A toli is a round, ritual mirror used in Shamanism in some parts of Mongolia and in the Republic of Buryatia. The mirror, ornamented on one side and polished on the other, may be made of bronze, brass or copper.
Toli are traditionally worn as part of a shaman's attire around the shaman's neck or in quantity on the shaman's kaftan or apron, to help ward off evil spirits and to signify the shaman's authority. They may have additional purposes as well. Among the Daur people, they were also used to purify water, to collect spirits or spiritual manifestations like the magic of the sun or moon and to divine the prognosis of a sick patient. Walther Heissig, describing shamans and their incantations in Hure Banner in the 1940s, remarks that one shamaness indicated that the toli contained "the white horses of the shamans"; the mirror itself was seen as a vehicle for the shamans.
Toli may be used in different sizes; among the Daur, the front and back of the shaman's costume was covered with small toli placed like overlapping scales while the front might also feature eight large mirrors and one medium-sized mirror to protect the heart, the neker-toli; according to Heissig, in Hure Banner shamans wore nine mirrors, nine being a particularly meaningful number in Mongolian religion and mythology. The neker-toli might be plated in nickel. The number of toli collected by the Daur shaman was an indicator of his or her level of power.