ABSTRACT
Scholars are generally agreed that during the Koryo Dynasty, there were three types of local ceremonies which were a continuation of the practice of the primal religion.! These were (1) the sanch 'on-je, ceremonies offered to the spirits of the mountains and rivers; (2) the chosang-je, or non-Confucian ancestral rites; and (3) the ki 'u-je, or shamanistic petitions for rain. From the records remaining from the period, Ryu Tong-shik (Yu Tongsik) discerns five features of the folk religion of that time. First, there was a designated altar or shrine where ceremonies were held. Second, these rites were offered to a great spirit called either Chesok or Ch'irwonsong-gun. The term Chesok occurs in the Tan'gun legend (see Appendix A), where this word, originally referring to the great Hindu god Indra, was used to represent the Ruler of Heaven, Haniillim. Ch'irwonsong-gun is the Seven Star Spirit now more frequently called Ch 'ilsong-nim, and also a guise of the Lord of Heaven. Third, the practitioners of Korean folk religion in the Koryo dynasty used wine, song, and dance as a
means of inducing ecstacy and so permitting the spirits to enter into their bodies. Fourth, following the entrance of the spirit a message was conveyed from the spirit world to the earthly world. Fifth, these ceremonies were attended without discrimination by members of all classes and sexes who paid for the privilege of holding the ceremony. These Koryo rituals would seem to be a continuation of ancient traditions and are obviously parallel to the shamanism of modem Siberia. Hyun-key Kim Hogarth notes that historical records indicate that the mudang performed rituals with the following distinct characteristics - healing, divination and the conveying of oracles, descent of the spirit and possession of the shaman, and cursing. Except for the latter element, all these features are characteristic of contemporary shamanism.
