Search: The Web or BeYoND-THe-iLLuSioN Only 
From: mleger@panix.com (Mark Leger)
Subject: Re: Korean Shaman Ritual
Date: 15 Jul 1994 22:34:19 -0400

Joe Stojsic (joe@mullara.met.unimelb.edu.au) writes:
> Malthouse, Melbourne Australia. One performance only.  Trance like.
> Anyone know what Korean stuff like this is like?

The Asia Society and the Musuem of Natural History here in NYC put on
a fascinating two day program on Korean shamanism early this
Winter. Two rituals were performed. By far the most enjoyable was a
celebratory blessing ritual held in the ocean room at the Museum --
200 not-particularly-Pagan identified people plus a sprinkling of
Yoruban and Native American practioners danced to really exhilerating
drumming and chanting. That evening we went to a more performancey
funeral ritual at the Asia Society. Beautiful, but abstracted and
therefore oddly dry. 

For good solid info on Korean shamanism, see two books by Laurel
Kendall: Shamans, Housewies and Other Restless Spirits and The Life
and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman. Korean shamanism is a very ancient
tradition practiced mostly by women. The male practitioners dress as
women. There are two schools: the northern is more about channeling
spirits, and the southern is more about ceremonial magic.  I would
definitely go anytime to a Korean shaman ritual -- Melbourne is a
little far for me, tho. Have fun!

Disclaimer: The file contained in the box above or displayed in a separate window from a link in the box above is NOT owned nor implied to be owned by BeYoND THe iLLuSioN. Most files at BeYoND THe iLLuSioN are originally from public Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) which were popular in the days before the Internet or from gopher, web, and FTP sites from the early days of the Internet which no longer exist today. Essentially, all files were acquired from the public domain in one for or another.

However, there have been occasions when copyright protected material has appeared on BeYoND THe iLLuSIoN without permission of the copyright holder. In these instances, we have and will continue to remove the copyright protected file as soon as it is brought to our attention. This can now be done using our Report Copyright Material form. Fill out the form, and the webmaster will be notified of the situation.

There are also times when files found on BeYoND THe iLLuSioN have a real home somewhere else on the Internet. In these instances, we will gladly replace the file with a link to its true home whenever it is brought to our attention. If you know of the true home of any of these files, you can use our Report Original URL form to bring it yo our attention.