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In most animistic and shamanic traditions you will find spirit dolls and spirit fetishes. These are sometimes in human or animal forms, and sometimes in more abstract forms.
The Mongolian word for these is ongon, which can be thought of a as a spirit house. Some are made of wood, some of metal, some of cloth, some of stone.
Ongons are put on an altar, tied to a shamans coat, or drum, or other object, or put in special shrines in nature to overlook a specific location. They are often given meals of ritual food, in the South West of the USA, the Hopi people give their spirit dolls (called Katcina dolls) corn meal or flower pollen, in Siberia they often given vodka, reindeer blood, or butter.
From time to time, some of the objects on this page are actual ongons from shamanic cultures, others are new items that could be easily used as ongons. To have an ongon of your spirit helpers on your altar is a nice way to connect with them.
BRONZE HORSE SEAL (Item No. Ongon A01)
Price including postage: £26 (UK) £30 (World)
Origin: China or Inner Mongolia.
Age: unknown - it is probabaly not very old
Width: 26mm approx
A small bronze or seal with a horse on it. It would make a nice small horse ongon on an altar.
BRONZE STAGL (Item No. Ongon A02)
Price including postage: £75 (UK) £85 (World)
Origin: China or Inner Mongolia.
Age: unknown - it is probabaly not very old
Width: 280mm approx
An attractive, Scythian style bronze stag.
CARVED JADE FIGURE OF A RAM (Item No. Ongon A03)
Price including postage: £22 (UK) £27 (World)
Origin: China.
Age: 5-20 years approx
Length: 60mm approx
A charming, fairly recently carved jade stone figure of a ram.
SMALL BRONZE ONGON AMULET (Item No. Ongon A04)
Price including postage: £26 (UK) £30 Wworld)
Origin: Mongolia, Northern China or Inner Mongolia
Age: unknown - but probably some age
Height: 55mm approx
Small standing bronze ongon figure. Small bronze figures like this are called 'buudaly' in Siberia, and are said to have fallen or been thrown down from the sky. Sometimes they are found in wild places and that is probably where the story of them having come from the sky originates.
Shamans use these small bronzes, especially the ones with suspension holes, to represent their spirit helpers or the ancestors. Often they tie them onto clothes or drums or other objects.
This ongon has no suspension hole, but it's heavy base means it can stand well on an altar.