Ensuring a Safe Operations Your children are safe in our program. Learn More
In a collection of myths, the origin of the shamans is linked to a mother goddess associated with a mountain and presented as either the mother or the spiritual daughter of the “Heavenly King”. She has different names according to different regions and associated mountains: Sungmo (“Holy Mother”), Daemo (“Great Mother”), Jamo (“Benevolent Mother”), Sinmo (“Divine Mother”), Nogo (“Olden Maiden”), and others. In other myths she is a mortal princess who is later turned into a goddess.
These myths usually tell of a man, Pobu Hwasang, who encountered the “Holy Mother [of the Heavenly King]” on the top of a mountain. The Holy Mother then became a human being and married the man who met her, giving birth to eight girls, the first mudang. According to some scholars, this myth was first elaborated in the Silla period, when Buddhism and influences from China had already penetrated the Korean peninsula.
The myth of the princess is the most popular, and it differs from region to region. In one of the versions, the princess is Ahwang Kongju of the Yao kingdom, located on the Asian mainland. The princess had a strong link with divinity, granting welfare to her people. Her father sent the princess among the people, whom began to worship her for her healing powers. The first mudang were established as her successors. The princess is worshipped with seasonal offerings in Chungcheong. The yellow and red clothes worn by the mudang are regarded as Ahwang Kongju’s robes.
In the north of the Korean peninsula the princess is known as Chil Kongju (the “Seventh Princess”), seventh amongst the daughters of the king. The myth tells that she was rejected by her father, who sealed her in a stone coffin and cast it into a pond, but she was rescued by a Dragon King sent by the Heavenly King, and ascended to the western sky becoming the goddess of healing waters. Names of the goddess in other local traditions are Pali Kongju and Kongsim. In the tradition of Jeju Island, where there are more male baksu than female mudang, the myth tells of a prince as the ancestor of all shamans.
Dangun is traditionally considered to be the grandson of Hwanin, the “Heavenly King”, and founder of the Korean nation. This myth is reputed to be older than that of the mother goddess. Myths similar to that of Dangun are found in Ainu and Siberian cultures.
The myth starts with prince Hwanung (“Heavenly Prince”), son of Hwanin. The prince asked his father to grant him governance over Korea. Hwanin accepted, and Hwanung was sent to Earth bearing three Heavenly Seals and accompanied by three thousand followers. The prince arrived under the holy tree of sandalwood (Sintansu 신단수, 神檀樹) on the holy mountain, where he founded his holy city.
At the time of his reign, Ungnyeo or Ungnye (웅녀, 熊女)—who was a she-bear—and a tiger were living in a cave near the holy city, praying earnestly that their wish to become part of mankind might be fulfilled. Ungnyeo patiently endured weariness and hunger, and after twenty-one days she was transformed into a beautiful woman, while the tiger ran away for it could not tolerate the effort. The woman Ungnyeo was overjoyed, and visiting the sandalwood city she prayed that she might become the mother of a child.
Ungnye’s wish was fulfilled, so that she became the queen and gave birth to a prince who was given the royal name of Dangun, the “Sandalwood King”. Dangun reigned as the first human king of Korea, giving to his kingdom the name of Joseon, “Land of the Morning Calm”.
Dangun was the first shaman, intermediary between mankind and Haneullim, to whom he worshipped and prayed on the behalf of his people. Later in the myth, Dangun becomes the Sansin, the “Mountain God” (metaphorically of civilising growth, prosperity).
Worship of ancestors and gods represent a very important and integral part of Korean folk religion.
Korean Mythology - Mythological Figures
Mythological Figures
-
Cheonjiwang - The supreme ruler of the world, father of Daebyeol and Sobyeol.
-
Daebyeol - Supreme King of the Underworld. The ten Shiwang are his lieutenants.
-
Sobyeol - Supreme King of the Mortal World. Sobyeol rules the mortals, but his power is lesser than Daebyeol's.
-
Queen Baji - Supreme Queen of the Earth. She is Cheonjiwang's husband, and the mother of Daebyeol and Sobyeol.
-
Dal(soon)-nim - The Moon, brother of the Sun.
-
Hae(sik)-nim - The Sun, sister of the Moon.
-
Cheonha Daejanggun -Village Guardian & General under Heaven, husband of Jiha yeojanggun. He is represented as a totem pole with a scary face, constructed in front of a village entrance.
-
Jiha yeojanggun - Village Guardian & General under Earth, wife of Cheonha Daejanggun. She is represented as a totem pole with also scary but more feminine face, constructed in front of a village entrance with her husband. She protects the village with her husband.
-
Sanshin - Mountain gods
-
Gashin - the patrons of various rooms and objects in the household
-
Jowangshin - a Gashin; the deity of fire and the hearth
-
Teojushin - a Gashin and the earth deity
-
Nulgubjishin - god of grain
-
Cheukshin - goddess of the outhouse
-
Seongjushin - the god of the actual house; supreme leader of the Gashin
-
Munshin - the door god
-
Oeyangganshin - the patron of cattle and horses
-
Cheollyung - god of the spice pots
-
Eobshin - goddess of wealth
-
Samshin - goddess of childbirth
-
Yongwang - The five Dragon Kings of the seas, but not necessarily a dragon (usually an old human).
-
Ogushin - Princess Bari (see above) became the Ogushin after reviving her dead parents. After the Jeoseung Chasa (death gods) split the soul from the body, the Ogushin guides them to the Underworld.
-
Honshi Seongin - the three gods who avoided the Jeoseung Chasa and lived for an additional sixty years. They protect children from illness.
-
Jeoseung Halmang - The goddess who brings death to children.
-
Shiwang - Ten kings of the Underworld, who judge the dead in each individual realm.
-
Yeomra - Leader of the Shiwang.
-
Sonnimne (see above) - Fifty-four smallpox deities. Only four are named; Gaxi Sonnim, Hoban Sonnim, Muban Sonnim, and Cheolhyeon.
-
Seonnyeo - Angel-like beings. They are the female lieutenants of Cheonjiwang. The only named Seonnyeo is Oneuli.
-
Juhseung Chasa - Gods of death. Traditionally three, these gods reap dead souls. When they read a person's name three times, the person dies. Their leader is Gangrim Doryeong (also see above), a mortal who captured Yeomra, King of the Underworld. His lieutenants are Hae Wonmaek and Yi Deokchun. Meanwhile, Hwadeok Chasa reaps those who died on fires. Yonggung Chaasa reaps those who died in the ocean, Danmul Chasa takes those who drowned in wells, and Tuseok Chasa reaps those who were killed by rocks or stones.
-
Sosamshin, goddess of cowbirth
Temples
Historically, Korean shamanism and traditional religion relied upon a system of ancestral shrines, sadang (사당), similar to those found in China and Japan. Larger temples are called myo (literally “temple”) or gung (literally “palace”). Korean shamanic temples may be distinguished by their use of taegeuk (태극) and manja (만자) symbolism, and some of them have gates similar to Japanese Shinto torii.
Almost all traditional shrines were destroyed in the 19th and 20th century during Christian waves of persecution and the governments’ campaigns for “modernisation”. In recent years there have been cases of reconstruction of shrines and resumption of rites in some villages.
