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Mongol spirits stayed in Mongolia
Local Spirits
Mongols know the spirits of the water, mountains, and everything around them personally: what each one likes, whether it wants a song or an offering of milk products. Outside Mongolia nobody knew the local spirits. China looked like hostile land whose spirits did not like them.
Worship of the Sky
Genghis Khan had worshiped one mountain, Burkhan Khaldun, his refuge several times in life. He would climb it, take off his hat and belt, and pray before the sky. Over time he moved his worship to the sky, the one spirit found everywhere and the same for every people. In Mongolian one word, Tengger, means sky, heaven, God, and weather. The sky could embrace all religions, and each person could know morality within themselves without being taught from a book.
Religious Debates
He never changed religion. After the death of his grandson at Bamiyan he summoned religious scholars of every kind, from Chinese Taoists to Muslim leaders, and organized public lectures and debates among groups that hated each other, each asked to explain its own religion. His grandson Möngke Khan later told the Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Taoists that they had scriptures and did not live by them, while the Mongols had spirits, shamans, and drums and did live by them.
What is an ovoo and how is it used?
An ovoo is a cairn of stones, wood, or both, built on a mountain pass or hilltop as a shrine to local spirits. Travelers walk around it clockwise three times and add a stone, often leaving milk, vodka, or a blue scarf. The practice is older than Buddhism in Mongolia. Large ovoos receive yearly ceremonies led by shamans or lamas.
What did Möngke Khan say about religions?
In 1254 Möngke held a debate among Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists at his court in Karakorum. The Flemish friar William of Rubruck, who was present, recorded the exchange. Rubruck wrote that Möngke told him God gives the hand several fingers, and likewise gives people several paths. He took part in the rituals of several faiths.
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