Korean Shamanism [History of Korea]

#korea #shamanism #koreanculture #koreanhistory #history #historyofkorea (episode 36) Today, we’ll take a look at Korean shamanism, called musok 무속신앙 or mugyo 무교. Korean shamanism is often ignored when talking about Korean culture and the behaviour of its people. Theres’s usually more of a focus on Confucianism and Buddhism and more recently, Christianity. But, like trying to understand Western culture without the influence of Christianity, it would be erroneous to not discuss the influence of shamanism on Korean society. While shamanism isn’t as popular nowadays as it once was, it still plays an important role in how decisions are taken either following a ritual (a gut 굿) or after a fortune reading (saju 사주). Female shamans, mudang (무당), are seen by some as the keepers of Korean culture which can be seen in their clothing and dances as well as heard in their songs (muga 무가) and stories. First, we w