korean shamanism

It has been twenty-eight years since I first conducted my intensive academic fieldwork among the Korean shamans, generally referred to as mudang. There is a Korean saying that in ten years even mountains and rivers change, and it is interesting to see what changes Korean shamanism has undergone in nearly triple that time. What is remarkable is that the principles and the basic formats of the Korean shamanistic practices have stayed more or less the same, although the practitioners, both mudang and their associates including administrators, have changed. Many people who kindly helped me so much for no financial rewards during my fieldwork have retired or died, and new faces have emerged, but I have managed to retain many friends among them. It is largely thanks to Mr. Choe Sujin, the late second President of Daehan Gyeongsin Yeonhaphoe (The Republic of Korea Spirit Worshippers’ Association) and a son of the late first President Choe Nameok, its founder.