)

Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Calling Down the Gods: Spirit-mediums, Sacred Mountains and Related Bon Textual Traditions In Upper Tibet
John Vincent Bellezza

Summary

Length: Approximately 600 pp.
Graphics: 43 photographs.
Contents: 21 translated and fully annotated Tibetan texts as well as numerous excerpts, interviews with 15 spirit-mediums, references from academic literature, conclusion, bibliography, and indexes.

Publisher: Tibet Studies Library, vol. 8. Brill Academic Publishers: Leiden, 2005.

General Orientation

This book comprehensively examines the hereditary links, ritual practices and pantheon of indigenous deities on which the spirit-mediums of Upper Tibet rely. Known as lha-pa, dpa’ bo and lha-mo, these specialists in channeling the gods operate in the overlapping sTod and Byang-thang regions of northwest Tibet. This work is based on in-depth interviews and the translation of a variety of Tibetan texts. It utilizes a diachronic model to create an exposition with ethnohistorical dimensions, in which the legendary and contemporary aspects of the spirit-mediums are studied through both the oral and literary traditions. This work, drawing upon a wide range of ethnographic and textual materials to investigate the phenomenon of lha-bzhugs (spirit-possession) in Upper Tibet, analyses the way in which its historical and present day characteristics are interrelated. Thus, the continuity of tradition, and the way in which it has been conceived and preserved, is the underlying theme that gives this book its narrative and analytical coherence.

The spirit-mediums of Upper Tibet, both men and women, serve as incarnate forms of the region’s most important lha-ri (mountain gods), as well as a range of other indigenous deities. Traditionally, it is believed that when the thugs (mind) or bla (animating principle) of a divinity enters a spirit-medium, it variously acts to heal sick people and livestock, exorcise bad spirits and harmful influences, bring good fortune, and predict the outcome of future events. The first scholarly accounts of this cultural phenomenon are found in late Victorian works by Das and Waddell, in which they describe the use of a mda’ dar (festooned arrow) to expel pain and demons, the wearing of the rigs-lnga (five-lobed headdress), the reliance of spirit-mediums upon Bon and Buddhist tutelary deities, and the territorial spirits of the indigenous substrate. These remain salient features of spirit-mediumship in Upper Tibet to the present day.

Calling Down the Gods systematically explores the legendary underpinnings of spirit-mediumship in Bon literature, expounding the parallels that exist between the srid-pa’i sgra-bla (a class of primordial deities) of the gshen (ancient Bon priests) and the divinities of today’s spirit-mediums. According to Bon tradition, spirit-mediums were active in pre-Imperial times prior to 630 CE. This claim, however, cannot be historically substantiated with the cultural materials at hand. The mythic origin of their practices is related in the 14th century mDo dri med gzi brjid, the longest biography of sTon-pa gshen-rab, the founder of Bon. The text reports that sTon-pa instructed his disciples in the four main methods of conducting divinations, including the Ye-dbang lha yi bka’ babs (Mantic Directives of the Gods of Primordial Power) of which spirit-mediumship is a part. In Bon, it is thought that the ancient practice of divination was dependent upon a pacific god named Phu-wer, whose ritual observances share significant commonalities with the modern trance ceremony of the spirit-mediums. For instance, the use of both domestic and wild animals as offerings (actual and simulated) welds the liturgical structures of Bon divination, the cult of mountain gods and the oral tradition of the spirit-mediums closely together. In a text attributed to Dran-pa nam-mkha’, one of perhaps two or more personalities believed to have lived no later than the Eighth century, the details of an ensemble of ritual offerings for Phu-wer bears much similarity to the one used by today’s spirit-mediums:

The offering ingredients are various grain meals put in beer, ’brang-rgyas (a kind of edible cake), the forms of a yak, sheep, goat, various wild ungulates, and birds nicely arranged in a basin. It is decorated with meat from the upper part of an ewe’s carcass. Beer, mead and grape wine are put in [the basin]. Place it in the middle of the mandala. Burn incense three times. Do dmu-phod (a system of ablutions). Make ablutions with lustral liquids.
In a religious environment dominated by Bon and Buddhist clerics, the survival of spirit-mediums over the centuries appears to be primarily due to the persistence of ancient beliefs in Upper Tibet regarding the cause of disease and misfortune. This work details the native etiology and expounds upon why it has continued to favor spirit-mediums over other religious specialists, particularly in the area of everyday concerns. The spirit-mediums observe a respect for the natural environment and the numina they believe are inextricably connected to it, which is derived from both indigenous sanctions and the Buddhist ethic of nonviolence. An excellent résumé of the activities that provoke the autochthonous deities to harm humans and the means to reconcile their anger is found in an untitled gsol-kha (a class of propitiatory texts) attributed to four Eighth century Bon adepts, the mKhas-pa mi-bzhi, and rediscovered by a member of the Kyu-ra clan. An excerpt from this gsol-kha admirably sums up the kinds of activities that the spirit-mediums frequently cite as disease-causing, as well as providing for their resolution:

Listen to my speech, the gshen-bon’s, assembly of klu, gnyan, sa-bdag, and yul-lha (common classes of indigenous spirits). We, and the sponsors and benefactors, have not dug at your palace residence. In the event there was digging let us be peacefully reconciled. We reconcile you by offerings of jewels and incense. We did not divert your mighty waters. In the event there was diversion let us be peacefully reconciled. We reconcile you by offerings of jewels and incense.

If we screamed on mountaintops, And irrigated with water channels and reservoirs, And excavated at your mighty springs, And set big fires on mountains, And killed your mighty deer and hunted your wild ungulates, And destroyed your palaces and dwellings, And spread flesh and blood at your mighty places, And inadvertently sullied the hearth with dairy and meat products, And slept in the middle of your palaces, And went naked at your mighty places, And mindlessly made the sound phat, And startled you with drum and conch, And showed the light of fire in the evening, And poured out [hot] liquids with vapor at your mighty places….

Through textual sources and the Tibetan oral tradition, Calling Down the Gods enumerates the endowments that are believed to come from the medium’s communication with the deities. These benefits help to explain the cultural entrenchment of the indigenous pantheon and its expression in the tradition of spirit-mediumship. For example, a text found in the New Collection of the Bon bka’ brten written in the ancient style by sKu-mdun shes-rab dgongs-rgyal (1784-1835), in praise of gsas-mkhar and la-btsas (types of tabernacles), excellently depicts the vital qualities of the pantheon bound to the natural environment. An excerpt from it reads:

….By such offerings the divine protectors are pleased and the circle of gshen practitioners are benefited. Guard us during the night. Wherever we go in the four cardinal directions and eight intermediate points guide us from the front and support us from behind. Conquer the enemies, thieves and bandits. Destroy the ’dre, srin, gdon and bgegs (types of demons and malevolent forces). Ensure our necessities and avert detriments. Grant us the capability to attain wealth and possessions. Grant us the capability to attain progeny. Grant us the capability to attain a good reputation and high standing. Grant us the capability to attain long life and vitality. Grant us the capability to attain [fine] clothing. Grant us the capability to attain foods of good fortune. Grant us the capability to attain livestock. Carry out whatever activities we wish.

Outline of Contents
Calling Down the Gods is divided into five interrelated parts to create a broad and integrated survey of Upper Tibet’s spirit-mediums:

Part One
A general introduction to the spirit-mediums, summarizing their historical background, defining characteristics of the profession, as well as descriptions of their ritual paraphernalia, possessing deities and trance ceremonies. This first part of the book includes a cross-cultural comparative study of the spirit-mediums of Upper Tibet and their counterparts in other regions of Tibet and Inner Asia. Part One concludes with introductions to the following parts of the book.

Part Two
Interviews with fifteen spirit-mediums (born between 1912 and 1952) of varying scope, with interpretive material drawn from Tibetan texts. Attention is given to parallels found between certain customs of the spirit-mediums (such as the use of feathers on the head and the sprinkling of barley on the altar) and textual accounts of early ritual performances and religious personalities. The findings for each of the spirit-mediums constitute an individual section in the book. Each section is structured to include information on the lha-rgyud (lineage of the spirit-medium), the nature of his or her initiation into the practice, the iconography and properties of the possessing deities, and the proceedings of the trance ceremony. In the longer sections detailed data is provided on family history, the myth of origin of the profession, and the various litanies and rituals conducted while in trance. In several instances, in-depth material is supplied on trances observed by the author.

Part Three
Annotated translations of ritual texts devoted to the major deities of the spirit-mediums, which includes gNyan-chen thang-lha, rKyang-khra, rTa-rgo, Gangs-ri lha-btsan, rTsan-rgod nam-ra, Rol-pa skya-bdun, Dam-can mgar-ba nag-po, and gNam-mtsho phyug-mo. Stress is laid on an exposition of the similarities in the iconography, function and liturgies of the deities of the oral and literary traditions. The texts chosen for inclusion in this work adroitly illustrate the manifold interconnections that exist between spirit-mediumship and the ritual practices of alternative religious specialists such as lamas and sngags-pa. The categories of texts used are those of the gsol-kha (invocatory), bskang-ba (blandishments), bzlog-pa (harm repulsion), mdos (enticements), and gser-skyems (libation offerings) ritual systems. Translations include extensive annotations relating to vocabulary, interpretation, critical editing, and associated cultural materials. Corrupt spellings and readings are emended in the transliterations of the texts. Usually two or more works ranging in length between two and eleven folios, as well as other passages, are translated to represent each divinity. As the Bon religion claims the origin of spirit-mediumship, precedence is given to its literature; however, significant excerpts from the Buddhist literary tradition are included to achieve a comprehensive description of the various divinities. In Part Three, special attention is also paid to the verse scheme and the stress-investing trisyllabic indicators that are characteristic of the ancient bardic tradition, and which have become a hallmark of literature pertaining to the cult of indigenous deities (as well as the Ge-sar epic).

Part Four
Annotated translation of Bon literature relevant to the origins of spirit-mediumship. This part of the book begins with excerpts from the biographical gZi-brjid about the first of the nine theg-pa (the vehicles or systemized branches of the Bon doctrines) known as Phya-gshen. These references address the mythic origin of spirit-mediumship according to Bon tradition. An unpublished commentary on the relevant section of the Phya-gshen by the eminent Bon scholar Lopon Tenzin Namdak aids in the elucidation of this material. The ritual texts of the Bon divination god Phu-wer, the legendary revelatory figure of ancient times, are then introduced. This is followed by a survey of the srid-pa’i sgra-bla gods from several Bon sources, demonstrating that, although the mountain gods and sgra-bla reside in distinctive doctrinal categories (the latter is considered a far more superior class of deity), they share many iconographic characteristics and ritual functions in common. This affinity extends to the manner in which they are propitiated and offered to. This may indicate the operation of a historical continuum in which the lha-ri and sgra-bla are virtually synonymous, despite contemporary Bon theological conceptions to the contrary. Part Four of the book also makes a foray into Bon cosmogony to determine the degree of propinquity between the sgra-bla and lha-ri as another means of considering a common identity.

Part Five
The final part of Calling Down the Gods contains Bon literary references to the ritual implements and practices of the spirit-mediums. Sections are devoted to the gshang (flat-bell), drum, conch, me-long (divination mirror), the arrow and spear, incense and lustration, thun (magic missiles), and g.yang ’gugs (fortune-summoning). The aim of this exposition is basically two-fold: 1) to elaborate upon how the oral and literary traditions inform one another in the arena of indigenous religious tradition, and 2) to portray the pre-Imperial pedigree that many of the ceremonial displays of spirit-mediums have in the historico-ritual notions of the Bon religion. As we shall see, the antiquity of such traditions is documented as historical reality in the Bon ritual literature presented in this work.

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