The Gods of the Munjeon Epic Redux: Yeosan Buin—The Hearth Goddess, protects Jeju women in their daily lives, gives them strength to manage their work and their families, her epic serves to reinforce the independent spirit needed to overcome hardship and survive as an island woman Namseonbi—the compost shed god, the father of the Munjeon…
Tag: Jeju language
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post Four: The House Gods in Ritual Context
M The Munjeon Bonpuri is told as part of many shamanic ceremonies on Jeju. One important example is the ritual ceremony employed when blessing/ consecrating a new house, business or other structure on the island. This sort of ceremony, called seongjupuri, involves the extended family, and often, whoever wishes to stop by from the neighborhood….
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post Three: The Door God’s Epic
The Munjeon Epic—The Door God’s Myth (simplified plot) The following is the plot of Munjeon Bonpuri, the Door God’s epic, which relates to us the foundation myths of the household deities introduced in Post One. Keep in mind that the the following is the plot of the epic, not a direct translation of the epic itself. While some…
A Guide to Shamanism on Jeju Island, Post Two: Sacred Island
The house is sacred. The yard is sacred. The lanes are sacred. The village is sacred. The fields and wooded regions surrounding the village are sacred. The mountain is sacred. The sky and earth below are sacred. The sea is sacred. This world is sacred—populated with divine beings—gods and ancestor spirits. Halla Mountain, and the…
Field Notes #2: Saewa Village’s Shamanic Shrines Were Burnt to the Ground
During the Anti-Superstition Movement of the 1970s, over one hundred of Jeju Island’s shamanic shrines were burnt, along with many holy relics. President Park Chung Hee’s government had implemented the misin-tapa as part of the movement for the modernization of South Korea. The aim of the misin-tapa was to eradicate traditional religion from rural communities, replacing it…
Field Notes #1: “Solstice.” (Video)
My documentary on Jeju Island’s shamanic culture (Sprits: The Story of Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines) will debut this September. I’ll be sharing plenty of extras on my youtube channel . I’ve been researching and filming the project for five years, so there is plenty to come. This clip is from a series I’m calling ‘Field Notes’. In…
Year Ender
A brief post on some accomplishments of the last year and future plans for the blog and upcoming projects. THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS -Sulsaemit Shrine: One of this year’s highlights for sure, helping break the news about former Jukseong Village’s desecrated Sulsaemit Shrine. I helped form a group with the mission to restore the shrine…
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…
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 1: Kameunjangagi, Goddess of Fate
The first in a series of posts about Jeju’s major deities. The some dozen Ilban Bonpuli, or epic myths tell how Jeju’s deities came to play their current roles in the island’s cosmology. These epics are sung during rituals as well as portrayed during ‘nolli‘, dramatic reenactments that take place during major rites. The epics are sung,…
Rebuilding Sulsaemit Shrine PART 1
14 months ago a shamanistic shrine was desecrated on Jeju Island, South Korea. Today, a group of Jeju natives and outsiders began the rebuilding process.
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