Your writings are always engaging. I looked up & enjoyed an AI discussion about Feng-Shui. I think humans have forever tried to understand the inexplicable and/or the unknowable by means of the human perception be it vision, touch, smell, sound, taste and when they found the physical explanations inadeguate they thereby resorted to some sort of sixth sense which often became part of a religious practice. The use of mathematics and science became another way of describing the world humans experienced and through those discoveries and inventions, mankind has engineered some pretty amazing phenomena (flying, photography, microscopes, chemistry, gasoline engines, electricity come to mind). In one of your essays you shared a photo of a street in Seoul that was devoted to plastic surgery, and now the shaman street is a stark contrast. Fascinating history.
When I was at graduate school at Yonsei University, I once had to write a paper on the relationship between feng-shui and Korean Buddhism. Boy, did I learn a lot about the practice then. For once, I actually enjoyed that assignment.
Remember what I wrote about the neighborhood name Wangshimni the last post? Very close to Wangshimni, there is this neighborhood called "Shindang-dong." That's where a lot of these shamans/fortunetellers having been living since about 500 years ago! Even today, when you go there, there is this row of fortunetellers. And the name Shindang written in Chinese? "Place of Shaman Deity Worship."
A timely segue for me having just watched "Oh, My Ghost" which is about Shamans, ghosts, and evil spirits. It was produced in 2015, and is in keeping with your topic. You never fail to deliver great background and resources.
Sorry for the late reply. I didn't have access to a computer for almost 3 weeks-if you can believe it.
I know of the drama that you're referring to but having never watched it, I can't really add anything to it, although the title does indicate what kind of plot it may have had.
Researching Jo Jung Suk previous acting roles was the main reason I watched 오 나의 귀신님. However your blog post, The Tale of Princess Bari & the Birth of Korean Shamanism, helped me understand the social milieu in which this rom-com was placed. South Korea is a very complex culture with millenia of human experiences and evolution. Contemporary Korea is rich with change, (your post, "Cheong-gyeh-cheon in Downtown Seoul", is a good example of that.). I have been learning so much about Korea in the last 18 months or so, and your writing has been an encouragement for me to keep on studying. Thank you.
Your writings are always engaging. I looked up & enjoyed an AI discussion about Feng-Shui. I think humans have forever tried to understand the inexplicable and/or the unknowable by means of the human perception be it vision, touch, smell, sound, taste and when they found the physical explanations inadeguate they thereby resorted to some sort of sixth sense which often became part of a religious practice. The use of mathematics and science became another way of describing the world humans experienced and through those discoveries and inventions, mankind has engineered some pretty amazing phenomena (flying, photography, microscopes, chemistry, gasoline engines, electricity come to mind). In one of your essays you shared a photo of a street in Seoul that was devoted to plastic surgery, and now the shaman street is a stark contrast. Fascinating history.
When I was at graduate school at Yonsei University, I once had to write a paper on the relationship between feng-shui and Korean Buddhism. Boy, did I learn a lot about the practice then. For once, I actually enjoyed that assignment.
Remember what I wrote about the neighborhood name Wangshimni the last post? Very close to Wangshimni, there is this neighborhood called "Shindang-dong." That's where a lot of these shamans/fortunetellers having been living since about 500 years ago! Even today, when you go there, there is this row of fortunetellers. And the name Shindang written in Chinese? "Place of Shaman Deity Worship."
It is all so interesting. Here is another addition to my knowledge of the role of Shamanism in Korea today: https://www.junotane.com/p/shamanism-and-korean-politics-choosing-the-right-time-for-a-coup?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1391249&post_id=152610213&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=6d4w4&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
A timely segue for me having just watched "Oh, My Ghost" which is about Shamans, ghosts, and evil spirits. It was produced in 2015, and is in keeping with your topic. You never fail to deliver great background and resources.
Sorry for the late reply. I didn't have access to a computer for almost 3 weeks-if you can believe it.
I know of the drama that you're referring to but having never watched it, I can't really add anything to it, although the title does indicate what kind of plot it may have had.
아닙니다. I hope the 3 weeks were refreshing for you.
Researching Jo Jung Suk previous acting roles was the main reason I watched 오 나의 귀신님. However your blog post, The Tale of Princess Bari & the Birth of Korean Shamanism, helped me understand the social milieu in which this rom-com was placed. South Korea is a very complex culture with millenia of human experiences and evolution. Contemporary Korea is rich with change, (your post, "Cheong-gyeh-cheon in Downtown Seoul", is a good example of that.). I have been learning so much about Korea in the last 18 months or so, and your writing has been an encouragement for me to keep on studying. Thank you.
You are the first person I thought of when I read this week's news about South Korea, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-3-2024.