Korean Shamanism

In this episode, we explore Korean Shamanism, or Musok, as an enduring indigenous religious tradition centered on communication with deities and ancestral spirits through ritual specialists known as mudang. We look at how these practitioners, most of whom are women, perform gut ceremonies that combine music, dance, prayer, and divination to mediate between the human and supernatural worlds. The episode also examines the major types of shamans, including the spirit-possessed kangsin-mu and the hereditary sesŭp-mu, along with the ritual objects, paintings, altars, and sacred mountain spaces that shape their practice. We also discuss how Korean Shamanism survived centuries of suppression under Confucian rule, Japanese colonialism, and modern religious criticism, yet continues to adapt in contemporary South Korea as both a living faith and a powerful expression of Korean cultural identity.