The book is out! Order Jeju Island’s Haenyeo, A User’s Manual for kindle and other devices. Ever since Jeju Island forged its way onto the international tourism scene, its women free divers, called haenyeo, have taken center stage as both cultural symbol and tourist attraction. The divers’ fame peaked with their designation as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post One: The House Gods
Let’s start with the home. Most lectures (as given by the handful of experts on the shamanism of Jeju Island) on the deities that reside within the Jeju Island home, start out with an illustration that looks something like this: It’s a typical Jeju floor plan (in the spirit of not being too formal—I’m going…
Jeju Island’s Most Beloved Shamanic Shrine Tree has Perished due to Typhoon Winds and Careless Behavior from ‘tourists’. The Island is Mourning the Loss of the 400-Year-Old Tree.
This past Saturday, October 6th, perhaps what is Jeju Island’s best known and beloved shamanic shrine tree fell due to high winds. I found myself tearing up throughout the day Sunday when I first heard of the incident, as I have been visiting the shrine for almost a decade now. I wasn’t the only one…
Jeju Island’s Haenyo: A User’s Manual, the diver who tried to die at sea
The traditional free diver, Ok-sun Lee, was born in the very waters in which she planned to carry out her own drowning some 85 years later. Her life-long friend and fellow diver, Man-bok Kim, seeing the practicality of her choice, aided her in the attempt. The two women survived much together—over seventy years of work at sea, the…
The Traditional Village Shamans of Jeju Island, South Korea: PHOTO ESSAY
The book is out! Order Jeju Island’s Haenyeo, A User’s Manual for kindle and other devices. Interviews with three generations of Jeju Island’s sea women. Ever since Jeju Island forged its way onto the international tourism scene, its women free divers, called haenyeo, have taken center stage as both cultural symbol and tourist attraction. The…
Indigenous Islanders Continue Fight Against 2nd Airport on Jeju Island, South Korea–Hunger Strike Passes its 40th Day
Youth and other activists from some twenty civic groups have joined five villages in their struggle against a planned ‘aerotropolis’ on Jeju Island, South Korea. Still waiting for a statement from the national government’s Ministry of Land and Transportation, residents of South Korea’s largest island continue their fight against the proposed second airport project. The…
The Shamanic Spiritual Life of Jeju Island, South Korea’s Traditional Women Free Divers. Short Documentary: The Youngdeung Gods Visit Jeju Island
Every year the Youngdeung Gods visit Jeju Island, South Korea bringing with them strong spring winds. These deities replenish the sea life as they travel their coarse from village to village along the coast. In Hamdeok Village, the shaman Young Cheol Kim presides over the ceremony, a ritualized banquet at which Jeju Island’s famed women divers…
Pagans We Are does TEDx (video inside)
This past November, I gave a TEDx talk on Jeju Island, where I’ve been documenting shamanic shrine culture for the past five years, as you well know if you follow my blog. I talk about my video and photography work and the importance of preserving sacred spaces, many of which are in danger on…
Jeju’s Shrines Under Attack #1/ Tears in Seongsan Village
In the winter of 2013, Sulsaemit Shrine, a traditional place of worship for followers of Jeju Island’s native shamanic religion, was deliberately desecrated at the hands of unknown culprits. I have written about our group’s (the Senjari Rangers) efforts to restore this natural sanctuary where people in the area have worshipped for some hundreds of…
Jeju Island’s Haenyeo: A User’s Manual, the daughter of a diver who came home to surf and save the sea
Ji Yeon is a magazine editor, surfer and granddaughter of a woman diver. She chose to return from the mainland to Jeju Island after hearing news of the contested second airport which is slated for construction near her native village. Ji Yeon’s passion for activism started as a teenager when she witnessed the environmental decline…
Jeju Island’s Haenyo: A User’s Manual, a young diver tells her truth—of her love affair with the ocean and environmental decline
The first in a series of posts for 2017 in which I explore issues affecting the women divers (haenyo) of Jeju Island, South Korea– issues primarily related to the gentrification and rapid development of South Korea’s largest island. I’ve been speaking with the haenyo in depth over the last five years as part of my…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Part Two: Post Four: Baekjjudo’s Sons
Baekjuddo and Seochunguk’s eighteen sons are great mountain deities in their villages. These gods, the hunter lords of the mountain, are often paired with powerful goddesses. In some cases, these ‘couple gods’ or bubaegan/bubushin reside in seperate, but nearby shrines. Shamans lead rituals dedicated to these gods in lunar January, on the 14th day of…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Part Two: Post Five: The Banished Deity
A curious feature of bonhyang shrines, including those shrines dedicated to Baekjuddo and Seocheonguk’s sons, is the banished deity. Often, in Jeju Island’s shamanic shrines, one finds the male or female deity of a pair, to be banished to the far end of a shrine, or even from the shrine entirely. Take the case of…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Part Two: Post Three: The Myth of Baekjjudo and Seocheonguk
One of the most important myths on Jeju Island is the myth of Baekjjudo and Seocheonguk, the parents of the eighteen prominent mountain/ hunter gods—the gods we’ve been discussing so far. The myth, told in its entirety, tells not only of the fateful first encounter of the progenitorial couple, but of the generation prior to…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Part Two: Post Two: Baekjjudo, the Grandmother Goddess of Songdang Village
There is a village shrine, on the eastern side of Jeju Island, which is very significant in shrine cosmology. This is the shrine, situated in Songdang-ri, where the goddess Baekjuddo or Geumbaekju/Geumbaekjo resides. It is natural that we explore Jeju shrines starting here. Baekjuddo (ddo or tto signifies a particularly powerful deity) is the mother…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Part Two: Post One: The Shrine Gods
Let’s depart from the familial home and move out into the village. Now, we’ll look at the deities residing within shrines, the gods who make themselves available for healing, to receive prayer and issue blessings in each of Jeju’s villages. The history of each shamanic shrine is detailed. Each village has its own myths. Furthermore,…
Jeju Island’s Haenyo: A User’s Manual, Should I Stay or Should I go? Interview with a young person who left Jeju Island, Feminist Journalist R.L.
Should I stay or should I go? It’s a question virtually all the youth of Jeju Island have to ask themselves at some point. For many, especially academic achievers, to stay isn’t really an option. Good schools and opportunity lie elsewhere—the mainland or abroad. This is the second of a mini-installation of interviews in the Jeju Island’s Haenyo: A User’s Manual series of posts about the younger generation of Jeju women and their choices. I spoke with R.L., who is a twenty-eight year old journalist, writing for one of few South Korean publications that offer cultural criticism as a mainstay. R.L. talks…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post Nine: Snake Shrines
Snake deity worship is not limited only to the pantries and gardens of Jeju Island homes. There are also village shrines dedicated to the worship of serpents—whose origins differ from that of the Chilseong gods. These deities play the role of shrine deities, like those found in all Jeju villages. In the case of these…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post Eight: Snake Worship in and Around the House, Garden and Village
Now, let’s turn to how the Chilseong serpent deities are worshipped. The Chilseong deities are worshipped in a variety of larger ceremonies dedicated to the islands’ highest order of gods. These gods include the House Deities, such as the Door God and the Hearth Goddess that we have already discussed. You might find a table…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post Seven: The Chilseong Serpent Myth
The Chilseong myth, one of Jeju Island’s twelve standard epic myths, explains the origin of the serpent deities that reside in the home. We will get into the Ilban Bonpuri, or standard epics, in more detail in later posts. These are the myths central to the island’s mythic canon, which shamans recite at length in…
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