Korean Mountain Shamanism

Since I've joined my climbing gym, Jung, the gym owner and fancy-pants world-renowned ice climber/mountaineer, has included both Les and I in many of the gym's climbing trips and activities. It has been really great getting to know other members--all of whom are Korean. Les and I are the only whities there. Anyway, two weekends ago, Jung invited Les and I on a trip to one of the mountains here in Seoul. The special thing about this trip, though, was that it was going to involve a Korean mountain shaman ceremony.

Now because I'm a nerd and like to research stuff, I did a bit of reading before we left. Essentially Korean mountain shamans believe that every mountain has it's own spirit or life force. Paying homage to that spirit and respecting it will ensure you a safe adventure while on the mountain enjoying her beauty. Should something bad--or even tragic--happen to you, shamans believe it was because you must have done something to disrespect the life force of the mountain. Fankly, I think this is all really cool stuff, and I think it has some merit behind it too.

Once we got up on the mountain, the temps started dropping, it was time for the ceremony. They had covered a table with white paper, and displayed candles, incense, soju and other traditional Korean alcohols, climbing gear, fruit, rice cakes, nuts, meat, vegetables, and even the head of a pig. Oh yes, kittens, you read that right. A head-o-pig. That kinda creeped me out, but hey, I'm just the visiting resident here. Of course I didn't understand anything that was said during the ceremony, but Les and I each took a turn waving a bowl of makoli (Korean milky alcohol) over incense and performing two Buddhist-style bows where you kneel down and put your hands on the floor and then your head on your hands. After each of us went, Jung said to us "You have now met your boy/girlfriend." What he meant was that because we paid tribute to the mountain spirit, the mountain will now protect us and always be with us. It was fascinating. I'm really happy I was able to not only witness something like that, but actually take part in it. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on that trip, and Les's camera batteries died, so we were only manage to scrape this one picture out.