Saint Petersburg--Russian lawmakers are up in arms after a shaman, dressed in full traditional garb and carrying a drum, allegedly carried out a ritual in the Saint Petersburg city parliament to shoo away evil spirits.
The shaman's visit, in the middle of the Orthodox lent, prompted deputies from Russia's second biggest city to call a special session to determine whether its "authority had been undermined", lawmaker Konstantin Smirnov told AFP.
The shaman, Nikolai Taleev from the tiny northern port town of Naryan-Mar, visited the sumptuous parliament building on invitation from a Communist lawmaker, Smirnov added.
Local media reported he carried out a ritual to chase away "evil spirits" from the building. Russia's Siberia region is regarded as a birthplace of shamanism and it is still practiced in the country.
"It is scandalous to organise devilish dances by a shaman here during the Great Lent," said lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, author of Russia's controversial law banning "homosexual propaganda".
"I urge all my colleagues not to make contact with sorcerers or heretics. It is revolting," he told AFP.
Saint Petersburg city lawmakers have also asked local prosecutors to look into the shaman's visit to see if it could be considered an insult to religious believers, a jailable offence in Russia.
The Communist deputy who invited the shaman to the parliament, Igor Korovin, said it was merely a guided visit organised at the request of friends.
"I don't see anything wrong with it. Guided visits are organised all the time in the assembly, including for those in traditional costume," he told local news website Fontanka.ru.
AFP
