According to the Russian research center VCIOM, more than half of Russians believe in black magic and religious miracles. President Vladimir Putin is also included, writes Der Spiegel.
The outlet said the Russian president secretly met with shamans during his state visit to Mongolia earlier this month to get their blessing for the use of nuclear weapons.
Putin officially traveled to Mongolia to participate in the celebrations of the 85th anniversary of the armed conflict between Mongolia and the Soviet Union against Japan.
However, after Putin's visit, many experts and observers questioned why Putin actually traveled to Mongolia. Is Mongolia really such an important foreign policy partner right now? Hardly. In the report, independent Russian journalist Mikhail Zigar, citing sources close to the Kremlin, said the real reason for Putin's trip was shamans.
According to Zigar, Putin has traveled to Mongolia three times in the past ten years to meet with the world's most powerful shamans. Vladimir Putin has long been known for his special penchant for mysticism, Zigar said. It seems as if he combines his interest in Orthodox mysticism with pagan customs.
Now a rumor is spreading in Moscow that Putin needs the blessing of shamans to use a nuclear weapon. Without their consent he could not take such a serious step for fear of angering the spirits. And it is assumed that he returned from Mongolia satisfied.
One of Putin's former speechwriters, Abbas Galyamov, said he had heard rumors about Putin's ties to shamans and that Putin not only received a blessing for the use of nuclear weapons, but was also interested in the issue of his own longevity and rebirth. “It is claimed that he was very pleased with the meeting and the performed rituals,” Galyamov wrote in Telegram. Mongolia and Tuva, the Russian republic that Putin visited before his trip to Ulaanbaatar, are considered the epicenter of the world's most powerful shamans.
A shaman is a person who is seen in many traditional cultures as a mediator between the physical and spiritual worlds. Shamans fulfill a special role by conducting rituals, healing ceremonies and spiritual practices.
Shamanism is widespread in many indigenous cultures around the world, including the peoples of Siberia, the Indians of North and South America, but also in Africa and Asia. Although shamanism varies, many shamanic traditions share the idea that everything in the world—plants, animals, people, the earth—is connected, and that the shaman understands and can nurture that connection.