Korean shamanism

                                                  

Korean shamanism, also known as Muism (Korean: 무교 Mugyo "mu [shaman] religion") or Sinism (신교)} Singyo "religion of theshin (hanja: 神 ) [gods]", is the ethnic religion of Korea and the Koreans. Although used synonymously, the two terms aren't identical: Jung Young Lee describes Muism as a form of Sinism - the shamanic tradition within the religion. Other names for the religion are Sindo (traditional Chinese: 神道; ; Korean: 신도 "Way of the Gods"), Sindoism (traditional Chinese: 神道敎; ; Korean: 신도교 Sindogyo "religion of the Way of the Gods"), Gosindo (traditional Chinese: 古神道; ; Korean: 고신도 "Way of the Ancestral Gods"), and Pungwoldo (hanja: 風月道 "Way of Brightness"). It has approximately 5-15 million followers.

                                            

In contemporary Korean language the shaman-priest or mu (hanja: 巫 ) is known as a mudang (hangul: 무당 hanja: 巫堂 ) if female or baksu if male, although other names and locutions are used. Korean mu "shaman" is synonymous with Chinese wu, which defines priests both male and female. The role of the mudang is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods, and the human plain, through gut (rituals), seeking to resolve problems in the patterns of development of human life.

Central to the faith is the belief in Haneullim or Hwanin, meaning "source of all being", and of all gods of nature, the utmost godor the supreme mind. The mu are mythically described as descendants of the "Heavenly King", son of the "Holy Mother [of the Heavenly King]", with investiture often passed down through female princely lineage. However, other myths link the heritage of the traditional faith to Dangun, male son of the Heavenly King and initiator of the Korean nation.

                                         

Korean Muism has similarities with Chinese Wuism, Japanese Shinto, and with the Siberian, Mongolian, and Manchurian religious traditions. As highlighted by anthropological studies, the Korean ancestral god Dangun is related to the Ural-Altaic Tengri"Heaven", the shaman and the prince.^[15][16] In some provinces of Korea the shaman is still called dangul dangul-ari. The mudangis similar to the Japanese miko and the Ryukyuan yuta. Muism has exerted an influence on some Korean new religions, such asCheondoism and Jeung San Do. According to various sociological studies, many Christian churches in Korea make use of practices rooted in shamanism.