Tag: Asian culture
Jeju’s Shrines Under Attack #2/ Yerae
Check out the first post of this series HERE: Jeju’s Shrines Under Attack #1/ Tears in Seongsan Village After writing the above post on the shamanic shrine that was destroyed in Seongsan Village, an act which left Jeju Island’s famed women divers without a sanctuary in which to pray, I come across yet another disappeared shrine. Like…
Bijinangkae Shrine
Bijinankae Shrine Legend “In Daejeong County you’ll find Bijinanggae Shrine, seated below a great tree, is the shrine Grandmother Goddess. She’s a Grandmother you visit on the 7th day of the Lunar month, come with a pure heart and clean of all taboo. Ask for fortune for your children, if you hold a ceremony here,…
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 Deities #5: Who is the Highest Goddess in the Land? Myoungjinguk Grandmother Goddess, Giver of Life.
“Who is Myoungjinguk Grandmother?” Great Shaman Im looked at me like I was dense. “Myoungjinguk Grandmother,” she said, incredulous, “is the grandmother goddess who came from the sky, the highest grandmother there is. She’s the grandmother who is above everyone on Jeju Island, in Korea, America–she’s the highest in all the world.” I actually hadn’t…
Where Do We Go When We Die? (part 1)/ Jeju Island’s Deities 4: Gangnim, Messenger of Death
The first in a series of posts about Jeju Island’s death deities. Here I present the basic plot points of the Chasa myth. As with all oral myths on the island, a slightly different version is told in each village. These posts are intended to be expanded upon and will eventually contain transcriptions and video…
Spirits: Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines, the Photobook–Ready for Order from Jeju Island
Spirits: Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines, my photobook on Jeju Island’s shamanic shrines is out. I spent four years documenting shrine worship and shamanism on Jeju Island as part of my documentary project Spirits. The photobook features over 220 color photos from the more than 10,000 that I shot during the filming of the documentary. The…
Jeju’s Deities 3: The Door God
Visitors to Jeju, having read their guidebooks or perhaps having been indoctrinated by local English-language tourist pamphlets, may come to island with the misconception that the people of Jeju worship the famed goddess of Halla Mountain, Seulmundae Grandmother, as a central deity. The legend of Seulmundae is certainly a beautiful and comic one (comedy and…
Photo Book On Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines Now Available For Order!!!
I’ve been working hard with some great people on my photo book on Jeju’s shamanic shrines.
