The author of the book, Doctor of Historical Sciences M.F. Kosarev reconstructs and describes the ancient pagan vision and understanding of the world, based mainly on data from archaeological and ethnographic studies of the life and beliefs of a number of Siberian peoples. Ideas about life, death, soul, structure of the universe are considered. Considerable attention is paid to the peculiarities of ancient Siberian cults, ritual practices, psychological aspects of shamanism, the problems of the genesis of shamanism, the functions and role of the shaman in society up to ethnographic modernity. The use of a large amount of similar information from the history and ethnography of the Eastern Slavs and other peoples, as well as materials from modern studies in the field of analytical and transpersonal psychology and parapsychology, allows the author to restore and show the features of traditional worldview with a high degree of clarity. The publication is addressed to a wide range of readers - both historians, ethnographers, ethnologists, religious scholars, and everyone who is interested in "natural beliefs."