The Religion of Shamanism

Shamanism is the ancient healing tradition and it is a way to connect with all of nature and it's creations. Shaman refers to the ancient spiritual practices from the Siberian indigenous culture, the Tungus tribe.

There are 5 aspects of Shamanism. Connection with nature, healing of self and community, spiritual practice, pilgrimage to sacred places and vision and ceremony. Since Shamanic practices receive their power from nature, a shaman needs to have a connection with the earth. The health of the shaman relates to not only the individual, but its community meaning the plants, animals and all living things. Shamans must also do daily spiritual practices in order for them to grow in both the body and soul. When beginning to learn about the Shamanism, one should visit and connect with the sacred places of the culture. This can be rivers, lakes and mountains and the visit of a Shaman can reawaken the energy and power of the land. Lastly, it is important to note that the path of Shamanism never ends and it is believed that the world will go on as long as these ceremonies continue. The ceremonies create a balance and promote harmony as you are honouring the spirits of nature (Foundation, 2020)

Modern Shamans seek to solve human problems by invoking the spirits of the Korean shaman pantheon. When they perform the ritual for a client, it is usually because they are seeking for spiritual assistance after a wedding, a death or moving to a new location.

In the Korean culture, shamans are usually women and often do services for clients that can provide good fortune, cure illnesses and perform exorcism of evil spirits (but not the same kind of exorcism in the Catholic religion) or pacify village gods. There are also times when the services can be helping the spirit of a deceased person make it's way through heaven.

There are two categories of Shamanism, also referred to as Mudang, called Sessumu and Kangshimu. Sessumu are those living south of the Han river and their status have been passed down from their family line of Shamans. Sessumu is a combination of shimbang and tang'ol. Rather than becoming one with the god, shimbang uses a medium to contact the gods and they do not maintain a shrine. Tang'ol have different districts and each district holds the exclusivity of performing certain ceremonies. Kangshimu on the other hand is when an individual becomes one with a god through her ceremony. There traditional Kangshimu shamans, and there are myongdu shamans. Myongdu shamans take part in a naerim-gut ceremony in which the spirit possess the body during the ceremony. The mudang is then possessed by a god called momju, who performs a fortune telling through their spiritual powers (Korean Shamanism, April)