Shamans perform rituals to Mt. Gyeryong spirit
A shaman climbs skyward over sharp blades without cutting her feet, to show she is possessed by the Sanshin Goddess. / Courtesy of David A. Mason
By Jon Dunbar
Korean spirituality is heavily based around its geography, particularly the mountain ranges that make up the skeletal structure of the peninsula. In one such mountain, Mount Gyeryong in South Chungcheong Province, resides the spirit of the Sanshin Goddess. In time for the third full moon of the lunar calendar, shamans, as well as Buddhists and neo-Confucianists, hold rituals at various sites on the mountain.
Sejong University professor David A. Mason invites foreign guests to visit the Gyeryong-san Mountain-Spirit Shamanic Festival this Saturday, where they will witness rituals performed by well-known shamans representing various shamanistic styles from across the country.
“These kinds of performances are so very colorful and dynamic, and these of the festival will be authentic and sincere, all focused on actually venerating the spirit of this holy mountain, not just a show for tourists or staged as cultural heritage,” Mason told The Korea Times.
He first visited the mountain in 1983 shortly after arriving in Korea. But it wasn't until 1988 that he visited Shinwon Temple where the festival is held on the western slope, due to poor accessibility back then. In 1998 when the festival began, he was there.
He estimates he's visited the mountain 20 times. “It never disappoints, filled with spiritual activities and cultural experiences,” he said.
Mason has been fascinated with East Asian spirituality, as well as mountain hiking, since his teens.
“In Korea I found those two things in combination, far more than in most countries,” he said. “I fell in love with the spiritual culture in these lovely mountains, so different than the densely urban cities. In particular, the shamanic-rooted Sanshin mountain-spirit deity fascinated me, and so I ended up building a career all around that, spending most of my adult life studying and experiencing everything related to it.”
Mason learned Korea's mountains each have a unique spirit. To the north is Mt. Baekdu with its national patriarchal spirit, identified with the Dangun legend, and in the south is Mt. Jiri, whose highest peak has a spirit identified as his wife.
“And so then this goddess of Mt. Gyeryong is regarded as their first daughter,” Mason explained, “a powerful and beneficent matriarchal spirit protecting the nation and benefiting its people, which can be supplicated for all kinds of good fortune and relief from bad fortune.”
Mason's bus leaves at 8 a.m. Joining him costs 30,000 won, or 20,000 won for minors and students, which covers bus rental, his guiding and a bibimbap lunch.
Visit san-shin.org for more information.