The Siberian (See Siberian entries) Underworld (See Underworld) lies somewhere below the domain of the Great Mother Goddess and is a place ruled by a male king who commands the spirits of the Underworld and judges its inhabitants. However, it must be noted that the period of death below the earth is for many Siberians a period of gestation leading to rebirth. For some Tungus Siberians, the corporal soul or been takes the river to the Underworld while the individual's clan soul, the omi, eventually returns to the earth, enters a tent smoke-hole and into the womb of a woman, producing a new clan member. Some Tungus say that the soul of an individual is attached to the master-spirit (See Siberian Spirits) Seveki in the upper world and that when evil spirits cut the string, the individual dies. Still others say that the been soul goes to the Underworld ruled by the chief ancestor Mangi or Xargi, the ancestor of shamans (See Siberian Shamanism), and the bear brother of the creator. Mangi then searches for the omi soul, which has taken the shadow form called xanjan. When he finds it, the soul turns into a bird and returns to Earth to enter another being.
