Music of Shamans to Be Featured
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Korean shamanistic ritual, or ``gut,'' is still deep-rooted in Korean culture even in this modern era, despite being long disregarded as superstition that has to be toppled in many quarters.
Shamanistic ritual dies hard as a folk culture, rather than as a religious belief. According to a recent survey, there are an estimated 300,000 shamans in the nation.
The public will have a chance to experience gut via a route they may be unfamiliar with. The first Gut Music Festival will kick off in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province Sept. 14-16 to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation.
It is the first major attempt to combine shamanistic ritual with popular music. The festival will include an academic symposium about gut ritual along with spirit-possessed shamans, and an outdoor concert of gut music by well-known musicians.
Gut music is the cradle and treasure chest of Korean traditional music and performing arts.
``Pungmul gut'' is nowadays played by ordinary men and women and the audience may join in for dancing; however, a real gut ritual is generally conducted by male or female ``mudang,'' or spirit-possessed shaman and is not easily accessible to the general public. It is rare one is invited by one of these ritual specialists.
``In the festival, shamans will participate in the shows and rituals. Genuine rituals will be conducted by shamans,'' Lim Eun-ah, an official of the festival organizer, said.
She said that there are two types of shaman _ those naturally possessed by spirits and those who become shamans by studying to perform the rituals.
``In the past, gut was a performance combination of music and dance which was really popular among ordinary people. Gut music was really influential on ordinary people, equivalent to today's popular music,'' she said.
More than 20 spirit-possessed shamans will present the rituals in the style of Hwanghae Province of North Korea.
The shamans will pray to heaven for the people of Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation and all of those who are present at the ritual, and bestow good fortune and blessings on behalf of gods and spirits.
The ritual will be led by shaman Kim Mae-mul who performs gut from Hwanghae Province Sept 15-16. Kim will walk on knives with her bare feet to drive off evil spirits.
This gut music reflects the style of songs from Hwanghae Province. These shamans who fled from North Korea after the Korean War (1950-1953) have been keeping this tradition of ritual alive in South Korea.
Also, Chae Soo-jung will perform gut music from the Jeolla provinces, or shamanistic music. Chae became a shaman by studying the ritual and shamanism while she was studying Korean traditional music at Ewha Womans University.
On Sept. 15-16, various musicians such as punk rock band Crying Nut, rock group Sinawi and jazz artists will join the festival.
The festival will present a rare opportunity to observe 12 geori (parts) of an entire gut rendition, which will be officiated by shamans in the following order on Sept. 14: Sincheong ullim, Segyeong dori, Sangsan maji, Cho bujeong, Chilseong, Yeongjeong, Tasal, Jakdu, Yeolse wang, Baengin Yeonggam, Daegam, and Dwi puri.
During the Jakdu geori (8th part), visitors can observe a shaman offering prayers, standing barefoot on sharp blades.
Before a shaman climbs onto the blades, offerings are collected from the audience. One may add some money to the collection and add prayers or wishes while the shaman is standing on the blades.
A whole pig sacrificed for the ritual will be prepared and shared among the audience after the ritual.
All the programs will take place in Uijeongbu, Gyeoggi Province and will be offered free. For more information, call (02) 2653-5133.