How to Live Like Ungern Von Sternberg
Life in Central Asia then and now
From Russian solider, to God of War, to Khan of Mongolia — this was the legacy of Baron Roman Ungern Von Sternberg.
Is it possible to for a Westerner to simply show up in Central Asia and conquer the steppe like Ungern today?
Yes! Here's where to go, and how to do it:
His life could best be described as "a fusion of the Wild West and the Roman Empire". Sternberg was born an ethnic German on the "borderlands" of the Russian Empire in 1885. Of royal blood, his lineage was filled heroic ideals from crusader knights to privateers, and soliders.
“the Baron’s sense of attachment to the Russian Empire was almost pathologically intense" He had "borderlands syndrome, the insecurity that comes from being on the fringes of a great empire. Similar men include: "the Austrian Hitler, the Corsican Napoleon, the Georgian Stalin".
They each possessed an "exaggerated sentiment or contempt for the dominant majority, or else over-intense admiration or even worship of it”. Sternberg's fixation, his destiny was clear: become the type of heroic, warrior ideal who could restore the greatness of the Monarchy.
He believed that: “Imperial rule was the natural order of things, and to threaten it threatened the world itself; revolution was the harbinger of ‘famine, destruction, the death of culture, of glory, of honour and of spirit, the death of states and the death of peoples”.
He was soon to become a volunteer soldier in the furthest reaches of the Empire — the Russo-Mongolian borderlands. His "identity was continually torn between Asia and Europe, both wanting to be part of European, ‘civilized’ culture and feeling the call of ‘wild Asian blood’."
He enrolled in the TransBaikal Cossak Regiment. “The Cossacks were a strange collection of peoples, the descendants of outlaws and exiles who, four hundred years beforehand, had fled civilised life in Poland, Lithuania and Russia to carve out their own living on the steppe."
The Cossaks had "gone Mongol". “While Europeans reviled Cossack brutality, they also romanticised and celebrated their egalitarian, free-spirited lifestyle. Russians, in particular, saw in them an alternative to the stifling, controlled lives they led in the cities".
Like Ungern we can transform into the nomadic ideal. But, we must reject the modern world and its illusions as a poison, as the enemy. Instead, we must seek to create an entirely new way of life that reintegrates us with the frontier and reclaims our ancestral lands.
The general belief of the semi-nomads I have met is the following: "Modern people will die out from their over-reliance on technology and poisoning from fake foods and medicine. Once depopulation and planned obsolescence cause global collapse, the old ways will return."
Unlike the nomads, our error is to view "progress" as advancement, when its true name is decline. You read this post now, dreaming of a better future because every element of your life is inferior to that of your ancestors. It's time to accept our loss and return to the steppe.
The technological utopia we worship has mass produced distraction to hide the decline. Endless television shows, free sex, and fast food can no longer hide the fact that the well is poisoned and you exist as a debt slave to continue the illusion. Nomadism provides an escape.
Like the Cossacks, we must view the modern experiment as a failure and liken urbanized conditions to concentration camps. We must gather will allies, take to frontier lands, and develop our own self-sufficient communities that can function independent from any modern system.
Countries like Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan all present unique avenues to pursue a semi nomadic lifestyle. If you prefer the comfort of a traditional farmstead, countries like America, Argentina, Paraguay, and Armenia are wonderful options to pursue.
Ungern and I both bet on Central Asia. Here's why: It has the lowest population density, meaning the terrain remains wild. It's an ancient realm divided by ancestral blood feuds, hundreds of years old. Adventure becomes abundant for all those with a horse and the will.
Once Ungern moved to Mongolia, “Ungern was already a talented rider, but under the tutelage of more experienced officers his skills improved further. He soon mastered the art of mounted combat and became respected in the regiment for his riding skills.”
Befriend the locals, learn their ways, and become a master of horseback, survival, herbal medicine, hunting, animal husbandry, etc. Unfortunately, the Communists killed the last generation of true nomads throughout the 1900s, and most of the knowledge has been forgotten.
We now have semi-nomads, who move animals between valleys in 3 month increments. The most successful clans move thousands of livestock at a time and are remarkably wealthy, even by modern standards. Ideally, you could find one of these families and ask to work/live with them.
Look long enough and you can find one local who specializes in a traditional art, be it blacksmithing, shamanistic healing, wrestling, or traditional archery. Personally, I like the hunters. They stalk game year-round and travel with only their horse, a rifle and a tent.
The shamans are the most unique populations here. Locals refer to them for everything from future readings, herbal remedies, exorcisms, and medicinal leech healing. Ungern was deeply mystic and would certainly encourage you to pursue these connections as your primary focus.
“Throughout his later career in Mongolia, Ungern professed nothing but respect for Buddhism and ‘the destiny of the Buddhist peoples’ ... “[Mongolia] was a strikingly, almost fanatically, Buddhist country, hence the power of the [mystics].
Where I live, the original religion was Tengrianism; you can think of this like sky and earth worship. Locals don't exactly know much at all about their ancestral religion, as the majority are "devout" Muslims. Islam has completely taken over since the 1990s.
There's a Mosque in every village; the call to prayer constantly echoes. This is largely because Iran and Turkey began to invest here post USSR, and along with the money came Islam. Most profess a devout, adoring love of Islam, yet have never read a single line of the Quoran.
What words too often forget, the blood remembers and carries out unconsciously. They seem to conduct all the rituals of their shamanic past and merely claim to be Islamic. One can easily find everything from shamanic healers to magical "yetis" engaged in psychic warfare.
The frontier of Central Asia is a portal open to all those who accept the call of the frontier. Today, it's still possible to live with semi nomads and learn traditional arts like eagle hunting, horseback archery, and shamanic healing. You must return to conquer the steppe!
