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Concept
Korean shamanism
Summary
Korean shamanism or Mu-ism () is a religion from Korea. It is also called rr () in Korean. Scholars of religion have classified it as a folk religion. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners.
The rr religion is polytheistic, promoting belief in a range of deities. Both these deities and ancestral spirits are deemed capable of interacting with living humans and causing them problems. Central to the religion are ritual specialists, the majority of them female, called rr () or rr (); in English they have sometimes been called "shamans", although the validity of this is contested. The rr assist paying clients in determining the cause of misfortune using divination. rr also perform longer rituals called mr, in which the gods and ancestral spirits are given offerings of food and drink and entertained with song and dance. These may take place in a private home or in a shrine, the mr, often located on a mountain. There are various sub-types of rr, whose approach is often informed by regional tradition. The largest type are the rr or mr, historically dominant in northern regions, whose rituals involve them being personally possessed by deities or ancestral spirits. Another type is the mr of eastern and southern regions, whose rituals entail spirit mediumship but not possession.
Elements of the rr tradition may derive from prehistory. During the Joseon period, Confucian elites suppressed the rr with taxation and legal restrictions, deeming their rites to be improper. From the late 19th century, modernisers – many of whom were Christian – characterised rr as rr (superstition) and supported its suppression. During the Japanese occupation of the early 20th century, nationalistically-oriented folklorists began promoting the idea that rr represented Korea's ancient religion and a manifestation of its national culture; an idea later heavily promoted by rr themselves. In the mid-20th century, persecution of rr continued under the Marxist government of North Korea and through the New Community Movement in South Korea.
Official source
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