ABSTRACT
To test the degree to which cosmological beliefs drive purity systems outside the ancient world, this chapter turns to an ethnographic study of the shamanic rituals and myths of a contemporary indigenous culture. In ethnography, unlike ancient history, ritual practices can be observed first-hand, practitioners can be interviewed, and any textual archives can be checked against the stated beliefs of living people. In the island province Jeju-do, Korea, many people still repeat the myths of the shamanic indigenous religion and think its rituals to be effective. The chapter analyzes two archives of ritual information: bonpuri and gut. Bonpuri are Jeju indigenous myths that have been transmitted orally. Jeju myths called bonpuri distinguish the realm of the gods from the realm of human beings.
